The Whispering Pines Lodge was a small motel sitting across the street from a few convenience stores and a laundry mat. The parking lot was both small and nearly empty. Most of the windows in the motel were dark, with the only exceptions being the windows to the small front lobby, and a single room.

Abe was in this room, sitting on the edge of the bed, next to a small nightstand and a lamp. His blazer was draped over the bed next to him, and his sleeves were rolled up to expose a pair of shackles. A loose chain link still hung from one of them. Resting on one of his knees was a small notepad with the motel's name on it, and a pen.

He held one of his wrists up in the light of the bedside lamp, squinting at the shackle. His clenched his fist, his flesh darkening and his veins running gold. The shackle steamed and runes appeared in a sickly light against the shackle.

Abe shifted the notepad on his knee, and, between glancing at the shackle and the notepad, began drawing the runes on the notepad. He twisted his wrist around to get a better look at them.

There was a sharp knock at the door and Abe immediately stopped and turned only his head to look at the door. He watched the door, never looking away as he set the notepad and pen down. He started to stand slowly, his eyes narrowing.

Then, again. The same rapping at the door.

Abe looked around the room, slowly approaching the door. On his way to the door, he picked up a folding metal luggage rack that was propped up against the wall next to the TV. He tested the weight in his hand, tilting his head for a moment before the knocking came again.

Abe reached the door, slipping the chain lock off the door before cracking it open, holding the luggage rack out of sight.

As soon as the door was open, Bee leaned forward, grinning at Abe. "Good evening, glowbug."

Abe jumped away from the door with an unintelligible curse, throwing the luggage rack on the floor as he turned away from the door. He walked further into the room, pinching the bridge of his nose and baring his teeth.

Bee pushed the door open further with his cane, leaning inside. "Am I allowed to come in?"

Abe waved his hand with a sigh. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Thank you."

"How'd you do that?"

"How did I do what?" Bee shut the door behind him with his cane before perusing the room.

"The whole..." Abe gestured. "Hiding your soul thing. I couldn't tell it was you at the door."

"Oh!" Bee laughed. "I'm not hiding my soul, glowbug. That would take up far too much aether to do that." He opened one of the desk drawers, pulling out the bible inside. "I'm merely puppeteering my body from afar."

"...Why?"

"I thought it'd be funny to startle you." Bee grinned, before flipping through the bible. "It was quite amusing." He dropped the book onto the desk. "But it is quite handy to avoid being detected by psychics."

"I thought those were rare in this realm."

"They are." Bee walked across the room, picking the pen up off the bed. "Though they are far more common than when you were first created. One in a hundred thousand or so, rather than one in a million." He picked up the notepad, looking at the runes. "But they're usually genetic, so they come in whole swarms. It's quite a hassle trying to avoid them all, so I just keep my soul far, far away from them." Bee poked Abe's nose with the end of the pen. "If you visited the mortal realm more often you would know that."

Abe shifted uncomfortable. "...Do I need to be worried about a psychic finding me out?"

Bee blinked once, then snickered. "Oh, hardly," he waved his hand with a chuckle, "I wouldn't be surprised if one of two were somewhere in the city, but it's a big place and the chances that they find you and they're strong enough to recognize what you are are impossibly slim." He shook his head. "No, you only have something to worry about if you plan to visit more often."

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"And judging on your choice of lodging..." Bee straightened, watching a bug crawl up the wall. He uncapped the pen, stabbing the bug with it. He held the pen up, looking at the bug and wrinkling his nose. "I believe that isn't the case."

"Coming here wasn't really a choice, either. Was in the middle of eating when they snatched me."

Bee rolled his eyes. "For being so clever, humans will always seem to be so incredibly stupid." He went back to the desk, grabbing the chair and turning it around to face the bed. He sat down, propping his cane against the arm of the chair and crossing his legs. "The park, I presume?"

"Yeah."

"And what about the girl? I assume you turned her. Most mortals wouldn't have survived being sacrificed."

"I'm suppressing the transformation as well as I can, but it won't last forever. I want to help but..." Abe shrugged, rubbing his neck, "she was spooked pretty bad when she saw me."

"Well, you aren't really the most approachable person, glowbug. You're stature is rather imposing and your face isn't very.... friendly."

"I sold one of my rings to a pair of human women. One of them told me that I had-" Abe made air quotes. "Resting Bitch Face."

"She's not wrong." Bee rested his chin on top of his interwoven fingers. "But, to give you fair credit, the girl did lie for you. So she is at the very least grateful for you saving her life."

"Or too scared of what I'd do if she told the truth." Abe grimaced, "And saving her won't mean anything if she gets killed again."

Bee sighed, straightening again. "Abaddon, dear, I will make sure she's alright, you have my word. If she won't speak to me, I have more than a few of my own halflings in the city to help show her the ropes and some human correspondents that can help her if she needs to hide."

He stood, "This is your first trip to the mortal realm since your creation. Regardless of if it was by choice, I'd be an awful friend if I didn't try to help make it at least a tolerable one."

"...Thanks." Abe sighed.

"Of course." Bee pushed the chair in front of Abe before sitting down again. "Now. As much as I love seeing your grumpy face." He leaned back in the chair and pressed his fingers together in front of him. "Why exactly haven't you left already?"

"I can't." Abe lifted his arms to show his shackles. "I assume it's these. There are runes that appear whenever I try to break them off."

"These ones?" Bee raised the notepad.

"Yeah. Do you know what the runes mean?"

"I can't say I do. They're mortal runes, and humanity has used thousands of different runes throughout their existence. If I had to take a gander, they might be Old Latin. If they were made to contain a being as strong as ourselves, it was probably made by a Christian denomination. And they used Old Latin runes back in the day."

Bee shrugged. "But I could be wrong. They're not the only group that's hunted us. They're just one of the bigger groups. And the most aggressive. These runes are most certainly old, though."

Bee held up the notepad, "Is it alright if I hold onto this? I can see if I can find someone who knows something."

"Yeah, sure." Abe chuckled, "You've got a better shot at finding someone than I do."

"Wonderful. I'd like to tell you it won't take long, but it very well might." Bee said. "But I'm certain we'll figure something out."

"So what do I do until then?"

"Well, I'd start with finding a job, dear. And a real place to stay."

Abe glanced around the motel room. "Why can't I just stay here?"

Bee sighed. "For one, glowbug, this place is deplorable. It is absolutely dingy and quite cramped. But also places like this aren't really meant for long term residence. Besides," Bee gestured around the room, "There's no kitchen in here, and you love to cook."

"I can cook when I get home."

"Abaddon, please," Bee pressed his hands together. "I implore you. You are a noble. You don't belong in a place like this. It doesn't have to be fancy. There are plenty of quaint little apartments all over the city." Bee leaned forward and held one of Abe's hands(kinda like a judgy mother). "Anything is better than this."

"...I'll look around."

"Thank you, dear. I promise it will be worth it. And if you really can't find any place to stay, let me know. I can pull some strings."

"I'll be alright."

"I know you will." Bee straightened, letting go of Abe's hand.

Abe huffed, resting his arm on his knee. "What're you doing here, anyway? Your timing's awfully convenient."

"Oh?" Bee put a hand to his chest. "Am I not allowed to visit my dearest friend?"

"...You are. But you popped up only days I was summoned. Which is...fast, considering the size of the mortal world and our current size."

"That is an excellent point, dear." Bee sighed. "Truth is, I was already here. I have a contract with the most imbecilic man. Honestly, he makes our late friend Amdusias look genius."

Abe laughed, hitting his knee with his fist. "How did that even happen?"

"It's quite honestly an excruciatingly long story and I don't care to tell it. But just know that I am counting down the days until this boy's own idiocy gets him killed. And when that happens," he sighed with a smile. "oh, it will be a glorious sight to behold."

"That bad?"

"Dear, you don't understand. I have never met a mortal so confident and yet so utterly stupid. He is moronic. He's a strong fellow in his own right, but it is all brawn and absolutely no brain. Seriously.It was amusing at first, but it is quickly becoming nothing but a nuisance."

"Tell me about it."

"Oh, I most certainly will-"