Part I: Human Lands
10:35 PM
Maddy Hastings let out a heavy sigh and glanced at the scratched glass of his wristwatch as he pushed a damp cloth across a spotless table for the third time. The seconds seemed a half-breath longer than usual and boredom threatened to pull him into sleep if he dared to sit down.
He looked around the diner listlessly, florescent lights buzzed in his ears and made his eyes sore. The windows seemed like large black mirrors reflecting customers sipping their drinks and late-night suppers. Maddy imagined he was standing in a brightly lit fishing boat, surrounded by a sea of darkness, and swaying with the current.
Regulars were sitting in their usual orange and gray booths, their feet dangling off the edge like small toddlers not quite tall enough to reach the floor. Even at this hour, the diner was filled with the chatter of Strange Folk and humans alike. (Although, no one told the humans that.) Maddy busied myself with taking orders, cleaning tables, and occasionally changing the channels on the two TVs above the bar.
When the bell over the front door chimed, Maddy snapped his head up, like a hound on a hunt, his nose twitched expecting the familiar scent of jasmine and honey. Dee had asked him to cover her shift, which wasn’t uncommon, but knowing her she’d most likely stop by before the diner closed for the night.
He let out another breath when it was just a few customers leaving and walked toward the counter where Mr. Nananbo was hunched over, nursing a coffee and staring up at one of the TVs. “Hi, Mr. Nanabo. How are you doing?” He asked the man with so many lines on his face, he looked like a practice sheet of origami paper.
“Ah! Hastings,” Nanabo said in a tone that sounded as if he found his lost keys. He lifted his mug, but kept his eyes on the screen. There was a news reporter discussing a recent arson attack in the neighboring town. “A refill.”
“Coming right up,” Maddy quirked his lips into a small grin. Mr. Nanabo was a man of very few words and Maddy could tell he had secrets. Secrets that he held in for so long it turned him as rough as coal. “Anything else?”
“Yes,” He scanned a tray of baked goods on the counter, “And I’ll take one of Bunny’s muffins.”
It would be another twenty minutes before Dee showed up. The bell above the door chimed loudly as the late-night rush dissipated. Maddy turned toward the door to see Dee’s hair tied up in a high ponytail and her makeup done. She wore a pair of baggy jeans and a cropped anime t-shirt- definitely not enough clothes for a normal human during this time of year. Her blue eyes met his and she broke into a smile as if she hadn’t seen him for years, and really missed him.
“Dee!” He said wiping his hands against his apron and striding toward her. “You’re here.”
“Maddy, baby, how are you?” She replied her smile growing bigger as she looked up at him. Her eyes scanned the dinner and when she saw Doug through the kitchen window cleaning up she added, “Hi Doug!”
He called out without looking up, “Oh, Dee, how nice of you to show up for work today.”
She dropped her jaw, but the quirk of her lips made it obvious she wasn’t really offended. She glided past Maddy and leaned over the counter. “You know I had a really good excuse today. How’s Bunny?”
“Asking about my wife won’t butter me up,” Doug said with a snort. “Especially since she wonders why I still keep you around.”
“It’s cause I wrack up the cash,” She laughed, her bubbly voice filling up the diner. She turned to Mr. Nanabo still sitting at the counter, the corners of her eyes crinkling, “Mr. Nanabo, you’re out late, how are you?”
“Evening, Dee,” He replied, the gruffness in his voice softer. “How are you?”
“Better, now that I’ve seen you!” She said, dimples forming on either side of her cheeks. It was a shameless attempt to butter him up. Everyone knew it, and it yet it still made Mr. Nanabo blush and look away.
“Okay, so where is he?” Doug said throwing a dish rag over his shoulder and crossing his arms. “Your excuse.”
The reason why Maddy had to cover Dee’s shift today was because she was showing her father’s new work colleague around town. Maddy grimaced. There were only two kinds of people Dr. Tarkirk ever worked with. Humans to keep up the pretense he was just an Anthropology professor who was invested in educating the people of Willow Creek and Strange Folk who often looked at Maddy as if he were a corn kernel stuck between their teeth.
“He should be here soon, just needed to drop some paperwork off at the house. I told him we couldn’t finish the tour without coming to Douggie’s, the only place to eat that matters.” With that Doug rolled his eyes and went back to cleaning up the kitchen.
Dee turned to Maddy, lips curled into a smile, the kind that formed just before a secret was spilled. “Wait till you see who Daddy is working with!” She looked over his shoulder and spotted a regular she was friends with. “Susan!”
He nodded, slowly. He wasn’t sure if he liked the sound of that and just watched her as she effortlessly made her way between tables. Dee was a natural at conversation, her laugh was infectious and she always had something to talk about with everyone.
His hand unconsciously reached up and rubbed his chest. It was as if his veins formed a noose around his heart and tugged on the organ. He figured out years ago that it was a side effect from one of the first spells Dr. Tarkirk, Dee’s father, placed on him. It wasn’t usually painful, more of a gentle admonish that kept him in check, reminding him to be careful.
When she turned and gave him a wink, He quickly dropped his hand and tried to focus on clearing off the table in front of him. All he ever wanted to was to be like, Dee. She was confident, well-liked, normal.
At precisely 11:02 P.M. Something Strange walked through Douggie’s Diner. The bell jingled and the unexpected smell of strawberries and spice tickled Maddy’s nose, like the gentle brush of a feather or tail of a cat. He turned toward the door as he always did. Gray eyes caught his attention first. Each iris was a moonlit pond, where silver koi danced in languid spirals, their scales glinting in liquid mercury. They made Maddy want to dive in and-
The noose around his heart squeezed tightly in his chest and a different set of gray eyes flashed through his thoughts. They were muted, dead fish floating to the surface of a toxic pond, their scales only reflecting against the harsh white light in his childhood bedroom.
A small quirk of the brow and a flicker of amusement in the Stranger's eyes brought him back to reality and snap his gaze toward a ten-year-old coffee stain at the bar he was suddenly determined to remove.
“Hey!” Dee called out from across the diner.
Maddy lifted his head to see Dee with the same secret smile as before. Only now he knew why she held it. The Stranger’s eyes weren’t the only thing striking about him. His hair was ash-colored with darker streaks of blond that glowed in the late afternoon sun. It should have washed him out, but the gold in his hair matched his burnished skin tone.
A lightly toasted marshmallow, he thought, his eyes scanned the Stranger’s body. He wore a thick, burgundy, v-neck sweater and black slacks. The sleeves were scrunched up at the elbows and showed the muscle and veins in his arms. There was no question he was fit and classically handsome with soft facial features, that made Maddy think he wouldn’t look right with a beard. He found that comforting since he couldn’t sport one either.
Dee gracefully avoided a few patrons, who suddenly stood up and made their way out of the diner. She clasped her arms behind her back as she walked up to the Stranger, her head nearly touching her back as she looked up to meet his gaze.
“Hello, again,” The Stranger replied with a smile that bloomed on his face like a carnivorous flower. White fangs glistened against the diner lights.
Maddy’s jaw dropped the noose around his heart tugged rapidly. That was a- He was a- A cramp formed in his stomach and he squeezed the cloth in hand so tightly it started dripping down his wrist and onto the floor.
“I was starting to think you weren’t going to show,” Dee adjusted her shirt, pulling the t-shirt down. Maddy tried to subtly turn to listen as he suspected she adjusted her shirt on purpose to draw the attention of the other man downwards. It worked and with a quirk of her lips, she added. “Do you want to sit down?”
“Sure,” He said, in a voice that reminded Maddy of wet sand by the shoreline, smooth and cool and grounding.
He immediately knew not to trust him. Mrs. Tarkirk had warned him about those kinds of Folk, everything from the way they looked and talked, was calculated, for hunting, for killing.
So why the hell was Dee talking to one?
“Great! I just need to say goodbye to my friend Susan, and I’ll come and join you.” Gloat. Dee meant gloat and he knew it. He was rolling his eyes when she pointed at him, causing his whole body to tense, “My friend, Maddy, will get you settled.”
Their eyes met again. He winked and Maddy’s cheeks grew warm like bread in a toaster. He looked at the puddle he made on the floor and quickly bent down to wipe it up.
“Hello,” The Stranger said when Maddy popped back up.
“H-hi,” He stumbled to say. The scent of strawberries and spice wrapped around his neck and rested against his shoulders as if it were a scarf knitted especially for him. He placed a hand in his apron pocket and gestured with the other to a seat next to Nanabo. “You can sit here if you’d like.”
“Thanks,” He said with another smile that showed his fangs again. Maddy wasn’t sure if he liked seeing it or not. He added when Mr. Nanabo grunted and mumbled something that sounded close to a curse, “I don’t mind standing.”
“Can I get you anything?” He asked curtly, reverting back to his waiter training, he wasn’t good a pretending the Stranger in front of him was just a regular human. He didn’t have Dee’s confidence.
“Ah, yes.” He said in a tone that was all too serious for what he was about to order. “Do you have French Fries?”
Maddy pressed his lips together, but he couldn’t stop the corners from curling upward. This was a diner of course they had fries. There was only one reason Strange Folk wouldn’t know fries were common in diners. He wasn’t just new to town, he was new to this side of the border, what Strange Folk called the Human Lands. The weariness he held for the Stranger quickly unraveled, “Yes, we have straight, sweet potato, waffle cut, and curly.”
The Stranger furrowed his brows, then his silver eyes flickered thoughtfully toward Maddy. “What do you like?”
“Straight cut is a classic and a definite must for first-time fry triers, but I prefer curly.” He answered giving fries the proper consideration they deserve. He didn’t even know their Folk ate solid food. What was his favorite food? He didn’t seem like the type to gorge on a burger. Questions continued to bubble in his head, his weariness struggling to burst all of them.
“I’ll take both,” The Stranger nodded, amused.
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He grinned. “Good choice, I recommend trying it with ketchup.”
“Is that this red stuff?” The Stranger picked up the Heinz bottle and investigated it, he shifted his gaze from the bottle, his lips curling into a wolfish grin, “I prefer different red stuff.”
Maddy’s stomach curdled like spoiled milk and it took everything in his power not to snap his mouth shut before saying, “I’ll be right back with your order.”
In the kitchen, Maddy quickly placed the Stranger’s order for Doug- who huffed noting the kitchen was already closed, but started to make them anyway- and headed toward the walk-in freezer. He placed and hand on his chest, his fingers twisting the fabric of his apron. His breath curled in the cold air as he huffed out a breath.
It was the strongest of all Dr. Tarkirk’s spells. He squeezed his eyes shut as an unwanted memory forced its way through his brain, like a worm burrowing through an apple.
“I’m sorry,” Maddy cried, his whole body shaking as the spell dug into his skin and scraped his bones. It seemed that Dr. Tarkirk didn’t care that the spell ripped through Maddy like tissue paper as he placed his hand on his head.
“Hold still. I’m not finished.” He said to Maddy in a tone that sounded like he was trying to brush knots out of tangled hair, not nearly break an eight-year-old boy.
“I’m sorry,” He repeated as tears streaked down his face. It didn’t matter how much he said it, nothing would change what he had done. And above all he knew, he deserved every horrible thing that would come his way.
Dee came rushing through Dr. Tarkirk’s office door when it was over. Her hand grasped Maddy’s and despite the incredible pain that wracked his body, he didn’t let go of her. She turned to face him when they were safe in her room and said the only thing that would make him feel the slightest bit better was, “You’re going to be okay, Maddy.”
“What are you doing?” Dee asked opening the freezer door, locks of her hair flying up as cold air jutted out.
“Sorry, I just needed a minute.” He placed his hands in his apron. “Feeling a little sick.”
Dee narrowed her gaze. She was every much a protective mother bear when it came to Maddy. “What’s wrong? He say something to you?”
Maddy shook his head. The spell made it hard to discuss anything to do with magic without making his jaw snap shut and his stomach do flips. There were loopholes, however, being able to smell the difference between humans and Strange Folk, and indirectly talking about magic was generally fine. It made for creative conversation. “Nothing, really.”
He paused the noose in his heart giving him a small tug. “But why are you hanging out with him? Your mother would have a field day if she knew.”
“Oh, she knows…” Dee’s lips split into that surreptitious smile again. “He’s Daddy’s new work colleague.”
“I don’t understand,” A worry mark formed between Maddy’s brows. He tapped his toes against the floor of the freezer to keep them from going numb. “He’s not… not your father’s usual guest,” Maddy pointed to his teeth for emphasis.
Dee shrugged, “Truth is, last month, Daddy discovered something new about humans. You remember I was telling you he was calling everyone. It was so weird. I’ve never seen him that excited about anything. Well anyways, this week, they sent an official or whatever to confirm his findings. I don’t really know, or care.”
Maddy’s lips pressed together, ” They were teetering on the edge of the spell and he found it difficult to focus on her words, like flipping a switch and there’s a delay before the light comes on. Dee hated talking about her father’s work. She wasn’t good at using magic and therefore detested it. “This doesn’t explain why you would be hanging around him.”
She looked at him as if he sprouted horns on his head. “Have. You. Seen. Him?”
“There are not enough eyes in the world that would roll to counter that statement.” Maddy deadpanned.
“There are not enough na-na-na” Dee mocked. “You’re the one hiding in the walk-in freezer after two seconds of meeting him.”
They both laughed.
“You know, Daddy made me show him around town,” Dee said sobering up. “He’s very smart you would like talking nerdy with him.”
There was a glow in her eyes that Maddy didn’t like. She was too excited, to eager for him to like the Stranger. He scrunched up his face. The cold seeping back into his fingers.
Don’t fuck him, he thought and she gave him that smile which told him it was a possibility. Over twelve years of friendship made it easy for them to talk without using words. The noose around his heart gave a tug. He sighed, his breath curling in the air between them, “So I’m guessing we’re not gonna hang out after I close.”
She placed her hands behind her back and gave a small shrug. “This is me saying goodbye.”
Maddy tried not to let the effect of her words show on his face, “Bye.”
“Don’t be like that.” She took a step forward and shook him with jest. “We can still hang out tomorrow, and then there’s Alfonzo’s party on Saturday.”
“I’m fine. Just moody ‘cause I had to work two shifts today.”
“And I love you for it,” She placed a kiss on his cheek and turned to leave the freezer with a pep in her step. He followed her out and watched as she casually slipped her arm around the Stranger’s bicep. She gave him one last wave, “Bye Maddy!”
The Stranger gave him a polite head nod before they walked out the door and Maddy realized he didn’t even catch his name.
“That girl could sell ice to Eskimos and convince them they need a second freezer,” Doug said beside Maddy with a sigh. He took a bite out of the plate of fries that never reached the man with the fangs and silver eyes. “Fry?”
“Thanks,” Maddy’s lips curled, taking a couple of curly fries off the plate. He was sure Doug was human, his nose would tell him otherwise, but sometimes the man would say things that made Maddy believe he knew things. Things that most humans thought were just fairy tales.
Doug turned to face him, his round face pulled into a frown. “How're you holding up?"
Maddy sucked in a breath and said, “Okay, but if I have to work another twenty minutes, I think my legs might conspire against me."
Doug let out a small chuckle, “Well, lucky for you, I’m calling it a night. You’ll be alright closing up?”
He gave a curt nod trying not to look too eager about closing the diner and head upstairs to his little room where he could immediately fall asleep for the next several hours.
“Good,” Doug said, pulling a brown trench coat Bunny got him for his fiftieth birthday out of a small white locker by the service door. In the right lighting, his looks matched a noir detective perfectly. He added, “Dee really should be the one closing, but hey, more money for you right?”
“I guess so,” He followed his boss out of the kitchen. “I could use it to pay for my next semester.”
“See, everything happens for a good reason,” Doug assured, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he patted Maddy’s shoulder. He grabbed a string attached to a golden bell hung up on the side of the front door and rang it. He took in a deep breath, filling up his belly, “Attention all customers! Douggie’s Diner is now officially closed! So, go home and don’t forget to tip your waiter. He’s got school to pay for.”
He winked at Maddy as most of the regular customers let out a small laugh, while they looked in his direction.
His cheeks burned as he snapped his attention to the tables and started wiping at the ten-year-old stain.
The idea of burrowing his head in his pillows gave him the extra push he needed to clear the rest of the tables, lift the chairs, and take out the trash behind the diner.
A gust of late Autumn air nipped at his nose, lips, and cheeks, causing Maddy to hunch his shoulders as he made his way toward the giant dumpsters. Normally, most Strange Folk ran warmer than humans, and wearing just a black tee and jeans shouldn’t have been a problem for Maddy, but the spell he was under lowered ability to maintain body heat. He’d just thrown the trash bags away and was beelining for the diner when his nose gave the slightest twitch.
It was a combination of burnt flesh, stale wine, and something Strange. The kind of Strange that made his skin crawl as if there were dozens of unseen fire-ants scavenging for their next meal. He stopped walking, foot in mid-air, uncertain if it was curiosity or fear that kept him put.
Light from the diner casted a low glow in the space around him, like a night light with a cap over it. He could see directly in front of him and the dumpsters behind him, but it would have been easy to stand completely still in patches of darkness and not be seen. His gaze shifted upwards as the shadows of tall trees in the distance began to shake wildly as if they were a band of cheerleaders with pom-poms.
“Go.” They seemed to rustle. “Move.”
Maddy dropped his foot and hurried inside. Immediately upon entering, his head snapped to the front. The bell shook wildly, like a wind chime in a storm, as knobby fists beat fiercely against the door. Watery blue eyes wild with fraught locked with his. “Help me, Belvie.”
“Mr. Nanabo!” Maddy called out rushing out from behind the counter, but he wasn’t fast enough and the door lock snapped causing Mr. Nanabo to rush forward and slip on the freshly mopped floor. His head struck the tile and a sickening crack echoed in the sudden stillness of the diner.
Maddy rushed to Nanabo’s side. Calling out his name once again, but when there was no response he crashed down to his knees, ignoring the ache that came with the harsh drop. His eyes hard pressed on Nanabo’s back, waiting for it to rise and fall. The noose around his heart gave a heavy tug, but Maddy ignored it as he reached his hand out. “Mr Nanabo, are you al- Ah!”
Nanabo’s hand jutted out, cold and clammy, yanking Maddy close enough to feel his hot breath against his face. His eyes rolled back and his jaw unhinged as a spew of nonsense left his mouth. Then all at once, a visible bolt of electricity sparked between them. Searing heat rushed up his arm and through his veins like a lit wick of dynamite, exploding in his chest and rushing back down into his hand. He tried to shake himself free, but Nanabo’s grip was too tight.
He screamed as the spell that bound him squeezed and scraped against his skin. Whatever Nanabo was doing, the spell didn’t like and it was digging its thorns deeper into his flesh. His fingers dug into Nanabo’s hand as the pain continued. Pressure in his forehead swelled like a balloon filled with too much air. He thought his head would pop and his blood would be splattered all over the diner, poor Doug would come in tomorrow with the biggest mess to clean.
He looked down at Nanabo, blood was leaking from the man’s head and nose. “S-Stop. You’re k-killing m-“ His voice trailed off as the edges of his world were turning black.
Mr. Nanabo stopped his babbling and gazed up at Maddy with deep sorrow etched on his face. His breathing became stagnant and with the last of his will, his voice sounding distant in Maddy’s ears, "I’m sorry, Belvie, this is the best I can do."
His grip slackened, and a batch of tears fell from his eyes. Then his head lolled back and his eyes unfocused and Maddy quickly realized he wasn’t the one vibrating. It was Nanabo who had been buzzing against him, like a swarm of bees, discovering their queen was dead.
Maddy opened his mouth, but no words came out. His head was spinning as the smell of Nanabo’s blood reached his nostrils, making his jaw ache and his stomach growl. His breaths came in hot ragged gasps and his body wouldn't stop shaking. He tried to stand but his knees buckled and his head hovered just above Nanabo’s face.
When he was younger, Maddy had done a terrible thing. He accidentally killed his foster mother, Carrie. It was the first time he had shifted and out of fear she attacked him. Maddy couldn’t control his wolf body, nor did he know how sharp the tiny little horns on his small furry head were. When she charged at him with his bedroom lamp, he tucked his little head into her chest, horns piercing her flesh. And as she fell to the floor he jumped on top of her, clawing and scratching her until she stopped screaming.
When he looked back at her face, it was all wrong. She was a mess of tears, snot, and blood. Soft lips that used to whisper goodnight to him were twisted with the last scream she ever made. And her eyes… Her pretty brown eyes, unnaturally wide, and filled with so much fear. He wanted to believe she was just about sneeze and her face would return to normal, but when his paws got soaked in her blood he knew she wasn’t going to move again.
Nanabo’s wrinkled and bloody face pressed against the freckled linoleum floor shared the same wide-eyed expression.
Maddy blinked hard. If he didn't get up now, he would surely be sick all over Nanabo, or worse, give into something he didn’t dare to dwell on. He gritted his teeth trying to get off Nanabo's body, as if there were a ten-thousand-pound oak tree on his back. With his head spinning and right hand burning, he ran to the back of the diner and stumbled through the kitchen. He reached the sink and plunged his hand into the bucket of industrial cleaning solution, the water sending a brief respite to the pain in his hand, but doing nothing for his flip-flopping stomach.
With his good hand, he fumbled for his phone in his pocket, his fingers trembling so badly he could barely tap the call app. When Dee didn't answer, he felt his heart drop to his stomach all over again. He brushed his hand through his hair and pulled at the roots until it hurt. His fingers tapped aggressively against the glass screen of his phone as he sent rapid-fire texts to her.
He didn't want to call the police, they would most likely be human and ask him questions he couldn't answer. He tried Dee's cell again while looking over at the body splayed out on the floor.
“Please, please,” He whispered as the phone rang. He didn’t know what to do. Dee was the one who always made the decisions for him. It was better that way. Safer that way. And more than anything he needed her now.
The phone went to voice mail once again and Maddy’s knees buckled causing the disinfectant water to spill and splash all over him. A sickening feeling washed over him, one that Maddy could never forget, no matter how many safety spells were placed on him. He deserved this and every awful thing to happen to him.