The year is 1954 and our world is split down the middle.

Ok that sounds dramatic, in reality it’s just the city. I can’t say I know or care how other places handle the situation but our city is split.  On one side you have humans, basic, simple humans with no special powers but potential.

On the other side you have, well, everything else.  How everything else became the minority I’ll never know.  The other side is everything: Witches, Vampires, Lycans, so much I couldn’t name it all! It’s actually pretty amazing, but no one ever asks for my opinion. Point being, there's a line and I happen to live close to that line and work in it. That's how this whole situation started.

The pain is a shock as I drop back.  Frankly I had always kind of thought this would happen.  I’ve always had this terminal need to help people, it was bound to get me in trouble.  I hate seeing others being hurt or taken advantage of, and oh boy do I hate racists. I may be in the minority on that one but hey I pick a side and I stick to it.  

Problem was, a lot of people with guns… are racist.

It’s kind of a problem with the world, with the cities.  I’ve heard that smaller quiet towns aren’t so bad. Places where skin color doesn’t matter, species doesn’t matter.  In little towns people are happy, they have cozy homes and family and friends. They live cozy unaffected lives greeting each other with friendly smiles and happy waves.  

It sounded way too good to be true, and hell it probably was, but a dream was a dream for a reason. Heck anything was better than this dump of a city anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out it was the bile of hate in the air that made mom so sick.

I’ll probably never know now though.

What even happened?

As I’m laying there, in agony, I try to process what just happened to me.  There had been an argument. Nothing new, frankly. I’d been studying a stall of really nice looking apples when it had started. Mom has a fondness for the green sour kind. Now, I’m not stupid, I don’t just jump into fights, boys would be boys after all and if a couple of stupid meatheads wanted to duke it out in the middle of the street that was their problem, not mine.  

But then things escalated.

I still wasn’t too concerned until I heard the word ‘monster’.  Now this caught my attention for a couple of reasons. Firstly, ever since the other creatures had made themselves known to humanity shortly after World War 1 the term monster had been reserved as a slur for them, it was pretty messed up to hear it used.   They had a whole section of the city to themselves and had settled to just living like every other poor schmuck, and because they had a good chunk of the city to themselves I haven’t seen them often. They would come into this area though, it was sort of a gray patch where the Human half and Other half met.  Generally only the reasonably tolerant bothered with this district but occasionally you got some fanatic who thought they’d test the weight of their balls.

Secondly and more importantly, of course, there are mobs amongst them just like with humans.  There are two main families I know about, well everyone knows about them. There are The Fanged, basically vampire and vampire adjacent.  Now not every vampire is a member of the fanged but being part of that group offers a certain level of guaranteed protection as far as I’ve been told.  The other group is The Clawed, these are the Lycan and Were adjacent.  When people think Lycan they think werewolves but frankly it’s a lot more than that were wolves, cats, bears, the animal wasn’t determined by who or how you turned either, a werewolf could apparently turn a human and they could end up a werebear.  Complicated stuff but it was about the affinity with the animal or something?  I don’t really know.

Now apparently these two groups are from way before humans even started being more the ground monkeys.  Vampires and Lycans just don’t get along, it’s a kind of fundamental difference in what they are but, they can be tolerant of each other.  Sure you had your fights but frankly those gangs worked together way better than any human gang.

Of course none of this really pertained to the matter at hand.

Some dumb ass of a human guy was on his high horse about a Lycan, in the gray district.  As I listened I gleaned the Lycan, in human form even, had just been strolling by, and Mr. Idiot Human had been... affronted by his existence… in the district meant for humans and others to mingle.  It was annoying, stupid, and loud. After placing three crisp green apples in a sack I paid the vendor and turned.

“Are you done?  We all got places to be and shit to do and listening to you spout all that garbage is giving me a headache.” I had said, at that point I couldn’t see much of the Lycan man.  His back was to me big and broad filling the well tailored suit perfectly.  Long curly black hair was tied at the nape of his neck, the tips just reaching mid back and I could see the silky fabric on the back of the vest, it was black but I could just see the dark blue of the front panels where they met at his sides. He wore a black shirt, slacks, shiny black shoes, and gold cufflinks that had winked in the light.  Everything about him screamed wealth and that kind of wealth in the grey district meant danger.

That meant it was my job to mitigate.

I walked over with the bag of apples slung over my shoulder and looked over the kid, he was pretty scrawny but I recognized him.  It took a moment to place him but then I realized he was a kid working for Don Zora.  My only thought at the time was, damnit Demetri… I had thought you taught your punks better than this, apparently not.

The kid had sneered at me, clearly not knowing who I was or the situation he was in.

“You better stay outta this ya damn bitch. Ain’t got nothin to do with you.” he had spat, a brat playing big boy and it had been more then a little frustrating.  Now don’t get me wrong the kid was probably 18 or 19 but at almost 30 myself, he was a kid, a brat and about to get his ass handed to him for mouthing off at me of all people.

“Look, kid.” I was clear and sharp saying words clearly so he knew I meant business and did not take him seriously.  I stepped towards him and took a little pleasure in the slight shuffle backwards he made.  Then I leaned forward, I was only about a head taller than him but it got my point across because he leaned back, not appreciating me in his personal space I expect.

“You’re really giving me a headache.  So back off or I give your pal Demetri a call, hmm?” I said slowly, darkly.  Now at this he had paled stepping back again now that was the proper reaction, one I’ve come to expect from the Zoras when they step out of line.  I suppose I couldn’t blame him for mouthing off, there's no real way for him to know exactly who I was, but, he shouldn’t be picking public fights regardless. What was it with the younger recruits so ready to pick fights? Especially with a rich Lycan?!  Did he not realize whether the man was Lycan or human he clearly had the money and power to make this kid disappear? I remember grabbing the kid by the back of his ill fitted shirt as I forced him into a bow and bowed myself, showing the proper formality was important, respect went a long way with the Others.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“I formally apologize for the behaviour of this recruit.  Rest assured he’ll be dealt with properly. I trust this won’t be a problem?” Demetri is so lucky I’m good at bullshitting.  That’s why I work in the grey district. I know the rules of both sides well, and have learned deliberately to keep the peace.  Despite my formality I had felt a cold shiver of awareness down my spine.  I turned my head up to watch for a dismissal when I got a good look at the guy.  Now I’m not big on looks, a person's appearance is secondary to who they are, as a person and frankly sexual attraction is pointless when you're not all that interested in sex. So, when I say that man made my body heat up in a way I didn’t know possible I mean it.  His suit jacket was slung over his arm one hand in the pocket of his slacks while the other was at his side fingers drumming on his pant leg absently as if he was considering the situation. The dark hair was swept back from his face but a few strands had refused to be tamed.  a sharp nose and Jawline gave his face a rough look and narrowed grey eyes were watching with such piercing clarity I’d swear he was looking right through me.  It was terrifying and thrilling all at once in a way I was not ready for.  It took an embarrassing moment for me to recover from the shock of it and refocused on the kid

“Say you’re sorry to the gentleman.” I had instructed, moving my hand from his shirt to the back of his head, getting a good grip in his hair and forcing him into a deeper bow as he tried to fight me.

“Why should I?  Just another stinkin’ beast!  And what are you some sympathizin’ whore?  Is that it or you just like animal di-” He didn’t get to finish his statement before I had sent him flying to the ground with the force of a harsh back hand. Frankly, he brought that on himself.  He should have paid attention when I’d let his hair go, any recruit worth their salt would have noticed and braced. I felt the bone of his nose crunch under the back of my hand but really didn't care too much. If he was going to survive long enough to be an actual family member, he was going to have to learn to think and act quickly.

“Idiot.” I had sneered with utter disgust before wiping the smear of his blood on the hip of my slacks, I knew I’d have to see Demetri after this.  First things first though I turned my attention back to the Lycan who hadn’t moved at all during the entire exchange merely watching.  It had me a little unnerved because while I had met Lycans before I’d never met one this casually powerful.  The easy wealth, the calm powerful gaze, this was a High ranked Lycan and he could easily kill us both, and while I had no good feelings for the kid I couldn’t let him die, and I sure as hell didn’t want to die either.  

“Please allow me to apologize for the kid once more.  He’s younger and newer, and he obviously hasn’t learned not only the position of the organization or the purpose of the grey district.” I said, shooting a glance back where the kid was stirring.  The man shifted slightly from resting his weight on one foot then the other, even with my head bowed I could feel his gaze on me. I had no idea why it cut through me so easily, why I was so aware of it.  Despite how unnerving it was though, I kept respectful Instincts submitting while my own personality screamed to look up to face that gaze with challenge.

“Well…” The Lycan said his voice suited him, I thought, a deep rumbling timbre that made me fight down shivers.  Seriously, even now I don’t know what the hell was wrong with me.  Now he’d spoken I looked up and straightened, because not looking at the Lycan addressing you would be offensive as well.

“I guess I can… overlook this little mishap. Nothing a good refresher on manners can’t fix.” he said smoothly, his smile bearing sharp teeth that I knew even in human form could tear flesh from bone with little effort.  Something about the way he spoke felt more than a little condescending but I fought back the desire to snap back.

“Absolutely” I replied, agreeing firmly to the ‘suggestion’.  It was more than that, he knew it, I knew it, if the kid was paying attention, he would have known it. Truth be told I planned on the kid getting much more than a ‘refresher’.  As for Demetri?  He was going to get an earful when I was done. My job was to mitigate fights in the gray district, not babysit his poorly trained newbies!  Wrangling his people cause he couldn’t keep the youth in line? He was so damn lucky it was me and not an enforcer from another group who might have let this fight happen.   When the Lycan Shifted again I felt all my senses on high alert but instead he almost softened his gaze a little

“I hate to leave on bad terms.  Let me assure you then since you stepped in and handled the situation appropriately, I’ll let this one slide.  For you dollface.” I probably still have blood in my mouth from how hard I bit my tongue to keep from snapping at him.  Dollface? DOLLFACE?!  No, it was fine, he didn’t mean anything by it, it was just one of those damn ‘endearing’ terms men thought ladies liked that was all…it wasn’t like he knew my name, he wouldn’t know how to address me, simple as that.

“Thank you.” I finally managed to say once I got myself under control, I don’t think anyone would have blamed me for relaxing the way I did,  the situation seemed over.  The only thing that gave me any heads up was my still primed senses. It happened so fast.  It started with a startled scream that had the Lycan jerking his gaze over my shoulder as I turned.  It was so wrong to see that dumb ass kid... with a gun in his hand. One I knew for sure he never would have been cleared for. 

Fuck…

I moved fast, the gun shot had been like an explosion in my ears and as I pitched back I saw a shadow of another Lycan, probably a body guard watching from the shadows, lunge out ripping the kids throat out.  Stupid kid shoulda just stayed down.

I’m shaking too hard, grabbing at my chest where the bullet had hit. It’s hot and cold, it’s such a weird sensation. Not pleasant that's for sure.  I can feel something on me now, more than my own hands pressed firmly against the wound. Oh god, every breath hurts, I-I don’t want to die here, what the hell had I been thinking? Who's going to take care of mom if I die?

“Easy, easy don’t worry I have you.“  My eyes open a fraction, realizing the other set of hands on me is the Lycan man. He was moving my hand looking at the wound and making a face at the likely bloody mess.  My hearing is going tinny, damn I’m dying here! I need someone to tell mom… Someone who can care for her.  My fingers are shaking on the handle of the bag... mom would want her apples.  I had... I had to get the apples to mom… she only ever asks for them, her little treat.

The shadow guy had approached at some point, I’m not sure when just that when my eyes open again he is looming over me.  He stands on my other side as the Lycan keeps his hands firm on my wound, the pressure steady. I can catch snippets of what the Lycan is saying to the shadowed man.  He is asking for something the shadow man is reluctant to give, but with a harsh growl from the Lycan that made me flinch, the shadow figure passes over… a bottle?  A last shot of whiskey maybe? Who knows but instead of offering me the bottle I hear the pop of a cork and suddenly a searing pain, even worse than before, engulfs me. I’m vaguely aware of a terrible, inhuman screeching only to realize it’s me.  I didn’t know a human could make that kind of sound, I didn’t know I could make that kind of sound.

My eyes open a fraction, not sure when I had closed them, looking up at the Lycan confused and hurt by more than the pain.  Was he mad at me?  Was he punishing me because the kid pulled a gun?  Fuck, the pain is just getting worse and I thrash why can’t he just let me die with out making it worse. Between him and his shadow friend pinning my legs I can’t move and black is taking me over.  I need to try and focus, try and appeal to any of his humanity because, because I can’t leave mom alone…

“A-apples…” I manage weakly, my throat is sore from screaming and I can’t be sure the word is more than a wheeze of sound. The man looks at my face, his  expression twisting with confusion.

“Mmm...mom…” I force out, fingers twitching making the bag rustle, hoping my meaning is clear.   Please, let him understand my last request, my plea.  Let him be willing to at least take these to her.  Check on her. Make sure someone was with her.  Mrs. Daisy would be good,  she is a good woman, a bit nosey but overall a good woman, she’d help mom… she’d give her a sturdy shoulder. Someone would take care of her… hopefully … someone… she… I…