Twiddling my fingers, I watch as Igor spills his heart out to Thomas. I mean, I didn’t do anything wrong. All I did was take the customers money. I thought Igor would give them a meal. All he said was that the first order of business is to serve breakfast and get the customers to check out. All I did was take their money so they would ask for their breakfast and therefore check out earlier. How was I supposed to know that I need to take their orders too?

“She is a nitwit! Fire her for god's sake. I can do it all by myself, as I have been doing. I can’t take 34 orders at once! The kitchen staff can’t even cook that many at once! I had to get food from next door to get them their food on time.” Igor complains.

Pouting I gaze out the window. It’s a little early in the year for snow, but it’s a welcome sight anyway. Already night, the snow seemed to blanket the world. I couldn’t even tell the difference between the ground and the next building. Snow means that there will be fewer things to do and I can just do what all living things do, slow down. I used to have a pet bear, he would play with me all day every day. He would slap my gelatinous body and send me flying over and over again. All I had to do was run at her cave.

One day, the bear fell in exhaustion from all the playing. It slept and slept out in the open. Out of concern, I covered it in branches and cleaned it regularly. Just 2 days after it went to sleep, it snowed. Wilbur says some animals sleep for prolonged periods of time when the weather gets cold. After about a week of cleaning the bear, it started to stink so I let it sleep in peace.

After all the snow had melted months later, I went back to play. Sadly, he wasn’t there anymore. Neither the bear nor its cubs stayed to play with me. I really wish I could share my bed with it. How can anyone sleep without pillows? Aren’t they just the best thing ever created?

Snapping me out of my thoughts, Thomas opens the door and closes it behind him. Standing in front of the door he watches me. After a moment of indecision, he says, “You need to properly learn how to do your job. Don’t do anything until you have understood how you could do it incorrectly. Understand?”

Still pouting at the injustice, I say, “But I was right! It’s not my fault Igor and the kitchen staff can’t work faster. If they just prepared beforehand to serve all of the guests, wouldn’t breakfast service be over quicker?”

Sighing with agitation, Thomas explains, “Not all customers who stay want our breakfast. Also, we sell to the general public as well so we never know how many want to eat our food. To prevent making too much and wasting food, we only start making the food after it’s ordered.”

Frowning at the explanation, I stare at Thomas waiting for him to fire me. “Look you can’t rush things in a business. If you wanted fast efficient work, you should have joined the adventurers guild or the army. The fact of the matter is that you work here now. You can’t be going faster than the rest of the team, understand? You working faster makes everything else slower. Just try to match everyone else’s speed. Now if you understand, go do what you have to.” he says much more patiently.

Nodding my head happily I skip to my room. He said that the army and adventurers guild would fit me better. If that's true, then I should go there. He did say that I can go do what I need to do. I’m sure I can change my frame to pack a bit more of a punch.

Entering my small room, I start packing my belongings. Two picture frames, a pack of Lona bark and some deodorizing powder. Adding to it the amount of money I earned for working a week, I should have just enough to survive a few days without work. Sitting on my bed, I caress my pillow, “I’m sorry, but I can’t take you with me. Next time, I’ll come back and take you away, just wait for me okay? Good!”

Smirking at my perfect pillow, I grab my bag and leave the room. Let’s have an adventure! What was I thinking, working at a boring place like this? The only thing That I regret is leaving my pillow behind.

Sighing in dejection, I trudge to the lobby. Dropping my room key off, I turn towards the door to find Thomas. “Where do you think you’re going?” Thomas demands. Looking at his feet, I quietly say, “I’m going to join the adventurers guild or the army like you said.” Hoping he would get too angry, I gnaw my lower lip in anxiety.

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Sneaking a glance upward I see something horrific. Thomas’s head was jerking sideways repetitively and his face was twitching uncontrollably. Ever since Wilbur showed me what vampires used to do to humans, I could never face something as scary without running away. Just when I thought I would never be able to face them, Wilbur, Taught me something. He said that no matter the gender and no matter the race, as long as the person stands on two feet and isn’t incorporeal, I should use blunt force to damage their crotch and they would stop scaring me.

Slowly approaching Thomas, I slap myself on my cheeks to encourage myself. “I can do it. I can do it. I really can!” I say to myself as I inch closer. Getting into range, I raise my leg and kick while pivoting on my other foot. Many of Wilbur’s methods may not work for me, but he did teach me the right way to kick. It’s been proven time and time again.

Striking and pushing deep into Thomas’s unneeded but cosmetic fat, I retract my foot and back away. “Mr.Thomas, I am grateful that you took me in but I don’t think this is the job for me.” Turning around and gesturing to the building, I say, “Look at this place, It’s great. The only problem is that I am not a great fit for it.”

I pause as I hear Mr. Thomas grunt. I might have hit him a bit too hard. He grunts a few more times before whispering, “look at me.” Slightly nervous, I start turning around when I feel a chill run down my back. “Look at me.” He says a little more forcefully. I start to notice that his tone is off. It sounded less like him and more like an echo. Frozen in fear I don’t dare to turn around. Screaming this time, he says, “I said, Look at me!”

Tearing up out of fright, I slowly turn. Why doesn’t anything Wilbur say work? Mr. Thomas had stopped jerking and twitching. His head instead was rocking back and forth. His hands cupping his ears. His eyes were wide and oblivious. His mouth quivering. Already ready to cry, I run around the counter and into the back office. Slamming the door shut, I lock it. Propping a chair against the doorknob, I hear humming. Not pausing I frantically pull the desk over and pile it behind the chair. Grabbing my belongings, I open the door leading to the workers quarters.

*****

“Sir! It seems like the hive has started to move. One of our men working for him just sent a message that he transformed,” a messenger reports. Sitting behind his desk, a young, handsome man rubs his forehead, “First Wilbur’s niece goes missing, now the hive has started to act weird. What’s next? A mission to the forsaken planes? Call the inquisitors, Tell them to meet me at the inn. I’ll go first to stop as many casualties as I can.” Drumming his fingers on his desk, the man sighs and gets up. With long strides, his tired figure exits the estate and disappears into the festive night.

*****

“No! Stop! Don’t move. I’m warning you,” I yell at the workers. Just as I passed the shared bathroom, several doors opened and the workers all start to twitch unnaturally while hobbling towards me. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought of them as zombies. Of all the possible employers, why did I land in a hive? Not only are these creatures hard to differentiate from the norm, but they also cannot control their urges. Once in a blue moon, their restraint seems to dissipate and they attack someone, adding the victim to their hive.

Wiping my tears off, I barricade myself in my room. Pulling my small personal desk in front of the door, I lean against it. I listen as they hobble down the hallway, thumping slowly closer. Looking over the door, I give up on it. At most, it will stand for a few seconds while they acclimate to their instincts. I’ll give it a solid two minutes before they break in.

I look through the only window in my room, a small round opening with metal bars to keep things out. Grinding my teeth, I remember how Thomas said that this portion of the inn was insulated to stop sound from disturbing the guests. This window, it’s probably made to keep me from leaving.

With things as bad as they are, I only have two solutions, sleep and wake up to find it was a dream, or change forms and risk being found by the guards as I escape. Even if I change form, the only body I know that can fit through that window is a slime.

Smiling bitterly at my own predicament, I get into my bed and try to wake up. Please let me be dreaming. The slow thumping starts to grow into scratching. It seems that they remembered how to creep up the walls.

Closing my eyes, I try to wake up. The scratching turns into pounding as the things found my door. Counting the imaginary sheep jumping through my head, I ask the gods to wake me up. Pounding turns to creaking as the door starts to split under their onslaught.

Not daring to open my eyes I try to count sheep faster. Thirteen sheep, fourteen sheep, fifteen sheep. The sound of something large falling and wood tearing fills the room. Sixteen sheep, seventeen sheep. Slow footsteps, as well as the skittering of claws on the walls, quietly fills the room. Eighteen sheep. The sound of movement stops as a roar echos through the hallway. Thomas is here! Nineteen sheep. Large thumping followed by panicked skittering echo in the workers quarter. Twenty sheep, twenty-two sheep. The footsteps get closer as the skitting stops.

Twenty-three sheep, twenty-four sheep. The sound of wood splintering as something tries to forcefully enter the rooms sounds. Twenty-five sheep, twenty-six sheep. My bed starts to groan as something steps onto the left corner, tilting it downward. Twenty-seven sheep. The covers around my feet tighten as something steps onto the right corner of the bed. Twenty-eight sheep. Another two things weigh down on the bed, on either side of my head. The sound of shallow breathing slowly gets closer. Twenty-nine sheep. Something nudges my chest, I hear the sound of muffled sniffing before it moves closer to my head. Thirty sheep. I can feel it just a fingers width from my head. Its hand presumably creeps closer to the edge of my blanket covers, pulling them down.

Thirty-one sheep. With my eyes wide open, I stare. The only sound in the room is a soft metallic ringing. Nothing else.