Chayla really came. I wasn’t sure anyone would actually show up.

As usual she has her perfect, enviable, silky hair chained up in a tight bun travesty and her bright yellow glasses are halfway down her nose. None of her glasses like the distinct Indian curve it has. And yes, she has multiple glasses. One for each colour, I suspect. Her dark brown eyes match her hair perfectly and her soft stare is darting around the room like a hummingbird would if you set it loose.

Finally, they settle on me, and I see her lip quiver.

For a second, I’m honestly happy to see her. Just for a second. Then memories of the past few months, and the first months after I moved here, fill my mind. They all called me crazy. No one believed me. I had to go to therapy for weeks. Even though I was right.

I look away, and she stands frozen in the doorway, awkwardly shuffling her weight from foot to foot. Not that there’s much weight on her at all.

“Kara, I-”

“Is it just you then?” My voice sounds foreign to me, and its harsher than I intend. At least consciously.

“René had practice today and Jordan said his grandparents needed him for something, so…”

She bites her lip. They’re shitty excuses for not seeing a friend who almost died, no, really died, and she knows it. I know it. I rejected Jordan, and my last conversation with René ended with me giving him the finger. Twice. But still, I died.

I guess in the end guys stick together. Bros before hoes. For better or worse, I now know with complete certainty where they stand. Jordan seemed to have true feelings for me, so it stings a little to know that was all a complete and total lie of his. He was most likely following the dodgy orders of this evil Council that Owens keeps on harping on about. I get it now. None of it was real.

A huge weight lifts itself from my shoulders and I feel ten times lighter. I also feel like I want to cry, but to be honest, I think my ego is more bruised than my heart. After all, I knew everyone was lying the whole time. Ever since I discovered the truth about this town. So I never allowed my heart to fully open up to anyone here. And lets be honest, with how often my mom and I moved around, I was never planning to fully open up. Not even if this was the most boring town in the world.

This was an inevitable ending.

That’s it, then. Jordan is one of them. Always has been, always will be. He’s officially moved to the Shit List.

As for René, fuck that guy. He never seemed particularly invested in our friendship in the first place. I had always extended the same curtesy. No loss there. Another one for the Shit List.

Hm, it’s getting kinda long. Eh, it’s fine.

“I see.” Is all I want to say about that.

I’m only watching her out of the corner of my eye. She starts trying to say something twice before I decide three times would be too pathetic.

Her Aura has nothing but pain in it. If someone else who can Sense Auras like me were to look into this room, they might mistake her for the patient.

I think it’s fine to trust her. A little. For now. She’ll need to earn her way through my walls. We’ll make our final judgments on that after witnessing today’s performance.

“Do you still think I’m crazy?” I say it lightly, as a joke, trying to lighten the mood, and stare out my window. The sky has gone as grey as the building I get as a view. It’s almost difficult to distinguish between the concrete and the fog.

“No.”

Her answer surprises me. Before I can even blink, much less reply, she’s seated herself on the chair by my bed and grabbed both my hands.

“You look a wreck.”

“Why, thank-you, that’s exactly what I was going for.”

I’m still confused by her answer, so I crack another joke. That wasn’t a pity ‘no,’ that was a definite ‘no.’ Is… is she allowed to say that to me? What happened to the script?

She lightly hits my arm then grabs both my hands again.

“I thought you’d really died, we all did, you, you meany!”

I can’t help but laugh. She’s never been able to swear, and for all her intelligence she’s no good at covering up when she would have if she could have.

“Sorry for the inconvenience.”

“I’m serious!” She pouts and grips my hands tight. It kinda hurts but I’m not going to tell her that. Not when she’s in a state. Her Aura is incredibly unstable. “And then they said you tried to hurt yourself and turned me away at the door, and then-”

“I didn’t, that was a misunderstanding.”

Is she lying now? Surely, she was told about Ringleson?

She scowls at me for a moment before her eyes return to their usual softness.

“I swear. My first nurse was out to get me. The doctor too.” I decide to test the waters.

She rolls her eyes but stops halfway and then just looks at the ground.

That was legit. She… really has no clue. No one told her that? Wait, Jordan and René are both relatively strong, similar to David and Clifford, who has a real name I will never use. But Chayla is a Weak Shifter. Does that place her lower on the totem pole, then? Then my theory that she is mostly innocent in this holds some weight.

If she was mostly kept in the dark and wasn’t receiving any high-level evil missions from that Council I hate without meeting them yet, then it’s safe to assume she was hanging out with me because she wanted to. I mean, I’m super amazing but most people don’t see that so if she’s been hanging out with me out of her own free will then she’s… alright, I guess.

A little weird, though.

I’ll still have some fun with her. Mostly-Innocent doesn’t mean no punishment.

“I’m not even kidding, they even replaced her later. I think she even got fired.” Not 100% truth but not 100% lie, either. Who knows if Nancy left on her own accord or not?

Che, I hope that bitch is dead too. Go join Ringleson’s puddle.

Chayla is still staring at the floor and her hands aren’t gripping me as tight. “Are you okay?” I ask, even though I’m not the one who should be asking that in this situation. But this entire conversation is going differently than I thought it would.

A weird cough slash laugh escapes her and she stands suddenly and flits across the room, her back to me.

“No, I’m not okay.”

“What’s wrong?” Again, a little backwards, but I’m concerned. The quick movements are her MO but not this holding back stuff.

“I didn’t believe you.”

Now I look at the floor. I was so happy to just see her again I really didn’t want to bring that stuff up right now. Everything has been so serious and dark I just wanted a bit of Chayla’s sunshine.

“Worse, I believed them.”

The pure venom in her words right there leaves me, me, temporarily speechless. I didn’t even know her voice could do that. She’s, I mean she’s Chayla. Happy, kind, cry-baby Chayla. Didn’t know she had it in her.

“Those… people told me things. And Jordan and René told me things. But I’ve always followed my own judgment. But… I still didn’t believe you. Not about the important things. I… obviously knew you were right about a lot of it, and I’m really sorry, I’m so sorry, but not the danger. That couldn’t be real. Not about anything that involved you. It wasn’t supposed to- They said-”

Her voice cracks briefly but she continues.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

“They told me you and your mom needed protection, that’s why they had to monitor you, and that you and your mom were pretending to have amnesia or something in order to hide, and you had mental trauma? And because… because of my own situation I believed them. They also told me about your ancestry, so it made even more sense. I thought you were a refugee like me and Mr. Long and that’s why he hired you, but it turns out- it turns out-”

She breaks out into tears.

Wow. That was a lot of information. There are Shifter refugees? Mr. Long is a refugee too? Huh. A lot of his outlandish stories make a little more sense now. I don’t think he got out of Taiwan easily. Poor guy. And wait, what that about my ancestry? Why does that matter?

Op, she’s not done.

“I didn’t believe in you, and then you were attacked. And a cougar was on the news…” She turns around then, and she still has tears forming in her eyes.

I’ve seen her cry before loads of times. She’s nothing like me. She cries over stress or sad movies or cute puppies, literally so much stuff. But not like this. Never like this. She’s in real pain right now. I can feel it, and I don’t like it.

If I’m being honest, I thought I might, just a bit. In a gloating sort of way. Nothing sadistic or anything. But I find no joy in this.

“I’ve been looking into everything. I broke into your house to look at your Wall of Conspiracy you didn’t hide very well, and I got a hold of the Stuff Mart surveillance tape, and I read the official statement that hasn’t been released yet, and I-”

“Whoa, whoa, wait. How did you get the tape?” Or the official statement, for that matter. “And you broke into my house?”

“That’s not important!” Her fists are clenched and she’s still not looking right at me. “That boy, he’s one of-” I see her struggle with the word. “He’s one of us, isn’t he? I saw the footage. You didn’t walk out there and get attacked by a wolf that is such, such, wrong…ness.”

“Chayla-”

“No, let me finish, please.”

Alrighty, then…

“Your body was moving weird, and it wasn’t the quality of the video, I checked that. Those few seconds were fine it’s the rest of it that got wrecked somehow.” She takes a deep breath. “And then I hear about the shooting of that poor kid. In broad daylight. Here, in the Capitol. And they blame your attack on a wolf, when wild wolves would never in a million years venture into this city, not with the Flanagan Tribe residing here. Neither would that cougar. Cougars aren’t supposed to, they’re supposed to be, you know, it just- None of it makes any sense.” She huffs.

More information. God, I should have had this tiny miracle visit earlier.

This Bubble is a Shifter Capitol. Fuck. Then it’s not illegal. Not really. The Mutant Independence Act allowed two types of Bubbles to remain hidden from the public, those are Approved Sanctuary Sites, and the Capitol for the region.

The names of those Sites and Cities are still supposed to be public knowledge though, so that any Normie who finds themselves in one due to extenuating circumstances without prior intent will be aware of it. That was an addendum.

However, the official Shifter Capitol of Canada is publicly listed to be a place called East Piccolac. It’s supposed to be in Ontario. Somewhere. Uh, this is Alberta. And this city is called Ashvale. So in the end they’re still kinda breaking the law. Good. Uh, I think.

“Kara.”

“Uh, yup?”

“You got lost again. In your head.”

Ah, crap, she looks so concerned.

“Sorry.”

She shakes her head. “No. I’m sorry. Something happened to you, something no one is talking about. And I want you to know that whatever you tell me I-” Her voice catches again but she pushes through. “No matter what I’ll believe you this time.”

If this situation was totally different, I would be super psyched about this free pass and would mess with her so bad. Unfortunately, this is my life, and this pleasure will have to be denied me.

I’m still looking at my sheets and not at her. My brain is in hyperdrive right now. I’ve been told I can’t say anything, and I know if I do it might not just be me they punish. But she’s already been investigating, on her own, and there’s no way I could stop her if I don’t give her a satisfying answer.

She’s the persistent sort.

“You… you weren’t pretending about the amnesia either, were you?” She asks softly. “You really don’t know anything… those- those bad guys lied to me. I thought I was playing along. They said I could only be your friend if I listen. For your own good. They said to just do whatever Jordan and René were doing. It was supposed to keep you safe. I know you don’t believe me and that’s okay, I deserve it, and I’ll believe you anyways. I promise.”

I decide to tell her the truth. Or a version of it, anyway. But I should be careful.

“You’re not wrong.”

She’s sitting beside me again immediately.

“But there’s not much I can tell you.”

“Kara please, it won’t be like before, I promise. Please talk to me. I know something’s up and I’m not going to just drop this, and have you deal with it alone.”

Her Aura is so guilty it’s making me feel bad for her. I know she’s genuine because as far as I know, Auras can’t lie.

“This doesn’t just involve you. Something is going on, on a much bigger scale. You should check your Wall of Conspiracy again when you get back. I left you some notes. And I hid it better. You’ve… there’s so much that I doubt even they know that you’ve somehow noticed. It’s amazing. And the kid that got shot, he’s not a nobody you know. There’s no way. I won’t let this go; you know that.”

Yeah, I know. That’s the problem.

“I need you to listen to more than what I’m saying. There’s not much I can tell you.”

Now you need to know, Chayla loves crime. We both do, it’s one of the reasons we’re besties. Mystery novels, cop shows, whatever form it takes, she loves a mystery, a puzzle, so I know how to handle her.

“There’s not much I can say, but you’re not wrong.” I incline my head and her eyes get really big.

When she talks, it’s now in whispers. “Are you being threatened? Are you in danger? Um, more- more danger?”

I don’t really know how to respond to that. Am I being threatened? Am I in danger? Well, uh, che-yeah and yes.

“I’m not in immediate danger. I’m probably still being monitored.”

She glances around the room again before looking back at me. “Was it the boy in the tape? Did he-” she swallows hard. “Did he do this to you?”

“I can’t answer that.”

“Kara, come on, if that…that degenerate did something to you, then-”

“Going after him won’t help me.” And will probably get you killed.

Her face changes then and she gets oddly calm. Her aura feels…determined. Or stubborn, and frankly a bit dark. Now that we’re finally able to be fully honest, it seems there are a lot of interesting sides to this little lady.

“What would help you?” She breathes in through her nose and out through her mouth. I’ve seen her do this before tests. “What can I do?”

I think about that for a minute. It would be bad for her to go looking for more information about me, and my case. I can’t let her do that. On the other hand, if she doesn’t feel like she’s helping me in some way, then that’s exactly what she’ll do. So…I need to give her a mystery to solve that doesn’t have anything to do with me, specifically.

That’s when I have an epiphany. There is already a mystery, that has nothing to do with me, that I already want solved. Rodney. I owe him.

“You mentioned the boy. The shooting victim.”

“Yes. The first shooting murder here for over a decade. It’s become a big deal. No one seems at all concerned about a killer wolf that is still supposedly stalking about.”

“Forget about me for a second.” She opens her mouth to protest but I speak over her. “If you want to help me, then find out what happened to that kid. What really happened.”

She’s quiet for a long while, I can practically see all the cogs shuffling together in her brain as her eyes flutter back and forth while she processes everything.

“He’s connected, then. To everything.”

“In a way.”

I have to be careful, she’s good at seeing through deceit so I can’t outright lie to her like I can to others. She doesn’t look totally convinced. If she thinks I’m trying to distract her then she’ll only go investigating my situation with even more zeal.

That can’t happen.

You might think sending her after someone with gun isn’t any less dangerous than her investigating me. Well, if you think that you’re dumb. They’re keeping quiet about the wolf, and me. I’m directly tied to something big, that much is clear. And hidden dangers are always always worse. I mean come on, that’s rule number one.

Rodney’s death has caused a ton of hype. Not only that, but apparently Rodney was an important person. He went to the preppy schools so more likely his family is important. Which means the whole town is gonna be all over this. Whoever is involved in Rodney’s death is going to have to be much more careful than the people involved in my shit. Not to mention they’ll be dealing with a whole city seeking answers, not just her.

It’s objectively safer.

“He’s important. I know he is. I just don’t know how. And I won’t, if…”

My throat suddenly starts to hurt a lot, so I pinch my nose tightly and squint my eyes. I’ve found that helps somehow. Bodies are weird. I’ve talked more today than I have since I got to the hospital.

Chayla senses my discomfort and stands, grabbing my hands again. She has a resolute expression on her face. One I’ve seen many times before. Often before a test.

God, I hope she’s heading in the right direction. There’s no way to change her course when she’s giving off a look like that.

“I don’t know how this murder connects to your mauling, if that’s even what actually happened.”

Oh, boy. I try not to look discouraged.

“I do know that both a wolf attack, or other type of assault, occurring within an hour of an actual murder, in a town where neither such things has happened in many, many years, is suspicious.”

Oh. I try not to look too pleased.

“You must be right. Something has happened in this city, and it involves both you and this boy. If you need answers about him to find answers about what happened to you, then that’s what I’ll do. I told you I would believe you, and I do. I’ll find you your answers.”

She leans down to pick up her bag, but I grab one her hands before she can leave.

“Thank-you, and please be careful.”

She laughs. “Oh please, when am I ever not careful?”

“No, really, watch the shadows.”

I stress the last word a bit. There’s no telling if that warning will be enough. I did tell her to pay attention to what I’m not saying, right? I can only hope it’s enough to keep her safe.

“Shadows. I see.” She nods slowly. “Oh right, before I forget.” Then she digs into her backpack and pulls out a bunch of random wildflowers tied together with a purple hair tie. “Here.”

“Uh, thanks.”

I accept them. They smell awful and the aroma is way too strong, and I still haven’t managed to toss out the flowers my mom and that traitorous Martha brought, yet now I have more. Greeeat.

“Oh, don’t look like that. These are special.”

I cough. “Right.” I shouldn’t be rude. They’re nice enough. Not the typical I’m-Visiting-Someone-In-The-Hospital flowers, but they’re, yeah, nice enough.

“Make sure to enjoy them.”

Okay now she’s being a little weird. “Uh huh.” I give her a ‘look.’

Now she looks annoyed. “I told you they’re special.” She gets all shifty eyed then, man can those pupils of hers move. “You should listen to what I say too.” And she gives me a, I guess that’s supposed to be a ‘look,’ but she can’t pull it off like I can.

My thoughts must have shown on my face because she huffs at me. And with that, she glides out of the room quiet as a ghost and quick as a bird. If I didn’t know her so well, I’d suspect she had powers of her own. Strong ones, I mean. But that’s just how she is. She’s short and small, like a feather in the wind. And so she moves like one.

Speaking of birds, I’ve just killed two with one stone. She’s off my trail, and onto Rodney’s.

Please, please, please let that one be safer.