“Hey, you checking your fancy phone again?” Lacie said as she brought in the last tray of food from the dining room. Jamie quickly hid her compact transmitter on her lap.

“Nope. Uh-Uh,” she said as she got off of her chair and stuffed it into her waitress apron and tried to look busy. The kitchen was quiet today, not a lot of customers, so not a lot of orders. The kitchen staff were leisurely chatting to themselves as they cleaned up. Heat and the smell of sautéed chicken that usually enveloped the area was replaced by the cool air of boredom. Jamie wasn’t surprised. With the news of another person going missing right here in Winnog, no one wanted to be eating out very late. But a job’s a job.

Lacie dropped her tray into the sink and click-clocked her way back to Jamie. Her brown hair was tied up into a ponytail.

“You know, if the boss finds you with that thing again, he’s really going to fire you this time,” she whispered.

“Tsk tsk, you underestimate my charm,” Jamie smiled mischievously. She had lost count of the amount of times her boss, Martin, had scolded her for having her “phone” out. She enjoyed seeing his red, beet face swell up only to immediately deflate every time she pouted or made artificial tears well up. Hell, sometimes she didn’t even need to do that, a smile and cute words often sufficed. He was so easy. Old men usually were, especially with the form that she had chosen. 

She had mid-length, wavy black hair, darling blue eyes, and a smile that could melt the coldest of hearts. Not to mention the perfect proportions she had given herself. She had tried to model herself after one of those movie star actresses from the 50’s after catching a movie one night. She made herself pretty petite as well, seeing that humans usually responded well to women who were small and cute. Had she wanted to be a man, she would’ve gone for the tall, dark, and handsome type. But the form she had ultimately chosen fit best after all.

A door creaked open; one of the other server staff came in.

“Since there’s not much to put away or clean up, boss says we can go home a bit early. He doesn’t want anyone to stay out too late given the current… circumstances.”

Circumstances. Whoever it was, was probably long gone by now. She looked at Lacie who had a look of relief on her face.

“Good, this whole thing’s been giving me the creeps. I mean, seven people? That’s a lot in one area. Don’t you think?” She looked at Jamie while running her hands up and down her arms.

“Yeah,” Jamie replied automatically. People go missing, die, and kill all the time here on Earth. The news had said so. Lacie often watched the news, even though she said it depressed her.“They never report anything good. It’s always so depressing.” Jamie felt bad for the humans, but their lifespan was already so small. Did it really matter?

Jamie followed Lacie into the employee room to change out of their waitress uniforms. Just as she slipped into her yellow, button up dress, she felt her transmitter buzz. Ugh come on.

“You ready?” Lacie said, her black hoodie on, all ready to go.

“Um, not yet. I have to call someone,” Jamie said. “You know how mothers are, especially nowadays.” Jamie rolled her eyes and put on a smile.

“It’s ok, I’ll wait. Tell her I said hello.” Lacie said, getting ready to sit down.

“No, no,” Jamie said quickly. “It’s better I talk to her in private, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh…Okay.” Lacie stopped mid-motion. Her face puckered up into a frown. “You never talk on your phone when I’m around,” She said, puzzled. Oh no, please don’t ask. 

“I trust you and everything, don’t get me wrong. And I know that you said you’re very private…” She let her sentence trail off. It looked like she was deciding whether or not to say something.

Jamie knew this was going to come up sooner or later. She loved Lacie. She was the best human she had ever chosen to get to know. She was nice enough to let her live in her apartment with her, to share her food with her, and take her out to movies. She was the one who showed her the ropes on her first day of waitressing. She could tell by the way Lacie often brought up subjects like family and past memories that she had been trying to get to know Jamie better. She meant well of course, but Jamie wasn’t ready to let her in just yet. She was afraid of how she would react if she knew she wasn’t from Earth. Humans were still very unpredictable in that way.

“It’s a little weird when your best friend doesn’t even tell you about her family.” Lacie finally forced out. Her face had flushed and she was gripping the handles of her handbag tightly. She stared at Jamie, not breaking eye contact. Jamie suddenly felt that painful sting in her heart that happened every time she was about to lie to her.

“Alright, fine.” Jamie stood up and faced her, put one hand over her chest and raised the other in the air. “Through the power of friendship! Thou have broken me!” She said theatrically. “I, Jamie, swear to tell my lady Lacie everything and anything she so desires! Even if it breaks my humble vow of silence.” Lacie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, but Jamie could see the hints of a smile edging on her lips. She continued, “Granted,” lowering her hand in the air to point at Lacie, “She makes me her world famous, Vanilla- Chocolate-Almond-Fudge-drizzle-Marshmallow-Supreme Sundae.”

“We’d have to stop by the store,” Lacie grumbled. Jamie continued pointing at her, raising her eyebrows up and down with a goofy grin. “UGH, fine.” She giggled.

“Hah!”

“You promise right?” she said seriously. Jamie paused; she’d have to seriously come up with something now. But if it would make Lacie happy, she’d think long and hard.

“I promise. Why don’t you go outside and hail a cab, I won’t take long. Five seconds, tops.”

“Alright, ten seconds.” Lacie said as she opened the door and left.

Now that she was gone, Jamie could finally find out what these idiots wanted and hopefully get them off her ass. She took the silver, circular transmitter out of her apron before stuffing it into the locker. She slid her finger over the top of it in a special unlocking pattern. It glowed a bright yellow before showing a holographic image of one of her old comrades, Metryk, or as he liked to be called on Earth, Matt.

“Finally! Where are you, we need you to come back immediately!” This was the fourth time they had tried contacting her, even though she said no every time. It was getting very annoying.

“No. I told you, just practice a little everyday and you’ll get better. Now stop contacting me before I erase you from my registry.” She went to cancel the transmission.

“Wait! We’ve tried but they deemed us unsatisfactory. They specifically requested the best sharpshooter and that’s you! Please! They’ll punish us if you don’t.” His voice got increasingly shaky and she could see the sweat dripping down his greasy face.

“That’s not my problem anymore, sorry.” Jamie wanted nothing to do with the Warriors. No matter how much money they paid her, and she no longer had any sympathy for those of her race that continued to grovel at their feet. If they were going to be so submissive, did they really deserve the honor of being one of the Noble Four? “If you’re so afraid, why don’t you go back to Chameleon?”

“Wai-"

Jamie swiped her finger down and locked her transmitter. She pondered over whether she really should just erase them from her registry, but decided against it. They made her sick, but they were still her kin. She threw her transmitter into her small black backpack, put it over her shoulders and ran outside.

As soon as she opened the glass double doors of the restaurant, her body tensed up. She took a couple of steps out onto the sidewalk, all the way to the curb. What is that smell? It was a scent she had smelled before, but she couldn’t quite place it. She focused her senses on her nose and ears. The sound of the cars cutting the wind contrasted with the deafening silence of the sidewalk. No one could be seen on her block, or on the two in either direction. She turned her nose to the air and took a few whiffs. Something about this smell made her blood turn cold. Her natural instincts were kicking in, telling her to run. The muscles in her legs were pulsing, ready to take flight. Her hairs on her arms went straight up into the air, ready to metamorphose. It was putrid, like the rotting of matter. It was a mixture of rust, decay, and a dull sweetness that made the overall scent even worse. It was strong enough to make Jamie scrunch up her nose and put her hand up to shield it, as it repeatedly kicked her in the face. This is strong enough for even humans to pick up. What is this?

Suddenly a thought crossed her mind and made the color drain from her face. Where’s Lacie? She should’ve been out here hailing a cab. Jamie’s eyes frantically scanned the sidewalk, but there was no one in sight. Her stomach sank and swirled in twisty whirlpools as she stuck her nose into the air again, hoping to pick up Lacie’s scent. There was nothing but the nasty stink that was eerily familiar. But then she caught something, it was quick but it was there, Lacie’s lavender perfume. 

She followed it around the block near the ally entrance of the back of the restaurant. What was she doing back here? The fact that the stink was also getting stronger made her fingers tremble. Jamie’s boots cautiously approached the corner of the alleyway where she started hearing noises. Noises that made her freeze. She was hearing crunches, like bone against tinfoil, and wet slurping. Jamie mustered her courage and peeked around the corner.

The only light source was the small light over the back entrance of the restaurant. Movement was coming from a hunched over figure that seemed to be eating something, or rather stuffing something into its mouth. Jamie’s knees started to shake as she realized why the scent was so familiar. What is a Gargoyle doing here? I thought they were banned from participating in Open Conquest?Jamie turned her heel to slowly go back when something glinted in her peripheral vision, a metal buckle from a handbag. No no no no no.

Rage replaced fear as Jamie strode up closer to get a better look, spying another object on the floor a few inches away, Lacie’s ring. Jamie felt her heart sink into the ground. Her eyes started fogging up and she wanted to scream but it was caught in her throat. She gripped the sides of a nearby trashcan to steady herself. No way. Her head was beginning to hurt as emotions came and went. She stared at the Gargoyle who still hadn’t noticed her presence; it was so engrossed with its meal. The sounds of him leisurely devouring her happiness made her seethe. At a loss at what to do, she raised the trashcan and threw it as hard as she could at the alien just as he gave a final slurp. It knocked him over and as he shook his head, caught off guard, Jamie finally let out a scream of frustration. He scrambled to his legs and leapt up the walls of the building to the roof. Jamie bolted after him, bent on making the lowly creature suffer. She couldn't jump as high as he could, but she was fast enough to follow.

Jamie chased him on the ground, watching closely as he leapt from building to building, cursing the day she decided she didn’t need a Blaster Gun anymore.