How did things come to this? I miss when things were simple. Back when we just accepted that monsters were bad, and needed to be killed. But then Mallory had an identity crisis, and she started to talk to them, and the monsters that could started producing children… Is it bad to not want to consider monsters people?

It’s no different from killing a bear that came into your house and started eating your family. The bear’s not going to stop eating humans, so the only thing that can be done is to kill it. Sure, you could teach the bear not to eat humans, but it’s already got a taste for it. It still wants to eat humans, so one day… it’ll break its promise and start eating humans again.

…

About 45 minutes had passed before Mallory finally came out the shower. Teriyaki had cleaned up her skin and put it who knows where. She then disappeared outside, probably to chase more cats. I had found Mallory a dress that was left in one of the drawers. It was purple with light blue trim, a small pocket sewn onto the right side of the chest.

“Feeling better?” I ask as Mallory shuffles into the room.

“I think so.”

When I look at her, she still has that odd look in her eye. Her sclera had returned to it’s normal, white color, but her skin still squirmed and twitched unsettlingly.

“Here,” I toss the dress at her. “Got you a gift.”

“Thanks, I hate it.” She giggles, barely managing to catch it. She holds it up in front of her. “I wonder who’s dead body this came off of.”

As she gets dressed, I notice the large scar dug into her side. Due to her not-fully-human nature, she heals very fast—her scars fading away only hours after even the most lethal of injuries. So, I suppose this injury came from her time in the forest. I’d ask about it, but she still looks twitchy, and I don’t want her to destabilize again.

“So, you gonna tell me who the kid is?” Mallory bounces over and plops down on the couch next to me, her sopping wet pig tails dripping water all over the couch.

“That’s the kid from yesterday who said he was Hunter. She’s actually a shapeshifter, and her name is Teriyaki.”

“Wooow, you didn’t kill a monster at first sight? You’ve grown so much.”

“Ah, shut up.” I punch her shoulder. “I’m still deciding on what to do with her. I could still kill her.”

“Suuure.”

“Speaking of monsters though, I met Valentina.”

Mallory freezes with a smile on her face, then just as quickly looks away.

“Valentina? Who’s that?”

“The vampire you’re letting stay at Base 8.”

“…Ohhh, yeaaahh. That Valentina.” She looks back, very obviously faking her reaction.

“Yeah, she said you guys were good friends. Interesting that I’ve never heard about her before.”

“That’s wild.” Mallory shrugs. “Anyways, what’s on the agenda for today?”

“Well, let’s see. We could move the vampire out the base.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Valentina’s a guest.”

“We could talk about how you’re doing with Mal.”

“I’m doing just fine at handling her!”

“Oh yeah?”

“I truly did not mean to rip that guy in half. I… misjudged my strength.”

“Was it horizontal or vertical?”

“…vertical…” She replies sheepishly. “But really, I’m fine.”

“Mal said you ate Despair.”

“Haven’t you gotten any gigs? There’s usually something going on this early.”

I don’t respond at first, sighing softly at her insistence on not talking about anything.

“The church wants to meet with us at 2. Otherwise, nothing.” I cross my arms. “So… Unless you have any ideas on what to do with Teriyaki, there’s nothing to do.”

Mallory starts to hum, staring at the wall opposite to her. She holds her note for about six seconds, then turns back to me.

“We can just give her to the colony in the mountains. I’m not sure how shapeshifters feel about outsiders, but… ya know.”

“There’s… There’s a shapeshifter colony in the mountains?”

“Oh, yeah. I didn’t wanna tell you, cause I was afraid you’d wanna wipe them out.” She bridges her fingers, breaking eye contact again.

“How long have you known about it?”

“About a month.”

“For fucks sake.” I pinch the bridge of my nose, then look up at her. “I’m going to start keeping important secrets from you. Out of spite. Then we’ll see how you like it.”