Green or black tea? Green..? Black...? Green? Black? Caffeine. Green it is. I sigh and pull a box of green tea off the shelf, waiting for the kettle to whistle. Flanna's supposed to come over today, and I'm planning on talking to her about what happened yesterday- but I'm not quite sure she'll want to. It was pretty traumatic, and she got hurt. It might be the kind of thing she'll want to block out.

I take a jar of honey from one of the cupboards and walk back over to the kettle- now screeching at me. I didn't know a kettle could sound angry. That's really weird. I lift it off of the stovetop and pour the water over the teabag, stirring in a spoonful of honey.

I let it steep as I put everything away and sit down at the table. Just as I'm about to take a sip- the doorbell rings. I stand up and go to the door to find Flanna with her phone out. She grins and holds it up for me to see. It's a sound app. Guess this place really doesn't have a doorbell.

"Hello, Flanna. Come on in." I greet, and she walks by me into the dining room.

"Thanks for having me over, Edlynne! Ooh! Is that tea? May I have some?" Flanna exclaims, grabbing an apple from the fruit basket on the table.

"Of course. What kind?" I ask, going over to the cabinet.

"What do you have?"

"Green, black, raspberry, and a few that taste good but I don't know what's in them- oh, and there are rose hips, too."

"Oh~ green please!" Flanna decides, and I grab the box off the shelf.

"The water should still be warm. Do you want any honey or sugar?"

"Honey, please!" I fill up her cup and stir in the honey before handing it to her. "Thanks, Edlynne! You're so nice!"

"It's just good hosting, Flanna. I- I had a question of my own, actually. If you don't mind me asking, what did you tell your parents about your injury?"

"Oh! I told them the truth! The looked at each other, and then went to get the first aid kit!" Flanna holds up her leg, showing me that it's properly bandaged now. "I'm not allowed to wear pants until it's healed because there's a chance it'll wear at the bandages, though! So it looks like it's shorts for me!" Flanna laughs, taking a sip of her tea. "What did you tell yours?"

"Oh- I didn't have to. I'm living by myself here." I reply, taking a sip of my tea.

"Really?! At 13?! That's crazy!!" Flanna exclaims, standing up and slamming her hands on the table.

"Not really. They're really busy- and I don't stay in one school for long, so it'd be a hassle to move all of us."

"That's really cool! Wait- how are you going to fill out the registration forms, then? For school?"

"I mailed it to them. It should be back in a few days."

"That's so weird. I don't know what I'd do away from my parents." Flanna shakes her head.

"I got used to it really quick. It's fun, though. No bedtime, no curfew, and I can have whatever I like for dinner- or any meal for that matter."

"That's so cool!!"

"But it is hard sometimes because I need to budget my allowance for food and other necessities. So if I do it wrong, I do get hungry toward the end of the month."

"So it's like being a grown-up! And the allowance is like your paycheck! You need to make it last!"

"Yeah- pretty much. It's more fun though since I don't actually need to work."

"So, do you cook your own food?"

"Not usually, which is why I was so interested in your pies."

"That's great! Depending on what you make it can actually be cheaper to make your own food! Like bread! The ingredients are cheaper than buying a loaf- and it's fun to make, too!" Flanna cheers. "We should get started! Let's see what you have!" She jumps up and rushes about the kitchen, grabbing things from shelves and out of cupboards. "For someone who doesn't cook, you sure do have a lot of ingredients! You have everything we need to make an apple pie!"

"That's great because I already ate all of the pie you brought over." I chuckle, and Flanna stares at me in disbelief.

"Already?? You've only been here for three days!"

"What can I say? It was really good." I shrug, and Flanna sighs, going about organizing the ingredients, explaining what she's doing. I follow along, helping where I can until finally, the pie is in the oven.

"Flanna, about yesterday, do you have any idea what happened? Or what that thing was?" I ask, sitting across from her at the table.

"I did some research last night. I couldn't sleep- so I did some reading, everything from fairy tales to myths to local lore. The closest thing I found is in Greek mythology. A Hellhound."

"Hellhound? We battled a beast from literal hell, and won?" I ask, flabbergasted.

"Looks like it. I mean, it matches the description to a T. A wolf, but huge, with glowing eyes, and black or red fur, sometimes capable of speech."

"That's crazy. I mean- a real-life myth? And it attacked us? Why us?"

"It said something about one of us being tempting, but two being irresistibly delicious. Maybe it was because we were far away from people?"

"I guess- but I was alone for most of the day. And it could have attacked when we were on the road- right?"

"Maybe it didn't know we were there?"

"This is crazy, Flanna. I think it's best if we don't go in the woods for now, though."

"Agreed."

"Oh- I almost forgot. Here." I hand Flanna her tooth, now suspended on a string. I put mine on, but hers barely fits over that massive mane of curls she calls her hair.

"We match!" She giggles, fiddling with the tooth.

"Yeah, we do."