The door opened, and he was brutally hit by the smell of incense, tea leaves, and flowers, making him take a step back.

“What do you want?” asked Mindy with a hand on her hip and another on the door.

“Yeah, like, we’re busy!” said Mandy, looking over her sister’s shoulder.

“Do you two know how to get rid of demons? Ghost? Monsters?” he asked his half-sisters. He was starting to feel light-headed, looking at their glittery and colorful clothes. “I’m not really sure what it is, but I need to get rid of it.”

“What? Why?” asked Mindy, playing with a lock of her bleached blond hair.

“Yeah, like, why would you think that? And why would we help you? If you got yourself hunted or whatever, that’s a you problem, deal with it yourself.” Said the other blond girl, her hazel-green eyes looking at him scornfully.

“It’s not really following me in particular; it’s hunting our school. I saw it scare the shit out of a kid in the playground.” He felt like his brain was melting from hearing them talk. 

“Ok…”

“Oh, so, like, you want to get rid of it before it attacks you?”

“Well, yes... But also having it go around would just be a nuisance. I mean, if a monster is going around leaving everyone on edge, who do you think my bootlickers are going to pay attention to? Me? Or the thing going around making kids shit their pants?” Mark explained. “And the same thing will happen to your 'friends’. Yes, they might stick around and stuff, but they will be looking over their shoulder constantly instead of looking at you.”

“They’re not like that... But still...” Mindy turned to her twin.

“Yeah, like, I guess letting it do its thing isn’t a good idea…” Mandy agreed.

“Come on in,” said the younger twin.

Mark entered the fashion atelier/bedroom/meditation room of his half-sisters and sat on a pink cushion, while the girls sat on egg-shaped vim chairs hanging from the ceiling.

“So, what exactly did you see?” Mindy asked.

“Yeah, like, it’s a demon, a ghost, or a monster?”

“That’s the thing, I’m not sure myself, I never saw any of them before after all. But it definitely was something supernatural.”

“Guadalupe!” Mandy called, snapping her fingers. “Bring me a pen and paper.”

A wooden mannequin, using an unfinished dress, grabbed the girl’s math notebook and pencil case and ran to deliver them.

“Describe it.” Ordered Mindy, as her twin sister opened the notebook.

“Let’s see… It was kind of foggy, but it had really sharp nails, it had a mane and horns… Oh! It had a tail like a peacock!” he said, gesturing to his lower back.

“A peacock tail?”

“Like, with feathers?”

“I think so… they were like rows of feathers on top of each other.”

“How many legs?” Mindy asked.

“It was just like a person, two legs and two arms.”

“Ok…” Mandy said, adding a new bullet point to the description and quickly sketching an anatomically correct human.

“I think it was also wearing a suit now that I think about it…”

“A suit?”

“Like, what kind of suit? Did it have a tail? Was it using a bowtie, a necktie…” Mandy asked.

“A necktie, I think,” Mark said.

“It was a guy?” the younger twin asked.

“I don’t know, it had a puffed-up chest, but its arms and legs were really meaty, so I can’t say if those were boobs or muscles. Its voice was a bit distorted as well, but it sounded more feminine than masculine for sure. ”

“You could have said the damn thing was ripped from the start!” Mandy complained, erasing what she had drawn so far and starting from zero.

Cassie was lying on her stomach, waiting for the VPN to do its job so she could start a video call with her brother. She waited for about ten minutes before he picked up.

“Hey…” the older man greeted. His blue skin was discolored, his short fluffy hair looked messy and greasy, his ram-like horns had lost their luster, and he had reddish eye bags under his puffy golden eyes.

“Is everything alright? You look... tired and dirty. When was the last time you took a bath?” 

“Two days ago!” a velvety masculine voice yelled off-screen.

“I’m just too tired for that, ok?” the blue man justified.

“Go take a bath, Derek,” Cassie ordered.

“Ok…” he sighed, getting up from the chair and exiting the kitchen.

“Thank you, I was seriously considering sedating him and cleaning him myself.” chuckled the off-screen voice.

“You’re welcome, Kyler.” Cassie heard a door slamming shut in the distance “Do you mind keeping me company until he comes back?”

“Sure thing, but I’m a little busy prepping lunch right now, so I can’t really sit and talk…”

“Can you move the computer so I can see you, at least?”

“Sure, just a moment.” The image moved, and now she could see the red-haired incubus perfectly.

“That’s a pretty cute apron.” She commented, pointing at the bear-shaped apron with heart eyes.

“Thanks, it arrived in the mail yesterday. My little sister said it made her think of me, so my parents sent it.” The athletic man said, checking in on the oven.

“Which one?”

“The four-year-old one. Speaking of younger sibs, MC says he misses you and loves you very much.” He said, a hint of irony in his voice.

“What did he break this time?” she asked with a sour tone.

“He broke one of the bazillion dream catchers in your room and that fancy dragon statue you made a year ago.”

“The golden one with the red and pink crystals?”

“Yes, and I think he threw up on your carpet too.” He said casually with a smile, thinking of all the things his younger siblings broke over the years.

“Goddamnit… Hey, do me a favor, and next time you see Sam, ask them why they aren’t looking after him like I asked them to.” Her skin was glowing red with anger.

“They’re the one with the shiny hair, right?”

“Yes, and the paper white skin.”

“Noted. Consider it done,” he said, opening the oven.

“Thanks.” She stayed quiet for a few moments looking at the kitchen’s door frame. “They’ve been working him to the bone, haven’t they?”

“They haven’t given him a murder-free night in the last two weeks. And he has two more targets to capture later.”

“Capture?”

The atmosphere became heavy, and Kyler’s expression turned grim as he stayed silent, filling a frying pan with sunflower oil.

“Kyler?”

“Cutting the need for aid programs and pension payments isn’t enough… They're taking people now too and… selling them.”