I-I-I… Uh, blacked out again. I’m in a furry horror movie. They probably drugged me up and they’re going to…

Hyeon put his hands over his face, having a manic attack. “Holy shit! What will happen to Nammi?! And my body?! They’re gonna…” He rambled all the possibilities aloud.

Sani was offended and flicked his tail in annoyance. “I'm not sure if I gave off the wrong impression. We’re not into that sort of foreplay.”

Immediately, Hyeon pointed to Sani’s ears with a shaking hand and shouted, “‘Foreplay’?! You’re like… a dog thing!” 

“Coyote, actually.” The guy was insulted.

“Are those real? I mean, they have to be if the other one changed into that!” Hyeon gestured to the other dog creature next to Sani. He assumed it was the driver, Blue. He was a gray pitbull with a white chest, but his jaw was abnormally large with jagged, protruding teeth. Instead of normal puppy eyes, he had eight beady ones, resembling a spider in that aspect. This was not a beast someone would want to encounter in the night!

Blue sat next to Sani’s feet with a wagging tail… or three… and looked at Hyeon. Foamy drool pooled to the ground from between those too-many large teeth that couldn’t fit in his mouth. 

“I find what you said a little offensive, Mr. Falken. Am I not like the other spirits you’ve seen before?” it growled. 

Hyeon was becoming hysterical. “Seriously, why do you look like an arachnid and a dog got all jiggy with it and then you came along!? And how is Nammi so freaking calm being next to you? Get back here Pst!”

Sometime during his outburst, Nammi had joined the trio and laid belly up next to the demon canine. That was very out of character for her, considering she always ran away at the sight of… normal dogs. Hyeon knew Nammi could easily escape her carrier if she tried. In the past, it was common for her to disappear from the confines of the veterinary clinic.

“What kind of dream is this?” 

Sani tried to get his attention. “Hyeon?”

“How is this even possible?”

“Hyeon.”

“Did I die on the way t—”

“Hyeon!”

He stopped his long-winded frenzy and finally gave Sani his undivided attention.

“Do you even know what or where we are?”

“No! I don’t!”

The other two glanced at each other before looking back at him. “We’re animal spirits like you. If you want to be more technical, Blue is a subspecies of hellhound. When you asked earlier what a spegill was… You have truly never seen one?”

“Never.”

“You’ve never seen animal spirits?”

“Absolutely not.”

“And you’re not from a dýr family?”

What language was this? Everything sounded foreign to Hyeon. “A what family?”

“Dýr means ‘animal’ in some languages such as Old Norse and Norwegian. It’s the common term for families with animal blood. Are you sure you don’t belong to a dýr clan? Your soul feels otherwise which is why I chose your lackluster resume. If you were a normal human, finding this job online would be impossible since only a dýr can see the listing. I’ll repeat it again. You’re not a dýr?” Sani’s gray eyes gleamed. The angry glow from his irises were small lunar eclipses.

Hyeon didn’t know what to think. Surely, they were crazy. A weird club. A cult. At least those would be easier to explain than this. He whispered, “I-I’m not. This is all new. Please just take me back to town.”

A silent minute passed. Blue lay down with his head between his paws. Sani paced with a hand over his mouth. Then he stopped and... giggled uncontrollably.

What the fu—? Actually amused? I don’t find it funny!

Hyeon was irate. “I want to go to town. Now.”

But Sani’s wide smile turned wicked and wider—like the Cheshire Cat. This situation certainly felt like Hyeon was tripping! “You can’t! The contract has been signed. While you probably saw a normal contract in your eyes, a dýr would see different terms and conditions. Regardless, you signed it. I’m curious how an interesting human such as yourself holds up… and survives. Let’s head inside, shall we?”