Not human Part 1 (Casey POV)

Even when they used the word 'magic' I thought I had fallen into the hands of some weirdo. Their blows hurt, but their beliefs were obviously more abstruse than the ideas of little bespectacled nerds playing Dungeon and Dragons in their parents' garages.

However, as that cold feeling spread up the back of my neck, I was irritated. Before I could even ask, a long thin tube seemed to bore into my head and my thoughts were enveloped in an icy haze. Startled, I gasped for air, shaking my head to get rid of the sensation. However, the pressure in my head continued to intensify. Just as it began to become uncomfortable, it dissipated as quickly as it had come. I barely heard the words that were spoken behind me, I was so baffled.

The violent bang that shattered my window panes brought me rudely back to reality. At least for a short time because what I saw did not correspond at all to my conception of 'real'. I held my head while the surrounding men acted surprisingly quickly. Within a very short time, they were ripping off their sleeves and had convincingly real medieval weapons in their hands. As if that weren't enough, the gentlemen's appearance also changed significantly. Their tanned skin became paler, their ears pointed, and their eyes took on a reddish glow.

"Fuck, what did they give me?" I muttered, taking a few steps back from the fighters.

In my studio, a couple of fantasy showmen were fighting strange non-human creatures!

This was the most violent trip I'd had in several years. Only unfortunately, these fantasy characters seemed extremely convinced of their existence because after one, I think it was one of the Pierce brothers, gave the creature a violent kick, it landed right in front of me.

I barely had time to look at the huge black bodies with the elongated faces and myriad eyes before the beast was already trying to pounce on me. With a spirited leap to the side, I brought myself to safety from the clawed hands and fished for a Glock that I had hidden among the colors on the shelf. Shot after shot I emptied the magazine, but that didn't stop the monster. Green blood gushed from the bullet wounds, but it looked more angry than seriously injured.

"You've got to be kidding me." Without thinking further about how real this actually was, I ran out of the room into the vestibule and activated the display next to the door. I never expected to actually need this particular feature in my own home, but again, my constant caution paid off.

So, all it took was the entry of a code to activate the self-destruct mechanism. Even before the final click confirmed the entry and a shrill warning tone told everyone in the house to get out of it as quickly as possible, I had already rushed out my front door onto the lawn.

I was a good runner, with my height it was sometimes better to take my legs in my hands than to face a superior force. Only, unfortunately, that skill didn't help me today as outside two of the disgusting creatures were already fighting with the transformed men. The other two had obviously already cut off the head of one of the critters in cooperation and rushed at the next one in amazing synchronicity.

Thus, they were all out, and I cursed as I just managed to get to safety before the detonation began.

Debris, glass and fire rained down on us as I came to a halt a hundred paces away. The critter I had shot appeared in front of me. It hissed and snarled as if addressing me. I understood nothing, nor was I interested, but slid wordlessly into a defensive position.

Unfortunately, the creature was difficult to deal with using Asian martial arts, as I quickly discovered. I could keep the claws at a distance, but the blows were set with more force than I would have ever noticed with a human. Slowly, but surely, it pushed me off to the side, away from the others. It was clear to me that it wanted to separate me, to take me out more easily. Suddenly, with a soft hiss, a broad blade whizzed over my head and cut off the creature's head. Green blood splattered on all sides and in an attempt to avoid the mess, I recognized the originator of the blade behind me. He remotely resembled Nathan Walker. However, his hair had changed color to purple and just as when I first saw him, he had little humanity in him now.

"Still alive?" he said, as smugly and condescendingly as he had earlier in our conversation. At the same time, his words revealed another peculiarity in the enumeration of non-human characteristics I had just begun to uncover about these persons. His teeth were pointed and sparkled razor sharp. He had several rows of them, so they resemble shark’s teeth.

"What strange creatures are you?", I asked faster than I could think, and then summarily dismissed the appearance of the well-off businessman. Whatever they were, they couldn't be human.