Its sharp blue eyes glowed in the night.

Its body was backlit against the light of the moon.

The mysterious silhouette stalked closer, intact ear up and alert.

The left ear was shredded.

Its eyes stared into mine.

And then it lunged.

I blinked, focusing on the truck above me. Or, rather, the foot that was now kicking my leg. I slowly shuffled out from under the truck, looking up to see the man who had “rescued” me the day before. He looked tired yet content.

“What?” I asked, sitting up. “Your boss told me to fix my truck and leave, so that’s what I’m doing. Like she said, Ivory Tower doesn’t want me.”

“You wouldn’t be alive if that was true,” he crouched beside me. “I’m Abraham, by the way. I’ve been in this town half my life. It was quick to accept me.” He paused for a moment, inspecting me. “Raine, if Ivory Tower didn’t want you, you would have been picked off by someone. You know what that means?”

“Someone finally wants me?” I scoffed, laying down and moving under the truck once more. “Sounds fake but okay.”

“Well, you’re just a little optimist, aren’t you?” Abraham laughed.

“Yeah, well, life’s been kind,” I sighed. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to say that I’ve told my… friends about you,” he carefully replied. I didn’t like how he hesitated on ‘friends’. “They agree that, if Ivory Tower accepts you, we have to as well. Those are the rules. Anna may not like it, but it’s not her choice.”

After a moment, I sat up and put the tools down. “You keep talking about this town like it’s a person. Why?”

“I don’t think you’re ready for that,” Abraham cautiously said. “You’re human, Raine, and humans can only handle so much.” He took a breath. “Tell me, do you believe in God? In magic other than the Demi-humans?”

“No.”

“Great,” he sighed. “This is gonna be fun.”

“What? Driving me out of town?”

“Look, I am not Anna,” he seemed offended. “I believe in Ivory Tower. If it thinks you should stay, I’m going to respect that.” When I didn’t reply and began sorting through my tools, Abraham said, “Raine, if Ivory Tower didn’t want you, it would have gotten rid of you the moment you entered.”

I looked up at him. “You’re crazy. A town can’t force someone to do anything.”

He just smiled. “You’d be surprised.”

In reply, I rolled my eyes again. “The moment this piece of junk is fixed, I’m out of here. You people clearly don’t want me, and are totally crazy.”

“My friends think differently,” Abraham sighed. “I barely know you, Raine, and they don’t know you at all, but we all know the rules. If Ivory Tower doesn’t get rid of you the moment you enter, it must at least be considering you.”

“Stop talking about it like it’s a person,” I huffed. “You sound insane.”

“Insanity is relative,” he smirked. “You’ve been in town for almost a week. Ivory Tower must want you. Just think about it. Open your mind a bit more. And, maybe try getting a job at the shop? I think you’d be good at it.” With that, he stood up and slowly walked away.

I stared after him for a little bit, watching him walk out of the alley. I looked at my shitty tools, at my broken truck, then at the snowy street. He was probably right. If I were to try to get a job as a mechanic, I wouldn’t have to rely on all that money in the suitcase, even though I totally could. I didn’t want to though. I had gone through… a lot… to get that money. I couldn’t just spend it left and right. Hell, I could barely look at it without feeling ill. I had to get a job.

I put my tools away, bundling up and starting the familiar walk back down to the hardware store. This would be the third time this week that I’d have gone in there. Only it wasn’t for parts or tools this time. Abraham was totally right; I needed a job. And at least I would somewhat enjoy being a mechanic.

“Need more parts, kid?” The woman at the counter asked.

“Uh, no,” I softly said. “It was… suggested that I… get a job here.”

“Huh, Abraham told me as much,” she smiled. “What’s your name?”

“Raine Swann,” I replied.

“You wanna be a mechanic?”

“I’ve been a mechanic since I was ten.”

“Hmm…. Impressive. What have you fixed?”

“A truck I found in the junkyard,” I shrugged. “A few other cars. Even a TV once. And I barely had the proper tools. I was just thinking about what I could do with proper training, and real tools and parts.” Yes, this was my attempt at winning her over.

And it seemed to be working.

“How long have you been in town?” She asked.

“About a week.”

“You freaked out yet? Confused?”

“A… a bit.” A lot actually, but I didn’t want to seem too pathetic.

“It’s cool if you’re absolutely terrified,” she laughed. “Lot of weird shit goes down here. The only thing we really concern ourselves with is fixing things. Which, I think Killian might need some… assistance with Miss Greve’s car, although he won’t like it. I’m Mika. We have one other person here, but she’s not feeling well today.”

“Wow, this really is a small town,” I whispered.

“Yeah, plus we don’t get much business,” Mika shrugged. “The whole town pretty much feeds solely off of the water mill and solar panels. There’s a river nearby that gets pretty wild sometimes. We gotta be conservative with our power, but it’s not bad. Here, I’ll introduce you to Killian.”

I followed Mika to the back, where the shop was. Surprisingly, there was soft instrumental music playing, not something you’d usually hear in such a place. A dark green car was up on one of two lifts, and I could see a man in dirty jeans below it.

“You’re human, right?” Mika asked me. When I nodded, she smiled, “Just don’t stare. He hates it when people stare. And, he might be a bit rude to you in the beginning before getting to know you. That’s his defense. He’s such a tsundere.” Then she stepped forward and called, “Killian, that kid that Abraham told us about is here.”

After a moment, Killian appeared from under the car. He stood up and brushed himself off. Damn, talk about a beautiful beard. And redheads. He was an absolute mess, covered in oil and dirt, with long curls pulled back with a number of braids and bands. His jeans and boots were stained black, as were parts of his overshirt, where the sleeves were rolled up. As he put his tools back on the table, I saw a long black tail coming out from under his shirt. There was a little tuft of fur at the end, a lot like a lion tail. His ears were pointed.

“Hmm, little runt,” Killian mumbled, looking me up and down. “Small hands. He might be useful.”

“Uh, thanks?” I slowly replied.

“Wait…,” Killian stepped towards me, squinting. “A human? Here?”

“I know,” Mika shrugged. “But he’s here.”

“What’s your name, kid?” Killian asked.

“Raine Swann,” I replied. “And, no, I don’t believe in magic.”

“Well, that’s disappointing,” he raised his hand, and a wrench flew into it. My eyes widened. Killian shrugged. “Well, I suppose you might be of some help with those tiny hands of yours.”

This was gonna be fun.