The journey back to Benji’s home was quiet, as usual. Knowing that two strange beings were following him gave him cause for concern, but they seemed to have Benji and Sunny’s best interests at heart. Besides… if they had ill intentions, they would’ve done something by now. Power was not something G was short of.

They saved us, Benji reasoned with himself. I’m sure they mean well. They have to.

The rain had stopped, but the dark clouds still loomed overhead. Benji undid the latch on the gate, and the iron squeaked at his push. He shut the gate behind him, throwing the latch back over, and snaked around to the back of the house. Situated against a corner of the brick wall was an old two-door shed.

It was a nasty old thing in dire need of tender love and care. The structure was marked with spots where the wood used to be painted white, flaked away by the passing of time. Splinters stuck out like porcupine thorns, eagerly awaiting their next victim. To top it off, you couldn’t get within ten feet of the shed without running into a spiderweb. The thought of one of those creepy crawlies on him was enough to send a chill down his spine.

Clearing his throat, he approached the shed. “Hello? Are you guys there?”

The bushes rustled, and a grinning G popped up over the wall.

“Phew. That’s a relief. Were you able to meet Sunny?”

“Yes,” came Kiska’s gentle voice. “She gave us a note. G?”

The werewolf grunted enthusiastically, leaping on top of the wall on all fours—like a cat—and jumped over Benji, landing a few feet away. G dug through his hoodie and pulled out a slip of folded up paper. As Benji reached to grab it, G pulled back and dropped the letter, distracted by a red-bodied insect flying in the air. He snapped his jaws at it, then jumped to catch it with his claws. The ladybug casually flew out of his reach, soaring higher and higher into the air.

“G! I’m so sorry, Benji,” Kiska said. “G! G! Pay attention!”

G grunted and blinked twice before reclining on the ground before Benji.

Benji chuckled. So, there was a soft side to that gigantic creature, after all. He plucked the letter from the old tire treads in the dirt and straightened the paper. “I’m okay,” Benji mumbled the letter’s contents. “Ren and June took my phone and said I can’t go to school or use my computer until I’ve healed. I’m grounded. We have to talk like this. I decided to trust G and Kiska. What about you?”

Benji redid the fold and tucked the paper into the pocket of his letterman jacket. “Thanks, Kiska, thanks, G.”

G nodded, his smile widening to show his pearly white cuspids.

“Thank you for trusting in us,” Kiska said, appearing beside G. “It means a lot to both of us. We haven’t had anyone to talk to in a very long time.”

“O-Of course,” Benji said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “Still getting used to it if I’m being super honest.”

“I understand. Our appearances must be alarming.”

Benji struggled for a nice way to say what he felt. Words weren’t his specialty, and he often found himself in deeper trouble with every word he spoke. It was easier to stay quiet. Things were simpler that way.

“Is something the matter?” Kiska pressed.

“N-No,” Benji shook his head. “Let me help you get into the shed.” Benji dug around in his shorts pocket and pulled out his ring of keys for the house. Flipping through them, he stopped on a tiny copper key and motioned for G and Kiska to follow. “Sorry for the mess, but we don’t go in here anymore, so it might be super dusty and filled with spiders.” He undid the padlock holding the chains together, then slipped the chains away from the handles.

Once the chain was off, he wrapped his hands around one of the shed’s handles and used his weight to pull the door back. The metal screeched from years of misuse but refused to budge. Benji dug his heels into the dirt, and still the door didn’t move. Hissing through his teeth, Benji shook his hands.

“Stand aside,” Kiska said.

“Uh, okay.”

Benji backed up a few feet, and G approached the door. He wrapped three of his clawed fingers around the loop and pulled. The door slid open easily, and the metal screeched again.

“Woah,” Benji said with wide eyes.

G sniffed at the air, then waved his hand in front of his face.

“Sorry, you’ll have to deal for now.” He moved to stand in front of G. With no sunlight, Benji struggled to see inside. He hesitated. “Hey, Kiska.”

“Yes, Benji?”

“How much can G understand?”

“His understanding seems to fall somewhere just below our own ability. Why do you ask?”

“Over there.” Benji pointed to a hanging lightbulb. “It might not work anymore, but do you think G could try and pull the cord? I can’t reach it.”

“Of course. G?”

“Rah?” G grunted.

“See that lightbulb?” Kiska asked, pointing at the hanging cord. G nodded. “Look under it. Pull it.”

“Pull! Pull!” G mimed before walking in without any sense of caution. He reached for the cord and yanked. After what G had done to the door, he half expected the bulb and wiring to come out of the ceiling. To Benji’s immense relief, however, the lightbulb came alive, bleaching the room in bright white. G covered his eyes with one hand and backed away. “Bright!”

“Very good, G,” Kiska smiled.

The shed looked just as Benji remembered. Tools and home improvement supplies littered the floor and walls. Despite how long it’d been since the shed saw use, the room was still exceptionally organized—a testament to his father’s habits, he supposed.

“Well, there’s plenty of room to hang out, sleep, eat, whatever you want,” Benji explained. “Like I said, you can sleep in my bed when my dad isn’t around. You probably sleep outside a lot, huh?”

“Yes,” Kiska said, “but we will not impose more than necessary. So long as G can eat, we will be fine.”

“Okay.” Benji sniffed. “My dad will be home in about an hour. He just comes home to change and goes right back out. I’ll microwave some dinner once he’s gone and come give you some.”

“You are certain?” Kiska asked, cupping her hands over her chest.

“Yeah! It, uh, it’ll be fine. You’ll see. I’ll close up the shed fifteen minutes early, just in case. You can check it out in the meantime. And be careful, Denizens are kinda looked down upon in this district.”

 “We shall practice caution. You have our thanks.”

Appearances were only skin deep, and Benji knew that better than anyone. He worked hard to remind himself of that, and that whatever G and Kiska’s reasoning for following him, it didn’t matter. He’d found two new friends, and you couldn’t put a price on friendship.

“Hey,” Benji began, “sorry to suddenly ask you something after I… just said you could, uh, check out the shed, but, uhm. Could you pass along a message to Sunny?”

Kiska smiled. “Yes. Of course.”