That night while laying in the bathtub, I was still having trouble trying to justify what I had seen. After getting back to the apartment, I locked myself in the bathroom much earlier than normal. Too early to have actually been going trying to sleep. But my mind was racing with all sort of possibilities as to what I had seen. I needed some alone time to process everything.

It shouldn’t have been possible for a person to talk to someone else’s familiar. The witch who summoned that familiar is the only person that’s able to talk them. And besides other spirit familiars, Dog wouldn’t have been able to communicate with anything else. But I was almost certain I had heard Naomi talking to Dog.

And I would have been able to ignore it if it sounded like normal talk one would do with an average dog. But what she said just sounded so much like a response to something. No matter which way I think of it, I can’t see a scenario in which she would say it like that to something she couldn’t understand.

Then there was the way that Dog was acting. Since that moment, he had a look that said he really needed to tell me something. He was acting much more eager and barked more than I had ever seen him done before. It was if he was barking at Naomi while she had ignored it every time.

I leaned over the tub wall and made eye contact with him while he was sitting on his makeshift bed already looking my direction “She was talking to you, wasn’t she?” I asked quiet enough for Naomi to not hear.

His head shot up, then he stood and spun around in a circle and barked. There was no doubt in my mind that he was saying “Yes!”

I follow up with “And she isn’t human, right?” getting another spin and a bark out of him. That was just a shot in the dark from me, but after running through all the other options, it was the only thing that made sense. And after the confirmation from him, I immediately knew what I was dealing with.

There was only one other possibility for how Naomi could communicate with Dog… Naomi was a spirit that had taken human form.

Spirits and demons had been known to take human form and live in the human world from time to time, though they didn’t do it often. Living that way doesn’t increase their magic power like being a familiar would. So if one ever wanted to live among the humans, doing so in a human form didn’t really provide any advantages.

Though it was still strange that Naomi would choose to lie about it. Spirits and demons in human form wasn’t a taboo thing. Rare sure, but that didn’t stop them from being welcomed in any coven. And that was widely known throughout the spirit and demon worlds. My town even has special accommodations for them and any other creature that were to visit.

So I was still conflicted on whether or not I should confront her about it.

If she was keeping it a secret, then there was probably a reason for it. And trying to force it out of her could create some other issues… though I had let her stay last night in my apartment and I was having her stay again tonight. It was fair for me to what to know exactly who it was that was sleeping in my bed, right?

Once again, I turned to Dog “What should I do?” He barked, then walked to the bathroom door and looked back at me. It was a very clear indicator of what he thought I should do.

Even though I had my doubts about that choice, I decided to trust Dog’s instinct. He was the one talking to her after-all. If she had any ill intent, then he wouldn’t have been that set on me confronting her. He would never put me into a situation intentionally that could cause me harm.

So with him signaling what he wanted me to to, I gave in and listened to him. I stood up from the bathtub and walked to the door where Dog was already waiting for me. He was standing right where the door opens and began wagging his tail as soon as I took the door handle. While I was nervous about all of this, he looked to be very excited.

Opening the door, I’m immediately faced with Naomi sitting down and already looking at me. Like she knew I was going to come out of the bathroom. And unlike the rest of the day, she didn’t look happy this time. Her eyes were looking to the ground in front of my and she was playing with her hands.

“Hi Evelyn.” she calmly and quietly said “Did you forget something out here?”

Being cautious, I made sure to keep my distance from her. My back was up against the wall with a clear path to the front door. Though I didn’t understand why I was preparing as if she was going to act with violence “No, I didn’t. But I think we need to talk.”

“Talk about what? Aren’t you pretty tired from walking around all day? How about we rest for a bit, then we can talk tomorrow?” her body was tense as she was trying to fool me with her smile once again. Only it wasn’t tricking me this time “It’s still early, and I have some things to ask you.”

Her eyes quickly glanced to the door then back to me. The shakiness of her body also reflected in her voice “W-what kind of things?”

To not drag it out any longer, I went straight to the point “I know you can understand what Dog is saying. What are you, really?”

A quick gasp came from her and her whole body tensed up. I felt a bit guilty seeing how panicked she looked as she was trying to come up with something to say. But I had already convinced myself this was the best choice and there was no turning back now.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m Naomi of course! And I was only having a play conversation with Dog yesterday!” her voice was quick and frantic. She was looking around the room for some kind of lifeline when she made eye contact with Dog again.

Which I tried to stop right away “No no don’t talk to him, talk to me. Please, I’m not mad or anything. You can trust to tell me your secret. We’ve gotten pretty close these last two days, haven’t we?”

She looked back to me “I really have no idea what you’re talking about! There’s nothing suspicious about me at all! Can’t you please just forget about it?”

This wasn’t working. Her eyes were filled with fear and her already pale skin was somehow even paler. I even considered backing down for a moment. But since she was so desperate to hide what she was, it only made her more suspicious. So I continued on.

Regrettably, I raised my voice a bit “I can’t! Because I would really like to know who it is that’s sleeping in my bed tonight!” the scared flinch she made had me feeling awful.

Her eyes were darting between me, Dog, and the door. The last of which was looking to be the most tempting option. If she were to run out of the front door at that moment, then she could leave town and try again somewhere else. Every muscle in her body was preparing to run… but she didn’t. She stayed where she was sitting. Not knowing if it was the right option, she decided to listen to her gut feeling and trust me.

She looked to Dog and said “You told her everything didn’t you?” then paused for a moment for him to respond.

It wasn’t too much of a surprise to be proven right but it was still a little jarring to have actually seen her talking to Dog. I mean she was the first person to have actually been able to communicate with him in the four years he had been with me. How I wish it was me that was the first to communicate with him. I was dying to know what they were talking about.

“I should have known that you were going to rat me out to Evelyn.” she said out loud for my benefit after telepathically having her conversation with Dog.

It was my queue to start speaking to her again “So it’s true then. You were actually talking to Dog right now… that means you’re a spirit, right?”

I was prepared for her to say “yes” then I would ask her why she lied, only she didn’t “Spirit? I’m not a spirit.” her head cranked to the side which I assumed was just an act to make her look confused.

All it did was make me frustrated that she was still trying to lie even after being caught. I held my tongue and kept myself calm “Well a spirit would be the only thing that could talk to Dog. So if you’re not a spirit, then what are you?” Now I had no idea what to expect. Was it going to be another bad lie?

Before she spoke again, her body became small and her glassy eyes avoided contact with me. A quiet, shaky voice came out “I’m a demon.”