“Of course it’s me.” The pale woman said. Quinn lowered the pepper spray.

“Yoko.” She sighed. This was the problem Quinn had. She wasn’t like other girls, she could see things that other people couldn’t and didn’t know why. That fact is thrown back into her face as she looks at the woman in front of her. Nearly see through.

Quinn’s problem was that she could see ghosts.

“What are you doing here?” She put the pepper spray back in her pocket and as she did a small keychain shaped like a purple bear head shot out and started circling her head happily. Yoko grimaced.

“I came looking for him. Even after you asked him not to follow you he did so anyway.” The keychain stopped and floated down to Quinn’s shoulder, hiding in her hair.

“It’s alright. As long as he stayed out of sight then it’s all good.” She didn’t like seeing him sad. “Isn’t that right Tobi?”

The keychain shot out of her hair and spun in circles, making Quinn laugh.

“I can see you’re tired so you don’t have to push yourself to transform.” The keychain decided to sit back on her shoulder. Yoko was not amused by any of this.

“We also have another issue. The woman you were talking to in the cafe, she is currently following you. She is keeping to the shadows so she isn’t seen.” Quinn’s eyes widened and all laughter from before was gone. Tobi started to shake and bury himself in her hair even more.

“W-Why?” The woman seemed alright, a little cold but overall alright. Yoko sighed.

“I have told you many times that Tobi and I are not the only supernatural forces in this town. You know that full well and yet you still choose not to believe me. I would suggest you start running.”

Quinn didn’t have to be told twice, she took off down the street. As soon as she started running she heard a guttural yell and footsteps rapidly gaining on her. She didn’t make it far before she was tackled to the ground and landed with a loud thud. Her shoulder was grabbed and she was forced to her back.

Bright white fangs sat inside a wide mouth. It was definitely the woman from the cafe, the one that had the odd teeth. She hissed at Quinn and the brunette couldn’t move. She was pinned down and the woman had incredible strength. Yoko stood above her with a worried look on her face. She couldn’t do anything to this woman, couldn’t even touch her. She was completely helpless. The woman grabbed Quinn’s head and yanked it to the side, exposing her neck. This was how she was going to die? Gruesomely eaten by this monster?

She couldn’t breathe and she screwed her eyes shut as the teeth brushed against her neck. And then just like that, they were gone. She could move again and she opened her eyes. A bright light blinded her and she could barely see what was happening. Squinting her eyes she could make out an outline of some kind of dog.

It was too big to be a dog though, it was some kind of hound or beast. She sat up and started to scoot away. The creature was busy ripping the woman apart, her anguished screams echoed down the empty street. It was her chance to get away. Her legs felt like jelly though and she couldn’t stop staring at the beast. The hound’s head looked up and locked eyes with hers. It was odd, she felt like she had seen those eyes before. Dark brown and filled with something that almost resembled kindness. The hound stepped over the body of the woman, now mangled and bloodied, completely motionless and towered over Quinn. The flames that radiated off its back were hot but they didn’t burn her.

The hound looked as if it was made of burning coal. Something resembling lava dripped from its giant teeth and splashed up onto Quinn’s pant’s leg. It burned right through the fabric but when she checked frantically for a burn mark on her leg, there was nothing there. The hound’s head leaned down and sniffed her. Quinn stayed as still as possible, it may have saved from the vampire but that did not mean that it would become aggressive if she agitated it. Its mouth opened and Quinn shut her eyes again, afraid of what it might do to her.

It didn’t bite her or eat her like she thought it would though, it merely grabbed the back of her shirt in its mouth and lifted her off the ground. She opened her eyes to see that she was very high off the ground and she panicked.

“H-Hey!” She wasn’t good with heights and would much rather walk if she had to follow this thing. The beast ignored her though and started back down the sidewalk, toward the cafe. Yoko followed them, making sure to stick close to Quinn. She had heard of these creatures before but she had never seen one for herself. They made it back to the cafe and the hound dropped Quinn in a heap in front of the building. Quinn quickly got to her feet and faced the beast. Why would it bring her here?

The hound didn’t move to attack her or do anything to her really, it just stood there and stared at her. It was almost as if it was expecting her to say something like a normal dog looking for praise from its owner. It was a little unnerving.

“You saved me.” The hound leaned its head down and Quinn decided to stroke his nose. Her hand shook slightly but the burning embers that it was made of didn’t hurt. They weren’t even hot. They were cool to the touch and the hound seemed to enjoy the affection. “Thank you.”

The beast decided to lay down in front of her, still towering over her but was no longer in an intimidating role. It seemed glad that Quinn wasn’t as afraid of it as she was before. Her heart was beating rapidly but as time went on she became more comfortable with petting it. It seemed no different than a big dog that people mistake as aggressive but is actually quite loving. She starts to feel bad for judging it so quickly, she knows first hand how bad that can feel and she is ashamed that she did it herself. Quinn was still petting it when the cafe door burst open and Ren ran out. He ran through Yoko, who stood in front the door, much to her annoyance.

“Quinn! Oh, you found him.” Ren looked up at the hound, completely unfazed by it. “He took off while I was sleeping and I was afraid he would get into trouble again.”

“He?” She asked as her hand stilled on the hound’s nose.

“Yeah!” Ren said with a bright smile, “This big guy is Jun!”

“What?!” Quinn backed up a bit to look at the hound better. It or he now didn’t seem bothered by her sudden reaction. He rested his head on his front paws and closed his eyes.

“Jun is a Hellhound.” The boy said as he wrapped his arms around the hound’s neck. It didn’t seem to burn him either. “He’ll be like this for awhile. He doesn’t normally take this form but when he does it take a lot of power so he is going to be really tired when he shifts back.”

Quinn was still extremely confused.

“How can this be Jun? It’s a beast and Jun was, I mean is, a man.” Ren only stared her.

“You mean you really don’t know? Oh boy, there is so much to tell you where do I even start? Hope Jun won’t mind.” He let’s go of the hound’s neck and grabs Quinn’s wrist, pulling her into the cafe.

“Let’s start with coffee.”