Post by Miro-Chan on Feb 13, 2021 23:27:23 GMT
[ Reserved for LightWitch ]
[Began Writing: April 23, 2019]
The final bell for the day rung, signaling to the students of River Mountain Academy that classes were over for the day. Students of varied sizes chatted loudly as they walked out of their classrooms and to different places, whether it be to drop things off in their lockers, to catch the bus, or to after school activities. A young woman with short, brown hair was running out of the school and down the street. Her breath came in quickened gasped as she whizzed past people and found her destination fairly easily. As she opened the door, the ding of a tiny bell reached her ears, as did the soft chattering of people and occasional clang of a glass mug. The smell of coffee, tea, and multiple foods wafted into her nose and made her mouth water. However, Mai Summers was not in the small restaurant to dine. She was there to cock and begin her shift as a waitress. The high school student hurried into the employee locker room. It was a decent sized room, with tan walls, white tiled flooring, and blue lockers were lined up against the walls. Wooden chairs with blue cushions were placed in different spots within the room and on a small table in the far left corner, a clear vase had a few lilies within it. Mai rushed over to her locker, opened it, and set her backpack down on the floor. Kneeling down, she unzipped it and pulled out a hair tie from a pocket within the pack. Once she moved her wallet into a hidden pocket, she zipped it back up, lifted it, and placed the pack within her locker. Once it was secure, she stripped off her school uniform and pulled her work clothes from the white hangers within the locker and changed into them. She had on a black, knee length skirt, a white, button up shirt, which had a white undershirt tucked underneath, and a black apron over the two pieces of clothing. Finally, she had on a pair of black flat shoes on and no socks. Much to Mai's annoyance, she had left her socks in the dryer at home. After she buttoned the ends of her sleeves, she glanced at her watched, quickly put her hair up into a short pony tail, and shut the locker door once she thought she looked fine.
The brunette then exited the room, nearly bumped into a coworker, to whom she apologized to, and went to the machine to clock in. Once it had registered she was present, and not late, Mai went straight to work. To her far left, across from the entrance, there was the bar, and scattered throughout the building were tables and booths. There was a spot for people to sit if they wanted to eat outside and there was a mini bar in that section as well. For eight hours straight, Mai walked around in the building, taking and serving many orders of quite a few customers. During her thirty minute break, Mai had eaten a small meal of grilled chicken and fries, and was given a small slice of her favorite cake for desert. Nick, the pastry chef, had given it to her since they were close. He was an older gentleman with green eyes and he was like an uncle to her. By the end of her shift, she had come up with a total of fifty-three dollars and sixty cents in tips and boy, was she glad she could use it for school and groceries. Mai clocked out, walked to the locker room, and changed back into her school uniform. Making sure her wallet was where it was and that everything was still inside, he put her dirty clothes into her backpack and told everyone goodbye as she exited the diner. She heard many farewells from her friendly coworkers and some of the regular customers as the door shut behind her. The sun had disappeared behind the buildings and mountains three hours prior to her shift ending and a quiet yawn came from Mai as she continued down the sidewalk. Rubbing one of her eyes, she blinked and stopped a moment when she saw a ghost of a woman standing still. It was a ghost of a older woman with white hair, grey-blue eyes, and she had many wrinkles on her face and hands. She had on a white and blue dress with baby blue heels and what Mai assumed to be stockings. Thinking nothing of it, Mai walked right past her and tried to ignore the stares of the other friendly and terrifying ghosts and creatures that came out during the night.
Mai wasn't sure when she had first started seeing the freaky creatures of the night; maybe she had seen them she was a baby. She remembered first seeing her grandfather while bouncing in her bouncy seat and she had talked to him in her baby sounds as she giggled and bounced happily. He had been smiling and had been able to understand every bit of her incoherant speech. Her grandfather had died three weeks before she had even been born and when her mother first heard her say her grandfather's name, her mother was surprised and confused as to how she even knew that name since nobody had told her it. It was close to an hour or two walk from her workplace to her home and Mai let out a slightly relieved sigh when she shut the wooden door behind her. Even though she was used to seeing those things on the daily, some of them gave her bad vibes and made her highly uncomfortable. She slid her shoes off as she turned on the light switch, not even having to look up to find it since she already mentally knew where it was. Mai lived alone and had for quite a few years and even though she missed her parents, she was glad that she was at least independent. There was still a spare bedroom and she kept it clean for anyone who wanted to become her roommate. She would only allow someone to move in if they could help pay the rent, help clean up, and respect her personal space. Of course, she wouldn't allow smoking in the house. That didn't mean the person could do it inside and she hoped they wouldn't do drugs or anything too terribly bad. Absolutely no ouji boards were allowed anywhere near her. She had enough of seeing those things outside, she didn't to see them inside the safety of her home. Mai would even burn sage all throughout her house, making sure to get every, single corner of every room and doorway and poured a layer of salt on the bottom of her windows and the front and back entrances of her small home. When her few friends would come over, they had teased her about it, but they didn't judge her too much, and they would comment on loving the smell of the sage and other essential oils she would have all around the house.
Letting out a tired, deep sigh, the senior walked into her living room. It was connected to the dining room and kitchen areas. The entire floor was a light, smooth wood, aside from the white tiled flooring int her kitchen and the two bathrooms. There was a tall, narrow window on either side of the door, which had light tan colored drapes hung over them. The walls on the inside were a darker type of wood, while the entire outside of the house was made of bricks. Inside the living room was a large, flat screen television, which was set onto a wooden table. On either side of the table was a tall shelf, which held all of her movies and video games. The table had a little cupboard where she kept her gaming system. There was a closet on the shelf's right, where she had her older gaming systems and board games tucked away neatly and safely into white, plastic boxes. She also had her father's shotgun stowed away near the door, but it was hidden by a few extra coats. Mai hadn't had to use it, thankfully, and she hoped she never would. Across from the television was the large, brown couch, It was made of a somewhat fuzzy material, but looked like leather when people would first look at it. There were light tan colored pillows on either side of the couch and it was big enough to fit at least six or seven people on it. On one of the couch was a coffee table, which had the remote lay on it, and on the other side of the couch was a thin lamp, which was set onto the floor. It was somewhat tall and the metal was black, while the "helmet" was a pale yellow. A bit behind the couch was the dining table, which had four chairs around it, and on the opposite side of two of the chairs was a bar. The bar was the divider between the dining/living room and kitchen. Inside the kitchen was a fridge, stove, and other kitchen necessities. There was also a small window above the sink and inside the living was a total of three, large window. To the right of the front door was a staircase, which led up to the two bedrooms. Each bedroom had their own bathroom connected and the floors and walls were wooden, too. Mai's bedroom had one window, whereas the spare bedroom had two, and at the end of the hallway was a large window, which had a small balcony connected to it.
The eighteen year old walked up the stairs to her bedroom, flicked on the light, and dropped her bag to the floor. Another, tired sigh came from her and she looked longingly towards her bed. As much as she wanted to just flop onto it and sleep the rest of the evening away, she couldn't. She had to shower, do laundry, eat something else, and finish her homework. As she walked to the bathroom, she stopped by the large wardrobe, which was beside her closet, grabbed her white nightgown, then crossed the room to the drawer, and pulled out spare underwear and a pair of her favorite fuzzy socks. She took off her earrings and her watch and walked lazily into her bathroom. Mai wasn't sure if anyone even wore night gowns anymore, but she found them to be just as comfortable as two piece pajamas. Yes, she had quite a few pairs of two piece pajamas and she would wear them to bed a-lot, but that evening she was too exhausted to really care which outfit to sleep in. After she shut the door, she turned the metallic knobs and hopped into the warm shower. Once she was clean, she got out, dried herself and her hair, and put on her clothing. After she brushed her hair, she opened the door, walked to her bag, pulled out her dirty work clothes, and went back out into the hallway. Near the top of the stairs was the laundry room and that was wear Mai walked to. Tossing her clothing into the washing machine, she threw a Tidepod into it, shut the lid, and turned the machine on. As the water began to pour inside it, the woman walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to get herself some cheese and grapes. Mai took her time going back to her room, plopping a piece of fruit and cheese into her mouth every few minutes. The two tastes clashed and blending together wonderfully to her and she loved eating them as her late night snack. Once she was back in her room, she turned on her desk lamp and put the plate of snacks down onto the desk. Turning back around, she pulled out her notebooks, textbooks, calculator, and pencils and placed them all on top of the wide table.
With a huff, she muttered, "Time to get this finished..."
It was close to one in the morning when Mai finally had all of her homework finished, including the math, aside from the three questions she skipped because she wasn't sure of how to work them. Not even putting her mess away, she stretched her arms above her head, closed her eyes, and the bones of her wrists, elbows. shoulders, and back popped in content. She stood from her seat, turned off the short lamp, and made her way over to her comfortable bed. As she walked around the end of her bed, her eyes glanced over at her window and her eyes saw something huddled by one of the many trees that surrounded her home. Mai's house was basically in the middle of the forest, which were in the mountains, and it wasn't uncommon to see bears, raccoons, and other wildlife at night. However, upon closer inspection, the brunette noticed the shadow looked like a person. Her brown eyes widened and her heart stopped when she saw the person was eating somebody else. Then... maybe the person wasn't a cannibal, but it could be a ghost eating some other ghost? ...Or worse, it could be a demon eating an actual human being. So many thoughts ran in Mai's head she tried to think of a way to calm herself down and try to figure out what exactly was outside. She didn't want to get it's attention, so she hurriedly rushed to the light switch and turned it off. Then, she shut her window, closed the light blue drapes to cover it up, and quickly jumped under her covers.
It doesn't matter... Those things never pay much attention to me and they never bother me, but why..? I see those types of things all the time, so why is it bothering me all of a sudden? A split second later she answered her own question; It's because that thing had so many bad vibes and gave me very bad, horrible feelings. It was like the energy was being sucked out of me by just looking at it... Ugh. Just go to sleep, Mai. Even if it saw you, it won't bother you and it'll keep eating...whatever it was eating. What was it eating, anyway? A deer? No, it looked like a human, but... it could have been another ghost. Hopefuly... Go to sleep and ignore it. Go to sleep and ignore it. Go to sleep and ignore it..!
With that, she quickly shut her eyes and tried to block the frightening image from her mind.
《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》
Drakon was on the hunt as soon as the sun set, and since he felt pity for the humans, he was hunting for corrupt humans to protect the good ones. Fresh on the trail of a really Bitter human, he eventually found a male that was trailing another person with a knife, and it didn’t take long to overpower the creature. After the pathetic thing stopped fighting, he then opened his beak to eat it, and caught the sight of a human just as he ate the Bitter whole. Cleaning off his beak, he picked up the scent of something unusual: a human that was both Bitter and Sweet. Flying to the building, he latched onto the wall before scaling it to the window, and he noticed the salt. Technically he wasn’t a demon, but considering how a human found out about his father and his kind, he knew he could’ve been considered one. Opening the window and climbing inside, Drakon took a whiff of the scent of the human, and he found that he liked it a lot better than Bitters on their own.
So, like any other creature that wasn’t human, he ripped the blankets off to reveal a pretty human girl. As much as he wanted to smile in this form, he was curious about her being able to see him.
“You... can see me?”
《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》
She heard something come into her room and Mai tightened her curled form more into a makeshift ball. She had her hands over her mouth and kwpt praying that the thing wouldn't find her. Her heart best furiously in her chest and quickened ten fold when the blankets were thrown off of her form. Chill bumps formed all across her body as the warmth faded from within the blanket and her back faced whatever had intruded into her home. After mentally counting to five seconds, the brunette slowly removed her hands from her mouth and looked over her shoulder. Her eyes widened for a second time as she took in the sight of the horrifying being that stood over her.
The young woman had taken her time to sit up on her bed, one of her hands held her up while the other was rested in her lap. Her mouth was clamped shut and her body began to slowly shake. Mai could have sworn she had put salt on the windows and done just about every precaution she could think of to keep other worldly beings out of her house. It was her safe haven-- until now. The beast had large, black feathers and the head of a crow, while it had the arms and legs appeared to belong to that of a human. It's eyes glowed in the dark and when it's beak opened, it spoke.
It took Mai a few moments to register what it had asked and she had to forced herself to let out a small, soft, "Y...Y-Yes..."
One had never spoken to her before and even though she would get the occasional glance, they didn't pay her any mind at all.
《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》
Drakon eyed the human curiously as she reacted to seeing him, and considering how she could see him, there was something unusual about her scent besides being both Bitter and Sweet. It made her smell fresh, and due to his appearance, he couldn’t smile at her. “No humans can see me unless I hunt them, but you smell delicious.” He inhaled her scent deeply as he spoke, and it was all over the room. Seeing how she was in distress about him saying that he usually hunted humans, he decided to clarify. “I have hunted bad humans for a long time, but you’re not completely bad.” Suddenly he coughed violently, showing just how painful it was for him to speak. “I don’t know if I should eat you, or marry you.” Grabbing her hand gently, Drakon traced a mark on her wrist that resembled a braided bracelet, and it was clear that the being was partially human in other ways than his appearance.
“Don’t leave at night, and my mark shall let spirits know that you’re mine.” Being careful not to disturb the salt as he exited, Drakon pressed his hand into the glass to ward other beings away from the human’s room, and he flew into the night. However, by morning, he waited outside the building in the form of a Native American teen hiding under an umbrella for the human to come out, his tattoo on his arm flaring up to let him know that she was awake. He was still getting used to this form, and yet all he cared about was the human for some reason.
《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》
Hearing he hunted and possibly ate humans made the hair on the back of her neck stand and Mai's body began to shake a little too violently. When he inhaled the air and said something about her smelling delicious, she shut her eyes for a moment and turned her head away. Her eyes snapped open when she heard him say sometging about whete or not he should eat her or marry her. Then she felt his hands grip her own and a finger lightly traced something all around her wrist. As soon as he released it, Mai instantly recoiled and brought her hand against her chest. Her widened, brown orbs syared at the creature as it spoke and told her not to leave the house at night before it jumped from her window. The young woman lay awake for three hours straight, her mind trying to wrap around what had just happened. Her thumb and forefinger kept pinching her forearm over and over to see if she was dreaming and she had not. Finally, though, she lay back down and fell into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning Mai awoke in a rather grumpy mood. She knew the reason why she was so upset was because she hadn't been able to go to sleep and all she wanted to do was just that. Curl back into her warm covers and go back to sleep. Stretching, the brunette made her way into the bathroom and showered. Putting on her school uniform, she walked out and stopped short when she noticed the hand print on her window.
"What the...?"
Her eyes squinted together as she walked towards it and placed her own hand over it. It was far too big to be her hand.
Rolling her eyes, she muttered as she walked down the stairs, "Whatever... I'll just clean it later."
Making her way into the kitchen, she made herself a quick breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, and a few slices of toast. As she ate her toast, she stopped mid-chew when she noticed a strange marking all around her wrist. Slowly chewing again, the student eyed it curiously.
I don't remember getting a tattoo... Where did this come from-?
It was then that she remembered what had happened the previous night and a cold chill made her body shiver. Hadn't it been a dream? Some bad nightmare..? Well, Mai could see ghosts and other dark things of the night, but she had completely forgotten about the previous night's encounter with that creature. She tried to remember what it looked like and all she could think of was the large eyes, human hands, and the outline of a bird head. Just what had that thing looked like exaclty..? Well, Mai decided that she didn't want to know. Stuffing the rest of her food in her mouth, she rushed back upstairs, brushed her teeth, amd grabbed her school bag.
Walking outside, she locked her door, and hopped on her bicycle. She had just put her foot on the pedal when she noticed something out of the ordinary. There was a male standing with an umbrella near her house and a little voice in the back of Mai's head told her that she shouldn't talk to him. However, being the nice person she was, she couldn't help but ask him if he was okay.
"Uhm... Excuse me," she started as she placed her feet back onto the dirt road, "Are you lost? I can help you get back to the city, if you'd like..."
《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》
Drakon was relieved that the human didn’t recognize him, but he knew he had to explain himself when he asked if he was lost. “I’m a new student at the local school, but I have no idea where the school is. Can you help me find it?” Compared to his other form, his voice was musical, almost a bit hypnotic if the person was weak willed, but he could tell this human was stronger than those who fell for his tricks. He smiled a bit as he walked with her, but he let something slip. “There was someone following a couple around here last night with a knife. Someone found the guy dead with what looked like giant pecks on his body, but the knife was still in his hand.” The look on his face was full of concern for her, but he knew he was responsible for killing the bad human. If he didn’t, the couple would’ve been dead, and from how he tasted, they weren’t going to be his first victims. “I’m Drakon Zolvek, by the way.” For being in his human form, he hated talking, and even more in his true form. Yet when they passed by water, Drake’s reflection was of his true form, and it was fleeting enough to not be noticed by many people.
A spirit tried to approach the two of them, and when Drakon saw it, the spirit backed away as if he was a real threat. “Do you see them?” He whispered, his voice suddenly going as high as it did last night. He quickly cleared his throat to return it to normal, and hopefully she thought it was something that just needed a quick fix. He noticed how his tattoo felt warm right now, and realized that the human might be responsible for that. He kept up easily with her on the bike, which was unusual for many, but he was faster than a normal human. Drake looked at the human curiously as they went to the school, but he kept his thoughts to himself, and many ignored him as they passed by.
One thing was certain: humans are weird.
《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》
Upon hearing that he was lost and needed help finding the school, Mai's pink lips turned upwards into a small smile and she nodded, "Of course I can help you. I am a student there, actually."
She moved slowly on the bike so she couldn't get ahead of him and Mai was silent for most of their trip. He had a really beautiful voice and he was pretty handsome, but Mai wasn't looking to get a boyfriend. Even so, she still had her thoughts of who she thought was cute and who she might consider dating. Blinking, her eyes then flicked downwards to the strange marking on her wrist and she let out a silent sigh. Just what had that demon meant last night? What did it want..? The brunette was brought from her thoughts when the newcomer spoke up again and she glanced in his direction a few times as he brought up the murder that happened. She stayed silent and her lips turned down into a frown.
It wasn't a human who had killed him, it was--
Her thought silenced itself when he brought up that the man had been pecked to death and a chill ran down her spine when images of the giant crow being flashed within her mind. Swallowing a lump down her throat, she replied, "I-Is that so...? That's really scary, to think a murder to could happen and really close to my house, too..."
When he announced what his name was, Mai was happy to change the subject and when she replied she forced a smile on her lips, "It's nice to meet you, Draken. I'm Mai--."
Her mouth instantly shut when she saw the creature had begun to come towards them and even she felt a little panic rise when it got really close. It looked like it was gonna snap its jaws at her any second, but it quickly backed away. As if it was scared. They never did that... She had stopped her bicycle when the exchange happened and the young woman jumped a little when the male had whispered in her ear. Her head and upper body instantly turned to face him, her eyes wide, and her hands had snapped up to her ear. Letting out a nervous laugh, she bolted down the road with a bit more speed then she really needed, but slowed down once she saw Draken running beside her. After a while, they reached the school, where students were walking to, or walking inside, and she came to a stop by an area where she could lock her transportation on. Stepping off of it and slinging her bag on her shoulder, Mai turned to him, "So, uh, here we are... Do you need help finding the councilor's office? I can show you, if you'd like."
[Began Writing: April 23, 2019]
The final bell for the day rung, signaling to the students of River Mountain Academy that classes were over for the day. Students of varied sizes chatted loudly as they walked out of their classrooms and to different places, whether it be to drop things off in their lockers, to catch the bus, or to after school activities. A young woman with short, brown hair was running out of the school and down the street. Her breath came in quickened gasped as she whizzed past people and found her destination fairly easily. As she opened the door, the ding of a tiny bell reached her ears, as did the soft chattering of people and occasional clang of a glass mug. The smell of coffee, tea, and multiple foods wafted into her nose and made her mouth water. However, Mai Summers was not in the small restaurant to dine. She was there to cock and begin her shift as a waitress. The high school student hurried into the employee locker room. It was a decent sized room, with tan walls, white tiled flooring, and blue lockers were lined up against the walls. Wooden chairs with blue cushions were placed in different spots within the room and on a small table in the far left corner, a clear vase had a few lilies within it. Mai rushed over to her locker, opened it, and set her backpack down on the floor. Kneeling down, she unzipped it and pulled out a hair tie from a pocket within the pack. Once she moved her wallet into a hidden pocket, she zipped it back up, lifted it, and placed the pack within her locker. Once it was secure, she stripped off her school uniform and pulled her work clothes from the white hangers within the locker and changed into them. She had on a black, knee length skirt, a white, button up shirt, which had a white undershirt tucked underneath, and a black apron over the two pieces of clothing. Finally, she had on a pair of black flat shoes on and no socks. Much to Mai's annoyance, she had left her socks in the dryer at home. After she buttoned the ends of her sleeves, she glanced at her watched, quickly put her hair up into a short pony tail, and shut the locker door once she thought she looked fine.
The brunette then exited the room, nearly bumped into a coworker, to whom she apologized to, and went to the machine to clock in. Once it had registered she was present, and not late, Mai went straight to work. To her far left, across from the entrance, there was the bar, and scattered throughout the building were tables and booths. There was a spot for people to sit if they wanted to eat outside and there was a mini bar in that section as well. For eight hours straight, Mai walked around in the building, taking and serving many orders of quite a few customers. During her thirty minute break, Mai had eaten a small meal of grilled chicken and fries, and was given a small slice of her favorite cake for desert. Nick, the pastry chef, had given it to her since they were close. He was an older gentleman with green eyes and he was like an uncle to her. By the end of her shift, she had come up with a total of fifty-three dollars and sixty cents in tips and boy, was she glad she could use it for school and groceries. Mai clocked out, walked to the locker room, and changed back into her school uniform. Making sure her wallet was where it was and that everything was still inside, he put her dirty clothes into her backpack and told everyone goodbye as she exited the diner. She heard many farewells from her friendly coworkers and some of the regular customers as the door shut behind her. The sun had disappeared behind the buildings and mountains three hours prior to her shift ending and a quiet yawn came from Mai as she continued down the sidewalk. Rubbing one of her eyes, she blinked and stopped a moment when she saw a ghost of a woman standing still. It was a ghost of a older woman with white hair, grey-blue eyes, and she had many wrinkles on her face and hands. She had on a white and blue dress with baby blue heels and what Mai assumed to be stockings. Thinking nothing of it, Mai walked right past her and tried to ignore the stares of the other friendly and terrifying ghosts and creatures that came out during the night.
Mai wasn't sure when she had first started seeing the freaky creatures of the night; maybe she had seen them she was a baby. She remembered first seeing her grandfather while bouncing in her bouncy seat and she had talked to him in her baby sounds as she giggled and bounced happily. He had been smiling and had been able to understand every bit of her incoherant speech. Her grandfather had died three weeks before she had even been born and when her mother first heard her say her grandfather's name, her mother was surprised and confused as to how she even knew that name since nobody had told her it. It was close to an hour or two walk from her workplace to her home and Mai let out a slightly relieved sigh when she shut the wooden door behind her. Even though she was used to seeing those things on the daily, some of them gave her bad vibes and made her highly uncomfortable. She slid her shoes off as she turned on the light switch, not even having to look up to find it since she already mentally knew where it was. Mai lived alone and had for quite a few years and even though she missed her parents, she was glad that she was at least independent. There was still a spare bedroom and she kept it clean for anyone who wanted to become her roommate. She would only allow someone to move in if they could help pay the rent, help clean up, and respect her personal space. Of course, she wouldn't allow smoking in the house. That didn't mean the person could do it inside and she hoped they wouldn't do drugs or anything too terribly bad. Absolutely no ouji boards were allowed anywhere near her. She had enough of seeing those things outside, she didn't to see them inside the safety of her home. Mai would even burn sage all throughout her house, making sure to get every, single corner of every room and doorway and poured a layer of salt on the bottom of her windows and the front and back entrances of her small home. When her few friends would come over, they had teased her about it, but they didn't judge her too much, and they would comment on loving the smell of the sage and other essential oils she would have all around the house.
Letting out a tired, deep sigh, the senior walked into her living room. It was connected to the dining room and kitchen areas. The entire floor was a light, smooth wood, aside from the white tiled flooring int her kitchen and the two bathrooms. There was a tall, narrow window on either side of the door, which had light tan colored drapes hung over them. The walls on the inside were a darker type of wood, while the entire outside of the house was made of bricks. Inside the living room was a large, flat screen television, which was set onto a wooden table. On either side of the table was a tall shelf, which held all of her movies and video games. The table had a little cupboard where she kept her gaming system. There was a closet on the shelf's right, where she had her older gaming systems and board games tucked away neatly and safely into white, plastic boxes. She also had her father's shotgun stowed away near the door, but it was hidden by a few extra coats. Mai hadn't had to use it, thankfully, and she hoped she never would. Across from the television was the large, brown couch, It was made of a somewhat fuzzy material, but looked like leather when people would first look at it. There were light tan colored pillows on either side of the couch and it was big enough to fit at least six or seven people on it. On one of the couch was a coffee table, which had the remote lay on it, and on the other side of the couch was a thin lamp, which was set onto the floor. It was somewhat tall and the metal was black, while the "helmet" was a pale yellow. A bit behind the couch was the dining table, which had four chairs around it, and on the opposite side of two of the chairs was a bar. The bar was the divider between the dining/living room and kitchen. Inside the kitchen was a fridge, stove, and other kitchen necessities. There was also a small window above the sink and inside the living was a total of three, large window. To the right of the front door was a staircase, which led up to the two bedrooms. Each bedroom had their own bathroom connected and the floors and walls were wooden, too. Mai's bedroom had one window, whereas the spare bedroom had two, and at the end of the hallway was a large window, which had a small balcony connected to it.
The eighteen year old walked up the stairs to her bedroom, flicked on the light, and dropped her bag to the floor. Another, tired sigh came from her and she looked longingly towards her bed. As much as she wanted to just flop onto it and sleep the rest of the evening away, she couldn't. She had to shower, do laundry, eat something else, and finish her homework. As she walked to the bathroom, she stopped by the large wardrobe, which was beside her closet, grabbed her white nightgown, then crossed the room to the drawer, and pulled out spare underwear and a pair of her favorite fuzzy socks. She took off her earrings and her watch and walked lazily into her bathroom. Mai wasn't sure if anyone even wore night gowns anymore, but she found them to be just as comfortable as two piece pajamas. Yes, she had quite a few pairs of two piece pajamas and she would wear them to bed a-lot, but that evening she was too exhausted to really care which outfit to sleep in. After she shut the door, she turned the metallic knobs and hopped into the warm shower. Once she was clean, she got out, dried herself and her hair, and put on her clothing. After she brushed her hair, she opened the door, walked to her bag, pulled out her dirty work clothes, and went back out into the hallway. Near the top of the stairs was the laundry room and that was wear Mai walked to. Tossing her clothing into the washing machine, she threw a Tidepod into it, shut the lid, and turned the machine on. As the water began to pour inside it, the woman walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to get herself some cheese and grapes. Mai took her time going back to her room, plopping a piece of fruit and cheese into her mouth every few minutes. The two tastes clashed and blending together wonderfully to her and she loved eating them as her late night snack. Once she was back in her room, she turned on her desk lamp and put the plate of snacks down onto the desk. Turning back around, she pulled out her notebooks, textbooks, calculator, and pencils and placed them all on top of the wide table.
With a huff, she muttered, "Time to get this finished..."
It was close to one in the morning when Mai finally had all of her homework finished, including the math, aside from the three questions she skipped because she wasn't sure of how to work them. Not even putting her mess away, she stretched her arms above her head, closed her eyes, and the bones of her wrists, elbows. shoulders, and back popped in content. She stood from her seat, turned off the short lamp, and made her way over to her comfortable bed. As she walked around the end of her bed, her eyes glanced over at her window and her eyes saw something huddled by one of the many trees that surrounded her home. Mai's house was basically in the middle of the forest, which were in the mountains, and it wasn't uncommon to see bears, raccoons, and other wildlife at night. However, upon closer inspection, the brunette noticed the shadow looked like a person. Her brown eyes widened and her heart stopped when she saw the person was eating somebody else. Then... maybe the person wasn't a cannibal, but it could be a ghost eating some other ghost? ...Or worse, it could be a demon eating an actual human being. So many thoughts ran in Mai's head she tried to think of a way to calm herself down and try to figure out what exactly was outside. She didn't want to get it's attention, so she hurriedly rushed to the light switch and turned it off. Then, she shut her window, closed the light blue drapes to cover it up, and quickly jumped under her covers.
It doesn't matter... Those things never pay much attention to me and they never bother me, but why..? I see those types of things all the time, so why is it bothering me all of a sudden? A split second later she answered her own question; It's because that thing had so many bad vibes and gave me very bad, horrible feelings. It was like the energy was being sucked out of me by just looking at it... Ugh. Just go to sleep, Mai. Even if it saw you, it won't bother you and it'll keep eating...whatever it was eating. What was it eating, anyway? A deer? No, it looked like a human, but... it could have been another ghost. Hopefuly... Go to sleep and ignore it. Go to sleep and ignore it. Go to sleep and ignore it..!
With that, she quickly shut her eyes and tried to block the frightening image from her mind.
《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》
Drakon was on the hunt as soon as the sun set, and since he felt pity for the humans, he was hunting for corrupt humans to protect the good ones. Fresh on the trail of a really Bitter human, he eventually found a male that was trailing another person with a knife, and it didn’t take long to overpower the creature. After the pathetic thing stopped fighting, he then opened his beak to eat it, and caught the sight of a human just as he ate the Bitter whole. Cleaning off his beak, he picked up the scent of something unusual: a human that was both Bitter and Sweet. Flying to the building, he latched onto the wall before scaling it to the window, and he noticed the salt. Technically he wasn’t a demon, but considering how a human found out about his father and his kind, he knew he could’ve been considered one. Opening the window and climbing inside, Drakon took a whiff of the scent of the human, and he found that he liked it a lot better than Bitters on their own.
So, like any other creature that wasn’t human, he ripped the blankets off to reveal a pretty human girl. As much as he wanted to smile in this form, he was curious about her being able to see him.
“You... can see me?”
《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》
She heard something come into her room and Mai tightened her curled form more into a makeshift ball. She had her hands over her mouth and kwpt praying that the thing wouldn't find her. Her heart best furiously in her chest and quickened ten fold when the blankets were thrown off of her form. Chill bumps formed all across her body as the warmth faded from within the blanket and her back faced whatever had intruded into her home. After mentally counting to five seconds, the brunette slowly removed her hands from her mouth and looked over her shoulder. Her eyes widened for a second time as she took in the sight of the horrifying being that stood over her.
The young woman had taken her time to sit up on her bed, one of her hands held her up while the other was rested in her lap. Her mouth was clamped shut and her body began to slowly shake. Mai could have sworn she had put salt on the windows and done just about every precaution she could think of to keep other worldly beings out of her house. It was her safe haven-- until now. The beast had large, black feathers and the head of a crow, while it had the arms and legs appeared to belong to that of a human. It's eyes glowed in the dark and when it's beak opened, it spoke.
It took Mai a few moments to register what it had asked and she had to forced herself to let out a small, soft, "Y...Y-Yes..."
One had never spoken to her before and even though she would get the occasional glance, they didn't pay her any mind at all.
《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》
Drakon eyed the human curiously as she reacted to seeing him, and considering how she could see him, there was something unusual about her scent besides being both Bitter and Sweet. It made her smell fresh, and due to his appearance, he couldn’t smile at her. “No humans can see me unless I hunt them, but you smell delicious.” He inhaled her scent deeply as he spoke, and it was all over the room. Seeing how she was in distress about him saying that he usually hunted humans, he decided to clarify. “I have hunted bad humans for a long time, but you’re not completely bad.” Suddenly he coughed violently, showing just how painful it was for him to speak. “I don’t know if I should eat you, or marry you.” Grabbing her hand gently, Drakon traced a mark on her wrist that resembled a braided bracelet, and it was clear that the being was partially human in other ways than his appearance.
“Don’t leave at night, and my mark shall let spirits know that you’re mine.” Being careful not to disturb the salt as he exited, Drakon pressed his hand into the glass to ward other beings away from the human’s room, and he flew into the night. However, by morning, he waited outside the building in the form of a Native American teen hiding under an umbrella for the human to come out, his tattoo on his arm flaring up to let him know that she was awake. He was still getting used to this form, and yet all he cared about was the human for some reason.
《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》
Hearing he hunted and possibly ate humans made the hair on the back of her neck stand and Mai's body began to shake a little too violently. When he inhaled the air and said something about her smelling delicious, she shut her eyes for a moment and turned her head away. Her eyes snapped open when she heard him say sometging about whete or not he should eat her or marry her. Then she felt his hands grip her own and a finger lightly traced something all around her wrist. As soon as he released it, Mai instantly recoiled and brought her hand against her chest. Her widened, brown orbs syared at the creature as it spoke and told her not to leave the house at night before it jumped from her window. The young woman lay awake for three hours straight, her mind trying to wrap around what had just happened. Her thumb and forefinger kept pinching her forearm over and over to see if she was dreaming and she had not. Finally, though, she lay back down and fell into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning Mai awoke in a rather grumpy mood. She knew the reason why she was so upset was because she hadn't been able to go to sleep and all she wanted to do was just that. Curl back into her warm covers and go back to sleep. Stretching, the brunette made her way into the bathroom and showered. Putting on her school uniform, she walked out and stopped short when she noticed the hand print on her window.
"What the...?"
Her eyes squinted together as she walked towards it and placed her own hand over it. It was far too big to be her hand.
Rolling her eyes, she muttered as she walked down the stairs, "Whatever... I'll just clean it later."
Making her way into the kitchen, she made herself a quick breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, and a few slices of toast. As she ate her toast, she stopped mid-chew when she noticed a strange marking all around her wrist. Slowly chewing again, the student eyed it curiously.
I don't remember getting a tattoo... Where did this come from-?
It was then that she remembered what had happened the previous night and a cold chill made her body shiver. Hadn't it been a dream? Some bad nightmare..? Well, Mai could see ghosts and other dark things of the night, but she had completely forgotten about the previous night's encounter with that creature. She tried to remember what it looked like and all she could think of was the large eyes, human hands, and the outline of a bird head. Just what had that thing looked like exaclty..? Well, Mai decided that she didn't want to know. Stuffing the rest of her food in her mouth, she rushed back upstairs, brushed her teeth, amd grabbed her school bag.
Walking outside, she locked her door, and hopped on her bicycle. She had just put her foot on the pedal when she noticed something out of the ordinary. There was a male standing with an umbrella near her house and a little voice in the back of Mai's head told her that she shouldn't talk to him. However, being the nice person she was, she couldn't help but ask him if he was okay.
"Uhm... Excuse me," she started as she placed her feet back onto the dirt road, "Are you lost? I can help you get back to the city, if you'd like..."
《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》
Drakon was relieved that the human didn’t recognize him, but he knew he had to explain himself when he asked if he was lost. “I’m a new student at the local school, but I have no idea where the school is. Can you help me find it?” Compared to his other form, his voice was musical, almost a bit hypnotic if the person was weak willed, but he could tell this human was stronger than those who fell for his tricks. He smiled a bit as he walked with her, but he let something slip. “There was someone following a couple around here last night with a knife. Someone found the guy dead with what looked like giant pecks on his body, but the knife was still in his hand.” The look on his face was full of concern for her, but he knew he was responsible for killing the bad human. If he didn’t, the couple would’ve been dead, and from how he tasted, they weren’t going to be his first victims. “I’m Drakon Zolvek, by the way.” For being in his human form, he hated talking, and even more in his true form. Yet when they passed by water, Drake’s reflection was of his true form, and it was fleeting enough to not be noticed by many people.
A spirit tried to approach the two of them, and when Drakon saw it, the spirit backed away as if he was a real threat. “Do you see them?” He whispered, his voice suddenly going as high as it did last night. He quickly cleared his throat to return it to normal, and hopefully she thought it was something that just needed a quick fix. He noticed how his tattoo felt warm right now, and realized that the human might be responsible for that. He kept up easily with her on the bike, which was unusual for many, but he was faster than a normal human. Drake looked at the human curiously as they went to the school, but he kept his thoughts to himself, and many ignored him as they passed by.
One thing was certain: humans are weird.
《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》
Upon hearing that he was lost and needed help finding the school, Mai's pink lips turned upwards into a small smile and she nodded, "Of course I can help you. I am a student there, actually."
She moved slowly on the bike so she couldn't get ahead of him and Mai was silent for most of their trip. He had a really beautiful voice and he was pretty handsome, but Mai wasn't looking to get a boyfriend. Even so, she still had her thoughts of who she thought was cute and who she might consider dating. Blinking, her eyes then flicked downwards to the strange marking on her wrist and she let out a silent sigh. Just what had that demon meant last night? What did it want..? The brunette was brought from her thoughts when the newcomer spoke up again and she glanced in his direction a few times as he brought up the murder that happened. She stayed silent and her lips turned down into a frown.
It wasn't a human who had killed him, it was--
Her thought silenced itself when he brought up that the man had been pecked to death and a chill ran down her spine when images of the giant crow being flashed within her mind. Swallowing a lump down her throat, she replied, "I-Is that so...? That's really scary, to think a murder to could happen and really close to my house, too..."
When he announced what his name was, Mai was happy to change the subject and when she replied she forced a smile on her lips, "It's nice to meet you, Draken. I'm Mai--."
Her mouth instantly shut when she saw the creature had begun to come towards them and even she felt a little panic rise when it got really close. It looked like it was gonna snap its jaws at her any second, but it quickly backed away. As if it was scared. They never did that... She had stopped her bicycle when the exchange happened and the young woman jumped a little when the male had whispered in her ear. Her head and upper body instantly turned to face him, her eyes wide, and her hands had snapped up to her ear. Letting out a nervous laugh, she bolted down the road with a bit more speed then she really needed, but slowed down once she saw Draken running beside her. After a while, they reached the school, where students were walking to, or walking inside, and she came to a stop by an area where she could lock her transportation on. Stepping off of it and slinging her bag on her shoulder, Mai turned to him, "So, uh, here we are... Do you need help finding the councilor's office? I can show you, if you'd like."
