Page 7 of Her Vampire Hero

Jenny was about to ask how they knew when the door chimed, admitting a new student. Villosa and Evinara excused themselves, leaving Jenny to ponder the nature of the curse and being trapped in the year 2000.

After she left the yoga studio, Jenny saw a shop named Mortal Threads and decided to see what that was all about. Racks of colorful, handmade clothing lined the walls. Behind the counter stood a woman who could only be described asgloriously big—curves for days, topped with a shock of short red hair, a face full of freckles, and the most piercing green eyes Jenny had ever seen.

"Welcome to Mortal Threads,” the woman called out cheerfully. "I'm Orla. You must be Jenny. Red told me to expect you."

Jenny raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess, the town grapevine strikes again?"

Orla laughed, a warm, rich sound that instantly put Jenny at ease. "Something like that. Us humans gotta stick together in this crazy town. Now, what can I help you with? Looking for something special?"

Jenny glanced down at her rumpled clothes, suddenly aware that she'd been wearing the same outfit since her car broke down. "Actually, yeah. Got anything that says, 'I'm totally fine with being trapped in a supernatural town,' but also, 'I'm a serious professional, please hire me'?"

Orla's eyes lit up with the gleam of a woman who loved a challenge. "I've got just the thing. But first, dish. How are you finding Beastly Falls? It's not every day we get new blood around here—figuratively speaking, of course."

As Orla bustled around the shop, pulling out various items for Jenny to try on, Jenny found herself opening up about her bizarre situation. There was something comforting about talking to another human, someone who understood just how weird all this supernatural stuff was.

"...and now I've got to waste a whole week here before this sentient town sets me free,” Jenny finished, tugging on a pair of perfectly fitted jeans that Orla had thrust at her.

Orla clucked sympathetically. "That's a rough break. The town does take some getting used to. You should've seen me the first time I realized my boyfriend could turn into a wolf. Talk about a hairy situation!"

“Is he your mate?”

She looked away and swallowed hard. “No.”

“How do you know?”

Orla shrugged. “We’re comfortable, but we’re still trapped here in Beastly Falls. So that means we’re not meant to be.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s casual and it gives me someone to hang out with on the weekends, provided it’s not the full moon.”

“It must be hard to be stuck here.”

“The worst part is I’ve seen all the movies in Blockbusters and I’m working my way through all the books in the library. It’s the boredom that gets you.”

“What about food?”

“The grocery store shelves replenish with the same stuff every Monday. The town wouldn’t let us starve. She gives us what we need.”

She? Don’t ask. Don’t ask.“That’s good, I guess.”

After Jenny left Mortal Threads with a bag of new clothes, she spent the next few hours wandering the streets of Beastly Falls, taking in the strange mix of mundane and magical. A group of pixies flitted past, arguing over the best flavor of ice cream. A troll—actual, honest-to-God troll—was carefully tending to a flower box outside his home. It was like something out of a children's book, if children's books included the occasional fang or claw.

As fascinating as it all was, Jenny couldn't shake the nagging worry about her upcoming interview. She'd worked so hard to get this opportunity, and now it was slipping away because of some supernatural matchmaking scheme. She wished she could call the producers and tell them she was going to be delayed or something. Her fingers itched to work on an engine, to lose herself in the familiar rhythm of nuts and bolts and—

Her train of thought screeched to a halt as she rounded a corner and saw it: a 2000 Toyota Camry, sitting abandoned in a parking lot with its hood up. It wasn't much to look at—the paint was faded, and Jenny could practically hear the rust forming—but to her, it was beautiful.

"Hello, gorgeous," she murmured, running a hand over the car's hood. "What are you doing all alone out here?"

A quick examination revealed that the car had definitely seen better days, but nothing that was beyond Jenny's skills to fix. If she could get this baby up and running, she might have a working car to get her to the interview once the week was up. But first, she needed to find out if anyone owned it. A quick check in the glove compartment didn’t yield any paperwork. All she found was a business card for Mayor Sylvia Haasenfrau and the address of the Beastly Falls Municipal Building.

Where the hell was that?

Turning the business card over, she saw a small map with an X that said, “You are here,” and an arrow pointing towards the mayor’s office, detailing which streets to follow.

“I guess that’s my next stop.” She stowed the bag of clothes in the back seat and navigated the town, looking down at the business card map until she came to the Beastly Falls Municipal Building. Entering the building, Jenny thought it looked like it had been designed by M.C. Escher on an acid trip. Staircases led to nowhere, doors were placed at impossible angles, and Jenny could have sworn she saw a window that looked out into deep space.

She approached the reception desk, where a harried-looking man with pointed ears was juggling several floating orbs of light.

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