Page 5 of Misfit Monsters
When the door to my cage finally opens, I’ve been crammed in here for what must have been multiple days, lifted and jostled more times than I can count.
And I’m a very good counter.
I know better than to try to leap straight toward possible freedom. If someone’s mean enough to put you in a cage, they’ll probably be just as mean when you’re out of it.
So I stay contracted in my shadowy form amid the searing lights that burn away every hint of darkness within the metal box. Beyond the door, there’s a sliver of shadow along the base of the cage. It calls to me.
Off past the blazing lights, someone intones several syllables in a language that pummels right intomy essence.
Come out and show your human-like form.Then stay until you’re dismissed.
I can’t resist the sorcerous commands. I flit out and solidify into the human-like figure that comes naturally to me, complete with my daisy-print dress and rainbow-striped hoodie.
Hmm. I’m not sure the room outside is any better than the cage.
Dour gray walls surround me. The only furniture is a big kidney-shaped table made of stainless steel with seven matching chairs set around the outer curve. I don’t think the seats even have padding.
Could anyone be happy in this place?
Someone should introduce these people to the concept of interior decorating. How about cushions for comfort? Maybe a rug? Art on the walls could liven things up.
The beings studying me from the six occupied chairs don’t look like they’re in the mood for lifestyle advice. Proving my point about the atmosphere, the strongest vibes they give off are curdled-milk apprehension and stale-bread boredom.
Not a meal I could even subsist on.
The first face my gaze lands on makes me flinch. It’s the sorcerer who dragged me into the cage—obviously he’s the one who ordered me out.
His eyes, a deeper hue than his cedar-brown skin, hold mine from beneath his wavy black hair. His broad shoulders are rigid. But despite his stern appearance, a pang of his guilt hits me like a shot of lemon juice.
Huh. The other sorcerer I knew never felt guilty about anything. At least, not when he was around me.
Next to the young sorcerer sits a shadowkind similarly shaped to myself—female, youthful, short and curvy—with ahead of blond curls and dimples in her cheeks where she’s smiling widely.
I can’t tell whether she’s hiding happier feelings under her apprehension or her smile is a lie. Not knowing makes my skin itch.
Her other neighbor is a tall, wiry woman with a few silver streaks running through her sleek black bob. Like the sorcerer, she’s human.
No smile from her—her lips press in a flat line.
The other three members of my audience are shadowkind.
One pushes her long, dark blue hair back over her slim shoulders with a melodic sigh. A big, muscular man gives me a feral impression, his thick fingers curving against the tabletop like claws—I think he must be an animal shifter.
Most of the boredom emanates from the last figure: a man in an old-fashioned suit whose skin is so pale it might be translucent. I suspect that if I stared hard enough, I’d see his bones through it.
Why would shadowkind lock up another being like them? Why are they working with a sorcerer?
Is there any way I can lighten this situation?
I push my mouth into a smile of my own. “I think this must have been a misunderstanding. What are we all doing here?”
The wiry human’s lips press even flatter at my question. The shadowkind with the blond curls lets out a tinkle of a laugh.
The woman with the long blue hair leans forward. Her voice sounds as melodic as her sigh did. “Unknown shadowkind, you’ve been brought in for assessment because you’ve been causing inappropriate disruptions in the mortal realm.” She motions toward the sorcerer. “What exactly did this one do again?”
The sorcerer sits up straighter. “We believe she’s responsible for multiple incidents in Greenville in the past year. Mostly bright waves of light that temporarily blinded human citizens and caused car accidents, falls, and other damage. At least once, there was a flood of darkness with similar results.”
Yikes. How long have these people been paying attention to me?
