Page 59 of Bewitched By the Werewolf
He chuckles around his mug of coffee, sitting across from me at the small dining table. “I believe that I said was I’ll show you everything you haven’t seen of Snowberry. There was also talk of sexual persuasion I believe.”
“I think you’ve done enough of that for now. I’d like to know what I haven’t seen of this town. I was pretty sure I’d seen everything by now, so you have me intrigued.”
“It’s not so much a what as a who.”
I tilt my head at him curious. “Who?”
“Yes. You see there are others in town who are not human and who are not shifter,” he begins and now I’m really lost because if starts to tell me about aliens I’m gonna have to recheck myself into the institution. “We refer to them as non-humans. I know, extremely original but it works. We’re basically anything that isn’t human. There are shifters which you know about but also others, like fairies, nymphs, merefolk—”
“Wait.” I hold up a hand to stop him. “Mermaids are real?”
“Merefolk,because they aren’t all female, but yes.”
“Huh. Okay, continue.” I wave him on and sip mindlessly at my coffee hoping I don’t choke on it.
“There are elves, and some less common beings like leprechauns, yeti, sprites.”
Ryder quiets and watches me, waiting for my reaction. Considering the things I read online and hear about from others in the paranormal belief community, what he’s telling me isn’t as much of a shock and he might think. I already firmly believed in werewolves—A.K.A. Shifters—and after gaining confirmation I wasn’t crazy, this isn’t so far out of the realm of possibility in my world.
“Cool. So do like, all of them live in Snowberry? How have I not seen them? Do they shift like you do?”
“Only the mere’s shift and have a human form, the rest of them use magic to conceal themselves and appear as humans.”
“So, you’re saying I’ve already met some of these other non-humans?” I clarify.
“Yes.”
I hum and sip my coffee again taking it all in. So magic is real, that’s new. I hadn’t considered magic in all this, just creatures or beings that hide from humans. Though I guess Ryder’s ability to shift is something like magic. I haven’t watched him do it yet so maybe it’s not magical. I’ll have to convince him to show me his shift. Ya know for science, and to confirm we’re not just both crazy. Him believing he’s a creature able to shift into a wolf like beast and me believing him.
Well, that’s a scary thought. Maybe we’re both just fucking crazy. Yikes.
Okay rewind, start over. No more thinking you’re crazy. I guess I should stop talking to myself too. Don’t they say crazy people talk to themselves? Anyways…
“You’re going to show me these people who aren’t people?”
“If they’re open to it. They’ll have to drop their glamour to reveal their true selves so it’s up to them.”
I remain silent and I can feel Ryder’s gaze on me as I stare at the tabletop trying to imagine what they might look like.
“You’re awfully calm about all this,” he says.
“Well, you have to remember who you’re talking to. I’ve believed in werewolves since I was ten and been part of a community that believes just about anything. Receiving confirmation of some of those beliefs isn’t super surprising.”
He nods finally understanding my docile reaction.
“Okay, so who are some of these non-humans that I’ve met?” I ask needing to know which of the friendly townsfolk are actually magical creatures.
“Well, I know you talked with Larken a few times.”
“Larken is a non-human? I knew she was too pretty for no reason.”
“She’s a fairy. A moon fairy.”
I perk up and start in on a flurry of questions regarding different fairies. Apparently, there are many varying types aswell as nymphs, each possessing specific abilities and magic. They all possess some similar abilities, like all fairies have wings, can glamour themselves, live almost forever, and have great healing abilities.
“They also produce a fine powder on their wings that they use to perform all kinds of different magical things. And it’s not just them that can use it.” Ryder stands and walks over to where his belt and holster hang on a hook by the front door. Doesn’t seem like the smartest place to store it but what do I know? Apparently not much.
“We call it fairy dust or just dust.” He pulls out the small pouch of glitter sand I stole from him and walks back to the table with it. Setting it down in front of me, I open it and look down into a far less full bag of fairy dust.
