Hello! Before you begin, whether you're reading this for the first time or whether you're rereading this, you should know that this story is currently undergoing what I am calling a "redeux." Basically, I'm going back through and rewriting the earlier chapters so they are a bit better and fit in more with the rest of the story. (NOTE: the first few chapters will still be shorter than the most recent ones, but I'm trying to fill them out as much as possible without getting too wordy or boring). From now up until when my "redeux" project is finished, I will mark the chapters that will be updated with "Re:" before the chapter name. This will hopefully help new readers know which chapters have truly been updated and which have yet to be. Once the project is over and the story is ready to progress, I will edit the chapter names and take out the "Re:" as they won't be necessary at that point.

Thank you for your patience, enjoy the story~

It was a colder than usual night. The air was filled with a chilling wind and almost ominous lighting from the moon. Darkness had never really bothered Kaitlyn. It actually felt tranquil and safe and… away from society. She never was one for crowds or social gatherings, and yet here she was, in a big city with loads of both of those. It was a little overwhelming; Kaitlyn had always lived on the countryside with her aunt Lucille and she wasn't really used to being around so many people.

"Watch it." A middle aged man grumbled when she accidentally brushed his shoulder with her own as she walked down a dimly lit street.

"S-sorry…" she averted her eyes and shuffled to make her way through the few people still out walking around so late at night.

Kaitlyn had been going to school in her hometown while living with aunt Luce since before she could remember, but she had only recently decided it would be best for her to leave. She never really knew what she wanted to do exactly and still didn't have anything in particular in mind, but she did have a major in science and a minor in musical performance and theory. Oh, and college debt. She had a lot of that…

College was fun but the fact remained that now she was out and she still didn't really know what she wanted to do with her life. That was one reason she decided to move here. Or at least, that's what she kept telling herself. There may have been other reasons for her wanting to leave including some… unwanted memories. She desperately trying to leave her past behind and start fresh, and that is what really brought her to this land of 'opportunity' as well as the ever present interesting smells that she'd always heard accompanied large cities.

Kaitlyn dropped some extra change into the hat of a guitarist playing out on the street. He smiled warmly and thanked her before continuing on with his sorrowful melody.

Maybe our situations aren't as different as they seem… She thought as she continued forward and couldn't help but wonder if it would be her on the corner one day, playing for spare change. She wasn't too far off from it with where she was monetarily.

Luce was right about the city being tough, Kaitlyn thought to herself, rubbing her hands together in an attempt to warm herself up. Maybe it was just the dismal place she was at in her life, but everything in the city seemed harsh and colder than it was back home.

Home. Her plan had seemed so well thought out when she'd been back home in a warm bed and eating good food. She thought she'd come to the city, find a job by the second or third day, and be on a steady path to stability and happiness.

Yeah right, some plan that turned out to be, she thought to herself. Here she was, day 9 and she was still staying in a hotel, hopelessly job hunting day in and day out. It didn't help that the job options had become limited recently.

She felt weary and worn out from all of the recent events that had happened in the world as well as in her personal life. If Lucy was here, she'd tell her she shouldn't feel so old when she was still only 24, but Kaitlyn couldn't help but feel tired. She always thought she'd live a comfortable life on the countryside after college: married, a nice job, maybe even kids in the future…

Kaitlyn actually had a great job lined up with a nice research facility but that was also before the monsters came to live in what they were calling 'Aboveground.'

Ah yes, monsters. Kaitlyn remembered the first day she saw them on the news, and while everyone else seemed to be terrified at first, she was mainly just curious. Sure, some of them looked a little intimidating but they seemed to be harmless for the most part. Unfortunately, Kaitlyn's future job site disagreed with her point of view and became one of the many businesses to be "human exclusive" in their research as well as their workers. This kind of outright bigotry absolutely enraged Kaitlyn and she quit before she had even begun. She refused to work for anyone who had such a mindless thought process.

Really, the amount of stupidity people with the whole "human exclusive" mindset was unbearable, in her opinion. It seemed everyone was finally attempting to take steps towards a more equal society, then something like this happens and it's like society starts reverting back to a medieval mentality. There have even been hate groups popping up all around town, though luckily, none of them are big enough to do any real damage… yet anyway.

Kaitlyn truly felt for the poor creatures that had come up out of the mountain. From the conversations she had seen on TV between their leaders and town authorities, they all seemed pretty nice. Nicer than most humans anyway… She shook her head when her thoughts wandered to one in particular.

Kaitlyn shivered and looked up at the cloudless sky. She was walking through the local park in the middle of the city. She liked to wander through the trees and listen to the endless chatter of crickets and owls after a long day of job hunting to relax and forget her problems for a while. It was a beautiful park, one with a small lake nearby that glistened when the moon shone against it and great willow trees that fluttered in the wind. She sighed taking in the view of dancing fireflies reflecting against the lake's water one more time before turning to leave for her small, dingy hotel room.

Her shoes scraped against the uneven pavement as she checked her phone.

Damn. It's later than I thought, Kaitlyn thought and squinted as the screen lights up and flashes 12:27 brightly. Her stomach growled loudly and she realized that she had forgotten to get any food for dinner. Again.

Not like I have money for food anyway… Kaitlyn thought, feeling a little apathetic. It was then that the scent of grease from a nearby restaurant suddenly filled the air. Her stomach growled again at the smell and she found herself being drawn to what looked like a cute little pub. The sign on the door read "GRILLBYS" in large letters.

She rummaged around her pockets in hopes of finding some spare change and nearly squealed in delight when her fingers brushed against a few bills crammed together with some old receipts.

She took another moment to ensure there were no signs forbidding monster or human customers, though she'd never really seen the latter, and, satisfied when she didn't find one, Kaitlyn walked inside.