Monster...

Monster...

MONSTER...

MONSTER...

ARGH! It was a bit past midnight, and the repeated warnings of Balboa's repeated warnings kept echoing through my head to the point where I had woken up.

After smith dropped the bomb on me she told me to go and get some rest for the big day tomorrow… then promptly all the MON members, including Rose and Heather said goodbye to me like it was the last time they would see me.

She can't be that bad… can she?

Ugh, I gotta get some more sleep…

zZz

Beep

Beep

Beep

Click...

An alarm woke me up exactly at sunrise, a quick glance at my phone confirmed that it was indeed my phone that woke me up... odd because I didn't even remember setting one, regardless after I assumed it was to take me to see my new home stay I took a shower and started packing my things up, about half way through packing I got a knock on my door, opening it I saw that Smith was there to greet me with that stupid smirk on her face.

"Oh I see you already started packing, good." She said walking in to my room.

"How did you set the alarm on my phone?" I asked as I had my phone on me the whole time.

"Are you ready to meet your new homestay?" She spoke completely ignoring me, of course.

"Sure, hey what was with everyone's negativity towards the liminal that I never got the name or species of last night?"

"You'll like her, she is a lamia type after all."

"That doesn't mean she will like me, and what subspecies? Some even have venom."

"It doesn't matter, she'll like you…. hopefully." She said muttering the last part.

"What was that?" I asked barely hearing the last part.

"Just try to stay in her good books… Doug's outside waiting for your packing to be done, he'll bring your stuff to the van, when your done meet us by the cafeteria." She said before promptly leaving and closing the door.

"Why is everyone being so damn cryptic? Ah must to keep suspense for the reader, got it." I said snapping my fingers and continuing to pack.

Once done I walked out of my room with my bags, Doug and Linda were waiting for me, they took my bags and left without any words spoken, however Doug did wink at me then got promptly slapped by the centaur.

Meeting at the cafeteria, the group was right outside it, wondering if they were just waiting for me I started to walk in, but was stopped by a gentle hand from Vesp.

"We're just meeting here silly, were leaving now." She said with a laugh.

"Why would you tell me to meet here, if we're not eating?" I asked, raising some laughter from the group.

"Oh we already ate." Widowna said picking her teeth with one of her claws.

"Why though?" I asked now sad cause I wouldn't be eating.

"We were thinking is that when you and your new homestay meet up, you'll make her and yourself breakfast and hopefully that will smooth things over, best they can." Balboa explained.

"Then why did you say guys ready ate?"

"Oh we have been up for hours, we had to eat… anyway let's go, getting rid of this liminal will give me a nice bonus." Smith said with a smile taking a sip of her coffee cup that… just appeared.

"Is that the reason you decided to do this Smith?" Balboa asked slowly.

"Partly, but she has also been stuck here for quite a while so it will be good for the her, and plus Zack can still work at the requests at home." Smith diffused.

"Nice save." Widowna spoke walking away.

"This better go as planned or it's your head." Balboa spoke while slithering away followed by Vesp who had me by the hand and the rest of the team.

Upon getting outside I saw there were two large vans that the larger species got into a smaller pickup truck.

"Your homestays already at your new place." Smith said turning on the engine, Zombina, Doppel, Manako, Corva were in the truck with me. The rest were either flying or were in the other two vans.

The drive took only 20 minutes and most of it was just waiting at read lights, or sitting in traffic, upon arriving to the really large house I asked if there were more host families living in it… Smith just laughed at me which was followed by her co-workers even Zombina shaking here heads.

Smith told me that this was a government funded neighbour hood designed with liminals in mind, and that each host receives housing that would best accommodate the liminal homestay.

"Well that certainly explains why some houses look like giant nests, or freaking castles." I spoke examining the housing.

"The tall nest like houses are for liminals that can fly, and that one castle is for the only dragon in this part of Tokyo, it makes her feel at home." She answered looking back at me through her dark shades, that she is still wearing.

"Yo, I want a castle." I said examining the large stone structure.

"Well tough, it's for the dragon and plus only she can live in it, her host can only really be in the interior rooms as they are shielded from the heat."

"Sounds rough for him." I woefully said.

"On the contrary, it is true he can't handle the heat but he and his dragon are in quite the relationship, and I believe they will be expecting kids soon." Smith said with a sigh of pride.

"I thought that was illegal."

"It was but in the last half a year it's been alright, but only if the host and homestay get married, otherwise it's very illegal and death could very well be a punishment." Smith explained all serious.

"Makes sense, keeps assholes who want to get with as many girls at bay."

"Yes, We had a bunch of those at the beginning of the program but they were all killed, now we have a program that is pretty much solid."

"And I'm here to iron out any small kinks that may come up."

"Exactly, but now you'll be a host as well." She agreed with a less smirky sincere smile.

"That is if all goes well." Zombina said with a huff, playing with the safety of her uzi.

BANG - BANG

"Hey what's going on in there? Let's go." I heard an undistinguishable voice come through the radio in the car.

Smith just nodded and all the operative in the car got out, I followed suite she then walked over to the van and knocked on the side of it, and immediately the doors opened and everyone piled out.

"We moved your new pet snake here early this morning… didn't want it being to much of a hassle when you showed up." Zombies explained as Widowna grabbed my two bags with one hand

"Hey, I can move my own baggage." I said walking over to the giant spider.

"No, it's the least I can do." She spoke in an unusually soft tone.

"Your gun is loaded with tranquilizer darts, just remember that if you shoot her she might not happy when she wakes up, so leave it as a LAST resort… go explore and make yourself comfortable, she should wake up in about half an hour. Some of the MON team will stay here to make sure things go smoothly, but remember they have to leave eventually so make prepare to be alone with her." Smith broke it all down as we walked up to the large wooden front door.

"Shall we?" Smith asked as she tossed a pair of keys to me.

Catching them, I slide the master key into the tumbler and opened the surprisingly heavy door.

"If it seems heavier than expected it's because it's reinforced, every inch of this place is covered in security measures... Such as the reinforced doors, and a emergency weapons stashed here and there." Vesp explained as we walked inside.

"I'll show you which rooms is yours and which room to avoid." Widowna said walking down a cavernous hallway.

"Go, get familiar with this place… it'll be your home from now on… we have other business to attend to." Balboa spoke pushing me in the direction of Widowna.

"Damn I hope this all goes well." Vesp said with concern in her voice.

"It'll go fine." Tio said putting a hand on the hornets shoulder.

"Alright this is your room, you can change it to one of the many other bedrooms here but we figured you would like one as it has a window and is right over the garage, that's been changed to be more of a work area for you." Widowna said placing my bags on the bed.

"Thank you, I do like it." I said looking around the room, with Widowna smiling in response.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked looking over.

"Anything."

"Is this lamia I'm hosting as bad as all of you have been describing?" I asked growing nervous as this was actually happening.

"Well, she's had a rough past, her previous host did things to her… we saved her from that guy and he's currently serving life in prison, but now she doesn't trust humans, and as a has lost most of her morality… so when we were talking about her being a killer, she easily could… I honestly don't know how she will react to you, I just hope you two get along... she's honestly all over the place." She said sorrowfully.

"Wow, your not sugar coating it at all, i'm really gonna die." I said suppressing a laugh.

"No your not, she'll like you… and even if she doesn't we have measures put in place to keep you safe." She said turning all seriously and supporting.

"I'm kidding and where was that room I was advised to stay away from?" I said with a hand clap as Widowna and I walked back into the large hallway.

"Oh, it's this one." She said pointing to room right across from mine.

"Why would you put us so close together?" I asked slowly.

"Smith has her reasons, but your door is reinforced with locks on both inside and out." Widowna confidently spoke as she put a hand on my shoulder then gestured for me to go down the stairs that were only a few feet away.

"I think it's time you met your new homestay." She spoke.

"Why has there been so much mystery, and suspense?" I asked going down the stairs which unnoticed were slightly curved and had grippy tape on each step.

"Well we have to keep suspense for the reader, if this were like your average fic the homestay would have been introduced in the first 3k words because the writer has no story plan and just wants to write a harem." She answered carefully going down the stairs.

"But we already have a decent setup can't we just… get on with it?"

"Sorry no can do, this may only be the beginning of act 2 and there are around 18 acts already planned, but rushing this is not an option it happens when it happens, we're in this for the long run."

"Ah, that makes sense." I responded as I got to the bottom of the stairs.

"What were you guys talking about?" Vesp asked as we walked into the living room.

"Just some background information for the reader." I answered.

"About all this suspense?"

"Yup."

"Well, how about we end the suspense, that started at the end of act 1?" Vesp asked gesturing for me to come and sit down.

"Finally, but why couldn't I/the reader have known her name? And where's Seras?" I asked taking a seat, still looking at Vesp.

"Well Seras is busy and the reason for not telling you her name was either to be mysterious or that the writer didn't have one set yet." Vesp explained.

"What a lazy dick." I exclaimed.

"I know right, but we should just be patient… apparently life's been pretty rough on him, so let's just be grateful he hasn't pulled the plug on this story… but enough 4th wall breaking and let's get on with the reveal." Vesp said pointing at the large couch.

"What the?!... how did she get there?" I asked looking at the couch to find a sleeping lamia lying there.

"We brought her in while you two were yacking it up, and just so you know she is a lot heavier than she looks." Zombina answered me while walking up behind the couch seemingly out of breath… can zombies even lose their breath?

"This is Mina, Mina Diamond… and before you ask she is not a diamond back rattle snake, she is a apophis, a type of royal subspecies of Lamia and is naturally very similar to a king cobra… and before you ask, yes she has venom, but with the sedative we've given her the venom will only be strong enough to knock someone unconscious instead of killing them, it'll take a week before her venom goes back to full strength, so if your going to piss her off and make her bite you, do it while it's weak." Smith explained as she walked in from the kitchen, with another cup of coffee.

I was left to stare at the Apophis that was unconscious on the couch, her skin was a light purple and she had two pointy ears protruding from her head, like most Lamia… Also just like a real cobras she had a scaley hood that was currently folded flat along length of her neck, barely visible along through her dark purple hair, she also has a few odd bright pink marks scattered along her body, her tail was around 16 ft long and was a darker shade of purple from her skin, with a faint hexagonal pattern created by her scales, with bountiful breasts, hips and a pretty face she was all in all very beautiful.

"Oh, and she doesn't know her venom is weak… you might want to play that card close to your chest." Zombina followed up.

"Can't we just keep giving her the sedative? To keep her venom less… lethal." I asked as having a one bite game over did not seem appealing.

"No after this week, her body will become immune to it and it will no longer be effective."

"That sounds exactly like the kind of random logic you would find in a fictional universe." I said crossing my arms and shaking my head.

"I thought we said no more of that for the rest of this act." Widowna said walking over and lightly slapping the back of my head.

"ALRIGHT, let's wake her up." Zombina said with a shark like grin as she began reaching over to grab the apophis by her head.

"Not yet, we should let her wake up on her own and in the meantime let sweetie calm his nerves." Tio spoke up with Doppel and manako on her huge shoulders.

"Ok fine, Tio you stay here with the kid, help calms his nerves… the rest of us will wait in the van." Zombina spoke as she gestured towards the door.

"See ya kid, good luck." Zombina followed up with an uzi salute as she walked out the front door, followed by all her teammates.

"Sweetie?... She'll be waking up soon, is there anything I can do to help you relax?" Tio asked sitting on the second couch with a weighty thump.

"No, I don't think so…" I answered trailing off at the end, my nervousness clearly getting to my head.

"How about you lay your head here?" Tio asked as she patted her thighs with her hands.

"No thanks, how is that supposed to help anyway?" I asked turning to face her.

"Ogre's seem to have a natural aura that helps other beings to relax… I'm only trying to help sweetie." She explained, tapping her thighs once again.

Sighing in defeat I obliged and sat down, resting my head on her lap in the process.

"Feel better?" She asked after a minute.

"Much better, thank you." I thanked as I leaned back up.

"WHERE IS SHE? WHERE'S THAT BITCH?... Where the hell am?" The apophis yelled suddenly as she sat up with a jolt.

"Mina, relax… Your in your new home where you'll be living with your new homestay." Tio calmly spoke to the confused and enraged apophis.

"Oh riiight... you know you could have just asked for me to come, you didn't have to stick that needle in my neck." She retorted with a wicked smile.

"We did… you attacked Smith, remember?"

"And if it wasn't for that inferior lamia, Balboa I would have got her… Sooo who's my new toy?"

"Your host you mean? He's right here…" Tio spoke gesturing to me in the process.

"That is a kid… you assigned a kid to host… HAHA, oh this is going to be FUN!" Mina spoke now fully sitting up, her full attention now on me.

"Yes, Zack might be a little young but he is fully qualified to host, even a liminal with a past such as you." Tio spoke with venom in her voice.

"Oh, so my toy has a name… Zzzzack, it's cute I'll let you keep it." Mina said trying out my name stretching the 'Z' on purpose.

"Good to meet you too, Mina… I hope we get along." I spoke up.

"Likewise…" She said as if on autopilot, her long tongue drooling out of my mouth as she said it.

"Tio, it's fine, I got this... you can go now." I said looking over at her, putting a reassuring hand in her leg as I did so.

"Ok sweetie, if you need any help… Contact me, or anyone on the team… Ok?" She spoke as she stood up and walked to the door.

"I'll be sure to do that, I'll see you soon." I spoke as she departed and soon after I saw the vehicles depart from the driveway.

BOOF

"Ok 'Sweetie', I'm going to tell you how this is going to go… Stay out of my way, mind your own business and you'll survive, get in my way and I'll crush your tiny 8 year old body into a pulp and then happily eat your sad pathetic remains, got it?" She spoke as she me pinned to the wall, her arms on either side of my head firmly planted against the wall and the tip of her tail tightly wrapped around my ankles, restricting any and all movement.

"The only reason i'm letting you live is because I can't afford another incident, I may have been able to talk my way out of the issue with my last host, but I doubt with your tight relationship with the MON team that i'll be able to get away with anything… But if anything happens, or you try anything I swear I'll do it… Am I clear?" She asked as she stared directly at me with malice in her yellow slitted eyes.

"Crystal…" I replied in an attempt to not let my fear show.

"Good…" She slowly agreed as she removed her arms and tail then promptly slithered off, presumably to explore the rest house.

'Damn, she can be intimidating…' I thought to myself as I slumped my back against the wall and slid to the floor.

But there was still something odd that kept echoing through my mind that I just couldn't shake as I sat there pressed up against the wall, something in her eye that looked like uncertainty, like she wasn't sure herself what she was doing… She made her point clear, and on the surface I'm sure she meant every word of it, but underneath it seemed that it was all just front, and although she could physically pull it off it seemed like she couldn't do it if it came to it… it was minor, but something was definitely up.

'Maybe, I should give her a chance… Widowna did say she's had a rough past.' I thought while standing up and I walking back to the living room, seeing no sign of the Lamia that has just threatened me of my life I walked off to explore the kitchen area, and to make some breakfast for myself and maybe a little extra for my new serpentine room mate… Per the teams suggestion.

Through the doorway I managed to spot a portion of her tail as she repeatedly slithered past, as if lost and unsure of her surroundings.

"Bathrooms are down the hall, and your bedroom is at the top of the stairs on the right." I spoke up as I opened the fridge door and began searching and rummaging through all the ingredients.

"S-Shut up, I don't need help from a human…" I heard her stutter in an angry/flustered kind of way.

After that I heard the faint click sound of a door closing, like a child who was trying to sneak around the house without making any noise.

'She's definitely an odd one.' I thought to myself, not daring to say it out loud and possibly put things in a worse spot between the two of us.

Several minutes pass when finally I hear the door open and Mina slowly entering in to the kitchen tongue first.

"What's that smell?" She asked with what sounded like she was just outside the doorway.

"Breakfast, does it smell good?" I asked without turning.

"No, it smells terrible I… I came down here to get rid of whatever is stinking up the house."

"Alright you do that." I responded with a suppressed laugh as I faced away, tending to the stove… Now anyone who's ever Cooked knows you don't need to stare at your food in order for it to cook, I was turned facing away in hopes that it would make my home stay a little more comfortable.

In response she slowly moved farther into the kitchen towards the table. Just as I felt to grab the plate sitting on it I spoke up, "that's my plate."

"So?... I want it…"

"You can have it if you like, but its a little small, I'm making a larger plate for you right now."

"You calling me a glutton?" She asked slowly.

"No, I remember reading that Lamia's need more energy and protein because of their size, why do you think I made omelettes… You like eggs, right?"

"You're not wrong… wait did you just call me fat?" I heard her ask slowly as she put the plate back down onto the table with a chink.

"I think we both know I didn't, soooo why'd you decide to join the program?" I asked breaking the ice.

"None of your damn business." She coldly responded causing the ice to freeze back over.

"Ok…Then…Umm…" I stuttered trying to think of another topic to talk about.

"But if that was your pathetic attempt at trying conversation, then I can humour you… I left and joined the program because of family troubles, what about you? Your a little young for host." She answered as I heard her take a seat on one of the kitchen chairs,

"I was transferred here, from out of the country… Brought here to help iron out the final bumps in the program."

"So your a diplomat a young one at that, from where?" She asked with what sounded like genuinely curiosity.

"Canada, where are you from?" I responded and asked simultaneously.

"Egypt…" She replied as if she had her mind on other things.

"Egypt, can't say I've ever been there… but I've heard it's really nice there." I spoke as I moved away from the stove to another countertop to continue her breakfast.

"They put a youth diplomat in charge of me, what were they thinking?.. Hehe, It doesn't matter I'm holding all the cards now, I practically have the button to start a war at my disposal." I heard ranting to herself in a low suppressed voice, completely ignoring what I just said.

"You can stop with the maniacal plotting, your not good at it… and here's your food by the way." I spoke as I slid the large plate smoothly onto the tabletop, while reaching over to grab my breakfast in the process.

"I hope you like it, since I had no clue of what you like I just kind of made… everything." I explained to her as she glanced at the food then back at me, all the while glaring daggers at myself.

"Is it poison?"

"What the fuck?.. it's a bacon omelet, why would I try to poison you?" I asked all flabbergasted.

"Uh, because I pinned you to a wall and threatened you with your life?" She answered as she started eating the toast.

"Whatever, I'm not making a big deal about it." I spoke shrugging it off as I turned to start cleaning the pan mid mouthful.

The quiet scraping sound of scales against wood sounded throughout the kitchen, I was about to turn around but a hand on my shoulder and the ghostly words "Don't move a muscle" caused me to stand like stone.

"Didn't like the food I guess?" I joked as I stood there with a firm hand locked in my shoulder.

"The food was good… but don't expect this kind of behaviour from me any more. You made me breakfast and I feel that's worth at least a kiss, nothing more… I don't need you, so you need to stay out of my way and drop the nice guy act… Make a single move on me and I'll gut you." She spoke coldly as I felt her hot breath against the side of my face, a second later I felt a pair of velvety soft lips touch the side of my cheek applied with decent pressure then Immediately following it a loud SLAM echoed through the house.

Turning I saw that her food, utensils and herself was now gone… a second violent slam sounded a few seconds later confirmed my suspicions that she went to her room.

I was speechless…

kind one second, malicious and sadistic the next, sweet then threatening… Why does she act this way? Whatever the reason is she's sending some major mixed messages my way." I pondered to myself as I finished eating my breakfast and began cleaning up the kitchen for the next meal.

"I need to think…" I quietly chanted to myself as I left the kitchen and power walked to the garage, out of the corner of my eye I spotted a sliver of Minas face peeking out through a slightly cracked open bedroom door.

When I turned and looked up I saw nothing but a closed door, It was probably just my mind playing tricks on me…

Upon reaching the garage, I violently threw the door open and entered, closing and locking the door afterwards… I tried to convince myself that I locked the door to protect Minas eyesight in the off chance that she came in while I was welding, but clear I hadn't fooled anyone as the real reason I locked the large reinforced steel door was to keep her away.

"I don't know what's wrong with me, why am I scared of her… it's clear it's all an act, she's just putting on an act… an act… nothing dangerous…" I repeated to myself as I put on some gloves and safety glasses and threw a 3 inch diameter steel bar into the lathe.

Turning on the large industrial machine I began rigorously cutting away metal from the bar, just to blow off some steam.

After a few minutes of doing that and not achieving what I originally set out I turned it off and walked over to the far wall to get some other tools.

Now with a nail gun, and sledge hammer I started shooting and destroying random pieces of wood that were lying here and there in the workshop.

30 minutes later and I had finished my smashing session, successfully blowing off some steam and now feeling more relaxed than I did originally, the floor was heavily littered with wood chippings and bent nails, and I was drenched in sweat, as well as physically exhausted.

Taking a glance at the floor then at the shop-vac I contemplated on whether I should clean it up, instead I simply just flipped it off knowing full well that I'd clean it up eventually, unlocking the door I walked out of the garage, and headed to the downstairs bathroom to take a shower.

Upon entering the large bathroom I was met by a room that looked like a really fancy shower room with a bonus large onsen like bathtub off to the side. A note taped to the edge of the tube told me this onsen tub is to be always kept full, because it has a filtration system installed and if someone were to want to use it all they had to do was push a button to start the heating process.

"Dandy." Chuckled to myself as I started undressing, but a jiggle of the door handle made me halt what I was doing, walking up to the door shirtless I opened it just a crack, but saw nothing.

Closing it again I made sure to lock it… I know what you perverts want, you want a bathroom scene with Mina and I… well fuck you all, it might have happened in any other story, but this is my story baby so none there will be none of that, you know what I'm just gonna cut to 10 minutes from now… Yeah, how do you like that?

10 minutes later…

And another eventful shower complete, full of just that… SHOWERING, nothing else.

Walking down the wide and spacious hallway then up the stairs to my room, I noticed that the plate that was once holding Mina's breakfast was now sitting at the base of her door completely empty, and with the cutlery placed in a perfect X formation... Maybe it meant something, but I was going with the suspicion that's just how she placed the cutlery and that there's no ulterior motive behind it at all.

"What are you doing?" A voiced asked dripping with venom as I bent down to pick up the plate.

"Cleaning up." I responded without even looking up.

"Why are you up here?.. remember the warning I gave about making any moves on me." I heard her voice say again as I continued gathering the dishes.

"Relax, I came up here for a new change of clothes… My rooms the one right across from yours if you didn't know, I'm just cleaning up these dishes." I answered in my defence as I took the dishes and went into my room… Not getting a single other response from my roommate.

From there I left the dishes on one of my table tops, put on a fresh change of clothes and walked out with the cutlery in hand.

Taking a quick glance at her door I began wondering what she was really like, but I quickly left before my curiosity got me caught standing there like a creep, down I went descending the rather steep stairs at an unusually fast pace, dish in hand.

First I went to the kitchen where I cleaned up the last remain plate, then to the garage where I reluctantly cleaned up the mess I made earlier. Final stop was the couch, where I would sit back, relax and play some titanfall 2, I feel that some relaxation time is needed, as this is the first opportunity I've had in the week that I've been here… I'm not bitter...

The consoles are mine by the way, they were shipped her when before I moved… Why else do you think all my controllers have my logo on them?.. picture it the best you can, I keep forgetting your going solely off text.

You know what, since transitions are hard, and I'm finally taking a break and do a few missions, I'll be back first thing tomorrow and update you on anything worthwhile… sounds good?

1 day later…

Ok, I'm back playing titanfall at the exact same time as yesterday… So here's what happened… Today Mina didn't come out of her room not once, luckily I read somewhere that lamias don't need to eat everyday so at least I don't have to worry about her starving to death… Even so I still made her breakfast, and left it at the foot of her locked door.

Later I checked and found that the plate was empty, I tried talking to her through the door, but I got no response… my best guess is that she sleeps, a lot… I read that Lamia can sleep for like days on end… but that's just my best guess.

I talked a bit with the mon team and assured them that everything was going well...

I guess we can see what tomorrow brings, here's hoping…

A second day later…

OK, the good news is that I managed to get her to come out today… Since I felt yesterday's breakfast went well I started the day off with doing the exact same thing, when I was bringing her breakfast to her room I found her mid descent on the stairs.

She snatched the food away from me and started yelling at the top of her lungs that she didn't need me, then she promptly turned and went back into her room, feeling confused I to turned away, but as I was leaving I could have sworn I heard a faint thank you come from the top floor.

That's all the interactions I had with her today, we seem to making progress… even if it is agonizingly slow..

Again I talked with the mon team... nothing big just reassuring them.

Maybe tomorrow will be the day I finally get her out of her shell… here's hoping…

A third day later…

Day three, I think… it's really boring here when you know your home stay is locking themselves purposely in there room.

Today absolutely nothing happened I made her breakfast, left it at her door, gave her a knock to let it know it was there and left.

Later when I came back I saw it was untouched… confused I knocked on the door and asked why she didn't eat.

Her response was a venom filled "Because I don't fucking need you, I told you to keep your distance and stay back, but I guess you're too retarded to understand, all you humans are alike… One more move and I'll bite you, do not test me kid."

Shocked I just grabbed the dish and took it downstairs to be cleaned, what happened did she not like it? Was she sick of it? No I made sure not to cook the same thing multiple days in a row, what did I do wrong?

And this brings me to right now, sitting on the couch controller tossed to the side with a paused mission displayed on screen.

"What did I do wrong?" I asked myself as I sat there staring at the wall blankly.

"Is it me? What did I do… wrong? Or maybe I'm not the issue… That's it, I'm talking to her, even if it kills… This relationship isn't healthy." I spoke with admiration as I stood up with a snap and briskly walked up the stairs.

Knock-Knock

Knocking on the door with two swift strikes I waited for Mina to answer, she didn't... and the feeling of uncertainty started to wash over me.

I knocked again.

Knock-Knock

And waited…

"I'm not hungry…" Was the she response I finally got after waiting a few minutes.

"Mina, can we talk?.." I asked optimistically through the door.

A few seconds passed before she answered a cold flat, "No…"

"Ok let me rephrase it, we need to talk… so get out here." I spoke with with a stricter tone.

"Look kid. You've been awfully nice making me breakfast, and I do appreciate it… but I don't need you, leave now or I will hurt you." She spoke again, her tone being sweet at the beginning but quickly it turning into one of venom at the end.

"Mina, get out here now or I break this door down… We both know I have the tools to do so." I threatened as she stayed silent, 30 seconds later and I heard the door knob start to shake.

"I'm only doing this because I really don't want to have to get a new door." Mina spoke as she cracked the door open just wide enough for her body to squeeze through.

Mina was now standing right infront of me.

"What did you want to talk about kid?"

"What's with you, why do you hide in your room for days on end? And when you do come out it's for like 5 min intervals."

"I like to sleep, and when I'm not, I'm doing… other things…" She answered back staring at me in a dead sort of way.

"And also your moods and behaviours, they kind of jump all over the place… it feels like your not even sure who you are, I've been doing some researcher and found that interactioning with others is the best way to help."

"I know somethings wrong with me, I'm not that stupid… You should feel lucky that I'm taking pity on you, or else you would have been nothing more than a stain on the wall by now." She snarled at me.

"Mina what's wrong, how can I help?"

"Kid back off, you don't know anything about me, nor will you ever… go away." She spoke coldly as she began to turn away.

"Then explain it to me…" I reasoned causing her to stop and turn towards me.

"You wouldn't understand anything, your a human… you would never understand what I've been through." She spoke resuming her pursuit into her room.

"Fucking try me Mina, I may not know much about you, but I know you know jack about me… Tell me what I wouldn't understand, then we'll see who's right and who's wrong." I angrily argued back.

"Fine, I'll tell you… you least deserve to die knowing the truth." She spoke in a menacing tone as she rose to about 8 feet in height, her hood flaring open in the process.

"2 months ago, I fled from Egypt, my mother 'the queen of monsters' chose me to be the next in line for the throne, due to my morph being the closest matching to her out of all of my hundreds of sisters… I was promised a life of unending mates and food in exchange for expanding the apophis race… I didn't want my life to be like that so I called the program and they arranged to evacuate me without my mother even knowing, I left a note and everything else I owned… When I got to Japan they assigned a host to me, he seemed ok, and a week in when Smith felt that daily supervisor wasn't necessary he locked me in his cellar and told me he'd be down there every other day for sex, every other day he would come down and when I refused he would start beating me with a bat, if I attempted to fight him he would pull out a gun… 2 weeks pass with this happening, I'm not getting any food and only barely enough water to survive, then one day he comes down and says he's tired of my non cooperation so he shoots me… that day I learned that my tails scales are bullet resistant so I attacked him, the mon team just happened to come right at the perfect time to see me in the act and to label me 'dangerous'. Then they locked me up at there HQ for a few days until I woke up here, with you as my new host." She finished her story now sit comfortably at 6ft her hood now retracted.

"Mina, I'm sorry… I had no idea…"

"I KNOW YOUR NOT SORRY, YOU'RE INTIMIDATED… DESPITE WHAT I TOLD YOU STILL KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME OR WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH, THAT TIME WITH THAT MAN WAS HELL… I'M JUST SORRY I DIDN'T GET THE CHANCE TO KILL HIM, I'M SURE THE MON TEAM TOLD YOU THAT THEY SAVED ME, THEY DIDNT SAVE SHIT, ALL THEY DID WAS SAVE THAT FAT PERVERTED BASTARD FROM GETTING HIS THROAT RIPPED OUT, I TRIED BEING GOOD BUT LOOK WHERE IT GOT ME… I USED TO BE SANE, BUT NO MORE… that's enough, you've heard to much, now it's time for you to DIE!" Mina screamed at me as she rose up once again, her hood fully extending, her voice becoming quite and full of sedition at the end, tears running down her face as she said so.

"You had a good run kid…" She spoke in a voice filled with sorrow.

"Wait Mina, you don't have to do this, that guy might have been an asshole but no all humans are…"

"I know…" She spoke in a quiet voice as lunged forward and grabbed me by the neck.

With a tight grip she began lifting me high in the air, "It's a shame, I liked you…"

With an air pipe that was being crushed I had no way of responding to her, instead I grabbed her wrist in an attempt of getting her hand off me, but like I suspected she was to strong.

"Goodnight, Zack…" Was the final thing she said before taking her other hand and shoving her claws right into my stomach, holding it there for a second I managed to get a glance at her face through my blurring vision.

It was a cold stare, no emotion was present on her face as she looked at me.

"Mina… no…" I managed to weakly cough out.

She heard this and began smiling wickedly, then she swiped her claws out of my stomach and off to the side with one quick motion.

Blood was now spilling everywhere.

She brought her face close to mine and stared into my eyes for a few seconds, suddenly she moved in and kissed me passionately on the lips, her tongue snaking deep inside my mouth, it was oddly soothing in a choking kind of way.

It soon ended however with her slurping her tongue back into her mouth, and a bit of blood filled drool dangling from both our mouths.

"I love you… you were the only one who's been nice to me."

Then she moved, held me so I was dangling over the stairs, then she let go completely…

"Goodbye..."

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump...

My body at that point was already so extremely numb from pain, that the tumble down the stairs did nothing to current injured physical state.

At that point I was lying facing down on the floor, in a pool of my own blood.

The adrenaline rushing through my veins brought my mind in to a sharp conscious state, it's said that your brain is the most active and aware it's ever been right before your about to die, it's so to give the victim the best chance of survival… and I can tell you first hand that it's all true.

The fire shot through my veins and I managed to move my arms so that I was able to crawl towards the open door of the garage, it took a little while as I was dragging my limp lower half along for the ride but when I finally got to the garage I knew I might have a chance of survival.

Rolling limply over the lip of the door, and flopping onto the ground I sat lying there for a few seconds trying to manage the pain from overwhelming my body.

lub-DUB

Sitting up I reached over to one of the drawers and pulled out a syringe full of a a medication that would temporarily turn off all the nerves in my body.

Normally it would be very dangerous but seeing as how I had maybe 3 minutes to live I didn't see much of an option.

lub-DUB

With my heart beat pounding away in my ear drums, I stood up and limply grabbed my phone.

With one hand I began messaging the team and with the other I was applying pressure to my wound with a towel, that was until….

My hand slipped causing the pressure to be lost and for the blood to start gushing out again.

lub-DUB

Dropping the phone on the ground I grabbed the towel with both hands and again started pushing as hard as I could to slow the bleeding.

30 seconds later I risked it and went to send the message.

lub-DUB

My vision was becoming darker and darker, it was beginning to look exactly like in a video game.

Lying down on the ground to lessen the pressure around my stomach, I weakly reached out to grab my phone, no luck it was to far… of course it was...

lub-DUB

Breathing was becoming harder to do, and my sight was nearly gone as well…

Picking up the device I pressed the power button and the now cracked screen lit up.

Forgetting the message I typed a simple 'HELP' and moved my finger to press the send button.

lub-DUB

Darkness at that point close in on me and my hand went limp.

Dropping the phone back to the concrete floor, I simply stared at it…

To weak to do anything, even hold the towel over the gaping hole in my stomach I lay there as my eyes slowly closed.

lub-

As my wish... I want you to Play: Runaway (feat. Valentina Franco) Culture code remix... by Halycon...

I new my time was up, theres just no wayout… pity my clock ran out at only 17 years old, yesterday was my birthday, a shame I didn't get to see my family that day… I would have liked to it if I made it 25, apparently that's the human prime time…

I guess the only thing I could do now, is to make peace with myself… I don't want to die with regrets… I heard that's the most pain one could endure... but what do people know, they've never died before.

I'm happy, even with what happened with Mina, I'm happy… I'll accept it… I mean what else am I supposed to do right now?... I don't want to die, but I can't see another way out of this... I always thought I would go out climbing a building exterior thousands of feat in the air... Ethan hunt style...

Funny, to think I was almost dead when the MON team attacked me during there test, man does that feel like an eon ago... now I see how powerful they can be, I couldn't even get out of her chokehold, and now I can feel my throat inside out...

I'm sorry everyone... I'm sorry Mon team, I shouldn't have agreed to this, for your guys sake I know how much I meant to you guys... I'm sorry family for not seeing you one last time... I guess this is also kind of the writer saying his goodbyes as well, not from this story, but from life... I'm sorry outragedfungus4, I guess this story was just on last nail in the coffin... dude, before I go just know that suicide isn't the answer, it doesn't solve anything...

I'm sorry everyone... I'm sorry... sorry...

My thoughts all merged together as one until I couldn't tell anything apart… is this what death is like?...

BLACK...

Wow that got emotional, comment if you cried, I know I did and I was writing it...

Anyway... Act 2 part 1 is done! And last chapter I was saying that updates will be every month, that's at the latest, I said that because I had hit a wall so large that I wanted to quit this story, thanks for all the support you guys… and girls… Updates will *hopefully* be out every two weeks, the one week thing was getting kind of tight… also kind of except around 10k per chapter from now on.

Okay, It was really hard to write this chapter, getting Mina's crazy random personality just right was an adventure all in of itself… She becomes more stable in the following chapters, when she has to deal with killing Zack and having a dead host……………………………...

In my notes, I had the 'incident' all marked up ready to go, but when I started writing it, it sort of took a really dark and gory path… I apologize if it was hard to read but I felt it was necessary.

I got the scene idea from the story 'Daily life with legendary monster girls' written by supersairaptor… I doubt he even reads my stuff… whatever, It was off the scene where Armen talks with ember near the beginning, except I took it way farther and killed him… HAHA………..

Yeah, I had a bad week so I needed to vent a little, don't worry he lives, and everything is good next chapter, but whether they get together after that is up to you… no wait, it's up to me… I mean we'll see, I'm still writing it or this point.

Oh and those 4th wall breaks, were me venting again… yeah I'm not sorry.

I doubt anyone will like/love this story after this chapter, but do it anyways it'll make me more inclined to write the next one.

Minas POV; Bonus scene... play Monster by Beth Crowley

"Stupid kid… Why couldn't he just have kept his distance, I liked him… he was a good cook too, but why he couldn't just leave me alone is beyond me… he said he wanted to help me, but why would he want to do that? He barely knows me…"

"Because he's a good a kid… you shouldn't have hurt him."

"He had it coming, we gave him plenty of warnings… now he's dead, if he kept his distance none of this would have happened."

"It was wrong what we did, he only wanted to help… god knows we need it."

"Apologize… apologize… apologize…" my conscience repeated in my mind.

"What's there to apologize to? That sad meat sack staining the floor? I don't think so, we should just move on… maybe if we eat the body, we can leave to…"

"SHUT UP, I need to stop listening to you… I need to… apologize…"

CRASH!

"The hell was that?" I wondered as I opened the door and slithered into the hallway.

"Oh god…" I gasped to myself as I looked down the stairs to see red splotches everywhere, a large pool of drying blood on the ground.

"I didn't hurt him that badly, did I?" I asked myself as I gasped and put my hands over my mouth.

"Oh you very much did, and on top of it you enjoyed yourself... I doubt he's even salive now."

"Shut up, I-I need to find him… he's still alive, right?… of course he is… " I reaffirmed with myself as I descended the stairs, the end of my tail rubbing slightly in the door frame as I full left the room.

Spying a red streak going into the garage I cautiously followed it.

On the ground, surrounded by loads of tall tool cabinets was the young boy, covered in blood, and lying in a pool of red.

His hand was outstretched towards a phone, picking it up, I turned on the screen and saw that there was a message of 'HELP' made to be sent to the mon team, a bloody smudge on each key.

"See I told you, he's dead... humans and liminals can't live together, there to damn weak…"

"Do you think I can still save him?" I asked out loud as I started down at the kid.

"It's possible, but you'll need the mon teams help… if not the kid will surely die."

"Don't do it, you hate them remember... they hate you, you know what they'll do to you when they find out that you hurt him... Let him die, he means nothing to you."

"I don't remember hurting him this badly… this is all my fault, I… I…" I stuttered as I knelt down and looked at the body closer.

"Leave him, he'll just cause more trouble for you, leave him."

Sighing I stood back up and pressed the send button, the phone buzzing slightly indicating the action it just took.

Almost instantaneously a response was received from every single mon operative saying 'they were on there way.'

"Come quickly, he's bleeding out." I sent back as I tossed the busted phone on the counter and went back to staring at the boy.

"Don't you fucking do it…"

"Do it, do it, you need him… regardless of what she tells you, and right now he needs you."

"This is all my fault..." I spoke as I bent down and carefully picked him up, and carried him to the front door.

"LEAVE HIM..."

"He's lighter than what I thought he'd be, I guess I shouldn't be shocked I did hold him earlier." I talked to myself as I opened the door, sitting on my coils on the porch I patiently waited for the Mon team to arrive.

Looking down I saw that his clothes were destroyed, he had 4 long deep cuts that were on his stomach area.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it… I was, scared, confused…" I admitted as the tears began to roll down my cheeks and onto the unconscious boy in my arms.

"You we're just trying to help, and I… I hurt you, the only human that's shown an interest in me…" I sobbed as I placed a gentle hand on his cheek, a hand that on closer inspection had dried blood on it.

"You can still do right, he might even forgive you… but not if he dies..." I spoke to myself as I placed a hand on his chest then on his neck feeling the faint pulse that I felt earlier when I first picked him up.

"He won't forgive you, your a monster in his eyes… leave him to die, or better yet, seal his fate crush him, and eat him… We haven't tried human yet, let's see how they taste."

"Hang on… You'll make it…" I spoke softly as I placed the hand once again on his cheek, completely ignoring the voices in my head.

The sound of wings beating and a large vehicles driving at high speeds brought my attention away from him.

Spying the hornet, Wyvern, and harpy closely following flying a mon plated ops truck and an ambulance prompted me to cling on to him tighter on reflex.

The two trucks screeched to a halt on the driveway and all the operatives quickly piled out and started marching over to me.

The first thing I did was move in a way so that I was positioned in a way where he was firmly pressed against my breasts and a large portion of my tail was free to move if I wanted to.

"Hand him over…" Widowna called out.

"No, he needs a medic… or he'll bleed out."

"Hand him over now… I won't ask again." She strictly spoke, out stretching her arms in the process.

"Fine…" I spoke reluctantly letting him go and placing him in Widownas open arms.

"Oh, what did she do to you?.." Widowna quietly spoke as she placed a hand on his cheek, briskly walking to the ambulance in the process.

Seras the medic slime promptly hopped out of the back and met widowna mid way, they began nodding to each other when Seras took him in her arms and swiftly brought him to the back of the ambulance.

"What did you do to him?" Vesp asked as Tio, Doppel and Corva ran past me into the house.

"I...I… made a mistake..." I stuttered as Zombina walked up with a surprisingly glum look on her undead face.

"So did we." Vesp responded coldly as she motioned for Balboa to come over.

She pointed one of her uzi's right at my head and said "We gave you a chance with the kid, now give me one reason why shouldn't pull the trigger… and these aren't rubber bullets if your wondering, snake."

"I don't have a reason, I messed up and I'm sorry… I just want the kid to be ok."

ClIck-click-click

Balboa was behind me putting handcuffs on me. "We're bringing you back to the HQ, you better hope he lives, because if he dies you do to." She threatened as she pushed me violently forward, singling for me to move forward.

Through the opened doors of the ambulance I saw the medic slime Seras as well as Manako tending to him, through the quick glimpse I managed to see the life support monitor, and it looked like his vitals were beginning to stabilize.

"This is not good, I can see everything inside of him." Manako spoke in disgust as she hid her face behind a clipboard.

"If your not going to be helpful, get out… If you stay I'm going to need you to find his blood type, he's lost so much already that I need to help his body produce more, but I can't do that IF I DON'T KNOW THE TYPE!" Seras screamed in anger and desperation, as Manako began flipping through all the papers on her clipboard like mad.

My view inside was quickly blocked by the ambulance doors being pulled shut by two of Seras tentacles as she carefully examined his body.

"Get in…" Widowna cold tone brought my attention back to her as she opened the back of the transport vehicle and motioned for me to climb inside.

"It's a mess in there, well have to do the full check tomorrow when there's time." Corva spoke as she, Vesp, and Vera hoped on to the roof of the vehicle.

The rest of the team including Balboa, Tio, Widowna and Doppel climbed into the back of the large truck with me, Zombina was in the front with Smith.

"Drink this." Balboa asked as she pushed a bottle towards me.

"What is it?..." I asked hesitantly as I took hold of the clear bottle and stared at the contents.

"Right now your not in a position to be asking questions… drink the fucking liquid or I tear your eyes out." Balboa responded full of anger,

Nodding, I opened my mouth and downed the odd tasting liquid.

"Its to knock you out, without us punching you… feel fortunate, we all want to knock your teeth out." Widowna spoke answering my question.

"Smith is getting hell from us for putting Zack in the same house as you, Now we all want kill you, make no mistake but apparently Zack left a note before he left telling us what to do in the off chance something like this were to happen, he didn't even know you yet and he was already putting in a good word for you… despite all that we told him, he's a good kid… you made a big mistake by hurting him." Balboa spoke coldly toward me, but at the end her words were starting to blur together and my vision was becoming blurry.

"Feel lucky that he left that note, because heaven only knows that it didn't take long for you to try something, we all love him enough to honour his wishes, but just know that when this is over there will be no hole on this earth deep enough for you to hideeee innnn………"

BLACK

Haha, there was a bonus section… yeah that's my new thing, I write the chapter then I write like an after credits scene to leave readers with a good taste in the mouth.

True, this one might not leave you with the best taste in the mouth, but it's better than the vague 'ending' earlier… right? I did it for suspense purposes.

I tried it on my other story where it was just a cuddling scene, and I liked how it turned out… so.. yeah...

Ok, this chapter is done, Mina is properly in the story… Now I can already feel you itching for the next chapter, so if this story gets up to 50 loves, or 60 likes whatever comes first… then I'll post, or if I just feel like posting, if my demands are reached before I've finished writing the next part then it will become my top priority and it will be out that week.

Comment and tell me what you think of Mina Diamond, I might get some hate for her, but I think she's the best character I've ever made, her unstable personality is what makes her the best girl here because she gets a crippling attachment to Zack at the same time she clinically hates him, so on upcoming slice of life chapters she'll still be sweet, with a sadistic side… Just to clear up, she does not have multiple personalities, that was her conscience talking to her, the little devil, angel on the shoulder type of thing.

and WOW over 10k words this chapter, damn this one was long… your welcome... such a pain in the ass to edit though.

I just realized while editing how often I use '," and '...' I hope it doesn't get annoying, I like to think that it makes my writing style unique.

One last thing, (man this A/N is long…) check out my other story, ARCTiCa Achives: Girlfirends of Metal a family of monsters... AND an idea hit me while writing this, ready?... This is for anyone who likes writing. My idea is to write a collaboration vacation story, no plot, no character set ups, just a bunch of writers who want to write about any they like character having some fun in the sun, now I know I will have like 0 participants, but I just felt like throwing it out there if anyone's interested. All characters, ideas, and writing styles are welcome… PM me if you are.

If anyone likes highschool DxD I'm doing a crossover, where the harem from my ARCTiCa Archives winds up In the DxD universe.

So remember to LOVE, LIKE, COMMENT cause you guys are the only reason I haven't binned this story.

I love you all! And until next time...