~Two Weeks Earlier~

"Guys," I spoke, "I want some answers. You all obviously know what the hell that was, or at least have a general idea. Why the hell was there a dragon in the woods? Is someone playing a prank?"

Cora sighed, then came close and sat beside me on the tailgate of Theo's pickup. Theo and Liam stayed sitting on a dirt hill in front of us, a fair distance from each other. "Rachel," she said, ever careful not to call me by my actual name, "we don't know what exactly that creature was, but, you're not wrong. We owe you an explanation."

Liam nodded, and Theo stayed quiet and kept his eyes on me. "It wasn't a prank," said Liam, "that creature is real, and it's hurting people. We've been trying to stop it." "But we're having a hard time doing that. We don't know anything about it, besides what you saw." "How could you guys do anything? You're only human."

Cora cleared her throat and Liam coughed. Theo lowered his eyes and let his clasped hands hang over his knees. "About that," Cora said after a short pause.

"Oh…damn it, you're not one of those things, are you?" I asked them. "No, no," Liam was quick to assure me, "there are different types of creatures. Us, for example."

I felt my eyes widen at them. I stood up, meeting Cora's eyes first. She nodded. I walked a short distance and back, trying to wrap my head around it. "What are you?" I finally asked Cora. "Well, I'm a werewolf." She stated. Although I felt sick to my stomach, I knew she wasn't dangerous to me. If she had planned to kill me, she would have already done so, any of them would have.

"A…werewolf?" I asked. She nodded, then I watched as her eyes turned a glorious shade of gold. They were warm, sunny. Her ears grew pointed, her canines sharpened and broke through her lips. Claws sprouted from her fingertips.

"Wow, you really are." I gaped. Suddenly, she was just Cora again, and she was laughing. "What's so funny?" I asked, having to smile myself. "You are so weird." she said, "You should have turned and high-tailed it to the opposite direction. And yet, you're not even freaking out."

I turned to Liam then, who smiled and flashed me his own golden eyes. "Werewolf?" I asked, and he nodded. Finally, my eyes landed on the man who had gone into dangerous woods to find me. He looked like he'd rather be somewhere else, but after a second, he lifted his eyes to mine and I watched the irises turn a brilliant topaz as well.

He kept his eyes on mine. Suddenly, Melissa's statement made sense. He could have easily scared her if she wasn't aware of what he was.

"And you're one also?" I didn't expect the smile that came up on his lips.

"Half," he said, "think I could show you something without you freaking out?"

"If I was going to freak out, I would have done so already." I said.

I blushed when Theo began stripping his clothes. Thinking he would stop at his boxers, I was terribly embarrassed and quickly turned my head to avoid being flashed when he kept going.

Without a single sound, his body transformed and there was a coyote before me. He was silvery, with the same eyes I'd just seen on Theo, and stood delicately on all four feet. He was actually quite beautiful.

Then, in a few seconds, he shifted again, and now before me was a beautiful solid black wolf. As he formed back into a human, I watched only his eyes and he watched only mine.

"Showoff." Grumbled Liam. "Simpleton," Theo shot back, grinning as he got dressed again. "So," I said to Theo, who looked back to me, "you're…two things?" "Yeah, I'm what they call a Chimera."

I nodded, "Guess that's why you're so supernaturally annoying."

Liam and Cora burst out laughing and Theo grimaced. "That's really all you have to say regarding everything we just told and showed you?"

"Yep, that's all I got."

~Present Time~

"Thanks so much," I said to the person who stood beside me as she held out a key. "Hey, no problem hon, you take care now."

I was nervous to go inside, like somehow that would release Damian from his current prison cell. I'd just done the bravest, and stupidest, thing since I got here, which was get a house. I'd never had the option before to put down roots anywhere, and I hadn't wanted to.

You still need to leave, I told myself. And I knew it. The revelation of supernatural creatures still didn't save me from Damian's kill spree. Whether they felt they could protect me or not, I wasn't going to allow any of them to get so much as a bruise on my part. When I found out that Damian was free once more, I would leave without a trace, and they would be safe.

I thought to sweet little Corey's face when he found out that I'd been told, and how neat it was that he could turn invisible. Mason was just like me, a human, but he still showed strength of a nonhuman.

Liam, who had been quick to befriend me, and although his temper was an issue for him, was just a sweet young guy with a good heart in the right place.

Cora, who from night one of us meeting had sheltered and cared for me like family.

Theo, the one who had been an enemy, and had proven that there was more to him than just rage and sociopathic actions.

Melissa, the closest thing I'd had to a mother figure since my mid-teen years.

If any of them got hurt, or worse, killed, because of my brother, and me…how could I even go on living?

I shook my head to clear it and opened the door.

I walked in, studying the little home once again. A little living room, which I stood in, with nice wood flooring and white walls. A small, but open, airy kitchen with river stone tile and matching walls. There was a doorway that led to a small hallway with a door at each end, one to a bathroom and one to my bedroom.

Outside sat my new car, a beat up third generation Ford Fiesta, black in color. It would be wonderful for being on the run, until I ran out of gasoline anyway.

This place had been such a drastic change, and I loved every second of it. When the time came to leave, this is what I would remember. My little piece of heaven on earth.

I sat down on my thrift store sofa, which was surprisingly comfortable, and pondered my next move. It was still hours before I was supposed to meet Cora in town. Maybe read a book?

I hadn't done something so simple in years.

A sudden knock on the door startled me, and I crept to the door to look out of the peephole, and was somewhat relieved to see Liam standing there. Theo's truck was in the driveway, but he made no move to get out, which led me to believe that he had given Liam a lift here.

"Liam, hey," I said, opening the door wide enough for him to come in, "is Theo going to come in?" "Who knows," he replied, rolling his eyes. Liam walked past me, and I stepped out onto the small porch and motioned to Theo, who caught sight and rolled down his window.

"You don't have to sit out here, dumbass." I said, smiling. "I think I'd prefer to." He said. "Was that a dig at my house? What, not good enough for you?" I said, pretending to be upset.

"Really, Rachel?" He rolled his eyes at me. "Really, Theo?" I mocked, "Come inside. There's no telling how long Liam and I will visit and since I'm assuming you're his ride, there's no promise as to how long you'll wait. I made fresh tea. Now, get your ass out of your truck and come in."

Theo's eyes scanned my face for a moment before he sighed, turned the truck off, and hopped out. "Thank you," I said, "a spot on my couch is the least I can offer you for helping save my life."

"That was almost three weeks ago." "And?" "And…" Theo shook his head. He leaned against his truck, and I glanced toward the open door before joining him.

"Theo, I know we got off on a bad foot. You scared the hell out of me, to be honest. I am not used to being around a lot of people. But that doesn't mean we can't be sociable."

"What does that even mean, Rachel?" He asked, looking me full in the face, "You aren't used to being around people? You showed up out of nowhere, with this "mysterious past". Sometimes, I wonder if we can trust you."

"That's fair." I replied, not at all hurt by what he'd said. "Offer still stands." I said, backing off of his truck and walking up to the porch without looking back.

What I didn't mention was that he still did scare the hell out of me. I was allowing myself to be friendlier than I needed to, and not just with him. I'd opened all the way up with Cora, and who knew what could come from that. It felt safer to keep everyone else in the dark.

Liam was sitting on my sofa when I came in. "Tea?" I asked him, and he nodded. "Rachel, do you think that you would be willing to help us discover what this creature is?"

His question startled me. "Liam…that's, uh, sweet and all, but-" "But what? Every pack in this area has had some form of outside help. Mason is human. The human people help do the digging, and you're smart."

"For once, he says something keen," came Theo's voice from the doorway, "He's not wrong, as much as I hate to admit it. We could use all the help we could get looking for this thing."

Theo sat down at the counter in the kitchen, and propped his hand under his chin. I retrieved another glass from the cupboard for him. "Let me know what I can do." I said to Liam. "Anything," he said, "read books, study webpages, anything."

"Mind if I ask what all we know so far?" "Well, it has a venomous bite, is reptilian and black. That's what we have so far." "That's it?"

Liam nodded. "It's already killed five people. We're falling behind and costing lives."

I felt sick at the mention of lost lives. I shook my head and handed them their glasses. "Okay, so basically, look up lore on a big, reptilian creature with a poisonous bite. Pretty sure snakes are going to be a high answer."

Theo snickered and Liam facepalmed. "I was planning on going to the library tonight anyway. I'll look for books on mystical creatures and supernatural animals. Maybe they'll have something." "It would surprise me if you found something Doc hadn't, but you can try. Thanks, Rach."

We chatted until we parted and I did some shopping with Cora to stock up my new home.

"So, did Liam talk to you about helping us?" She asked. "Yeah, I'm going to hit the library tonight and see what I can dig up." "Okay, just be careful. Remember, weird stuff happens here."

"Oh no, wouldn't want anything weird to happen," I joked and she gave me a look.

After a couple of hours, we also parted ways and I took my stuff home and put it away. It had gotten darker faster than I had expected, and I needed to leave now.

The drive was quiet, which was both peaceful and unnerving. My car purred softly and I only met a few headlights going my opposite way. Rain began sprinkling on the windshield, and I casually bumped my wipers on.

I wondered how I would sleep tonight. I'd been plagued with nightmares of the creature, and of Damian, for the last few nights. But I had managed for years before I met Cora, though she had certainly spoiled me.

There were only two other cars in the lot when I pulled up. It was raining pretty hard now, and the library was dimly lit, but I rushed in. The lady at the front desk was flipping through a magazine and looked up only for half a second to acknowledge me with a smile, and a teenaged boy rushed past me with close to ten books in his arms. Hopefully, he could save the books from too much wetness.

I quickly headed off into the area of books with supernatural listings. It was a very small section, and seemed like the least used, since almost all of the books looked brand new. I traced the spine of one, then searched through it.

Hmm, nothing on big, venomous reptiles.

After a half hour, I could understand the pack's frustration. There was nothing that led on to what this thing was.

I got up from the table to get the next book. I pushed it back in its place, but dropped the next book on the floor. When I bent to reclaim it, a loud popping noise came from the other side of the building, and it went pitch black.

I stayed quiet, and heard only the heavy rain on the roof. Then soft steps. I figured the librarian had gotten up to go see what had happened, and I hoped that she found it quick.

Finally, I gained the courage to pick up the book, but fiery adrenaline shot through me when from near the front desk came a bloodcurdling scream.

It was the scream you heard only in nightmares: agonized and petrified.

It lasted for a few seconds before it cut off, replaced with a struggled gurgling. I had to help the lady.

Without a second thought, I quickly tiptoed to the front desk, just in time to see a scaly, black tail slithering out the door. I shook in fear, but it hadn't heard me, and seconds later, I heard the door slam behind it.

"Miss?" I whispered, "I'm here, are you…?"

Horror etched itself into my skin.

The lady, who had smiled at me earlier, was laying there lifeless on the ground. Thick, green ropey veins ran down her arms and into her hands and over her legs. They crawled up her neck and into her face. But worst of all was her open, ragged throat. I could see the bone of her trachea, and empty spots where muscles should have been. Her skin was in tatters around that.

I felt the urge to puke, but swallowed. My heart stopped when I heard the door open again. Nearly silently, I crept away quickly, trying to find a place to hide, and took it underneath a computer desk.

I listened to the footsteps, growing more scared as they got closer. Then they stopped. I held my breath.

Then a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me out from under the desk.

**Whew, would NOT want to be in this position! I hope that you enjoyed, and please feel free to leave a review! Have a good day!**