Vee's phone buzzed in her pocket, Mambo No. 5 being muffled by her jeans. The original version, mind you. Not that creepy new one. Vee let out a frustrated sigh. She was just about to solve a really tough problem on her AP Stats homework, and now she had completely lost her train of thought.

Vee fished her phone out of her pocket and looked to see who the culprit was.

Incoming Call: Monster Mash

Upon seeing the caller ID, Vee immediately pressed the "Answer" button and raised the phone to her ear.

Vee opened her mouth to say hi, but Masha beat her to the punch.

"Hey, Luz. So, I just finished cleaning out the back room at the Historical Society, and I found some… interesting things. Can you come over here? I've got some questions for you." Masha sounded deathly serious.

Vee's smile dropeed from her face. Oh Titan they know.

"Yeah. Sure. I'll, uh, be there in 10." Vee did her best to hide the nervousness growing in her voice.

"Awesome. Thanks, Luz." Masha said before ending the call.

Vee slammed her laptop shut, Stats homework be damned. Titan, how was she going to explain this?

Vee took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

"Camila?" Vee shout-asked from inside her/Luz's room.

"Yes, Vee?" Camila replied from the kitchen.

"Can you drive me to the Gravesfield Historical Society? Masha wants me to come over," Vee said, walking down the stairs as she slipped on her jacket. Being a cold-blooded creature and living in the freezerbox that was Gravesfield meant that she couldn't exactly go strolling around in a tank top in the fall. Unless she wanted to freeze to death, that is.

"Oh well then, is this a date I'm sensing?" Camila asked playfully.

"Mamá, no!" Vee buried her face in her hands. "It's about Jacob. Masha found his videos."

"You mean the ones-"

"Where I shapeshift? Yeah. Those ones."

Camila walked over and wrapped Vee in a big hug. "Don't worry, bebé. Knowing Masha, they'll probably like you even more than before now that they know how incredible you are."

Vee backed out of the hug. "Yeah, but what if they don't? What if they think I'm some kind of wild animal or monstrosity or-"

"Hey! What did I say about talking bad about yourself?" Camila interrupted her daughter.

"To not do it," Vee said quietly, staring down at her feet.

"That's right. Now, you and I are going to drive over to that museum and we are going to talk with Masha and get this all sorted out, alright?"

"Okay, mamí."

"Good. Now go get the keys. You need some practice driving at night."

Masha stared at the video playing on the computer screen. They'd already watched it at least a dozen times now, but they still couldn't believe what their eyes were seeing. It had to be doctored, right? People don't just shapeshift into mythical beings on a daily basis.

It was a short video, really. It barely lasted 6 seconds. Luz would walk into frame inside that old abandoned shack in the woods. She would say something about "having to run again" and then kick at a rock. After that her leg would get caught in some trap that had been set up and she would fall to the ground and turn into this weird snake monster. What was the term? A naga or something like that? Masha had to admit they weren't as well versed in South Asian folklore as they were American.

Just as they were about to watch the video again, the front door to the GHS opened, the old rusted hinges squeaking. Quickly minimizing the video and getting out of their chair, Masha went to go greet their visitors, not bothering to close the door to the staff room.

Masha turned to see that both Luz and her mom had shown up.

"Hey, Luz. Hello, Mrs. Noceda." Luz gave a nervous wave as she hid behind her mom.

Mrs. Noceda took a step forward. "Nice to meet you, Masha. Luz told me that you wanted to show her something."

"Oh, uh, yeah! Right this way." They motioned behind them to the staff room. Luz and her mom both worked their way around the front desk and followed Masha into the room.

"So what is it you wanted to show us?" Mrs. Noceda asked.

"Well… Uhm…" Masha stammered, lost for words.

"Is it a video of me?" Luz propositioned.

"Yes! I mean, no! I… goddess why does it have to be this hard?" Masha said, letting out a frustrated groan. Not having a better idea, they simply clicked the video open and pressed play.

"Can either of you, like, explain to me what that was?" Masha asked hopefully, turning around to see the Nocedas' reactions.

Mrs. Noceda reached out a hand and gave Luz's a squeeze of support. "Don't worry, Vee. I'll be right here."

Luz (Or was her name Vee? Masha was confused.) stepped forward and took a deep breath.

"Masha, I haven't been honest with you," she said, jamming her hands in her pockets and twisting about. "I'm not the real Luz."

Oh. Well okay, then.

"What do you mean?" Masha asked Luz/Vee.

"I mean that I'm a demon. From the Demon Realm. Which is where the real Luz is," Not-Luz/Vee replied.

"Wait, so are you from Hell or something?" Masha inquired.

"What's 'Hell'?" Vee asked innocently.

"I'll take that as a no," Masha said with a small chuckle. "So, is that snake form what you naturally look like?"

"Yes," Vee said quietly.

"Can I see it?" At that, Vee turned to Camila, as if silently asking for permission.

"Mostrarles. No te preocupes, mi pequeña serpiente. Ellos te amarán," the Noceda matriarch supplied. Masha really wished they could speak Spanish.

Vee nodded her head and turned back to Masha. "Please don't freak out," she said. Vee then closed her eyes, and her body began to change. This only lasted for about half a second, though, before her eyes flew back open.

"Wait!" Vee quickly took off her jacket and handed it to Camila. "There we go." She didn't want to risk shredding it when she went back to her natural form.

Vee met eyes with Masha. "So, are you gonna shapeshift, or?" The enby asked.

"Oh, right, sorry." With that haphazard apology, Vee quickly morphed back into her basilisk body.

Masha watched as shiny green scales started down at Vee's feet and worked up her legs and then spread to cover her arms. Speaking of, her hands shifted as well, going from boring old human hands to long, thin claws. (Masha bet those would be fun to paint.) Then, her face morphed, becoming smaller and even cuter, looking like a cross between a pug and a cat. Her ears expanded and thinned out, growing tufts of fluffy hair that looked super soft. Finally, as Vee's legs fused together into her tail, she accidentally pitched forward and looked like her nose and the floor were going to have an emergency meeting.

Masha rushed over to catch Vee before she face-planted onto the hard wooden floor. "Woah there, let's not do that."

"Thanks," Vee said with a chuckle, moving her head back so she could look Masha in the eye. "So, this is the real me. What do you think?"

Standing off in the corner of the room, Camila smiled.

Masha looked on their friends new form with eyes full of wonder.

Oh my goddess, she's adorable.

"I love it."