CHAPTER 1

Margeth growled through her teeth as she counted the dimes for the third time for the night.

"May the gods blur your photographic memory while you take your test, Cameron."

Berny's newest employee Cameron, a half goblin half human, was playing a little too hard into his goblin nature and causing unnecessary trouble for her. He was a snot nose shit stirring freshman at Ravenwood University who enjoyed creating extra work for the closer before he ended his shift. Yesterday he incorrectly stacked the menus in the host's podium so that when Geoffrey went to grab a few they poured out into the floor. Today he decided to break open a roll of coins in the cash register. It wasn't just any roll of coins; no, it was always the dimes, the tiniest coins that were the most difficult to grab when you had larger fingers. No one actually broke a roll of coins unless they were busy, or the register was actually out of coins; even then they'd rather fish a dime out of their apron than have to count the stupid tiny silver coins. Margeth's pinky cramped from counting them as she swiped them from the counter into her hand to put them into the cash box for the night.

"He's lucky it's me and not Tencia closing," she grumbled to herself. Tencia the tiefling would've chewed him up, spat him out, and put him in his place in front of the whole store in broad daylight for pulling a stunt like this. While Margeth wanted to chew him out, he wasn't worth the effort or energy when she had her big lit test coming up.

When the last dime hit the cash box, Mareth breathed a small sigh of relief when the numbers matched up. Writing down the till, she closed the cash box and locked it with a calm sense of finality. Grabbing her leftovers and the cashbox, she walked to the back office where Berny was counting the receipts and entering numbers in the books.

The back office was more of a closet space than office space, but Berny refused to call it anything else, even if it was too small for her to work in. It made Margeth claustrophobic to think about working in and Berny was an ogress, both taller and broader than she was, who seemed to oddly enjoy the tiny workspace. Hunched over books and sitting in a chair much too low, Berny muttered to herself in her native tongue as she used the end of a pencil to stab a calculator while reviewing the books. The ogress's skin was a fine yellow ochre that nearly looked golden with her magenta red hair that was twirled into a bun precariously held together by a single hairpin that threatened to spring free at any moment and dangly blue jade earrings that matched her eyes even if they pulled on the lobes of her long-pointed ears.

Not wanting to break her concentration, Margeth knocked on the doorframe. Berny's pointed ear twitched in her direction as she finished her muttering, counting, and quickly wrote down the numbers. Turning her chin in Margeth's direction the ogress's face lit up with a wide smile, making the tired lines under her blue eyes more evident.

"Hey sugar, finished counting the cash?"

"Yes ma'am," she barely held back a yawn as she handed her the cashbox then leaned on the doorframe.

Berny glanced at the clock on her desk then regarded Margeth with a furrowed brow. "Took you a little longer tonight."

"Cameron broke the dime roll," she huffed and didn't bother trying to hide her frustration.

"The little shyster." Berny clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Well, thanks for counting it, sugar. Your dad or one of your brothers picking you up tonight?"

"Neither." She shook her head and pulled her black fleece jacket from the hook then over her head. "I've got a midterm first thing Monday morning and plan to stay on campus this weekend to study."

Berny's smile flattened into a line of worry as she looked back at the clock. It was ten past eleven, a good thirty minutes later than what she normally would be clocking out thanks to Cameron. "Want me to walk you back to campus, sugar?"

"There's no need," Margeth smiled politely and shook her head. "Campus is only twenty minutes from here."

"By car." Berny's mouth dipped down into a motherly frown of disapproval. "Ever since that pub opened across the way too many drunks stumble out and cause trouble at this hour."

A moth man from Europe bought the old tea house and converted it into an English pub, The Blue Locket, and made it a point to draw in all the college students. Berny had complained about the disturbances, though the town's mayor had yet to do anything about it.

"Not many drunks are dumb enough to pick a fight with an orc, especially at night." Margeth chuckled and hoped she said it with enough pride to dissuade Berny's worry. The deepening of her frown and that motherly look told her it didn't.

"Margeth, sugar, I know your daddy raised you tough like your brothers, but you are a girl," Berny bit her lower lip as she looked Margeth over. "And a pretty girl like you shouldn't be out this late at night."

Her chest tightened at the word 'pretty' and she tried not to get defensive about it. She knew Berny meant well and wasn't mocking her like others had. Compared to her three older brothers, Margeth stood out like a crinkled page in a book. Her hair was unruly and brown, not a pretty shade of red like her mother's and brothers had and could barely be tamed with a braid; her skin wasn't an even coloring and had a mottled uneven yellow green blend of her father and late mother; and the only thing she did get from her mother was her brown eyes. With three older brothers and a father who didn't know how to raise a girl she didn't know what it felt like to be pretty or feminine, not really.

"Really, Berny I'll be fine, promise." She rejected kindly but with a bit more force. Everyone in town knew Berny worked late and got up early. The last thing she needed was to take even more time out of her schedule to take her back to campus when she was going to get up in six hours. "I'm going straight to my dorm to eat and sleep."

The worry didn't leave Berny's eyes, but surprised Margeth as she relented with a heavy sigh. "If you weren't such a good kid, I'd snatch you by the ear and take you back myself. Give Cosima a hug for me."

"I will." Margeth smiled and quickly escaped to the back door before the ogress changed her mind.

"And text me when you get back on campus," Berny called out in warning, "or else I'll come looking for you."

Margeth and Cosima had been friends long enough to know that her mother Berny would come looking for her if she didn't get a response from either of them by the time she made it to her room.

"I will!"

Waving over her shoulder, Margeth left the diner. She shoved her hands in her pockets, taking quick steps along the sidewalk to hurry through the chilly autumn air breezing through Ravenwood. The old sawmill town was cozy and quiet, save for the small waterfall from the old sawmill's waterwheel pushing it into the river that flowed under the bridge, and seemed to doze evenly as the moon rose higher in the sky. As she walked farther along and the lampposts slowly turned off for the night, the coziness of the town was disturbed by the strange buzzing of life coming from the Blue Locket.

Loud music boomed into the night like a siren calling miscreants and Margeth stopped to regard the building. Growing up she vaguely remembered it as a tea shop her mother liked to frequent before her passing. Now that it was converted into a pub, she had mixed feelings. The beautiful historic exterior walls were a royal blue and surrounded by muddy brick with floral designs in stained glass windows didn't match the colorful flashing lights and loud modern music vibrating the antique glass. The long line of people at the door proved it attracted the clientele it wanted, though she suspected the BOGO drinks sign for college students showing their exam permits had more to do with the rise in business.

Cosima and some of her other friends all wanted to check the place out once exams were over, but Margeth just didn't get the appeal. She'd had enough orcish ale at her family gatherings to acknowledge that alcohol and the way it changed people, more specifically her brothers, wasn't for her. She hoped for all the college students in line, except for Cameron, that they studied enough for the midterms on Monday. The mere thought of midterms was enough to make her anxious to get back to campus to study and slightly regret not taking Berny's offer.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Margeth popped an earbud in her left ear and continued walking. The farther away she got though, she had this nagging feeling that something or someone was watching her. Skipping through her playlists in search of a song to distract her, she glanced around for what could be lurking in the shadows. While Ravenwood was a safe town, there were plenty of things lurking in the shadows to be wary of.

Brown leaves skittered across the walkway as she walked across the river bridge towards campus. The bare trees on the other side waved their empty branches to her as the autumn wind blew and on a normal day it was a welcome sight, but now they urged her to walk faster. She was two steps away when the clattering of metal trashcans drew her to a stop. Ahead of her a man was pulling himself up from the ground and as he managed to get to his feet, she recognized him immediately and her heart stopped. Tyler, the star quarterback of Clement High, her human friend Samantha's older brother, and her first ever crush, was stumbling around with an empty bottle in his hand. Tyler looked exactly the same – tall, broad, auburn hair, sky blue eyes – except older and his jaw more chiseled and reminded her why she was absolutely smitten with him back in high school. Seeing him now threatened to stir up those old fluttering feelings even if she did find his stumbling drunken form unattractive.

Margeth waited and watched him stumble around and fall into the building he'd emerged from. She hadn't planned on helping him, however, as he swayed unsteadily far too close to the railing of the bridge had her walking towards him. If the campus newspaper made an article of his body being found dead in the river in the morning, she'd never live with herself for not helping.

Quietly walking towards him, she heard him rambling to himself and irritably rubbing his face. When he raised the bottle for a drink only to find it empty, he cursed and threw it on the ground, making Margeth pause as it shattered on the cobblestone ground. She'd been around her brothers enough to know the types of drunks they were and while they could stay on their feet long enough to go up two flights of stairs to go to bed, Tyler didn't appear to have that self-awareness. Just by the way he walked and pawed at the wall she knew he was more handsy and it twisted something uncomfortable in her gut as her feelings towards her childish crush quickly dwindled as the stench of alcohol and refuse from whatever puddle he'd landed in rolled off him and brought her back to reality.

She really ought to call his dorm manager and get him to take him inside or call campus security, but she didn't want to get him in trouble for being so drunk Against her better judgment, Margeth approached him and cleared her throat.

"Do you need help, Tyler?"

His head snapped up at her at the sound of his name and she almost instantly regretted it. His handsome face scrunched up as he squinted through the dark looking her over before throwing back the drink with a glare.

"Who're you?"

It hurt that he didn't recognize her after taking her and his sister to school every day for four years but given the empty bottle in his hand it wasn't too surprising. Not wanting to put him off or start a fight she smiled. "I'm Margeth, Samantha's friend, remember?"

"Margret?" he repeated, his head tilting to the side as he looked at her, with a furrowed brow. Her eye twitched at the common mispronunciation of her name and was almost tempted enough to reconsider letting him fall into the river if only to wake him up.

"Margeth." She made sure to enunciate the 'th' and tried to smile again, but it felt too tight.

"Ooooh, yeah, you're my sister's orc friend!" He slapped a palm to his forehead and swayed a little from the impact. "Your name was always weird."

Though she'd heard that plenty of times before it didn't lessen the sting that Tyler was the one to say it, especially with the disgusted prejudiced glint in his eye. It was unmistakable after years of growing up in a mixed community where not everyone was accepting of other species than humans existing in the same neighborhood. She was all too familiar with that look and how to maneuver around that look from everyone else; however seeing that look on his face, someone she'd trusted and had feelings for, stung deep.

After six years of friendship with his sister she'd just assumed he was as good-natured as Samantha, and though the alcohol could've played a part in it the near hatred in his eyes told her it went much deeper than that. Not wanting to dwell on her disappointment, she decided to change topics.

"What're you doing here, Tyler?" She rubbed her arms and looked around. "It's a bit late to be out on such a cold night, isn't it?"

"Wellllllll, I'm not supposed to be here, not really." Tyler shrugged and leaned heavily on the building for support. "I needed to get away from it all, you know?"

Margeth nodded even though she had no idea what he meant. He came from a well-loved and wealthy family with a life of privilege that allowed him to be here. Margeth came from a well-loved family, but she had to work and study endlessly to get her scholarship, she couldn't fathom just what it was he wanted to get away from.

"What're you getting away from what, Tyler?"

He swayed a little and rested against the corner of the building, as if the world weighed on his shoulders and closed his eyes. "School's been . . . not so great, it's sucked actually."

"I'm sorry to hear that." She tried to sympathize but found it irritatingly difficult to do so. "School is tough, especially around midterms."

"I'm sure it's easy for someone as smart as you." He snorted and rested his forehead against the wooden paneling. "You always were smart. . . for an orc."

Anger prickled within her, but she refused to allow her temper and his words to get to her. He wouldn't even remember this conversation later and she didn't need to cause a scene for either of them. "It's still pretty challenging." Her hand tightened on her phone as she pressed her thumb over the sensor on her phone to unlock it. "Do you have someone who can pick you up?"

"Naaahhhhh." He laughed eerily as his expression shifted to a sadder one. "I didn't tell anyone I was coming here for some drinks."

Not liking that information, she frowned and asked, "Why not?"

"Didn't want anyone finding out about Tiffy. . ."

Margeth tried not to flinch at the name. Tiffy, or better known as Tiffany the head cheerleader for Ravenwood's cheer squad was Tyler's fiancé that was brought around Christmas last year; Margeth was begrudgingly there at the time of her introduction and had chosen to stomp down her feelings for Tyler then and there. Now a whole different set of emotions rose up within her that she had to stomp down. He was so excited to tell everyone about her then that she was curious as to why he suddenly didn't want anyone to know about Tiffy now. Everyone on campus claimed they were a perfect couple, so, in fact, perfect they were rushing for a wedding.

"Why?"

"Because then they'd know." He blinked slowly and his lips curled back in a sneer. "They'd allll know Tiffany left me and got pregnant with some filthy orc's baby."

The chill of the autumn air slipped into her bones and prickled her skin at his words. Of all the things she could've anticipated it certainly wasn't that. Sure, she might've assumed they were having a shotgun wedding because she was pregnant, but not with someone else's baby. Samantha had mentioned that things weren't going well between Tyler and Tiffany lately, but she couldn't have anticipated that. It at least explained why he suddenly needed to get away from it all.

She didn't know what to say and fidgeted with the end of her braid as she tried to find something, anything to say.

"I'm sorry, Tyler . . ."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too," he scoffed, and his underlying anger began to peek through. "I'm sorry she wanted to shack up with a monster."

There it was. The nail in the coffin for any lingering affections she once had for him. The excitement her heart started with had pitter pattered out into a strange pace of fear, the fluttering in her stomach now churned with adrenaline to flee, and all the happy memories of car rides to school, the mall, or a movie were tainted. Something dark wavered in his eyes and for the first time she'd ever known Tyler she was afraid of him, but didn't need him acting on her fear.

"You know what, Tyler, you've had a long day." She tried to sound nonchalant as she smiled and with a slight tremble to her hand unlocked her phone and went to the call screen. "How's about I call a friend to pick you up –"

"No!" He snapped and tried to snatch her phone but smacked it out of her hand instead. "They can't know!"

She flinched as she heard her phone hit the ground, the tiny sound of glass breaking assuring her four-year-old phone finally got its first crack. Both angry and alarmed, Margeth tried to remain calm

"Tyler – "

"You know, I never understood the appeal of orcs." He cut her off, his face twisting into a sneer as he looked her up and down. The action made everything inside her feel wrong. "You especially. You're freaking green with weird spots all over, ugly teeth that can't be nice to kiss, and you're just too big to be liked by humans."

Margeth tried to ignore his words, but each one stung and dug a little deeper into her own insecurities. She'd heard them all before from the bigots at her school who didn't care for orcs, more specifically her, for cheating them out of scholarships they didn't earn, but it stung hearing it from Tyler. Unwilling to allow him to see how his words affected her, she hardened her heart, clenched her hands into a tight fist before releasing them with a sigh. She needed to be a bigger and better person, especially since he more than likely wouldn't remember anything he just said should she ever bring it up.

She raised her hands up, palms facing him, so he saw she wasn't a threat, and forced a smile. "Come on, Tyler, you've had a long day. Let's get you to your dorm –"

Tyler suddenly grabbed her wrist and leaned forward, squinting as he tried to look into her face. A strange look passed his eyes as he tilted his head to the side and looked at her as if she were some sort of stranger instead of his sister's best friend. She didn't like that look and turned her face away trying to snatch her wrist free, but he was surprisingly strong and held her in place.

"I guess in the dark it doesn't matter, huh?" He smiled darkly at her, his beath was hot and heavy with alcohol as it fanned her face. "Maybe you might just change my mind on orcs Margret, wanna try?"

After growing up with three older brothers who taught her to throw a mean right hook for situations like this Margeth was completely frozen in place and unable to move as Tyler raised his other hand to caress her face. His touch left a cold creeping feeling on her skin and jerked her back to reality to back away from him. A scream rose in her throat, but she quickly swallowed it down and rubbed the cold spot of her face.

Tyler blinked blearily before turning his head in her direction with his hand outstretched towards her, but before he could move closer to her a skateboard with green glow in the dark wheels appeared out of thin air and slammed into his throat. Tyler flailed, gasping for air, as he dropped to the ground.

Stunned Margeth stared at the skateboard wondering where it came from when a voice that was deep but gritty like gun smoke spoke from behind her.

"Whoopsie, it looks like I had another wipeout."

Thanks for coming along this new journey with me!

I know it's been a while since I've posted and I know this isn't the content that people are waiting for or looking for from me, but I've been exploring different things for a while and want to expand my writing a bit. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it.

Stay tuned for more!

Seraphina Scrivens

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