The mind is a powerful thing. It can give a person the ability to unlock potential that they never knew they had. It can also hold someone back from what they desire most. They say that a sound mind goes hand in hand with a sound body, but I have yet to achieve either of those. There are a lot of things the mind can do, like play tricks on you. Your mind can invent boogey men who are not really there, and it can also amplify the sound of those things that go bump in the night. There are those who argue that the body cannot live without the mind, and that deep down, we are all just a consciousness piloting a giant meat suit. No, that was not a Shingeki no Kyojin reference.
Regardless, the point still remains that the mind is a powerful thing. The phrase "out of sight, out of mind" is true in the sense that many if not all of your problems in life are all in your head. Beware of things that are not really there. Those that are mere figments of your imagination should never hold any power over or wellbeing. You should never be afraid of your own shadow.
No, what you should be afraid of are the real monsters of the world, like the giant king cobra Lamia living in your house, who just so happens to be missing at the moment.
"Priya! Hurry up and get dressed. Ms. Smith is going to be here any minute with our new homestay!" I called out to an empty living room. Priya was still upstairs in her room getting ready, after telling me an hour ago that she was almost done.
Women, I tell ya. No matter what species, some things never change.
"Okay Cole, just give me like 5 more minutes". I heard from the upstairs bedroom, followed by the sound of a hair dryer.
Wow, she is just now drying her hair? Come on Priya, you got out of the shower over an hour ago! At this rate, Ms. Smith is going to be gone by the time you get finished.
"Priya, lets go!" I yelled out one more time, but I don't think she heard me over the sound of the hair dryer. Crap, it's already 10:35. Ms. Smith said she would be here at 10:30. Ugh this anxiety is killing me.
***Ding Dong***
Oh no, that's her! I looked up the stairs one more time to hear the hair dryer still on. Dammit Priya, you owe me for this.
I walked over to the front door and turned the knob to open it. Wait a minute? There is nobody here. That's odd, I could have sworn I heard the doorbell ring. I walked back inside when suddenly I heard a loud thump on the roof.
"What the hell was that?" I yelled as I ran back outside through the front door. Once again, there was nothing there.
Okay, something weird is going on this morning. There was a slight breeze, but the trees in the backyard were shaking much more than normal. I was about to go investigate, when a black sedan pulled up the driveway.
"Good morning, Mr. Casey! How are you?" Ms. Smith greeted me as she got out of the sedan and walked over to shake my hand.
"Morning Ms. Smith. Thanks for coming. Priya and I are very excited to meet the new girl."
"Speaking of, where is our king cobra friend hiding?" Ms. Smith looked around almost on edge.
"Sorry, but she is still getting dressed. I promise, I told her plenty of times that you were coming this morning, but I guess she slept in anyway."
Ms. Smith brushed it off. "That's fine. In fact, it might make things a little easier."
I looked through the windows of the sedan, but saw the backseat was empty. "Hey, where is she? You said you were going to bring my new homestay this morning."
Ms. Smith did not flinch. "I'm afraid she insisted on flying here by herself. She doesn't really like cars."
"Wait a minute, did you say she flew here? Like on an airplane, right?" As soon as I said that, the sun was blocked out by something big, and I felt something coming towards me.
"Mr. Casey, get down!" Ms. Smith yelled as I ducked down to the ground. I made it just in the knick of time, as I felt something huge fly past me. Suddenly the sun came back, and I stood up to see just what it was.
"Woah… what is that?" I looked up and saw the biggest bird you have ever seen. Her wingspan must have been the length of a truck. She had long legs, with razor sharp talons hanging off her toes. She banked to the right, and I saw her come in for another strike. She held a fierce gaze in her brown eyes. Her eyebrows were scoring points for determination, and her feathers blew back in the breeze. I may be a rookie when it comes to monster girls, but I knew from my time with Priya that this was just another display of dominance. If I were to duck again, she would never see me as an equal. So I stood there and held my ground. This giant girl flew in closer, and she was gaining speed. She got closer until I could see her lips crank up into a smirk. Then, at the last second, she flapped her wings and landed on the ground. I never once flinched.
"Mr. Casey, I would like to introduce you to your new homestay."
The giant bird turned out to be a really sexy woman. She had a smaller than average bust underneath her white tank top. B cups if I had to guess. Definitely smaller than Priya's 38 DDD, but what she lacked in chest, she made up for in legs. By god, those were the most impressive legs I have ever seen. She was not covering anything up with her daisy duke jean shorts, and that was okay by me. Her powerful quads and hamstrings flexed with every step.
Now that she was on the ground, she had her wings folded up, and surprisingly they made themselves very compact. She had beautiful brown feathers, and short brown hair cut in a pixie cut above her ears.
"G'day mate. Name's Eleanor, but most blokes' call me Ellie. Nice to fuckin' meet ya!"
She reached out and did her best to shake my hand. Her wings covered up her entire arm, but somewhere inside she had something close to a hand. It kind of felt like a mitten. No fingers, but there was a palm and a thumb.
"Eleanor is a Harpy. Specifically, she is an Australian Wedge Tail Eagle. A true apex predator of the skies." Ms. Smith explained to me. I was still in awe of the giant bird girl. I was not a short guy, but she was at least 6 inches taller than me. Maybe a full head taller.
"Fuckin' oath mate! Aint a single cunt in the entire outback that can take me in a fight." Ellie stuck a pose and showed off her massive talons.
"S-so, you're Australian huh?" I did my best to make small talk with her. She nodded.
"Fuckin' right, I come from a land down under, or however that bloody song goes." Okay great, she seems friendly, maybe this won't be so bad.
"Well, my name is Cole Casey, and I'm going to be your new host family. Welcome to America, and welcome to your new home! I look forward to having~mmpphhhh"
Ellie wrapped me in a big hug with her wings.
"That's mighty kind of ya. I can already tell we're going to be great mates!" Dear lord in heaven, these feathers are the softest things I have ever felt in my life. When I get on my deathbed, don't take me to a hospital. Take me to a Harpy nest, and let me live my last moments on this earth cradled by Eagle feathers, for there is no greater comfort on this earth.
Wait a minute, why does she feel so scaly now? Oh no~ack
"Get your feathers off of him!" I heard a threat made towards Ellie as I found myself wrapped in a king cobra's tail.
"Oi, Smith, who's the fuckin' sheila over there?" Ellie pointed her wings at Priya.
"My name is Priya, and don't call me sheila." My housemate threatened.
"Eleanor, this is Priya. She is currently staying with Mr. Casey as a homestay here. She is going to be your housemate from now on, so please do your best to get along." Ms. Smith nudged her.
"Yeah, Cole and I are living here together, so know your place and don't start any trouble."
"you fuckin' threatening me, you scaley cunt?"
Priya started getting angry. "What did you just call me, you stupid overgrown chicken?"
"How dare you call me a fuckin' chicken! Come say that to my fuckin' face. I'll fuckin' glass ya you shit cunt."
Priya bared her fangs as Ellie spread her wings and started hovering a few feet off the ground. This was bad. I needed to get control of the situation before these two apex predators rip each other apart.
"That's enough! Both of you, stand down." I boomed from inside Priya's coil. They both froze, and then relaxed. I escaped her clutches and stood between the two of them.
"Ellie, you're new, so i'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but ONLY for today. Priya, I expected better from you. Go inside and get some snacks out of the pantry for our guest."
"Y-yes sir."
And with that, my king cobra Lamia housemate slithered back inside the house. Ms. Smith, Ellie and I were both left outside in the front yard.
"Wow Mr. Casey, I must say I am impressed. A few weeks ago, she would have bit anyone who talked to her like that. Now you have her well behaved? How interesting."
"Ellie, mind if I help you with your bags?" I asked the giant Australian Eagle.
"Sure thing mate. Let's go check out my new place!" Ellie walked through the front door with Ms. Smith as I walked over to the black sedan and got a suitcase out from the backseat. It was surprisingly light. She must not have had much packed. That's odd, considering Priya had several bags that were stuffed full of crap. I'll have to ask her about it later.
X
Ms. Smith and I gave Ellie the full tour of the house. She seemed impressed with everything, although, I was surprised when we got to the second floor. She didn't want to stay in any of the bedrooms.
"You got anything a little higher?" She asked me.
"Umm… this house is only 2 floors. The only thing above us is the attic~"
"~Show me."
How strange….Oh well, it is my job to make her feel comfortable while she is living here. The two of us walked down the second floor hallway to the attic door. It was a big wooden panel in the ceiling with a chain hanging down. I pulled the chain to lower the door, and then folded out the stairs to climb up into the attic.
"Right on mate, now we're talking!" Ellie seemed excited as we climbed into the attic. Come to think of it, this is the first time that i've ever been inside the attic of this house.
Don't get me wrong, i've seen my fair share of horror movies, so I was prepared for anything when I got up there. Too bad for me, the place just looked like a typical dusty attic. There was dust all over the wood floors, no drywall on the ceilings, leaving the fiberglass insulation exposed, and along one of the walls was a large duct that I assume was for the air conditioning. The whole place seemed pretty boring, but Ellie was fascinated.
"Yeah… yeah…. She'll be right. Cole, I'll take it!" Ellie turned and looked at me with a smile.
"Umm im sorry, what? You seriously want to live all the way up here in the attic?"
"Yeah! I mean just look around mate, we're so high up that no cunts can get you up here! Plus, the view out the window is fantastic! I can come and go as I please." Ellie pointed to the large window at the back of the attic. Sure enough, it was big enough for her to slip out of unnoticed.
"But it's so dirty up here! I mean there is fiberglass in the walls for fucks sake~"
"~that can be corrected." The two of us turned around and saw Ms. Smith had now joined us in the attic.
"Eleanor, if this is where you wish to stay then I will arrange for some contractors to come here and update this room to FIRE code. Unfortunately, that means you will have to stay downstairs in one of the bedrooms until the work is finished."
"Much obliged Smith. In that case, i'll take the room at the end of the hall for now." Ellie thanked her as the two of them walked down the stairs from the attic back to the second floor. I was about to follow them, when I noticed something hidden in the corner of the attic. It was tucked away in the fiberglass insulation, so you couldn't really see it well unless you were looking specifically over there. I walked over and looked at it closer. The room had gotten quiet, so I checked around to make sure Ms. Smith and Ellie were not here. Once the coast was clear, I pulled out the mysterious object from the wall.
It was a book.
"What the hell is this?" It was dirty and very old. The cover was written in some kind of strange language I had never seen before. The fiberglass must be getting in my eyes, as I felt them get really itchy. Once I rubbed my eyes a little bit, I was able to read the text.
"Monster Girl Encyclopedia…." What a strange name for a book. Before I could open it, I heard an Australian accent call for me.
"Cole, you comin'?"
Shit! Better put this away for now. "Yeah, one sec!" I tucked the book away in my back pocket. Looks like this will have to wait for later.
X
Ellie and I got settled into her room while Ms. Smith gave me another stack of paperwork to complete. They were the exact same forms that she gave me when I first moved in with Priya. Dammit, this is going to take all night!
"Alright Mr. Casey, looks like it's time for me to be on my way. You can Priya take care, and do your best to get along with Eleanor!" She waved at the three of us as she walked out the front door. Once I heard her start the car and pull out of the driveway, I turned around and saw Priya with a bag of cookies and some fruit juice.
"Here Cole, I thought you might be hungry." Priya slithered over and put the snacks on the dining table.
"Thanks Priya! Ellie, are you hungry? Come have a seat. I'd like to get to know you a little better."
"Yeah nah, maybe later mate. I'm going upstairs to get settled in." Ellie turned and walked upstairs, leaving Priya and I alone together.
"Ugh, I already can't stand her!" Priya slithered over to me and whispered in a hush voice.
"Whats wrong with her? She seems friendly so far."
"Exactly! She is getting way too close to you. That girl has no boundaries, or respect for other people's property." Priya was getting flustered.
"Says the cobra girl who coils me when she gets cold." I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Yeah well….so what? It's your job as my host family to make sure my needs and wellbeing are attended to." Now she was full on blushing.
Oh my god, I never thought she could look this adorable.
"Aww don't worry Priya, it will be alright. It might take some getting used to, what with having another girl around, but I'm sure you two will become friends in no time!"
She smiled as the two of us sat at the table and ate some snacks.
X
A few hours had passed, and I had finally finished the paperwork on Ellie. It's times like these that really make me despise the government. You have to fill out 20 forms just to wipe your ass. Priya had long left the dining room, and was watching some TV in the den. Neither of us had seen Ellie in a while, so I figured now would be a good time to study up on my new homestay.
I took out the thick file that Ms. Smith had given me on her when I first moved in. Were I a more responsible man, I would have read up on everyone's files before they moved in, but where's the fun in that?
Okay, let's see what we got here…
Eleanor is a Raptor subspecies of Harpy, specifically an Australian Wedge Tail Australian government has confirmed with FIRE that Eleanor is officially classified as an Apex Predator, meaning she has no natural predators in the wild.
Hmm.. interesting. What else can FIRE tell me?
Eleanor is the world's deadliest Harpy. Her talons have been confirmed sharper than steel, and can cut through wood and metals with one swipe. Use extreme caution when approaching.
Oh great, another world class killer living here.
Like most Eagle's in the wild, Eleanor has extraordinary eyesight. She can spot a moving target from over 3 miles away. Her eyesight is estimated to be 4 to 5 times greater than perfect human vision.
But can she see why kids love the taste of cinnamon toast crunch? Hahaha, one of these days i'm going to have to use that joke on her, but still, that's pretty incredible. Looks like I won't be able to hide anything from her.
Eleanor has the largest wingspan of any harpy ever recorded. They measure 60 feet in length, and she has been witnessed flying at an altitude of up to 10,000 feet. Eleanor is fast, with a top speed of 80 mph at cruising altitude, and a top speed at 250mph when performing an attack dive.
Holy shit! This girl is literally death from above.
Diet: Eleanor is a carnivore, but has also been known to eat bread and drink alcohol. She is particularly fond of beer, and while FIRE does not condone the consumption of alcohol among homestays, we have noticed that Eleanor is much less hostile when intoxicated.
Typical Australian. Stereotypes exist for a reason folks.
Habitat: Eleanor can survive in many different environments, however she does not like the cold. She prefers to live in high places, so FIRE recommends she stay in a home that is at least two stories tall.
I'm sure that's not the only reason she is staying here. Wait a second, looks like there is another little side note written here in pen.
Her profanity is not meant to be hostile, but rather endearing.
Ahhh that makes sense why she always calls everything "cunt". She's not being mean, she's just being nice. I'll have to make sure to tell Priya later.
Speaking of, it's starting to get dark. I should go check on Ellie and see if she wants any dinner. I left the dining room and walked into the den to find Priya in the middle of watching some show.
"Hey, have you seen Ellie around? It's getting late, so I was going to start dinner." Priya nodded her head. "Nope, haven't seen her since she went upstairs."
That's odd. I checked the clock on the cable box and it said it was 5:20pm. Ellie had been up there for almost 6 hours. That can't be good. I went upstairs to find the door to her temporary bedroom was unlocked.
"Ellie? Hey, what do you want for dinner?" I opened the door and the room was empty. The window was open, and there was a draft blowing the curtains.
Dammit! She must have flown off. I ran downstairs and out the front door into the yard. Sure enough, there was nothing out here.
"Ellie! Ellie! Where are you?" I called out into the street. There was nobody around. That's really strange, considering this is supposed to be a suburban neighborhood. Why isn't there anybody here? I looked around and saw the sun was sinking behind some rain clouds. It was giving off this cool red-yellow-orange glow in the sky.
"Aww, have you lost your pet, young man?" A woman's voice spoke from behind me. I turned around and saw a sexy woman standing in the street. She was wearing a dark red dress that matched her red lipstick. Her white hair was hanging free down her neck, and her red eyes held a mischievous look.
"You! You're that woman. Why do I keep seeing you everywhere? Who are you?" I pointed at her. She smiled at me.
"I don't know what you're talking about. We've never met before, but I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Lily, and I live next door. What's your name?" She walked towards me and offered her hand. I was reluctant to take it.
"Cole Casey. I just moved in." She gave me a warm smile. "You must be the new family that FIRE was going to move in next door. It's nice to meet you. I hope you like living here in this little neck of the woods. It's quiet, but don't let that fool you." Lily leaned into my ear and whispered something.
"They're watching us, right now. Don't trust anyone else you meet around here. They're all one of them."
Lily leaned away and smiled at me again. "Well I must be going now. It was nice to meet you!" Lily turned and walked to her front door. She stopped before walking in and turned around to look at me.
"Watch your back, Cole Casey." As soon as she walked inside her house, something blocked out the sun. I turned and saw a giant eagle flying right towards me.
Unfortunately, due to the strange circumstances of meeting Lily, I was not in my right mind, so I flinched.
"Ahahaha got ya, cunt!" Ellie laughed at me as she flapped her giant wings a few times to slow herself down before landing in front of me.
"There you are! Where have you been? You've been gone a long time and I was starting to get worried!" I started lecturing her, only after the fact that I realized I sounded like a concerned parent.
"Relax mate, just went flying around for a while. You don't have to worry about me."
I stepped closer to her. "Yes I do! I'm your host family, which means you are my responsibility now. Next time you do that, please tell me where you're going and make sure to come back before dark."
Ellie started blushing a little bit. "F-fuck off mate, you're not my dad…"
Ellie had something in her talons. "Hey, what's that?" I pointed at the ground.
"Oh this little bugger? I found it while I was out flying. It was in a ditch along the road, and I thought it looked odd. Any idea what it might be?" Ellie let it go, and I looked at it closer.
No fucking way….
"Ellie, quick, get inside right now. Make sure nobody sees this thing, understand?" I gave her a panicked look. She backed off a little bit. "Oi cunt, what's the big fuckin' deal?"
"Get inside now! This is serious. I'm not going to say it again!" I grabbed the object and the two of us ran inside.
"There you are! I wondered where you ran off to. Hey, what's that?" Priya saw us running inside. I checked to make sure all of the curtains were closed before I put the object on the floor in the living room.
"No way…. Is that?" Priya asked before I cut her off. "Yes it is. That's the hellhound's arm you cut off."
X
Priya and I told Ellie the entire story about the hellhound attack. We told her about how she was about to kill me, until Priya stepped in and saved me. I told her how Priya bit her, and how the giant demonic wolf dropped dead right in front of us. Priya had also cut her arm with her talons, and I guess the two of us forgot about it. The fact the Ellie was able to find it from flying around, meant that she really did have fantastic eyesight.
"Fuckin' hell, you cunts are off your fuckin' heads. But if what you say is true, then this cunt must be fuckin' crazy."
I looked at Priya, then at Ellie. "It was the scariest thing I have ever seen." Priya nodded. Ellie started laughing.
"Hahaha yeah nah mate! The scariest thing I have seen is the sick cunt I see in the mirror every morning, streuth."
"Regardless, this thing is dangerous to have around. Ms. Smith and FIRE refused to acknowledge that the hellhound exists, and the local police lied on the police report too. Something is going on here, and FIRE is at the center of it all. You may all think i'm being paranoid, but just trust me here." I grabbed some blankets out of the closet and wrapped the giant severed arm inside.
"I'm going to put this thing somewhere safe. Don't tell anyone you saw this thing. Not Ms. Smith, not any neighbors or police, nobody knows about this arm except the three of us. Understand?" I looked around at all three girls, and they all nodded their heads.
"Good. Now then, i'm going to bed. If you're hungry, help yourself to whatever is in the pantry. Try not to make too much noise."
I walked down the hall to my bedroom with the giant arm wrapped up, before I heard someone slither up behind me.
"Cole…"
"Hey Priya, did you need something?" Instead of answering, she wrapped me up in her tail. "I promise, I won't let anything happen to you." Then she wrapped me up in a hug. I hugged her back before she let me go.
"Good night Priya. And…. thanks." Priya smiled. "Night Cole."
Once I closed the door to my bedroom, I made sure to wait until Priya had slithered away before I locked the door. After all, this is the safest room in the house. None of the girls can ever know about this place. If my gut instincts were correct, then they should be too busy discussing this among themselves to bother coming in here.
I closed the curtains in all of my bedroom windows, and then made my way inside the bathroom. Ms. Smith had shown me the security systems on my first day here, so I activated the hydraulic locks on the door just to be safe. Then I made my way to the closet, and found the safe on the floor. Thank goodness it was big enough to store this thing.
"You should be safe here. Call me crazy, but someday, this arm is going to be the key we need to figure out what FIRE is really up to." I stuffed the arm inside the safe and locked it.
"I know that hellhound was real. They all think I'm crazy, but that right there proves it really exists." It should also be worth nothing that the closet is vacuum sealed, so once you close the door, all of the air is sucked out, and the whole room essentially becomes a ziploc bag.
Now I was in the bathroom again, and the weight of my exhaustion was starting to hit me. A nice hot shower would feel great right now.
Once my shower was over, I went to put my pants in the hamper, only to notice that book I found in the attic had fallen out of my back pocket.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about this. Now, what the hell was this doing in the attic?" I walked over to the little desk in the bedroom and started flipping through the book.
This thing is beyond anything I ever thought of in my wildest dreams. Apparently, this book contains information on every single monster girl imaginable. Most of them were ones I had never thought could have existed. It even included pictures of each of them, as well as measurements, physical traits, personality dispositions, and even magical powers.
Finally, I found the page I was looking for.
"Hellhound". There it is! That's her. The picture in this little book is exactly what I saw that day. I read the information this thing said about the giant beast, and it sent a chill down my spine. Apparently, these were the most terrifying monster girls in here. The more I read, the more I realized how lucky I was to make it out of that situation alive.
"If what this thing says is true, then just how strong is Priya?"
It was getting late, and my eyes were getting tired. I kept flipping through the book, but this time I was just looking at the pictures. Call it a hunch, but I wanted to see what was in the "demonic" section. Maybe there were some more clues about the hellhound in there. After all, demon-hell are synonymous, right?
When I flipped the next page, my eyes shot out of my head.
"No..fucking..way!"
There she was! It was that woman that I saw in the truck when I escaped the compound. The same woman who I saw at the convenience store when I went to get pudding, and the same woman who lives next door.
It was Lily!
X
The next day
Today was Sunday, meaning that most places were closed today. However, this also meant that in America, all of the television networks were only going to be showing one thing today.
Football.
"Morning guys. You hungry?" I asked my two homestays as they were both sitting in the den.
"G'day Cole. You mind whippin' up some grub? I'm so hungry I could eat a fuckin' horse!" Ellie boasted.
"Yeah i'm actually really hungry too. I don't normally eat much, but today i'm starving." Priya answered.
"The weather is nice today, and since you're both carnivores, how about a barbeque?" Both of their eyes lit up at the announcement.
I made my way outside and found a gas grill. It was way nicer than anything I had ever used before. There were some hand instructions inside the compartment where the propane tank was located.
FIRE really took fire safety seriously. Oh the irony.
Once I got the gas burning, I went to the refrigerator and pulled out some meat to cook.
"Hey Ellie, mind if I throw some shrimp on the barbie?' I called out making a joke. Priya laughed, but Ellie frowned at me.
"Oi, you're a witty little cunt, I'll give you that mate."
The smell must have reached their noses, as the both followed me outside to the grill.
Priya was already licking her lips as I put the steaks and chicken on the grill. Ellie had the exact opposite reaction. She started getting really scared and nervous.
"Ellie, you okay? Something wrong?" I asked her. She kept backing away until she flapped her wings and took off into the sky.
"Hey Ellie! Where are you going? Hey come back!"
That was weird. Oh well, looks it's just me and Priya for lunch today.
X
Later
Priya and I ate our lunch by ourselves. It was weird without Ellie here, but she seemed happy it was just the two of us. We talked about all sorts of things, and honestly, it felt kind of like a date.
Once we finished our food, we went into the den to watch some TV. I turned it on a football game, and Priya seemed fascinated by the whole thing.
"Why are they all cheering?" She asked me.
"Because the other team scored a touchdown. That means they get 6 points."
So then I ended up explaining all of the rules of football to her. "You see, in American football, there are two teams that play on a 100 yard field. The goal of the game is for one team to move the ball into the other team's endzone, which is at the opposite end of the field. If you do that, it's called a touchdown, which is worth 6 points. You have many ways to do that, but mostly you score when you are on offense. When you are on offense, you can run the ball, or throw the ball. When the player holding the ball gets tackled or runs out of bounds, then the play is over. Everyone stops, and resets their formations for the next play. You are allowed 4 plays to advance the ball 10 yards. These plays are called "downs". If you can't advance the ball 10 yards on all 4 downs, then the other team takes over on offense where you last ran a play, except they are moving in the other direction."
"Ohhh okay I think I get it now. But wait, why are they kicking the ball? It's 4th down. Shouldn't they try to get more yards?"
"Yes, this is called punting the ball. If you can't get 10 yards on your first 3 downs, then you usually punt the ball away, so that the other team's offense starts way over on the other side of the field."
Priya and I kept watching the football game until we heard the doorbell ring. I opened it to see a little girl with her mom.
"Excuse me, but have you seen a small aerial drone flying around? My daughter and I were playing with her new toy that I bought her for her birthday, and now we can't find it."
This woman looked pretty upset. Her little girl had obviously been crying earlier. However, the more I looked at them, the more I started getting suspicious. Who exactly were they? Why are they at my house of all places? Then I remembered something that Lily said yesterday.
They're watching us, right now. Don't trust anyone else you meet around here. They're all one of them.
"Sorry ma'am, I don't know what you're talking about. Now please excuse me, I am in the middle of something."
I was about to shut the door when she tried to stop me.
"Please sir, can we just go around through the back gate and look in your back yard? Perhaps it landed back there?"
"No, now go away!" I slammed the door in their faces. I saw Priya slither over and look at me.
"Hey, what was that all about?" I didn't answer, instead I ran to the window and looked out the crack in the curtains. That woman and her daughter were standing in the front yard looking around. Then for some reason, the saw something above and started running away.
"That sure was suspicious as hell. Priya, remember what I told you yesterday?" I asked her. She nodded.
"Looks like we already have some people snooping around. If someone comes to the door, do not let them in unless it's me, or Ellie. Understand?" Priya nodded with concern. Then the two of us suddenly heard a loud thump on the roof.
We both ran upstairs and saw Ellie flying through her bedroom window.
"Ellie, where have you been? Did you forget what I told you about going off on your own?" I tried scolding her.
"You cunts should be thanking me! I saw some little bugger flying a drone around awfully close to the house, so I cut the little cunt to pieces."
Ahh I see, so the woman and her little girl were telling the truth. There actually was a drone flying around. I guess it's a good thing that Ellie saw it and took it down. Wait, no it's not, that's a bad thing! What if that woman finds out it was her and calls the police?
"Hold on, there was a woman at the door with her daughter who said they were playing with a drone and then it went missing."
Ellie brushed it off. "Fuckin' doubt it mate. That drone was way too high tech to be consumer grade. It had all kinds of cameras and sensors and shit. That bugger was gettin' real close to the windows and shit. Little cunt was even trying to follow me around."
Priya was now deep in thought. Except there was another thing on my mind.
"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you flew away earlier when I was cooking lunch on the grill."
"I told you already, you're not my fuckin' dad! Stop acting like you care about me and just leave me alone!"
She tried to kick us out of the room, but I held firm. "NO! I'm not leaving. You're my responsibility now, and as your host family, it's my job to take care of you."
"SHUT UP! I'm not your fuckin' family, so don't act like you care about me!"
Priya stood in front of me and stood up tall with her back muscles flaring out in her classic king cobra hood.
"Don't ever speak to him like that again you overgrown chicken, or else you'll have to answer to me! He's trying to help you, so put your fucking pride away and answer his question!"
Ellie was now blushing. She knew she was cornered. It was an enclosed room, with the door and window closed. She was at a disadvantage here, and she knew it. For the first time ever, I actually saw her get serious. "W-well, you see, I don't really like fire. M-my parents were killed in a bushfire when I was just a chick. Our nest burned down along with the entire forest. I was on my own for pretty much my whole life after that. At least until the exchange found me."
Priya and I both looked at her with hurt expressions.
"Hey, it's okay." I moved in and gave her a hug. Ellie didn't respond at first.
"Trust me, I know how it feels to be alone. But you don't have to be alone anymore. Priya and I, we're your family now. And family sticks together, no matter what." Ellie started tearing up a little. Priya then moved in and hugged the two of us.
"Y-yeah Ellie, I get it. It's hard being out in the world all alone, but Cole and I are here for you now. We both care about you, and we want you here with us. Because…. Well…. You're our family now."
Ellie did her best not to cry. "You guys…"
I broke the hug first. "Come on, let's go watch some TV. I can heat up your lunch in the microwave."
X
Priya and I were in the den watching more football when Ellie walked in holding a beer bottle.
"Scoot over you scaly cunt." She sat in between the space between Priya and I. Before I could say anything Ellie used her mouth to pop the cap off the beer bottle.
"Fuckin' hell, American beer tastes like piss. You got any VB?"
"Sorry Ellie, but that was all that FIRE bought for us. I can go get some more at the store later if you want."
"Please do, this shit is fuckin' disgusting mate." Ellie still drank it despite her negative opinions. "So, what's on the tele today?"
"Lions versus Eagles."
"Oh fuck yeah, let's watch that!" And so, I turned the TV to the football game.
"What the fuck is this bullshit, mate? Where are the fuckin' lions and eagles?" Ellie complained.
"Those are just the team names. It's a football game, not an actual fight between lions and eagles."
"Fuck's sake, your cable's buggared." Ellie drankie some more beer. Priya and I sat on the sofa with her and kept watching.
"Oi, who are the cunts in the green? They got some fuckin' sick kits mate!" Ellie pointed at the TV with her wing.
"Those are the Philadelphia Eagles. Their uniforms are designed to look like eagles. The team in blue is the Detroit Lions, see the little lion on their helmets.
"Fuck those cunts, mate. I'm diggin' these green cunts! You said they're the eagles right? Let's watch em!"
Priya turned to her. "Do you even know how this game works?" Ellie nodded her head, so Priya explained the rules of American football to her. Soon enough, Ellie was already a die hard fan.
"Come on! Run the fuckin' ball you shit cunts! Their fuckin' defense can't tackle for shit! Why the fuck are you running a jet sweep on 1st down?" As I sat there watching the game, I had to laugh at the irony of the situation. How hilarious that a girl who was an actual eagle, was flapping her real wings like a human flaps his arms to look like bird wings, while singing "Fly Eagles Fly", because the Philadelphia Eagles scored a touchdown.
X
It had been almost a week since Ellie moved in, and she was getting along great with Priya and I. In fact, they were getting along so well that the three of us decided to take a trip to the park. I went upstairs to check on the girls, and thankfully they were both dressed and ready to go. We made our way outside, but right before I was about to grab the eyes to the truck, a thought occurred to me.
"Hey, you know what, it's a nice day. Why don't we take the scenic route? Priya, i'm going to get the bike out of the garage. Wait here for a minute." I walked back inside before I heard Ellie flap her wings and take off anyway.
"Last one there is a shit cunt!"
That damn bird. Oh well, she's an eagle, i'm sure she'll be fine.
Once I went inside to get the bike, I came back to find Priya talking with our neighbor, Ms. Lily.
No way, this can't be good.
I hurried over with the bike and interrupted their conversation.
"Hi Ms. Lily! Lovely day today. How are you?" She gave me a soft smile, but I could tell she was upset that I interrupted her conversation with Priya.
"Hello Mr. Casey, I'm doing fine, thanks. I was just introducing myself to your girlfriend."
Priya and I both got red in the face. "G-g-g-girlfriend? No no i'm not his girlfriend, I just live in his house as an exchange student on a visa! I-it's not like we're dating or anything!"
Ms. Lily got a devilish look in her eyes. "Sure, that's the official reason, but I know how you really feel. Call it a woman's intuition, but I know how you really feel." She raised her finger and pointed it at Priya. "I know what you really want. I know your deepest, darkest, desires."
Priya seemed to be drawn into a trance, and it was then that I remembered what I saw in that monster girl book I found in the attic. It could all be bullshit, but if that book is correct about the hellhound, then it must be correct about her too.
I grabbed her hand and twisted her arm back behind her back. Lily was surprised to see me take such action.
"What the hell are you doing Mr. Casey? Let go of me right this instant!"
My time in the Marine corps had served me well, for in this moment, I was able to tackle her into a submission hold.
"I know what you really are, Ms. Lily!"
"What are you talking about? Arrrgh let me go before I call the cops~"
"You will do no such thing! You don't need to. You are more powerful than anything or anyone on earth."
"Mmmhhh and what makes you say that?" Lily was struggling under my submission hold.
"Because, you're not human are you?"
"Ho ho, that's a bold thing to say, Mr. Casey. What could I possibly be, if I were not a human?"
I turned her head around to face me. "You're a Lilim."
Her red eyes started glowing, and suddenly I felt myself pushed off of her by some invisible force. She knocked me on the ground, and then stood over me.
"Where did you learn that word?" She stared at me with contempt in her glowing eyes.
"You're not denying it? That means i'm right…. Holy shit, that means you're not actually human!"
Lily reached out and raised her hand at me. "You know too much. I'm afraid I cannot allow my plans to be compromised by this. Sorry Mr. Casey, but you're going to take a little nap now, and when you wake up, you'll wake up on that park bench, and all of this will have been nothing more than a dream."
Her hand started glowing too. I looked over at Priya for help, but she was still caught in some kind of trance.
Dammit! I knew there was something suspicious about that white hair woman. Turns out it was all real, but like Icarus with his wax wings, I flew too close to the sun. Now it's time for me to fall.
Everything was starting to go black, this is it. This is the end.
"AAAAGGHHHHH"
What was that?
I looked up and saw the sun was blocked out by a huge bird. It was coming down so fast that the whole thing seemed like a blur.
"What the~" Was all Ms. Lily had to say before she was sliced to shreds by a pair of huge eagle talons.
"Don't fuck with my family, you fucking bitch." Was all Ellie had to say when she landed. God damn, this girl might be even more deadly than Priya. I never even saw her coming. She just fell from the sky at like supersonic speed and sliced up Lily to shreds.
Lily stood there bleeding as the sun came out from behind a cloud at just the right angle as to shine a giant ray of light on Ellie. She flexed her wings out in full wingspan to give the sense that we were all trapped.
She looked like a golden eagle statue from ancient rome.
"W~who are you?"
"My name is Eleanor Casey, and I am the deadliest thing in the fucking cunt sky. If you or anyone else fucks with my family, I will find you, and I will end you."
Holy shit, I had no idea that Ellie was so badass!
"Arrrgh…. You'll pay for that you fucking chicken! You haven't seen the last of me, Cole Casey. Watch your back, for it'll be when you least expect it, that i'll return to finish you off." Lily waved her hands and then her whole body disappeared into a giant cloud of dust.
Ellie ran over and wrapped me in a feather hug.
"Cole! Are you okay?" I was coming out of my trance, and so was Priya.
"Y-yeah i'm good now. Thanks for saving me." Ellie smiled at me. Priya then wrapped her in her tail.
"Let go of him! What happened? Where is that lady from earlier?" She asked me.
"I think we should call Ms. Smith."
X
Later
"Really, Mr. Casey? You called me on my day off to tell me another one of your crazy stories?" Ms. Smith scolded me on the phone.
"I'm telling you, there was this crazy demon lady living next door, and she tried to kill me and Priya!"
"Ughh…. Look, I told you before, there are no such things as demons. Besides, that home next door is vacant."
Priya and Ellie looked at eachother, as they both heard it over the speaker.
"What do you mean it's vacant?"
"I mean, nobody is living there right now. That house has been empty for months. Haven't you noticed the "For Sale" sign in the yard?"
We all looked at each other, then we all went over to the living room window. Sure enough, there was a "For Sale" sign in the yard.
"Now then, If there is nothing else, i'm hanging up. Good day, Mr. Casey."
*click*
Priya and Ellie and I went outside to go look at the neighbor's house, and Ms. Smith was totally right. The place was deserted, and the yard was overgrown.
"What the hell is going on around here?" I mumbled to myself.
"Oi, Cole, come check this out!" Ellie called me over. She was standing in front of the for sale sign, and pointed at it.
"Take a look at this."
The sign had a picture of Ms. Lily on there, and it read "Lily Houndsel Realty LLC"
"What do you think it means?" Ellie asked me. I looked at her and Priya.
"It's a threat." We looked at the sign a little longer and then heard Priya calling for us.
"Hey guys, we got a letter from FIRE! It's kinda big." Ellie and I ran over to the mailbox and checked it out. Sure enough, it was a big ole envelope. I opened it and was disappointed to see that it was just a work order for the contractors to come out and start working on the attic. Apparently there was a delay in the construction project due to "security concerns" about our property.
"So does that mean I won't get to live in the attic anymore?" Ellie asked me. I was surprised that she already knew what this thing said, but then I remembered she is taller than me, and has eyesight 5x better than a humans.
"Huh, that's odd. Especially since Ms. Smith just brushed us off about the whole incident with Lily. Wait a minute, it looks like there is something else in here. It's a work order for a finished basement. Hang on, I didn't order any work done for the basement."
I kept reading, and it said that this work was for a new homestay. Someone named Elizabeth?
"Wait, so we're getting another girl?"
TO BE CONTINUED...
AN: Bonjour readers! I hope you have enjoyed this little story so far. Looks like things are starting to get a little dangerous at the Casey house. Good thing Ellie is always watching like a hawk, even though she is an eagle. What do you think of her? Is she best girl, or is it still Priya? Let me know in the comments. Next time, we get to meet our third homestay, Liz. She is a grizzly bear monster girl, so you better get ready! Thank you for reading my story, and GO BE ALIVE.
Before you go, here are some fun facts about Australian Wedge Tail Eagles:
-The Australian Wedge Tail Eagle is the largest bird of prey on the continent of Australia. Rivaled in size only by the American bald eagle. They are one of the world's most powerful avian predators.
-The Australian Wedge Tail Eagle's diet varies widely. They can eat anything from reptiles, marsupials, and even other birds.
-The Australian Wedge Tail Eagle was once considered an endangered species, due to habitat destruction, but they have since been embraced, as they are the main predator to the European rabbit, an invasive species plaguing the Australian outback. This has caused their numbers to increase to the point that they are no longer endangered.
-The Wedge Tail Eagle has the largest wingspan of all avian predators. Their average wingspan is between 182cm and 232cm (6ft - 7ft 7in) with the largest one ever recorded at 284 cm (9ft 4in). They usually weigh between 3-6kg (6-13lbs).
-The females are larger than the males by about 33% ;)
-Australian Wedge Tail Eagles are monogamous, meaning that a female will only mate with one male for life. (looking at you, Cole!)
-Wedge Tail Eagles spend most of their day flying. They can fly for hours without a wingbeat, and regularly cruise at altitudes up to 1,800m (5,900ft).
-The Wedge Tail Eagle is the only bird known for regularly attacking hang gliders, paragliders, and unmaned drones.
-Like most avian predators, the Australian Wedge Tail Eagle has exceptional eyesight. Estimated to be 4x - 5x greater than perfect human vision 20/20. They can spot moving prey from over 1,000m in the air!
-Wedge Tail Eagles can fly between 10-20 kmph (6-12mph) at cruising altitude, and can reach speeds up to 100kmph (62 mph) when diving for an attack