A laugh rang throughout the room.

Where was it coming from? The three women around her looked just as confused as she was.

It took her a moment before she recognized the sound of her own voice. She was sitting in a puddle of her own sweat in the apartment of cultists, and she was laughing as if she were the one that was insane.

“Yune, I think you broke her,” The red haired woman, Vi, said as she cracked open a beer in the kitchen.

“My, my,” Yune’s eyebrows were up, and she looked at Fae with the interest of a child that had stumbled across some kind of strange insect. “I suppose this is all a lot to take in at once.”

“I see!” Minerva started to cackle. “That’s hilarious,” She crossed her arms over her stomach and almost buckled over.

“What the hell are you laughing at?” Vi yelled.

“Wait, never mind,” Minerva stopped abruptly and straightened herself back up. “I don’t get it.”

This had to be her brother’s doing. It took her a moment to notice, but he must have been laughing somewhere. Fae covered her mouth with her hand, but she couldn’t stop herself.

“Now, Fae,” Yune said, obviously making an effort to smile. “I know it might seem like a joke… I wish that it was.”

Fae’s eyes were starting to stream with tears. Normally, when Jaden laughed, it would only cause her to smile or giggle at the most. Now, she couldn’t control herself, and the ridiculousness of the situation was making things worse.

“Alright, this is starting to piss me off,” Vi said.

The room was getting noticeably hotter. Vi’s was starting to steam. Literally.

“Vi, you wouldn’t,” Yune’s voice sounded stern as she turned toward the kitchen.

“I’ll shut her up,” Vi put her fist forward. “Permanently.”

In an instant, a vortex of flames spat out toward Fae, which immediately came into contact with a blast of water, ringing out like a bomb going off. The fire suddenly extinguished, and the room filled with smoke and steam.

This was enough to stop the laughter. Fae sat dumbfounded as the smoke alarms in the apartment blared. The entire kitchen was charred black, while the living room was soaking wet like it had been hit by a typhoon.

“Vi, you’re like a child,” Even though Yune’s eyes weren’t on Fae, she could see a genuine ferocity in them that betrayed her sweet sounding voice.

“Get off my back,” Vi said, flames still burning on her body. The hat she had been wearing was incinerated, revealing two small black horns that protruded from the sides of her head. “I got her to stop laughing, didn’t I?”

“I think,” Fae began. “I think I’m going to faint.”

“Hmm?” Yune turned back toward her, but her face was a light aqua, almost translucent, and her eyes were green without irises or pupils.

“This… This isn’t real,” The room seemed to lurch, as if it were a boat being rocked by powerful waves, and she felt her head hit the floor behind her.

“Oh my, look what you’ve done now.”

Fae came to. Above her, she hoped to see the poster she had hung on the ceiling above her bed. It was of her favorite book series, ‘The Bookshop of Mysteries’, and had the main character sitting in a cozy bookstore, sipping a cup of tea and smiling mischievously. Behind her stocking books was her love interest, the heartthrob that worked there. Unfortunately, Fae was met with the empty ceiling of the strange apartment instead.

Once again, she had been placed on the leather couch, and had been wrapped in a blanket. Thankfully, the room’s temperature was much more comfortable this time.

She sat up and looked toward the kitchen. It was sparkling clean as if it had never been used. There wasn’t a drop of water in sight either. Everything looked exactly as it had the last time she woke up.

What happened? She should be back at home in her room, curled up in her bed reading. She had no idea what time it was, but it had to be late. She could see the glimmering night-lights of Portland through the glass sliding door that led out to the balcony.

Fae wondered if her family had been calling her. With her phone dead, there was no way to check. She looked over to her right. A horned figure sat playing a video game in front of the television.

“Looks like you’re awake,” Vi said, not turning around.

Fae removed the blanket around her and sat up. “What happened? I thought the room was… destroyed?” The words sounded even more ridiculous than she expected them to.

“Yeah, Minerva fixed it,” Vi said.

“Minerva?”

“Yeah, the one in the dumb dress.”

Fae wondered how someone would go about fixing damage like that, let alone doing it over the course of a few hours.

Vi furiously pounded at the buttons on the controller. “Oh, and sorry for trying to kill you and stuff.”

Fae knew she should feel offended, but she was more interested in what had just happened. “How did you do that?” She stood up, running a hand through her hair. It was a mess from all of the sweating she had done. She picked up her glasses from the living room table and slipped them on. “The fire and the water, I mean.”

“I don’t do water,” Vi said, still facing the television. “And as for how, it’s too much trouble to explain. Ask Yune.”

Fae looked around the room, but the blue haired woman was nowhere to be seen. “Where is she?”

“God damn it,” Vi hurled her controller across the room. “Boss characters in fighting games are fucking bullshit. I can’t even get a combo off.”

Fae jumped in response to her outburst, thinking Vi might erupt into flames again.

“Yune?” Vi said, turning around on her rear end. “She’s in the shower. You don’t have to wait around for her, though. Unlike her, I don’t care if you leave.”

Fae looked over at her bag. If she were to make an escape, now would be the time to do it. However, she hesitated.

It was clear that whoever these people were, they knew something about what had happened to her today. They knew something about her hand, and about the strange feeling that had overtaken her. “I’ll… I’ll wait,” she said.

Vi pulled herself off the group and moved into the kitchen. “Suit yourself,” she reached into the fridge and pulled out a can of beer. “You want one?”

“What?” Fae’s heart jumped. “I’m too young to drink.”

“Goodie two shoes, huh?” Vi sat down on one of the kitchen stools, opening the can and gulping its contents down. She then proceeded to pull a cigarette out of her pocket.

“Won’t you set the fire alarms off again with that?” Fae asked. Besides, there was no way a place as nice as this allowed their residents to smoke inside.

“It’s fine,” Vi put her thumb on the end of the cigarette, setting it aflame. “I don’t exhale the smoke.”

“Oh… I, um… I see…” Fae said, nervously looking away. How in the world was this woman still alive? Maybe it would be best if she left after all.

A door somewhere in the apartment opened. “Vi, is Fae awake?” Yune seemed to struggle making her soft voice carry.

“No, she left. She said her master’s not giving her enough mana so she’s gotta go eat some chumps,” Vi looked over at Fae with a smirk, putting her index finger in front of her mouth.

Yune emerged from the hallway wrapped in a towel, still dripping wet. “You’re quite funny.”

“I thought so,” Vi said, sucking on her cigarette as if it were a lollipop.

“In any case,” Yune turned to Fae and a smile lit up her face. “It looks like you’re doing better. Would you like something to drink? Water? Juice, perhaps?”

“Some water would be nice, thank you,” Fae tried to smile back. She knew she should be parched, but she felt completely fine. In fact, she felt great. She was extraordinarily awake.

Yune scuttled into the kitchen, pulling a plastic water bottle out of the refrigerator. “I know they say it’s bad for the earth, but I like it much more than tap water.”

She must have pretty high standards for water, Fae thought. The tap water in Oregon was probably some of the best in the country. Besides, she could always use a water filter.

“Here,” Yune set the bottle on the table in front of Fae. “You must have a lot of questions,” she sat down on the leather couch next to her, wet towel and all.

“Questions?” Fae wasn’t even sure where to start. Looking down in her lap, she decided to start with what was in front of her. “What happened to my hand?”

“It’s difficult, but please listen to what I have to say,” Yune looked her in the eyes. “Can you do that for me?”

Fae looked down at her bandaged hand again. Something felt different. She wasn’t sure what it was, but the thought of taking it off and seeing what was underneath was terrifying to her. She looked back up at Yune, and finally shook her head. “I’ll listen.”

Yune let out a sigh and smiled. “Vi and I are like you.”

“Like me?” Fae said. “You mean, this happened to you too?”

“Well, not quite,” Yune crossed her arms, looking up at the ceiling. “We haven’t experienced what you’re going through. We’ve just always been this way.”

Fae thought back to what Yune had said earlier. “Demons.”

“I’m not really fond of putting it that way, but I suppose that’s what normal people would call us,” Yune said. “Those in the magician circles would call us magical familiars. Hmm, I guess I’m not really too fond of that name either.”

“I’m afraid I don’t… follow,” Fae said.

“It means we aren’t human,” Vi’s voice came from behind her. “We got summoned.”

“Vi, you aren’t helping,” Yune said, puffing out her cheeks. “I suppose it might be best to start by saying that both Vi and I are made completely of magic. We don’t have a presence in this world without a constant flow from our master.”

“Master?”

“Miss Minerva,” Yune said.

“The one with the stupid dress,” Vi yelled.

“Please,” Yune turned her head with a frown. “Get drunk and pass out so I don’t have to hear your voice.”

“I don’t really understand,” Fae said. “I’m human. I haven’t been ‘summoned’ or anything like that.”

“Yes, it’s quite troublesome,” Yune sighed, scratching her head. “This has never happened before, you see.”

Fae bit her lip. She had no idea if she could believe what this woman was saying, but she couldn’t deny what had happened that day. It was unexplainable by any normal means. Why was this happening to her? Her brother Jaden being around made her life difficult enough.

“I need more wafers,” Minerva scuttled into the room from the hallway. “Vi, go get more wafers. Now. Wafers. Got it? The good kind.”

“There are still like a hundred of them in the pantry,” Vi yelled. “Did you even look?”

“Those are the chocolate kind.”

“And what’s wrong with the chocolate kind?”

“I don’t like them.”

“Don’t those come with pink and orange ones too?” Vi said, walking in the living room. “Eat those.”

“I ate the pink and orange ones already,” Minerva whined. “Get me new ones!”

“Miss Minerva,” Yune piped up. “Our guest is still with us. We owe her an explanation.”

Minerva turned toward Fae and smiled. The woman’s gleaming eyes were focused directly on her, and yet they seemed to be looking at something beyond, far in the distance. If Fae were to guess which one of these people was something from another world, she would have chosen this woman, no doubt.

“Hello,” Minerva said, her smile almost sinister. “You’re quite the miracle child, aren’t you?”

Fae wasn’t sure how to respond. Fortunately, Yune spoke up for her.

“I was just explaining about familiars, miss.”

“It’s interesting. It shouldn’t be possible, but here you are,” Minerva said. “Also, don’t you think it’s hot in here?”

“Will you knock it off?” Vi said, picking up a pillow from the couch and throwing it in Minerva’s direction.

Minerva recoiled, covering her face with both hands. “Don’t be mean to me! I’m your master and stuff!”

There was definitely something wrong with these people. “Excuse me,” Fae raised her voice. The sight of all their eyes on her made her stomach sink, but she continued. “I still have no idea what’s going on.”

“Sit down, the two of you,” Yune motioned sternly with her hand.

Minerva picked the pillow off the ground and held it in her arms, hugging it tightly. She sniveled as she moved to sit on the couch to the right of them. Vi moved back into the kitchen, pulled another beer from the fridge, and sat back on the stool behind them.

“I’m sorry about that,” Yune adjusted her towel to keep it from slipping off. “As I was saying, it shouldn’t be possible to turn people into familiars. But somehow, someone’s done that to you.”

“Okay,” Fae sighed, putting her palm on her forehead. “So you’re telling me… you don’t really have any idea why this is happening.”

“Hmm… I suppose so!”

“I... see,” she massaged her temples and tried to keep herself from trembling. “So what did you mean when you said my body was getting rid of… unnecessary nutrients?”

“We’re made completely of magic. Essentially, we only exist here because magic is projecting us onto this world,” Yune said. “As long as that energy, mana, is being provided to us by the one that summoned us, we don’t really need to eat or drink anything.”

“But… both you and Vi seem to eat and drink things,” Fae said, pointing to the bottle of water in front of her.

“We just consume what we like the taste of,” Yune smiled. “Do you remember that water magic I used earlier? I’m made up of liquid, so I suppose it’s natural that I like things like water and tea.”

“So I’m made up of magic now?” Fae frowned.

“We aren’t really sure,” Yune said. “This has never happened before, after all. However, I think it’s safe to say that you’re getting a steady stream of mana from the one that did this to you.”

“So what happens if your… master… isn’t giving you, uh, mana?” Fae said, stealing a glance in Minerva’s direction.

“It’s a little complicated, but we really only have two choices,” Yune said. “Either we let ourselves fade away, or we obtain mana in a different manor.”

“What’s that?”

“Taking another’s life force.”

“Killing humans, mostly,” Vi said with a belch.

“I think I’m going to pass out again.”

“Don’t worry,” Yune quickly put her hand on Fae’s shoulder. “As long as you’re getting mana the normal way, you won’t have any sort of impulses.”

“Impulses?”

“To kill humans, brah,” Vi yelled.

“Right…” She moved away from Yune’s touch, her body finally starting to shake. “Why are you even telling me all this? How do I even know you didn’t do this to me?”

“You would know if the magician that did this to you was here. The two of you are now bonded in a way you don’t yet understand,” Yune’s eyes looked hurt, but she still smiled all the same. “All I can ask is that you trust us. We want to help you.”

“Why not tell her about what’s going on in this city?” Vi said. “This place is gonna be a battlefield. There’s no stopping it after today.”

“What do you mean?” Fae turned to face the kitchen.

“You know about what happened downtown?” Vi asked. She had lit another cigarette, and was gnawing on the end of it.

Come to think of it, the school nurse had said something that. “I don’t really know anything about it,” Fae said. “There was some kind of accident, right?”

“Wow, you really don’t know. The whole world is freaking out about it,” Vi said. “Everything stopped. Like they froze in place for minutes.” She put the remainder of the cigarette in her mouth and chewed it up before swallowing.

“No way,” Fae said. “And you’re saying that was magic?”

“Beats me,” Vi put her elbow on the counter, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. “But no doubt it attracted a lot of attention. Attention from people you don’t want attention from.”

“Interesting, don’t you think?” Minerva snickered, still holding the pillow in her lap. “And now a normal human’s been turned into a demon. Someone’s been bad!” She squeezed it tighter and tighter before turning toward the kitchen. “Also, why haven’t you gone to get my wafers?”

“Eat the chocolate ones!” Vi barked.

“It’s quite a lot to take in, but for now just understand that there are several groups that aren’t happy about what happened today,” Yune said. “Please be cautious, we don’t know what they might do if they realize what you are.”

“How am I supposed to keep them from realizing that?” Fae said. Despite the explanations, she still didn’t really understand what was happening to her. Besides, she would have to be crazy to believe everything these people were saying.

“Don’t worry,” Yune said. “As long as you don’t use your powers in front of people, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”

“Excuse me,” Fae said, almost falling off the couch. “My powers?”

“Of course. You saw what Vi and I did, didn’t you?”

“I’ll be able to shoot fire and water?” Fae asked.

“Who knows? We’ll have to see what kind of familiar magic you’ve inherited,” Yune said as she stood up. “It’s late and you must be tired. Just let me get dressed and I’ll give you a ride home.” She looked back with a warm smile as she disappeared into the hallway.

Fae breathed a heavy sigh. With everything that had happened, she had forgotten about the time. She reached for her bag, but remembered the bandage around her hand. In the end, they never really told her what happened to her hand.

She remembered when she had been assaulted by the strange feeling while walking home, and how much her hand had hurt. Slowly, she unraveled the bandage. Had her fingernails really fallen off?

Thank god. She was relieved to find that her hand looked completely normal, fingernails and all. Actually, her nails looked better than they ever had, as if she had just gotten a manicure.

They did seem a little sharper than before though.