Verlsa wiped her eyes with her sleeve as she drove. The only reason she had bothered to attend the ten-year high school reunion was because they were having a memorial service. Their valedictorian may have not been the most popular student, but she wanted him to at least know that he had a friend that missed him.

Of all the random ways to die, it had to be a rockslide in a foreign country. Verlsa had no way of knowing if it was a natural accident or intentional. Paranoia kept her alive, but… Missing bodies and a fiancee who was the only survivor, yet no one had any suspicions. Duke deserved to have someone stick their neck out for him, but Verlsa didn’t know where to begin.

As she drove up to her driveway, she noticed a figure hunched over on her porch. She turned off the engine but left the headlights on. There was a loaded pistol that she kept in her glove compartment for times like these and she didn’t hesitate to grab it. Turning off the safety, she got out of her car, adjusted her stance, and pointed it at the stranger.

“You’re going to tell me who you are and what the fuck you are doing here.”

“Verlsa?” Duke stood up quickly and innocently held up both his hands. There was a suitcase sitting nearby. No one else seemed to be around.

“Duck-young?” She didn’t lower her gun.

“I’ve been going by ‘Duke’ since college. You know this,” he replied with a nervous laugh. “Verlsa, this is quite important. You may have heard rumors concerning my death, but there is something else I-”

“I think the whole being ‘dead’ thing is a lot more important than anything else you can say right now.” Dead was dead. Dead people don’t randomly show up at her door to reminisce.

“I have something to ask you. Please, Verlsa.” He winced at her scowl, but then she rolled her eyes. That was usually the signal for him to continue. “During our senior year, do you remember when the gym burned down?”

Versla flipped the safety switch on her gun to on and reached back into her car to get her keys. “It’s hard to forget.” She then pushed past Duke so she could unlock the front door. “Get inside before someone sees you.”

“No, but honestly. Verlsa.” His cold hand gripped her forearm as she opened the door. His nails were a dark, almost translucent color. They showed signs of being vigorously filed down. “It is important... There was a rumor that you said a dragon had done it. Everyone thought you were crazy and no one associated with you after that. Do you remember?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “A dragon did burn it down. In fact, I just came back from our reunion where that was the only thing that anyone could bring up to me all night. Thank you for coming back from the dead just to remind me of my painful teenage experiences.”

“All of it is real. There are dragons, mages, vampires, and a slew of other creatures. You know this to be true? Would you agree with me if I said that?” He had fear in his eyes. It was something that didn’t suit him. Her scowl softened as she shook her head.

“Get inside. We’ll talk there.”

Verlsa made herself coffee while Duke rambled on about everything that he had gone through. Becoming a jiangshi, his time spent with an eccentric alchemist, and how he had traveled back to Washington through a portal. As he spoke, he was constantly fidgeting with the scarf about his neck. The Duck-young she knew was confident and brilliant, not this hunched over mess who babbled on and on about his worries.

She tuned him out as he began to compare his plight to that of some hero from an archaic European text. His eyes were already starting to cloud over from decay, and his skin was creasing and peeling in awkward places.

This truly was a dead man. Her Duck-young had died. The creature before her was her former friend, another of several that had been taken too soon. When he noticed that she hadn’t interrupted his ramblings, he fell silent.

“It’s hard to explain, but I know what it’s like to not be human.” She lifted up her thick bangs to reveal an ill looking callous at the center of her forehead, like a large stone had been implanted under the skin. Either side was flanked with a series of smaller and smaller stones, almost like she had been scarred with a tiara.

“Were you also cursed?” He leaned in for a closer look, and she immediately leaned away.

She winced at the question. “I was never human, Duck-young, I just happened to look the part for a little while, but that’s something we can talk about later. I don’t like to bring it up, so don’t ask now. What’s important is that I have an address book of ‘special people’ in my bedroom. There may be someone who can help you once I make a few calls.”

Duke nodded as she stood up. She took her purse, with the gun still inside, and began to awkwardly sidestep towards her bedroom. He may be an old friend, but he was still a life force stealing monstrosity. No way was she going to turn her back to him.

“Verlsa,” he whispered. This made her straighten her back and smile nervously. “Thank you. I know that I have not been the best person to you over the past few years, but… This means everything to me.”

“Anytime, Duck-young.” She began to walk backwards down the hall. “I’ll be in my room. Give a knock or something if you… need anything… H-heh.” Her teeth gritted together. “You’re going to be okay.” Another nod before she hastened to the bedroom. She locked the door and shoved a dresser in front of it as quietly as she could.

Everything from her purse was dumped out onto her bed. The stream of curse words spewing from her mouth helped her control of her panic. A dead man isn’t something she needed. This wasn’t normal, and she worked very hard to make sure everything in her life was normal. “Ah ha!” She snatched up a business card and quickly dialed it.

“Hello?” The voice of a young woman answered. “I’m sorry, but whoever this is, you’re calling rather late. Is it possible that this can be handled tomorrow?”

“Evening. This is Verlsa Rivera. We met at Duck-young’s funeral two weeks ago. I was his friend for a couple of years.” Her face stretched once more into that uncomfortable fake smile. It made her sound artificially cheerful. “I need to speak to you now. There is some urgency to the matter.”

“Are you sure it can’t wait?” Neither said anything for a moment while Verlsa fumbled to find something to say. “Oh yes, sorry. The memorial at the reunion was tonight, wasn’t it? I’m sorry I couldn’t make it, but I would like nothing more than to put this matter behind me.”

Verlsa began to hiss between her teeth. “Cut the shit, Suni. Your damn fiance is having a mental breakdown in my living room and I would like to know why the fuck he isn’t with you.”

Suni didn’t respond right away. When she did, her tone had become cold and professional. “Duck-young is visiting you right now? Has he threatened you? Do you believe that you are in any sort of danger?”

What sort of questions were those? “It’s Duck-young, he wouldn’t…” The business card was crumpled up in her hand. Her nails dug painfully into her palm so that she could maintain her cool. “You know exactly what happened to him...”

Suni took another moment to respond. “... Yes,” she whispered.

“If you know what he is now, you should know that he’s here and he needs you. I’ll give you my address.. It’s only an hour away from Seattle at this time or I can keep him until morning, but he needs you.”

“I can’t.”

“That isn’t a viable ans-”

“I can’t!” Suni’s sudden shout made Verlsa wince. “What do you expect me to do? Duck-young has maybe two or three months before his body breaks down completely. You know that if he made it to Washington, then he’s already killed in order to survive. There’s nothing left for us. You want us to constantly remind ourselves that we have no future together?!

You weren’t there! I saw him broken and slowly suffocating. I can’t go through that again. And how do you think he’s going to react? He’s going to realize what’s happening to him, and he’ll one day give into what he is. Duck-young is dead. Whatever is in your home now isn’t him.”

Verlsa breathed in and out slowly. The business card in her hand slowly became stained with blood as her nails pierced through the skin of her palm. “Do you honestly have that little faith in him?”

“How dare you question my faith?!” Suni spat back. “I stay away because I will not survive seeing him rot away to dust. If you care about him at all, find a way to finish him off. That’s the only kindness he deserves now.” She hung up, leaving Verlsa fuming.

She hurled her phone to her bed. “Shit…” Her hand flexed and unflexed until the wounds on them sealed. “Hide behind your declaration of love all you want, you’ll always be a chickenshit bitch to cowardly deal with your own problems.” Verlsa cursed a few more times before pushing away the dresser. Peeking around the corner, she noticed that Duke was staring down at the ground.

“Did you get in contact with them?” Duke looked up. He had calmed down during her absence.

“Yeah, about that...” Verlsa struggled with her words. “I called around a bit, but it’s late. No one picked up... Was there anyone you want me to contact, like your sister or parents? And what about that girl you were dating, Suni? She’d want to know you’re okay. I mean, I would… If I was her... I-I would want to know that you’re here.”

“Suni was with me when... The accident…” He gripped the sides of his head and looked down at the ground again. The nails on his fingers began to grow out as he tensed up.

He didn’t know. He fully believed that Suni died that day. Verlsa knelt down in front of him and put her hands on his knees. “It’s you and me, alright? Just like how it was before.” Duke slipped to the floor and wrapped his arms about her waist. A choked sob escaped his lips as he rested his head against her shoulder. Verlsa didn’t hesitate to hug him just as tightly. “I’m always going to take care of you, Duck-young. Always.”

❅❅❅

Adi looked over to Verlsa, who was lost in thought. She only mentioned some details, like how Duke had lost Suni, and that she promised to help him out. It was enough for Adi to get some understanding of what happened.

“So, you’re the one who set him up at that vampire house?”

She gave a small nod, but didn’t look at him. Talking about the past didn’t sit well with her. “Yeah. I met Bernie through some contract work I did after college. Odd jobs and stuff like that. He likes to check up on me once in a while to see if I’m doing okay.”

Adi didn’t want to think about what sort of work she had done for vampires. “You did good. You’re good people, uhh, Varl… Su.”

“Verlsa. With a purr. Va - Purr - Sa. Almost like ‘varl,’ then ‘sa,’ but not quite.”

Adi gave her a deadpan look. “I’m never going to be able to say that.”

That was enough to make her laugh. “Not many can, but I’ll snap your fucking neck if you try to give me a nickname.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. It was still sore in a way he couldn’t explain. Not a physical pain, but something intangible. “I think that you’d make more friends if you didn’t threaten people all the time.”

“I’m not going to stop just because you asked.” A van honked as it approached them. The side of it was labeled with a local church's name. “Search group is here. Just act normal and try not to move around much. I wasn’t able to restore all of the life force Duck-young stole from you.”

“He ate my life force?!”

“Shh.” She pointed to the group as they unloaded themselves. “Bitch about it later. We have work to do.”

❅❅❅

Duke followed Windi down a game trail. She was likely following the ghost he had seen before, but it was invisible to him. The trees were starting to shift from evergreens to a grove of red alder, indicating that they were moving out of the land owned by the lumber company. Once in a while he would inhale sharply through his mouth. It helped him taste the air better, but he didn’t notice anything new.

“Do you have a plan?” Duke whispered the question while hoping he wasn’t talking over the ghost.

“It depends. There are many different types of wendigo. Much like vampires, it varies from what sort of ritual was used to create them and whether or not they passed their trial.” Windi made a sudden turn to the left, leaving behind the trial they had been walking on.

“And the one that I had taken care of was a simple variety?” It reminded him of the jiangshi he had encountered when he first awoke.

“Wendigo is a loose term, much like how we refer to you as a vampire. It’s a word used to describe such things as skinwalkers, wechuge, and many others. Practically any human transformed by traditional North American magic is classified as one. DH is willing to compromise and use the correct terms, but we often default to SIA terms. It makes the paperwork between us easier.

What we face against today is a newer breed of mithryn, thus it has no legend or proper name attached to it. Back in the seventeen hundreds, an Eastern mage had promised the First Nations that he could create soldiers that would survive anything. Smallpox, bullets, and old age. Nothing would kill them. If a few were willing to sacrifice themselves, their kin would remain safe for an eternity.

He ripped the souls out of their still living bodies in order to begin the ritual. The body undergoes a metamorphosis that strengthens it, and the soul must fight to regain control before their body devours them. What found you was merely a feral form that was in the middle of its trial. We will no doubt be facing a completed version.

One of the ones who had volunteered but was chased out by their people. Rather than fight against foreign invaders, they scattered across the Americas in search of sanctuary. To give themselves purpose, they create more of themselves.

Fortunately, the blight of their existence came at a time when hunters were becoming more plentiful. I believe only a few of the originals exist now and I’ve made certain to kill several myself. As to why one would be in Washington, I simply do not know.”

“And you go by Windi because you are one of these creatures?” He asked because she had some disdain in her voice when she was forced to call them wendigos.

“Pastor gave me the name Windi because I was brought in by a storm. Anything else is an ill coincidence.” She paused, if only to frown at him. “DH has a strict policy of eliminating any and all mithryn who cannot feed safely. Pastor has protected me and kept me fed despite this. He will do the same for you as long as you obey his orders.”

That didn’t do anything to ease his worries. “I see.”

“You went against those orders,” she immediately replied.

“I’m not murdering an innocent human,” he replied just as quickly. “And I was in dire need of food. Hence, my presence here.”

She glared at him for a moment before continuing. “As for the plan, I will seek to distract them while you deliver the killing blow.”

“Understood.”

Duke increased the distance between the two of them. Having a pointy monster swoop down at him from above was something left best avoided. Windi would be able to handle it. He felt a buzzing sensation in his pocket and realized he still had Adi’s phone.

The caller ID simply said, “Mistress,” and showed the image of scantily clad legs. One folded over the other in a seductive manner. It must be the girlfriend that Adi was crying about. He pointed to the phone when Windi turned around to look at him. She nodded and gestured for him to answer.

“Hello?”

“Adi, I’m really sorry about everything I said the other day. I want to let you know that I thought it over and understand now that I love you. Let’s sit down and have another talk. Money may be tight for a little while, but we’ll make it work together.”

“I’m terribly sorry, but I believe you have the wrong number.” Windi gestured for him to keep his voice low, and he mouthed back. “Just a second.”

“Don’t try to fool me. I know what you’re doing. You’re a friend of his trying to pretend that I don’t exist. Are you able to pass Adi the phone, or are you him doing some stupid voice impression? Is this you, Adi? I know you don’t have any friends!”

All Duke could do was shrug. “Perhaps I could help you if I knew of whom you spoke of, but I assure you that I had just received this number yesterday. This isn’t Addison’s or Adam’s or whoever’s phone number anymore.”

“Seriously?! This isn’t funny. Tell him that it’s Janice and that I really, really need to talk to him right now. It’s very important.”

“Twould be best in the future madam, you should attempt to be less of a bitch when you have clearly misdialed a phone number.” He hung up on her and smiled at Windi. “Simply tying up a loose end. Let us continue our hunt.”

Windi pointed behind him. He turned around and noticed that there was a dark skinned woman hanging upside down from a tree. She clung onto the branch above her with clawed feet that resembled an owl’s talons, and her hands were similarly transformed. The rest of her was dressed casually. Jeans and a black t-shirt. If not for the feet and hands, she would have been mistaken for a lost hiker.

“Don’t let me interrupt.” She let go of the branch and landed neatly on the ground. “My, you absolutely reek of death. What a lovely smell...”

Duke held up his umbrella innocently and backed away until he was behind Windi. He didn’t feel an ounce of guilt about using a woman as a shield in this scenario. “Surely, it is I who is interrupting. My associate here has been searching for you out of the hope that she might make a new friend.”

“She’s not one of the early created,” muttered Windi under her breath. “... Who mothered you?”

“Keasik... Over forty years ago.” The name made Windi tense up. “Oh? The two of you met?”

Windi took a step forward. “Where is she?”

“Hiding safely away with her children.” The wendigo took a step forward as well. “Perhaps you have heard of me as well? I’ve been granted the name-”

“You deserve no name,” growled Windi. “Where is your mother?” The wendigo replied with a pointed tooth smile. “If there is any humanity left in you, you will tell me where she is.”

Duke leaned in to whisper to her. “I believe the reason for her presence in this state is to propagate and murder. It is unlikely that you will be granted any information to ease. If I were her mother, I would have cut ties with her first before letting her out into the world.”

Windi opened her mouth and released a piercing shriek that sent Duke recoiling backwards. The other woman did the same. Duke covered his ears as he ducked behind a tree. He had a fear that it would cause his eardrums to rupture and he would be left permanently deaf as a result.

“We were born because we chose to be better than mankind!” Windi’s opponent cried out. “We strive to devour the humans who would murder us! How can you turn against our mission and claim that we were in the wrong?” She slashed at a nearby tree with her hand, sending chunks of bark and wood flying towards Windi.

Windi snarled a reply. “Our existence has no purpose. We were the spawn of trickery and deceit. If Keasik had taught you anything, you would know that we were never meant to be born, let alone make children of our own.”

“Yet it’s only you who-”

The woman let out a gag as the hook of Duke’s umbrella looped about her throat. Her attention had been solely on Windi, allowing for him to sneak up. He gave a firm yank back, placing his free hand against the back of her neck. She nearly fell over as Duke helped himself to a snack.

Duke caught her in his arms. He looked up at Windi, his eyes as wild as a predator who was moving in for the kill. His voice was almost gleeful as he spoke. “Was I not supposed to intervene? I had thought you were stalling her until I could gain the upper hand.” He grinned widely, nearly giggling with anticipation. “Would you like to carry on your conversation, or may I continue?”

Windi glanced at the woman. The creature in Duke’s arm’s was petrified, both in expression and form. Unable to move, unable to stop the end from coming, yet completely aware of what was about to happen. “... Do what you must.”

Duke rotated about the wendigo around, dipping her romantically. One hand on the back of her neck while the other lifted up her jaw. “Thank you for the meal.” He forced a seal between their mouths and yanked her lifeforce out from her breath. It felt so much more satisfying than any meal he had had in the past..

He shuddered with pleasure as he let her go. She, in turn, crumpled to the ground. Windi took awhile to move in for a closer examination. Her kind wasn’t something she enjoyed dealing with. The past deserved to be buried.

“Are you alright?” Duke stepped over the creature’s body.

Windi wrapped her arms about her body and took a step back. She appeared to be small and frail. It was the first time that Duke realized that she was only a teenager when she had been turned. She certainly seemed like a scared girl in those fleeting moments.

“We should burn the body,” she said.

“You and I may both be mithryn, were were both once human, but our similarities run much deeper than that. As long as you and I remain on the same path, we will be allies. After all, few outside of us can understand our plight.”

Windi didn’t take solace in that. “Have you sought the advice of a mage? I only ask because you have an odd scent of magic about you.”

“I have, yes. An alchemist who had replaced several of my organs with plant material in order to slow the decay.” His blood was more sap now than blood, but he was happier knowing he wouldn’t be hopping about like some of his brethren did.

“I’ve seen dozens, and I’ve been experimented on by dozens more,” she whispered. “I may have a human face, but it did nothing to stop the hunger. Death is the only cure for me. The reason I carry on is because Pastor has given me purpose... So why do you choose to remain?”

Duke shrugged. He couldn’t be certain, but a part of him was curious to see what sort of allies Ur would toss his way. “I haven’t been dead for long. There is still time for me to find a reason.”

Windi didn’t seem pleased by that answer. “It’ll take time to build a proper fire. We should get started.”

Their goal was to bury the body deep within the ground and build a fire on top of it. It took awhile, since Windi had to build a smokeless fire that would burn hot enough to render the body to ashes. Watching the fire was a somber experience. Someday, that will be Duke. Left to burn where humanity would never find him.

“What is the plan now?” He opened up his umbrella and held it over his head.

“DH will inform SIA of our activities. They will handle the rest. We will give them a detailed report, but leave you and your allies out of it. If they need a body for the victim's families, we will provide them with a fake cadaver.”

Duke absentmindedly began to stare down the path. “Your organization works more closely with them than I would have imagined.”

“Seattle is unique,” she replied. “There is a treaty we have with the werewolves that limits our involvement in the Pacific Northwest. We maintain an alliance with SIA as long as our goals are being met, but we will often conduct our investigations separately. We only report our actions if human involvement is necessary.”

Adi’s phone buzzed in Duke’s pocket from an incoming text. Verlsa was confirming that they had found the remains of a human body, specifically the one that had been used to decorate the trees. They were now reorganizing the group and calling the police.

“Has our ghost friend moved on to the other side?” He asked Windi.

“He has,” whispered Windi.

Duke quickly tapped out a message to Verlsa, stating that they were also done. “Did the ‘Six Soul’ get him?”

“No,” replied Windi in a distant tone. “He didn’t come this time.”

“I would expect a grim reaper to be more timely when it came to death,” bemused Duke.

Windi was somber, staring intently at where they had buried the creature. “He isn’t a grim reaper. The Six Soul is the vengeful spirit of a cowboy who hunts down my kind.”

Duke’s amused expression dropped in an instant. “... I require more information on this individual.”

“That is all the information that there is,” replied Windi. “She turned and began to walk away. “We should return. The SIA may show up before any police do, and I do not enjoy speaking to them.”

Neither said anything on the hike back. Duke was never a people person, and Windi wasn’t the type to enjoy discussing literature or mythology. When Duke was alive, he would often use these moments of silence to quote wise, ancient proverbs. Now that he was dead, he understood how annoying that must be to others.

Adi waved at them as the pair joined up with the group. He was still looking pale and was feeling ill “That demon lady drove off already. “ He made a sour face. “The rest of the party is having a prayer circle for the dead. Police are going to take over the search and are bringing in cadaver dogs or something.”

“Thank you for the report.” Duke waited for Adi to say something else. He frowned when the young man just stood there, nodding silently. “Our search went well. The mission was a success. Thank you for asking.”

“I used those deducing skills you wanted me to work on and assumed it went alright. You know, since you’re still ‘alive’ and all.” Adi frowned back. “But if you were able to kill one of those things by just touching it, why didn’t you just run up and kill the first one instead of trying to eat me?”

Duke rolled his eyes. “I couldn’t rely on you to be a proper distraction. Sampling your qi made it difficult for the monster to track you down once it got past me. Be thankful that I had a healer willing to help you out..”

“Hoppers can’t run. He wouldn’t have been able to defend you,” added Windi, much to Duke’s annoyance. “They exist in a constant state of decay and have to avoid anything that would strain their muscles or tendons. If Duke is ever unable to feed, he will enter a permanent state of rigor mortis and will be forced to hop around if he needed to get somewhere.”

“Ah… So he’s a zombie?” Duke’s grimaced all the harder at Adi’s response. “You didn’t think to include that information during your, ‘This is all you need to know,’ speech? Really?”

Duke waved a hand in the air as he moved past Adi. “I have had a very long day and desire to go home for a respite if you do not mind. I do hope that you didn’t somehow lose your car keys while you were flailing about earlier.”

“You’re a terrible partner.” Adi waved at Windi. “Thanks. We’ll try to keep out of trouble and not bother you again.”

Windi didn’t reply. She merely nodded and began to head towards her motorcycle.

Adi fumbled for the keys in his pocket and unlocked the car. So much for being Duke’s sword. When it came to action, all he could do was run away. He got into his car and twisted the key in the ignition. Next time they went on a hunt, he’d have something to do. Atticus Wulfert had plenty of worth and he was going to prove it.