Who are the Real Monsters? by: Elsbeth Ken Umeki will learn that not all monsters come out at night.

Watching Kimme depart, Aya spun on her heels, making her way through the center of the Shisaa enclosure. Passing the Shrine, Aya walked down a small path leading directly to the front of a maintenance door. Punching a code on a hidden keypad, the door opened up revealing a long hallway under the man-made Shrine Hill.

Passing several bedrooms, a kitchen and a conference room, which contained phones, computers and video equipment, she approached a large fusuma door guarded by two of the Shisaa men. Opening the door revealed half a dozen people, including Kimme’s grandmother.

Taking a sip of tea, she asked. “So Aya, my granddaughter has left for her date already.” It was a rhetorical question, off to the side was a wall of security monitors.

“Hai Imai-sama.” Aya knelt, her head almost resting on the wooden floor.

“That Sile creature is going to be a nuisance.” Rika Shisaa like the others sat seiza-style. “We should forbid their relationship.”

“True, the creature is an abomination, however she will prove most helpful during the Tojiru ceremony. The closer the two get, the more useful she will become.” A voice said over the speakerphone sounding like Kimme’s mother.

“You disagree Shisaa-san?” Sachiko turned to the not too happy looking Masanori Shisaa who sat off to the side. His clothes were unkempt and it appeared as if he hadn’t shaved in a number of days.

“You are not dealing with a Kappa or a Mujina that you can simply seal away in a bottle. She is dangerous and has powerful allies.”

“We dealt with the Ningyo easily enough.” A woman in a black and white Miko outfit disagreed. Three others sat by her side, two men in all black and another woman in a black and white Miko outfit.

“And look where it has gotten you.” Masanori laughed. “Her clan ran you off the Umeki estate in Hawaii.”

“If the Shisaa had done their job properly then that wouldn’t have happened.” The other woman in black and white said angrily.

“You moved against her too soon, she would have been willing enough. We had to clean up your mess.” Rika Shisaa growled.

“Enough.” Kimme’s mother commanded over the phone. “It was most unfortunate and my daughter will deal with them soon enough. This creature is no different from the others.”

“I agree.” Kimme’s grandmother nodded.” For the ceremony to be successful, we will still need the...assistance of a powerful Yōkai. I see that you are still not satisfied, Shisaa-san?”

“I will say this once more. You have also done Ken-kun a great disservice.”

“Shisaa-san as always, you do not wish to see the greater picture. My daughter is now closer to her true self.” Kimme’s mother said over the phone. “Ken would never have wielded the power we need against the Yōkai. He was a mistake. Kimme will be most formidable.” Everyone could hear in her voice the disdain she held for Ken’s name and the reverence, almost giddiness in her voice when she said Kimme.

Masanori Shisaa put his head down saying nothing.

“Imai-sama the time for the ceremony is getting near. Why don’t we just hold Ojoosama in her room until the ceremony? “

“I will not see my daughter harmed.”

“My apologies Umeki-sama, you misunderstand; that’s the last thing I would wish to do. We can make the experience quite pleasant enough for her. Tutors can be brought in. Entertainment can be provided.” The first woman in white and black said into the speakerphone. “Having her going to school and influenced by this creature..."

“Nanako-chan.” Kimme grandmother set her tea down. “We need my granddaughter to be a willing participant. She had too much free will in Hawaii for us to do anything but harm, if we now seclude her against her wishes. I wish her to live a carefree life as a high school student. After the ceremony, she will have greater responsibilities. Aya, I believe she is looking forward to the ceremony.”

“Hai Imai-sama.” Aya said. “She is looking forward to it, very much.”

“With her as a willing participant, the ceremony will prove much more powerful...Isn’t that correct, Aya?” Sachiko Imai, Kimme’s grandmother gave Aya a half smile.

“It is as you say Imai-sama.” Aya looked down at the floor; nothing else was needed to be said.

‘The Norse’ was a good choice for a relaxing meal. I half expected the two of us to travel a little further, maybe into another town for dinner but Sile said she doesn’t leave town much. I ordered typical American fare, they have great hamburgers; while Sile was a bit more adventurous, selecting a number of Scandinavian dishes. She of course made me try a little from her plate. Soon enough, we were feeding one another. I wondered what the other customers, who sat around us, thought; then realized I didn’t really care. What surprised me was Mrs. Hildebrandt my History teacher appearing at our table. Apparently, she and Sile knew one another and talked about some of the new exhibits at the History Center for a few minutes.

Disappointed that dinner was over, I fidgeted in the car. The idea of facing an annoyed Aya didn’t really appeal to me. Still I did have to wake up and get to school in the morning.

Passing right by the Shisaa compound, I turned to Sile. “And pray tell my dearest where are we going?”

She didn’t even smile. “I want to check on a few things.”

“Is that what they call it now a days?”

That got her to smile. Pulling up to the back of the house, we climbed the stairs to the top floor where Sile resided. The entire bottom of the old Victorian house contained the historical exhibits and offices of the Skogshaven Historical Society. Setting down my purse, I turned to her with a smile. “So now what?”

“Stand over there please.” Sile motioned to the center of her living room. Pulling up a chair, my girlfriend took a seat. “Let me take a good look at that enchantment.”

“Sile?” The whole Witch thing was a bit of a letdown. Expecting wands, cauldrons anything, what I didn’t expect was Sile just staring at me.

“Shush ma bien-aime, let me concentrate.” Moments later, she sat back tapping a finger on her lips, “Well that’s unexpected, nor does it make any sense.”

“Sile what are you looking at and what didn’t you find?” The only thing interesting so far was when I her eyes seemed to glow for a moment.

“Let me try something else before I say anything OK.” Leaning back on the chair, she looked at me. “Remember when I said I wasn’t a Witch?”

“Sure.”

She made a face; I could see she was struggling with something. “I’m Fae, a Baobhan Sith from the Winter Court” My beloved then looked at me as if I knew what in the world she was talking about. The only thing I recognized was Fae.

“Fae like a Fairy? Like Tinkerbell?”

At that point, she jumped up and pointed at her back. “Do I look like a Pixie?”

“I don’t know what a Pixie really looks like.” I answered truthfully.

“How can you not, they fly all over the bloody place. They’re little disasters with wings.” Sile suddenly began to speak in a heavy Scottish accent. “There are always a fair number hovering around Morgan. Last time she was here a white haired beauty offered to make me some tea.” Raising her voice, she was almost squeaking. “’Oh, Miss Sile, let me make you some tea.’ Then the little tart disappeared and boom she blew up my fooken kitchen!” While Sile continued to rant about Pixies for a few more minutes, I smiled. I found the whole thing rather endearing.

“Cool, my girlfriend is a Fae.” She could have told me she was a fire-breathing dragon I wouldn’t have changed my feelings.

Sile stopped her ranting and looked at me. “That’s right; you mortals tend to label relationships. An old...friend used to call me his wife.” She said with a sad smile.

It sounded like it was a long time ago and what did she mean by mortal. “You were married?”

“No not really, it’s just the home we were renting in Paris wouldn’t have allowed a non-married couple to stay together.” Pulling the coffee table into the kitchen and tossing the Oriental rug on the couch, she motioned to me to stand over to the side. “Go ahead and take off your clothes.”

“Really, is that the best you can do to get me to strip?” Grinning, I begin to unbutton my blouse. The grin left my face when her nails began to grow long and she stuck her arm with one of them. “Ouch doesn’t that hurt?”

“Not really.” What she started to do then was something right out of some Witches handbook. With her blood, she inscribed a circle on the floor. As Sile spoke what I assumed to be Gaelic the, blood began to take the shape of symbols. “This is for concentration and gives the spell a little...boost. Now go kneel in the center of the circle my love.”

Too shocked at the blood on the floor to even think about my nakedness, I grimaced expecting my feet to get bloody. “It’s not wet.”

Shaking her head, Sile motioned me to be quite. “It shouldn’t hurt.” I could tell she wasn’t totally sure. Suddenly the floor began to shine, the words glowing red. The bloody symbols slowly began to move, coalescing into what appeared to be an ethereal black bird. As the bird took flight, I covered my face thinking it was going to hit me but instead the creature passed right through me. Gasping for air, I tingled all over. Somehow, I knew it was going to return. Looking down I watched as black wings burst from my chest. As soon as the bird left my body, I was wracked with pain. My wrists, head, face, heart all these areas felt like they were on fire. Sile moved quickly to my side catching me before I could fall.

“So, Doctor, what’s the prognosis?” I smiled up at her.

Kissing me warmly on the lips, she said. “That was very brave.” Helping me to my feet, Sile made a face. “One thing I can tell you, no spell was cast on you to turn you into a woman.”

Sorting through my clothes, I asked. “What? How can that be?”

“I don’t know ma bien-aimé but I intend to find out.” There was a certainty in her voice I found comforting.

“Stupid forest.” Gods I really hated the woods, maybe I could ask my father to bulldoze everything for my eighteenth birthday.

“What do you mean?” Sile looked confused.

“I mean it’s the forest’s fault.” Obviously, she wasn’t aware of the forests strange powers.
Was I the only one dumb enough to go into it? ”It turned me into a girl obviously.”

“I don’t think so love.”

Looking at her, I could tell she was amused. I then realized she probably knew more about magic than anyone I knew. “So who?”

She shrugged. “I might be someone from the forest but that’s something we will have to find out.” Sliding up to me, she gave me a warm hug. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.” The pain had faded as fast as it appeared. Resting my head on her shoulder, I was lost in thought. Who in the world would bother casting spells on me of all people? Actually, it was hard to believe that all of this was even real.

“Well I planned on trying out some other experiments.” My girlfriend leaned back and smiled lustfully.

“Huh?” What did she mean by experiments? “OH!” Throwing my clothes back on the couch, I allowed Sile to lead me into the back of the house towards her bedroom. Yea, this whole girl thing might work out rather well.

After not waking up in a tree after my date, the rest of the week seemed to go by fairly quickly. Aya also seemed to calm down a little. Which was good, I really hated it when the two of us butted heads. I was amazed at times how much Aya and I were alike. We were both pretty stubborn. Katie eventually would be there as peacemaker but it was better when the arguments didn’t begin.

True to their word, the girls dragged me shopping at the end of the week. Aya followed, of course, but no one seemed to mind. Agwe was disappointed that she didn’t have any clues why I changed sides so to speak. Her mother wanted to meet me, which was fine so I planned on having dinner at the St. Hills house the next week. If Aunt Rika was around she would have imploded but I hadn’t seen her in the last couple of days either.

“So what do your parents think about us being friends?” Agwe and I were off in the corner of the “Hangout” checking out their small selection of shoes.

Agwe shrugged. “You would have thought my mom would be more vocal about it but everyone tends to treat me a little differently than everyone else.”

“I can understand that.” The Kimme-sama thing was getting rather old.

Agwe laughed. “I guess you would. Then again you’re not really a Shisaa, trust me if you were I could tell.”

Putting a set of blue pumps back into their box, I said. “True I’m not. It’s a little complicated. I have always called them my cousins. The older men and women I always called my Uncles and Aunts. Only recently did I find that like Aya, they work for my family.”

“So someday you’re going to be in charge of both families?”

That startled me. I never really thought about it like that. “I guess so, eventually. I am the heir to the Umeki family and all of that.”

“Good.” Agwe said placing a pair of mid-heeled black shoes into my hands. I was surprised to find they might actually fit. Since I became a girl, it was almost impossible to find shoes unless I wanted to shop in the kids department.

“Why’s that?”

“Because I think it’s time for the St. Hill family and the Shisaa family to stop fighting. I mean really.” She whispered. “Just because we are Were-Cats and the Shisaa are Were-Dogs doesn’t mean we just can’t get along.”

Later I would pat myself on the back for not freaking out. Well it seemed rather silly to do anyway. I was in love with a Fairy after all. “It does seem rather ridiculous.” Actually, the whole conversation bordered on the ridiculous but it got my thinking. What kind of Were-Dogs was she talking about? The thought of Agwe turning into a cat sounded really cool too. Maybe if I asked her nicely she would show me.

“Good.” Agwe leaned over and gave me a friendly hug. “You know Kimme you’re much more fun as a girl.”

“Gee thanks.”

“So what dark secrets are you two discussing?” Rose walked passed us and began to rummage through the shoes. She had the opposite problem with her big feet.

“Signs of the Apocalypse.” Agwe said.

“What?” She looked confused.

“Cats and dogs living together.” Agwe grinned sending me into a fit of giggles.

Eventually our group headed out of the store with me scoring two more pairs of shoes. Throwing everything in the back of the big SUV, we walked to Kosta’s Pizza for dinner together.

“You’re going to sit with us for dinner right.” I asked Aya. She made a face then nodded. The off chance that some group of kidnappers was going to show up at a pizza place to snatch me seemed pretty slim.

Tabitha leaned over. “Good, I hate that she is not having any fun.”

“She does on occasion. You should see her in the surf; she throws some serious heat. She’s quite the charger.” Turning my head, I smiled at Aya. She nodded a half smile on her lips.

Kosta’s was getting pretty crowded and we were lucky to find a place to sit. Aya twitched a little bit; I knew she didn’t care for crowds without her being able to see everyone. Forcing my bodyguard into a seat, we waited for someone to take our order. To my surprise, it was Miki.

“Oh, hi guys.” Miki nervously fidgeted in front of us. Why I have no idea, Agwe and Miki have been friends since like kindergarten. Maybe he liked one of the other girls. Taking our order, he spoke to us for a few seconds before heading back into the kitchen.

“He is so into you.” Tabitha said.

“Who?” Was she talking to me?

“You silly, did you see the way he was looking at you?”

Miki likes me? “I don’t think so; he’s in my Chem class I don’t think we have even spoken before.” Well Kimme hasn’t which was rather odd. He is friendly with everyone.

“Whatever.” Rose laughed.

“Agwe?” I turned to her in a panic. I liked Miki, he was nice enough but really.

“I bet he thinks you’re that cos-play girl that picked him up in the parking lot.” She grinned. At that point, she had to tell the whole story. At the end, Rose and Tabitha were looking at me.

“What, it wasn’t me.”

Rose smiled. “So, where were you when it happened?”

“When did this take place?” Aya interrupted the conversation.

“It happened a few weeks ago, before the festival.” Agwe replied.

“Hawaii. Kimme-sama was still in Hawaii at that time.”

Tabitha nodded. “So it was before the festival. Oh well, it would have been better if it was you.”

“Tabitha.”

She giggled.

Agwe had not stopped looking at me. “It was before the festival, correct?”

I nodded. “I think I would have remembered something like that.”

Biting her lip, she nodded. “One would think.”

“The boy is mistaken, you were in Hawaii.”

“Of course.” Agwe nodded.

What did Agwe think I turned into a girl before the festival? I would have remembered something like that. I was positive. My head began to hurt. Little things started to come back to me. I knew about Eric’s motorcycle and rumors said a cat girl had tied him to the tree. We all thought she sounded like Miki’s girlfriend.

“Kimme-sama are you feeling unwell?” Aya asked. Reaching over she felt my head.

I brushed her hand aside and smiled. “No, I’m OK, Aya, just a little bit of a headache. I’m probably just hungry.” When I was sleepwalking was I turning into a girl? No, cos-play was never my thing. It didn’t make any sense, then turning into a girl didn’t make any sense either. I really needed to talk to Sile.

Authors Notes: A special thanks to djkauf for a little elvish editing. If you like the story please leave a Kudos, if you have the time I would love to hear from you. Thanks to all for reading! - Elsbeth

 © Copyright - Elsbeth2011/2012