Fiona huffed as she shot out of the room, floating six feet above the ground; she was becoming more accustomed to her new visual perspective of the world. It felt like she'd stepped into a dream with giants everywhere, and worse, she could see all the little critters that she ignored because of her size. Aphids were like big bugs and flies the size of small dogs.
Floating in the hallway, she watched a few people walking down the hall, hesitating at the open door to the Incubus' room before hurrying past. All the humans around her were twenty to twenty-five times her size; she would have felt bad for bugs if they didn't look like life-sized aliens invading her world.
She rose a few more feet into the air, studying the hallway near the ceiling.
I didn't ask Rachel how close the janitor's closet is … it's not like everything's labeled.
Zipping from door to door, she listened carefully for the sound of crying on the other side; it took a few rooms, but eventually, she heard Scarlet's soft weeping. Descending to the floor, she got down on her hands and knees, wings dispersing; she noticed light red powder dissipating around her.
Great … I really need to get a handle on this Fairy Dust.
Crawling under the door crack, she was thankful the FBI kept their floors reasonably clean. On the other side of the door was a dark room with cleaning equipment on shelves; everything was neatly labeled. Scarlet was curled into a ball against the wall to her right, knees pulled in close, pressing her gown against her shins.
Fiona sucked on her lower lip with concern as she watched red tears soaking into her dress before vanishing back into her skin. Clearing her throat, she said, "Maria said she's sorry."
"It doesn't—matter," Scarlet hiccupped, chest convulsing. "I look like an idiot—crying—breaking down for like—like no reason and running away! I'm so stupid!"
"No," Fiona mumbled; her wings appeared, light blue dust sprinkling around her. She rose into the air, manually swapping her Fairy Dust to light yellow. "You're not stupid. Maria is a little stupid, sure, but not you."
"I'm so—so easy to read, right? He probably thinks I'm—I'm weird or something…"
Fiona landed on Scarlet's knees, balancing herself as best she could; Scarlet's head rose, cheeks flushed, and bloody tears dripping out of her eyes and nose before absorbing back into her skin. "I think I'm the weird one; I mean, look at me! I throw out dust everywhere, I'm three inches tall, and I'm like a rave concert with how often I change colors."
Scarlet giggled a little, throat catching for a moment. "No way; you're pretty, and all of—of that makes you look magical." She swallowed. "Me—I'm like a full-on goth-girl … black fingernails, scary eyes, and black hair."
"Don't knock the look!" Fiona slapped her knee. "Quit acting like you aren't pretty, too, because you're gorgeous, and with that wedding dress on, you look even more beautiful."
"I don't know," Scarlet's blue eyes moved to the yellow mop bucket. "Kyle probably thinks I'm just weird—wearing a wedding dress out of the blue. I wish I would have known we'd be meeting him beforehand," she mumbled. "I—I just kind of panicked … he was right there—looking at me, and then Maria…"
"Yeah," Fiona scratched behind her long right ear with a groan, "not Maria's greatest moment, but I don't think Kyle thought you were weird."
"How could he not think that?" Scarlet shifted her legs a little, making Fiona rise back into the air. Scarlet gently brushed her dress out, straightening her legs against the floor.
Fiona moved to the mop bucket. She was about to sit on the edge, fingers touching the side before shooting foot into the air. "Ack—what is this?" She barked, feeling something sticky on her hands, "eww."
Scarlet's lips lifted into a soft grin as she pulled a few sheets of paper towels out to lay against the edge of the bucket. Sitting back down, she wiped her fingers on it as she sat.
"Gross … thanks. Anyways," she turned back to her. "I … kind of forgot where I was going—but I think you're being too hard on yourself. You must really like him."
"Well," Scarlet pressed her palms against her stomach, rubbing the back of her right hand nervously. "I guess—I don't know," she sighed.
"C'mon, talk to me!" Fiona said, still trying to get the sticky feeling off her hand. "What are you thinking and feeling? I'm probably the most upset about relationships; I mean, I'm like twenty times smaller than you, much less guys that are usually much taller."
"I know—I'm sorry, too … It sucks. I don't like most of this. I'd be lying if I didn't like a few things, but—there's so much bad. Sunlight literally kills me, and who knows about garlic or silver or other Vampire weaknesses? I'm a monster that survives off blood. I can get high on negative emotions. I'm freaking possessed by some stupid demonic god … it feels like everything's against me—so why is this so hard?"
"Hmm," Fiona crossed her legs. "You're saying you like Kyle?"
"I guess…" Scarlet mumbled, not looking at her.
"Well, that's confident," Fiona giggled. "To me, it looked like you liked him … So, why the hesitation?"
"I don't—I don't know if it's really me or not," Scarlet whispered, playing with her gown.
"Is he cute?"
"Not really cute … well, yeah, cute, but—but handsome."
"The pretty handsome type?" Fiona pressed with a grin.
"You—you could say that."
"What part about him?"
"Really? You wanna go there?" Scarlet's face creased into a plea.
"Why not?" Fiona asked with an innocent smile. "You've obviously found something that you like."
"Well—okay … the first time I saw him," she swallowed, face flushing again. "It was—was on—we were on the helicopter."
"I remember," Fiona nodded. "Rachel asked if he was cute."
"You see—he was almost naked," Scarlet mumbled, hiding her face with her hands.
Fiona smirked, eyebrows lifting. "Oh? Define almost." She pushed.
"He—he had his un-underwear on, but—but that was it."
"Rock hard abs," Fiona asked with a sly grin. "Did seeing his tone legs cause that undead heart of yours to beat?"
"C'mon … don't tease me," Scarlet moaned, face still hidden. "His back was turned…"
"Ah, a butt shot, huh? I didn't take you for a peeker, Scarlet." Fiona giggled.
"P-peeker? I didn't—didn't mean to!" Scarlet tensed, knees sliding back up to her chest. "It just—kind of happened."
"If I remember right—you didn't look away that fast, did you?" Fiona pressed.
"I—I was interested in the cracks—no, not—the cracks in his skin—the glowing ones … this is so embarrassing—his tail..." She cut off with a sad moan.
"Wait," Fiona floated back into the air, orange dust spreading around her. "Did you ever draw any Incubus? You did say you enjoy drawing."
"What—n-no—no way … why would—why would you say—ask that?" Scarlet stumbled over her words.
"So you did," Fiona chuckled. "You can't help but be interested, huh? Did you watch any anime or read any books about Succubus and Incubus?"
Scarlet ran her hand through her hair, groaning softly. "Just a little … my parents—they were Vampires fanatics, and that—that got me introduced to a lot of other monsters."
"Okay, so you are interested. You've seen him in his underwear … might want to keep that one a secret," she mumbled. "Definitely don't tell Maria that, but other than that, I think you've got a great shot!"
"Wait—really?" Scarlet asked, blue eyes swimming with uncertainty as she looked up at her. "But—but we don't have time for this, right? We're going to go on like—a death mission, and what if—if he hears about all the people I've killed?"
"Bah," Fiona waved her hand. "Who cares about those guys; they deserved it, and all the other stuff … who cares? I mean—I guess some people do, but I don't think a lot of people would, too. You won't know until you try." She shrugged.
"He's so out of my league, though … I'm a Vampire."
"Huh? Na," Fiona scoffed. "You're so far out of his league that you're in a completely different universe! He's got freaking horns and a tail … blue hair—flippin' blue hair! Reminds me of that one I'm Blue da-ba-dee-da song … huh; anyways, you don't have to worry about leagues, because you're in a league of your own." She said with a thumbs up.
Scarlet was silent for a moment, left fang poking out as she bit her lower lip. "I just—don't know. We have enough to worry about, you know?"
"We kind of do," Fiona nodded, glaring down at the bucket. "You don't have to jump right in there and ask to be his girlfriend, though."
A hard swallow dropped down Scarlet's throat. "G-Girlfriend? Just ask him?"
"No—I said you don't have to do that," Fiona giggled. "Have you ever had a boyfriend before?"
"Well, kind of—in eighth-grade … we held hands a few times and—and he kissed me on the cheeks, but then—then he moved away. I had some friends that were boys, but they all had girlfriends already…"
"So, you were just friend-zoned most the time?" Fiona said with a sigh.
"Well—what about you?" Scarlet asked defensively.
"Me? Eh—yeah, I had a few boyfriends, but they weren't really that serious. Usually, we'd enter the kissing phase, and then I'd realize I didn't really like them that much, so I'd break it off."
Scarlet's eyes widened. "You were a heartbreaker?"
"Heartbreaker?" Fiona asked. "No, I just talked with them about seeing other people, and we went our own way; I mean, I guess there was one guy that took it pretty bad and cried, but we kept on talking terms."
"Can—can you do that? Most of the guy friends I had were pretty bitter about their break-ups, or the girls were pretty bitter about them breaking up. They usually stopped talking after it."
"Well, that's stupid," Fiona chuckled. "Although, I guess I've never really had a serious relationship."
"Kissing isn't a serious relationship?" Scarlet asked.
Fiona shrugged. "I guess people have different terms for what defines a serious relationship. Once I moved to the states, I kind of became a bit of a recluse … most of my dating was done in middle school and the start of high school. I spent more time at home, recording and hanging with my little sister."
Scarlet was silent for several seconds, vision centered on the tiled floor. "What's it like having a little sister?"
"Hmm—annoying as all heck a lot of the time," Fiona mumbled.
"Huh? The way you talked about your sister—I thought you had a great relationship?"
Fiona chuckled. "Of course we do, but that doesn't mean she can't be annoying at times! I used to hate her when I was a kid; she took my mom and dad's attention away from me, and that made me mad. I remember winning a singing competition when I was eleven, but Nora found a nut somewhere and eaten it … she's allergic. The spotlight was supposed to be on me, but Nora just happened to have a reaction and pull it all to herself. I was so mad…"
"You sounded like a brat," Scarlet grinned.
"You know—I kind of was," Fiona said with a sad smile. "I started growing closer to my sister in middle school; she was being bullied and was too scared to tell our parents … she wanted to be tough."
"Oh? I was teased about my parents when I was in high school," Scarlet mumbled. "It wasn't really that bad looking back, but it felt like the world was out to get me at the time. I blamed everything on it, blamed my parents." She whispered.
"Well—I kind of confronted her bullies," Fiona hesitated, scratching the back of her head.
Scarlet's focus returned to her. "What did you do?"
"I was in eighth grade, and my sister was in fifth, she was held back a year, and I told them to back off. One of the girls was a little bigger than the others; I think she was pretty big for a fifth-grader, maybe she was held back, too … Anyways, she asked what I was going to do about it."
"Did you punch her?"
"Na, I just shoved her down, and she started crying. They all ran and stopped bullying my sister after that."
Scarlet smiled. "Sounds nice … oh, not the bullying part, but just—being there for your sister when she needed you."
"Yeah," Fiona huffed. "No one was going to flush my sister's hair down the toilet! That's gross and mean … little psychopaths."
"Yikes," Scarlet grimaced. "Yeah, that'd make me cry," Scarlet mumbled. "So … you really think I have a shot with Kyle? I'm too embarrassed to ask him, though."
"Then don't," Fiona grinned. "You might work up the courage to do that later, but for now, just get to know him."
"I guess—he feels like my only shot, though. Who else is going to date a possessed Vampire than an Incubus..."
"Hold up," Fiona cut in. "Say that again?"
"I'm possessed … and a Vampire. I could go crazy at any time, and I have creepy red eyes when I eat … there's just—there's a lot wrong with me." She mumbled, hunching her shoulders defensively.
"So?"
"Huh? What do you mean, so?" Scarlet asked, looking up at her. "I'm a crazy mess; no guy would want to go out with me … much less marry."
"Eh," Fiona giggled. "Every girl is a crazy mess about something. Guys don't expect you to be perfect; is that one of the reasons you ran away?"
"I'm about as far from perfection as you can get," Scarlet sighed. "I'm just—and what if he's like—like a womanizer?"
"Mhh, you're changing the subject," Fiona folded her arms, a frown close to her lips. "That could be a problem, though. Yeah … Incubus' are known to be womanizers. We kind of took on characteristics of the myths we're from too … but it's not like we're completely controlled by them."
"I kind of am," Scarlet muttered. "I'm controlled by the fact I can't go in sunlight anymore … I have to drink blood to live. If we weren't in the modern day where we have blood bags, then I'd be forced to drink the blood of others."
"True, but we don't know what his negative parts are. I mean, Rachel did say he has that hormone thing, but it's not like he's going after women … it's more women going after him. Sounds more like a curse, to be honest." Fiona nervously chuckled. "There are some crazy women out there."
"Yeah, like me…" Scarlet sniffed.
Fiona huffed. "We back to that? Please, Scarlet, you're the kindest Vampire I know that kicks serious butt!"
"Kicks serious butt?"
"Serious butt!" Fiona nodded with a bright smile. "So, what's Rachel and them doing right now?"
Scarlet's eyes turned Vampiric as she looked through the walls before returning to blue. "Just talking; it looks like everyone's taken a seat. Kyle looked kind of nervous, though, and Maria looks like she's enjoying herself."
"Should we start heading back?"
Taking a deep breath, Scarlet rose to her feet. "I guess, but … how should we go back? Wouldn't I look strange if I just popped in out of shadows? What if Rachel wants to keep our abilities secret? I already showed him I can move through shadows, though…"
"Hey," Fiona raised her hands, floating up to face her. "Hang the questions! We can just walk back."
"Yeah, okay…" Scarlet breathed. "I just gotta calm down," she muttered, hand pressed against her chest. "I don't have an undead heart, by the way … I don't even know how to describe my body. Vampires are normally undead, but I don't really think I am undead? It's—kind of hard to explain."
She opened the door and stepped through it, Fiona floating closely behind her, but froze as a honeyed voice called out to them. "Oh, how pretty! Are you a Fairy, and who's the lovely girl next to you? Pointy ears and pale smooth skin? Comme tu es belle."
[i.e., How beautiful you are."
They both turned toward the voice; they first caught sight of a large agent, and a woman stepped out from behind him. Fiona's throat caught at the sight of her. The woman's succulent tone held a slight French accent that was pleasant to her ears.
"I heard a rumor that Mythickin are meeting on this floor."
Fiona swallowed as she looked over the woman's appearance; this was most definitely Maëlle, the Succubus. Her full pink glossed lips were curved into an interested smile as she appraised them.
The first thing to catch Fiona's focus was her thick pink hair that hung down to the small of her back; it appeared more natural on her than she thought any other color would. Her eyes reflected Kyle's, black in the place of white, and a gradient pink, darker on the outside and lighter on the inside. Her barbed tail mirrored her Incubus counterpart in every way but the color of the gem-like spike, showing a stunning pink hue that matched her curled ram's horns. The horns were a different shape than Kyle's, spinning into a loop before ending in sharp points.
The cracks running down her body were sapphire blue; the light pulse they gave off made the eye follow her profound curves, shining through her tight black dress that fell to her mid-thigh. Black heels wrapped her feet, showing her pink toenails that matched her long, neatly trimmed fingernails.
Maëlle's fingertips lightly grazed the agent's arm, causing him to twitch and look down at her; his dress shirt sleeves were rolled back. "Tommy, I believe these girls can help me find the meeting place." He bent down, and she kissed both sides of his cheeks. "Thank you so much for your help, and give Sherry my best regards."
Tommy's face flushed, and he straightened. "Y-yeah, of course." He licked his lips as he turned to go, pausing a moment to look back at her. "I'll—I'll see you around."
"Of course," Maëlle giggled, waving him goodbye.
Turning back to them, Maëlle causally closed the distance, heels clicking against the tile. "Hello, girls, my name is Maëlle; what might yours be?"
"Um," Fiona recovered first. "I'm Scarlet—I mean, Fiona, and this is Scarlet." She stammered. "And you…"
She paused as Maëlle placed her left hand on Scarlet's shoulder; Scarlet tensed as Maëlle leaned in and kissed her on both cheeks. "C'est un plaisir de faire votre connaissance, Scarlet, Fiona."
[i.e., It's a pleasure to meet you]
Scarlet seemed to be in a daze as she stumbled back, but Maëlle had already turned her attention to Fiona. "Ah, I'm sorry, but I don't know how to do a proper bise with a Fairy; you're so tiny but so cute!"
[i.e., kiss]
Both Fiona and Scarlet couldn't form a proper response.