Chapter Two of "Warped Glass"

Jae walked up the final flight of stairs to his apartment and turned to see Kiren just getting back.

“Hey, Kiren,” he said. She jumped and turned to him, still skittish around him since that day he saw her with the magnifying glass.

“H-hi, Jae.” He approached, and she slightly panicked, still trying to avoid him.

“Okay, what’s wrong? You’ve been acting weird around me for like a week.”

“W-well, it hasn’t been a week…”

“No, it’s been a week and a half.” Kiren smiled with guilt.

“Sorry.”

“Come on, you can talk to me,” he said, pure kindness in his brown eyes behind the glasses. Kiren shook the intrusive thoughts out of her head finally and opened her apartment door.

“Okay, come in. I have something to show you.” Jae followed her inside and watched as Kiren picked the magnifying glass out of her purse. She handed it to him. “Look at me through this.” Jae looked at her, confused, but did as she told him. She looked the same through the glass. “Now look through it into the mirror.”

Jae moved to the circular mirror on her wall and looked through the glass, revealing his dark eyes with black dripping down his face. He stared at the chain around his neck and wrist for a moment and glanced at the triangular tattoos before lowering the object. He sighed.

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath. “Of fucking course. Had to be you.”

“What?”

Jae put the magnifying glass down on the kitchen counter and towered over her 5 foot 2 inch stature. Being a whole foot taller than her had its advantages, including instilling fear when necessary. He snapped his fingers and Kiren blinked. Suddenly the chains were back, the triangle tattoo was visible, and the black running down his face was dripping from his chin. She put her hand over her mouth and began backing away, terrified. Jae grabbed her wrist and she heard the chains jangle from his movement. She struggled to get away from him and reached for a kitchen knife from the block on the counter. He was quick to disarm her, however, and the knife dropped out of her hand.

“Get the fuck away from me!” He simply stood there as she struggled. She noticed he didn’t try anything further. “What are you doing? Let me go,” she said as she attempted to kick at him. He pulled her in and hugged her so she couldn’t break free.

“Are you done?”

“What the fuck are you?”

“…What?” Jae looked at her, confused. “What do you mean, ‘what am I,’ you saw through the glass.”

“Yeah, I saw through the glass and now you look different, and you’re attacking me for no reason! Let me go!”

“Okay, okay, if I let you go you need to promise to be calm.”

“How in the fuck can anyone be calm in this situation?!”

“Please, Kiren, just be calm for a short while. I can explain this, but I need you to be calm.”

“…Fine.”

“And not grab the knife again.”

“Fine,” Kiren yelled. Jae looked down with his dark eyes and leaned in.

“That doesn’t look very calm-”

“Hurry up and explain!”

“Okay, okay.” He slowly released his grip and kept careful watch of her as she took a few steps back. He rubbed the back of his head and listened to the jangle of the chains, not sure how to start. “So… I, um… I’m a monster.” Kiren blinked at him.

“…What?”

“I’m not human.” Kiren was almost speechless.

“Okay, no. No, I’m sleeping or something, this isn’t happening. There’s no boogeyman, no monsters. Those things don’t exist. This is reality, or I am just schizophrenic and this is a hallucination.” Jae sighed and moved his head as if he were rolling his eyes, though the darkness of his eyes made movement unnoticeable. He lifted his hand slowly and placed it on her head.

“Can a hallucination touch you?”

“How the hell should I know? I’ve never had one before.”

“Well, you aren’t having one now.” Kiren pushed his hand away and pinched herself several times. “Please stop that.”

“What else am I supposed to do?”

Jae stepped back and snapped his fingers again, reverting back to his human appearance. The chains and dark liquid from his eyes were gone, and his kind brown irises returned. The tattoo changed from triangular to the regular sleeves he had before. Kiren placed her hand on her heart as if she could force it to slow down, trying to calm herself. Jae stretched his arms out to the side, as if presenting himself.

“I’m still me. I’m not a bad guy.”

“You literally just called yourself a monster.”

“Yes, because that’s what we’re called.”

“‘We’?!”

“Okay, let me explain-”

“Explain what? That you’re some demon monster from hell?”

“I’m not a demon. Demons are pricks.”

“…I need a drink.” Kiren turned toward her cabinet and opened it to reveal her lack of food. On the top shelf was a wine bottle that she couldn’t reach without her stepping stool. Jae reached over and grabbed it, handing it to her. “I can get my own wine, Jae.”

“I know you can, but you’re having a bit of a moment right now, and-” Kiren nearly slammed the bottle on the counter.

“A ‘moment’? Jae, you are literally fictional and standing in my kitchen.”

“I’m not fictional, though…”

“Do you ever shut up?”

“I’m just trying to make sure you’re okay.”

“You want to know if I’m okay? Okay, well, my best friend died of cancer, left me a magnifying glass that shows monsters, apparently-”

“Also demons and incubuses,” Jae interjected. The look Kiren gave him made him shrink slightly. “Sorry.”

“And now not only is my neighbor one of those monsters, he also looks fucking terrifying and attacked me.”

“I didn’t attack you, I held you so you wouldn’t stab me.”

“Oh, like you even bleed.” Jae took a step back and looked to the floor, slightly hurt.

“My heart does.” He looked up and gave her a sad look. “I’m not a bad guy. You know me, Kiren.”

Kiren thought for a while as she stared at him. He was always nice, helped her move in, supported her and her brother’s bakery when he could, and would carry her grocery bags for her when he would see her bring them in. He never once took advantage of her or attempted anything. He was kind and respectful, always. Her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to ask questions to better understand.

“So…” she began, “do, um, they hurt?” she asked, gesturing to his neck.

“They did at first, but that was a long time ago.”

“How did you become…like that?” Jae appeared visibly uncomfortable.

“I’d rather not talk about it. It’s not a good memory.” Kiren nodded.

“How long has it been that you’ve been like this?”

“As long as I can remember. I’ve been in the human realm for about five years.”

Kiren and Jae moved to the couch as she asked question after question. Jae got his job as a bartender from the family he worked for in the creature realm and tried to live as quietly as possible, but didn’t say why. He explained that creatures age similar to humans but live longer lives. When they “age out” if they live in the human realm, they must fake their death and return to the creature realm so as not to arouse suspicion.

“Why would you leave the creature place if you have to go back anyway?” Kiren asked.

“Well, demons and monsters that are lucky are allowed to stay here with humans for however long they want until they turn 100. It’s a status symbol. Those less fortunate have to stay in the creature realm, but it’s not as exciting. Unless you’re a menace like an incubus, then you’re often kicked out, and some are able to claw their way into the human realm and cause chaos.”

“Really? Like what?”

“Well, Ted Bundy was an incubus. As was Timothy McVey, Adolf Hitler, Andrei Chikatilo, and a few more detriments to human society, if that explains anything.”

“Yeah, it does…” Kiren pondered for a moment. “So you just…look like that?”

“Monsters have chains and black blood coming from their eyes and pointed tongues, yes.” Kiren took another drink of her wine.

“What about incubuses?”

“They look like ugly fish people.” Kiren burst out laughing.

“Are you serious?”

“Yup. I think that’s why they’re so angry all the time, because they’re so ugly.”

“Oh wait, so when you walk down the street or something can you see what they really look like? Like you see the fish people instead of them looking human?”

“Well we can’t see it, but we sense it. They usually have a gross scent that humans can’t detect, too.” Kiren laughed again.

“So what about demons, then? What do they look like?” Jae was quiet for a moment. “Jae?”

“Yeah, um, demons have red devil horns, red eyes, a snake tongue, and red palms.”

“Red palms?”

“Like they’re hands are bloody but they don’t leave red marks anywhere.”

“Oh.” Kiren took another sip. “Do you get drunk?”

Jae chuckled. “No, we don’t. Can you imagine a bunch of drunk creatures just walking down the street? Humans would go insane.”

“They totally would.” Kiren drank one last bit and got up to put the bottle away. “I think it’s bedtime. Wine makes me sleepy.”

Jae stood and approached her, snapping his fingers to revert back to his human form. “I’ll leave you be, then.” He turned and headed for the door, pausing a moment to look at Kiren before closing it and heading back to his apartment. Kiren locked it and let out a breath.

“Wonder what my dream will be tonight.”