hidden

the town

Clara

Clara loved visiting the small town near the homestead. Growing up she never believed the stories about how humans were weak or that they were all corrupt. She was very curious about them, she wanted to know more about them. She vowed that when she reached 21 she would visit all the places not to just look at but to also make friends with humans. It had been a year now, and she had visited the town a lot. Everyone was very polite. She loved their books, movies and food. Their homestead diet was mainly of meat and the town was a variety of things, and she wanted to taste them all. The humans didn’t really open up to her like she wanted because she didn’t really open up to them as well. Anyone she got a little close to her would ask her about her life and she was closed off. She could not share with them, it was a secret. And if she shared anything she would be banished forever, and she loved her family too much, and they would suffer if she broke that rule. So, the humans, though they were friendly, could not be friends with someone who didn’t open up with them either. She had too many secrets, she just hoped that one day she would one day make at least one friend. Clara’s visits to the town were frequent every morning. She went to town. Her first stop was the town’s bakery. She loved Mara's confectionery goodies, and she missed them when she went back to the homestead. Mara was very friendly and kind, and they always had a short chat before she went to find a book at the local library. The homestead library was never filled with stories from the human world, so she read all she could about the human world in the libraries. She always took books back to read to the homestead, but she made sure to hide them. Her kind didn’t love humans at all. The few people who found out about their kind were not very kind to them. There were a lot of books in the homestead. There were incidents when their kind came into contact with the humans in their true form.

There are so many stories about it and how humans feared and killed them like animals, some experimented on them. Their kind always ended up killing these evil humans and made rules to make sure that no one of their kind would share their secret. Some of their kind actually lived in the human world, but they had to cut off all contact with their own kind, they were not allowed to come back or to keep contact. Their kind was a group kind of thing. They needed each other to survive, so being cut off was a awful thing. That wasn’t something she wanted for herself. She loved her family too much, and she loved her sister more. She knew that her little sister needed her in the homestead, she wasn’t as tough as she was. She needed her protection and love, so she kept all the homestead rules as best as she could.

On one of her many visits to the small town, she met a handsome man at the bakery. She didn’t ask him for a name, he had a wonderful smile, he was beautiful, and the way he smiled melted her heart every time. He was not always at the shop, though she prayed every time she went there that he would be there. Then one day her prayers were answered. For the past week, he was there. Every time she went there, he chatted politely with her, and she could feel butterflies in her tummy. She wanted him to be her friend, more than a friend if she was being honest, but dating a human was not a line she would cross.

Luke

Luke’s plan of getting close to Clara was working so well. Clara was a very loyal customer, she came twice or thrice to the shop, she always wore a smile which made it easier for him to start chatting with her. He always made sure to compliment her, which was very easy because she was very pretty, her beauty lingered in her mind. He had to stop himself from asking her to stay. There was something captivating about her simplicity, very unforgettable. He actually enjoyed chatting with her and that made it simpler for him to talk to her. She always held a book with her, and he decided that that was his way in. She did not seem to have a singular type of book she liked, so he had to wing it, and have a conversation with her. This was going to be the day he made a new friend. Clara entered the bakery around noon, and Luke had been waiting all morning anxious, even his mother had asked him what he was nervous about. He needed this to work for his family, he needed to avenge them and take his rightful place. She looked as beautiful as ever, her eyes held a soft sparkle as she greeted him. Luke had to keep the conversation for more than just a few minutes. He put on his best smile and began chatting with Clara. She ordered his mom's famous cookies, and he offered her a cup of coffee on the house. She smiled and thanked him, a good start. She was holding a book on sociology. His knowledge of that subject was very limited, so, he decided to ask her about sociology. She shyly asked him what he wanted to know. He was in, and he was going to use this opportunity to get his way. He asked her what it was about, if she was doing it for school, what was she learning then. She was happy to tell him everything, but the lunch hour rush was going to start at any moment, so he asked for a later meet-up so that they could discuss more. Clara showed some hesitation but she said yes.

Luke was beyond happy, getting closer to Clara was going to be beneficial to his land. She was his way in. He needed information about how the homestead was being run, security and if the Chen were still on the throne. He knew it was not going to be easy, he knew his kind would not easily share this information even with a friend. So, he had to gain her trust and friendship. This was going to be hard considering he didn’t share much about himself, and he knew how his kind didn’t take outsiders in. He was determined to make it work, he wouldn’t rush it. Slowly but surely, he would get the information he needed. He knew Clara didn’t come to town every day, so he waited for two days before she showed up again. She showed up earlier than the last time, so that made him smile. He whispered to her mom that he needed a break, ordered a muffin and coffee and approached Clara. He was happy when she smiled and accepted the offer to sit with him. Clara was a dream, he found it easy to talk to her. They explored the way society silently shapes behavior, they reflected on how people follow unwritten rules, like standing quietly in elevators without even realizing it. Clara noted how sociology opens your eyes to how different cultures define what is normal. Luke realized that Clara was studying sociology to make sense of human interactions and the invisible forces that guide daily life. He had never met any of his kind who were this interested in humans. Clara’s interest in humans intrigued him intensely. She wanted information about humans. He could provide that and gain her friendship. They talked for about an hour before his mother pulled him away to her with the shop. He was not very happy about that. He had to have more time with her, so he asked her to come again the next day. He was going to have a weekly date with Clara.