The Unveiling of the Hybrid

A Fun Saturday

Star's Point of View:

I go home, eat dinner, do my homework, go to work, come home and go to bed. I wake up an hour before sunrise, do my weekend two hour workout routine, and hop into the shower. I quickly blow dry my hair after the shower. I put on a plain fitted olive green tank top, a pair of brown cargo capris, and white no show socks. I decide to keep it casual today and forgo the makeup, leaving me with a clean face and my pair of glasses. Energized, I head to the kitchen only to be greeted with eager knocking at my door. Must be Stace, I think to myself.

I head to the door to be greeted by an eager looking Stacy with a tired looking Fane behind her. Well, what do you know. They’re both here an hour after sunrise, I think to myself surprised. Stacy comes in and my nose is greeted with wonderful smelling foods. OMG, this woman brought me breakfast. Ah! I love her, I squeal internally. “Well someone’s happy to see me this morning,” Stacy says with a giggle. “Damn right woman. Anyone who knows me knows the way to my heart is food,” I reply in a serious tone. Fane laughs aloud. Stacy responds with enthusiasm, “Well then, I guess you love me the most then. It’s official, I am the favorite best friend.”

Fane rolls his eyes and mutters, “I guess that makes me chopped liver,” to which I reply in all seriousness, “Actually, I like chopped liver so consider it a win win for the both of you.” Stacy bursts out with laughter from our interaction and brings the bags of food to the kitchen table. “Mmmm, Rico’s Diner, my favourite,” I say while singing the last two words. “Correction, our favorite,” says Stacy. “Well, I haven’t eaten from Rico’s since I was in high school but I assume it's as good as I remember,” Fane thinks aloud. We gather around the kitchen table and get ready to eat. “One meat lover's breakfast for my lovely carnivorous friend, Star,” Stacy says as she hands me my bag of food. “Aaannd one tall cup of the goat blood special for my lovely demonic friend, Fane,” finished Stacy as she hands Fane his breakfast. “Leaving a beautiful grub berry salad for yours truly,” Stacy says and smiles as she starts to dig into her breakfast.

“Oh my gods, this is so much better than I remember,” moans Fane as he slurps down his beverage. Stacy and I laugh. “We know,” Stacy and I say in unison. Fane looks at the two of us. “In sync? It’s like high school all over again,” he says as he rolls his eyes. After finishing breakfast we migrate to the couch. Hmmm, what to do next, I think to myself. As if reading my mind, Fane exclaims, “Who’s up for some video games?!” Stacy and I look at each other with excitement. This trio loves video games.

The three of us decided on a racing game to which Fane won two rounds, I won three rounds, and Stacy lost each time. Then per Stacy’s request we play some singing and instrumental games to which Stacy totally demolished our scores with her guitar skills. By the time we’re done it’s nearly 10am and I can feel my body grow lethargic by the minute. “Aight, you two do whatever. Wolfie needs nap time,” I say, as I stretch and head off towards my bedroom. “Oh, and if it gets physical, do me a favor and take it outside of my house,” I say as I yawn and enter my bedroom.

Third Person's Point of View:

Stacy gasps. “Oh my raven, I can not believe she just said that so casually,” she says shocked. Fane chuckles. A blushing Stacy turns to Fane and asks, “Soooo, what now?” to which Fane replies, “Hmm, not sure. Does she always sleep like this on the weekends? Maybe we could prank her in her sleep.” Stacy nods her head no and responds “Well, for one, unlike you, Fane, I wish to live and for two, she needs this sleep. It’s best to not disturb her. She’ll be awake by 4pm and all into the night, maybe we should nap as well.” Fane turns to face Stacy so now they’re looking at each other as they speak and they begin to migrate to the kitchen table.

Fane asks “I take it she doesn’t get much sleep?” “Unfortunately, no,” answers Stacy to which she continues, “Star has classes from 9am to near 5pm Monday through Friday and the free time that she does have during that block is in between classes, which she uses to work on assignments or get ahead in her studies. Then after classes, she comes home, does her upcoming assignments while she eats her dinner, dinners that she prepares in advance on Sundays, and then she gets ready and heads out to work at the Dusk till Dawn art gallery. Though the gallery isn’t actually open from Dusk till Dawn, the hours are still pretty late. She works from 8pm to 2am Monday through Friday, comes home, rechecks her homework and then goes to bed at 3am. Four hours later she’s awake again and getting ready to do it all over again.”

Fane says, “If that’s true, then she only gets about 20 hours of sleep during the school week. Don’t wolves usually have about twelve hours of sleep each day? At the very least they should be aiming for ten.” Stacy replies, “Now you see why I originally said that weekends are a no go. Getting so little sleep each day, her body naturally reverts back to its primal sleep schedule on the weekends making her about as crepuscular as a wild wolf. Usually, she would sleep from near 10 am to 8pm but she’s cutting it short to spend more time with us. Despite Universal University being all inclusive it does prove rather difficult for wolves, vampires, and demons when it comes down to it.”

Fane listens intently. Stacy continues, “Night school is of course available for y’all but if all of y’all enlisted in the night courses then there’d be hardly any interactions with witches, ravens, bears, hunters, or common folk. Those of the three non diurnal clans that do stick to a diurnal class schedule have pretty much converted their entire internal clock to a diurnal schedule. Most of them don’t have to worry about going into work, since their bills are paid for by their parents. For Star on the other hand, that’s not really an option. So, this ends up being the result.”

“Huh, I guess I haven’t really thought about it much but what you said is definitely true. When I was studying abroad I attended an all demon school, so it was run on a nocturnal schedule. Now that I’m here I have been finding it difficult to put my body on a diurnal system,” says Fane. Stacy looks at Fane and begins to contemplate to herself, Should I tell him? Star is sleeping and we’re alone. Now is as good a time as any. But what if he shoots me down? I don’t want anything to get weird between us. Ugh, stop being a pansy. Just do it Stacy.

Stacy gets out of her kitchen chair and walks to the fridge to grab a beverage and asks, “Fane, do you want anything, beverage or snack?” Fane responds smiling, “Yeah, I’ll take a sandwich. Any kind will do, thanks.” “Alright, one sandwich. No problemo,” says Stacy nonchalantly. Stacy goes about the kitchen to make Fane his sandwich. “Sooo, Fane. There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell ya,” says Stacy in her continued nonchalant tone. Fane looks at Stacy inquisitively and says, “Yeah? Ok, shoot.” As Stacy is spreading mayonnaise on some potato bread she responds, “Oh, it’s not a big deal really.” Then Stacy quickly follows within a single breath, “I just wanted to tell you that, I have had a crush on you since the tenth grade and I think it's only gotten worse and I may be madly in love with you.” Fane nearly chokes on the water he was casually sipping.

He proceeds with caution as he tries to give Stacy a response without causing a commotion. “Oh, is that so? I haven’t really noticed,” Fane says rubbing the back of his head with his hand. I can’t believe this is happening. I knew she had a thing for me but I didn’t think she’d confess, especially not today! Fane thinks to himself. Stacy replies, “Yeah. I guess I just wanted to get it off my chest before it became too obvious. So...how do you feel about it?”

Fane takes a deep breath and walks up to Stacy so that he can look her in her eyes. He stops her from making his sandwich. “Stacy, come on. Look at me. If I’m gonna give you a response, it should be a direct one,” he says. Her breath hitches for a moment at his closeness. “I…” Fane starts. Dear Hades how do I say this without hurting her feelings, Fane asks himself internally. Stacy looks at Fane with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Fane continues, “Stacy, I don’t think of you that way and honestly, I don’t believe that I ever will. If you need time to process this and heal, then take all the time you need. What we have is a beautiful long lasting friendship that I don’t want to perish, but that’s all it will ever be, a friendship.” Stacy gasps and takes a step away from Fane. Fane looks away from Stacy feeling rather uncomfortable. I didn’t want to lead her on, this is for the best, he thinks to himself.

Stacy stammers, “I..I under...stand. My apologies. I just needed to know.” Fane looks at her guiltily and asks, “Are we good? Do you need some time?” Stacy wipes away some tears, smiles, and replies, “No, I’m fine. No time needed and yes we are good. We are a-okay. It’s good to have this aired out and dealt with.” Forcing herself out of the hurt of rejection Stacy wiggles her eyebrows and gets closer to Fane, gently nudging his ribs with her elbow. “What?” Fane asks, amused. “So, who is she? Someone on your radar, oh demonic, Fane?” Stacy says in a playful tone. Fane scoffs and responds in a tone similar to denial, “Pft, what? No. You know me. I’m a mate for life kinda man. Gonna wait it out.” Stacy chuckles and asks, “Uh huh, right. So who is it, really?” Fane looks at Stacy with a now annoyed expression. “I didn’t say there was anyone,” he says. “That’s not what your face is telling me,” sings Stacy. Stacy gasps in playful shock and teases, “Could it be? Is it someone I know?...Someone we know?”

Fane averts his eyes and moves to the living room. Stacy sees his reaction and loses her playfulness. “Wait, what? Seriously?” asks Stacy. She gasps for real and whispers, “Oh my raven, it’s Star, isn’t it?” Fane doesn’t answer. “I’m such a fool. I should’ve seen it sooner. You two get along so well and you both definitely have more in common when it comes to personality and humor. A demon with an oh so darkly humorous wolf. Gosh, I am an idiot.” Stacy says and slaps her forehead. Fane looks over at Stacy and grunts. “Ugh, Stacy. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Besides, it can never happen. We aren’t true mates and we are both old school in our beliefs. True mates only happen within the same clans. You know this, I know this. Forget it. It doesn’t matter,” he says defeatedly. Stacy looks over at Fane and sits at the opposite end of the couch. “Hey. Look at who’s upset now,” she jokingly teases. She pats her ears, “Come on, we’re still friends. Tell me your troubles oh, demonic one. When did these feelings begin?” she asks playfully.

Fane looks over at Stacy, smirks, and rolls his eyes. “I don’t know to be honest. The three of us have always been close. Sure, I started to find her attractive during high school but I thought that was all it was. Then the three of us did video calls during undergrad and seeing her change, it sparked something in me I guess. You have no idea how hard it’s been to return only to find out that everyone stares at her like their own personal eye candy. Not to mention there are a couple of guys that actually have the balls to openly flirt with her. It’s so hard controlling myself. Sometimes when I look at her, I just feel my demonic nature trying to come forth. When you told me about the bear incident, I was fuming. Wanted to rip his arm off myself. You can imagine my shock when I was informed that she actually did rip off his arm,” admits Fane. Stacy listens closely. Fane continues, “I don’t know. Since seeing her in person, the feelings have only gotten stronger. It’s like...like I’m drawn to her.” He laughs bitterly to himself and covers his eyes with his forearm. “This is ridiculous. It’s not like she’s mine anyways,” he says with bitterness.

Stacy looks at Fane concerned. At first she was upset because not only did he reject her but he rejected her with feelings for Star, another friend in the trio but now she’s concerned for Fane as one of his best friends. She sighs. “Fane, I don’t know what to tell you or how to comfort you. In all honesty, it sounds like mating signs to me but we both know that Star is a wolf and you’re a demon. True mates don’t occur outside of clans. The gods made it so. Maybe you should talk to your father and ask him more about mating signs and see if you can sort out your feelings,” Stacy says. Fane looks at her, “Yeah, you’re right” he sighs and continues, “Anyways, I believe someone is about to wake up in a few hours. Let’s get it ready.” Stacy looks at him excitedly and exclaims, “Yes! She is going to be so surprised!”

Star's Point of View:

An alarm goes off in my bedroom. Ugh, 4pm already? Star, why do you do this to yourself. Sleep some more. Nah, Stacy and Fane are probably waiting for me, I should get off my ass. After my mental debate, I roll off the bed and onto the floor. Using my ensuite sink, I splash my face with some cold water to wake myself up. Once I’m done, I give myself the quick check over with my full body mirror and stop. My eyes drift to those of my wolf on the clan marking on my right calf. Is it just me or are the eyes different?, I think to myself. What used to be the eyes of the wolf seem to have changed. Instead the eyes are entirely black. Huh, that’s odd, I think to myself. Eh, maybe I’m just seeing things, I debate internally. Nonetheless, I decide to go even more casual and change from my capris into full length sweatpants to stop myself from overthinking about it. Now changed into even comfier clothes, I head out to the living room.

The entire house is dark and the lights are all off. Okayyy, maybe the two lovebirds went home, I think as I gaze around the room. Seeing this as an opportunity to get some more shuteye, I head towards the couch and plop down. I hear the sound of a door creak. Knowing that all my windows are closed and that there’s no drafts, I let out a sigh. “What are you two trying to do?” I ask. I’m met with silence. “Are y’all really gonna make me go into the workout room or are ya gonna come out of hiding?” I ask them. I hear Fane let out a sigh and Stacy makes a disappointed raven sound. I chuckle. “Well aren’t you a party pooper?” Stacy asks as she sticks out her tongue and comes into the living room. Fane laughs. “I remember someone using that same line not so long ago on me,” he says as he looks in my direction.

“Yeah, yeah. Point proven. I appreciate your efforts,” I mumble sleepily. “Hey! No, no, no. We will not be having any of that, missy. Get off your crepuscular ass and get ready to party!” Stacy says enthusiastically. I grumble, “Ugh, please no people. I am not a people person.” Stacy smiles deviously. Fane chuckles as he announces, “Hit the lights!” Annoyed, I cover my face with a pillow to block out the lights. Stacy snickers. I hear movement that must be coming from the other side of the kitchen table. I take a sharp inhale of breath. Please, gods, do not let there be people here. After my silent plea, I remove the pillow from my eyes and blink to adjust to the lighting. I give the duo a glare. “Oomph, if looks could kill, Star...if looks could kill,” says Stacy. “Everyone, get out of hiding or invoke the wrath of Star!” Fane announces and laughs.

Suddenly, I am met by three faces, Cynthia’s, my mother’s, and my friend Mikhail. I am beyond ecstatic. “Ah! People I actually like, sweet relief, ” I say as I hop over the couch and give the trio a hug. Mikhail, is my only other male friend besides Fane, and he’s gay. He’s also the most fun to talk to when we feel like venting out about our loneliness and s****l frustrations. His taste in men, phew, right up my alley. We are eye candy spotting buddies for life. Mikhail also happens to be one of the omega vampires from the Dusk branch. On numerous occasions we have used his scouting abilities to sneak into the VIP sections of the hottest clubs in the city. I don’t like people usually, but hey, I party once in a blue moon.

Fane and Stacy burst out in laughter with my statement and enthusiasm. “She seems pretty awake now,” says Fane to Stacy. “No kidding, and here I was thinking we’d have to drag her off the couch,” she answers. Cynthia and I are friends as well but because of our schedules we don’t really get to see each other outside of work. My mother is always welcome when she doesn’t have Marcus glued to her hip, which hasn’t happened in the past few months so I haven’t seen her lately. “Surprise!” everyone shouts in unison. “Alright, this is nice but what’s the occasion?” I ask no one in particular. “I told you she would forget. She never takes time for herself,” Stacy says to Fane. Fane smacks his forehead. My mother laughs sweetly while Mikhail answers, “Your birthday dingus. We’re celebrating early.” “Oohhhh” I say and then I say it again “Oh. Ha..ha...oops.” Fane sighs, “Yep, she totally forgot.” “Hey y’all. Birthdays are like days. They go by so fast and happen so frequent. It’s honestly easy to lose track of these things,” I reply in defense. My mom laughs, “Sweety, you’re turning 22 years old. You aren’t 180, stop acting like you’re ancient.” Cynthia chirps in, “Did someone just call themself ancient?” Stacy bursts out laughing, “Good one Cynthia,” and high fives Cynthia.

“Sweat pants, huh? It’s so rare that I don’t see you in shorts. What’s the occasion?” asks Mikhail. “Eh, just kinda felt like it. Feeling the extra comfy lazy,” I reply. “Fair enough,” he says. “So, who's ready for some food?” my mom asks. Everyone in unison answers “Me!” to which I follow with, “Yeah, I could eat a boar.” My mom looks at me amused, “Just a boar?” I slyly chuckle and respond, “Ha, among a few other things.” My mother responds, “Yeah, I thought so,” and laughs afterwards. Stacy, Cynthia, and Mikhail just all look at me. “What?” I ask them. Fane shakes his head, “Ah, they’ll just never understand.” Cynthia answers, “It just amazes me how much you people can eat. Demons, bears, and wolves, the three clans are full of never ending garbage disposals.” “Hey, I take offense,” I say and then finish with “My food is not garbage.” Fane laughs, “I second that.”

After stuffing our faces with various desserts we migrate to the living room and take up the spaces on the couch and both the arm chairs. We all gab a bit and exchange stories, telling each other of embarrassing moments and having some laughs. When the chatter dies down, my mother announces, “Present time!” in an excited manner. “Aren’t I too old for presents?” I ask her, raising a brow. She scoffs and answers, “Pish posh. We live so long, maybe when you reach 80.” I sigh, “Alright, alright. I give.” My mother and Stacy present to me a gift that they bought together. I open it and find a slim fitting black cotton t-shirt with mid-length sleeves and big bold white letters printed on the front that say Don’t Talk To Me. I grin, “You two know me so well. Thanks. I love it.” Mikhail sees it and snorts.

Cynthia comments, “You should wear that to school on Monday. Then maybe the trio will actually leave you alone on your birthday.” I look at her and wink, “My thoughts exactly, Cynth.” She looks away shyly from my use of the nickname I’ve given her. Witches aren’t used to nicknames and shorter names often are associated with closer relationships that could be mistaken for more than just friendship. I however, am fond of nicknames and find the name to suit her rather well. I’ve been using it after we’ve known each other for a month. “My tuurrn!” Mikhail sings as he eagerly gives me his gift. I look at him questioningly and sigh, “Mikhail, I swear if this is another clubbing dress, Imma punch you.” Mikhail is always trying to convince me to show more cleavage and to show off my figure, but as someone who dislikes attention, that’s about the last thing I want to do. Fane snickers.

Unwrapping the gift, I see a pair of full length black skinny jeans with a few various rips in them on the front. They’re light, stretchy, and feel relatively breathable. After analyzing the gift, I say to Mikhail, “I’m impressed, Mikhail. You’ve found a pair of jeans that I might actually wear.” “b***h, you better wear those on Monday. They will look so good with your shirt to make a killer outfit,” he replies in a sassy tone. Stacy interrupts, “Damn right, miss only-wears-breathable-clothing. What do you plan to do each day, fight people? You seriously need to expand your wardrobe.” I look at Stacy. “Look who’s talking. Your clothes are just as athletic as mine, Stace. Comfy, decent looking, and practical. There’s no reason to wear anything else,” I reply. Fane chuckles and says, “Alright, you two. Break it up.” Mikhail gives me the pouty face and I sigh. “Alright, I will definitely wear the jeans on Monday. Thanks, Mikhail,” I say to him and I am then greeted with his squeal of delight.

Cynthia hands me a gift basket she’s made filled with goodies such as various jerkies, some meat sticks, odor masking spray (which can be used for hunting, masking one’s own scent to avoid detection behind enemy lines, or maybe you’re hot and bothered and don’t want people to be able to smell it), and it also has two bundles of homemade calming incense. “Agh, I love it! Thank you, thank you, thank you,” I excitedly say to Cynthia. “Of course, the gift with jerky is her favorite,” Stacy says as she smacks her forehead. “Carnivorous beast,” she comments. The group is full of laughter.

Fane clears his throat and comes to my direction. “I guess that leaves me,” he states. “Hope you like it. I know it’s been awhile since we’ve celebrated birthdays together, so I may not hit the mark like the others,” he says while handing me a small box about the length of my hand. Stacy rolls her eyes and the others look at the box with curiosity. Within the box is a small obsidian dagger decorated with a few tiny birthstones around the handle. Underneath the dagger is a black sheath with intricate carvings of wolves and demons. I stare at it in awe and the whole room is silent. Fane looks away nervously as if expecting me to dislike the gift. I chuckle, get up from the couch, and hug him. “Thanks, it’s perfect,” I say. He seems stunned from my reaction but hugs me back. “Glad you like it,” he whispers.

Mikhail whines, “Star, I didn’t get any hugs.” I laugh. “Seriously, what are you five?” I ask him. He mumbles, “Yes.” “Alright, ya big baby,” I say as I walk over. “Hugs for you too,” I say as I hug him. “I want hugs!” exclaims Stacy. “Yea, me too!” shouts Cynthia. “Well, she better hug her mother,” says my mom in a stern voice. “God damn, what are you people, hugging vultures?” I ask rhetorically. They all get out of their seats and give me a group hug. “Seriously, I love y’all but there’s only so much interaction an introverted soul such as myself can take,” I say in all seriousness.

We play some video games, talk some more, and causally watch some tv until the only people left from the group are Fane, myself, Stacy, and my mother. “Starla, how’s branch life treating you?” asks Stacy. “It’s great. The pack is such a wonderful community. Our warriors are strong, the people resilient, and it’s been such an honor to act as Luna for the Black clan.” I see where this is going. Once, Marcus is brought into the picture I’ll take refuge and go up to the rooftop, I think to myself. Immediately after, my mother starts talking about Marcus with Stacy. Is now the time to go? I believe I should do it now, I think to myself. Fane nudges my elbow and asks, “Hey squinty, wanna bail and go somewhere else?” “You just read my mind,” I respond. “Rooftop?” I ask him. “Rooftop,” he echoes in agreeance.