[MAGGIE'S PoV]

Time passed in a blur of paint, fabric, and nights spent staring up at a sky that wasn't mine. It had taken me a week to get out of bed and accept my fate, and a week after that saw me rising at dawn to help Faye with whatever gown she was working on that day. Today marked my third week here. Wherever here was.

Waitressing had been my first and only job. Working wasn't particularly fun, and at nine dollars an hour it's not like I was rolling in cash, but I was proud of myself regardless. My parents insisted on paying for the entirety of my education, as well as basically everything else in my life, and it felt nice to do something for myself.

Here with Faye the work was more labor intensive, and I wasn't paid at all, but as I quickly found out, neither was she. Which, come to think of it, was probably slavery? But she didn't seem to be complaining.

I liked listening to her stories and lessening her burden. She said it was nice to have someone helping her, since she'd been working alone for about five years, after her friend Carlyle passed away.

"You kind of remind me of him," Faye noted one afternoon as I wrapped my finger in a bandage after accidentally sticking it with a pin.

"Was he bad with sharp things too?" I asked.

"No, he was very good with a needle." She smiled and pushed her curls behind her ears before sitting down at her sewing machine with some satin and lace. "You're both chatty humans with a flare for dramatics."

I gasped and pressed a hand to my heart. "Me? Dramatic?"

Faye giggled. "Yes yes, a baseless accusation. I'm very sorry."

"...Faye, you wound me, as if anyone could be as dramatic as me..."

I kept my expression neutral and ignored the quiet voice. During my first week out of bed, I started hearing the voice of a man— only in the back of my mind, and only every so often. I'd written it off as shock, but it still made me uneasy. Especially since the voice was sometimes accompanied by flashes of red hair out of the corner of my eye.

I took a calming breath and sat down next to Faye and continued pinning the cloth I'd been assigned. She'd offered to teach me how to operate the sewing machine, but after seeing how prone to injury I was, that idea was abandoned quickly.

"Why is everything so purple?" I asked. "It's like the only color of fabric you have." Even the dress I was wearing, a simple frock she'd sewn for me one evening, was a gentle shade of lilac.

"Ah, that would be the queen's fault. That girl simply adores her purple." Without looking up from her sewing, Faye nodded toward the magnificent ball gown I'd noticed in the corner during my first week. At the time, I had assumed it was for a child.

"How old is the queen? Because I don't know any adults who could wear that."

"She's eighteen, but very petite for her age. It's a fairy thing." Faye said, her mouth curving into the slightest frown.

The few times the queen had come up in conversation between Faye and Kindle, neither seemed all that pleased to know her. I wanted to learn more about her, but I didn't want to make Faye uncomfortable.

"So," I pressed carefully, "the queen is a fairy?"

Faye nodded. "Silver hair, purple eyes, pointy ears, a bad attitude... the whole deal."

I made a mental note of all the traits that apparently identified a fairy, trying to form an image of what Queen Lydianna D'Norse might look like. She was hard to imagine. "And you're a... a mermaid?"

Faye perked up slightly, seeming happy to have moved away from the subject of the queen. "Yes, I am!" She gestured to the sequins— scales— on her temple. "My tail is the same shade. Maybe someday I'll take you swimming so you can see it." She smiled proudly. "Not to brag, but it's quite lovely."

"So fairy, mermaid..." I counted off on my fingers, still sort of in shock that this was an actual legit conversation I was having. "What's Kindle then?"

The open smile left Faye's face instantly and she dropped her eyes back to the fabric. "I'll leave that for him to talk about, if he so chooses."

"...inquisitive little thing, isn't she..." the voice that was definitely a figment of my imagination noted.

"Aw, c'mon Fayeee!" I frowned. Out of everyone here Kindle was the one I was most interested in learning about. He was a man of few words— usually sarcastic ones— and I wanted to know the secret behind those ridiculously cool eyes of his.

Faye shook her head, and leaned back, narrowly dodging a mouthful of black curls. "Nope, he's really touchy about his species, so I'm not going there."

"He's really touchy about everything." I muttered.

"...ahahahaha..."

I pursed my lips for a moment, my train of thought effectively derailed by the laughter. Maybe this wasn't just in my head? Should I ask Faye about it? Then again, Kindle already thought I was crazy, I didn't want to prove him right to Faye. I put more pins in the fabric and changed the subject. "Okay really, you need to braid your hair or tie it back or something. It's like an entity unto itself."

She pulled her hair over her shoulder, stroking it with a defensive pout. "It's not meant to be dry."

Before I could try once again to pry information about Kindle out of her, the man in question pushed open Faye's door.

"You should probably knock, you know. What if one of us was changing?" I greeted with raised eyebrows.

Kindle ignored what I thought was a brilliant sarcasm and instead turned to Faye with a dark expression. He spoke faster than I expected from him. "A scout was intercepted— Rhiannon. Of course she thought she could punch her way out of the situation. She needs a healer immediately."

"Where is she? How bad is it?" Faye shot to her feet and tossed the fabric aside. She moved to a drawer in her work desk and pulled out what looked like a wooden toolbox with a leather handle.

"...oh no... Kindle, I can feel her..."

"Very... She's in the foyer, that's as far as Isidor could drag her. Bleeding heavily from an abdominal wound."

Faye let out a shaky breath. "Take those clean linens, and once we get out there I'll need you to boil some water for me."

Faye tied her hair up for the first time since I'd met her, wrapping a leather strap several times around the mass of hair she'd piled atop her head to secure it in place, and it dawned on me why she left it down in her daily life. This was an act reserved for dire times.

Kindle filled his arms with all the sheets he could carry, and grabbed a bucket from the corner. "She was already unresponsive by the time we got her inside. Isidor is shaken— he killed the knights and carried her here. He's covered in blood, but I think it's all hers."

"...Oh, poor Izzy... Rhi's getting weaker..."

"Quickly now, no time to lose." Faye and Kindle moved for the door.

I stood as well, unsure what to do. I was also a bit nervous about being left with this voice in my head that felt the need to nickname people I'd never met. Was the shock of being teleported to a different world enough to develop sudden schizophrenia? "I um... should I come with you? Or...?"

They both looked at me as if they'd forgot I existed. Faye smiled quickly. "Oh, Magpie, just wait here until I finish. I shouldn't be long, after that we can get lunch."

"Okay." I sat back down. What did I think I could do, anyway? I knew only the most basic first aid, and I was beyond squeamish around blood. Besides, I was supposed to be a secret from the rest of the people who lived here. "Good luck," I added.

And then I was alone. Maybe.

Ten minutes passed in silence. I finished pinning the fabric, listening intently for any voices. After that I moved to the curtained room with the cot, Faye's bedroom that I'd pretty much claimed ownership of upon my arrival. I pulled my mp3 player out from under the pillow and flicked it on.

I had the old kind, not an iPod or anything, even though my parents offered to upgrade me. I'm glad I refused. iPod's like the one Elle had (her's was jailbroken though, because of course) seemed to die too quickly. This little guy had been on 100% battery when I turned it on the first time after Faye returned it to me along with the clothes I'd arrived in.

I was careful about how often I played it, keeping it off for as long as possible to preserve its lifespan. I didn't have a charger with me, and I doubted there was even an outlet to plug into, given the fact that Faye didn't know what electricity was.

There was still a little over half of the battery left. And I dreaded the day it died completely... as silly as it sounds, it felt symbolic. The death of the mp3 player would be the severing of my last connection to the "real" world. And to Elle, seeing as this had been a gift from her back in elementary school. I didn't want to think about it.

Since I was alone, I didn't bother using headphones. I clicked through the songs, listening to the first few seconds of each one as I passed to find one I wanted to listen to. Yeah, this was one of those ancient mp3 players. No screen, apart from the little battery indicator.

I stopped on Memory, from Cats. I went through a broadway stage in junior high, and listening to the music reminded me of long evenings at Elle's house, playing video games in beanbag chairs and discussing how uncool my parents were while I blasted whatever musical soundtrack I was into at the moment.

I missed my parents being just uncool rather than, well, what they were now. I missed Elle. I missed video games and junk food and long nights laughing at youtube videos and discussing game theories. I missed things making sense.

And, as a perfect punctuation to that thought, the voice in my head gasped.

"...Wow what is that thing? What is this music? So much emotion..."

By the two minute mark the voice was singing along, despite clearly not knowing the words. I bit the inside of my cheek and sat on my hands, trying to tune out the sound. Maybe if I ignored it, it would go away.

Then again. Mermaids and fairies and boys with glowing fiery eyes were a thing here. Maybe invisible people were too?

"...this voice box understands me..."

Ignore. Ignore, ignore, ignore.

"...TOUCH ME, IT'S SO EASY TO LEAVE ME, ALL ALONE WITH THE MEMORY, OF MY DAYS IN THE SUN..."

"Okay, shut up!" I finally cried. "I don't know if you're in my head or what but just... oh my god, just stop!"

Silence.

Before I could say anything else, the door opened and someone ran in. "Faye, I came as quickly as I could but ugh, it might be too late... while we were out scouting Rhiannon—"

I turned and locked eyes with bright amber. Then I looked down, and immediately regretted it because oh my god, this girl was just standing in the doorway butt naked? I snapped my eyes immediately back to her face as my own superheated. I was probably as red as this stranger's hair.

"Um, hello..." I began as politely as I could manage.

"...oh, this is so not good..."

She pulled her lips into an animalistic snarl and narrowed her eyes at me. Not the most comforting response to a greeting, but I was too confused and admittedly a little terrified to say anything else. "How the hell did you get in here human?" Human. She said it like it was the dirtiest word she knew.

"I— ah— Faye told me to—"

The naked stranger literally growled, and her amber eyes flashed. "Faye. Where is she. What did you do to her? I swear if you hurt her I will make you suffer."

I put my hands up and backed further into the back room, realizing too late that I was cornering myself. "I didn't do anything to her! She's helping that Rhiannon person!"

"Alright that's enough out of you. I don't know whether you're here as a spy or worse, but either way you're dead." She dropped into a crouch and before my eyes transformed into a fox, the same glossy shade of orange-red as her hair.

"Oh my god?" I breathed.

And then she charged at me, eyes blazing and teeth snapping.

I scrambled over the cot and sprinted for the door, but before I could reach it she intercepted me, slamming the door shut with the weight of her body effectively trapping me in the tiny workshop with her. She was definitely bigger than an average fox, and her teeth might have been a bit longer and sharper. I wasn't sure, of course, I'd never been this close to an actual fox.

"...oh no... okay... I'm going to get help...!" the voice that was probably not in my head cried. I was going to stick firmly with the idea that this was an invisible person and not me going crazy. Given that I was about to be eaten by a... a shapeshifter? Anything was possible. And given that the voice said it was going for help, I really really hoped that it was real.

I lurched back as the fox snapped at me. Her teeth scraped my shin, wet and sharp, and closed around the hem of my frock. The fabric tore as she growled and ripped at what she'd intended to be skin.

I tumbled backwards over Faye's sewing machine. Sharp pain shot through my elbows as I caught myself on the stone floor, and my leg throbbed. My vision blurred as I took in the vivid red quickly replacing the gentle lilac of my tattered frock.

I scrambled to a sitting position and pushed myself back until I hit Faye's work desk. My hands splayed out around me, feeling for anything I could use to defend myself. I kept my eyes firmly locked on the animal that was slowly stalking toward me.

She smiled with her fangs, and breathed in a way that almost sounded like laughter. Seeing as she intended to kill me and I was not even close to a match for her, it probably was.

This wasn't fair. I got ripped away to a fantasy world only to be murdered by a magical nudist? What kind of fairytale was that? Here I was clinging to the hope that this had all happened for some greater purpose: I had a mermaid who could make me dresses. A moody, secretive, and admittedly attractive (though maybe not as cute as Adrian...) roof-dweller-guy. Now there was an invisible person who apparently only I could hear. Wasn't this supposed to go somewhere other than the jaws of an angry fox?

So not fair.

My fingers closed around a long, thick strip of leather. Okay, that would have to do. At the very least maybe I could hold her off until invisible-guy's supposed help arrived. I pulled it across my lap and wrapped the ends around my shaky hands.

The fox, it seemed, was done with her taunting. With a terrifying snarl she leapt over the fallen sewing machine, her open mouth aimed right at my throat. I closed my eyes, turned my head, and threw my arms out straight in front of me.

There was a sharp gagging sound as her open mouth connected with the leather instead of my flesh. She growled and backed up, shaking her head. That wasn't going to work a second time.

The sound of heavy feet down the hall caught both of our attention, and the fox turned her head as the door slammed open. I released a shaky, panicked noise that sounded something between a laugh and a sob. Kindle.

He took in the scene in seconds, then marched toward the fox with clenched fists. He opened his hands and fire blazed between his fingers. "Inari," he snarled.

The fox's fur stood on end and she snarled at Kindle. I thought for a moment she would pounce at him, even with the fire, but then she shifted back into her human form, the backs of her knees inches from my nose. I didn't look up.

"Kindle," she responded, her tone heavy with disgust. "Don't tell me you're seriously defending a human." There was that dirty word again.

"She's Faye's newest pet. If you killed this girl she would never forgive you, and then I would never forgive you." Kindle raised one of his flaming hands.

"Faye let a human into our manor?" Inari the fox-lady cried. "How could she! How long ago?"

"Maggie's been here for a whole lunar cycle—" Inari cut him off with a growl, but he narrowed his eyes and continued. "She's been here that long and hasn't done anything to harm Faye, she's even been lessening Faye's work load. And I've been observing her. She's not a threat, not a spy." His fiery eyes flicked to mine for just a second and the corner of his mouth twitched. "Though I hate to admit it, for a human she's not even bad company."

"Maggie," Inari scoffed. She shifted her weight and I dropped my eyes to the floor. The entire hem of my dress was soaked with blood now. "I take it Lydia is not aware of this?"

The fire in Kindle's hands blazed brighter. "And she's not to be made aware."

Inari laughed coldly. "Fine, play this disgusting little game if you want. But you'd better be ready for what happens when Lydia does find out. Nothing happens in this manor without her knowing eventually." She strode past Kindle and out the door, turning to cast one last golden-eyed glare at me before she disappeared around the corner.

We sat in silence for several heartbeats, then Kindle extinguished the fire and crouched at my side. "Hey there Blondie, eventful afternoon, huh?"

I swallowed and took a deep breath to make sure my voice wouldn't shake as I answered. "That's one way to put it."

"That delightful ball of rage was Inari. Believe it or not, we're actually very good friends."

I raised an eyebrow. "She sure seems lovely."

Kindle smiled wryly. "She's really not bad. Just a perfect example of why it's so important for you to stay out of sight. Though now that Inari knows... well, lets just hope she keeps her mouth shut."

"She was naked."

"We're all used to it." He shrugged. "Clothing doesn't shift with her and makes her feel too human, she hates it."

"Is the girl who got hurt okay?" I asked. The invisible person who was definitely real had said he could feel her getting weaker. Somehow.

"Faye's doing surgery on her now. She should pull through."

"That's a relief," I breathed.

Kindle nodded, then turned his attention to the blood. "For now, let's worry about you. Nar bit you?"

"More like grazed, she got more of the dress than my skinnnnokay..." my words trailed off as one of Kindle's hands gently grasped my ankle and the other pushed the hem of my dress up to my knee.

Which was a totally innocent and sort of required gesture in order for him to see what was up with the cuts on my shin, but was still super weird because, unsurprisingly, the guy with fire eyes and apparently the ability to create fire(??) had very inhumanly warm hands. And also I was a very awkward individual who didn't have much experience with physical contact of the male variety.

I turned my head to the side and instead focused my eyes on Faye's wall of drawings while Kindle used a scrap of clean fabric to wipe the remaining blood away and then another one to bandage the wound.

"You're lucky she didn't take a chunk out of you." He noted as he stood. He extended a blood-smudged hand to me.

I let him pull me to my feet and was careful not to put any weight on the injured leg. I took in the state of the workshop and frowned. "I think I broke Faye's sewing machine."

Kindle sighed. "Of course you did. That seems to be a right of passage among Faye's adopted companions." He let go of my arm and examined the damage. "Yep, totally busted. We'll have to get a new one, but that could take a while... until then she'll have to sew by hand..."

"Hey, Kindle," I started slowly, twisting my hands together and dropping my eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Um... while Inari was attacking me, I heard a voice— well no, actually I've heard the voice a few times, and I kind of thought it was in my head at first, but then this happened and, well, the voice said he was going to go for help and then you showed up so..." I looked up trying to read the expression on his face. "Can you hear him too?"

He looked at me in bewilderment, and for a moment I thought he was going to laugh me out of the room, but then he spoke. "The better question is how are you able to hear him."

"...who cares how, all that matters is I finally have someone else to talk to..!" The flicker of red that I sometimes saw out of the corner of my eye appeared again right beside Kindle. This time I was able to make out a pale angular face within the pin straight red hair. "...I'm Carlyle... soooo nice to meet you..!"

"Wait why are you like, see-through?"

"Blondie," Kindle sighed. "Carlyle is a ghost."

I blinked. Pursed my lips. Nodded. "Okay, cool."

Mermaid, fairy, shapeshifter, fire-something-or-other, and now a ghost. Yep. This was fine.

"Cool." I repeated, my voice barely more than a squeak.