Young Writers Society

Sevy nodded to Elisa, backing toward the door. He had heard a commotion outside, and wanted to make sure everything was alright.

"Well, it was nice to meet you- I need to go check on my friends." Nodding toward her, he turned the handle.

The ghost quickly moved closer to him, almost holding out an arm in her desperation, "Oh, please, I want to go too! I'd love to meet the other guests, and I've been in this room ever so long."

He pressed his lips together before nodding and stepping into the hall. Tamika backed up from where she had been standing, unconsciously relaxing in relief. She wearily stared at the young transparent girl, who wasted no time in floating toward her.

"Hello! I'm Elisa. What's your name?"



Gordon paced at the stair landing, agitated and in his large form still. He jumped a little as a small boy ran toward him, instinctively letting out a warning yowl.

As what sounded like an animal crying out - the cat, maybe? - echoed throughout the hallways of the strange hotel, the Jersey Devil turned to get a good look at the girl who had just spoken. The girl, apparently, was a ghost. This seemed to surprise Mothman, but he had run into twenty the past month alone. (He had admittedly run into them at a particularly popular party for the supernatural, but, still. It meant he knew that they existed, and that was all that mattered.) Mothman looked, once again, absolutely hilarious as he stood there and gawked at the ghostly girl, the moths awkwardly continuing to perch on his shoulders and his beanie.

Meanwhile, he was quite chill with this whole scenario.

"Oh, hey there, ghost," he said. He walked over to where the group was gathered and gave the girl a wave. She might not have been a girl by this point, but it was impossible to tell. That was the fun part with dealing with the immortal and deceased; he never could quite pinpoint their exact ages. "I know that you weren't asking for my name, but it's the Jersey Devil. Jersey, Devil, JD - all that's good with me."

He glanced over his shoulder.

Mothman was still standing exactly where he had been more than a minute before, his jaw agape and his skin pale.

He jumped as the cat yowled, the whites of his eyes disappearing under widening blue irises and vertical pupils - an identical copy of a feline's. He hissed in retort to reveal cat-like teeth in his mouth, which was, admittedly, an odd mix with his human countenance.

"Tamika." she mumbled. The ghost seemed to smile at her, but had already taken an interest in the two other in the hall. She held out a hand to Daniel- or JD, as Tamika had heard him introduce himself as.

"Hello, Mister Jersey Devil! I'm Elisa." she sighed and brought down her hand once again, "I do so wish I could shake everyone's hand."

Almost immediately her attention jumped to Benji, who was looking petrified. It was hard for her, but she reigned in her friendliness as much as she could.

"Hello there," she said a bit softer than she had before, "there is really no reason to be afraid. Yes, I'm a ghost, but I'm also just a regular girl... without a body."



Gordon tilted his head at the boy, trying to figure him out. His smell was all strange. This new curiosity outweighed any fear left over from the ghost, and he slowly approached, ears lowered to show he meant no harm. He just wanted to get closer to judge this boy's scent better.

As the cat's body language began to signal that it meant no harm, his eyes returned to normal, as did his teeth. He knelt down and extended his hand to Gordon to let him sniff his hand.

To say that he was afraid wasn't quite right. Afraid was what he had felt back in the woods when he felt hunted. Afraid was how he felt about Daniel - Jersey - before he found out the truth. Afraid was how he felt when he looked in the mirror the first time, when he knew that his appearance just wasn't right and that was the reason why people had run away from him with cries of terror.

So, no, he wasn't really afraid.

But he was shocked. Ghosts should have been common sense, but the thought that they existed hadn't even crossed his mind. He had just assumed that they were little more than human myths. That was apparently a mistake, if the sight of the transparent girl was anything to go back.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, knowing just how much a look like the one he had been giving her could hurt. The moths resting on his arms stilled the beating of their wings, seeming to sense his change in mood. "I was just a little startled that ghosts exist. I'm Benji. Benjamin. Mothman. Uh, any of those work, I guess."

Elisa smiled warmly at the apology. Really, she was pleasantly surprised at how the group as a whole had reacted to her. Besides, of course, the giant cat- she would have to work on him later. Even when she was alive, people hadn't been nearly as accepting of her.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Benji. It's nice to meet you all." She floated back a little so that she could address all of them, "oh! You all should go to the Dining Room. Are you hungry?"

She exitedly moved over to the door directly across the hall, effortlessly sinking into it. A moment later, she poked her head out.

"Right- I can't open it, so.."

Sevy gave a tight smile and reached over to turn the handle. His head was spinning slightly- he wasn't sure exactly what he should be doing. Eating was a start. It would at least give him time to think. He pushed opened the heavy oak door.

The sight inside was very impressive, he had to admit. A long table spanned the elegant room, covered in different platters of food. Everything looked and smelled fresh- Sevy could even see steam curling from several dishes, which meant that either there were kitchen staff somewhere or that magic was involved somehow- it was most likely the latter. He let out a low whistle and sat himself at one of the high-backed chairs.



Gordon sniffed the boy's hand delicately. He gently licked his dirty fingers in a polite gesture. Gradually, his form was reduced once again to a normal cat size.

His eyes widened as the cat's shape changed. "Are you a shifter?" he asked softly. Was there truly someone else like him?

Mirroring what Sevy had just done, Jersey let out an impressed whistle and slipped into the seat across from the winged boy. The food was the type that made his mouth water at the sight of it. He wanted to devour everything in the near vicinity, but that would have been rude. He had to leave something for the others to eat.

After a moment of hesitation, Mothman sat down in the seat beside him.

Tamika slipped into the chair next to Sevy's. Smelling the food made her realize that she was a lot hungrier than she had thought. She gingerly selected a few dishes, serving the silver plate that sat in front of her. She glanced over at Sevy, giving a small smile of amusement as his hands exitedly darted from one platter to the next.

She held a chicken leg up to her mouth and carefully took a bite. It tasted exactly how it should, which didn't tell her much. She glanced up at the ceiling.

"Jane, is this food poisoned?" It didn't hurt to ask, even though she didn't imagine that the voice would confirm if it was.

"Of course not," came the immediate reply, "we take good care of our guests here."

Tamika sighed and took another bite of the chicken, giving in to the aromatic smell.

Sevy came up for air, and glanced around the table, looking for a drink. As if something read his mind, six silver goblets hovered down before coming to rest in front of each person. The remaining two landed in front of two other places that had been set, one beside Tamika and one beside Mothman.

He glanced at the empty places quizzically before swigging the contents of the goblet. It seemed to be some sort of bitter-sweet wine. Pulling a face, he continued drinking.



Gordon peered at the boy, studying him. He had been a feline so long that the way this child stared at him took him off guard. He had almost forgotten how to transform, and knew that if he attempted it now, it would most likely end in pain. So, he had to be satisfied with giving the boy a dip of the head.

Eventually, he would have to work on rehabilitating himself- but not right now. Not when his companions (as he had come to think of the two angels) were in constant danger here. He wanted to protect these people, and he couldn't do that if he was constantly experiencing crippling pain.

He knelt down, studying Gordon for a moment before making up his mind. The boy's form changed from that of a young humanoid to that of a young, brown, blue-eyed house cat.

Gordon touched his nose to the young cat's briefly in greeting. It had been a while since he'd been able to communicate reasonably in this form- other than the territorial scuffs he had gotten into with normal cats.

"Hey, thanks kid." He meowed, "I'm just a bit rusty in my shifting. Hurts terribly if I make a mistake, y'know."

He sniffed him tentatively. He was always more comfortable with other animals than humans, but this feline was a shifter, and that made him a little unsure.

"You're welcome," he softly replied, after a moment of hesitation.

This young shifter was registered at the hotel- he knew that for certain. He mulled over what to say before realizing that he should start with the obvious.

"What do you prefer to be called? I'm.." he paused, starting to state the name given to him by his winged companions, "I'm Damascus. Feel free to call me what you like. I'm not picky."

"Fabian," he says. "My name is Fabian."