Our walk through the city streets was soon cut short by rain, but since we didn't have any umbrellas, or whatever Xeastea's equivalent was, the three of us had to make a mad dash back to the Inn before we all got soaked. Fortunately, we made it.
"Rain rain, go away..." I mumbled under my breath.
"What was that?" Jagos asked.
"Oh, it's an old saying where I come from," I said, "Rain rain, go away, come again another day."
"Is it some kind of spell?" Rhys asked.
"Nope." I said as we retreated into our room, "No magic in my world, remember?"
"There's no magic in your world?" Jagos asked, "How do you do... anything, really?"
"We manage." I said.
"Wow." said Jagos, "That's amazing."
"It's not that impressive, trust me." I said.
"You're just saying that since you grew up with all of it," said Rhys, "Jagos and I grew up with all of this, so it comes as old hat to us, like you with your technology. Speaking of which..."
"Oh yeah!" I said, "Jagos, wanna see some technology from my world?"
"Uh, okay." said Jagos. I smiled as I reached into my bag and pulled out my cell phone. Jagos looked at it with confusion, which only got worse as I turned it on and showed him the home screen.
"Go nuts." I said as I handed him the phone, "Just be careful, the screen is fragile."
"Are you sure letting him handle that thing is a good idea?" Rhys asked.
"There's not much he can do with it anyway," I said, "In my world, I'd be worried about him calling the cops, but since there's no cell service around here, that's not going to be a problem."
"That... sure is a bunch of words you just said." said Rhys. Felice snickered as well, while I just rolled my eyes, and Jagos was completely lost tapping around on my phone.
"Okay, I'm cutting you off for the night," I said as I took the phone back, "You can look at it again tomorrow."
"Okay." Jagos said dejectedly, "Goodnight... Mom."
There was that feeling again as Jagos laid down in the bed and started sleeping almost immediately. Rhys and I followed, getting into the bed as well.
"He's gotten much better at expressing himself in such a short time," said Felice, "It's like he was waiting for an opportunity to really be himself."
"I mean, considering the state he was in when we found him..." I said, "He's probably never had a chance to act like a real kid. Hell, he's probably never had a real parent before, considering how he told us his 'master' was."
As Rhys was about to say something, there was some loud crashing out in the main area of the Inn, followed by some shouting.
Rhys and I immediately opened the door to see what was going on, and were nearly pounced by a blur with feathery wings. Fortunately, Felice's immediate reflexes allowed her to block the pounce with my arm. In the brief pause that followed, I got the chance to get a good look at the thing, rather person I believed, that attacked us.
The person was human-looking at first glance, except their skin was palish-gray, too gray to be just sickly human, and they had wings protruding from their back. When I got a glance at the person's head, it was obscured by long gray hair, so gender wasn't identifiable, and the only facial figure I could recognize was the person's eyes, which were dark yellow, almost orange. They were also wild-looking, like they wanted to rip through us, the wall, and just keep on going.
![[Completed] Riley Hayes | A Vampire Novel - Book I, de DHKwriting](https://img.wattpad.com/cover/206002953-80-k195388.jpg)
"Lukan! Come back, now!"
The thing that jumped on us stopped immediately and returned to the man that called, a bigger man in fine-looking clothing and slicked-back hair. The man spoke to the creature in a tongue that I didn't recognize, and the creature looked down at the floor like a scolded dog.
"My apologies, my dear ladies," said the man as he turned to us, "Usually Lukan here is much more handled than this."
"What the hell was that?!" I said without thinking. Rhys gently took my hand, which calmed me down a little, but I was still on edge after what just happened.
"What's the matter my dear?" the man asked, "Haven't you ever seen a harpy before?"
"A what now?" I said.
"Harpies are human-like creatures with feathery wings," said Rhys, "Most are pretty docile, some even pretty close to human, but this..."
"Oh please," said the man, "I've never met a harpy that could speak two full words in unison, let alone act human."
"Maybe you've never met the right ones." said Rhys, her voice low and threatening. I didn't blame her, this guy seemed like a sleaze-bag, especially when he smiled in an almost unnaturally split way.
"Maybe I haven't," said the man, "But to be fair, I doubt I ever will. Apologies again, my dear."
"Whatever." said Rhys as she gently tugged me, "Let's get to bed Ri... Rye-Rye."
I snorted back a chuckle at Rhys' half-assed attempt to hide what my name was, but I did follow her back into our room, making sure Jagos was with us as well.
"Ugh, I hate people like that," said Rhys, "They think because they're humans with money, they can just do whatever they want and step on people like me, who aren't human."
"Or humans with less money and class," I said, "Some things don't change, no matter what universe I'm in."
"This classist stuff exists in your world as well, moor-acu?" Felice asked.
"In droves." I said, "Sometimes I wonder when they'll finally make society collapse, or if we'll just have to decapitate them all again."
"You have to huh?!" Felice said, alarmed.
"It's a historical thing, don't worry," I said, "I'm just joking."
"I certainly hope you are." said Felice as we all gathered into bed to get some sleep.
Another dreamless night, which led to me being the first one to wake up again. I was huddled in with Jagos and Rhys, so I didn't move as I waited for the two of them to wake up.
"Good morning, moor-acu." said Felice.
"Good morning to you too," I said, "This is honestly some of the best sleep I've gotten in a while."
"It helps when your life isn't actively in danger, doesn't it?" Felice asked. I nodded, then froze a little as Jagos snuggled into me a little more.
"You really warmed up to being a mom quick, didn't you?" Felice asked, "I think it suits you."
"Are you kidding me?" I said, "I'm only nineteen, I have no idea what I'm doing with this kid. Even when we get back, keeping him fed and watered is going to be a hell of a challenge."
"You've been doing a pretty good job so far." said Felice, "Jagos seems like he's been nothing but happy since he met the two of you."
"You mean the three of us," I said, "You're a part of this ragtag family, don't forget that."
