Chapter 4
chapter
four
Harriet
Since my bestie moved here permanently, I’ve been visiting regularly. So often that I’ve rented a room at the local hotel, The Sunnyside Motel, and I just keep it reserved and ready for me for whenever I come into town.
A fact that I am extra grateful for now that I know Professor Jace is in town. What are the chances of that?
My mind has been spinning a hundred miles an hour ever since Atticus worked his hacking magic last night and revealed that Professor Jace … my Professor Jace … lives in Screaming Woods.
What does that mean?
Does that mean he’s a monster?
Probably? I don’t know.
Most residents are “monsters” … normal humans who were affected by the accident that happened here all those years ago and were somehow transformed in the aftermath of that event.
Most, but not all. And there’s been an influx of human residents in recent years.
So it could be that the reason he keeps such a low profile is because he’s a “monster” or it could be that hiding out in a town full of monsters is the perfect hiding place for a recluse who doesn’t want to make excuses about why he’s a recluse.
The weird thing is … I’m not actually that surprised.
I’ve felt the lure of this town since the moment I learned about it. I’ve known in my gut that this was where I belonged. That this is where my destiny lay. That the great fortune cookie maker in the sky was guiding me here.
So, yeah … it makes perfect sense to me that the man I’ve been drawn to since the moment I met him (online, via a video lecture, but still…) lives here in this town that I’ve also been drawn to.
Is there a slight chance I’m letting my romantic fantasies get the better of me?
Yep. Probably.
That is a risk I’m willing to take.
Which is why I’m going to stay in Screaming Woods until I can track down Professor Jace. And, why I’ve come to the town coffee shop to do a little discrete sleuthing.
Besides, I really do need Jace’s help with my brother’s lawsuit! So it’s not like I’m sleuthing just for my own selfish reasons.
Lucky Beans is the local coffee place. Roan, the owner, is an invisible man. Aside from the fact that you can’t see him, he's pretty awesome.
And, you know, somehow he found his happily ever after with a human. Did I mention that he's invisible?
Lucky Beans is the de facto center of town gossip, and also, Melinda, the porcupine lady that works the counter, makes a mean matcha tea latte.
“Harry, your tea is up,” Melinda says.
I walk up to the counter to grab it.
Before she can get back to work, I say, “I have a question.”
“Sure.” She grins, completely unafraid to show off overly long rodent teeth.
“I have a friend on-line who I think might live in town.”
“Hmmm.” She makes a non-committal noise.
“He’s a professor. My favorite professor, actually.
Music theory. And we chat sometimes. And …
” I keep hoping she’ll jump in with Oh, yeah, I know just who you mean.
But she doesn’t. Instead, her normally friendly expression grows distant.
“Anyway, something he said in a chat made me think he might live here. And maybe you’d—”
“He said he lives here?” Her tone is suspicious.
“Well, it was more something he said made me think maybe he does.”
Melinda quirks one of her unusually spikey eyebrows.
I wonder if porcupines have a heightened sense of smell. And if that translates into heightened bullshit detection, because I swear she can hear the truth in my voice. That my line about “something he said” was code for I’m just shy of cyber-stalking him.
I clear my throat and try again. “So, do any college professors live in town?”
“What’s this professor’s name?”
“Professor Jace. I could really use his expertise. At least I assume Jace is his last name. That’s how he’s always—” I cut myself off when I realize that she’s bristling.
I mean … she’s covered in quills and they are literally vibrating and … well, bristling. And that’s in addition to her crossing her arms over her chest and her mouth pinching into a frown.
And isn’t that interesting?
She clearly knows something.
I give her my friendliest smile and lean forward. “So, do you know who I mean?”
“Nope,” she snaps, her teeth making an audible click.
“Are you sure? Because you seem to have some idea and—”
She leans forward, her gaze narrow, and I swear her quills stick straight out.
“Look, you seem nice enough for a human, but you don’t know what you’re meddling with.
Jace is …” She snaps her mouth closed again, like she didn’t mean to reveal that she actually knows him.
“None of us need nosy human’s sniffing around looking for cheap thrills just to satisfy their curiosity about his expertise. ”
“That’s not what—”
But she doesn’t even give me a chance to finish my sentence and turns her back to me.
“And what did you mean satisfy my curiosity? I just need to talk to him about music theory!”
She ignores me and starts frothing some milk with the cappuccino machine.
I cross my arms over my chest and tap my toe. Because I can wait.
But she doesn’t turn back around.
There’s no one in line behind me, but by the time she makes her third cappuccino, I take the hint and leave, more than a little annoyed that I’m walking out with more questions than I came in with.
It's a strange town. I'm not gonna lie to you. Between the porcupine barista and the snake-man who owns the motel, not to mention Viv’s zombie, there’s no shortage of odd characters. I even had a coffee date with Chris, the … I don’t know … saber-toothed tiger man.
He's a bi-ped like a human, but he's furry and striped, like a cat and then has these sort of like saber-toothed tiger tusk-things, which frankly, is kind of terrifying. I mean how are you supposed to kiss without getting your entire face slashed to pieces?
The coffee date didn’t go well, partly because he kept insisting it was our second date, just because the first time we met was at the Lucky Beans and we happened to be sitting at the same over-sized table.
Sitting three chairs away from someone while they drink matcha is not a date. I’d say you can’t blame a guy for trying if his tendency to leer at me every time I run into him in town wasn’t borderline creepy.
You know who I haven’t seen in town, despite all the time I’ve spent here?
The hot guy I saw by the side of the road that first night.
I can’t get him out of my head either. Maybe it’s because catching someone in the middle of such an intimate act was stunningly, breathtakingly erotic.
Maybe because he was the first monster I saw in the … um, no pun intended … in the flesh.
I head back to the motel—I can’t drink my tea in the coffee shop because I don’t want to run into Chris again for a “third” date. As I walk back, sipping my tea, I think about what Melinda said.
What did she mean about humans sniffing around for cheap thrills? Because that is the last thing I want from Professor Jace.
If all I wanted were cheap thrills, I’d be asking about the man I saw by the side of the road on my way into town.