Hiding in the Shadows

"Good work tonight, Ed." the boss said as we were closing the bar I have been working at for the past two years.

"Thanks. Have a good night." I grabbed my bag and went on my way to my flat.

It was a quiet night, I thankfully didn't need to kick anyone out this time. It was a pretty animated part of town and drunks were common, so I often had to use my strength to solve things. Despite technically being a bartender, I also unofficially served as a bouncer during my shifts.

There was a really beautiful goth woman at the bar tonight, I spent a moment observing her whenever I had the chance. She was very pale, with long black hair and dark makeup, and was wearing these thick platform boots I always found really cool-looking. She seemed busy writing in a book so I didn't dare talk to her apart from when she ordered a drink. She had a guitar case with her so I assumed she was a musician. I did hope to see her again during my next shift.

While walking, I took out my phone and called Claire, my younger sister. I knew she was still awake. "Hey, just telling you that I'm on my way. Go to sleep, you have work tomorrow."

"In a few minutes, Ed, I'm almost done beating that boss." was her reply. I heard her smashing the controller's buttons frantically in the background.

"You say that every time I'm calling you."

"I swear, I'll be in bed before you come back."

"You better be." was all I said as I stopped the call.

Claire was a novice police officer, she joined two months ago. She has been living with me for the past seven months due to running away from our shitty parents. We were an odd pair, a disinherited brother and a runaway sister living together far from their awful rich conservative parents.

I was used to it since they kicked me out when I was eighteen, but Claire was still struggling with it. She lost all of her friends and had to move to the other side of the country with me, all because those assholes learnt she was a lesbian and wanted to her to go through conversion therapy.

As for myself, I was kicked out due to not sharing their views on society. They were corrupt, treating poor people like garbage and doing whatever they could to get more power, and I hated it. I hated them.

"Leave me alone, you bastards!"

My thoughts were interrupted by a woman's voice shouting in the distance. I approached the source and saw a small redhead surrounded by two visibly hammered guys. One was holding her wrist.

I immediately stepped in and twisted his arm away from her, him groaning in pain. "She asked you to leave, didn't you hear?" I asked as I looked the man in front of me in the eyes.

"Fuck off!" the other one angrily replied, throwing a punch at me. I swiftly dodged it and countered with an uppercut to the jaw, sending him flying onto the ground. I then threw the second one against a wall and kneed him in the guts.

That seemed to have been enough, as they didn't stand up again. I was a good brawler, two drunks were no match for me.

"Are you alright, miss?" I asked the woman as I turned to face her. She looked like a college student, maybe only a few years younger than me. Her face had freckles, indicating that she probably was a natural redhead. I had to admit that she was very cute.

She smiled as she grabbed my hand. "Thank you, I'm glad to know that there are still gentlemen around here."

I blushed slightly and scratched my hair. "Well, I don't know if I'm a gentleman, but I just can't ignore people in trouble. Would you perhaps like it if I called a cab? It's not safe so late at night."

"I don't live that far. Would you mind walking me home, perhaps?" she asked with a giggle.

I nodded. "Hmm, sure, I don't mind."

"Thanks! What's your name, handsome?"

My blush intensified as she called me that, but I tried to act natural. "Edward. And you?"

"Cute name. I'm Dahlia."

"Nice to meet you, Dahlia." I replied as we started walking. The drunks were still , but they'd wake up soon enough.

We chatted some more while on our way to her apartment. I learnt that she was a second year student in economics at the local college and lived by herself. Her parents were wealthy and helped her pay the bills.

When we arrived, she glanced at me and winked, gesturing at the door.

"Want to spend the night here, my hero? I could reward you for your good deeds~"

I blushed again but declined the invitation. "I'm sorry, we just met, I don't think it'd be right. Maybe we could get a coffee or something in the future first, though." I didn't want things to move too fast and didn't want to make it seem like I took advantage of the situation.

"I like you even more now." she said as she grinned. "Still, come in for a bit, there's something I'd like to give you as a thanks."

"Huh, I don't really need anything."

She grabbed my hand again and pulled me gently. "I insist, I don't like being indebted to people."

I decided to follow her inside, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Depending on what she wanted to give me, I'd just refuse.

As I stepped inside the living room, I suddenly felt four sharp pricks in the back of my neck. For a brief instant, I froze, unable to move or scream despite the pain, before feeling something cold flowing inside me.

She… stabbed me? Syringes?

I fell to the ground shortly after, barely able to move. I felt so sluggish, my muscles weren't responding to me anymore. I could only lay there, fully at her mercy.

I still managed to muster enough strength to speak. "W-what… did you… do?"

Dahlia walked in front of me, crouching as she grabbed my chin and raised my head. Her grin from before became much more sinister.

"Still able to talk despite the fluids, hmm? That's rare. Anyway, as I said earlier, I wanted to reward you for your 'heroic deeds'." she said as alien-looking spines emerged from her other hand's fingertips, before stabbing my chest with it, pumping more of this strange liquid. "I thought of the perfect way to do so. You see, I'm not really human. I'm what people call a skinwalker. And I decided to make you one of us. Be honored, because we're a very rare kind. We're-"

Her phone suddenly buzzed, interrupting her monologue. Meanwhile, I could feel my consciousness slowly fading, but there was also some weird euphoria taking me over despite the terrifying situation I found myself in, the chemicals she injected me with making me unable to feel any fear at that moment.

She frowned as she read her text. "Ah, excuse me, I forgot I had something else to do tonight. The offer to stay the night is still up, so feel free to sleep here. Not that you'd be able to leave anytime soon anyway." she snickered at that last part. "I'll probably be on the campus tomorrow if you ever want to know more about us. Or you can try to discover everything by yourself if you prefer."

She left me on the carpet and walked towards the door. "Sweet dreams, my hero~".

Everything went dark shortly after.