Wismel rolled off the couch and slammed his head into the glass coffee table with the commitment of a man who had never met furniture before. Wallis immediately dropped to the floor, either in fear or solidarity. The mother stood in a state of confused shock. Then, a synchronized shriek tore through the air, loud, panicked, and impressively uncoordinated, courtesy of Wallis and Wismel.

  Everyone who lived on Earth was used to Nevarids co-existing with them. Like insects and bugs, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if they met one. But this right here, this was a scorpion.

  "I really, truly, won’t harm any of you,” the monstrous figure repeated for the third time. Its male voice was a smooth, low hum, clear and euphonious, yet eerily disembodied. It had even, with a single black tentacle, turned their couch to face it, then politely asked the poor humans to sit down.

  “How could we possibly trust you?!” Rosaline shouted, her voice a mix of fear and indignation. “You are very strange!”

  “I may be strange, but I’m not unreasonable,” the monster replied calmly. “Your trust in me won’t lead to harm.”

  “Then how are you her Companion?!” she shouted, pointing at Wallis, who was sitting between her and Wismel on the couch. Thankfully, Rosaline’s background in Nevarid-related work gave her some semblance of how to act.

  “I wasn’t forced to have her as my host by those kidnappers,” the monster explained. “I chose her because she was the only option available.”

  Even though Wallis was paralyzed with fear in the presence of this horrifying Nevarid, it was now or never. Would he truly choose her for no reason when there were so many other humans in that facility, and even more outside? Shouldn't there be a catch? What were the odds of finding such an intelligent, unordinary companion? Slim to none.

  “What kind of excuse is that?” Wallis burst out. “I was in that experimentation facility and supposedly died. Don't tell me you choose the dead over the living—there must’ve been other people in that place!”

  “Those who were alive there led horrible lives and had even worse mindsets,” the monster stated, perfectly calm. “You were only on the verge of death, so I was able to make you my host. Such a process is possible with injuries because you’d heal anyway.”

  Rosaline gave him a skeptical look and patted Wallis' shoulder.

  “...What do you want from her?” she asked, her voice surprisingly steady, trying for rationality.

  “No, I’m not telling you,” it said.

  All three of them blinked, shocked by his blunt honesty.

  “You’re just… not going to answer?”

  “I’m being honest,” it said. “Let’s make a deal. You tell me what happened after you found Wallis, and I’ll answer some of your questions.”

  Rosaline was speechless for a moment at the sudden switch in topic. She hesitated. “You said some,” she finally managed. “How can we ensure you’ll hold up your end of the deal?”

  Wallis and Wismel watched their mother, captivated, as she actually talked back to the Nevarid.

  “I’m not that cheap. Apparently, you don’t seem to know me. And if I were outright imposing on you, I’d be imposing on everyone else, but you don't know me. Do you see what that means?” the monster elaborated.

  It was true. He wasn’t just any Nevarid. Sure, Nevarids were generally scary and abstract, but most weren’t intelligent. And it wasn’t exactly a trend for them to wander around with holes in their bodies and two tentacles barely clinging on by thin lines of Nevas. If such an intelligent and terrifying Nevarid truly existed, the whole world would know about it.

  “I won’t cheat you, so don’t worry. Rosaline, if you’re worried about your children’s safety, you have nothing to—”

  “Excuse you? Who are you calling Rosaline…?!” Wismel interjected as if he’d just heard the most scandalous thing, holding an ice pack on his head.

  “Madam, if you’re worried about your children’s safety, you have nothing to worry about,” the monster corrected himself, perfectly polite.

  “Oh?” Wismel blinked at the monster, a blank look on his face.

  Wallis, however, gave her brother an incredulous look before looking at the monster with an uneasy expression. “Why are you so polite?”

  “It makes living easier,” the monster replied almost instantly. “Anyway, do you accept my deal?” it asked.

  Rosaline glanced at her kids. Wallis gave her a subtle nod, and Wismel offered a hopeful thumbs-up. Rosaline looked at them with a sigh of impending doom.

  “Alright, we accept your deal,” Rosaline conceded. “But you answer our questions first.”

  “Okay. State your questions now,” the monster replied, not a split second later.

  Wallis and Wismel looked at Rosaline, curious to hear what she would ask. After a short moment, Rosaline spoke, her voice hard:

  “Why is there Nevas all over her body? Why is it even in her brain?”

  Wismel looked stunned by his mother's words.

  “Oh? Well, my best guess is that it’s a necessity to become my host,” the monster answered. “It may happen spontaneously, so I can’t control it.”

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  Nevarids naturally don’t know how to deal with their host because they’re their first and last, let alone that they’re another species. So, Rosaline didn’t ask further now and decided to wait until later to inquire.

  She nodded and, after a moment of silence, asked another question.

  “Why can she only consume a single meal every two days? She throws up if she has a second.” Rosaline’s voice was tightening, her tone edged and brittle.

  Wismel looked between his family members in shock, while Wallis gave him a weird look.

  “Specific eating? I don't know,” the monster said with the serene unflappability of a particularly well-fed houseplant.

  Wallis looked at her mother, avoiding Wismel’s gaze. If anything, that blob was a little too calm. Though he was speaking at her speed just now.

  “Oh, yes—why am I perceiving everything so slowly?” Wallis asked, turning to the monster.

  “Slowly? I have no idea.”

  ‘What do you know?’ Wallis sighed internally. She turned to her mother expectantly once again.

  “...Is she okay?”

  “Well, I’d have to see her myself to assess her condition, but I believe things like this don’t necessarily harm my host,” the monster calmly stated.

  “How?” Rosaline pressed.

  “I’ve seen cases where hosts have more Nevas in their bodies than normal, but it never harmed them. Done now?” he answered.

  “Wait, why is her N—”

  Suddenly, the doorbell rang, cutting Rosaline off. Nobody moved an inch.

  “Go on,” the monster said, pointing with a tentacle that rose into the air, prompting the humans to open the door.

  Rosaline sighed and stood up carefully. She glanced at her children before heading to the door. For feeling left out or scared, Wallis and Wismel followed their mother like little ducklings.

  With Rosaline halfway to the door, the monster spoke. “Tell them the system’s old and mistook Wallis for something else, and that everything’s fine.”

  What a cold lie. Were they really supposed to lie to those behind the door when they might be in danger from this terror?

  Giving the monster a peculiar look, Rosaline continued to the door. With a screech, the door opened, revealing people holding special weapons—ones designed to hunt Nevarids.

  “Rosaline, what happened?” a woman in her late forties asked with a wary look.

  The monster had issued an ultimatum to the small family, even before turning the couch to face him.

  To quiet the blaring sirens, there were two choices: either the Nevarid exited the building, or they disabled the Nevarid Detection system. Naturally, they opted for the latter. Failure to comply within ten minutes meant a direct report to the International Nevas Surveillance Organization (INSO).

  The three of them had to move from the second floor to the third, the highest in apartments these days, due to frequent natural disasters, and shut down the detection system for the entire building. But that was after the neighbors had already evacuated, still in their pyjamas.

  The people at the door were some of those same neighbors, miserable and disheveled. There were four in total: three men and a woman. The woman was Rosaline’s close friend.

  “Oh, nothing at all,” Rosaline lied convincingly, maintaining a neutral face. “The system just mistook Wallis for a monster because she’s just a Transformed now.”

  “A Transformed? But it said it was an unknown level and type,” one of the men said, suspicious.

  “Oh, you know how bad the system is nowadays,” Rosaline continued to lie through her teeth. “I’m sorry to have startled you. I just shut off the system because the sirens wouldn’t stop.”

  If they hadn’t been such close neighbors, they might have argued with Rosaline a bit more.

  “And… was the system alert on Wallis noteworthy?” Rosaline’s friend asked.

  “A-no. If it were, she wouldn’t have come out of the hospital,” Rosaline said, forcing a smile.

  Some let out relieved sighs while others huffed skeptically.

  “Is she okay now?” another man asked.

  Wallis must have been out of their line of sight because they didn’t seem to see her, considering she was listening right behind Wismel.

  “Yeah. She’s just tired, so she’s sleeping right now,” Rosaline said, as Wismel subtly nudged Wallis to the side, away from the doorframe.

  “Yes… I hope she's okay. You two, too. Are you alright?”

  “Oh, yes, we're fine, yes.”

  After Wallis stood there with her back against the wall, she saw the monster standing in the same spot, having not moved an inch. Or rather, was he… floating?

  Anyhow, Wallis raised her hand and made a “shoo” gesture at the monster.

  “It's fine. They can't see or hear me anyway,” the monster said.

  Wallis looked at him in disbelief. Stating they couldn’t see or hear him made that monster very unnatural. Even his voice wasn’t slow like the others—it was the perfect speed. Suddenly, she didn’t feel like she was stuck in the backrooms anymore.

  The adults stood there in an awkward silence. Wismel felt uncomfortable having his back to the unknown like that, so he snuck over and stood next to Wallis, their backs to the wall, shoulder to shoulder.

  “I’ll turn on the detection system,” Rosaline announced.

  “Yes, yes. Please do,” the other woman replied.

  Poor Wismel seemed to be hearing most of this for the first time.

  “Did you make a deal with the devil?” Wismel whispered to Wallis, shuddering as he eyed the terror standing a couple of feet away.

  “No!” Wallis said, shooting him a dubious look.

  Wismel gazed at his sister for a moment. “Mom’s gonna suffer,” he stated.

  Rosaline sighed as she closed the apartment door. All three of them looked at the ominous figure in the middle of the room.

  “I’m not sure about anything, but couldn’t this be an illusion?” Wismel asked.

  “That would require a very high-tier Transformed or Nevarid,” Rosaline explained. “But trick even technology? No one can. Unless, of course, they’re all working together.”

  “I have no reason to work with other humans, and I only know you people now,” the monster said. “You can trust me, I’m reasonable.”

  Wismel looked at the horror in front of him spouting nonsense again and scoffed, “Reasonable?? Reasonable, and with that look—?” Wallis clamped a hand over Wismel’s mouth.

  “Shut your mouth!” Wallis hissed, having a bad premonition as Wismel struggled against her hand.

  “It’s your turn to tell me what happened,” the monster said.

  “Do you really not know?” Wallis asked, steadying herself as Wismel slapped her hand away.

  “I don’t,” the monster confirmed. “I’m not that invincible.”