"Shady..." I reached out hesitantly, then stopped. What do you say to someone who's just confessed their family are literal monsters?

  "I knew," she whispered. "I fucking knew about it and I did nothing. I told myself it was just... tradition. That they were all criminals. That they deserved it." Her voice cracked. "Never looked into it. But kids, Ash. They had kids there."

  "How long?" I asked.

  "Centuries. Some of them have been alive for centuries." She looked up at me, tears streaking across her dark cheeks. "Do you know what it's like to be kept conscious while your body is... compartmentalized? To have your pieces stored in different locations so you can't escape or die? We cured death and for what… for what Ashy?" More tears.

  My stomach churned. "Jesus Christ."

  "They call it 'sustainable harvesting.' The humans are kept alive by artifacts, so we can... use them... indefinitely. Fresh blood, fresh organs, fresh terror." She shuddered. "Pain seasons the harvest."

  I felt bile rise in my throat. "That's why you ran."

  "That's why I'm about to forget all that shit." She wiped her face with the back of her hand. "I can't live with knowing, with seeing those eyes staring at me. I can't live with having been part of it, even if I never directly..." She trailed off.

  "You didn't do it yourself."

  "I benefited from it. Every magical comfort, every privilege, every skill I wielded… came from their suffering." Her dark, fluffy ears pressed against her head. "I lived in a mansion built on centuries of torture. I used tools crafted from pain.”

  "The podcast," I said. "This Lissander. He exposed all this?"

  "Yes." Shady sniffed. "My family had a huge bounty on his head even before the episode. Now I know why. The kitsune didn’t just expose the whole thing, he destroyed the home base compound with a bomb." She slid her fuzzy skull head onto my lap, sobbing. “I checked the database. Many of them were kobolds. They weren’t allowed to be… free. Weren’t allowed to die.”

  “Shit. That’s… awful. Did you…”

  “I won’t tell you what I’ve done or haven’t done. You shouldn’t be involved in any of this ghastly business.”

  “Wait…” I said. “If you will eventually remember everything except for the podcast… doesn’t that mean you'll simply leave, have no reason to be here?”

  “Aww,” her tail wrapped around my leg. “You wanna keep me around?”

  "I..." I started, then stopped.

  Did I want to keep her around? Three days ago, my biggest concern was finding a job to pay off my student loans while renovating an old-ass house. Now I was sitting in an overgrown garden with a seven-foot Wendigo who just confessed her family were literal monsters.

  I looked down at her, this alien creature who'd crashed back into my life with all the subtlety of a meteor strike. Her wet eyes reflected a billion stars overhead, and despite everything she'd just told me I only had one answer to give.

  "Fine. Yes.”

  "Even after everything I just told you? Even knowing what my family is like?"

  "You're not your family, Shady. You… chose not to participate rather than be complicit." I reached down and gave her a head pat.

  She pressed her face against my leg, trembling slightly. I gave her more pets. The black fuzz made her skull extra soft like petting an oversized cat.

  “So…”

  “I might go back to being the person who ignored and benefited from all that suffering."

  I frowned.

  “I said might,” she clarified. “If you do nothing. If you kick me out into the forest or something.”

  “And if you decide to leave?”

  “Nah,” she replied. “No way back. Going to be cut off from all the kobolds and hoards, won’t be able to find a hole between worlds. This was a one way trip.”

  “Where exactly is Om… uhhh, the country that must not be named? Is it up there?” I looked at the ocean of distant stars.

  “No,” Shady smiled. “A place beyond the stars.”

  A cloud passed overhead, covering the violet and silver constellations above us. Fat drops of rain began to tap across the overgrown garden. A few landed on Shady, making her wiggle her ears.

  “Let’s go inside,” she said.

  “Let’s.”

  . . .

  We made it inside just as the rain shifted from gentle tapping to serious business. Fat drops hammered against the stained glass windows, rolling down and whooshing across the garden.

  Shady shook herself off like an enormous dog, sending water flying across the back porch. Her dark fur had gone spiky in places where the rain had caught her.

  "Bathroom?" she asked, already heading for the stairs.

  "You know where it is."

  "Ye."

  I went through my boxes, dug out another towel and offered it to her. Having towelled herself off she took over the bed. I looked at her wiggling in the sheets and then went to the bathroom.

  "So," I said a few minutes later, standing beside the bed. "Sleeping arrangements."

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "I'm sleeping here," Shady announced, flopping onto the mattress and taking up three-quarters of it. "Where else would I sleep?"

  I opened my mouth.

  "When I wake up tomorrow... I want you to be the first thing I see."

  “Because of the imprinting?”

  "Yes. Like a baby duck, but with more antlers and potential property damage."

  "What exactly does this… imprinting entail?"

  "Means I'll think you're my... My pack leader. My..." She paused, searching for the right word. "My most important thing. Family."

  "That sounds incredibly manipulative."

  "It's not manipulation if I'm asking you to do it!” She huffed.

  “Still…”

  “No still. Tomorrow I'm going to wake up scared and confused in a strange place. Do you want the first thing I see to be your cute human face, or do you want it to be that creepy painting of your great-aunt Gertrude in the hallway?"

  I glanced toward the hallway where Great-Aunt Gertrude's portrait hung, her stern Victorian expression perpetually disapproving of everything that had happened in the house since 1892.

  "Point taken."

  Her tail grabbed me pulling me towards her. “Kay. Bed. Passing out. Brain is mostly soup.”

  I decided not to fight her. “Fine. But, I reserve the right to teach you embarrassing tricks while you're impressionable."

  "Like what?"

  "Oh, you know,” I joked. “Sit, stay, roll over. Maybe I'll teach you to fetch the morning paper."

  She snorted. "I'm going to remember that when I get my memories back and get my vengeance."

  "Looking forward to it."

  “Me too… Ashy. Me too.”

  Her eyes closed, her breath evening out.

  I watched her for a while, thinking about tomorrow until the line between being awake and asleep blurred.

  Something prodded me awake. The poke happened again, more insistent. I yawned. A wet, large tongue suddenly slobbered across my face.

  I yelped awake, opening my eyes.

  Silver orbs hovered a few inches from my face, pupils dilated to maximum aperture. A wet, black nose twitched as it processed my scent. The familiar skull-like features were there, but the expression was completely different. More… curious than blank.

  "Good morning, Shady," I said, hoping that she wasn't a total potato.

  Her head tilted ninety degrees to the right, ears swiveling towards the sound.

  “Go-oo-ood,” she voiced. Unfortunately, she didn’t sound like herself anymore. The sound was incredibly odd. It took me a second to realise that it was my own voice coming from her mouth. “Mrrrrnnnnn. Shaa-aa-ddyy.”

  “What.”

  “What.” Again, like an eerie, warped echo.

  I stared at her. Yesterday's Shady had been terrifying, sarcastic, sly and witty. This version was looking at me with puppy-dog enthusiasm.

  "Okay," I said slowly. "Do you know who you are?"

  "Okau. Do yuu know whuuu you are?" she repeated in my exact voice, warping the words slightly.

  "I'm Ash," I tried.

  "I'm Ash."

  "No, I'm Ash. You're Shady."

  "No, I'm Ash. You're Shady."

  This was going to be a problem.

  I sat up carefully, and she immediately scooted closer, maintaining that minimal distance between our faces. Her feathery tail wagged excitedly.

  “Youuuurarrr shaduuuuu ashhh I am no.”

  “Right.” I sighed. “Guess you forgot how to talk. Great.”

  “Aight. Guesoo great talk-k-k forget you.” She bobbed. “K-k-k-k. G-g-g-g-g.” She made creepy bird-like noises using repeating letters.

  I noticed that my tablet was sitting on the bedside table. I plugged it into the charger and turned GoTube on. I momentarily considered that I was turning out to be one of those lazy parents that used GoTube to babysit their kids, except my "kid" was a seven-foot Wendigo.

  “Gh-gh-gh-gh-ai-ai-ai,” Shady bobbed, clicking unnaturally.

  I navigated the app to Khan Academy and placed the tablet in front of her “Here you go. Learn.”

  "Earrnnnnn. Rn-r-rn-rn-rn!" Shady bobbed her head enthusiastically at the tablet, antlers knocking the bedside lamp and making it wobble precariously. I caught the lamp and moved it into a corner.

  On the screen, a cheerful cartoon character was explaining basic phonics.

  "The letter A makes the sound 'Ahhhh,'" the animated teacher said.

  "The letter A makes the sound 'Ahhhh,'" Shady repeated in the exact same cheerful cartoon voice, complete with the upbeat inflection.

  "Excellent! Now let's try the letter B!"

  "Excellent! Now let's try the letter B!"

  The cartoon continued. "B makes the sound 'Buh.'"

  "B makes the sound 'Buh.'"

  Her pronunciation was flawless. It was like watching a very large, very furry recording device.

  "I'm going to use the bathroom," I announced, slowly getting up.

  "I'm going to use the bathroom," she announced back in my exact voice, not moving from her spot on the bed.

  "Watch the tablet."

  "Watch the tablet."

  The educational video moved on to other letters. I backed toward the bathroom, hoping she'd stay focused on the screen.

  I brushed my teeth, wondering if this was what having a toddler was like.

  "Are you hungry?" I asked after my shower.

  "Are you hungry?" She tilted her head sideways.

  "I'll take that as a yes," I sighed, heading for the door.

  "I'll take that as a yes," she echoed, scrambling after me on all fours, her claws making awful scratching noises against the hardwood.

  The stairs presented a new challenge. I took the first section down and looked back. Shady stood at the top, head tilted in confusion as she stared at the descending steps.

  "Come on," I beckoned.

  "Come on," she repeated, not moving.

  "Down," I pointed, wondering if simple commands might work better.

  "Down," she agreed and remained frozen at the top.

  I sighed and took another step down. "Like this."

  "Like this," she said, then promptly tried to mimic my exact movement—which for a seven-foot cryptid with digitigrade legs and massive antlers was a recipe for disaster.

  She tumbled forward, a blur of black fur and silver-star-tipped antlers. I leapt out of the way as she bounced down the stairs like an oversized pinball, letting out a series of "Ow! Ow! Ow!" in my voice with each impact.

  She landed at the bottom in a heap of tangled limbs and tail, blinking up at me.

  "Oof. Are you okay?" I asked, genuinely concerned.

  "Like this! Oof! Are you okay?" she replied with a smile, as if she hadn't just performed an impromptu demolition derby down my stairs.

  "I guess so." I helped her up, noting that her fuzzy black body was quite resilient. "Kitchen."

  "Kitchen," she agreed, following me on all fours.

  The refrigerator presented a curiosity for her. When I opened it, she stuck her entire head inside, antlers and all, knocking several items off the shelves.

  "Shady, no!" I pulled her back.

  "Shady, no!" she repeated.

  With a deep sigh I pulled out eggs and bacon. Shady immediately pressed her nose against the bacon package.

  "Bacon," I said.

  "Bacon. Bacon. Bacon." Voice cycling engaged.

  She then started making sniffing sounds. They weren’t normal sniffing sounds. She was making the cartoon character's exaggerated "SNIFF SNIFF" sound effect from the video, complete with the little musical notes.