As Goldie sealed the heavy cellar doors behind us, I peeled off my leather jacket and riding boots and placed both of them with my other belongings, along with what little money and saleable goods we had managed to confiscate from the men who had tried to mug us. Not that they had much, which was probably why they were trying to steal from us. Had they just left it at that I might have been sympathetic, but Goldie and I both knew that they had more planned for us than just that. As far as I was concerned, they got what they deserved, and their unwitting donation would help us to scrape by a little longer than with the money we already had.

Despite our earlier conversation over dinner about our interest in one another, Goldie and I didn’t go any further than making out that night. As making out went, it was fantastic though, at least from my limited experience. We might have pushed it further, but despite Goldie’s comments about how hilarious it would be, neither of us wanted to have sex on the cold hard cellar floor beneath the church.

Goldie was more romantic than she made herself out to be with her constant flirting and lewd comments, and she said that my first time should be special. She was willing to wait and just keep to heavy petting and making out until we found somewhere more comfortable, and slightly less filthy, to call home for a while. I certainly wasn’t complaining about being able to slowly build a somewhat normal romantic relationship with the flirty blonde Vampire as we got to know each other.

We did a lot of that over the next couple of weeks; getting to know one another better and making out. It wasn’t like we had much else to do during the daylight hours while we stayed hidden inside the church cellar. We only left the security of our shelter at night, when Goldie could avoid sunlight. Goldie used the darkness to find her meals and I would buy my own meals or other supplies at convenience stores or cheap fast-food places. Sometimes I would splurge on coffee and muffins or donuts from The Muffin Man when we managed to get some more money or saleable goods from people who attempted to mug or assault us.

We also used the cover of darkness to scout various abandoned parts of Detroit for somewhere more comfortable to hide out from anyone who might be pursuing me. The cellar was somewhat secure, but it was dank, cold, and smelled terrible. Unfortunately, finding what we were looking for was taking time since we were looking through every nook, cranny, and dark corner in abandoned neighborhoods while attempting to find something suitable. By the time the end of October rolled around, we had only managed to look through one of the larger abandoned areas and most of another smaller area in detail, but we had yet to find what we were looking for.

Detroit, Michigan
Monday, October 31st, 2022 - 7:12 p.m.

“We’re close to something weird here,” Goldie said in a low whisper as she sat down to join me where I had just started to dig into my breakfast at Rosie’s Diner. She had been out finding and feeding on her own meal, while I came into the homey little diner to order mine. “There are scents that I can’t identify all over the place outside. Scents that aren’t human.”

We were getting ready to explore another of the large, abandoned areas of Detroit in search of a more suitable place to hide out and the diner was right on the edge of one of the larger ones. I hadn’t been able to resist the poster in the window for Rosie’s all-day breakfast deals since I had been craving meat more and more lately, and the steak and eggs platter was like a Siren’s call. The price wasn’t bad either for all of the food I got; a nice rare sirloin, a pair of over-easy eggs, hash browns, two slices of toast, and three slices of crispy bacon, along with all the coffee I could drink.

I nodded to my Vampire girlfriend as I devoured my breakfast since I had come to trust in her enhanced senses, and I had been smelling strange things as well. When I came up for air, I sighed. “I’d say you’re just imagining things because it’s Halloween, but we really don’t have the option to take ‘normal’ for granted anymore. I just hope that whatever is out there doesn’t bother us. We need to find a place soon and start preparing for the full moon; the first night is only, like, a week away.”

I was no longer resisting the thought that my grandmother may have turned me before I killed her. The constant craving for meat, often as rare as I could get it, certainly indicated it. I also had this strange feeling, like ants crawling under my skin whenever I got especially emotional, and it only grew stronger as the full moon drew closer. My period last week had been particularly rough because of it.

My senses had also become gradually more powerful during that time. My eyesight was very sharp, even at night, and my hearing and sense of smell had surpassed Goldie’s. It was almost a certainty now that I had been cursed, and I was starting to fear the approaching full moon more and more with each passing day.

Goldie nodded back thoughtfully. “I can always lock you in the cellar if we have to, but you’re right, I would rather have a more permanent place to live and other options for containing you in the long term before that happens. I’ve never seen a Werewolf before, so I have no idea what I’ll be dealing with or how strong you’ll be.”

“Strong,” I replied with a grimace as I remembered my grandmother bursting through her bedroom door and shattering it, and how her jaws had clamped around my arm when she bit me. I shuddered at the memories. It was quiet after that with Goldie seemingly lost in thought and me brooding as I finished my breakfast.

We were just leaving the diner and heading toward where I parked my bike when our evening got really weird. A man appeared from out of nowhere, about half a block from the diner’s entrance where rundown buildings and overgrown vegetation showed that people had long ago abandoned the area beyond the street the diner was on. I don’t mean that he emerged from some overgrown brush either, he just appeared out of thin air, running as fast as he could.

As he got closer, I got a better look at the man. He looked to be of average height, or maybe a little shorter, and fairly overweight with dull brown hair and three scars across his left cheek. He wore a grey hoodie and matching sweatpants and huffed and puffed as he approached, turning every so often to look over his shoulder. He was almost upon us when another figure appeared in the same manner as he had, a woman who looked almost as short as I was.

His pursuer had long platinum blonde hair, massive breasts that hurt my back just watching her run, and an overall generous figure. Her clothes were dirty and ratty, and she wore a very frustrated expression on her face. “Get back here… you fat fuck! Your ass… is mine!” the woman’s high-pitched voice huffed with a noticeable German accent as she gave chase.

“What the…” I started to mutter as I turned to Goldie to see if she was seeing what I was seeing. Sure enough, she seemed as flabbergasted as I was.

The woman was glaring daggers at the man as she started chanting as well as she could while breathing heavily, “That dirty dog is out of time! I summon you… oh girl of slime! I don't want to have to fight... So don't let go… and hold on tight!”

Something oozed out of the cracked pavement ahead of her and shot forward, leaving a trail of slime-covered pavement behind it as it went. I barely saw it as it homed in on its target and had no time to react as the pink blob swerved at the last moment to slam into me. “Wha… eeeeee!” My aborted question quickly turned into a shriek of surprise as the slime hit me, seeming to get everywhere, even inside my clothes before expanding with a shlorping sound as it attempted to cover me completely.

At the same time that I was dealing with this, the still-running woman who caused this problem slipped on the trail of slime and slid along the now slick pavement to crash into me and Goldie, who was trying to pull the goop off of me, but only succeeding in getting herself covered in slime too. We both fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs with the busty woman who wailed, “No! That fucker is getting away!”

It was several minutes before we could all disentangle ourselves, or rather before Goldie and the other woman could. I couldn’t move because I was being held in a death grip by the now solid slime, which had taken the shape of a very busty and sultry woman. A woman was nuzzling and groping me very enthusiastically as she murmured in my ear, “Mmmm… you taste so nice.”

Meanwhile, Goldie hissed angrily at our top-heavy attacker, “What are you attacking us for?!”

“I wasn’t attacking you, Bitch! I was attacking that fucking pedophile I was chasing!” the woman snapped back.

“Then why did whatever you do hit my girlfriend?!”

“How the fuck should I know?! I’m still new at this magic thing!” The strange woman took a deep breath to calm herself as she looked at me and the slime girl currently getting way too personal with me. “Maybe it was something with the way I phrased the spell? Lemme see… I said, ‘That dirty dog is…”

“She’s a Werewolf, you ditzy Witch!” Goldie interrupted.

I would have taken offense to the ‘dirty’ part of that, but we’d been living in a dank cellar for two weeks and had to settle for getting as clean as we could manage in gas station and convenience store bathrooms. Besides, I had more important matters to worry about, like the slime girl squeezing the life out of me and whispering some very lewd suggestions in my ear as one of her hands moved southward. “A little help here?” I squeaked. This slime girl was even more brazen than Goldie, and that was saying something.

“Hey! Get your hands off my Red!” Goldie growled at the pink girl-shaped slime.

“We could share,” the slime suggested lasciviously and waggled her pink eyebrows at my girlfriend. “I don’t mind. You know, there are benefits to having a girlfriend with no bones. The places that I can get into…”

“Eeep! This is your slime; can’t you do something?!” I shouted accusingly at the busty Bavarian blonde.

She just rolled her eyes and sighed expansively. “Fine, but since it’s your fault that jackass got away, you two are going to help me track him down before somebody else does. I’ll even share the credit and the reward with you.” The promise of a reward definitely got our attention, but I was more interested in getting free from the slime girl, and Goldie was practically trying to pry her off me. Finally, the woman chanted, “Slime girl begone and go away, I'll call you back another day.”

The slime girl did not disappear, or even let go of me. Instead, she giggled. “Heehee… Ooh, that tickles.”

Goldie narrowed her eyes at the strange spell caster. “You’re not very good at this, are you?”

“Give me a fucking break! I’m new at this, you cunt!” she shouted back.

“Ummm… don’t you want to go back where you came from? I’m sure you have… uhh… family that you want to go back to,” I asked, appealing to the pink slime girl.

“Family?” she replied with a laugh. “I’m a magical construct, I didn’t come from anywhere, and I certainly don’t have a family. I wanna stay with you and the less annoying blonde. You taste soooo good. Speaking of tasting good, I think I taste like cherry Jell-O. Would you like to try me and find out?” The last was whispered in my ear in a sultry tone, causing me to turn as red as my favorite hoodie.

I barely managed to stammer, “C-could you at least let go of me?”

“Well, since it’s you asking, sure, but first, I want to change my look a bit. I don’t like looking like the person who created me, but I’m sure that I can come up with something you’ll like,” she murmured thoughtfully as I could feel her body, so close to mine, shifting and flowing like water before solidifying once more. Then she playfully licked my cheek, briefly suckled on my earlobe, and finally let me go.

I stood up to join the other two, who were still glaring daggers at one another, and frowned when I mentally noted that due to that wet slime (which had gotten everywhere by the way), we all looked like the aftermath of a wet t-shirt contest. At least I could cover up by zipping up my leather jacket, but Goldie and the busty Bavarian would be giving everyone a show until they dried off, and Goldie wasn’t wearing a bra. Down, Red, control yourself.

Now that she had let me go, I realized that the slime girl was naked, and very anatomically correct, which didn’t help me any. She had a large bust, trim waist and flat tummy, hips that were wide but not too wide, long slender legs, and a gap between firm-looking thighs that definitely caught my attention before I forced myself to look upward again. Yes, Red, her eyes are up there, look at her damn face you useless lesbian.

Her face was soft and pretty with high cheekbones and a dainty nose and chin. Her ‘skin’ looked moist and had an unnatural pink tint to it, contrasted by the cherry color of her kissable lips and long hair. What caught my attention most was her eyes though. They looked large for her face and her irises were a hot pink, with her pupils only a shade or two darker. Those big eyes were so strange and yet, so captivating.

She was smirking playfully as I tore my eyes from hers to look at the woman who had created her. “I… uhh… think I can track that guy; his scent is still fresh. You mentioned a reward?”

She and Goldie broke off their staring contest and she slowly nodded. “The BriarRose Family want that fat fucker brought in, alive. I heard in a bar that he tried something that he shouldn’t have with one of the children under their protection, and they want him to pay the long price. I don’t know much since I’m new to Shadowtown, and the Arcane scene in general, but practically every Arcane in upper Shadowtown is trying to get that reward for themselves, so it must be something good.”

“Shadowtown? Arcane?” I asked in interest since I had never heard of either before.

“Like I said, I’m new to all this, but I can give you the basics. That abandoned area of the city over there isn’t as abandoned as people think. The entire area has been reclaimed by Arcane, which is an umbrella term for supernatural folk. Shadowtown is covered by a massive glamour and an enchantment that makes regular humans turn away in fear if they get too close. It’s called Shadowtown because humans would rather the Arcane stay in the shadows and out of sight. I only stumbled inside a few days ago and didn’t even know about the Arcane before that, so that’s all that I can tell you,” the spell-caster explained. “Can we go catch that asshole now? Before someone else beats us to it.”

I hadn’t tried to use my newly enhanced sense of smell to try and track someone down before. It wasn’t easy filtering out all of the other scents in the area and focusing solely on the one that I was interested in, so our buxom Bavarian companion was getting antsy by the time I felt that I could track our prey reliably. It helped that his scent was slightly different than most of the humans who had been through the area, which Greta thought was because he probably had some sort of Arcane ancestry since he wouldn’t have been able to get into Shadowtown otherwise. Greta Heinrich was the name of the Witch that we now found ourselves allied with.

Greta got dragged into this whole Arcane thing just over a month ago when she and her twin brother, Hans, had been on a road trip, coming from their home in Bavaria, Germany to tour the country where their mother was born. The pair had been just leaving Hershey, Pennsylvania along a less traveled backroad when they saw what appeared to be a house made entirely of chocolate and candy. They thought that it was a tourist gimmick connected with the town and decided to check it out.

It seemed that the whole thing was an illusion, a magical trap meant to draw in people like them, while the locals saw nothing out of the ordinary. They woke up chained to a wall and Greta was forced to watch as the crazy Witch who set the trap, and apparently had a taste for human flesh, slowly tortured and killed her brother. The entire time she made sure to tell them both that Greta would be next and extolled all of the wonderful dishes that she would make with their corpses. When she was done with Hans, she ripped out his liver for that very night’s dinner and left Greta to stew in her sorrow and fear of what was to come.

That night, Greta managed to slip out of her manacles by dislocating one of her thumbs, and in a crazed fury, she found the sleeping Witch in the upstairs bedroom and killed her with repeated blows to the head with the steel manacle and attached chain that had held her captive. After that, she got back in her van to put as much distance between her and what happened as she could, wandering aimlessly until a few days ago when she ended up passing through the glamour into Shadowtown. There was a pained, haunted, look in her eyes as she told us her story while I followed the scent of our prey.

Greta had a lot of trauma and grief to unpack and deal with and seeing so many strange creatures walking the streets of Shadowtown had made her think that she had lost her mind as well. So, she did what anyone would do in such a situation, she found a bar and started drinking. While she drowned her sorrows and ranted about what had happened, the bartender, who was a fellow Witch, took pity on her and gave her the basic information about the Arcane and Shadowtown, and eventually informed her about George Porgie and the price on his head.

Apparently, she had become a Witch the moment that she killed her tormentor. When a Witch dies, her power is transferred to the closest female without power of her own, and since she had been the one to beat her to death, that was Greta. Simone, the bartender, also explained to her the ins and outs of being a Witch and using their magic; how to summon her power, direct it, and infuse it into her words.

It seemed that Witches spells had certain requirements to work properly, requirements that Greta was still trying to get the hang of. For one thing, they have to rhyme. They also have to have a lyrical cadence and the wording has to be fairly specific to get the exact results that they want. If they aren’t specific enough the spell will fail, or some poor unsuspecting girl will end up with a humanoid slime hanging off her arm like a lovesick (and very horny) puppy.

As for the slime girl in question, she had no real memories before being created, let alone a name, so I decided to call her Berry. She had been attracting way too much attention from the regular folk while standing there naked, even though it was Halloween and her odd appearance could be excused by that, so before starting our search I had brought us all into an alley and asked if she could please at least make it look like she was wearing clothes. She couldn’t, and we had no spare clothes on us for her to wear, so she did the next best thing. Her slimy form condensed and shifted into the form of a pink backpack, which of course formed on me since she wanted to ‘stay close’.

I tried to ignore it, and how the straps would occasionally squeeze my breasts together, as I made my way through the streets following Porgie’s scent. Finally, after forty minutes of tracking his scent through the night’s cold chill, I stopped at an alley and pointed to a dumpster. “He’s hiding behind there,” I whispered. “The scent is really strong here, and kinda tangy.”

“Yeah, that’s him all right,” Goldie quickly confirmed. “That tang is the smell of fear.” My girlfriend then became a blur as she sped over to the dumpster and by the time we got there to join her, Porgie was lying unconscious at her feet.

“Yes!” Greta enthused, pumping her fist. “Let’s get this fucker back to Shadowtown so we can claim that reward!”

“And how are we going to do that?” Goldie countered with a frown. “I mean, I could carry him, but we’re going to get a lot of attention from anyone wandering the streets carrying a large unconscious man, and I don’t think that people are going to buy that it’s a Halloween trick.”

The solution that we came up with was for Greta to go back into Shadowtown to grab her van while we watched over our unconscious captive. When she said that it was a van that she and her brother had bought for their road trip, I had been half expecting an ancient VW bus. Instead, she showed up almost an hour later with a decade-old Toyota minivan that was in pretty good condition.

We stuffed our captive in the back where Goldie would watch over him in case he regained consciousness, or Greta tried to double-cross us. I didn’t think that she would, but my girlfriend was a lot less trusting of strangers than I was. She wasn’t too happy about Berry being so clingy with me either. We did stop back at the diner on the way so I could collect my bike, and then I followed closely behind the van, with Berry holding on to me tight, as we made our way into Shadowtown.