We trekked through the woods to a tiny hut on the side of a lake, which was surrounded by a lush garden of plants that were entirely unknown to me, save for a patch of wheat.
There were large, broad-leaved trees that bore fruit the size of my head, low plants with long, thin pods, and not a single hint of snow.
The moment I stepped near the greenery, the air turned warm. Warmer than any place in Gelgrim could ever get.
"Ah!" I took a quick step back. "What's this?"
Estrella slipped off her protective winter boots and beckoned me to do the same. "Just a little slice of home."
She opened the door to a small, stone-floored room.
"Oh, Willikers! I've got friends for you!"
In the room was a big, fat cat, wholly disinterested is everything going on around him.
"Now don't give me that look!"
Spud jumped out of my arms, frolicked over to Willikers, and begin batting at his face. Wilikers clearly wasn't having it, but he couldn't be bothered to move.
I cracked a smile. A wider smile, at least.
Estrella looked at me. "As long as you don't eat my cat, we're good." She flopped on a wooden, brightly-colored couch. "Come here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" She picked up the wide-eyes Spud.
"I wasn't thinking that! Promise!"
"It's a bit hard to tell. To be honest, you constantly look like you're gonna rip out my throat. But I'm guessing you can't help that, eh?"
She put Spud in her lap, gently picked up his front paws, and made him do a little dance.
"Nī oru kuṭṭip pūṉai
Oru kuṭṭip pūṉai
Oru kuṭṭi kuṭṭi pūṉai
Vaṇakkam pūṉai kuṭṭi!"
"So..." I took a seat on the couch, and my wing ended up fluffing on her face.
"Ah! Sorry!" I cried out and stuffed it away as best I could.
Estrella cracked up, but she didn't say anything.
"Uh... Anyway... Do you know anything about vampires?"
"Barely. Other than the fact that they're usually much more handsome than you are! Though I did have one for dinner a few years back. Asked me if I wanted to be on some sort of friend list."
"Do you know anyone that does?"
"Nope."
A whistle came from the kitchen.
"Ah! Tea's ready! Would you like some?"
"...No thanks."
She went off and came back with a cup of chai.
"Actually, now that you mention it, I heard there's some rich weirdo named Marvin who opened a whole museum about vampires in Rearing a couple months ago."
"Rearing?" I shivered.
"Yeah. That's where all the weird rich people seem to end up, isn't it?"
"How am I supposed to go to Rearing looking like this?"
"Well... I do have one thing." She took a sip of her tea. "But it uses a lot of nice ingredients I'd rather use for myself. Namely a few that keep me looking like a woman."
"What is it?"
"It's an illusion spell. I'm sure I could make you look human with it. But there's no way in hell I'm doing it for free."
"I don't have any money."
"...And I don't need your money."
"What do you want, then?"
She looked me up and down.
"Those are some pretty nice teeth you've got there. Perhaps you could give me one?"
"...I suppose." I looked at the ground. God knows I had too many teeth. Losing just one wouldn't be a tragedy.
"Great! Now just lie down on the couch, and I'll be right with you!"
I sighed. I was really gonna do this, wasn't I?
I lied down on the couch, trying my best to get my wings and legs to fit.
Spud hopped up and rubbed himself against my wing. He batted at my chest.
"Sorry, Spuds. I can't play with you right now. Go bother Wilikers."
I gently pushed him away.
I knew I'd be fine, but I couldn't help but have butterflies in my stomach. Surely it would hurt, but how much? With all these changes, would I experience pain in the same way?
All those feelings intensified when Estrella came into the room with a tray of bloody medical-looking tools. I immediately tensed up.
All I could remember were the screams of my father on the operating table. His leg had been crushed under a factory machine, and the doctor said the whole leg had to go.
It was all a little too much for a six-year-old to handle.
"You don't have a spell to make it not hurt, do you?"
"If I did, I'd be a very rich woman."
She lifted up one of her obscure metal tools.
"Now open up, because Dr. Crow is gonna fix you all up."
I opened my mouth and held my eyes shut.
I was shaking. I wanted nothing more than to scream. God, God, God! Why was she cutting into my gums?
I felt myself hissing.
"Well, you agreed to it!"
She put down her tool and picked up another one.
"Stop being such a baby about it."
I clenched my jaw shut.
She rolled her eyes.
"Open."
I opened a little less wide this time.
"One, two, three... FOUR!"
I hissed my lungs out and yelled.
"GAH! Get something for me to spit in! Get something!"
Estrella was holding the blood-stained tooth in her forceps, examining it like it was a precious jewel.
"You're a vampire. Just swallow it. You're gonna end up in Hell anyway."
I ran into the kitchen and bent over the kitchen sink, spitting out all the blood. My whole body was shaking. It just kept coming. The pain didn't stop.
I felt like I was spitting up my soul.
My vision went purple, then black. I held onto the edge of the sink for dear life, only to hear a thud. Then darkness.
–————–————–————–————–
"Geez. Was it really that bad? It was just a tooth."
When I woke up, I was lying on the couch, buried in the fluff of my own wings and covered in cats.
"You didn't lose nearly enough blood to get knocked out. Which means you're just a jellyfish."
I gritted my teeth together, but I was in too much shock to do anything.
"Well, I hold up my part of the deal."
She sprinkled a bit of clear liquid onto me, and within seconds, I had returned to my former glory.
I sat up and looked down. God was it good to see a pair of normal, flesh-colored hands again.
Estrella grabbed my shoulders and started pushing me to the door.
"Alright! Off you go! I'll take care of Spud!"
She slammed the door.