Opening his curtains to find the thing talking his nightmares would make it hard for anyone not to lose the contents of their stomach. Barnett managed more from luck than skill. The vomit burned the back of his throat as he fell back on his bed, barely a step away from the window.
The creature clicked, twisted its too-long limbs and stretched over the entire glass. It was humanoid in shape, but all its features were distorted and out of place. Bones jutted from its joints, and its tongue flicked in the air, tasting, searching. It grinned at him, sharp teeth blackened and pointed. His thigh ached where the scar of being bitten sat. He got lucky. He survived.
The soft mattress helped. There had been concrete back in the cage, pen thing, that he'd been trapped inside. There was no smell of decay or mould either. Instead, the air freshener his roommate used grounded him in reality.
He was home, not in Underhill. And it would not (could not?) enter without invitation.
It tapped on the window, the window that opened. Barnett locked eyes on the handle. It wanted him to open it. The creature screeched as he stayed frozen. Another tap on the window, firmer, making the glass shake, threatening to break.
"Blue eyes," Barnett said, noticing the feature as it glared at him. Most of them had black eyes in this form. Some could take on colour, but black eyes became the first clue that something else crept around them. Blue fooled them all for the longest time because his eyes looked human. And then he bit down.
Blue Eyes tilted its head impossibly far and nodded.
Barnett knew this one. It wasn't a random creature. It tried to eat him, like all the others, but it wasn't a random beast. That somehow made this better. Another demanding tap battered against the window frame. A touch softer this time and against the plastic, not the glass, as if Blue realised that the glass could break if he wasn't careful. It wanted Barnet to open the window; it wanted the invitation.
This was a stupid idea on so many levels. Blue tried to eat him, he had the scar to show it, but something tugged. A whisper that he could trust Blue Eyes.
He opened the window and let it sliver inside. It shut the window behind itself and shivered as the warmth of the house sunk into it. It settled on top of the cupboard in the corner. Mud smeared on the walls as it passed, bones popping with every stretch. It moved its jaw into place and licked its lips.
"It's cold on the surface. All those layers are starting to make more sense," Blue groaned, voice echoing on itself early but low enough that no one outside the room would hear.
"Underhill's hot," agreed Barnett, unsure what to do. "I'd lend you some clothes, but none will fit."
"Not yet," Blue said, eyeing up the blankets on the bed hungrily.
"No!" Barnett moved, blocking the bed from the creature that could tear him apart and had eaten his flesh once before. "You need to clean first."
Blue Eyes followed his glance to the mud on the wall and cupboard doors. They searched the room and noticed the lack of dirt in it. The distorted features twisted further but nodded. "Show me to your bathroom, and I will clean."
"First, why are you here?" Barnett demanded with more confidence than in his chest. This was over. He'd escaped, he left, he'd won the game and was free of the monsters, except the one that climbed out of the burrow to find him. Everything rang warning bells, and yet Barnett continued to indulge in it. "What happened to Underhill stays in Underhill?"
A snort answered that. "You and your friends are not special. We play with many mortals. Normally, people don't escape the traps we lay." Blue Eyes shrugged, one long finger opening the cupboard door to peek inside. Blue Eyes was one of those damn traps. Was that why they'd left? They'd failed to trick Barnett, or rather, Barnett clocked the truth a second too late for both of them. "We take the place of some to monitor your kind and its progress. I have been assigned to take the place of a lost soul."
"Me?" Because Barnett didn't miss the signs that no one noticed his disappearance. Suspiciously, everything was set up for him to return to normal immediately despite not being here for a good few months.
"No, you won the game, and that will be respected. I'm here because I need a food source and a place to rest. Oddly enough, I don't know many humans who are able to give me those without me having to trick them into it."
"You eat human flesh."
"You eat pork and beef; it is not the only thing that sustains you," Blue Eyes loomed over Barnett, hands tangling in his clothes to pull him up off the ground. "I can eat the same food as you. More importantly, I need to sleep next to a warm body. You will fulfil this role. Remind me, do you prefer to sleep with men or women? I can pick either form, but once I've settled, changing will be a pain."
"That is a lot to unpack," Barnett's voice broken like he'd reverted to teenagerhood. "I'm gay, a man, please," Small steps at a time to process. His feet dangled, and he got his tiptoes on the floor. "Put me down, please."
Blue lowered him with an eye roll, one eye rolled.
Quick recap. Blue Eyes expected Barnett to let him stay. Blue Eyes expected Barnett to let him sleep next to him and was letting him pick the form. Barnett didn't know if he could do this.
"Shower now, questions after?"
"By all means."
Barnett's cheeks flushed, and he almost forgot to check the hallway was clear before guiding Blue Eyes to the bathroom. They could look human; Barnett had seen it in Underhill.
Water poured over Blue Eyes, and they groaned with relief. Barnett sat on the toilet and continued to process the new information as dirt and mud flowed down the drain. Maybe it was easier in Underhill, where the magic was strongest? Some of them had whispered about the lack of power in the human world. Or perhaps it was something else. Blue Eyes had traces of their former disguise around his features.
"Never let anyone tell you that hot water at will is not the best modern invention," Blue Eyes purred as they luxuriated in the shower. It stretched and scratched at their limbs. Bones clicked and moved under their skin as it cleaned. It didn't change the grey skin to anything more healthy, but in this form, that might be more horrific.
"It is a necessity," Barnett nodded, rubbing his arm. He didn't clean himself in Underhill; it wasn't safe. The best it got was a bucket of spring water and a rag. Or occasionally, they threw the bucket over the pen when it smelled too bad.
"I'm clean now," Blue Eyes declared, switching the water off. They slithered out of the cubicle and accepted the towel. Blue lifted the cloth, confused. Barnett took a deep breath, stole it back, and dried the outstretched body. Blue Eyes clicked happily and moved as Barnett needed them to. "I'd like us to sleep now. I want to get my form right before someone sees me like this. We are supposed to avoid that."
"Reasonable."
"You're panicking," Blue Eyes narrowed their eyes.
"Slightly," Barnett allowed.
Blue Eyes couldn't lie; they could mislead and omit information, but they could not lie outright. They expected that courtesy back. Lying to them risked their anger. They could respect a lie at the right moment, but this didn't meet the criteria.
"Stop. I will not eat you nor kill you as long as you grant me shelter. There is nothing for you to panic over," Blue Eyes snorted.
"Doesn't work like that, but thank you for the reassurance."
"It's not reassurance. It's the truth," Blue Eyes twisted, poking at Barnett's clothes with sharp claws. "Do you need to shower before bed?"
"I need to brush my teeth," Barnett said, unable to drag his eyes from claws. Being naked in front of them wasn't an option now or ever if he got his say. He gestured over to his toothbrush and his housemates in a row of various colours.
"The purpose of this?"
"To clean any residue of food from my teeth. Helps maintain them and get rid of morning breath."
"You brush your teeth in the morning, too?"
"Yes," Barnett didn't know how to comprehend what was happening. Blue Eyes didn't know how humans live daily, and he was giving them a crash course. Completely normal things to happen in the day. "Twice a day is the recommended."
"Sounds like a lot of effort."
"It is expected," Barnett picked up the toothbrush. Blue rumbled unhappily but sniffed at the toothpaste as Barnett put some toothbrush. He recoiled, features twisted up more than usual. Barnett ignored them and got to work. He tried to ignore it as Blue studied him. The intense glaze made it very awkward as he followed the pattern his dentist recommended.
"You don't swallow the paste?"
"It's not good to, no. Something to do with the chemical? Good for the teeth, not so good for stomach lining," Barnett tried to remember to reason but failed to go beyond what he'd been taught at primary school not to swallow toothpaste,
Barnett rinsed out his mouth and shrubbed his face down. Usually, he'd do more, but tonight, he wanted the bare minimum. The intense studying made Barnett want to curl in a ball and hide. He checked the corridor this time before heading back to his room. Blue creaked and cracked through the door.
"Bed," Blue declared; it was not a question but an order.
Barnett crawled in, trying not to shiver as the changeling crept under the duvet behind him. It clicked happily as it stretched out under the blankets and cuddled close. The wrong bones moved against Barnett's side as they settled beside him.
"Do you have to be so close?"
"Afraid so. Try to sleep. I'll look human in the morning."
"Not sure how I'll explain to you if you don't."
Blue snorted, and another ripple of bones and muscle all morning wrong rattled against Barnett's side. Yet, the sensation of bones sliding into place also appeared.
"You did well to survive the Hill. This will be easy."
"I know you well enough to know you aren't telling me everything."
"Perhaps. I've told you more than most."
"That doesn't change my statement."
Blue chuckled, a low huffing sound. "There is more, but nothing that needs telling until it has happened."
Barnett didn't have a witty response, nor the energy to come up with one. Instead, he closed his eyes and tried to settle. Movement ground against the sheets louder than normal. Every point of contact burned and boiled. His mouth turned dry, but he was too nervous to get up to get a drink of water, not that Blue would let go of him regardless. This was clearly apart of the magic.
Somehow, Barnett did slip into sleep.