• Surreptitiously I pinched myself under the table, trying not to flinch from the pain. I wasn't dreaming, but I'd have a nasty bruise on my thigh later. So I wasn't imagining things, the others sitting in my compartment suddenly looked like something out of a fantasy painting.

    Thanks to the darkness outside, it was even easier to see their reflections on the glass, so I focused on that instead of looking like an idiot and gaping at them. I had no idea what was going on, but I had established I wasn't dreaming, and I was never one to doubt my own sanity, even if what I was seeing was absolutely unbelievable.

    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Mom said that to me before, I guess it was true.

    Rina suddenly had metallic silver skin, her electric blue eyes seeming to glow in their sockets. Her hair was a dark teal instead of gold, but everything else seemed the same – her expensive, preppy clothes, her perfect features, a brilliant smile. She had a habit of gesturing as she spoke, and I could see thin veined membranes between her long fingers. Instead of ears, she had long, flowing fins that fell to her shoulders.

    Next to her, a tall, thin boy with fire-like hair was laughing a bit too hard at one of her jokes, which made his long, pointed ears wiggle in a comedic manner. He was quite pale, with a spattering of red freckles across his face, and dark green eyes that stood out quite a bit in his pointed face. His clothes were worn and faded, too big on his frame, and his face was one that looked like it was always laughing even when he wasn't. At Fire-head's other side was the other girl, a small thing with bright pink hair cut to frame her cute child-like face, crimson eyes, two small black horns atop her head and small pointed ears. Over her narrow shoulders I could see small, bat-like wings fluttering when she smiled toothily. Her clothing was lacy and frilly, more like a doll than a real girl's clothes. Even the round glasses sitting on her nose were framed with bright pink wire. I felt rather shabby in my plain paint-stained jeans and baggy sweater. She'd probably be even shorter than me if we stood next to each other, but...

    Her chest was so much bigger than mine. How unfair was that?! She was so tiny and yet so curvy!

    Where was the justice.

    Across from Pinky was a boy whose reflection I could barely see. He seemed to be covered in silver fur, with triangular furry ears at the top of his head poking out of a mass of tangled red hair. His eyes didn't have any irises, just almond-shaped white blanks stuck in his face. Whisker-like marks marred his cheeks, a set of three on each side, darker red than his hair. He wore a lot of golden jewelery that jangled melodically when he moved, which didn't seem to be that often.

    I still couldn't see the guy next to me very well, not unless I actually turned to look and I wasn't quite prepared to do that yet. What I could see, though, was violet hair pulled back into a ponytail, a messy fringe hiding his face from my view. His ears were long and pointed like Fire-head's, but they seemed to be a pale sort of lavender in color instead of a skin tone, decorated with silver spikes and rings. He was much taller than me even sitting down, and never seemed to look in my direction. Despite the warmth of the train's interior he wore a black leather jacket decorated with studs and belts.

    Rina seemed to notice that my eyes were open, and much to my horror she drew attention to me. "Hey! Hey girl! Good morning! What's your name again? Aren't you taking off your inhibitor too?"

    So... That's what inhibitors were, then? I guess they made them look human... How unreal was that. What sort of technology could pull that off?!

    I tried to keep my expression neutral, lifting my eyebrows as I turned to face the chatty metal-skinned girl. "Fay. I don't have one of those."

    I turned to look back at the window, hoping my face didn't look as red as it felt. I could see their stunned faces staring at me in the reflection, my face warming in response. Why did they have to be looking at me at all, much less like that? I just wanted to melt into the ground and vanish.

    "Are you a human?" Pinky asked in a hushed voice, her eyes wide.

    "As far as I know," I managed to grumble, oblivious to my white ferret crawling up my sleeve and onto my shoulder. I only noticed him when he made comforting chattering noises in my ear, rubbing his soft furry face against mine. Absently I pet him while pretending not to notice the shocked glances they gave each other. Rina and the boy next to her looked the most perturbed.

    "Ah... Ah! I remember, my cousin is in car nine... Um, Jarek, Remy, you coming?" Rina scooted out with her purse clutched close to her chest, swiftly followed by the fire-headed boy, both with the most uncomfortable looking expressions on their faces. Pinky, who I assumed to be Remy judging by the two names, looked torn, looking first at me then at the backs of her retreating friends then back again. After a moment, she apologized for some reason and darted out as well, closing the curtain behind her. She had a tail... A sinuous black tail that barely peeked out from under the frilly skirt she wore. The black cat followed at her heels.

    They acted like I had a plague or something.

    Furry looked at the curtain, then got up as well. I half-expected – and prayed – that he would leave too, but instead he took the middle seat opposite of me. I noticed when he changed sides that he had a strange tail; long and catlike, forked in two at the very tip.

    Very odd. What were these damn people? Creatures. Monsters. Whatever you called them...

    I tried not to stare either way. Just because they weren't human didn't mean I could be rude, they were obviously sentient beings.

    The guy sitting next to me just moved over one seat, crossing his arms over his chest and propping his boots on the table.

    "Your name is Fay?" Furry asked, though... When he did, his mouth didn't move at all. At my nod, he continued. "That is a pretty name. My name is Saru, my rude and silent friend is Kathus. It is nice to meet you."

    I shrugged, pretending to be fixated on the glass window. "Sure."

    My stomach was lurching. I'd never been so scared or nervous or intimidated in my entire life. Not only were there strangers in close vicinity, they were male strangers! Boys! My own age! Never mind the fact that they looked like they'd walked out of one of my video games, they were still male. I thought for sure they'd be able to hear my heart slamming away in my chest. What was I supposed to do, relax and act totally normal around people who aren't supposed to be real?

    Yeah ********' right.