Chapter 1

Shirley had an open mind.

She really did.

Working at a medical research lab attached to the University of Buffalo, she had to. Day after day, the whole point of her job was that while they suspected what would work, based on proven knowledge, you never actually knew until you ran the tests, completed the trials, compared to the control, and then gave all the information to your peers to have it torn apart to see if there were any flaws in your methods. She was fine with that, and loved it.

But she also knew naked blue girls didn't suddenly appear in boy's bedrooms.

Oh, she figured they popped into their dreams on a regular basis. Nowadays they were probably wanking off to Avatar hotties, where as the blue skinned of her day were either from Trek, or if you were really geeky maybe a Drow. Shirley had hung with the Dungeons and Dragons crowd in middle school, and there had definitely been a hunky dark elf sneaking into her tent at night to take her like only they could...

She mentally shook her head. She'd have to save that fantasy for later, maybe buy some body paint for Tom.

Shirley glanced at her husband. Tom was holding up well, all things considering. He was staying silent, trying to understand, the brow under his neatly combed hair wrinkled in confusion. Her giant of a mate wasn't use to new things. It wasn't that he wasn't smart: Shirley would never have married an idiot. It's just that he liked things to stay the same, liked the reassurance of rules and customs. If something unexpected came up but there were rules to follow, he was fine. Put him in the middle of an earthquake, and Tom would get everyone out safely no problem.

Their son had, literally, blown his mind.

Bill sat across from his parents on the living room love seat. He was hastily dressed in jeans and a pull over shirt, looking very tired and drained. It was only 9 PM on a Saturday, so that was unusual.

What was more unusual was the ... thing sitting next to him.

One of Betty's nightgowns had been thrown over its nude form, the strawberry shortcake design making the scene even more surreal. It looked female. Shirley had to give it that. The creature looked like a very attractive girl about Bill's age, fourteen, with short black hair and thin limbs. It was those eyes, though ... even without the blue grey skin, or even the ... scales? ... now covered on her chest, it was those eyes that marked her as inhuman. They were large, and black. You looked at them, and a thousand tales from myth and legend leapt to your mind. A voice from her most primal instincts was crying out to kill it, kill it before it destroyed everything. But even louder was the voice of the girl who had loved reading of elves and fairies, of dark creatures who were not evil but just different.

Maybe she should make a saving throw to figure out what to do.

"Mom?"

Bill was looking at her, waiting. His expression was one of uncertainty, maybe fear ... but not fear for himself. Shirley saw his hand tightly gripping the creature's, as if trying to give it strength. Her son knew more than she did for now. It was time to pull that knowledge out.

"Sorry, Bill." She looked at him, and gave a weak smile. He smiled back. The two of them had always been close. The two children had been drawn to a favorite parent not by gender, but almost by appearance. Shirley's long straight brown hair and thoughtful blue eyes could be seen in her son, although his hair did curl a bit, where as Betty was her father's daughter in every way. One more growth spurt and she could even go for the basketball team as he had, and she was so ready. Had her trash talking down pat and everything.

Tom put a hand to his forehead.

"So, let's go over this again. There are these invisible creatures walking around, everywhere, and tonight this one just turned real in your bedroom."

"Um ... well, that's the basics, yeah..." Bill blushed. Shirley could see there was more, and given they had barged in on the two naked she could see why certain details might have to wait.

"I..." Tom shook his head. "I honestly don't know what's going on here. Honey," he said, turning to Shirley, "do you mind just handling this and filling me in later?"

That was another reason she loved him. Her husband was honest about his limitations, which prevented tons of fights.

"Sure. Why don't you take Betty and go watch TV or something." She gave his cheek a quick kiss while her twelve year old daughter loudly protested. The protests continued as Tom playfully picked her up and carried her out of the room. A door closed, and the three were left sitting together in silence. She looked at her son.

"OK, Bill. Tell me."

He told her. Of the creatures. Of their mission, or seeming mission, arousing teen males. Of Ai, for that was this creature's name, and her gradual coming out as an actual person and not just an emotionless ghoul. Of his growing affection for the girl, and how ... he had seemed to accidentally made her real.

Shirley shook her head.

"They seem to have left that method out of the Pinocchio story."

Bill chuckled at that, and looked over at Ai. She was staring at him with such naked love and longing, that he couldn't help but lean in for a quick kiss. Only then did he remember his mother was sitting right there, and his face turned red again as he turned to face her. Shirley put a hand to her forehead, a mirror of her husband's gesture of a few minutes before. This ... well, was very this.

"I can count a few hundred complications stemming from all this, Bill, and that's just from what I understand." He nodded gloomily in reply. Bill had thought of most of them himself as well. His mom sighed, and stood. "I need a drink. How about you, Bill?"

"Pepsi would be great, thanks."

Shirley started a turn towards the kitchen, then looked at Ai. She had to start thinking of it as ... well, if not a person, yet, maybe ... a pet?

"How about you, Ai? Are you thirsty?"

The creature looked at her, its expression confused.

"Th ... thirst ... y?"

Shirley's eyes shot open. She had never actually heard it speak, and frankly had almost assumed that was just in her son's mind. Her eyes whipped over to her son, who was half turned to his companion and trying explain.

"Thirsty ... do you want something to drink? Water? Liquid?" He made a motion like using a cup, and Ai's eyes widened in understanding. She smiled, a small shy smile that for an instant made Shirley ashamed of her comparison of the creature to a pet. Ai shook her head.

"No ... drink."

"No problem," Shirley said, recovering. A thought occurred to her. "Do you eat?"

Ai looked at Bill again.

"Food. Do you eat food?"

Ai seemed to be honestly considering the question. Bill looked up at his Mom.

"She's only been flesh and blood for an hour or so. I don't think she actually knows yet." Shirley shook her head.

"Well, she's going to have to tell us what she needs. We're working blind here."

She started off towards the kitchen, turning her head back towards them as she got to the doorway.

"Bill, could you come here for a moment?"

"Sure!"

Bill jumped up from the couch, and half ran out into the hallway catching up with his mom. He had just past beyond the doorway back to the living room when Ai screamed.

"AAAHHHHH!"

Bill leapt back through the opening and rushed to her side. Ai was frantic, eyes wide in terror, her cold hands shooting out and gripping him so tightly it hurt. Shirley rushed back a moment later, and they heard a door bang open and footsteps as Tom and Betty ran into the room.

"Shh! Shh! What's wrong, Ai? Tell me!" Bill was frantically trying to calm the girl, who was looking at him as if she'd seen a ghost.

"You ... gone! You were ... gone! Could not ... see you!"

"It's OK! I'm here now!" Bill drew her into his lap, her nightgown riding up and reminding everyone she wore nothing under it, and he hugged her to his chest and began rocking. The sobbing began to quiet down.

Tom looked at his wife.

"What ... was that."

It was his daughter that answered, eyes wide with understanding.

"She was always following him, so ... he's never been out of her sight before!"

Shirley covered her eyes with her hand.

"A few hundred and one complications..."

Bill lay under his covers, thinking. The day had been ... long. Perhaps the longest day of his life, if he looked back and considered the question. Apart from seeing cocksucking ghosts, even two days ago everything had been normal and predictable. Now...

He turned on his side and faced Ai. She was laying on top of the covers, on her side looking back at him. The nightgown was gone, her nude body stretched out on the bed much as his was nude in it. The light was off, but her black eyes almost seemed to glow, and Bill just lost himself in them. Neither of them spoke, but what passed between them was more powerful than words. At some point his eyes closed ... and Bill slept.

Ai's eyes stayed open, as she watched him. As she always had watched him.

Julie loved church.

Oh, she wasn't sure she believed in all of it, or even agreed with all the rules, but the actual Sunday service was fun. The singing, the ceremonies, getting to dress up ... actually, it was probably dressing up she liked the best. Where else can you wear frilly things nowadays?

Her mom paused to lock the door as Julie and Jenny walked down the front steps and down the sidewalk towards the car. Luckily it hadn't snowed, as Julie had decided to forgo the boots and just wear a slightly older but still nice pair of shinny black shoes. They'd only be walking to and from the car, and everything should be shoveled.

The sound of another front door being slammed shut caused Julie to look across the street. The Darrow family was also on its way to church. There was Mrs. Darrow, wearing a practical yet pretty coat nothing like what the three Cutter women were wearing, Mr. Darrow in a nice sports jacket (obviously too macho to wear a winter jacket what with the temperature a bit above freezing), Betty in a nice light purple jacket with a fringe, and...