Doreen's own medium brown hair was pulled back into a bun, and her round face had the brightest blue eyes I've ever seen. She genuinely looked like a nice person, and every thought and feeling seemed to echo across her features. I liked her. Maybe we could become friends.
Friendship was hard. Making friends when you moved from care home to care home? Impossible. You're too busy surviving to learn things like social skills. Those came after you aged out of the system.
"I'm Katarina. You can call me Kat." Kat was gorgeous with thick, wavy dark hair and tanned skin, and had an accent I couldn't place.
"Hi. Samantha." Her soft voice came with a small, shy wave. Samantha was petite with green eyes and a cloud of blonde fluff for hair. She reminded me of a porcelain doll I saw as a kid. She was as pale as me but less sunburned. I needed to learn her trick.
"Regina." She nodded once and offered a small smile. Her skin was as dark as mine was light, but hers was flawless. What a complexion! She would never need to worry about foundation or makeup and probably never had a zit before. She seemed reserved — either she was the type who held things close to the vest or she wasn't sure what to make of me yet. Either was fair, and I nodded politely in return.
"We had no idea you weren't told." Doreen jumped directly into the topic. "The noise is one of the creatures they brought you here to study. I only know because I work in the main building. They've been hoping the howling would stop because you're going to meet with the um... well, the species making all the ruckus. Sorry, I don't know what to call them."
I did not expect this. Well, shit.
"I think I've seen them," Samantha said. "They live in the larger rock caves, on the other side of where the Aviarids nest."
Regina nodded in agreement.
"Aviarids?" Is that one of the species they discovered already?
"Yep, Aviarids. Dayzee is mated to one. Think 'bird-man'." Katarina said between bites of food. "Yours isn't a bird-man or an octopus guy, though."
"Wait, there's an octopus guyanda bird-man?" A slight thrill went through me that I might meet them. I love this field!
"What am I assigned to?" I felt both dread and excitement stir while asking.
They exchanged looks, clearly caught between trying to describe the creature, and being unsure if they should tell me. This problem was solved by a jerk at the next table.
"If bigfoot fucked a werewolf and a demon, that's your love-child right there!" More laughter from the camo-wearing crowd one table over. This time it came with claps on the back and high-fives.
If these creatures like the taste of humans, I was gonna send them after these assholes.
"So, how much of that is true?" I asked them.
The women glanced between each other before shrugging uncertainly and nodding.
Oy.
I took a breath to calm down. "Can you guys describe them to me?" I breathed and prepared for the worst.
"I heard they look like werewolves," Doreen started. "Except that they have hair like ours, instead of coarse fur. Well, if werewolves actually existed."
"Don't forget the pointy horns and the tail." The women began talking amongst themselves while I ate and listened.
"And the claws. Someone said they saw claws."
"But did they really see them, or is it another rumor?" Regina asked before taking a sip of her drink.
"I wondered the same about the horns. But I haven't seen any of these guys yet, just heard them. Still less noisy than the Aviarids. Those guys squawk and stomp over just about anything," Samantha remarked as she rolled her eyes.
"So do these guys. They get especially loud when transports come in. Protesting I guess." Katarina shrugged.
"I hear they walk upright like we do, which is why someone said they are like bigfoot. He was a big humanoid covered in hair." Doreen considered.
"True, but he didn't have a tail or howl, which is why they say werewolf," countered Regina. "And no horns."
"Werewolves transform, though. I don't think this species shifts. They're just hairy all over," Katarina commented.
Do the other species shift?! Would I be able to watch? I needed to take notes on all this information.