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Chaos-in-a-CookieJar t1_j2csv35 wrote

-sorry i can’t

-?

-i can’t send a pic

-why? r u ugly?

-yea

-that’s ok so am i

-it’s not like that, you’d hate me if you saw me

-no i wouldn’t, I could never hate you ash

-you say that now, but i know ur wrong

-how do you know?

-all human hate me

-humans?

…

-ash r u there?

-r u ok?

-please answer me

-ash?

[Ashfallen97 has left the chat]

I closed the chat and stepped away from the computer. After a long, deep sigh, all I could do was shake my head. I tried to go to sleep, but I couldn’t get Ash out of my head. He was always a nice dude online, a little weird but never creepy or anything. The only thing I would consider a red flag, was that his sense of humor was super self-deprecating. He always cracked jokes at his own expense, always saying that he deserved to die, or that he should have never been born. I never really thought about it that much. I mean, lots of people make dark jokes online. Hell, even I do from time to time. I felt a sense of doom settle over me as one single thought filled my mind. Had Ash taken his own life? I had no way of knowing for sure, and for weeks, the notion kept me from sleep for a few days.

I hated to admit it, but Ash was the closest thing I had to a friend at the time. I was going through a rough patch at school, the typical loner kid I guess. I fit all the stereotypes. I was that one messy haired, wrinkle clothed, straight C student who never spoke more than a few words strung together. Group projects were the bane of my existence, and just getting myself out of bed in the morning was a struggle. My saving grace was the fact that my folks were always out of town; either for their respective jobs, or together on vacations and cruises as a couple. In other words, there was no one around to tell me what to do.

‘What did I do with all that freedom?’ I hear you ask? Mostly, I played COD and messed around in different discord servers, which is where I met Ash. I felt like he understood me better than anyone; better than my teachers, better than my classmates, better even than my own parents. He and I clicked on so many levels, it was like magic. And then he was gone, just gone. His account remained inactive for six months.

It wasn’t until late March that I suddenly received a DM from Ash. I was ecstatic that my friend had finally come back.

-heya ray

-hey ash where u been?

-nowhere really

-so why did u disappear?

-accidentally said human, panicked I guess

-so what did u mean by human?

-i’m not human

-u serious?

-yea

-so why did u come back?

-i need a favor, u were the only one i could think to ask

-what’s the favor?

-i need a place to stay

-u serious?

-yea it’s fine if u say no, just thought i’d ask

-why do you need a place?

-got outed, being hunted

-u serious?

-yea

-aight what’s ur area?

-michigan

-what city?

-doesn’t matter i’ll go wherever

-aight i got a place in detroit I’ll meet you at the henry ford museum in a week

-u mean it?

-yea

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Chaos-in-a-CookieJar t1_j2fdh5i wrote

I knew I shouldn’t have been there. It was stupid to meet up with someone I met online, but I said I would be there, and I was. As I stood there outside the Henry Ford Museum, freezing in my coat and wishing I wore my parka, I wondered if I had been duped. Would Ash even show up? I flinched at every sound or shift in the shadows, nervous that it was all some ploy, that I would be killed or kidnapped, maybe even trafficked if I was particularly unlucky.

Suddenly, a figure walked awkwardly out into the light of the street lamp. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest, he was wearing a hoodie with a distinctive rose pattern. That was our code that’s we agreed on; that he would be wearing his rose hoodie, and that I would be wearing my blue coat with lightning bolts on it. He looked around for a moment before he spotted me and hesitantly came over. “Ash?” I asked, his response would determine what would happen next. “Ray” We both smiled, though I could barely see his face under his hood. Without another word, I led him back to my apartment.

When we got back to the apartment, Ash nervously asked, “So, you’re still in school right? Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but won’t your parents be mad that you brought a random person back to their apartment?” I shrugged, responding with, “See, my folks decided a while ago that, since they were always gone, I didn’t need a whole house to myself. They sold our family home, and got us this little two bedroom apartment. They won’t be home for a couple months, so you can take their bedroom.” To that, he cracked another grin, “I can’t believe you actually agreed to this… thank you so much, I mean it. What could I ever do to repay you…?” I didn’t quite know what to say to that, I wasn’t really ready to have an emotional conversation, so I decided to sidestep it entirely, “You can start by helping me pick out a movie for us to watch, I’ll get the popcorn going.”

I kept my eye on him as I made my way over ti the kitchen. He slipped off his boots, revealing frankly monstrous… claws? I didn’t even know what I would call them, somewhere between paws and claws. He pulled off his hoodie, and then I could see why he didn’t want to send me a picture of himself. His skin was a pale, ashen, almost translucent white. His ears where huge and pointed, with tufts of fur on the end almost like a lynx. But the most shocking facet of his appearance, was his tale. Long and thin, it as well ended in a tuft of fur. He was… adorable. Strange looking, and definitely not human, but absolutely adorable.

Once the popcorn was out of the microwave, we sat down on the couch and began the process of selecting a movie to watch. We eventually did pick something to watch, and we settled in. I only had one fluffy blanket, so what ended up happening is that we got closer and closer to each other. I couldn’t believe it, a cute guy was actually close to me! I never had any luck with the guys at school, they all thought I was a weirdo, but maybe this could work out. Or maybe not, either way, I resolved to be there for my friend. For the rest of the night, I couldn’t focus on the movie because all I could think about was Ash.

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