Proposed Insanity

Ray didn’t enjoy being known for the explosion, but what else could he have done,
surrounded by werewolves like that? Where he came from, the beasts were little more than just
that – animalistic, unfeeling, and spreading their disease like wildfire.
Yet, here he was, sitting in the back of some sort of vehicle that was nothing like the
usual squad cars back home. At the driver's wheel was a zombie, - or he would've liked to call
her a zombie if she wasn't bulking with muscle - and a strange man that Ray swore had once
been a flaming chicken.
He leaned into the window of the car, watching the lights of the city around him blur by
in mostly white streaks, intermingled with little strands of color. This place wasn't like any city
he'd seen before. Creatures of all kinds roamed the sidewalks rather than humans. A business
man with strange antlers called for a taxi, tapping his foot while looking at a strange glowing
device on his wrist. A mother dragged two wolf-like things along as they flopped to the cement
in what he could only guess was an ear-splitting tantrum by the look of the disgruntled and pink-
faced mother.
"So kid." The pepper-spiced poultry spoke up to him, "What do we call you?"
"...Name's Ray." He said casually as he fiddled with the window controls, the blasting
noise of the wind rushing into the high-speed vehicle making the driver grip the wheel only a
little harder.
"This isn't a joke." The driver shot him a glare, her red eyes cutting into him through the
reflection in the rearview mirror. "You very well may have killed at least 10 werewolves."
“Hey, it's their fault. They cornered me at the station, everything after them detecting my
weapons was creativity and second nature.” He shrugged. “Honestly wasn’t expecting an
explosion that big, but whatever works.”
"...This kid's insane." The sriracha-baked pheasant shook his head.
“Up yours too…” He glanced at his hair. “Hot head.”
The curry coated fowl scowled at Ray, “What kind of joke do you think this is, kid?!”
“Same B.S. I go through practically every day of my life,” He responded simply, "just
being punished for it in some pit of my own personal hell, I think. Bring it on, fried chicken."
The front of the car was silent after that, the driver just shaking her head. The silence,
naturally, was broken by the mechanical whirring of an automatic chair moving back and forth
from the back seat. The driver's eye twitched, and her pale face heated up at an alarming rate.
"We." She started, trying to keep her voice down to a non-yelling level and doing a
decent job for the moment, "Have been chasing you throughout the city almost all night. So. Are
you a fledgling, or what?"
"Hey, the only baby bird around here is him." Ray pointed a thumb at the fiery-headed
goose.
Unlike his partner, the man couldn’t help but crack a smile at that, which he was
unsuccessfully hiding from the rest of the car.
 Ray paused thoughtfully before adding, "Doesn't someone need to be running for you to
chase them? I was asleep in that parking lot; Who the heck were you chasing?"
The driver's hands gripped tighter on the wheel, and Ray was tempted to try and push her
to see if she could snap it off. Now that would be a story.
"You're lucky that my orders inhibit me from bringing you in." She said to him, "My
brother wants to talk to you personally." She said, her eyes like daggers.
"Wait, so I'm not going to the slammer? ...Wow. The future of our law enforcement
system looks pretty bleak." Ray commented, turning his attention back to the window controls.
She let out a harsh exhale of breath, pulling into a large building that towered over the
city like a medieval castle.
“I didn’t know the Queen of England hired zombies!” Ray exclaimed, pressing his face to
the glass to peer up at the towers.
The driver slammed on the brakes, sending Ray flying into the seat in front of him.
“We’re here.” She snorted. “Oh, and by the way, I’m a vampire.” She got out of the car,
flipping her blonde hair.
“…Someone’s dramatic.” Ray said to her partner.
The partner snickered quietly to himself as he pulled Ray out of his seat, “You were close
enough.”
Ray headed into the building, the two officers pushing him forward into a large hall,
where several suited dark figures were arguing amongst themselves.
“The werewolves will think we planted him!” One shouted.
“The rest of the city will think it’s the humans attacking!” Chimed in another.
“The humans will definitely take credit for all of this!” A third agreed.
“Gentlemen!” A voice echoed through the hall, hushing them all. A man stood casually
amongst the suited group, in only a simple pair of jeans and a white, buttoned-up shirt with the
sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “Analyn’s back with the culprit.” He motioned to Ray and his
two captors.
The blonde, who had been driving the squad car, stepped up. She pulled Ray up by the
collar of his shirt and dumped him unceremoniously into a chair. Ray looked around at the crowd
of red-eyed, suited freaks around him. His hands balled into fists, and a single line of sweat
dripped from his brow.
“Ah, an interrogation. All that’s missing is the painfully bright light in my face,” Ray
said.
“I could supply that if you want, but I figured that trope was a bit too much.” The more
casual vampire responded with a sly grin, much to Ray’s surprise. “Listen, kid. All we want from
you is to tell us your story. Why did you cause that explosion?”
Ray lifted an eyebrow, looking over the man again, before hesitantly responding.
“My name is Grayson, but I prefer Ray. The vampires and werewolves and things of
where I’m from are less… well spoken, and very violent. Almost all of them tend to go after
humans every chance they get, so we defend ourselves. I was simply passing through, I had no
clue where I was. I had stopped at the station to refill my car. Then this pack of ‘weres’ showed
up. They start with the idle threats like any gang would, so I make sure I still have my knife on
me. Unfortunately, I was unaware that they could smell metal. So, he starts going on about how I
can’t do anything about whatever is bound to happen next, so I go to my last resort. I pulled out a
box of matches, set the ground on fire, and got outta there as fast as humanly possible.”
“So you’re a human, then.” The vampire repeated.
“Just some human that decided jumping into a portal leading to this place was a good
idea.” Ray responded flatly.
“A portal.” The vampire put a hand on his chin, muttering to himself, “That would
explain those sightings.”
“We can’t just let him go.” A suited member of the group in the back spoke up suddenly.
“No, you’re right, we can’t. But we also can’t throw him into prison. If what he says is
true-” The man straightened his back. “-the best course of action is to find a suitable punishment
for him, and claim that he was a dumb, scared human kid who had no clue what he was doing.
And then get him home.”
“So, basically the truth.” Analyn stated. Ray couldn’t turn around to scowl at her, but he
would have if he could.
“Yes. So then, there’s no war with the werewolves or a chance for the Divine Union to
claim it as their doing.” The casual one said simply.
“But what punishment do we have then? I don’t think community service is going to fix
things this time around, James!” As a member of the crowd spoke up, the others around him
snickered at the casual one’s expense.
“No. You’re right.” The man closed his eyes, taking in a breath before walking behind
Ray. “I think I know just how to deal with this.” Ray felt an inhumanly cold hand on his
shoulder, shooting icy spikes down his spine. “I’ll take him.” Ray swallowed hard, his body
shuttering and flailing as the chair toppled forward from his struggles. He remembered the sharp
sensation of his forehead meeting the cold floor before his world went blurry.
---
Ray sat up in the back seat of a car, gasping for breath. For a second, he entertained
himself with the hope that it was all just a horrible nightmare. The city of the paranormal, the
singed werewolves, the strange vampire council… All of it seemed like something he would
dream up in some sort of drunken stupor.
“Good, you’re up.” Came a voice from the front seat. Ray sat up, blinking. “Good
morning. Or good evening, should I say.” The vampire chuckled, “You’re going to have to get
used to that.” Ray shook his head, the soreness coming back to him. “…You hit your head pretty
good. Lucky you didn’t have a concussion.” Red eyes glanced up at him in the front mirror.
“You…” Ray started, his voice weakened.
“You can call me James.” He smiled politely.
“…James.” Ray sat up, rubbing his head, “What the hell happened? Are you going to eat
me or something?”
 “Let me sum it up for you: No.” James chuckled, “I’m not that kinda guy.”
“Then what-?”
“-You’re staying with my wife and I until we can get you home.” James put his eyes back
onto the road.
“I never agreed to this.” Ray frowned.
“You’re a convicted felon, you don’t get a say.” James said, “…But trust me, my home is
much more comfortable than prison.”
“I don’t understand. You just said that I’m a felon, but you’re letting me into your house?
Are you insane or something?”
James laughed dryly, “I have my own reasons for this little kindness.”
Ray looked out the window, noticing that the lights of the city had completely
disappeared, leaving only ghosts of shadowy pines in the dim light. “Thanks.” He said finally,
rubbing his arm.
James smiled, relaxing a little, “You’re welcome. Besides, we’re almost there. I wasn’t
going to just dump you into the woods.”
Ray shivered again, staring out into the dark pines again, “…Yeah.”
He stared out until the pines gave way to a small outcropping of a few scattered homes on
several acres of land. James pulled into one of the smallest houses, parking the car on the barely
paved road in front just as the pink of dawn started to stretch into the horizon.
“Come on in.” He said, leading the way inside.
Ray followed him inside, looking around at the rather simplistic farmhouse. “This had
better not be an awful horror movie that I’ve walked into.” He muttered to himself. If James had
heard the comment, he didn’t acknowledge it.
“Well, we have a guest bedroom down that hall that you can stay in, and the bathroom’s
to the right.” James motioned towards the doors as he described the rooms. Ray stayed quiet.
“…What happened to you?” James joked, trying to light up the mood, “You were Mr. Sass
master earlier. …Am I that scary?”
“No.” Ray said, heading towards the bathroom and stopping in the doorway, “You’re too
nice.” James just stared in silence as Ray closed the door.
---
“…It felt kinda weird waking up in a bed for once.” Ray told James as he walked in that
next evening.
“You’re not used to beds?” James guessed.
“Not unless you count the backseat of a car as a bed.” Ray said, looking at all the
breakfast that was laid out. “Off topic question… Can you even eat?” He asked the vampire.
“Eh, a little.” James said with a shrug, “But all that is for you and Mel.”
“…Mel?”
“My wife, Melaine.” James smiled, “She’s working outside right now, so you can get
first dibs on everything.”
 “Okay.” Ray eyed the food spread out on the table before sitting down across from the
vampire. “…So.” He started up a conversation, “That cop chick who brought me in is your
sister? And what about the flaming chicken?”
“Flaming-?” James had to pause, then burst into laughter, holding his sides, “He’s a
phoenix, Ray. And, yes, Analyn’s my older sister.”
“And why am I here, again?” Ray asked.
“Because you’re a minor, and we can’t just throw you in prison. You need an adult to
watch over you.” James said, “I-“
“No.” Ray cut him off, “Why am I with you, specifically? You said you had a reason last
night.”
James paused, considering his words. “I have a son who’s in prison right now.” He said,
hands curled together on the table as he sat forward, staring at the table distastefully. “And,
well…” He sighed, “The idea of another kid following him down, it’s just too much for me to
take. Not on my hands. You were clueless about everything, thought you were doing good rather
than harm…I think.” He gave Ray a sideways glance. “While you’re here, make yourself at
home.”
“I will, thanks.” He said.
Ray ate his food and James stared to the distance in silence.
“I’m too nice for you, huh?” James asked suddenly with a smile.
“Well, yeah.” Ray chuckled, “Almost crazy.”
“Maybe so.” James nodded, “Maybe so.”
Ray paused, “For that, and, well, I’m not used to this kind of treatment. Food served to
me, a private shower, an actual bed... Beats living in my car.” He smiled.
“Well… What about your parents?”
Ray blew out an annoyed breath, “Dad died after I was born. Mom went a little nuts and
left me with nothing but the clothes on my back at 12.”
James shook his head with a frown, “I couldn’t imagine it, not in this world; It must have
been difficult for you.”
“With blood thirsty monsters hunting me at every corner? Yeah, more than you’d think.”
James looked over at Ray as a realization came to both. “…Do I really have to go back there?”
Ray asked, eyes wide and hand clenching his fork like his life depended on it, “I might be in the
house of two vampires, but at least that’ll be more comfortable than going back into the streets.”
“A vampire and a witch.” James corrected.
“Even better.” Ray responded flatly. “Point is, the streets of my world suck. Do I really
have to go back?”
James sat back, a small smile on his face as he considered the pile of forms that sat in his
study. “We’ll see, Ray. We’ll see.”