Humanoid-Nuclear (Humanoid Trilogy #1) [ON HOLD]

22

"Fascinating..." Someone picked up my foot and poked each toe, as if they were counting. Strange, I don't remember taking my boots and socks off... They laughed quietly as they lifted my leg higher, running two finger down my ankle.

I opened my eyes, groggy, and looked at whoever was messing with me. They noticed and looked at my face, then began to grin. Their face had a few wrinkles, and they wore square glasses. They had pale blue eyes, but I couldn't see much else due to their hood.

"You're human!" They exclaimed, crawling to my head and holding it by squishing my cheeks.

I yelped and jumped back, sitting up and backing into a couch.

"No, no, no, no, it's okay." They held up their hands and smiled, showing they didn't carry anything.

Glancing at my backpack, I made a bold move and yanked out my pocket gun from it, aiming it at their heart. "What are you? A mutant? Is that why you're wearing that hood? What do you want? Do you want to eat me? Tear my flesh from my body and shove it down your throat? Tell me!"

They pulled down their black, muddy hood, revealing a human face. I could see they were female, her red hair beginning to grey at the scalp. "Dang, brother bear. You sure are paranoid." Her hair was in a messing ponytail, a clip holding back a few strands on the left side of her face.

I swallowed, slowly lowering my gun. "... Why did you take off my boots?"

"You were tracking mud in. Duh! Also, I wanted to see if you had a sixth toe or not."

"Um... what?"

"You know, an extra toe? See, look." She slipped off her sock and shoved her foot in my face, wiggling all six of her toes.

"Ah!" I jumped up on the couch and crouched, gun still aimed.

"Oh relax, baby boo. You'll be fine. It ain't contagious!" She put her sock back on, grinning at me and getting back into her crouching position. "So what's your name, kid?"

"Uh... J-Jonathan. Jonathan Patrick." I was still guarded. This lady's crazy!

She smiled. "Ooh! I like that name! Sounds important! I'm Taffida. But you can call me by what everyone else called me: Taffy, like the candy."

"I don't remember that candy... Does it have nuts?" 'Cause you sure are one.

She laughed. "Nah, it's sticky and stretchy. Really sweet, too. Kinda like caramel."

I looked around, investigating the room. A soft, brown rug was in the middle of the room. A chair was at my three o'clock, next to the cold furnace. I stood on a leather couch, smelling mold coming from it. The room was kinda dark except for a small lantern that sat on the chair. There were two hallways, one behind me and one next to the front door. They were both very dark. Shelves lined the walls, all full of jars and papers and dusty books that looked like they'd fall apart if I so much as breathed on the cover. Inside the jars were various things, such as liquids, leaves, fuzzy-things-on-sticks, dirt, and even... jars. Within the jars... Okay. That's fine. The walls were just like the cabin's, but looked more like they were mahogany than the other wood. Yet through all this stuff, I didn't see a glimpse of Jay.

I jumped off the couch, ignoring Taffy's careful gaze. "Jay? Jay Feather, where'd you run off to?"

"Who?" Questioned the lady.

"My friend. Have you seen him?"

"No, haven't seen anyone but you."

"Ah, damn it... Alright, I'm gonna go look for him. Later." I walked down the hallway near the door, gun still in hand, and called Jay's name over and over. I entered a dark kitchen, and as I skirted around the cluttered island, I continued my search. I walked into a lab or something, finding all sorts of beakers, florence flasks, and erl-a-somethings on stands and counters. I could smell Jay Feather's scent, which was the first time in a long time I actually noticed it. I whistled as if I were calling for a dog. "Jay! Where you at, pal?"