The Siege

													Part One: The Stage is Set
	It was a one bedroom one bathroom with a bay window by the front door. It was on the first floor of the building, so I had to listen to everyone coming and going. I could live with that. Broken down cardboard boxes and plastic containers littered the floor, most of my things hadn’t arrived yet so I was living rather Spartan-esq. It reminded me of a sleepover or a camping trip and I never was one to complain anyway. I liked to feed the rabbits that lived somewhere in our little fenced off yard. It was a good place, and after a week I was sure that it was everything I’d want in my first apartment since the move.
	Of course, all of this changed when the Jinko showed up.
	I didn’t think much of it at first. I just figured she lived nearby and was always going to or from work or class. But the irregularity of it; how she showed up at random times and loitered in front of the window of a single male? Something didn’t add up. It became almost a game between us; my looking out at her from the window as she walked by. It was flattering on some level. It was unwelcome to be sure, however it was still flattering. I’ve had my share of admirers over the years. In today’s day and age you just have to live with it as a man. But a Jinko? It took me a few years to get comfortable with me the Shoggoth who used to live next to me. Jinko was something else.
	But what a sight she was. We made eye contact once (its how I knew what she was after) one morning as I was standing on the threshold to my building shuffling through Spotify. I was already running late yet the morning walk was so much better with my theme music. There she was. The sun caught and shimmered in her silky brown hair. There was a casualness to the way she strode down the sidewalk, a sway to her hips that demanded attention and an aloofness on her face. Here was a predator and she was out to survey her domains. In the moment I let my guard down and my eyes wander over her exposed midriff, taking in the pure muscle there.
	As my eyes traveled up they came to lock onto her own, and I was suddenly struck with the thought that she was studying me the way I studied her. There were a few key differences we both understood immediately thanks to thousands of years of evolution. 1) She was stronger. 2) She was faster. 3) She knew this, and knew where I lived. Right as that initial panic and indecision about going back inside or toughing it out set in she smiled at me.
	It was inviting and vulturine and conveyed this warmth. Golden sparkling eyes radiated confidence and curiosity. Curiosity like how an octopus played with a fish in a bottle.

													Part Two: The Gates Are Shut
	I bought another lock for the door and tried to tell myself it was coincidental. But she kept coming back, moving up and down my street like she was on patrol. And God knows one extra lock was not going to stop her once she was ready to pounce.
	“I tells you to find yourself a nice Kikimora,” my housemate says, “and you go dragging a Jinko into the block.” His name was Kyle and he lived on the floor directly above me. He was all right; if I had any complaints it was that he watched Family Guy with the volume too loud. We could share a beer and get along with one another though. Sometimes his electronics fucked up the circuit breaker.
	“I think it’s wonderfully romantic. Most Jinko don’t bother to come this close to the city, and there aren’t too many to begin with. She must really like you to chase you down like this.” Clarrisa, the other person who lived in our building, said. She was an Elf with a penchant for making our entire building smell like dirt after the rain. When I first moved in I half expected the two of them to be an item but it turns out she has an out of town boyfriend that never materialized and I seriously doubted the existence of while Kyle (and I quote) needs a girl with a tail he can brush. So there’s that.
	“Why do neither of you seem to understand that the moment she karate kicks the front door in half she becomes our problem instead of just mine?” I complained.
	“Do you want me to talk to her?” Clarrisa offered.
	“God no, I just want her to go away, find someone else.” I said, looking at Kyle as the beginnings of an idea took hold. He figured out rather quickly and beat a hasty retreat to his own room. I sat down at the counter in the kitchen area we all shared and must have been looking especially pitiful because Clarrisa offered some kind words of encouragement.
	“A girl likes you. Is that the end of the world?”
	“Not just a girl.” I told her. Almost immediately I felt a little guilty at the implication I had made and the Elf left me alone shortly later. Her message remained in my head long after she had left. That was how I found myself approaching my mystery Jinko one morning. It had rained heavily the night before. Leaves from the trees littered the ground and the deformed and cracked concrete created puddles one had to step over every few feet.
She was in a light gray Nike tracksuit, bag slung casually over her shoulder. We were both surprised by the turn of events and our conversation was set back a moment while I searched for words.
	“Hello. I think we know one another?” I said lamely.
	“My my, you’re a bold one aren’t you?” She said as she gave me a long, appraising look. I didn’t like how...appreciative it was.
	“I don’t want you to have the wrong idea about me but I-” I began saying, but she cut me off. Placing a fuzzy warm paw behind my head she gently pulled me in close so that her chin was on top of my head and I was buried in a mound of fur and flesh. She began to whisper.
	“Shhh. Lets not spoil the fun. Enjoy your head start.”
	She then sauntered off, tail swinging casually as she went. I was left standing there as droplets from the gutters rained down around me. My mouth felt cold around where her paw had been. It took me a moment to realize my knees were shaking and cold sweat was collecting on my forehead.
	Her last words echoing in my mind I resolved not to give an inch. I would settle in for the long haul.

												Part Three: The Sortie
	Cops were useless. Claiming that she hadn’t actually done anything and it wasn’t really a crime to run into someone on the sidewalks. It was a blessing I was able to go to work online. Canned food and ramen became my good friends. My plan was to ride out the storm; she had to move on eventually. Maybe she wasn’t human like I was, but she was still a woman and would eventually realize the extent to how disinterested I was in her romantically. That was my flawed plan at any rate.
	I would go out in the evening, she never really came around after 6 or 7 and I figured she must work the nighttime shift. It was my window to go out and gather supplies. About a week after our sidewalk encounter I was coming back from the Whole Foods. The bag was heavy (or I was out of shape, which begged the question why a Jinko was interested in me in the first place) and I was passing it from hand to hand.
	 It was cloudless in the sky above but the moon didn’t seem to want to shine, leaving the task to the lamps, which bathed the sidewalk in this cone of sterile light at even intervals. My mistake, or rather my weakness, was that I always was a fan of evening walks. My pace went from a hurried stride to a much more casual stroll. The danger was not visible, therefore, it was not there. I was not so lost in thought that I was completely unaware though.
	My left foot comes down and the bushes across my start to go off. Something’s rustling in it, I tell myself it’s a raccoon and keep walking. Dead of night in the suburbs, its someone’s cat or it’s a trash panda on the prowl. Raccoons don’t usually sound so...big, though. I picked up the pace, coming around the corner. The front door was just down the street. You could see the building and the light coming from the porch.
	Ice starts crawling up my spine like a slippery eel as I very faintly pick up the sound of moving behind me. Trying and only just failing to move in sync with my own steps. I’m jogging and seriously considering dropping the bag of food. I don’t actually do it until I hear the unmistakable growl shatter the evening silence. It was too guttural to be wholly human but there was this soft feminine whine to it that made me spin my head around so fast the bones creaked.
	I had dropped the bag of food and was tearing down the sidewalk. In times of great duress animals have been known to pull of bursts of superhuman speed and God if I wasn’t the poster child of that theory just then. A hiss followed me up the stairs, legs burning from desperation as I hammered on the front door and fumbled with the keys. She had been right behind me hadn’t she? She’d been coming for me right just then, so where was she? Before I could fit the key in the hole the door swung open and with one last great effort I forced my way past the figure standing in the shadows and to the threshold of my room.
	“What the fuck?!” Kyle cried out. I turned, half expecting to see her loom out of the shadows.
	“Close the door man.” I gasp, one foot in my apartment with my hand on the lock ready to bolt inside at the first sight of trouble. Kyle slams it shut quickly and turns the lock, looking at me incredulously. And before I get the chance to explain myself fully the doorbell goes off. We’re left staring at one another, the light bulb from the second floor casting an eerie shadow over half the hall.
	“Don’t answer it.” I warn him firmly. The bell goes off several more times.
	“I gotta answer it.” He says.
	“Go to bed Kyle.” I tell him.
	“Listen, just go in your room and let me handle this.” He said. That was the plan all along and I was relieved to see he was coming around to his role in it. I retreated to the security of my fortress. The locks each went in with this reassuring click. I couldn’t help but calm down with each twist of the nob or slide of the bolt. I heard the front door come open and a low, hushed conversation start up. I slipped my shoes off and tiptoed to the bay window. She was standing there in the light, saying something. I could only see half of her but her tail was swishing about excitedly. Then it is over. I breathe a sigh of relief.
	But she’s not walking away from the building. She’s backing away. Her eyes were searching it up and down, finding and locking onto my own in the dark before giving a cheerful little wave and turning around. I was awestruck that her chase didn’t seem to have an effect on her, while I was left struggling to control my panting.  There came a knock on my door and I took a minute to wait until I knew for sure she was gone before answering it.
	“She says you dropped this.” Kyle said awkwardly, holding out the battered wholefoods bag for me. As I was doing the math to find out how far I could go without ever having to go outside again I came across a pair of tiger-striped panties at the bottom of the bag, carefully folded.

												Part Four: Diplomatic Outreach
	Three days would pass before I saw her again. She was coming by less and less now and I felt the hour of my victory in this battle of wills was at hand, and that my life would return to normalcy soon. I trumpeted this to my housemates one morning.
	“I still don’t see the problem. She gives you a token of her affection and flirts with you the best way she knows how to, and you still reject her.” Clarissa said, once again taking the side of the Jinko.
	“A pair of used underwear is not a, ‘token of affection’, Clarissa, and chasing someone with intent to rape is not flirting.” I retorted.
	“Well, I certainly smell her on you so you must’ve been holding the underwear close.”
	“Only close enough to get it into the trash.”
	“Come on, Rebecca came off as incredibly polite and...articulate about what she wanted from you when we spoke.” Kyle offered up between mouthfuls of coco puffs.
	“Rebecca?” I asked.
	“Her name? She’s only been stalking you for like two months now and you don’t even know her name?” He asks.
	“No.” I said, finding the fact somewhat disconcerting.
	“Man, you know Facebook is still a thing?
	“Forgive me for not wanting to sell my soul to Mark Zuckerberg.” I said, forcefully enough to end the conversation. But as I sat there alone I felt a tugging curiosity, and the name echoing in my mind like a tiny fly in the ear.
	I retreated back to my apartment, now much had changed. Empty packets of ramen littered the tabletop and there was a pile of canned goods, meticulously counted and organized. As I closed the door and felt my fingers lightly thumb the locks I found myself taking stock of things. This, this was the course of my life now. Going out in the night, where, God knows I just left myself open and exposed for things far, far worse than a Jinko with a crush.
	“Rebecca...” I said to myself, playing with the syllables. I went into my bathroom and took a look at myself in the mirror. I didn’t like the man looking back. He had bags under his eyes and his beard was starting to get out of control. The usually neat hair on the side of his head was starting to curl. He looked like shit.
	And then I started to think about Rebecca.
	Seven (easily) feet worth of woman, of muscle and fur and those soft smiles that split a youthful face and creamy smooth skin. I began to think about how surprisingly gentle she had been when she first grabbed me, like she had been cradling something precocious. It was warm. And in that moment it was sure as shit better than another round of canned peaches. I knew it was only a matter of time before she jumped me. If the other night were any indicator, I’d say it wouldn’t be much time at all.
	I fell down into my desk chair and began to spin around. The room took on an almost panoramic quality. By the time I came to a halt I knew exactly what I wanted to do and reached for my keyboard. Call it a preemptive strike. If it was inevitable at least it could come on my terms.
	It didn’t take me long to find her on Facebook. Rebecca Dalton; birthday May 19th, studies psychology at Woodwick University and works part time at both the local gym and the local pizza place. It was with a start that I remembered I frequented Baxter’s Pizza Kitchen. She must be one of the delivery girls; I couldn’t imagine those biceps in a kitchen. I’m sure we were in the same room at some point, and even if I didn’t notice her she surely must have seen me.
	She responded to my message quickly. She said she could be over in 30 minutes and I told her that would be more than enough time. I began to clean as best I could. Luckily there wasn’t much to do and the worst of it had to be bumming Clarissa’s Febreze without giving away why I needed it. A quick trim with the electric shaver, a shower and some time with a comb seemed to do wonders to mind and body.
She was hammering on the doorbell in what felt like no time at all. I made it a point to be the first to reach the door and usher her into my apartment before anyone could see. More than a little amusement and curiosity played out over her face as she looked around my newly clean place.
	“I haven’t seen it from this angle yet.” She said while gesturing to the window she had only ever peaked into from the outside.
	“How do you like the view?” I asked, thankful that she had broken the tension first. Rebecca turned to look at me and smiled. It felt like she spent a long time trying to see through my outfit.
	“It’s getting better.” I gave her the best smile I could, directing her to the small sofa I had. I sat down opposite her and before I could move she swung her legs up and onto my lap.
	“My bold little man, inviting the tigress into his den.” She purred.
	“I’m not little.”
	“You are to me. But I’m sure you’re big where it counts.” Rebecca assured me.
	“Instead of the usual route these things tend to take I thought we could do something more interesting.” I said, trying to regain 	control of the conversation.
	“The usual route?” She said as her head cocked to the side.
	“The stalking, the surprise sex, you know. The usual route.”
	“Oh? What did you have in mind?” She asked.
	“Lets call this a date.” I said, reaching for the remote and turning on the TV.
	“Scandalous!” She said with a gasp, but I could see I had her as she began to relax into the sofa. She dug her feet gently into my lap and explored with her heels. Some things wouldn’t change, I suppose. It was a start.
	I put on a French movie; ‘He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not’. I figured, you know, a French romance? We got through the whole thing chatting, I mean really chatting. Rebecca was forward in what she wanted but told me she was starting to appreciate my way. Even apologized for ‘the scare that other night’. Asked if I thought her underwear were cute. I told her I came from a small family in the Midwest that didn’t have much experience with her kind beyond the stories.
	“I enjoyed our date. It was relaxing.” She told me as I walked her to her car. She was downright gleefully skipping to it with me in arm.
	“I enjoyed it, too. It was nice to be with you. But I enjoyed our chase the other night more, I think.”
	“M’sorry?” I said, stumbling over my words. Rebecca blushed a little; the first time I had seen her normal confidence take such a hit.
	“There’s something...stirring about the hunt I think. I wouldn’t ever hurt you,” she said hurriedly before continuing, “but you were rather exciting to chase.”
	“You scared me shitless Rebecca.” I said. She giggled.
	“Well, that was the point silly.” We arrived at her car and turned to look at each other. The tension, the anxiety, it seemed as if those few hours had dispersed with all of the negativity that had surrounded her in my mind. I found her beautiful.
	“Well, now that we’ve tried both yours and mine I think we’ll agree my way is better for the long term. I want to know you, not just be taken by you in the dark one night.” I said. She beamed.
	“That will come with time.” She said. And before I could say anything else she leaned in for a hug that lasted a bit longer than was considered normal. I opened the car door for her and she climbed in. And with that she drove away. I turned to make my way back into my building. I was being watched from the windows of my building, an energetic thumbs up which I repaid with the bird.

													Part Five: Around Elves...
	A mutual respect had begun to develop between us. But there was no denying the sometimes intensely awkward sexual tension. She was clear with what she wanted to take and I was clear with what I might one day be willing to give. It felt like we’d fallen back into the initial dynamic. Except now I would let her cuddle me sometimes during a movie.
	There was no more stalking. No more midnight chases. The normalcy I had so highly sought returned except now I had something that was rapidly approaching a relationship. She told me she liked how she could be a girly-girl with me instead of (and I quote) ‘someone with a big pair of man grabbers at the end of each wrist.’ I got a discount on pizza and warm fuzzy hugs from the delivery girl, an excuse I’m sure to rub her scent on me to make sure what she considered rightly hers wasn’t taken away. I found I didn’t care so much.
There was one thing though that troubled me. Based on my admittedly limited understanding of her races psychology and behavior, the approaching full moon posed a potential problem. So I asked her about it the night before over the phone.
	“Why? You scared?” She teased. There was a twist to her voice, like she was hoping that I might be.
	“No I’m just making sure I’m not going to wind up in the hospital is all.” I said with a little laugh that only partly disguised my growing unease.
	“Mmmm, well. We’ll have to see if I can control myself around my bold little man.” She said curiously. Like she didn’t know the answer.
	“Rebecca I’m serious here.” I said, more than a little alarmed.
	“So am I. I told you to enjoy your head start sweetie.”
	“If you can get in.” I said.
	The moment the words left my mouth I knew I was fucked.
	“Excuse me?”
	“I mean-” I tried. She talked over me.
	“Oh yes, if I get in going to ravish you my love. I’ve been more than patient.” She growled. And then she hung up on me. Rebecca actually hung up on me, and by then it’s going on midnight and the phone tells me we were talking for an hour and 45 minutes but I’m wide awake.
	Oh God Oh Fuck, I’m sitting there in my underwear and less than a thirty-minute drive away is an apex predator that’s coming for me. Over the following day she deliberately ignored my texts. Wouldn’t pick up the phone, hell I even went to both her jobs but I couldn’t find her. No one could.
	The day passed in what felt like a blink. The sun had gone down. Down, passed the trees and the orange-ish pink of twilight had gone black and starry. There was nothing to do but sit there and ride out the storm. I had put on the TV and was sitting there with my phone out. The screen was blank and I was waiting for the moment it would light up and surprise! It had all been one big elaborate prank by Rebecca. Yea, that would be great.
	But the phone did light up. Practically jumping on it, I fumbled for a moment with the passcode lock. The message was short and simple, with all the characteristic directness Rebecca’s kind had about romantic matters.
	“Times up.” Followed by a series of emoji including a clock, a kissy face, and what looked like an eggplant. The tap on the window was just the wind, an insistent clawing sound that I found easy to ignore. It was irrelevant that there was a pattern between when the clawing stopped and the texting started. I just put my phone onto Airplane mode. Easy.
	I turned the TV up and double-checked the four locks on the door, tiptoeing in my socks. It was all rather silly is what I told myself but I still went through the actions for my own peace of mind.
	I was standing at the door when I thought—actually—felt something on the other side. A slight creaking shift in the old wooden floorboards, a shadow distorting the light from the hallway that peaked under the door. But there was no sound. The phone was silent. A laugh track was going off behind me and I was starting to feel the effects of leaving my blanket cocoon on the sofa.
	“This is ridiculous.” I muttered as I got down onto my hands and knees and looked through the gap under the door to see-
	Nothing.
	And then the power went out.
	I fell down and began to grope my way through the dark, a darkness made worse by my own foolish decision to put blinds on the windows. You become aware of things you normally miss in situations like that. Like the sound of your lungs in your chest. The noise you make when you breathe. I laughed it off, fucking Kyle tripped up the circuit breaker again. The kid had a hell of a sense of timing, but that’s all it was surely. I could expect to hear him cursing and groping his way down the hall any second now.
	Any second now. He never came down. I stood by the door listening intensely, but I heard no door. No footsteps. No nothing. Even though it was so dark I couldn’t see my own hand in front of me I found myself going for the locks while looking at the window. My mind was racing with internal calculations. I was on the first floor and needed to get into the basement, it would take about one minute and then the power would come back on and-
	I gently opened the door only to have something slam violently into it.
	I make a run for the bathroom window but trip over the coat rack. Swearing violently as a pair of familiar paws began to wrap themselves firmly around my wrists and a knee dug into my back.
“That was too easy.” Rebecca pouted, her voice dripping with implication and an only just controlled animalistic lust.
	“How’d you get in?” I whimpered as she made a trail of kisses from the nape of my neck to my earlobe and cheek.
	“The Elf told me where the spare key was hidden.” She breathed, more than a hint of amusement to her voice.
	“That bitch-” I began, but her mouth found mine and clamped firmly shut over it.