Let me explain

"Are you crazy?!" I yelled at my roommate. Realising how close we were to the door I decided to whisper instead. "I don't know him, neither do you, are you seriously thinking of letting a strange man inside? What will you do if he kills one of us? Or worse? Hmm? Have you thought of that? We are not in some stupid movie, where acts of kindness are rewarded, we live in the real world, where letting strangers into your home makes you a) crazy b) stupid and c) naive!"

"Okay, okay, I get it. But there's something about him. I can't explain. It's some sort of instinct, I don't know how to phrase it for it to make sense. Just trust me on this one, it's the right thing to do. "

"For who? Certainly not for us."

"Oh, come on, it's two against one, we can totally take him if it comes to that."

"When it comes to that."

"So that's a yes, I can let him in?"

"Tell your instincts I hate them, and they owe me one."

"Sure will." With that, Sam pulled open the door, with a huge grin. "Come on in."

"You sure? That one looks like she'll kill me any second."

"Oh, that's how she always looks, you'll get used to it. Come in, I'll show you to the room where you'll stay." He stepped through the doorstep, giving me a full view of his tall, thin stature. He had a backpack or rather a rucksack. He seemed to be on the run, being homeless probably for a long time.

"Which one of you am I stealing it from?"

"It's mine. Don't worry she's actually happy about that part. She might get lucky this way." Sam winked at me, as I involuntarily rolled my eyes.

"So what brings you here?"

"I can't say, sorry." I glared at Sam. Red flag number one.

"Then what can you tell me?"

"My name, which is Drake, and that I promise I won't be disturbing you for long, a few days max, then I'm gone for good."

"Are you running from somewhere?" I prodded, glancing at his ragged clothes.

"Something like that, b-but don't worry I'm not a criminal or anything." Red flag number two.

"Than what?" I was getting more and more upset. Not only did Sam let in a homeless person, but he could be a criminal as well!

"Can I talk to you in private?" He begged Sam. Reg flag number three!

"Oh, hell no! I'm not leaving you two alone." Not with this red parade. Every word he said set off my inner alarm.

"I'm sure your friend can speak their mind." I shut up, to look at Sam, waiting for an answer.

"Whatever you have to say, you can tell both of us." Ha! I wanted to stick my tongue out but restrained myself.

"Fine. I came from our world. I've been on the run for a decade when I finally figured out a way to escape. I ended up here a few weeks ago, trying to find help. Everyone was afraid of me, either calling me crazy or just simply turning away with disgust. I thought maybe they could smell my blood, but thanks to those computing thingies, I realised my kind doesn't exist here, only in fairytales."

"How did you know we'd let you in?" Sam was asking the questions now, I was too stunned.

"I could smell your blood, I knew a fairy would never refuse someone in need. So when I saw you in the library that day, I followed you home. I hope I didn't scare you, I didn't mean to be so... rude."

"Rude?! That's creepy, to say the least! No wonder people called you crazy. Are you sure it's not a mental hospital you ran from?" Red flags were popping up out of nowhere, we shouldn't have let him in! This was a huge mistake. "I think you should leave."

"Mary, don't... He's a dragonkin," Sam said quietly, looking straight at Drake, with seriousness. "That's why you can smell my blood."

"A dragonkin. You mean the creatures who murder hundreds of people for fun?"

"We... I don't. I ran away from my family when I was old enough to see what they were doing, murdering innocent people, was wrong. However, no one ever believes me, when I say I'm different, they say it's in my genes, I can't help, but be a murderer. I guess there's a lot less difference between humans here and there."

"I'm sorry about her, she just worries for me. Us fairies are known for being targeted by your kind. My kin, the night fairies, almost died out because of your race." He seemed remorseful for a few seconds, then as if only noticing me for the first time, started asking all these questions.

"She's not from our world, is she? So how come she knows so much? Did you tell her? How did you make her see? How are you not in some mental institute?"

"I'm not sure, we became friends early on in school and somehow all those years of trust and reliability helped her not question my sanity after I came out."

"Oh come on, you showed me your magic, that would've convinced anyone."

"You still have your magic? You didn't lose it when you came here?" He asked, eagerly. Too eager. I lost count, but another red flag. Still, there was no way I could convince Sam to kick him out, not now when we invited him in already. I guess he won't do much harm if he can no longer breathe fire. Or at least he'll do less of it.

"I was sent here, I wasn't on the run or fell through a portal. I was deliberately sent here.... for reasons." My roommate wasn't a secretive or private type, more of an oversharer actually, but speaking about the past, was something we never did. Sam never let me ask anything that would even hint at the fairy's mission here.

"I told you he wasn't going to murder us," Sam whispered to me, later that night, while we lay in bed.

"Don't jinx it, you might wake up next to a much quieter me."

"Nah, I'm not that lucky" Sam murmured into my back, arms around me, holding on tight.

"What do you think he'll do? I mean how will he adapt?"

"Based on his story he really wanted to get out of there, I never heard of someone getting away without the help of some powerful magic. He probably gave up many things in order to come to this place, with that motivation, I don't think he'll have a problem. We can always help if he does, right?"

"Wasn't what I was going for, but sure. As long as he doesn't mess up what we have, I'll teach him how to act like a human."

"Good, now go to sleep, you're unmanageable when you're tired." I didn't even hear the last part of the sentence I was out. I didn't even get the chance to scold the fairy for using magic on me. I'll do it in the morning.

I wake up to an empty bed. It shouldn't bother me, after all, a fairy doesn't need much sleep, I know that, but something didn't feel right. I was out the door in what seemed like seconds, yelling for Sam. No answer. Now I was sure something was wrong. I ran around the living room, into the bedroom. Another empty bed welcomed me. Oh, I was in a mood to kill, now. The last room was the bathroom, the door suffered for my rage, as I ripped it open. Sam was lying on the floor, unconscious. I ran to check the pulse. I let out a sigh of relief, the fairy was alive. Now, where was that lying son of a bitch?! I yelled his name, shockingly no answer came.

"Sam, Sam, where did he go?" What if he was still in the house planning his next move? I needed to find him.

"Hmm?"

"Drake, the dragonkin, where is he?"

"He left." Good, we'll deal with him later, now I have to worry about my partner.

"What happened?"

"He needed me."

"For what?! What did he do?" No reply. I finally scanned Sam's body, looking for any bruises or cuts. That's when I finally saw it. The t-shirt was bloody, I lifted it to find a gash on my roommate's stomach.

"He needed my blood. He needed it-" I didn't care about the explanation, so I ignored it. I ran to get the first aid kit. How could I let Sam get hurt? I knew we shouldn't have let him in, I knew it was dangerous! Why did I let a fairy, the most gullible of creatures, convince me? Why didn't I talk to Drake before letting him live with us? I took a deep breath and tried to expel all of my worries, it was not the time nor the place to reprimand myself. Sam needed me, it was time to repay my debt.