Fate Plays Cruel Jokes

At the office, he couldn't believe what he saw. Humans... almost everywhere. Even his boss? The Chairman did this deliberately. Does he want to torture him or force him to quit? Why is this happening to him? That stench of human sweat entered his nose... Disgusting!

Ivaylo was filled with rage but still kept his composure.  The only thing he couldn't control was his glaring. He was giving the death stare to everyone who he deemed under him. Despite of that, his new "boss"; more like a supervisor, welcomed him with open arms. But the human staff members rather kept their distance from him. They heard the reason why he was demoted and stuck into this office building.

Ivaylo was given his tasks and he did them with ease in just half of the time. Everybody was secretly amazed by his skills. The supervisor smiled. Ivaylo proved, why he was the Chief Executive Officer at the headquarters.

At the end of the work day, he called him into his office. "I am really glad to get you on my team. Your work is just amazing!" It was already dusk and only a small table lamp illuminated the supervisor, the rest of the office changed color according to the semaphore light that reached that floor. Red-Yellow-Green...

Ivaylo stood still with his legs spread, arms folded, and a turquoise glow with a glare came through.  The silence after was excruciating. The supervisor just smiled. "I can't wait to keep working with you. See you tomorrow! Wish you a good rest of the day!" Ivaylo smirked and left the office.

Before driving home, he decided to stop at a store to grab dinner or something small to snack on, on the way home. The nearest was a few meters from his office building so he took a walk. Of course, he had to run into the thugs from the weekend. They even brought some more lowly lives with them. They stopped him.

Ivaylo with his hands in his pockets, looked them up and down and rolled his eyes. That infuriated the top dog of the thugs and he went for an attack. He tried to punch Ivaylo but he just slightly moved to the right, spun on his heel, and gave him a good kick into the back. The thug fell to the ground.

The rest followed and one by one were defeated by Ivaylo, who didn't even need to take his hands out for anything. An ironic chuckle from Ivaylo and he was on his merry way to the store leaving the thugs lying on the ground in pain. The boss thug swore for revenge! This day was just annoying... first that office full of despicable human staff and now that Beastmen-thug nuisance. Ivaylo hoped this wouldn't get any worse...

As he was leaving the store with the small plastic bag of some edibles he stopped in his tracks. He raised his head into the air, closed his eyes, and tried to figure out where that beautiful female scent was coming from. He was literally hypnotized by it. How could that be? Maybe it's not that bad to be in this part of the city. Time will tell, this was just the first day...




For the next few weeks, he did anything he had to at his job without a single mistake. The supervisor left him space to do what he knows best, and the new "coworkers" avoided him of course. He was getting home late since the drive took so long, but he never missed his little trip to the store before going home.

He could smell that scent every... single... time he came out of the shop. Although it was driving him crazy that he couldn't figure out the source. It was his mission to find out! He was looking around, but couldn't pinpoint it to anybody. Too many beast people and humans were walking around fast covering it with their own scent. He was sure, that it would come the day he would find that one with that special scent.

Another lonely weekend arrived quickly. What should he do? He didn't disclose to his parents and grandparents about his demotion. He felt too ashamed and also his grandfather had a weak heart in his old age. If he found out that a human caused it, he could have had and heart attack. He had to keep a pretentious mask on and it was driving him crazy and he could only flush it away with alcohol. Otherwise, he would sit at home harming himself physically.

This weekend he was bar hopping from early morning, through the day and all night. Ivaylo even started to slack off his gym visits. He was even losing the drive to seek his fated mate... slowly giving up on everything. Because of the job change, long commutes there and back, no hobbies, and long days of dipping his face in glasses half empty like his feelings... he was drained.



Somehow he went to that outskirt part of the city and saw the bar of the Doberman Beastman. He was a little drunk, but not enough to cause havoc. Ivaylo's personality under the influence showed more emotions and was even more daring. He sat down at the bar in between humans. His face was full of disgust, glaring around himself, nose twitching at that stench that made him nauseous. His ear laid flat to his head.

The owner put juice in front of him instead of whisky. Ivaylo looked up at the Doberman. "I didn't order this kid's drink." He pushed it away. The owner Beastman pushed it back. "I think it will do you good. I can tell... you had enough for today. Rather you should sober up and go home. Tomorrow is Monday and you have work... don't you?!"

Ivaylo looked at his expensive wristwatch. Damn! He was right, but he needs to drive one hour home, then sleep, and one or two hours back? It was Sunday almost midnight. Monday should be a meeting held at 5. am. Well, he could stay here...

"We are closing already so finish your drink and go home to take a rest." Snap! Ivaylo had to come up with a different plan. He left that establishment walking through the outskirts with something on his mind. The weather was colder than usual making his body shake despite the warm clothes. He felt very depressed...

...after a long walk, he came to a bench placed under some trees with already fallen leaves that were losing their color because of rot. That is how he felt right now, like dying... and rotting away.

He sat down with his head hanging down. A warm light in a puddle caught his attention and he lifted his eyes to seek the source on the second floor of a residential building. There it is... a huge window like in a shop.

Drapery curtains in dark midnight blue color hung on the sides, he could see shelves with a bunch of books and decorations on both sides, and on the tops, there were cascades of plants. The base of the window looked like a sitting area with some fluffy blankets and a lot of what seemed to be furry pillows. It looked so warm and cozy... a big contrast to the cold street he sat in.

His mental state worsened and he began to press his shoulder... he should rather leave. He began to walk the streets again... should he go home or should he stay somewhere. He chose to walk the street till morning, not even sleep, just to stay awake all night.

Later at work, he looked terrible and the lingering alcohol in his blood could be smelled even by humans. The supervisor called him in... "Did you drink before work?" Ivaylo turned his back to him and was about to leave. "I did, yesterday... it's just on my clothes. I am fine..." He left the poor guy who always tries to support him despite Ivaylo behaving arrogantly.

The meeting went without problems. Nobody could tell something was wrong with Ivaylo. He behaved like his usual professional self. Later he dialed the number of the Chairman and asked about the investigation... He denied any new information and told him to be patient. Everything in his life was going downhill...

Something snapped in Ivaylo and without a word grabbed his jacket, left the work early, and went straight into a bar drinking. His phone was buzzing next to him with the supervisor's name on it, meanwhile, he was throwing one drink after another into himself.

In the evening at the same time, as he was usually finishing work, he drunkily wobbled down the street from side to side around the store he was regularly buying from. The weather was sad and rainy, in perfect sync with his mood.

Someone obstructed his pathway, he was about to look up... THERE!  He felt a dull pain in his abdomen area, a warm liquid began to flow out gradually staining his clothes red... He got just a second to see the perpetrator... that thug guy...

Beastmen, who were around just walked past him... why they should help some drunk scum? He felt disappointed... nobody would help? Ivaylo slowly slid to the cold wet ground which soon was painted in crimson.

His consciousness was slowly leaving him like the warmth in his limbs. The body began to cool down making him shiver. His eyes were shut as he heard some female calling to him muffled like underwater. "Mister! Mister! Do you hear me?! Don't fall asleep!"

She lifted him gently by his nape and put a scarf around his neck and under his head. His senses were weakened by slowly slipping away from this world into the deep hell, but that scent engulfed him...

It was the same one, he had been seeking for so long... At last, he could see his fated one, which he probably will never see again and will leave her behind, in this cruel world.
Ivaylo mustered his last energy to take one last look at her. He looked at that female...
                              A chill ran down his spine... she was HUMAN!

Fate loves to play cruel jokes...