"--and then he went through the fence, right into your front garden! Not over it, THROUGH the fence!!!"

Ferry heard Mrs. Nosey's high-pitched voice and decided not to come down for breakfast just yet. Instead, he chose to listen to another of their neighbour's tall tale.

"I can't tell you the fright I've been through," Mrs. Nosey continued, gasping. "He was all full of fur and he had red eyes. Believe me, I saw him pretty well. I was at the window at the time, waiting for Mr. Nosey to come from work."

Mrs. Nosey wasn't invited to their home too often. Her curious, gossipy nature was not liked by any of the Donovans. But considering the latest circumstances, she broke her will and paid them a visit, anyway. Uninvited.

"That was three.... no, four nights ago," she continued. "Then I saw that winged creature flying over your house. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a bird, it was too big for a bird. It was a... man with black wings! He flew in circles over your house, and landed in your walnut tree, in the backyard. I don't know how long he stayed there, for I was too frightened to look. I crossed myself and spat three times. Then I spun three times in one leg, as my poor mother taught me, to defend myself from evil. When Mr. Nosey arrived, that creature was gone," she said, shaking her head.

Mrs. Nosey was talking all by herself. Once in a while, Mrs. Donovan nodded. Mr. Donovan, obviously disturbed for not being allowed to read his newspaper in peace, was throwing a 'Yes' or 'Of course', hoping their talkative neighbour would eventually leave.

But Mrs. Nosey had no intention of leaving. She sat comfortably at the kitchen table, sipping from her cup of hot tea and chewing on some cookies. Crumbs were coming out of her mouth as she was talking, dangerously close to Mr. Donovan's newspaper. He retreated from their way at the edge of the table, muttering something about how awful she must have been feeling.

"Then, two nights ago, I saw a man with a hat, sunglasses, and a raincoat. He was accompanied by a woman with a pointy hat. Who would wear sunglasses during winter, at night? Don't you find that odd?" she asked, stopping to catch her breath.

"I'm sure you were just tired, at the end of a long day, and all that you saw was only in your head," Ferry's mother tried to calm her down.

"Oh, no, I'm pretty sure what I saw was real," she persisted, shaking her head.

Ferry though he should come to breakfast or else he would have been late for school.

He greeted their visitor, feeling a bit awkward. He knew Mrs. Nosey never really liked him. She was always staring at him as if an animal at the circus. Even now, in front of his parents, she couldn't help but stare.

"Ferry, dear, you look so... big. They grow up so fast... You look absolutely... charming," she said, forcing a smile. Although Ferry's elongated eyes, with white eyelashes, his pale skin, and his white hair looked anything but charming.

Ferry took a seat at the table, sipping from his chamomile tea his mother prepared every morning. Under Mrs. Nosey's prying gaze, of course.

"And that is not all," she returned to her story. "The other night, as I was sitting by the window, it was getting dark... That is the time when they usually appear, you know? What was I saying?" she said, catching her breath. Then she continued even more passionately, "Oh, last night, what do you think my poor eyes saw? A tall, large man, with a long coat, all the way to the ground and a turban! He wasn't as strange as the other ones, but the way he behaved was even stranger. He appeared in front of your house out of thin air. He watched the house for a couple of moments and then he... vanished! Just like that! I got out of my house as fast as I could, but he was gone!... Like vanishing in a blink of an eye! But to my horror, he left something behind. Some footprints. There were hoof marks in the snow!" she almost shouted.

Ferry almost choked on his tea when hearing about the hoofed-man. Up until then, he was amused by Mrs. Nosey's story. Now, he was curious.

"The marks," she continued "turned up out of the blue and ended the same way. As if that creature was coming out of nowhere. I've never seen anything like that my entire life!"

But Mr. Donovan's patience was coming to an end, "All right then! What is it that you think we should do about it?"

Mrs. Nosey was putting on airs, "Well, I've talked to Mr. Nosey and a couple of my friends from the church. And we have decided that some of our kind neighbors should watch over your house and see what happens in your garden. From a hidden place, of course. Your workshop seems like the perfect place. My husband already volunteered. I'm sure Mrs. Donovan will be kind enough to make one of her famous muffins for us, the Watchers," she said, forcing a smile again.

"The Watchers?" asked his father, raising one eyebrow.

"That's how we have decided we should call our group of good neighbours from our beautiful community."

But Mr. Donovan couldn't keep it to himself anymore, "Listen, Mrs. Nosey, if you think I am going to leave some bored old people messing around in my garden and my workshop, you are terribly wrong!" he shouted, hitting the table with his fist. "We are respectable members of this community, and I won't let an old lady with liquor dizziness gossip around!"

Mrs. Nosey jumped to her feet. "Mr. Donovan, what are you implying?" she revolted.

"I'm not implying anything. I'm telling you right in your face─ I won't allow you to gabble nonsense about my family. We've never seen, nor have something to do with those strange people!"

Then, he raised from the table and stormed out the door.

Mrs. Nosey whined. But Mrs. Donovan put her hand on Mrs. Nosey's shoulder and told her in a soft voice, "Mrs. Nosey, if you say you saw something, that means you did. Maybe they were the shadows of the trees at dusk. Or maybe the marks of some toy on the snow. Or maybe you were just tired... But you shouldn't think about those things anymore. They're only upsetting you... More tea?"

⃰

Ferry was almost sure who were those four mysterious strangers who created such hubbub in his town. They were their pets, just as he suspected from the very beginning. But why appearing in this shape, he couldn't tell. Yet the last stranger, the one Mrs. Nosey talked about at breakfast, left him speechless.

At school, the visitors were a subject just as exciting for the little ones as it was for the grown-ups. The children came up with dozens of theories, each one more curious and stranger than the other.

"I bet they're aliens," said Ben with a sparkle in his eyes. "Maybe they've sent messengers ahead to study us. Before the great invasion."

"You and your aliens!" Matilda cut him short. "If it were you, you would be glad to see this planet invaded. What kind of human are you?"

"It's not that... But wouldn't you want to learn more about this big universe we're living in? I'm sure aliens exist. And if they ever decide to meet us, I hope to be among the first to have contact with them. I'm not afraid," he bragged.

" I bet you'll be among the first to run," Matilda laughed.

But the mysterious strangers kept on showing up in town, to vanish the next moment. Panic was coming upon the local people. Nobody knew who they were from and what they wanted. Nobody, except Ferry.

Shortly after, the encounters with the four strangers became ever more often. Ferry, Matilda, and Ben met them when least expecting, at every street corner, whether they were going or coming from school. Matilda even dared to follow one of them, the one with the detective costume, all the way to a dead end. But right around the corner, he vanished without a trace as if evaporating.

"If only Shadow was here, I'm sure we would have caught him," she said. "I wonder what happened to him... He's been missing before, but never that long. I hope he'll come back. I really miss him..." she added with sadness in her voice.

The same sadness took over Ben and May. They felt so absent-minded ever since their pets were missing. Ferry wished he could tell them, but that meant telling the truth about himself. And he wasn't ready yet.

The strangers continued to make appearances. The children met them at the playground, hidden behind the old trees. They didn't dare to come closer. They were just watching. And if a brave child dared to come closer, the strangers were nowhere to be seen.

"I bet those freaks are friends of Donovan," Billy said one morning, in the classroom. "How come they turn up the same places he is?"

Ferry couldn't say anything. How could he, when he knew Billy was right?

"Billy Pride, not everything weird in this town has something to do with Ferry," Matilda defended her friend. Yet Ben looked like he was giving Billy's idea a serious thought.

Even the local newspaper, 'The Voice of Goodharts', noticed the presence of the strangers in town and asked the locals to be cautious. Before the strangers appeared, the newspaper was presenting the costs of groceries milk, details of the local holidays or how important was the sawmill for the prosperity of the town. Then suddenly, Mr. Porter, also known as Porter the reporter, had turned into a true investigator. He owned the dairy store in town and in his spare time he was the reporter, the editor, the printer, and the owner of the local newspaper. And now he had found the perfect subject to drag the town from the numbness he fell into every February when nothing was happening. And, just like he was expecting, the sales for his newspaper grew mainly because of the odd news. Fortunately, his main witness was Mrs. Nosey, and she wasn't the most reliable witness. Most of the people had called her stories only exaggerations. To Mr. Donovan's content, who could now breathe easily and not worry about the Watchers anymore. Nevertheless, the people of Goodharts had become more cautious and more careful with everything that happened around them.

Yet Ferry was afraid that someone might get to one of those strangers. And then get to him.

⃰

It was three o'clock in the morning. The hour when people were sleeping. The hour when the shadows gained shapes. When the most ordinary sounds became deeper and mysterious. The hour when the most unusual things could happen without people knowing anything about, the next day.

That late hour, Ferry was still not sleeping; something wouldn't let him sleep. He tried to think about nice things—a sunny day, muffins, his mother and... May. But nothing could bring the sleep. His senses were more awake than ever. He could hear every crackle, every creak. Outside, the night was wailing in sighs of wind. The shadows of the branches were growing on his room's wall, turning into giant dragons, brave knights with spears, and old witches with long, bony arms, trying to grab him.

When he felt the raven's stone burning on his chest, he knew something was about to happen. He jumped off the bed and went straight to the window. He could hear whispers carried away by the wind. Somebody was there, in the backyard. The branches of the walnut tree were hiding the silhouettes which found a shelter near the old tree's trunk. Ferry couldn't hear or see anything. The stone was burning his chest, so he took it out, leaving it on the nightstand.

He quickly put some clothes on and got out of the room. He tiptoed down the stairs until he reached the back door. The walnut tree was far from the door and Ferry still couldn't see who was whispering in the backyard. He easily came out and hid behind a sheet his mother had put to dry the other day. He discovered a small hole in the sheet and now he could see. His heart raced and he could barely hold a shout from bursting out. Their pets were there! Izzy, Shadow, Harry, and Baldie. Or better yet, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.

Rosemary was sitting in his swing and she seemed so pleased about it. She wasn't wearing the hat anymore, which had probably fallen somewhere close. Her long ears could now move at will. Sitting against the tree trunk there were Sage and Parsley. While Thyme, his raven, was walking back and forth in front of them.

"I wonder why he wanted to see us," said Thyme. He seemed nervous.

"I don't know," Matilda's dog answered, now in the shape of a human-wolf. "I've had the boy under my sight the whole time. We all had."

"Maybe we should have done more than that," the human-lizard added. He wasn't wearing his hat either, nor the funny raincoat and his scales were spreading a greenish light around.

The only one who seemed content was Rosemary. She was still swinging, giggling. Ferry thought he should tell May her rabbit was actually a girl.

But he didn't get to think too much about it for he heard footsteps coming closer. He throbbed, just like all the magical creatures in front of him did. Now they were all up on their feet. From somewhere beyond their neighbor's garden, someone came towards them. And the sound of steps he thought he heard was actually the sound of... hoof. Before he could tell, the mysterious visitor showed up in the middle of the others. Ferry could barely breathe. It was Mr. Pancake! The very Mr. Pancake on Ben's circus poster! He was wearing a long, purple cloak that entirely covered his body. Ferry was almost afraid to watch him. He was afraid of his big horns which were majestically decorating his head and his yellow eyes which seemed to pierce the sheet behind which he was hiding.

All the magical creatures took a bow.

"Lord Stephan, welcome! What brings you here now when so many hardships have come upon Akna?"

The Pan, as Ben said such creatures were called, frowned.

"I had to come!" his voice thundered, making the air around vibrate. "Your behavior brought me here!"

None of the others dared to speak, their eyes to the ground.

"I had to leave Akna for your foolishness," he roared. "How could you show your real selves in front of so many humans?!!"

"Lord Stephan, if I'm allowed," Sage dared to speak, "we had to. Our powers are limited when in animal shape..."

"You interfered in the lives of humans when he was arguing with the other boy. And I am talking about you, Thyme," he said, piercing with his eyes the human-raven.

"I had no choice," Thyme said, facing the Pan. "That boy was hurting him. With iron, even!"

"But you broke the code of the Book of Fairies! We must not interfere in people's lives. Even if it's about one of our own kind... We must leave him to fend for himself."

"With the risk of being hurt?" Thyme revolted.

"Yes, with the risk of being hurt. Our duty is to protect him from those who want to harm him, but of our own kind," said the Pan.

Thyme looked to the ground. His voice was shaken, "I'm so sorry... I just didn't want things to happen like the last time. When... I couldn't save them. It was only my fault..."

Pan's rage seemed to decrease. "No, Thyme. When will you stop blaming yourself? They were too many, and you were all alone. This time, there's more of you, each one with a special power. Together, you can defend him until his time shall come."

"I don't know if he is ready..." Thyme hesitated.

"Not just yet. That's why we brought him here, into the world of humans, to keep him safe. He must not suspect anything. The less he knows, the better. We must wait for him to grow up. And here, in the world of humans, our waiting will be shorter. He will grow up and become what he is meant to become. Our Savior."

But Thyme didn't seem to agree, "But he knows now. She told him."

"Maybe," the Pan answered and for the first time, Ferry felt like he was hesitating. He didn't seem so confident. "Yet, he's in doubt. He doesn't know what to believe. And living among people for so long has made him more of a human and less of a fairy. He feels and thinks like a human. So he will try to find a logical explanation for all the unusual things happening around him. That's what humans do. Sometimes, they even ignore the obvious. And what is unknown to them keeps them away. Fear keeps them away."

The Pan took a few steps away from the others. He looked far towards the northern hills.

"What about her?... How is she?" he asked and Ferry felt his voice trembled.

"She is all right, just like you know her..." Thyme answered. "Just as lonely and as sad. She doesn't go out too often. I fly sometimes over her house and I see her watching somewhere, in the distance."

The Pan sighed. Then he became as confident as before, "All you have to do is not letting him out of your sight. And you can do that best only as animals. This is the only way you won't have people observing you. You won't get their attention like you've already had."

"But we cannot protect him properly when we are animals," Sage, the human-wolf, interfered. "That's why we are shifters, so we can change our shape when in need. But when we are ourselves, our powers are much stronger."

"That doesn't mean you have to draw people's attention like you did ever since danger appeared. The way you were dressed, the way you behaved, all these drew attention even more. You should have tried to behave the way humans do."

Now it was Parsley's turn to speak, "Well, I think I had the best disguise. In Ben's house, there is a magical box with images and sounds coming out when you push a magical button. And you can see stories inside that box. With no one having to tell. You can see those stories as they happen right in front of your eyes. And in one of those stories, which I usually watch on Saturday nights, the hero was best disguised when he wore a hat, sunglasses, and a raincoat. And no one seemed to notice him. It is a mystery to me why I drew everyone's attention in such a good disguise."

The Pan laughed. A burst of frightening, loud laughter. "That box you are talking about it is not magical. It is just an invention of humans to forget about their worries and troubles. Nothing you watch there is real. They are only illusions. And more, ordinary people don't dress like that. Maybe if you had dressed like one of the workers at the sawmill, people in this town wouldn't have minded you."

"Disguise is easy for you," Rosemary interfered. "I have long legs and long ears. How could I possibly hide them?"

"That is precisely why you have to go back to your animal shape. And Garrett will be safe as long as he doesn't know too much about himself or about us. Even more, he has the raven's stone, one of the most powerful objects in our world."

"But he doesn't know how to use it!" Thyme burst out. "And how can I possibly defend him as a raven? They've sent a Nihil after him! They know about him! And they know where to find him. I could barely manage to chase away the nihil when it came after him and his friends, that Halloween night. And I certainly wouldn't have succeeded as a bird."

"Yes, but they also know he doesn't have fairy powers yet. They also know he never visited fairyland and that his powers haven't been brought out. His powers will be revealed only in fairyland. Until then, we must keep him away from fairies, good or evil. You can always change into fairies if he is in danger. But until then, you will return to your animal shapes," said the Pan with determination.

"It's easy for you," Sage mumbled. "You get to be spoilt with treats. I sleep in my kennel every night and have bones for dinner."

"Flies, locusts, and all sorts of insects aren't a treat either," Parsley complained. "Fortunately, I get cookies in secret from time to time, from Ben's sisters."

A rooster's song interrupted their talk. The Pan was preparing to leave, and he set for the neighbouring garden, the same place he came from.

"I must go," he said. "And I'm afraid I can't come back here too soon because I also drew the local people's attention. I'm not a Shifter like you..."

"Farewell, my Lord!" said all the other magical creatures, taking a bow.

Ferry couldn't wait much longer, or else they have caught him. He snuck back to his room and got in bed, put his raven stone back on and pulled a thick blanket over his head. He managed to fall asleep in the morning when darkness was chased away by daylight.

Ever since that night, nobody in Goodharts saw the strangers again. And the very night, the pets returned to their little masters.

So, this is the first time I use multimedia for my story. Tell me what you think of it. Also, don't forget to vote and comment! Thank you!