Wait for a black bus they said. A black bus with gold outlines, that is the bus you must take to the state you're moving in. Those were the words that were spoken to him, looking at the tickets that were given to him practically for free. Tickets to a new state, a place where "people" like him can live. Now, he was no criminal, heck, he was as average as any person with a clean slate would be. But his "new self" was a condition that had allowed him to live in the new state. 

Mythos State, they called it. John sighed, looking around to keep his mind distracted from the recent events that lead up to this point. He looked at several people beside him at the bus stop. A woman and a few men were waiting for their bus to arrive as well. All of them were on their phones, none of them paying attention to what was going on. John looked behind the people, seeing what is supposedly their true selves. A snake sort of person, mostly snake, but with humanoid traits to go along with it. A snake-like body slithers across the floor, curling its tail to take as little space as possible. Shimmering grey scales would beautifully armor the serpent, reflecting the light like glitter. Eyes of gold, they stare right into the phone that it was holding, a small forked tongue sticking out as its lips were curled to a smile. This serpent was the woman, the human was almost like a transparent figure, made of glass. The figure mimics every movement the serpent makes, while the serpent seems to be the puppeteer. However, the serpent also had a sort of angelic halo. Not the kind that was a simple ring that floats over one's head; rather it was behind the head, encompassing around the head when seen from a front view.

One other thing that they told him, not to touch the halos. The people he met didn't give him many details, but they did tell him that there was a rule not to tinker with those halos. John did not want to get into trouble. But, his curiosity had gotten the better of him. Of course, he still abided by the rule of not touching the halo. But he put his hand in the space between the halo and the serpent. The serpent turned, along with the woman figure, both staring at him. John's skin crawled, feeling he immediately did something wrong.

"What are you doing?" asked both serpent and woman.

"Uh...sorry." John scratched the back of his head. "I thought I saw something."

As John continued looking at the serpent, he notices that the pupil slits had a solid glowing ring around them, similar to the angel halo behind her. "Oh...well, it's alright. You just startled me is all." 

"I'm sorry." John apologized. 

"It's fine." the serpent's smile crept up a bit farther, before returning her eyes to her phone in her hands.

John's ears caught the sound of a bus hissing to a stop. Turning back, he notices that the bus was black and gold, just like the people had told him. The door opened, showing that the driver was...a pegasus? Well, it was a horse person, with wings as big the body, neatly tucked away to reserve space.

"Are you heading to Mythos State?" asked the pegasus.

"Uh...yes." John shows his ticket.

Stepping into the bus, the bus driver takes the ticket and examines it, before setting it into a slot scanner. The scanner light glows green, confirming that the ticket was not pirated.

"You can ride." the driver motioned John to take a seat.

Entering the bus, he sits down on the nearest seat to the bus doors. His eyes drift to the sight of several other people. Well, John would have preferred in calling them monsters or creatures, as that is what these people are. A mother and child were unicorns, while a lonely man was a goat person, a Capricorn if one prefers to call him that. And while calling them monsters or creatures would have been appropriate in definition, it was also degrading too. Because John looked at himself once again, reminding himself that he is the same kind of monster as the people on the bus.

Being a bit of a nerd for mythology and monsters allowed John to recognize what these people are. Even that knowledge proves useful to him as he recognizes what he is. He was a wendigo, a creature born of cannibalism. Looking upon his hand, he could see how skinny they were, bony like ice picks. His entire body was coated in black fur and seemingly lacks much muscular structure, but he did not feel any sort of weakness from that lacking muscle. His legs were long and skinny, feet replaced with cloven hooves. A little tail was also at the base of his spine, he could feel it dangle inside his pants, which his thin body seems to fit just barely without falling off by the assistance of a belt. And by looking at his chest underneath his shirt, he could see his exposed ribcage, where many humanoid organs were inside of him, hidden away from the world with his sunny yellow shirt. It was uncomfortable to look at, so he takes a picture of himself, to look at one final detail.

A deer skull was his entire head, short antlers, and a mouth hinged to the skull with his tissue, where a purple tongue lies. While deer usually do not have any sort of fanged teeth, his skull head had canines and many other teeth meant to rip through flesh. Some ears behind his skull head can be seen behind his short antlers. And last, but not least, his eyes. He lacked physical eyes, instead, two sizeable lights act as his "eyes". They glow with a crimson tinge, giving him a rather intimidating face. And since he lacked eyebrows, he cannot express his emotions as a person normally would.

The only things on him were his passport and some folders containing papers for immigration, all contained in a small backpack. They said that all his property will be sent over to his new household. John let out a sigh, it was relief that he was feeling, as the problem regarding his valuables were haunting his mind. So, it meant that he would get them back in due time through means he is still not aware of. But with time to himself, his mind wandered to the recent memories once again.

...

...

The night was young, John was heading out to a new restaurant that he heard of. His friends were already there, and everyone was banking a percentage of their own money to pay for the full course meal. It was a potluck, and John's stomach was growling, since it has been a few months since he went to a restaurant of such high quality. After driving over to the nearest parking lot, since the parking spaces at the restaurant were already packed to the brim, he heads over to the eatery, with nothing much in mind but the anticipation for delicious delicacies to be tasted.

Barging through the doors invites him to the smells of the foods being cooked. What John could distinctly smell was meat. John loved meat, one could say he was a carnivore. The aromas allow a smile to curl on his face, heaven was just a bite away.

"How may I help you?" a brunette waiter smiled at the sight of his entrance.

"Oh! Yes, I am here with four others. They're waiting for me."

"Ah yes, they told me about you. You must be John Carter, right?"

"Yes. Can you show me where their table is?" asked John.

Following the waiter, John finds his friends already waving at him. They were in a booth with a large sleek wooden table separating the trio.

"Took you long enough!" says Tim, one of John's friends.

"Yeah, sorry for the wait. You know how many people are lined outside?"

"I know, hey look, appetizers are already coming up, so take a seat," said Lily, scooting over to give John some room to sit down.

Just as he lands on the comfy cushion of a seat, the appetizer had arrived. There was a menu where John sat down, but he fully ignores it to feast his eyes upon the appetizer. It was simple meatballs, with small loaves of garlic bread neatly stuck to the other side. John's mouth already watered at the seams.

"What is this?" Asked John.

"Our appetizer silly." Holly takes a garlic loaf and a meatball. "It's called garlic bread sandwiches. You should try one." and already she was biting out of the folded bread and meatball, moaning at the taste.

Wanting to immediately dive in to explore the flavors of the appetizer, John greedily takes a garlic bread loaf and a meatball, folding the loaf in two, stuffing the meatball betwixt the folded loaf, and taking one massive bite. John was the kind to never really savor the flavor, just consuming as much as he could as if he was starved for several days. And mysteriously, no matter how much he ate, he never seemed to gain any weight whatsoever. John just took this mystery as some form of metabolism and used that excuse to eat as much as he pleases. 

This time, it did not end so well. His eyes were closed, embracing the mixed flavor of garlic and turkey meatball. Or...at least he thought it was turkey. It felt like beef, but a bit tender. He wasn't sure what to make of the taste. Beef should not have this slight stringy quality to it. He could feel his face tense up from the mysterious and foreign characteristic, unable to decipher what the meat truly belonged to. Though, the matter in concern for meat had passed as he opened his eyes. Where his friends used to be were 3 monstrosities before him. From what he guessed, without instantly running for his life, were werewolves. They wore the clothes that his friends had worn, even the color dye can be seen from the mane that seems to make up for hair; which applies to Holly since she is the one with multiple hair dyes splashing across her hair to make a rainbow of a hairstyle.

"Hey...are you alright?" the werewolf, which had Lily's voice, looked concern at John. "You look like you've seen a ghost or something." to which Tim and Holly laughed lightly to lift the mood.

"I..." John was unable to form any coherent words. His thoughts raced like bullets in the air. What was he looking at? His friends were werewolves? And...what is with those rings of light in their eyes, and behind their heads too?!

"Are you ready to take your order?" the brunette waiter had come back, her face stretching that professional smile.

John looked at the waiter, seeing that she was at least human. "Thank God, I must be going crazy. Am-Am I seeing things? I'm sorry, it's just....I-I think my friends look like werewolves now."

John noticed how his sudden ramble seems to spook her, looking at his friends before back at him. "I um...I don't think I follow you. They seem perfectly normal to me. Well, do you have your order ready?"

John turned around to see the werewolf in Lily's spot opening the menu for him, pointing at one of the pictures. "I think a sirloin steak with mash potatoes and greens would be fine for him."

"Thank you." John noticed how she masked her immediate concerns with that smile once again. "We'll have it ready as soon as possible.

John finds another ring of light behind the waiter as she hurriedly walked around to the management office, which was next to the kitchen. He wasn't sure what to think about what was going on right now.

"Hey. Look, it might just be an accident." Tim sighed. "I'm sure whatever you're seeing right now is from some kind of chemical that got into the food you just ate."

"Heh, well if that's the case, it's going to be a bad hit for their reputation," mumbled John. "And seriously, deciding for me? Low blow Lily."

"You took too long." Lily pointed out.

"Yeah, well next time you-"

John was hoping that he could snatch a second order to take home, but his eyes stopped at his hand, which was about to flip to the next page of the menu pamphlet. Long bony hands with dull claws were touching the plastic covering the pamphlet, his fingers relaying that sense of touch. His eyes went wide, jerking back as he watched this foreign yet familiar limb obeying the commands of his mind. Flicking his wrist, and turning around, there was no hesitation or delay.

"Oh, God." John murmured.

"Hey, stay calm," Lily said, about to touch John. But he jerks his hand back. "You're going to be alright."

"I...I look like a wendigo now." John laughed nervously. His mind gave him the delusion that he was just hallucinating, just like what Tim mentioned.

"Seriously?" Tim chuckled. "Let me guess, you ate a meatball made of humans."

"You got a knife?" asked John.

"Hey hey hey. Just settle down." Tim, Lily, and Holly were scooting away from John.

"No no, I'm not going to make a gash or anything. I just want you to prick my finger." laying out his hand on the table.

"John- I'm not going to cut you even if you give me 20 dollars to do it." protested Lily.

"Excuse me?" said a new voice.

Everyone turned to see what appears to be the manager of the restaurant, a gruff looking man with a pointed shaved beard. He has a bit of a gut belly and some ginger hair. Other than that, he was as average as a person would be.

"You must be..." The man looks over to the wendigo.

"John, John Carter," answered John.

"I would like you to come with me John." asked the man. "I heard that you might have had an accident?"

"Yes, I-I think I am seeing the people here as monsters." John looked around, everyone was practically a monster. His memory serves correct that some of the monsters here should not be able to fit the room they were standing in, yet they seem small enough to do so.

"I see. Please, come with me to my office. I should have some activated charcoal to deal with it." the manager stepped back.

The wendigo stood up, looking down at his cloven hooves for feet. Somehow, despite being completely different in structure, he found himself completely capable of walking. He followed the manager to the office, the waiter following right behind him. After entering the manager's office, John quickly looked around the room. It was a simple modern design, with a desk lamp and a laptop on a table. A single comfy seat was in front of the table, John sat down on the said seat. 

While the manager was about to sit down, he said: "John, I'm very sorry about what happened."

"No, it's alright. I'm sure it was a mistake." John felt a little guilty, seeing that his situation could sink the reputation of the restaurant.

"But I must mention something to you." urged the manager. "What do you see me as?"

John tilted his head. "A...a human?"

Then a pair of grey wings sprout from the shoulders of the man, a ring of light manifesting behind his head. John noticed this was the same ring of light behind the heads of his friends.

"What about now?" asked the manager.

"Um... an angel?" John was afraid of answering, he had the feeling that whatever he was looking at was either the work of the chemical in the meatball he just ate, or that it was all real, and an angel came to smite him from existence.

"I see," said the manager. "You aren't on any kind of hallucinatory drug, Mr. Carter."

The answer given to him didn't seem to pass his mind, rather, he thought it was a joke. "Hahaha, and now you're telling me that my friends are actually werewolves."

The silence that met his bluff made him sweat. John's delusion was immediately crumbling. Were these visual hallucinations real? That the people here was a monster? That angels do exist? That HE is a monster?

"Y...You're kidding me right?" John whimpered. "You're not fucking with me?"

"No, we are not." said the manager. "Everything you are seeing is real. What you are seeing is the truth of the world as you know it."

"You mean....those fucking monsters out there are going to eat me?!" pointing out of the window, partially veiled with window blinds.

"No, no one is going to eat you. In fact, why haven't YOU eaten anyone?"

John paused, that part was true. He heard that wendigos usually eat humans. If he were to have gone ravenous, he would have eaten someone right away. But then he had a thought.

"Because no one around me is human?"

"Damn he is good." the manager said aloud. "Look, let's just say that humans....are...gone."

"...Excuse me?"

"Let me make this simple, it's a little complicated." the manager recomposed himself. "Humans used to exist, back then. But....it's been a long time since they did. We, the angels, set out to make a world where monsters live in the stead of the humans. Because...monsters are the last trace of humanity on this earth."

"I...I don't think I understand."

"Well, we have a class for that."

"A class?"

"In a different place, you'll need this." turning back, the angel rummages through a drawer and takes out a ticket. "A black and gold embroiled bus is what you are looking for. Take the bus from there, into the state."

...

...

He supposed he remembered the memory so well was because it was an event that changed his life, and perspective of the world. He wasn't sure what to make of it. Was mankind being dead for a long time a bad thing? It was a question that he could not tell apart from good or bad. He was, after all, a monster, a byproduct of humanity's fantasy of the world around them. His eyes turn to the world outside. Houses that he had never noticed before was lining across the streets. It was just like any other neighborhood. John guessed this must be the suburban area of Mythos State. But his mind raced with thoughts. Despite the normality of the neighborhood, John knew very well monsters were living inside those houses, monsters like him. The bus squeals to a stop and the wendigo took off to the bus, stepping down to the concrete floor. He realized something, he had never registered for a house. He wasn't even sure if he could register for a house outside of this Mythos State, or perhaps he could but he didn't know about it.

"You must be John Carter?" a voice calls out to him.

Turning around, the wendigo finds an angel with flowing blond hair. With skin as fair, John would have called her an angel even without the wings and halo.

"Yes, that's me." John pointed at himself.

The angel smiles. "Please come with me, your new home has been picked out for you."

As told, John followed the angel, though he asked a few questions along the way. "I didn't talk with any realtors for buying a house."

"We don't have any realtors or brokers outside of Mythos State. When an immigrant enters Mythos, housing is automatically provided for them. Billing occurs after 3 months of residency." answered the angel.

"Oh. That answers a lot, this place looks like a suite."

"We try to provide the best human comfort for people such as yourself."

John paused. "You mean monsters?"

The angel frowned. "We...the people here don't really like to be called that. It's sort of...you know."

"Ah, I see. Sorry about that." John apologized.

"There's no need to be. You're new here, so it's expected."

"I was told I had to take classes?"

"It'll be like college, so your personal and college schedules should be flexible."

"Oh...it shouldn't be too bad then. Did, did my stuff get moved out of my house yet?" asked John.

"One moment, we analyzed the layout of your previous home and we're setting up your furniture right now."

"Uh...alright?" He did not seem to understand what was said.

"Please follow me. Your new home is waiting for you."

Following along, the wendigo keeps his steps small and slow as to not pass ahead of the angel before him. Admittedly, being at 7'2 in height, he found himself walking longer distances with less effort. As he walked past several houses, he would find himself being greeted with other monsters. Most of them had a family, along with children of their own. Making sure that time was not wasted, John kept his talk light, not wanting to get too familiar with the new neighbors yet. 

"This is your house. Number 408, one-story foundation." the angel gestured to the house before them.

It was the most average house John could imagine. A classical small house, square in shape. The roof tiles were a dark stormy grey shade, while the walls of the house were a lighter shade. There were two windows on the front side of the house, and right in the center between the two was the door, red in color, and the only color that popped out of the three. The number 408 was right atop the door, the brightest white the wendigo could imagine.

"Alright, everything you have is now inside your new home." the angel smiled.

John looked around, there was one thing missing. "What about my car?"

"That will come around tomorrow since it is a larger property to transfer." the angel admitted.

"That's understandable." nodded John. 

The angel disappears in a gate of light, at least that is what John could mentally describe. The wendigo suddenly witnessed a diamond made of light, completely two dimensional in shape. The angel smiled, bowing to the wendigo. 

"We hope you get to live with us in Mythos, John Carter." and when she walked into the light, it was gone.

This left John all alone once again, in front of his new home. Without a second thought, bony hands clasp around the small key within the doorknob. With a quick turn, the locks retreat, letting the new owner of the house inside. All the furniture he purchased over the years were all in the same place. From the entrance of the house, the kitchen was right in front of him, the small pots and pans on the hangar and all his utensils in the holder. All of it next to a stove with four burners, while also being part oven. The refrigerator was right at the end of the kitchen, containing all the foods he had bought the week before. The living room composed of two couches, a single large television hanged on the wall with a small table beneath it where the receiver is, two potted plastic plants right on each side. The bathroom contained all the essential needs one would expect for a bathroom. And the bedroom, simple and spacious. His bed was in the corner of the room where a drawer was next to it, with a simple alarm clock and lamp right behind it. Wall shelves line the wall above his bed, his favorite books put right where they were supposed to be. It was as if he never moved at all. Which he found strange, perhaps the angels had some kind of magic to do that.

Those thoughts were pushed out of his head. Today was a hectic day indeed, and all the wendigo wanted to do was to drop flat onto his bed and just go to sleep. In an ironic twist of fate, the doorbell rung, right as his body crashed onto the bed. Rolling off the bed, he stumbles to the door and opens it. No one was there, only a basket with some various assorted fruits, wrapped in plastic, and with a letter with his name. Looking around, he slowly reaches out and takes the basket, bringing it inside. For the time being, John left the basket of fruits on the table, the sky was getting dark and he just noticed how late it had gotten. With the exhaustion of the day settling in for the last time, he lazily puts himself back into his bed, his vision turning black as his consciousness slips into sleep.