The words flew out of her mouth, ugly and hateful. Spit sprayed as she jabbed her finger into the air as if she wanted to pierce me. The other, older one stood by the side, glaring at me unblinkingly, never taking her eyes off me. As always, her eyes stayed glued to me, even if I stared back, no shame or embarrassment seemed to befall her. She had no common sense for decency or rudeness. Instead, she scoffed at me disapprovingly, gaze roving over my form and nodding along with the insults thrown at me.

My hand was shaking, my legs felt unstable as pressure built in my chest. I shouldn't feel this way, I had done nothing wrong. Yet my heart raced as blood pumped through it. I was a peaceful creature, timid even, I only wanted to repot my succulents and try out my new watercolours, maybe finish some of my unread books. But I had made the mistake of complaining about the constant noise from the house next door. I only wanted quiet, but these fiends had decided to bring war onto me.

This is why I had preferred to live in abandoned caves away from prying eyes and interactions. But my superior had said I needed to blend in, to socialise, in order to be accepted. So I moved into this neighbourhood.

The pressure was pounding in my temples as the assault continued on and then the older woman pierced me again with her gaze, lingering on a spot just above my shoulder. "You freak, you should go back to where you came from." She spat it at me and a self-satisfied grin played around the corners of her lips.

Something snapped and the pressure in my chest became too difficult to bear. My self-control burst open like a soap bubble and my wings spread out, casting shadows on the ground and over the two puny creatures in front of me. Their eyes widened as I pushed my shoulders back and straightened my back. 

"You mean the place you will end up in once your useless lives end?"

There was no going back now, distress slowly turned into rage and with the flick of my wrist, I opened a hole beneath them. A ring of fire surrounded us as they huddled closer to each other, looking around frightened. I let the flames spread and reach towards them. They shrieked and jumped.

"I'll be sure to take a vacation downstairs when it's your turn to be admitted," I said with a bitter grin as I closed the ground back up and turned to leave.