The Orc Next Door

Just when I thought my life in foster home hell couldn’t be any more messed up, the orc ships showed up.

Since then, it’s been Orc hate and human flight and a new normal none of us could have imagined.

Then, the shell of the house next door is suddenly inhabited. There’s banging all night as my new neighbor turns a once rambling mid-century ranch home on Maple Street into a chaotic mass of logs and mud decorated with skulls and animal hides.

I’m hunkered down ready to defend my turf against the orc next door as well as the darkness of my past, when I get the first look at him. He’s got the teeth, the tongue, the leathery skin, the noises…but soon he has something more. My curiosity.

But, that’s not enough for him. When he sets those glowing red eyes on me and catches my scent, it’s on like Donkey Kong. Seems these Orcs have it hard for their fated mates and apparently, I’m his.

Holy sheet.