I don’t know what called me, but suddenly, there I was, in a room crowded with humans, instead of sitting in front of my dinner.

Oh well. Work calls and I answer.

I stood in the center of a large habitat full of males. I couldn’t be taller than three feet, wearing a soft human dress that landed at my knees. Most of the humans stood clustered around something I couldn’t quite see, taking photographs and holding drinks, their backs to me. A tray of dirty metal tools crouched to my left, spattered with human gore.

Why couldn’t I move? Oh, my arms were stuck to a table with strips of something gray. I twisted and the stuff pulled at my skin. Sticky.

No matter. More important was to discover why I’d been called here. To summon me, the child must have been terrified, scared enough to flee its flesh so I could take over. It floated elsewhere now, weightless and comfortable, leaving the dirty work to me.

So it went. I wouldn’t begrudge a child its escape. Not even a human one.

And yet, I couldn’t see any immediate danger. I twisted around, pulling one arm painfully free. More human males stood behind me.

“Hey now, little girl,” one of them said. “Don’t go trying to get away.” Its shirt hung open, dotted with red stains.

They all sidled closer, wide smiles flashing white.

A second put its face near mine, its breath carrion sweet. “We’re only getting started. And remember, if you scream, it’ll hurt worse.”

The others didn’t speak. They had rust-colored marks on their sleeves and faces, and as they approached, I caught the whiff of fresh blood.

I did a quick overview of my human body.… Ah. Patches of skin beneath this dress had been carefully removed, something else stitched into its place. Three of her fingers were not original to this body. Taken from someone else and sewn on.

That was why I’d been summoned.

One of the humans grabbed my arm. Panic rampaged through me, tripling my heartbeat and blurring my vision. I couldn’t move.

Come now, human body. None of that.

As his fingers closed, I snaked my head down and bit him, transforming my teeth into needles. He screamed and swung a meaty fist past my head.

Heads turned. Smiles turned to frowns.

I didn’t wait to see what they’d do. This body knew. It already carried the wounds.

Using most of my stored energy, I elongated my fingers into deadly points. Slash slash. The closest two males fell, gushing blood, their screams turning to gurgles.

The rest came at me.

I grinned, flying into motion. This body wasn’t as agile as my own flesh, but it would do. I leapt onto the table, spinning as I cut them down. Back to the floor, sliding between legs and up onto puffy chairs, slice slice slice, until the room went still and the only sound was the gentle bubbling of their lives fleeing their bodies.

Job done.

I waited, but I didn’t reappear in my own home. I remained human, red up to the neck.

It needed something else.

Clambering across the bodies, I reached the door at the far side of the room. Inside, rows of cradles lined the entire wall. Cradles full of human babies.

“It’ll be ready in about half an hour,” said a woman in a smock, appearing from a back room. “Give them some chips to tide them over.”

“Help me, please,” I said in my small human voice.

She looked up at me with a frown. Then her eyes flicked from me to the open door behind me. She gasped. “What happened?”

“They were hurting me.” I waited for her to swoop me up. Soon as this body was safe, the child could return and I’d be transported home.

“Oh my god.” She shoved past me and peered through the door. She wore yellow plastic gloves. The fingers dripped red.

I went into the room she’d come from: a small cooking area. A mess of chopped meat oozed on a cutting board. Turning away, my gaze caught on the trashcan where she’d discarded some meat.

On the top lay a tiny foot, no bigger than my palm.

A baby’s foot.

I stared at it for a minute, or a year. It was so small.

“Hey! You can’t be in here.” The woman’s voice snapped me back.

As she entered the kitchen, I extended my arms into two long blades and tore her in half from shoulder to hip. The pieces fell with a wet plop, and for one long breath, I looked down at her. Then I left the kitchen and closed the door behind me.

Now what? So many babies and me with only two arms. I closed my eyes.

Saro?

An instant reply. What? I’m eating.

I need you. Please come, don’t change shape.

I sensed their sigh, and their acquiescence. Three seconds later, they appeared before me, filling a quarter of the room, their countless arms waving as if the air were water.

“What is all this?” They gestured to the babies.

“We need to get them somewhere safe.”

“Okay.” Within a breath, Saro had each tiny human wrapped safely in their limbs, the flesh folded over them like a blanket. “Let’s go.”

“Not that way.” I shook my head at the room full of dead humans. “Can you jump us?”

Saro shrugged, willing to try. I leaned against them and we leapt.

Sunlight. Blue sky, green trees and grass. Small thatched cottages along a creek.

“Where are we?”

“Dunno. Somewhere safe.” Saro set the babies down, all in a row. “Humans’ll find them soon.”

As Saro put the last child down, my ears popped.

I reentered my own flesh, waiting for me at my hearth. The scent of my supper rose up, savory and tempting.

Thanks, I told Saro.

Anytime. I could tell they were back at their meal, same as me.

Looking down at the steaming dish, I saw the pile of chopped meat and my stomach roiled.

They’re all safe now, Saro told me.

For now. I had to let it go. I couldn’t hold all this human pain.

I took a bite of my meal and let the flavors saturate my tongue. Leaning back against my cool, rock-hewn walls, as the sparks flew up from my fire, I washed my mind clean of the human world.

I was home.

Safe.

Until the next job summoned me.