FSE

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Wow it has been a while since I've posted anything. Don't worry I'm not dead, just busy. My final for my creative writing class and I got an A+ on it ^^ A childrens story that's for older kids, I apologize in advance for the grammar errors again I am sorry. Hope you enjoy

I slowly reached for my pantry's doorknob; my heart was racing, waiting to figure out what was in the weird box that still sat by the front door. I turned the knob and opened the pantry door and there it was. The little creature that had been running around my house was gnawing on a cereal box, the moment it saw me it's eyes narrowed and it started hissing. I was shocked! "What are you?" It hissed and leaped at my face grabbing onto my head, "AHHH! Get it off me, get it off me!"

You know it didn't always used to be like this; I used to have a comfortable lifestyle until that little bugger came around. Granted that I lived with my sister and my dad was in Iraq, plus this brute named Vinnie at my school. As a seventh grader I had a pretty good thing going, I kept to myself and no one bothered me aside from Vinnie. Let's back up a bit to when I first moved to my sisters in November. My name is Thomas LaVon and this is my story.

_ _

_ _"But dad, I don't want to live with Mandi and Cliff. I want to go back to California where the beach and all my friends are." I groaned when he rang their doorbell, "Now Thomas you know you can't live with your friends for that long. Your mother left me responsible for you when she passed and Amanda was the best alternative. Besides, Colorado will be a good change of pace for you, make new friends, and have some quality time with your sister."

He rang the doorbell again impatiently. I rolled my eyes, "You're so cliché, make new friends. Pff, you talk like it's an easy task... I don't want you to go to Iraq." I sighed as she opened the door and I gave her a polite smile before she picked me up in a hug and nearly strangled me, "It's so good to see you Tom, and you too Lauren." My dad laughed with her, he always hated the name so he preferred his middle name Alex but my sister always called him by Lauren. She put me down and helped me take my things in, I turned and looked at my dad who waved goodbye, "I have to go kiddo but I'll be back for Christmas. Now you be good to your sister and Clifford alright?" I nodded and he gave me a hug before he picked up his duffle bag and saluted me. I saluted him back and said, "Goodbye sir." He smiled proudly, "At ease cadet, I'll see you when I get back."

He put his sunglasses on and climbed back in the jeep that brought us here. I turned back to my sister who had the biggest smile on her face, "I have the whole day planned out. We're going to go shopping for some new school clothes, get some new furniture for your room, show you your new school and then we're going to go to a movie!" She made the whole day sound like it was a trip to Disneyland. The only fun sounding things in her sentence were the tour of school and the movie.

The school didn't even sound that fun, and knowing my sister, we were probably going to see some sappy chick movie. But boy she wasn't kidding when she said she had the whole day planned, she had a minute by minute schedule of what we had to do and how much time we had to do it.

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be though, the new clothes I got were cool and the furniture for my room was pretty nice, the school was really big and I was starting towards the end of the quarter so I had to go tomorrow, and the movie wasn't as dumb as it sounded. It was this Christmas movie with some French in it that I understood but I had to explain some of the French parts to my sister and she had to explain some of the other parts to me but all in all I didn't want to be somewhere else.

When we were home again she helped me arrange my room, she made bank as an interior designer so she made my room really cool and gave a use to every inch of space, the only flaw was that my room faced west so when the sun was setting it would be shining right through my window but once it was bearable to look at, I would see the most beautiful sunset behind the mountains, they were a nice blue hue and the sun highlighted the snow tops a brilliant orange. That was my favorite part of my room, the view.

I unpacked all my things and once I was finished it felt like my old room at home. The only thing that was missing was my friends. I went back downstairs to the den and sat with my sister and nephew. He was only four but was bright for his age. We watched a sitcom that Talon didn't get but he laughed at the physical parts. My brother in-law was sitting in his recliner doing real-estate work.

This was exactly how I left him the last time we were here, his hair jelled up and wearing his best pair of slacks and a blue collared button up shirt. He made a couple sales today so he was dressed up. My sister and nephew were in their loungewear, a pair of pajama bottoms and a loose fitting shirt. Once the show was over, I stretched and headed up to bed, "Night guys." They all answered back, "Night." I walked upstairs and climbed into my bed tiredly. I had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be a good day. I closed my eyes and easily slipped from consciousness.

"Get up Thomas! School starts in fifteen minutes!" My eyes shot open and I looked at my alarm clock. She was right! I slept in but it didn't feel like seven in the morning. It felt like it was earlier. I threw my covers off and rushed to my closet to put my clothes on. "I completely forgot about the time change!"

I threw on a red skate shirt and a pair of jeans; I fell over getting them on and crawled to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and combed my dark brown hair. I ran downstairs where my sister was, "This is the only ride I can give you so you have to get up earlier and walk yourself to school." I grabbed my black hoodie and backpack and ran past my sister and the door, "Got it, let's go!" I hopped in the car and waited for her.

She made it in and drove me to school. I was nervous at how fast she was speeding but I didn't want to be late either, "Stay out of trouble Thomas and have a good day." I jumped out the car and ran into the building, "No worries." I ran to my first period class, which was History with Mr. Thomure.

I ran into class out of breath and took a seat, "Oh you must be Thomas." His expression changed to something that was less impressed, "You're late." I tried to explain, "I know, I'm so sorry sir. I slept in because I'm not used to the time change, I just moved here and I'm trying to get adjusted."

"Mister LiVion." I raised my eyebrow at how badly he butchered my name, "There is a punishment for students who are late to my class." He walked to my desk and stood beside me, I was almost too scared to ask, "What is it sir?" He started hitting me on the head with a pool noodle, "You know I can't remember." The class laughed and I joined in with them, this was probably my new favorite teacher. When he was done he walked away and tossed the noodle to it's corner, "Sorry I slipped." We all laughed again. History was going to be an easy A. The rest of my classes were easy, Biology, Math 1, English, Health, and Weights.

The only obstacle of my day was Vinnie, who was in my history class and a huge thorn in my side. I got the work done early so I took out my book and started reading and he tried to copy off of me. I told him no but he took it anyway so I just went back to my book and snatched it from him when class was over.

The final bell rang and I was more than ready to leave. My teacher didn't make math easy, she made us do the work in the hardest way possible and then she told us how to do it the easy way. I unclipped my board from my bag and skated back home. It was a little cold but nothing too bad so I enjoyed the ride and took it slow but when I got to my street I really started kicking.

I was coming to the turn when one of the neighbor's kids was in the middle of the sidewalk and I yelled, "Lookout for that body." She finally saw me but it was too late, I was going too fast and she didn't move, I crashed into her and we both ate it hard on the concrete. I sat up rubbing my head, "Ah! Watch where you're going next time mate." I crawled over to her and helped her gather the things that were knocked out of her bag.

"I'm so sorry. I can be a klutz sometimes." I laughed when she handed me my board and I gave her her books, "No worries." I climbed to my feet and helped her up, "I'm Thomas by the way." She pulled her hair back behind her ear, "I'm Sarah and you must be the new kid that came in yesterday. I live right across the street from your sisters' house. She was so excited about you living with her, she nearly talked my parents ears off."

I blushed a little. "Sorry my sister can be a pain." She laughed, "No no it's fine. It was actually really sweet what she said about you. How you were a good kid and all that." She laughed harder when I blushed more, "So let me take a guess... California?" She caught me off guard, "How'd you know." She smiled, "The tan is a dead give away, your attitude and accent was an indicator and your sister told me." I laughed, "I'm not that tan." We both laughed, "So who was the soldier that was leaving in the army jeep?" I paused before I answered, "That was my dad." I could tell she felt guilty, "I'm sorry, I didn't know." I shook my head, "No it's fine really. He said he'd be back for Christmas. He's being shipped off to Iraq but he'll come back- he always does." She nodded and put her hand on my shoulder, "I'd love to meet him when he gets back." I got a good look at her; she had a heavy, blue coat on, a pair of red mittens, blue jeans, and a Colorado Avalanche team beanie on. Her eyes were a light green and her hair was red. She had to be my age.

I must have been staring a bit too long because she gave me a weird look, "Oh, I'm so sorry. Well I better head home." I set my board down and kicked away from her. "I'll see you at school tomorrow Thomas." I looked back and gave her a salute before I ran into my house completely embarrassed, "God I'm an idiot." I shut the door behind me and slumped to the floor, "How was school Thomas?" I took my hat off and walked into the kitchen, "It was alright, I crashed into a girl named Sarah on the way home."

She was making turkey burgers, "Oh yeah, Ashton's kid. She's a real sweet girl, quiet and shy. You said you crashed into her?" I rubbed my head which was still throbbing, "I was riding on my board and going pretty fast. She was in the middle of the sidewalk and I just crashed. Great first impression on a girl right?" She laughed, "Oh yeah, totally. Do you have any classes with her?"

I looked through the fridge, reaching for some coke. "I think so. I might have seen her in History but I'm positive she's in my P.E. class. It's hard to tell when she has all her winter gear on." I opened the can with that distinct pop and hiss sound and started drinking, "So other than that, how was the rest of your day Tom?" I set my drink down and answered, "Not a bad first day. I like almost all my teachers and the students are mostly friendly." My nephew walked into the kitchen rubbing his eyes, "You guys are so loud. I was aseepin." I picked him up and he rested his head on my shoulder, "You can go back aseep after dinner T-dog. It's almost ready."

He nodded tiredly and put his head back on my shoulder, "So where's Cliff?" She started making her dressing for the burgers, "He's downstairs working, doing his thing." I looked at the basement door, "Has he come up for air yet?" She shook her head, "Not yet but he's only been down there for a few hours. The real estate work is killing him." I nodded in understanding as she put her dressing on the burgers.

"Will you go tell him dinner's ready?" She put all the food on the table as I handed her Talon, "If you can hold him." She took him happily, "Come here baby." I walked downstairs and scared the living hell out of him, "Amanda says dinner's ready." He waved me off and looked back at his monitor, "Tell her I'll be up in a bit." I shrugged and went back upstairs, "He said he'll be up when he's done." She rolled her eyes and set Talon in his chair, "That man. I swear he'd live in that basement if he could." I sat down and started eating, "He'll come around. He said he would."

We were all nearly done with dinner when he came up, "Dinner looks delicious." He kissed her before he sat down and started eating when she answered, "It was." We both got up and cleaned our plates. When I was done I headed upstairs to my room to finish my homework. My desk was facing the window so I had the nice view while I worked. Sarah saw me from her house and waved to me, I turned my head and waved back before I continued with my homework.

When I finished I just went straight to bed, I was too tired to change and I didn't want to fight it. This was basically how my first few weeks went. I walked with Sarah to school and we sat next to each other in class. She was a good friend but really my only one; I attracted Vinnie's attention so people stayed away from me for it and the fact that I was such a "Loner" to them. Whatever, friends will come around but I just felt so lonely. I missed my dad terribly and don't get me wrong, I loved my sister and brother to death but they just couldn't replace my dad.

Things kept getting worse until about December. There was snow all around and I was getting overwhelmed with the holiday cheer so I was happier. I got to walk with Sarah to school, well more like skated but it was still nice. We complained about how much the weather sucked and how we couldn't wait for Christmas to get here. She asked for a new dirt bike and I asked for a snowboard.

Things were routine until I picked her up from her house before we headed off to school. I knocked on her door and rang the doorbell, "Sarah let's go! You know how Mr. T gets when we're late..." I waited and knocked on her door again, "Sarah!" I heard her struggling in her backyard and decided to walk over there. I treaded through snow to her backyard door and was about to open it but it flung open and was slammed behind her. She was out of breath and had scratch marks on her face, "My Lord Sarah what happened to you? You look horrible!"

There was snarling and growling behind her back gate, "What? Do you have a wild animal back there now or something?" She laughed, "Ha ha that's a good one Thomas. Wild animal, you're funny but we should really head to school now." Something slammed the gate hard and she was flung forward into me. I caught her and said, "You sure you don't want to handle whatever's back there?" I looked at the gate curiously and heard the dog or whatever scratch at it, "It's just our-new dog. She's a German shepherd pup so she's pretty wild and strong."

She pushed me through the snow towards school and I finally pulled away from her and got on my board, "That didn't sound like any dog to me." She seemed stressed about it, "Well it is, now stop making fun of her!" I dropped it after that. If she wanted to tell me she'd tell me, I figured she'd come around so we just headed to school.

We made it to class on time and I sat next to Sarah as usual. She seemed twitchy and nervous about something but I couldn't quite figure it out. Was it about her dog or was it something else? Mr. Thomure started class with attendance and beat anyone with his toys that were late, always a good way to keep us awake. Vinnie annoyed us as usual but that was the least of my worries, it bothered me that I couldn't figure out why Sarah was on edge. When class was over she was the first one out, she didn't let me walk her to her next class.

She avoided me all day, I wasn't the only one though, and she was keeping away from everyone. She was watching the clock constantly like she needed school to end quickly.

She was better during lunch and I tried to eat with her, "Where do you want to eat Sarah." We walked out the school and she started heading home, "I'm sorry Tom but I have to get home. I'll catch up with you later." I waved to her as she got on her bike and left, "Yeah see you later." I sighed and stuffed my hands in my pockets before I walked back inside and headed for the computer lab.

I sat in the desk and turned on the monitor, it lit up to life and I opened up an Internet tab. I searched, "pet adoptions" I was desperate for a friend now, and things have gotten so bad that I rely on Sarah too much. I needed a new friend.

I started clicking on the links, there was an adoption center in town and I started looking at the pets that needed homes. This made me feel a little better but there was no way Amanda was going to go through with this; she's so allergic to pets. If I snuck one in, she'd spot it within an hour; her allergies were that bad.

I was about to close out of the tab when something popped up, it read, "todays your lucky day!" I knew immediately that this was a dumb scam so I tried to close out but it wouldn't, it only gave me the option to continue, "It's not my computer, if it gets a virus then the school will fix it." I clicked continue and it asked, "Looking for a new friend? Adopt a baby chupa from the great one herself. Myshu!" I clicked yes thinking this was a joke.

It asked me what color fur it should have, how tall it should be, its name, some weapon, they even had breeds. I chose the Equus Terra since they were the smartest and strongest breed. It stated that its only problem was that it trusted everyone. I clicked ok and typed "white" for its fur, gave him blue eyes, named him Raigho, gave him a scythe and left the height at random. The whole thing was almost laughable.

I clicked submit and I got a message saying, "Your new baby will be shipped by FPS in two to three days." I figured this must have been some joke, that if I did get anything it would be a stuffed toy or something dumb. But I was really curious; it was all so strange how it randomly popped up on the screen and asked. This whole day was weird, first Sarah and her scratches and now this. I pushed it to the back of my mind when the bell rang and headed to class.

Sarah wasn't there for our last class. This wasn't like her; she was always the good student. On time and always did her work, whatever she had in her backyard must have been important to her... Maybe it was a dog. The bell rang and I headed back home without her, I didn't like it, I don't understand how a pup could change her so drastically.

The ride was nice at least; the cold air felt pleasant against my face and it was a newly paved sidewalk so the ride was even smoother, no rough bumps or cracks to ruin the flow. I sighed content, skating always was a stress reliever for me, and the feeling of a smooth ride on a nice day just could not be beat for me. The way home was downhill too so I hardly had to kick.

I made it to my street, and I allied over some branches and switched from riding regular to goofy at random moments. I pulled up to Sarah's house and knocked on her front door, I kicked the board up into my hand and waited patiently. I looked over to the left and saw an almost cat like animal walking along the fence boards. It had white fur with red on the top of its head and tip of its tail.

I spooked it because once it saw me it leaped back into the yard like nothing I've ever seen before. I whipped my head back towards the door when Sarah answered it, "Yes?" She leaned up against the doorway, "Uhh, I have the work from the classes you missed today." I reached into my bag and handed them to her. She took them gratefully, "Thank you so much Thomas, and sorry about earlier. I had a doctors appointment..." She seemed unsure about her own answer, "You seemed too excited for a lame appointment in class." I looked back at the fence to see if the animal was still there, "Well you know how it goes, I get nervous around needles and things, and I just wanted to get it over with."

She still didn't sound confident with her answer so she changed the subject when she asked, "What are you looking at?" I looked back at her, "Do you have a cat now too?" Her eyes widened at the question, "Yes actually, my mom's a cat person and my dad's a dog person so we got one of each." I raised my eyebrow and shrugged, I was going to figure out what was really happening, "Alright well there's the work and notes. That's all I really came over for so I'll see you later." She waved before I started walking back to my house, "Thanks again Thomas!"

I smiled to her but it faded when I saw the weird cat again on the fence, it was perched there staring at me. I kicked the snow off my shoes and walked back inside the house, "Hey Mandi I'm home!" she yelled back, "Hey Thomas how was school?" I slipped out of my shoes and walked to the living room, she was tending to the tree we cut down over the weekend, "It was different. Did you hear about the Sonora's new pets? Sarah said they have a new dog and cat now."

My sister looked at me funny, "What? They can't have new pets. Can you come help me with this Thomas?" I walked over and held the ladder for her as she hung the lights, "Why can't they?" She was hanging the last few lights, "Don't you know? Sarah's mom was attacked by a dog when she was little, and she's been terrified of them since. As for her dad, he just hates cats and won't have anything to do with them." I helped her down and mumbled to myself, "Interesting." She started hanging ornaments as I sat next to my nephew and started playing with his train set with him, 'Why would she lie to me? Is she keeping a pet secretly from her parents?'

"Move!" I was pulled away from my thoughts when my nephew yelled, "What Talon?" He slammed his train into my elbow, "Your elbow are on the tracks. Move!" He was serious, "Oh, sorry bud." I lifted my elbow rubbing it and backed away. This whole thing bugged me, Sarah lied to me and she won't tell me what's up. I kept thinking about it until Amanda called us up for dinner; Cliff even came up on time.

We ate lasagna and salad. The whole time we were all quiet, the only time the silence was broken was when Mandi told Talon he couldn't play until he ate all his food. I didn't care though, I was still thinking about the whole situation with Sarah and that weird cat, "You okay Thomas? You've been quiet ever since you came home." I lifted my head from the plate, "Hmm? It's nothing, I'm just thinking." She nodded, "Alright, well if you want to talk we're here... is it dad?"

I looked at her, "Part of it is." She went back to her food and so did the others, "That reminds me, there was a letter in the mail today for you. Return address says Iraq." My eyes lit up, "Really? You think it's from dad?" She smiled and gestured toward the kitchen, "Either him or some girl named Lauren." I ran to grab the letter and ran back upstairs to read it in my room.

It was definitely from him. I tore it open and started reading it, 'Hey Champ, how've you been? Things out here are going pretty good, it's nearly eighty degrees out here and it's December! Never thought I'd miss the cold but what are you gonna do?' I chuckled and continued reading, 'The guys here won't shut up about their kids, they keep bragging about how there's are the best or whatever and later when one of them is away from the group, he'll tell me how much his kids suck. My bragging is backed up though because I really have the best kid in the world. But all joking aside I have some bad news. We got some new orders in and I won't be able to make it for Christmas. I actually have to stay here for another three months. I'm sorry kiddo but they need me here and I couldn't say no. There's a souvenir in the envelope for you and you can't open your present until Christmas. I miss you Thomas, stay out of trouble. -Alex'

I sighed and held onto the letter, "I miss you too dad..." I pulled out the token he'd given me and studied it. It was an Iraq coin from 1933. It was hard to tell who the man was on the back but I figured it was their ruler at that time. I wove a piece of nylon cord through it and hung it around my neck. I sighed and held onto it before I headed back downstairs and gave my sister the letter, "What's wrong Tom?"

I had tears in my eyes, "He isn't coming back for another three months." My sister got up from her chair and hugged me, "I'm so sorry Thomas." I clung onto her and sobbed, "I miss him." I was a crying mess. She didn't let go though, she held onto me and rubbed my back, "I know you do. I miss him too." I buried my face in her shoulder, "Why? Why does he have to fight in one that isn't his?"

She held me in front of her, "Because he loves his country and he loves you Thomas. Every thing he's done it's been for the family." I looked at her, "Where was he when mom died then huh?! What did he do?" She got red in her face, "How dare you! Blaming your Moms death on him! He loved her and was devastated when she passed." It was my turn to be angry, "How dare me? How dare you! If he loved her so much then where is she now, why isn't she here with us?"

Her face turned a whole new shade of red but I didn't flinch, "Whatever." I ran back upstairs still crying and slammed the door behind me. I fell on my bed and lied there. I felt so sick and confused, where did all that anger come from? Why did I blame my dad for her death? I curled up and just sobbed, I didn't care what the answers to the questions were, and I just wanted to cry. I cried and cried, my sheets were stained with tears and my eyes burned from my tears but I couldn't stop crying, I clung onto my necklace like it was my dad.

I exhausted myself to the point where I just sobbed myself to sleep. I slammed my hand on my alarm as it yanked me out of sleep with its annoying buzzing. I walked into the bathroom and looked at myself, my face was stained with tears and my green eyes were red. I wiped them and brushed my teeth, the mint flavor hung around in my mouth even after I spit and rinsed it out.

I put all my winter gear on, some black snow pants and a bage winter coat. I wrapped my black and blue scarf around my neck and mouth before I headed to school. I was halfway there when I forgot to pick up Sarah, I didn't care. I was too upset to care about anything, even when Vinnie knocked me off my board and into the snow from his bike; I dusted myself off and continued to school.

I made it on time to Mr. Thomures class but Sarah was there, staring at me with an angry look, "What the hell Tom. Where were you this morning? I thought something happened to you!" I sat down keeping my scarf on, not wanting people to see my face, "Go play with your new pets Sarah. I'm not in the mood."

I forgot whom I was dealing with when she slammed my arm, "We're friends Tom! I'm preoccupied with my new pet but that doesn't mean I've forgotten about you. You're worrying me Tom, what's wrong?" I sighed and showed her my necklace, "Dad's not coming back for another three months. They asked him to stay and now he has to and fight more. Happy now, see why I was so upset?"

She held onto it and looked up at me, "Tom, I had no idea. I'm so sorry." She handed it back to me and I felt awful for making her feel guilty, "It's alright Sarah. He'll be back... its no big deal, he always comes back remember?" I had trouble believing the words that just came out of my mouth but luckily she did. It was still much more than that though, "Yeah, he'll come back."

The day went on like that, I was so miserable and upset that I hardly talked. Not that I talked to many people anyways but I didn't talk much with Sarah. The bell rang and we were all leaving when Mr. Thomure stopped me, "Hey LaVon, c'mere." I walked over to him, "Yes sir?" He looked at me with empathy, "Are you alright Tom? You didn't do any of the class work or anything for that matter. All you did was look at your coin. Is everything alright?"

I nodded and tried to think of my excuse, "Yeah, I was just tired, I'm really tired." He raised his eyebrow, "There's more Tom. Please tell me." I shook my head, I hated lying to his face but I didn't need more people to feel sorry for me, "That's all sir." He raised his eyebrow again, "Okay... Well if you ever want to talk just know that I'm here alright?"

I gave him a polite smile and answered, "I know sir." I waved as I left his classroom but I was stopped again in front of my locker by Vinnie, "Hey LaVon! I want to talk to you." I opened my locker and stuffed my books in my bag hastily, "I'm really not in the mood Vinnie." There was no way he just wanted to talk. That's not like him, "I just want to talk with you." He grabbed my shoulder and I lost it! All this adrenaline shot through me before I grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him into my locker.

"I just found out my father is stuck out in Iraq for another three months where he could get shot by God knows who or die from a martyr strike ordered by some terrorist. I don't get to see my Dad for Christmas and I may never get to see him again! Is your dad in Iraq Vinnie, huh? Where is he? Probably at home with your family." It took everything I had to keep myself from crying in front of ev

everyone who at that point was staring at us. "You get parents for Christmas and what do I get Vinnie? A whole three months of worrying if my dad makes it back here in one piece or in a box!"

I shoved him into the locker and stepped back, I didn't notice but the whole time he had his hands up so he had no intention of hurting me, "Sarah Sonora told me what happened. I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I had no idea that all this time your dad was fighting the war. I'm sorry Tom."

All the adrenaline wore off and I stood there shaking, I felt sick and ashamed. I just threw all my anger at him when all he wanted to do was tell me he's sorry. I nodded to him and set my board down before I started skating towards the exit, the hallways cleared out after the bell rang.

"Tom! Where are you going? School isn't over!" Sarah called but I just kept skating as I adjusted my scarf to cover my mouth, "Home! I'm going home!" She chased after me and grabbed my shoulder before I could kick away from her, "Hey, hey! Tom you can't just leave school like this."

I reeled around and looked at her, "Why can't I? I remember a few weeks ago we were in this exact same situation." I quickly turned it around on her, "What's really going on Sarah? You've acted strange ever since you got that animal and I know that your parents won't let you have pets." Her eyes widened and she looked away from me, "How did you know?"

"Mandi told me, now what's going on Sarah? I opened up to you, now it's your turn." She didn't look me in the eyes, "I can't tell you." She let me go and I looked at her, "I thought so... Sarah we're friends. I tell you everything and you can't tell me what's going on? Secrets have a cost."

I started kicking away from her when she grabbed me again and pulled me into a hug, "I'm sorry Tom." She had tears in her eyes. This whole thing was killing her. I got off my board and hugged her, "Sarah let me help you." She shook her head, "I can't and that's not why I'm crying. I'm sorry about what's happened to you."

That was really a slap in the face, "Sarah- I'll be fine, don't worry. In the end I'll come out of it a better person. I won't forget that you're my friend and I'll keep you informed but right now. I need to sort things out on my own." I smiled at her through my gear and she smiled back.

I waved to her and rode back to my house. This whole month has been emotionally exhausting, I felt like I was the only one that was dealing with this. I let out a heavy sigh and walked into my home, I didn't even realize how fast I was going until I checked the time and saw that it only took me five minutes to get home. I must have really zoned out.

I tossed my bag on the stairs and slipped my shoes off. Amanda wouldn't be home until three or four, Clifford has open houses today and Talon was at preschool. I stripped all my winter gear off and felt all my body heat radiate. I walked to the thermostat when my foot kicked a box that had been shredded on the top, "What the hell?"

I picked up the box and read the side in big blue letters, 'FPS Express' There was a note on the outside held on by a single piece of tape, 'Dear adoptee, Thank you for adopting your very own chupa. Our goal is to get orphaned babies out to people that can take care of them. We want more people to accept these foreign creatures existence before we can expose them, without it being so much as a shock. So on behalf of the ring world, we thank you for your help. This is Raigho as you requested, he's really sweet but he's teething so he's a biter. Careful of the claws too, baby chupas tend to be wilder. All we ask as a rule is that you keep this a secret until it's ready to be exposed. Have fun and take good care of him. ~Myshu.'

I raised my eyebrow, "What is this?" I looked at the note again and then the box. It all came back to me when I saw the name, that pop up survey with the fuzzy little creatures. My eyes narrowed when I re-read the note and realized how serious they were, "There's no way this is a joke." I dropped the box and looked around the house. The whole place was a mess! There were broken vases, scratches on the wall and torn furniture everywhere!

I didn't dare look in my room but at the same time I was curious. I ran upstairs and opened my door, the little rat thing had my pillow in it's mouth and was shaking it around like a dog, "You!" It looked up at me and growled before it ran out my room. The whole place was trashed, my curtains were torn, the stuffing from my mattress and pillows were everywhere and it looked like the little monster got in my dresser, "Bloody bugger's dead!"

I ran downstairs looking for it, I started whistling for him hoping that he would respond to me. I saw the pantry door shut in the kitchen and walked over to it cautiously. I slowly reached for my pantry's doorknob; my heart was racing, waiting to figure out what was in the weird box that still sat by the front door. I turned the knob and opened the pantry door and there it was. The little creature that had been running around my house was gnawing on a cereal box, the moment it saw me it's eyes narrowed and it started hissing. I was shocked! "What are you?" It hissed and leaped at my face grabbing onto my head, "AHHH! Get it off me, get it off me!"

He really gripped my head and bit it, "OOWWWW!!! You little-" the monster released my face and bolted into a cupboard, "C'mere!" I reached in to grab him but I yelped when he bit my whole hand, "Get out of there!" I pulled my hand out and he still had it in his mouth. He hung on my hand by his mouth.

My hand was hurting but I couldn't help to admit that he was a little cute. I pulled my hand out of his mouth and held him in my hand, "No biting!" I waved my finger at him and told him no again firmly before I set him down, "Well... what am I going to do with you?" I heard his stomach growl and he looked up at me like he didn't know what it was. I laughed, "You must be hungry. But what do you guys eat?"

His stomach growled again. He whined and reached for me with these beady, hungry looking eyes. He looked so hungry and cute how could I say no? I picked him up and headed to the pantry, "We'll find something for you to eat." I opened the door and looked through the shelves. I grabbed a box of Ritz crackers and offered one to him but when he took a bite, he immediately spit it out, "No crackers? Alright."

I reached for granola wondering if it was the texture but he didn't like granola either, "Why don't you come with an instruction manual?" I shrugged to him like I was expecting him to answer back but he surprised me when he shrugged also. I grabbed the Cheerios box that he was chewing on and offered those to him. He loved them and ate them hungrily. I laughed and took him to his box and set him down next to it while he ate his cereal.

I looked around the house and panicked. I had to clean up the whole house or my sister would kill Raigho and I if she found out. I started by picking up all the pieces of furniture that he chewed up and replaced all the lamps he broke with some old ones in the garage. I straightened up all of downstairs and tried to cover up the damaged furniture as best I could. Then I saw all the scratches on the walls and floors, painting and buffing them out took me at least another two hours.

I was a big sweaty mess, I had paint all over me and my hand was still hurting but the house was spotless. I watched Raigho crawl around the floor, exploring. He finished off the whole family sized box of Cheerios and just ventured around the room. I had to keep an eye on him so he wouldn't mess the whole place up again but he wasn't much trouble after that. He was really cute though, he had black stains all over his fur from the soot in the fire place and some crumbs around his mouth from the food he ate.

I chuckled at him; he seemed so content with just looking around the house, like everything in the world was just awesome. I looked at the coin again and studied it. I rubbed my thumb against the foreign text; it was so different and fascinating.

He whined and reached for me with these beady, hungry looking eyes. He looked so cute, how could I say no?

_ _

_ _

I was so distracted by the coin that I didn't notice that Raigho was curled up on my lap. I looked down from it and there he was relaxing, "You need a nickname." His tail wagged at that but he was too tired to open his eyes as he rested his head on my leg, "How about Ro?" He growled, "Yeah, I thought it was dumb too... Whitey?" I laughed when he growled angrier with that one than the last, "I wasn't even serious about that one. Hmmm, you seem like a Soul." His tail wagged and he purred, "You do look like a Soul don't you?"

I started petting his back and he let out a long, soft purr, "You're no monster, why would people be so shocked to see a cute little guy like you?" I grabbed my scarf and wrapped it around him, he seemed to like it. I heard a pair of keys scratch at the keyhole on the other side of the door. My heart stopped, "Oh no! Mandi's home!"

The locks turned with the key, I had to act fast! I grabbed Soul, the box of Cheerios and the FPS box before I bolted upstairs while the doorknob was turning, "Anyone home?!" Raigho had been jolted awake from his nap so he was wild again, "I know you're upset and you can sleep after but right now, I need you to hide." I set him down in my room, "Stay." I hid him under my bed and went back downstairs, "I'm home."

She looked surprised as she set Talon down, "Why are you home so early?" I had completely forgotten that I ditched school, "We had a half day you know. The snow was crazy so they let us go home." That may have possibly been my worst excuse, "That's odd, I didn't get a call-" She stopped in the middle of her sentence and itched her eyes.

"Ah man my allergies," the hair on the back of my neck stood up, if she saw Soul who knows what she'd do. She smelled the air and sneezed, "and to I smell wet paint?" She looked around the house and noticed it was spotless, "Did you- Did you clean?" I nodded trying to steer clear of her allergies, "Yes ma'am I did. The house seemed a little messy so I cleaned up since I had nothing better to do and the paint was fading so I repainted too."

This whole conversation was freaking me out, my excuses were rushed but believable, "Aww you didn't have to do that. You're such a sweet boy." She hugged me and her allergies acted up, "But why are my allergies so bad? I'm only allergic to pets." I looked at my shirt and saw Raigho's hair all over it, "Maybe it's from the wet paint."

I brushed the fur off of me while she wasn't looking but she headed upstairs, "No, it's definitely from some pet fur." I followed her upstairs, "Tom, did you bring a stray home? You know we can't have a pet yet." I started to sweat, "N-No, I was just playing with Sarah's new pets. You must been having a reaction from them." She raised her eyebrow at me and walked into my room, "Tom! What the hell!?"

My heart shot up to my throat, I couldn't breath. Raigho must have come out from under my bed. She grabbed my shirt and pulled me into my room, "Look at this mess! Did you bring the pets over here? Your room is a disaster." I could breath again; I let out a sigh of relief. She only meant my room, "Yeah, we had to play inside so I told her we should bring them here. Don't worry I'll clean it up and I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

She raised her eyebrow, "Well make sure you do." She looked around my room and something caught her eye. Raigho was sitting right on my bed! I mouthed the words, 'What are you doing' He didn't respond though as my sister picked him up, 'Oh no!' Raigho didn't move an inch; he stayed rigid with his eyes unfocused like a stuffed toy. Her allergies acted up again.

"What is this little guy?" She looked at me and I was dumbfounded. She actually believed he was a stuffed toy, "A company called FPS sent it in today, he's cute right?" She nodded and squeezed him making him squeak and I flinched but Raigho didn't break his pose, "Please don't do that." I took him back from her and she looked at me funny, "Aren't you a little too old to care this much about a stuffed animal? He's filthy too."

I had to get her out of my room, "Aren't you a little young to be getting crow's feet?" She felt her face as if searching for them. She didn't have any I just needed to change the subject, "I don't have crow's feet!" I smirked, "Uh huh, you might want to take care of them." She dashed back into her bedroom and Raigho gasped for breath, he held it in that entire time, "What were you doing on my bed you silly baby? You could have just stayed under and you would have been fine."

He only pointed to the box of Cheerios that I left on the bed and rubbed his stomach, "You really couldn't wait until after I got back up for me to feed you?" He shrugged, "Mandi's right though, you need a bath." He growled and hopped out of my arms and back under the bed, "Come here. Baths are nice; don't you want to be nice and clean?" He was backed up to the wall and shook his head at me.

"You'll be fine you big baby." I reached for him but he scratched my hand and hissed, "Ah!" I held my hand and covered the cut, "Alright you can just hang out there and stay filthy." I sat down and started eating the cereal, "Mmmm, love Cheerios." I didn't let him see but I eyed him, waiting for him to crawl out from under the bed just far enough.

He was too hungry and curious so he poked his head out and I snatched him by the scruff of his neck, "Ha! Now you're going to get clean." He hissed and tried to swipe me with his claws but I was just out of reach. I poked my head out my door and made sure my sister wasn't around. When I was sure I was clear, I ran out and straight into the bathroom.

I locked the door behind me and got the water running. He hissed, kicked and whined but I still set him in the tub. As soon as he sat in the water he loved it, he started splashing and playing, "See? Not so bad is it?" He smiled and started splashing again before I grabbed a brush and shampoo.

I lathered and started scrubbing him; he just melted under the bathing. He lied hunched his back and started purring, "Definitely not so bad now." He shook his head as I scrubbed it. I rinsed him off and drained the water before I picked him up and started drying him off.

His fur poofed up when I pulled the towel off, I laughed so hard. His fur looked so kitten soft and he wasn't happy about it at all. I unlocked the door and ran back into my room with him when the doorbell rang.

"I've got it!" I hid Soul in my room before I ran downstairs and opened the door; a man in a white suit with a crew cut was standing on the porch, "Is this the LaVon residence." I nodded, "Yes sir, what can I do for you?" He looked at his clipboard, "We have reason to believe that you and another resident are keeping an unusual animal referred to as a chupa." This was starting to freak me out, "My sister says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." I tried to shut the door but his foot stopped it.

"Listen here you twisted little brat. If we come back and find that you are holding this animal, then he will be immediately confiscated and you will be locked up by the CCRT. They are a danger to you and humans!" I kicked him in his shin, "You can't lock up a minor at my age and come near this house again and the police will be all over you." I slammed the door and walked back to my room, "Idiot."

This was really getting weird now. I was being pushed into this whole thing too quickly; it's all because of that stupid message, "Who was at the door Tom?" I went into my room and answered, "Some jerk trying to sell us stuff." She dropped it at that. I spotted Raigho who was sitting on the window just watching the sunset, "You like it? It's my favorite part of my room." He was in complete awe, his eyes were lit up by the orange and white colors as it went down. His tail wagged during it and we just watched the whole thing.

We both yawned after it and my sister called me down for dinner, "I'll be back with some food bud." He nodded and continued to admire the view while I went down for dinner, "What's for dinner?" I asked as I walked in, "Cliff brought us pizza." We all sat down and started eating, "Thanks Cliff."

He nodded while we ate. We managed to finish a box and a half but were full afterwards. I grabbed three slices and headed back upstairs with them. Raigho was playing on my board and I laughed, "Here," I gave him a push and he gripped onto it terrified as it rolled through my room. I stopped it with my foot and set the food on the board, "Try it."

I locked the door and crawled into my bed tiredly. He sniffed the food curiously and nibbled on it before he really started eating. He ate every last bit but by that time I had started drifting off, the little bugger had made me exhausted.

He hopped up onto my bed and nudged himself under my arm and curled up with my. I smiled, his small body rising and falling with each breath. He yawned and closed his eyes falling asleep and I followed. My eyes were so heavy that they just shut but it was a nice comfort having him with me.

We both jumped when my alarm went off. I slammed the snooze button and sat in my bed stretching; Raigho had stretched and yawned like a dog. I got out of my bed and cleaned my room of all the trash from the previous day, my room was still a bit trashed but I would fix it later, I went into the bathroom and bandaged up my hand from his bit. I started my morning routine, brushed my teeth, combed my hair, ate breakfast and got dressed, "I have school Soul so you have to stay here by yourself-"

I stopped trying to think of what I would do with him, he had his head tilted like he had no idea what school was but I just left him there to wonder. I closed my curtains and locked the door, "I'll only be gone for a couple hours and then I'll be back to play and we can do whatever alright?" He nodded and I shut the door and left the key above the doorframe. I bumped into my sister around the corner, "Who were you talking to in there Tom?"

I swallowed the knot in my throat, you think I'd be over my sisters suspicions, "Sarah called she's ready to go." She rubbed her eyes and patted my back on the way into the bathroom, "You're a good boy Tom." I ran downstairs with my board and was headed out the door when Sarah was there about to knock, "Oh hi."

She smiled, "Hi. Are you ready to go?" I nodded and shut the door behind me, "Yeah." I rubbed my eyes and closed the door but I froze when she asked, "What happened to your hand?" I held my wrist as we walked down the porch steps, "I fell down the stairs." She saw the scratch on my arm and some of Raigho's fur on my clothes, "What happened? You look tired."

She looked up at my room and her eyes lit up, "You got one didn't you?!" I was utterly surprised, "Wait, got what?" She saw right through my lie, "You got a chupa didn't you?" I looked up and saw Raigho had been peeking out the curtains, "That little-" She shook her head, "No it's fine I have one too." I turned back towards her, "You do?" She nodded, "Yeah, we've got time let me show you."

She grabbed my hand and took me to her house. She pulled me into a run; I had to make sure my hat didn't fly off. My gray scarf was trailing behind me. We walked into her house and headed into her basement, "CO! Where are you girl?" She had an FPS box and the little chupa hopped right out of it.

"Right here mamma." She had red hair and white fur; she was so much smaller than Raigho. She was the exact same thing that I saw on Sarah's fence. When she saw me, she crawled right back into her box, "Where are you going CO?"

She poked her head out a bit, "You said other people can't see me." Sarah shook her head but I still felt so stupid for not figuring it out once I got Raigho, "This one's alright." She inched her way back out and walked over to me, "Hi." I smiled at her, "Hi there."

She had an FPS box and the little chupa hopped right out of it. "Right here mamma." She had red hair and white fur; she was so much smaller than Raigho.

She smiled and I picked her up and held her, "So what did you name yours?" I looked at Sarah, "My chupa? Raigho but I nicknamed him soul because he's whiter than this little one. Why is she so small?" I covered CO's ears when I asked and Sarah laughed, "She's small because she's a different breed than Raigho. He's an equus breed so he'll be larger and he's a guy." I nodded and set her down.

"How do you know so much?" She hugged CO and told her she'd be back after school, "Ember told me." We walked out the door and headed to school, "Who's Ember?" She waved it off, "She helps Myshu out with the whole introducing thing. She's really nice." I nodded, "So what happened really with your hand and wrist?" I looked at my hand again and held it, "I reached in for him and he bit my whole hand, then I tried to give him a bath but he scratched me when I tried to get him out from under the bed."

She laughed, "That will happen." I laughed with her, "That breed is so aggressive and they get so big." We walked across the street to our school, "So how hard are they to handle when they're adults?" She shook her head, "They are actually much easier to handle. They are more intelligent so they hide better and they're much cooler. Ember's chupa Ginny is really nice and cool."

"So there are more of them?" She nodded again as we walked into school, "Oh yeah. There's a lot more and you can tell the new students that get them like you know Hillary in Gym?" I nodded, "She got hers a few days before you, you can tell by how exhausted they look and by the scratches and the hair on their clothes."

"I think I've got it now." We walked into our first period and just talked and talked about our furry little friends. I asked her important questions and she answered the ones that she could with reliable information. Others she was just as clueless as I was but I learned a lot about how to take care of Raigho.

Like how to declaw them so they can't scratch you as much, Raigho didn't like it at all but it had to be done. She also told me what shampoo was best for them to have a healthy coat, what food was good for them for a better diet and things like that.

Raising him was a lot easier with the tips and he matured really quickly, he learned how to talk earlier and I started taking him over to play with CO. Only when Sarah's parents weren't home though and when I walked passed neighbors I had to play it off like he was a stuffed toy but it got harder and harder when he got bigger.

I he snuck out the window so we didn't have to pass my sister on the way out anymore. CO and Raigho played all the time, she had a lot of land so we took them to her farm once and they chased field mice and rabbits through snow. CO always messed with his scarf and tried to take it but Soul would flip out and take it back saying, "It's mine!"

Things were nice; he started playing with the scythe that was sent with him. I had no idea this thing was real otherwise I would have asked for a toy sword or something but he was good with it. He always had this mischievous look on his face while he was playing with it but all in all he looked really cool with it.

He asked me what was with all the pretty lights around all the houses and I had to explain to him what Christmas was. He loved the whole idea and I told him I would get him a Christmas present. I got a few more letters from my dad saying how much he missed me and I wrote back saying how much I wished he was here.

Things were going great raising him, and then we had the last day of school before Christmas break, "I want to go to school with you!" I shook my head at him, "No and keep your voice down. You know why I can't take you to school." He pouted and growled, "But you go there every day. I want to know what's so great about this whole school thing." I shook my head and started changing into my clothes, "I don't go because it's great, I go because I have to."

"But Sarah is there and I like Sarah. She's so nice and I love playing with her please can I go." I shook my head again, "Out of the question. If you get seen, who knows what will happen. Both of us will be in soo much trouble. So please just stay home." He hissed at me and I just grabbed my bag and went downstairs for breakfast. I just fixed myself a bowl of cereal and went straight out the door.

He always had this mischievous look on his face while he was playing with it but all in all he looked really cool with it.

What I didn't realize was that the little bugger had snuck into my bag while I was eating. I went to Sarah's and we walked to school, "You look upset. What's wrong Tom?" I sighed, "I hate telling him no. Soul asked if he could go with me to school and I told him no but he was still upset with me. We would get in so much trouble. You've had to deal with something like that with CO right?"

She nodded, "Oh yeah. I have to tell her no all the time but when I get home she gets over it and we play so everything is fine afterwards." I rubbed the back of my neck and adjusted my scarf over my mouth, "He's just gotten so fed up with hiding and everything. I feel bad but I can't just take him to school... I'll take him out when schools out. We can do whatever he wants."

The walk to school was giving me a weird feeling, I felt like someone was watching us. She nodded to me, "I think that's the right thing to do." We walked into mister Thomure's class and he smiled at us, "Glad to see that you're feeling better Tom." I nodded to him and sat down, "Thank you sir." I sat down and started taking my opening my bag when I saw him in there, "Please don't be mad." I immediately closed it, 'Please tell me I'm seeing things.' I opened it again and there he was, "Oh no."

"Is there something wrong Thomas?" I shook my head, "No sir." I took my notes out and looked back in my bag, "What are you doing? You're going to get us in trouble." I whispered to him but Sarah turned around and asked, "What's going on?" I showed her and she gasped, "Hi Sarah."

I whispered to him, "This is not an okay situation! You are going to get us in a lot of trouble.", "Mister LiVion!" I snapped my head back to the front, "Would you and miss Sonera like to share with the class what you are talking about?" I shook my head, "Than keep quiet Tom." My bag started shifting and I kicked it hard, "Oww!", "Stop moving." Vinnie was sitting behind me and he started reaching for my bag, "What's in your bag LaVon?" I grabbed it and held it firmly, "It's really not worth looking at."

He raised his eyebrow, "It is if you showed Sarah." I couldn't stop him from reaching into the bag. I heard Soul's distinct growl and the snapping of his jaw on Vinnie's hand, "YAAAHHH! What the hell is this?" I got up and tried to pull him off of Vinnie, "I can explain." I managed to pull him off but the whole class had moved away from us and Sarah was looking distressed, "What is that thing Tom!"

Now Mister T. was yelling at me, "I swear if you give me a chance I can explain it." All these excuses ran through my mind but none of them fit, I was truly speechless for the first time. No clever stories or excuses, this was the first time I had ever come up short.

To top it off I got a text on my phone, out of bad habit I checked it and it said, "I warned you.", "What?" A man in a checkered suit caught my eye from out the window. It was the same guy that threatened to take Raigho away. A man behind him had some sort of spherical device; he clicked it and threw it through the window.

It started beeping and everything went in slow motion after that, "GET DOWN!" I recognized it as a high explosive. I dropped Raigho and ran for it. I picked it up and tried to through it out the window but it was too late. Shortly after it left my finger tips and hit the glass it detonated.

All I remembered was a flash and a loud bang and then blackness. When I came too, my ears were ringing and I felt some blood running down the side of my face, the second level floor had collapsed and the building was on fire, someone was dragging me out of the building, "Did everyone make it out alright?" That was Thomure's voice and the person that was dragging me and another students body spoke, "I think so. This should be the last of them." That was Vinnie's voice, he saved me?

"What the hell was that? Just before I was bitten by this dog thing and then this psycho runs for an explosive and nearly kills himself." I lied in the snow and tried to regain my thoughts but I could only hear the conversation, "Well if Thomas hadn't thrown it then we all would have been dead so you can thank him for saving your ungrateful butt. Now I need a headcount."

They started counting but they missed someone's name now who was it? I started thinking and then it hit me, Sarah! I shot up feeling light headed but I ignored it, "Where's Sarah?!" Thomure looked around but he couldn't find her and neither could I, "She's still inside... She's still inside!!!!" I darted back into the building, "You can't go back in there!" He almost caught my arm but I jerked it away from T.

"I have to, my friends are in there." If Sarah's there then Raigho might not have made it out either. I ran into the school passed all the kids that were trying to leave, I had to force a column out of my way so I could get up the stairs while another one nearly fell on me, "SARAH! SOUL!" I yelled for their names as loud as I could but I started choking on some of the smoke.

I crawled through the school and made it to his class, "SOUL! SARAH!" I called and I hear Soul call, "Over here! Sarah's hurt real bad." I made my way through the fire and smoke, "Oh my god. Oh my god!" Her leg was caught under the collapsed ceiling and she was bleeding out, "Help me get this off of her!" Soul and I hoisted the rubble off of her and I slung her arm over my shoulder and held her waist, "Tom... I'm tired..." I dragged her through the rubble and fire, "No Sarah you have to stay awake for me okay? You're going to be just fine just stay awake please?"

I panicked when we made it out the room. The stairs had collapsed and the only way to the next stairwell was through a collapsing floor, "You know CO... I love her... I need to go back and feed her... and tell her I love her." We limped carefully through the school. Raigho had been going ahead of us making sure that the floors were stable, "That's great Sarah, I like CO too. Why don't you tell me more about her alright?"

"She's so sweet... she likes that soul of yours..." We made it to the stairwell and I had to handle her though fallen rubble and burning pillars, "You mean Raigho?" She shook her head, "No, she means you... She said she sees the soul of a pure person... that yours is full of kindness and... sappy things like that."

I looked at her, "Tell her that I thought that was very sweet of her the next time you see her. You just need to stay awake alright? Please Sarah." She nodded her head but she had lost so much blood, we finally made it through the door and we both fell into the snow, "Medic!!!" I had started crying, I thought I was going to lose my best friend.

The paramedics had made it and started taking care of her and myself. I tried to force myself so that I would be near her but they separated us, "No you have to let me see her! Is she going to be alright?!" I was not going to lose someone I cared about again. He held onto my shoulders firmly and looked right into my eyes.

"She's going to be just fine kiddo. My name is Tucker what's yours." I had broken down crying and I had to gather myself so I could answer his question, "I-I'm Tom. She's going to be fine right, tell me the truth." He nodded and started bandaging my head and patched me up, "Tom, I've always liked that name. She's going to be fine Tom, you got her to us just in time but I'm going to go help them with her so stay put. Can I trust you not to leave this spot?"

I nodded and he went back to Sarah. Raigho hopped into my lap and I held onto him crying, "It's my fault isn't it?" He looked up at me with his sad blue eyes, "No Soul, you... just wanted to be with me and I can't punish you for that. But the men that came for you earlier tried to hurt us."

Both of us were utterly covered in soot, my face and clothes were dirtied with the black substance and his fur was cloaked in it. We sat and waited when two women came up to us, "Are you Thomas LaVon and Raigho?" I was taken back by her question until I identified the second woman as a chupa, "Yes. Are you Ember and Ginny?" She nodded, "This is quite the mess. We've seen the CCRT make attacks towards the chupas but not to this extent, not on a middle school."

Her partner had green fur and strawberry blonde hair, the only way I identified her was when she had taken her ski bandana down. Ember had the same color hair with green eyes, she had to be in her mid twenties," You're not taking Raigho away from me are you? I know we messed up but you can't take him! He's my best friend."

Ember laughed hard, "You really think we aren't prepared for this sort of thing? Chupas are spotted all the time; your case just seems more heroic and accidental. We've been keeping an eye on you and Sarah over there. You two are very careful about keeping them hidden but this little guy was at fault this time."

Raigho looked really guilty but she patted his head and handed us both earplugs, "Put them in." We put them in and Ginny had taken out a small orange box with a touch pad and some audio output thing. She hit the button but we couldn't hear anything.

We took our plugs out after them and she explained, "They won't remember much of the current events, only the explosion and the fires but some things are blurred out. They'll put the pieces back together and continue what they were doing but not remember your exposure. We emitted a sound wave that scrambles a part of their memory in their brain. It's not healthy but the side effects will wear off in a few hours and we won't have to do it again here so long as your chupa doesn't expose himself again."

Soul shrank from her glare, "I'm sorry, I swear I'll never leave the house again." She laughed and I asked, "Side effects, what kind?" Ginny tucked the device back in her coat, "Some short term memory loss but only for a few hours. We don't ever scramble their memory for too long, just long enough."

I nodded and she patted Raigho's head and they both walked away, "Stay out of trouble and keep up the good work boys." They vanished and I just looked down at Raigho, "Don't you ever do something like this again." I smiled relieved that they hadn't taken him and he smiled back at me, "Believe me, I won't."

Things were fine after that incident, Sarah's leg healed and my head healed just fine. Raigho was never exposed again after that and Sarah never let CO out of the house. We celebrated Christmas and I got Raigho his gift I got him a practice sword and told him he couldn't have his scythe until he was big and old enough to actually handle it. He was a bit down but he had just as much fun with the practice sword as he did the real thing.

My dad came back in one piece and was I ever grateful for him coming home. Raigho matured into a fine man and I along with him. When we were old enough we joined Myshu and asked if we could help deal with the CCRT and she said why not.

We made our own team with CO, Sarah, Raigho and I. We helped out the kids that were just getting their chupas and helped keep the CCRT's attacks under wraps. Raigho put the scythe to good use. The Chupa Capture and Removal Team was hardly a challenge and they eventually stopped all together.

A few years after they stopped we managed to finally expose the new life forms. Pretty cool right? The human race took it really well, we let some groups of people remember accidental exposures and there were so many that it wasn't too much a shock to anyone.

Now this doesn't mean that every single person accepted them, there were some that saw them as freak shows and discriminated against them but what group hasn't had individuals that hated their guts so the chupas fit right in.

Well that's all their really is to tell about my story, happy holidays and may your holidays be as memorable as mine. Hopefully you have a better handle on your chupas than I did.