Black Blood Chapter 6
#8 of Black Blood
A Routine Visit and an Unexpected Visitor
Ren's eyes wandered lazily as they stared at the ceiling of the bright white tube. His body was relaxed as he laid on his back in that confined space. If circumstances were different he'd be asleep for the entire process, but the constant humming that emanated from the MRI machine that was so loud it was even able to penetrate the earphones Ren was wearing. The occasional assortments of beeps didn't help either; they seemed random and made Ren flinch whenever they started up again.
This was far from the first MRI Ren has ever had. As far as he could remember he's been having two MRIs every year since he was four years old. He remembered it being rather intimidating the first few times, but now he was accustomed to it and only found it slightly unbearable having to stay still for an hour and not be told what it was for.
Todd leaned up against the glass window; watching and listening as the machine continued to do its work. Despite how many times he's had to take Ren for this examination he was always weighed down with fear and anxiety. He gazed to his side. The doctor sat at the terminal, monitoring the readings and observing the changes in the imagery. For the doctor it was just another day at work, but for Todd this felt like hell.
Todd turned his gaze back his son. At this angle he could only get a clear view of his son's feet and his tail relaxing in-between. Todd's ears twitched when the machine started beeping again. He noticed how his son's feet flinched every time it started. The doctor once told him that the beeping is normal for the machine, but it has an added benefit when examining Ren. Observing his heart when it's both relaxed and stressed helps reveal more information for the examination.
"Nothing bad, please..." Todd whispered as he looked over at the timer; just thirty minutes to go.
A soft sigh escaped Sera's muzzle as she was left with the task of organizing her children's paperwork. She had asked her husband to handle it weeks ago. Did he? Yes. Did he do it well? Nope. Sera groaned as she took out every piece of paper so that she could do it herself.
She laid out the papers on the sofa cushions on either side of her; trying to make sure she could see everything before starting to put it back. Sitting on the floor opposite of her was Tom playing with Luna. Sera smirked as she briefly took her attention away from the papers and watched as Tom wiggled his fingers in front of Luna; eliciting a bit of laughter from her. Sera was extremely grateful that Tom was present to keep Luna occupied. Sera knew how little she'd get done if she had to tend to Luna herself.
"Mom, when are dad and Ren coming back?" Tom asked as he lowered his fingers, letting Luna softly nibble on them for a bit. He was glad that Luna had stopped tearing the skin and now only playfully nibbled.
"I'm not sure, dear." Sera said as she continued to keep her focus on the papers. "It depends on how fast the doctor is."
"Oh..." Tom said as he watched his mother slowly place various papers into a black folder. "Want any help?"
Sera smiled as she slowly shook her head. "No dear, this is something I need to take care of. Thank you for asking though."
Tom reached for Luna and picked her up, receiving a bit of laughter in return. He approached his mother and gazed down at all of the papers. Lines and lines of text filled out the majority of the documents. Only a few had some kind of images on them, but they weren't even colored. "What 'cha doing?" Tom asked.
"Oh!" Sera flinched. She hadn't realized Tom had been standing next to her. "I'm just organizing your brother's folder" Sera said as she reached for another paper.
"Why?" Tom asked as he tried to get an understanding of what any of those papers were for.
Sera chuckled as she shifted her gaze towards Tom. "I like things to be organized so that if I need to find something I won't have trouble finding it."
"Oh" Tom said as he looked down at the black folder in his mother's lap. "So why does Ren have a folder anyways?"
"To hold his paperwork, silly." Sera reached down and shifted the black folder to the side, revealing two other black folders. "You and Luna also have one."
Tom's eyes were drawn to his name labeled on one of the folders. "Can I see mine?"
Sera's eyes widened momentarily from the sudden suggestion. "No dear. The contents of these folders are for me and your father only."
Tom gave his mother a confused look. If his folder contained things pertaining to him, why couldn't he take a look at his own stuff? He looked back down at his folder.
Sera's ears started to drop as she noticed Tom's confusion starting to shift into curiosity. "Besides..." Sera said, catching her son's attention. "All the papers in here are written in a way that only adults can understand."
Tom looked back down at the papers. His mind started hurt just staring at all the text and the long words embedded within them. Tom shook his to get the idea out of his mind. He gazed down at Luna. "Grown-up stuff gives me a headache." Luna giggled as Tom carried her back to where they were playing before. Sera smiled as she grabbed the few remaining documents.
The doorbell echoed as Sera closed the folder. She looked at the door with confusion. "Wasn't expecting anyone today..." Sera set the folder aside as she stood up. "Stay with Luna" Sera told Tom as she walked past.
As Sera eased the door open her eyes adjusted to the sun as it shone right into her face. As her vision slowly regained focus she saw an elderly Hund standing in front of her, smiling. "Mother!?" Sera said with shock as her eyes widened in surprise. The sudden overexposure caused her eyes to burn. Sera quickly turned her head away as she covered her eyes.
"Not the best welcome, but I'll take it" her mother said as she waited for Sera to compose herself. "Aren't you going to let me in?"
Sera wiped her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to see my grandkids, of course! I can't wait to see little Luna."
Sera's eyes gazed over to Tom and Luna. "Mother... could you please come back later."
Sera's mother furrowed her brow. "Is there something wrong, dear?"
Sera cleared her throat as she faced her mother, her eyes remaining shut. "Mother... you cannot just show up unannounced and expect everything to cater to your expectations."
"Well excuse me for trying to make this a surprise" Sera's mother said with a roll of the eyes. "What is wrong with you? This isn't the first time I've come without calling."
"Things have changed mother..."
"Oh? How so?"
"That is none of your business, mother..."
Sera's mother folded her arms as she started to glare at her daughter. "Sera... tell me what's going on."
A shiver went down Sera's spine as her body prepared to oblige to the order.
"What is going on?" Sera repeated as her brain started to warp the meaning of the question. "What's going on is that my mother has showed up without warning and-"
"Enough of that!"
"Enough of what?" Sera said calmly.
"It was cute when you were younger, Sera, but I will not tolerate this disrespect."
"I assure you, mother, it is not my intention to show you any disrespect. I am simply asking that you come back another time."
"Step aside, Sera."
Sera's body went stiff as she once again tried to trick her brain into not following her mother's order. Her body flinched slightly before relaxing again.
Her mother took a deep breath. "Sera... move out of the way. Let me in. Step away from the door. Welcome me as your guest..." Her mother continued to give one command after another. Sera clenched her teeth as she tried her best to deflect all the orders, but it was too much for her. She took two steps back; allowing her mother the opportunity to enter. "Now... was that so hard?"
Sera looked at the living room and then back to her mother. "No..." Sera sighed. "What's next might be..." Sera could see it in her mother's eyes as she walked into the house. Her wandering gaze focused intently on something in the living room. Sera let out another sigh.
"Well now... what do we have here?" her mother said with a playful tone. "Is that my granddaughter?" She didn't wait for a confirmation as she disappeared into the living room. Sera stood there, sighing a sigh of relief. She figured Tom must have gone elsewhere after hearing all of the commotion. Sera's body relaxed as she followed her mother. When she turned the corner her body went stiff again. There, sitting on the floor, was her mother playing with Luna all the while Tom watched as he sat across from her.
As Sera's mother continued to play with Luna she gazed up at Tom. "Been quite a few years since I've seen a human... tell me, are you a friend of Ren?"
"We're brothers." Tom said.
Sera's mother froze for a moment. "You mean..." her words came out slowly. Sera started to approach ease the situation. "You mean I have another grandson!?" Sera stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide. "Now, be a good boy and take little Luna upstairs. I need to have a talk with your mother." She proceeded to hand Luna over to Tom. He looked at his mother as she recovered from her loss of words.
"Stay upstairs with your sister, Tom" Sera said, giving Tom the go ahead to carry Luna out of the living room and upstairs. The two Hunds listened as they heard the sound of a door shutting. Sera looked at her mother, curious. "What are you up to mother?"
"I'm not up to anything dear" her mother said as she approached the couch.
"Don't give me that bull, mother. I know all too well your view of humans is just like the others."
Her mother laughed. "Perhaps I've changed, Sera. Anything is possible, given time."
"Not for white collars, it isn't. You're all stubborn and only think about what actions will lead to you gaining the most satisfaction." She watched as her mother looked away. "I'm right aren't I? Face it, mother, even you know this is all just a façade."
Her mother groaned. "Yes, it's a façade, but it's one I'm willing to put on for you!" Her mother let out a deep sigh. "You were all that I had left before you walked out on me because of that argument." Sera's face softened as she watched her mother's usual calm and determined demeanor collapse. Her mother's eyes started to tear up. "For so many years I lived without knowing where you went or if you were even alright. And then..." she forced a smile. "One day you call me out of the blue and..." she laughed through her crying. "Oh how I felt knowing that you'd let me back in your life." She gazed at Sera with her tear-stained eyes. "And you told me I was a grandmother."
"You never told me this before..."
Her mother chuckled to herself. "I didn't want you to know; I wanted everything to go back to what it was before."
"So why tell me this now, mother?" Sera gazed at her mother with sad eyes.
"Because..." her voice shrunk to a whisper. "I don't want you to push me out of your life again." Her mother took a few deep breaths. "I knew if I started acting like... myself around the human we'd start the same fight from all those years ago."
Sera sighed. "Mother..." Sera reached over and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. Her mother reciprocated the act, her arms trembling as she continued to breathe to calm herself down.
After about a minute the two parted. Sera's mother smiled as she stood up, wiping her eyes. "I'm going to freshen myself up."
"Alright..." Sera said as she laid back against the couch, watching her mother vanish from the room. Sera gazed up the ceiling. Her mind started to wander back to the events that led to that argument with her mother...
Sera had just started her freshman year of high school. For her, it presented the opportunity for her to meet new people who had gone to different middle schools than her. One particular surprise for her was that there were quite a few humans attending. Sera recalled the last time she went to the same school as a human was when she was in fourth grade.
Sera watched as the majority of the Hunds just ignored the humans. There were a few stares from the ones who were in the same boat as Sera, but they were only curious stares. There were others that were filled with disgust and contempt...
"Isn't this just pathetic?" Sera gasped as a hand suddenly clasped itself on her shoulder. "Can you believe they're actually letting diseased humans attend school with us again?"
Sera sighed as she turned to face her friend. "You know their disease doesn't affect us." Sera knew her words fell on deaf ears. This friend of hers was definitely one of the more... vocal individuals who hated the new arrangements.
"I just don't see why the state doesn't just keep them separated from us; they're nothing but trouble!" Multiple ears perked up when the five minute warning bell rang. "We're going to miss out on the good seats if we don't hurry" her friend teased as he softly guided her through the halls.
Sera winded up getting a seat with her friend at the back of the class. "Nice!" he said as he stretched his arms skyward. "We'll get less attention back here."
Sera rolled her eyes playfully as she gazed around the class. Many students were still rushing in and haphazardly taking a seat. It was no surprise that even after the bell rang again that students continued to pour through.
The teacher up front watched with amusement as seat after seat became occupied. Sera was caught by surprise when one female human walked in with the other students. She went towards the seat in the front left corner of the class right next to the window. "Well..." the teacher started once everything had settled down. "I'm well aware this is all your first day at a new school so none of you will be written down as tardy." Sighs of relief escaped some of the students. "However!" the teacher raised his voice, grabbing back their attention. "After today I expect none of you will be late for my class again, correct?" Some of the Hunds nodded their heads in response, but that didn't seem to suit the teacher. "Correct!?" It didn't take long for a simple yes to echo throughout the room. "Good." The teacher turned around and approached the white board. "Today we shall be going over the syllabus of the class..."
"Joy..." Sera gazed at her friend as he let out an exasperated sigh. "Not only is this class going to be boring, but look." He motioned his head towards the corner of the class. "We get to have one of them in the class with us."
"I'm sure it won't be too bad. Just stop focusing on the subject."
"How can I when it's always going to be within my line of sight?"
"You two having a nice chat back there?" a voice echoed in their ears. Their eyes turned to see the teacher gazing at them with a disapproving, yet somehow amused glare.
"No sir!" Sera's friend said quickly.
"No? Are you having a fight?"
"Not at all, sir." Sera replied this time.
"Then you two must be discussing what I've written on the board!" The teacher suddenly grabbed an eraser and swept it across the white board. "By all means, please repeat what I was just going over."
Sera's ears flattened against her head in embarrassment as her friend only shrugged his shoulders.
"I see..." the teacher sighed. "Normally I'm not one for seating arrangements, but I'm going to have to separate you two." Sera's eyes widened as the teacher looked around the classroom. "It would seem that the only empty spot left in my classroom is right here up front." His arm motioned to the empty seat right next to the human girl. "If neither one you chooses to move to this seat then I will assign a seating roster for the entire class." All at once various groans echoed throughout the classroom. Everyone turned and gazed at them with expectation.
Sera sighed as she stood up and started picking up her things. "What are you doing?" her friend asked. "You're actually going to go sit next to it?"
"I'd rather not be the pariah of the class. Besides, I have no issues being around them." Sera smiled. "Think of this as me doing you a favor." Sera could hear her friend groan in disapproval as she passed numerous classmates who were no doubt satisfied with her decision.
As Sera sat down at her new seat she realized that the human had kept her eyes gazed on the window the entire time. Only when the teacher resumed talking about the course did she turn her head. Sera wanted to say something, but feared getting in trouble again and instead remained silent as she focused on her teacher.
When class ended Sera was practically dragged out of the room by her friend before she had the chance to even say anything to the human. "What are you doing!?" Sera asked with annoyance as she was pulled by force.
"Getting us to our next class..." her friend huffed.
"Since when have you been this anxious to get anywhere early!?" She didn't receive a reply.
They sat in the class alone. It was a good two or three minutes before the warning bell would even ring. They sat next to each other, but faced away from one another. "What is wrong with you?"
"I'm just pissed."
"Because of the humans?" Sera shook her head.
"Trust me, they might not be helping the situation, but they aren't what I'm pissed about."
"Then what?"
He sighed. "My grandfather died a few nights ago..."
"What!?" Sera's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell me!?"
Her friend groaned. "I just didn't want to talk about it..." Sera watched as her friend's face softened to a point she rarely ever saw. "He was like a father to me..." Sera closed her eyes. It was one of the only things the two of them had in common- losing their fathers at such a young age. "I respected grandpa Emrik so much..." he chuckled. "Even if he could be a bit... abrasive."
Sera gently rubbed her friend's arm, eliciting a soft sigh from him.
"He sure did have a way with words though..." he smiled. "He kept telling me this disease wiping out the humans... it's all a retribution."
"What a thing to say..." Sera closed her eyes.
"Yeah... it makes sense, huh?" Sera's eyes widened. "I mean... c'mon do see how much trouble they've inflicted on the world? This is nature's way of dealing with a disease that's been plaguing it for thousands of years." He turned to face Sera. "It'd be best if you stay away from them as much as possible." Sera remained speechless as warning bell rang. It wasn't long before the familiar rush of students started again. Sera slowly turned away from her friend and faced the front of the class. Once everyone was situated Sera looked around. The human from before wasn't in this class, nor any humans in general. Sera sighed with disappointment.
Out of the eight classes Sera had she shared five of them with her friend. Sera found herself actually relieved to have some time to herself during those three periods. During eighth period, another without her friend, she recognized someone from first period. Sera looked around, expecting her friend to be standing over her shoulder, but he was nowhere to been seen. Sera smiled with relief that he wasn't here to say something about what she was going to do.
Sera approached the desk next to the human and sat down. The human's eyes gazed over to see who it was, but then quickly retreated to face the other direction. "Hi." Sera said. The human didn't respond. "My name is Sera." She received no verbal reply but was instead met with another momentary gaze. Sera sat back in her seat. She gazed at the clock; still a few minutes before class started. "So..." her voice drifted. "What do you think of the school?"
The human let out a sigh. "It's nice, I guess..."
Sera smiled.
The human caught on to this. "Why are you so happy? Do you like the school that much?"
Sera shook her head with a giggle. "I'd just forgotten what it's like talking to a human." Sera felt more relaxed talking with this human than she did with her own friend.
"Is that so?" the human said with a chuckle. She turned her body to face Sera. "I guess I can help you out with that."
"That'd be nice." Sera smiled.
The remainder of the school day came and went. Sera said goodbye to her new friend as she waited for another. She refrained from mentioning to him what had happened in the last period. She instead just listened to him tell stories about his late grandfather. She was thankful most of them weren't... strongly worded.
"Mother, I'm home!" Sera shouted as she entered the house.
"I'll be right down, dear." As Sera placed her bag on the ground she looked up in time to see her mother starting her descent down the stairs. "Tell me, how was your first day my little high school girl?"
Sera felt the familiar sensation as her body unconsciously tensed up. She smiled as the tone of her voice softened from cheerful to dignified. "It was absolutely wonderful, mother."
"Did you make any new friends?"
"I did, mother."
"Well don't be so vague, dear! Tell me all about what happened today."
Sera's mind froze. She stopped herself short from telling her mother all the finer details about her new friend. She paused for a moment. "Well, when I first arrived I noticed there were all these humans and-"
"What!?" her mother shouted with surprise. "Why the hell aren't they in a separate school!?"
"Mother... humans are allowed to attend school with Hunds again. The rumor of the disease being a danger to Hunds has been debunked."
"It's not right!" her mother huffed. "Don't they realize there's always the possibility of mutation!?"
"I believe that possibility has also been debunked, mother... You shouldn't get this worked up over nothing, mother."
Her mother gave her a suspicious look. "Sera... tell me... were you hanging out with any of them today?"
Sera's mind immediately went to her conversation with her new friend. Instead of revealing that, Sera focused on something else. "You don't have to worry, mother. My friend is making sure I keep my distance from them." Sera involuntarily rubbed her wrist which had been yanked for much of the day.
"What a nice young boy he is" her mother smiled. "You are lucky to have him as a friend."
"Indeed I am, mother..."
"Well, make sure you do your homework. I need to take care of some last-minute errands." Her mother proceeded towards the front door.
"Take care, mother" Sera said as her mother closed the door behind her. Sera let out a sigh of relief as her body relaxed. She grabbed her things and went to her room.
She tossed her bag to the side of the room. She drifted towards the bed and fell face first. She took a deep breath before letting it all out in a relaxing sigh. Despite the stress she had felt when dealing with her mother, she couldn't help but shiver with excitement over the thought of going behind her mother and friend's back. Sera gasped from the thought. She couldn't understand where these thoughts were suddenly coming from. Why was she finding delight in disobeying them? Instead of delving into the problem Sera, instead, shrugged it off.
As the weeks passed Sera found herself drifting apart from her old friend. He started to prefer the company of other white collars of the school instead of her. While Sera was thankful that this meant he wasn't watching over her as much as before, she still felt a sense of sorrow from the thought of losing her oldest friend.
As her friendship with the white collar became strained her friendship with the human grew steadily as time passed. For most of freshman year Sera was having the time of her life. It didn't take long, however, before things started to crash down all around her.
Mid-way through the second semester of Sera's freshman year all of the white collars had grouped together and started their own little "crusade" as they called it. They focused on reducing the human population of the school. They, of course, never did anything physical against them- at least they never threw the first punch. In the weeks following many of the humans who were baited into fighting and harassed relentlessly just stopped coming to school.
As the final bell of the day echoed throughout the school many students stood up with excitement. They slowly poured out of the classrooms; anxious to get a start on their weekend. Left behind in one classroom was Sera and her friend sitting in silence. They stayed like that until the teacher wished them a good day and left as well.
"You've been awfully quiet today" Sera said as she watched the human gaze lazily out the window.
"I'm just wondering if it's even worth it..." She let out a sigh before laying her head on her arms, facing Sera. "Things... have gotten serious for me..."
Sera winced as images of the white collars' actions popped into her mind. Images of him popped into her mind. "I just can't understand why he'd do something like that." Sera watched as the human gave her a confused look. "You know, my friend who's a white collar. I knew he could be brash, but..." Sera closed her eyes. "He's been my friend since grade school and... I never thought he'd be capable of something like this..."
"Ah..." her friend chuckled as she straightened herself in her seat. "I can't speak for your friend, but as far as I can remember those kind of Hunds have always hated humans. The only difference, now, is that schools are mandated by Hunds instead of humans now."
"'Those kind of Hunds?'" Sera repeated with confusion.
Sera received an amused look. "Come on... you can't tell me you've never once looked at Hunds like your friend and thought 'their kind is different than me.'" Her amused look faded when she noticed Sera, indeed, appeared oblivious to it all. "You really can't see it, huh? Forget it then..." she shook her head as she stared down at her desk. "You know... I never understood the purpose behind the collars all of you wear." Sera inadvertently tried to look down at her own collar. "I don't know what meaning it has to your kind, but for me it was always blue is nice, white is mean. Doesn't matter, though. After this damned disease came to light almost every Hund avoids humans now." A brief smile crossed her face. "Hard to find friends when no one wants to be near you."
"You're making me depressed now..." Sera chuckled. She watched as her friend turned to face her again. Sera knew her friend loved sarcasm, and would usually crack a smile from it, but this time her face remained glum. A shiver went down Sera's spine; she knew something was wrong.
"Sera... I don't think you realize how serious my predicament is..."
"I'm... I'm sure I can convince my friend to have them leave you alone..." Sera said with uncertainty.
She shook her head. "Sera... the white collars aren't the problem..." She took a deep breath as she reached down for her right pants leg. "This is..." she lifted up a few inches.
The air left Sera's lungs as she gazed at the dark, discolored skin running from her foot to her calf. "No..." Sera whined as the weight of her friend's words finally hit her. She shook her head. "No! It's too early for this to happen to you!"
"Apparently it has other ideas..." her friend said frankly as she let her pants leg fall back into place. "Today's my last day coming here..."
"What!?" Sera's eyes went wide. "No..." Sera covered her eyes as they started tearing up. "None of this is fair!" Sera shouted hysterically before she started sobbing uncontrollably. "Because of that- that stupid di-disease all humans are dying I'm losing my only friend!"
Her friend's eyes started to tear up. She would have probably lost herself too if it hadn't been for classroom door suddenly flying open.
"What the hell is going on in here!?" Sera's ears perked when she heard the familiar voice. "The hell did you do to her, you freak!" She glanced over and saw her white collar friend walk through the classroom looking absolutely livid. Following behind him were a few of his new friends.
"I didn't do anything!"
"Shut it disease!" he shouted as he approached Sera. He gently placed his paws on her shoulders. "Sera... are you alright?"
Sera shook her head. "No..." Sera took another deep breath as she tried to compose herself.
"I'll take care of this..." his words ended with a snarl. Sera's eyes widened when she noticed the white collars had the human surrounded.
"Wait!" Sera gasped out weakly.
"What is it Sera?" he asked.
"Please. Just leave her alone!" Sera said with a sniffle.
"Why would I do that? It's bad enough that she's a human, but she also made you cry!"
"No!" Sera shook her head. "She's my friend!"
The attention of every Hund focused on Sera after hearing those words. There was nothing but silence for a few seconds as the human stood uncomfortably within the circle of Hunds. Sera's white collared friend only gave her a blank stare as if he was trying to process what she had just said. "You did not just say that..."
"I did!" Sera said with more confidence. "She's been my friend since the start of school."
Her friend clutched his paws into fists. "You've been hiding this from me for that long!?" his voice grew louder with every word. "I told you, day one, to stay away from humans, yet you spite me and do it anyways!? What the hell is going on in that stupid blue-collared head of yours!?" Sera's eyes widened.
"Don't talk to her like that, you bastard!" the human shouted as she pushed the Hund a foot or two away from Sera. "How can you call yourself her friend when you talk to her like that!?" There was only silence. The human gazed around in confusion.
"Run!" Sera shouted with desperation.
Fear filled the human's eyes as she finally realized what she had just done. She watched as the Hund slowly. Without even turning he swung his hand backwards, hitting her across the head and sent her tumbling into the desks.
"Stop!" Sera shouted as she jumped to her feet. She latched onto his arm, trying to stop him.
"Cut it out, Sera!" her friend barked at her.
Sera felt a familiar sensation from when she spoke with her mother. "What do you want me to cut out?" her words came out without expression. Her eyes glared into his.
"The hell are you doing!?" he shouted. "Why are you speaking to me like I'm your mother!? Let go!"
"What do you want me to let go of?"
"Let go of my arm!" Sera's grip left his arm. "Finally... what the hell has gotten into-" he cut himself off as he realized Sera had just wrapped her arms around his waist, trying to pull him back.
"This is ridiculous!" he shouted. He glared at the other white collars. "Get her off of me!" They quickly grabbed a hold of Sera's arms and yanked her away. "Hold the bitch right there!"
"And now you call her a bitch..." the human said as she stumbled to get back on her feet. "You have such horrible manners you mutt." The sound of his growling grew louder as he slowly approached her. "Were you raised to act like this? If so, whoever raised you must have been a real shithead..." she smiled defiantly.
Hund and human stared each other down, both breathing heavily. "Don't close your eyes, Sera..." the human said as she watched the Hund pull his arm back. "See the world how it really is..."
Hours passed. Sirens roared and questions were asked. As far as the Hunds were concerned, no rules had been broken. It seemed the Hund had enough restraint to keep himself from killing the human. Sera only watched as one of her friends was carted off in an ambulance while the other just laughed about it with his buddies. Sera felt her heart sink. Her body felt as though it was throwing up, but nothing came out. She needed to get away from here. She needed to confide in someone.
"My goodness, dear! Where have you been!?" Sera's mother said with shock as she greeted Sera at the front door.
Sera flung herself into her mother's arms and started bawling her eyes out.
"What happened?" her mother asked as she slowly patted her daughter.
"He beat her... he beat her so hard she's in the hospital!"
"Who? Your friend? He sent someone to the hospital?"
Sera only nodded her head. "He's not my friend!"
"Oh dear..." her mother held Sera closer. "Who did he send the hospital?"
"A friend, mother."
"That doesn't sound like the boy! Why would he beat one of your other friends!?"
"Because she's a human!" Sera shouted into her mother's chest. After a few moments she looked up. Her mother didn't say a word. "Mother?"
"My dear... it was only a human... It must have been approaching its expiration date anyways."
Sera's eyes widened. She promptly pushed herself away from her mother. "What is wrong with you!?"
"Don't use that tone of voice with me, young lady..."
"Fine! I'll use another! Your kind is cruel, selfish, and has no remorse for anyone who doesn't wear that damned white collar!"
"You're the one who got too close to one of those vermin and now you're getting upset now that it's being exterminated."
Sera laughed as she shook her head. "Your kind just can't say anything civil when it comes to humans. You all just stand way up there and act like you're above everybody else. You're pathetic!"
"How dare you speak to your mother like that!" she screamed.
"Mother..." Sera scoffed at the word. "I'm starting to wonder if we're even related! I can't believe your genes are inside me!"
"You shut up and listen you ungrateful brat! When you were born your father and I could have easily given you up, but we didn't!"
"Oh I'm sure you regret that decision, huh?" Sera smirked.
"Sometimes I do!"
Sera and her mother glared at each other. Sera grinded her teeth. "Well, sorry for not being what you wanted, 'mother!'"
Sera stormed past her mother. "Don't you walk away from me!" her mother shouted. To her annoyance, Sera started running up the stairs. Sera's mother growled as she stared at the stairs. She turned towards the door. She didn't want to deal with this, she thought.
Sera clutched her paws as she heard the front door slam. She quickly cleared off her desk. She took a sheet of paper and wrote in large lettering: 'Emancipation.'
Six months later Sera was finishing up another day of school. Now a sophomore, Sera was enrolled in all advanced courses. She had made it her goal to graduate by the end of her junior year. She was willing to do anything to move out of that household as soon as possible. She and her mother acted awkwardly around each other at the house. Sera preferred to just avoid interacting with her as much as possible. Sera spent more time at school and the library than she did at her own house.
Sera didn't even bother getting up from her seat. While the rest of the class left she took out all the assignments she had been given that day and proceeded to knock them out.
Not long after she started making strokes with her pen did the sound of the classroom door creak open. Sera ignored it; figuring the teacher had forgotten something. Sera's ears, however, twitched when the sound of clicking echoed throughout the room.
"Look at you, going at it so seriously..."
Sera lost her grip on her pen and her ears perked up. She slowly tilted her head up. "It can't be..." Sera smiled as she gazed at the human who stood there supported by a pair of crutches.
"So... how have you been?" the human laughed nervously, not noticing Sera jumping out of her seat and charging right towards her. "Careful! Please..."
Sera slowed down just in time to wrap her arms around her friend. "I thought the disease..." Sera's eyes teared up slightly as she slowly released her friend from her clutches.
"Yeah... well... while I was at the hospital the doctors noticed my leg and decided to..." she looked downwards. Sera followed her gaze and gasped with shock; noticing her entire right leg missing. "Took care of the problem before it could reach of the organs..."
"Does this mean you're cured!?" Sera said with excitement, her tail wagging excitedly. She watched her friend slowly shake her head from side to side. Her tail soon came to standstill before drooping downwards.
"It's only a delay, Sera... It won't be long before it pops up again somewhere else on my body.
"But... then you can just get rid of that part too, right?"
"I could..."
Sera's ears flattened. "But... you won't?"
"Sera... losing my leg was a stressful time for me... I've spent months in hospital just undergoing physical therapy. I don't want to go through that again..."
"But..." Sera whined.
"Sera... look at you! You're going to do amazing things with your life. You have a future! Me?" She shook her head. "I'm on borrowed time. I'd rather just get the most out of what I have left while I have the chance. And one of those things is to say goodbye to you the right way this time." Sera looked away and wiped her eyes which were starting to tear up. "I... I also want to thank you." Sera turned with reddening eyes to face her friend. To her surprise, the human was starting to tear up as well. "I never got the chance to tell you this last time, but you are a great friend. You were the only reason I enjoyed coming here." She chuckled as she stared Sera straight in the eyes. "Thank you."
Sera couldn't help herself. She threw her arms around her friend again, this time knocking her crutches down. She quickly threw her arms around Sera for support. Though she was surprised, she didn't say anything to stop Sera.
"Thank you for being my friend too..." Sera said with a sniffle as her tears slowly dripped downwards onto her friend's back. She held onto her as long as possible. Sera knew that when she let go, her friend would be gone forever.
Sera sighed softly with a smile as her mother came back.
"Where were we?"
Sera chuckled. "We were about to agree that you never come again without calling ahead."
Her mother smiled. "That sounds reasonable, dear."
"And listen to me, mother, because I will only say this once." Sera glared into her mother's eyes. "If you ever break your act when the children are around you will never be welcomed here again..."
Her mother paused. "I understand..."
"Good..." Sera sighed. "I'm going to let Tom and Luna come back down."
"Where is Ren, dear?"
"At the hospital with his father..."
"Another checkup?" Sera nodded in response. "Poor dear... I hope it's nothing serious..."
"Me too, mother..." Sera said as she grabbed a hold of the black folders. She stared at folder marked 'Ren.' "Me too..."
"Here are the images from your son's previous MRI..." the doctor said as he showed Todd various pictures and videos of his son's heart. "And here are the ones from today..." the images shifted slightly. The doctor proceeded to highlight certain parts on the screen. "It would seem the medication isn't having the desired effects we wanted..." Todd's heart sank in his chest from the news. "The walls of Ren's heart are continuing to thicken. Now while it's not going to have any ill-effects on your son's health in the near-future, down the line it could develop into something more serious."
"How serious?" Todd said as he folded his arms uncomfortably.
"These thickening walls are causing his heart to pump less blood per cycle. To counteract this, his heart is growing at a faster rate than the rest of his body to make up for its deteriorating capability to pump blood. Now while this does help in short run I'm afraid the long-term effects can become quite detrimental to his health."
"Great..." Todd's shoulders slumped as he stared blankly into the distance. "What do you recommend?"
"I would like to prescribe your son a blood thinner. It will ease the stress of his heart."
"It's not going to fix anything, is it?" Todd said dejectedly as he slowly turned back to face the doctor.
"No, Mr. Renoir, but it may help prevent things from getting worse. You do want every precaution to be taken, correct?"
Todd closed his eyes. "Yes, anything to save him."
Chapter 6 done.
I wasn't originally going to go too much into the backstories of the parents, but after a bit of deliberation I figured it would be beneficial to the series down the road.
I have one for Todd as well, but I'm not sure when it will be introduced into the series yet.
One thing I'm sorry about if it caused any confusion is not giving either of Sera's friends a name. I did that purposely. I only plan to have eight characters in the series with names. Anyone without a name will most likely never appear as a main character again and was only there for specific scenes.
Again, please feel free to comment / critique on the story
If there's any questions I'll try to answer them in the comments