THE NEBULA HOUSE

1

Tamara's P.O.V
I hate moving.

I honestly hate it. It's all having to fit in with a new environment and stuff and I don't like it much. It's especially worse without my parents here. They're too busy with work out of the country to bother much about stuff at home.

We recently moved to this island off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan. The locals call it Minwa. Personally, the name isn't half bad, but I'm honestly getting sick of how people stare at me whenever I go out of the house because frankly speaking, my African-Southeast Asian parentage means I have a pretty dark complexion.

And that's apparently alien to them.

Can't blame them entirely though.

I hear four sets of claws scratching on my bedroom door and sigh as I put down my journal and head out to feed Ajax and Summit, our family's loyal brown tabby cat and Golden Retriever whom I've had ever since they were a kitten and puppy each. Their kibbles clink as they spill out of the packet into their food bowls and both the blur of pale gold fur and striped brown fur rush over to gobble everything down in record time while I grab my jacket and get their leashes ready. Walks are still in routine. Even if my folks aren't around.

Soon, me, Ajax and Summit are walking down the street, leashes in hand and texting my BFF, Riley. He's a native of Minwa, and we used to be penpals before I moved here with my parents. We get along real well.

Texts
TAMARA: Yo Riley, wassup?

RILEY: Hey Tamara! Where are you?

TAMARA: Walking Ajax and Summit. You wanna join us?

RILEY: Nah, I pass. I've got too much homework.

TAMARA: Aw man.

RILEY: I might be free this evening though. Wanna watch a movie at my place?

TAMARA: Your parents aren't home?

RILEY: Nope. Working out of the country. Same boat as your parents.

I laughed at that gently. Just as I did, I heard somebody yelling at me.

"Oh my God"! a young woman in her early twenties shrieked, running up to me and my pets suddenly. "So cute! What are their names"!?

Ajax and Summit don't appreciate being shouted at. At. All. The next thing I knew was the ends of their leashes weren't in my hand and I was berating the woman fiercely.

"Baka"! I cursed in whatever bit of Japanese my brain could process at that moment. "Don't just run at somebody's pets like that! Now look at what you've done"!

She was about to apologise, but I barely stuck around to hear it. I ran after my beloved pets, chasing them through the stream of people walking to or from work or school. Married couples holding their babies and kids narrowly dodged me, Ajax and Summit while students carrying book-loaded bags or bachelors and bachelorettes weighed down with briefcases or grocery bags shifted their loads to the other side swiftly the moment they heard my frantic cries of excusing myself as I hared after my pets like a ravenous wolf after caribou. At first, luck was on my side, then a few cyclists taking a shortcut via the zebra crossing made me have to stop before I crashed into one of them while Ajax and Summit disappeared down an alleyway.

Dang it, I cursed angrily under my breath. I hopped from one foot to the other like a frightened kangaroo waiting for the stream of cyclists to fade before I ran up to the alleyway, stopping to catch my breath.

"Of all the days Tammy", I told myself in between lungfuls of air. "You just had to let go of the leashes back there".

Just as I was contemplating on what to do next, I heard Summit whining, followed by an aggressive hiss that was definitely from Ajax.

"Wha"-? I was about to gasp, running down the alleyway to see if they were hurt or stuck, and what I saw made me gasp even harder.

Ajax and Summit were backed up against the wall, whining and hissing and growling as a figure dressed all in black with a hoodie covering its head cornered them, holding something in his hand. Upon closer inspection, I saw it was some sort of...blaster? Like something out of those sci-fi shows me and Riley watched sometimes.

"Hey you"! I yelled out, wondering if my reaction was the best-or the worst-at the moment. "Get away from them"!

The figure must've heard me, or the tone of my voice probably told it that it's actions were busted, because it dropped the blaster...thing, and backed up as I gathered Ajax and Summit under my arms and threw the figure a dirty look, which was when I saw something off about it.

A long coiled vine covered in some sort of wrinkly black skin, and it seemed to be coming right out of the figure's head!

"What are you"!? I shouted again, this time causing it to back up even more, then it ran off in the opposite direction.

I took a moment to calm down, make sure Ajax and Summit weren't hurt, then slung their leashes around my wrist and gingerly picked up the dropped blaster and stowed it underneath my jacket. Then I left the alleyway and headed out into the street, stopped at a bus stand and fished my phone out of my pocket and called Riley.

"Riley? It's me, Tamara. Can I come over to your place for a few hours"?