BLACKOUT

Chapter 11- old friends

*Knock knock knock*
Kaos goes to the door as I rush downstairs, mum's still unwell and Kaos was about to take the others to school with him. He goes and opens the door while I wait with my luggage. Although I wasn't sure if I needed to bring clothes, they still asked me to.
"Hi Mrs Black! Hi pups! I'm Officer Dantae, nice to meet you."
It was the officer I met yesterday. Surprisingly, he was incredibly nice.
Just before my brothers and sisters were about to leave the house, I said my last goodbyes to them, giving them little smooches on their fluffy cheeks and giving them big hugs.
"Ooh, a mixed breed family! What breed are you all?" He asks.
"Well I am a German Shepherd, my husband is a Black Wolf, Panic is a mix but mostly black wolf, spirit is an equal mix, Kaos is black wolf, Karma and Ghost are also German Shepherd!" Mum explains.
"And how come some have... horns?"
"Oh! Well my husband's mother was a red deer so Panic and Kaos both have tiny horns."
"Wow, that's so fascinating! What a lovely family." He says.
"Well, Panic, I think it's time to go. We don't want to be late."
I say my final goodbyes to mum and my siblings as we walk out the door.
"Mum, I just wanted to say that I love you so much, I'm going to miss you and the others so much and thank you for everything. And also, I'm sorry for everything I've caused for you. I love you. Bye!" I say, hugging her then doing a slight bow and then getting into the officer's car.
We all waved to each other before it was the time where I couldn't see them at all. And won't see them for a while.
"Now Panic, we've gotta stop at the station to pick up all the other people since you're going to be taken on a bus okay?" He says, turning to the other road and into the street that leads to the city.
"Now, the bus is going to be VERY rowdy since we have some animals who have been struck with their predatory instincts so please just try to ignore it. The ride will be around two hours long because it's near Centiion Park which is on the opposite side of the city from Evewood."
The city was VERY big and took up the majority of Scarlett. Where I live called Evewood, is a suburb just outside of the city while Centiion Park is also a suburb on the other side and is outside of the city too, it's also quite close to the border of Craynar, another city in Karglia.
When we arrived at the station I could already tell this was going to be a mess.
The animals that were being checked were resisting and growling all over the officers with slobber sliding down their snouts. They barked, hissed and snarled at me like I was an intruder in a person's home. There only seemed to be a few normal ones, including me. Many of them tried to get out of the chains and muzzles but they couldn't, which agitated them more. They started threatening the 'prey' animals who were too scared to even look at the incandescent animals.
As I was being checked before going through the scanner, the officer checking me saw the necklace that Valerie gave that I was wearing.
"You can't have that." He said.
"It's a gift from a dragon, I must have it on."
Once he heard the word dragon, his eyes widened and he let me go through. Although it beeped, he had already checked so I still walked through.Apparently, humans created a machine like this so they couldn't carry illegal weapons.
As I sat on the bus with Officer Dan, other passengers started to come on and they still were acting up.
After everyone was on, an officer came upfront and made an announcement.
"Attention everyone! Today you are going to be taken to the Pound of Scarlett. I would just like to make some announcements before we head off. One, obey your personal officer and do what you are told. Follow instructions. Two, you are forbidden to speak unless you are asking questions to your officer. I do not want to hear one peep out of one of you! You are all under Zoren and Kaave's eye which means you are under a god's eye and ones that have committed such crimes in the light and dark of Zoren and Kaave will not speak in their presence."
Me and Dantae look at eachother.
Fine by me, I'll just stare out the window and look at the world before me which I was barely able to explore.
But that message didn't make much of a difference, the whole bus was full of noise and in fact, it was even worse than when we were at the station.
We started to drive from the main road and onto the freeway. The freeway had many houses and apartments on each side. I wasn't sure if we were going out to the country, but this freeway told me we weren't because it was extremely short and we still remained in the city.
I looked behind me to see the middle of the place, you could see the Karglia castle, the Royal arts museum, the Hythin skydeck, it was beautiful. I looked up through the window to realise the trainline was above us. I'd forgotten that the trains were more high up and under structures not on top. So they hung from them, like the train hangs from the Great Karglian bridge. I remembered that where we were going was north-eastern Karglia so we were nowhere near the countryside which was south-eastern karglia.
This bus ride felt like a million years, not that I wanted to get where we were going but it made me feel bad for the officers because they had nobody to talk to. I felt bad for them because it was almost nine am and these animals were still yapping about, misbehaving. The bus driver was sick of it but he ignored it because if he reacted, it wouldn't have ended very nicely. Officer Dan was on his phone, showing me funny memes but I couldn't respond, or at least he couldn't see me respond. I tried to squint my eyes to show a reaction but that became hard with my skull face also.
After about one more hour we arrived at the pound. It was surrounded by parks, apartments and was next to a police station. There was also a fire station and a hospital close by. Centiion was a very beautiful suburb and had lots of modern architecture. Including the pound we were being taken to.
It was about three storeys tall with a grassy leisure area outside the bottom floor then second was a basketball court and on the top was where the helicopters landed. It was also very large and spacious. I was actually quite curious about what it looked like inside.
Surprisingly, this place had many facilities and was also very modern looking. While checking in, there were posters and plaques all on the walls saying things like "giving another chance!" or "welcome!" in Xanxian language. It was actually quite nice.
Nice until I met some of the staff.
"Panic, this is Mr Gustus or Security Gustus. He's your other personal officer." Officer Dantae says.
Security Gustus was a red and white hamster, he was pretty big for a hamster and was up to my shoulder, which isn't normal since im a wolf-dog. He didn't have the nicest look, his little arms were crossed as he looked up at me.
"Alright girl, follow me." the hamster says, walking through the hallway.
I follow him into this room in which he goes into a smaller room which looks like a change room.
"Get outta your clothes girl, you ain't got no freedom no more. You're under my control now." He says, leaning against the wall.
"Alright." I say, undressing to change.
But, for some reason, the dude is still in there.
"Uh... what're you doin?" he says as I stop.
"Why are you still looking at me?" I ask.
Even though we're animals and animals see each other's bodies all the time, I still felt uncomfortable.
"Need A watch ya. Makin' sure ye didn't bring any bad stuff ye?" He says, all laid-back.
"Well can I at least get a fema-"
"No!" He cuts me off.
"Alright alright! Just asking geez!"
I changed into the uniform, which isn't anything crazy. Just basic clothing like hoodies, tanks, tee's, crewnecks, shorts, tracksuits- you name it. They were all grey and off-white so it was pretty basic. It was kind of a warm-ish day so I wore trackies and the tank.
"Good, now let me cuff ye up again wolfy."
It's quite hard to walk in the fetters so we walk very slowly. I feel very nervous because I've got both officers by my side as I'm being taken to meet with the owner of the place.
When I enter I realise both the king and the mayor are there so before I sit I obviously bow slightly again.
"Take a seat young lady."
My throat felt numb. My whole body felt numb.
"Welcome. I suppose you know why you're here, yes?" She says.
I nod.
"The names Madam Cairn. I know all about you Nova. These lovely men have told me everything. There isn't much I need to say to you but, I quite like you, Nova."
She's calling me by my middle name.
She's just like me.
"You're just like me. You act like me. You're quiet and laid-back just like me. You've got a very small ego though. That's why I like you.I'll let you go. Officers, up to the shelter-block."
Shelter block? What's that?
Oh. Like a cell block.
There were about two storeys of the shelter block. One on the first and the second floor, it seemed I was on the second floor.
I was starting to get quivery because who knows who i'd be paired with? I was also scared about how tight it would be. But oh, these cells were big, and fit five in each. They had partition walls which acted like three rooms. One partition wall for a room of one bed and a bunk, then one with one bunk bed and then a bath-room with a very small shower and a toilet. I felt quite relieved about what they were. I thought they were going to treat us to a traditional animal lifestyle. Walking to my cell, I was thinking I would be paired with a bunch of lunatics who could possibly beat the shit out of me but no. I was completely wrong. You would never ever guess who I saw in where I was staying. It made me want to burst out in tears of joy. My first thought was. No way! It can't be! You've gone mad Panic! But no. I was in fact correct. As I walked into the cell, I saw the most beautiful cat I had ever seen. She was a snow white colour with baby blue patches on her snout and her ears, she has blue and black fluffy short hair, heterochromia eyes and an industrial ear piercing just like mine that stuck through her right ear.
"Panic?!" She screamed.
"Ava?!" I screamed
We dart towards each other, grabbing onto our hips, hugging and falling to our knees in happiness. It was beyond a miracle. I haven't seen this cat for years and we finally saw each other. Imagine how the others would react when I tell them I found Ava.
I had nothing else to worry about right now other than seeing this cat. That's all.
"Why are you here?!" I ask.
"Hah! Why are YOU here!?" She replies.
We were way way too happy right now.
"What happened to you!?" I ask.
"I'll answer later! HAHAHA!" she replies.
All is fun until another one of our shelter mates come back.
"Now what the actual fuck is goin on here?" They say.
Me and Ava get up and I turn around to see who it is.
"Oh. Hey." one of the other shelter mates says.
Sometimes, I wish I didn't turn around.
"Oh my god."
It was Charlotte. Yes, Charlotte Greyss. The one I 'bullied' when I was younger. Her name definitely did not fit what she actually looked like.
She was HUGE. She was a big brownish-grey bear who had a massive scar on her face. I was the one who gave her that scar.
"Finally! I can finally get my vengeance on you! Woo!" She joyfully says.
I looked at Ava and she looked at me. The rest of our shelter all shared looks to one another.
I tried to back up a bit but she suddenly pushed me against the wall, her arm right up on my chest.
"Are you ready for this Panic? Huh? I can finally punish you the way I wanted to for years. You remember this scar? Yeah."
"Yeah? Of course I'm gonna remember." I replied.
"Oh don't talk to me like that ya little bitch!"
She then punches me hard in the face as I fall to the ground.
"Woah! What the hell Charlotte? Calm the fuck down!" Ava says.
"No. She will get what she deserves. Panic! I'm the boss now. I'm the leader of this shelter group. You do what I say, when I say, where I say, how I say. You're my bitch. I own you."
It's time for some food and we're all at the canteen, sitting and eating. It's all pretty basic stuff. Veggies, rice, eggs and water. Not too bad.
We had to sit in our own shelter groups. Since I was new, we all introduced ourselves.
"The name is Panic and I'm a wolf-dog." I said.
"My name is Ava and I'm a patch-furred cat."
"My name's Charlotte and I'm an American black bear."
"I'm Jaquelin and I'm a bengal tiger."
And lastly...
"Hi, I'm Taro and I'm a European hare."
"Welp! Welcome Panic! I know this isn't the best place to be bu-"
Suddenly,someone cuts Jaquelin off.
"Hii! Can I just have a talk to Panic real quick? Thanks..."
This cat pulls me aside into the corner.
For some reason, it's Sherbert, the mayor's last daughter.
"Daddy says for me to watch over you and what you do so be aware of that! Thanks..." she says, right before she goes running off to her friends who she brought with her.
I then walked back to our table.
"What was that all about? Do you know her?" Taro asks.
"It's the mayor's third daughter. The last triplet of the three. I killed both her sisters." I say.
But then I remember that Ava doesn't know why it happened.
"What!? How could you do that Panic? I thought you were here because they mistook you for someone else!?" Ava yelps.
"Ava, you don't understand, I'll explain later just, please. Not now."
"Alright... but it better be good."
Then Charlotte decides to speak.
"Girl... how are you gonna get mad when you practically did the same thing? We're all here because we all committed bad crimes, right?" She laughs.
"Okay, one, do not call me girl. You know why. Two, I'll explain it later to her. We both need to explain some very important things to each other."
"Whatever."
It was time for some free, productive time so me and Ava went back to our shelter to talk.
We sat down on the bunks, facing each other.
"Okay. Panic. NOW explain." She says.
"Okay. So. Remember when every single day I would always cause at least something bad to happen and I would always be in trouble and be sent home early? And how would I leave early for vet appointments?" I ask Ava.
"Um, yes. Slightly I do remember."
"All of those things were out of my control. I'm being serious. Every time it happened I got extreme migraines and stomach aches which I would usually think of as my period. But it wasn't. After a while of that pain I would black out, not feeling any part of my body feeling completely numb all over. Could not hear, see, taste. Any sense. The only thing I could hear was voices. It feels as if something is possessing my body. It's awful. When I wake up, I suddenly feel my body again and I don't remember a single thing. I was always so confused why the teachers punished me. I thought they just didn't like me for no reason."
"In year seven, the day before highschool, It happened and I killed Lemon. About two or three days ago, it happened again and I killed Sherbert." I explained to Ava.
She looked stunned.
"Oh my goodness. That's horrible? Have you told them?" She says.
"Yes! And they don't believe me! I can't find anything about it."
"Geez Panic... that's not right. Once we're out of here we will figure this out! And also bring justice against my kidnappers."
Kidnappers?
"I beg your pardon Ava? What did you just say?"
"Alright, my turn to explain why I'm here and why I've been gone for so long. Years ago, two days before the first day of school, I was walking home from the Tarik shopping centre. That's when I was pulled into a car and was taken all the way to Glenoria in Harboran. I was terrified. They trapped me tight to the seat as I was being taken to a place. When we got there, I learned that it was some sort of tribe or cult. They were mages, who used very evil magic. They told me a specific reason why they napped me but I don't remember what. They didn't hurt me that much. They only beat me about two times because I stuffed something up. It was years ago so I hardly remember anything. But what I do remember is when they got sick of me and attempted to kill me by pressuring me to kill myself by blowing myself up with a ball that was actually a bomb. I heard the beeping and I got scared so instead, I threw the ball incredibly far and into a nearby village where it blew up houses. I wasn't told it was a bomb, only a regular ball. They dressed as regular people and painted me as the criminal. There I was sent here and for some reason, nobody seemed to find any news about me because it wasn't broadcasted on the news channels or any kind of media. But once I get my freedom back, I'll make sure everyone knows the truth, and surely you will too."
"That's so evil. They did that to a literal child. I'm so sorry Ava." I say.
"It's okay. Don't worry about it."
Both of us had our reasons for being here, and they weren't fair.
"What happened to the people living in that area?" I asked.
"None of them died, only injured."
Ava then decided to tell me some facts about herself that I hadn't known yet.
"Ever since I was young I've been having dreams about water and shape-shifting. One was where I turned into water. It was kinda weird. I remember my parents telling me that I was a very different and special kid which I never knew why. I don't remember much of my childhood but I'm hoping I can find my family and start to remember. It's as if I've developed some kind of amnesia ever since the kidnapping. I remembered so much then. I was only thirteen years old, I could probably still remember things that happened four years ago if it weren't for the kidnapping."
Then she proceeded to talk about gender.
"Panic, you know how in primary school I would always dress all different ways like masculine, feminine and androgynous ways, hating being only called she and not understanding gender roles?"
"Yes?"
"Well, over the years I've been thinking about my identity and researching the media when I saw the word 'genderfluid.' and after hearing the definition: 'denoting or relating to a person who does not identify themselves as having a fixed gender' I knew that was me so, Panic, I am genderfluid! Please use my pronouns she/they/he!" Ava announces.
I was shocked. And not in a bad way, not at all! In a good way!
I bolted to hug them, us both laughing with happiness.
"Ahh! Yes! Yes! I'm so proud of you Ava!"
Other people in the other shelters were staring at us, but we did not care one bit. We were too focused on being so happy for eachother.
"Okay but, what about your pronouns Panic?" he asks.
"She/they!" I say.
"Awesome!" She says.
Suddenly, Charlotte slams the door open as the other two shelter mates wait behind her.
"What the fuck is all that screaming for?" She says.
"Oh nothing, don't worry about it Charlotte, just some personal stuff between us. Got nothing to do with you."
She then bends down suspiciously with a vulgar grin on her face, grizzly slobber falling down the sides of her snout.
"No no, I want to know." She says.
"Like we said, it's none of your business mate, so stop asking?" I say.
She suddenly snatches my neck and slamming me into the partition wall next to the bed. I couldn't breathe. The others were begging her to stop.
"Charlotte, stop it!" Taro yelps.
"Oh my god, not again." Jaquelin says.
"You do what I say bitch! I told you!" She screams, right before punching me in the stomach and throwing me on the concrete floor.
She kneed me in the chest, pushing me down into the ground. I'm struggling to get out of her massive paws but they're too strong for my own strength. She kicks me in the face and turns my body around punching my back. I try kicking my hind legs back but it's only kicking her big stomach which isn't doing much. Ava and Jaquelin are trying to pull her off me but their strengths aren't enough. Taro rushes outside and presses a button which gets the security's attention. She notices the bell and quickly gets off me, running into the nearby shower to hide. I'm still on the floor, blood bleeding through what used to be my nose but was a hole to hold it in. I could feel bruises and scars all over my body. I couldn't tell if it was my old or new scars until I could feel blood rushing to pour out. I tried to sit up but all I could feel was the back pain weighing me down so I stayed put and laid on the floor until someone was to come. As I laid there, waiting I started dozing off. I started to panic, thinking it was going to possess me again but it didn't feel as bad so I just waited until I then fell unconscious.
Officer Dantae and Gustus rush into our shelter.
"What's going on here?" Officer Gustus says right before I fall asleep.
After about two hours, I wake up in some sort of clinic and see a lizard doctor going to inject me with something. I'm extremely tired so I don't get frightened by it.
But when I notice a huge piece of skin missing from my arm, I jump out of fear.
"Panic, it's alright!" The doctor says.
"She's been frightened by the bite mark Charlotte left on her."
They then hold me down so the doctor can vaccinate me. Ava's next to me, caressing me and trying to calm me down.
After I have calmed down, the needle pierces the skin and injects me. It feels a little like a pinch, but I'm used to it considering I have about two ear piercings on my ears and one septum in the bone of where my nose was.
They injected me in the arm because the bite was very deep.
After that I was taken back to our shelter. Charlotte was still in there, looking all normal.
"Well well look who's back!"
I just walked past and ignored her.
She twisted her head staring at me, then got up and examined all the scars and bruises.
"What do you want?" I say, not moving my head at all, only looking up with my eyes at her.
"An apology." she says.
"What?"
"You heard me. An apology. For all that you caused me in our younger years."
"Are you damn serious? Really?" I say
"Yes? Come on! I'm waiting."
"Ugh... I'm sorry, Charlotte for 'abusing' you all throughout our younger years. I won't do it again..." I say with an annoyed voice.
"A genuine apology. Come on! You can do better!" She says.
I get up, stretch out my neck and stand in front of her. I do a slight Xanixir bow and apologise, knowing I don't mean shit.
"Okay, Charlotte Greyss, I sincerely apologise for all the pain and suffering I caused you by bullying and abusing you throughout our younger years. I'm sorry, genuinely." I say.
"Good! That's more like it. See? Now that's how you are a good person and own up to your actions! Easy right?"
I wasn't going to say this, but I did. I sit back down, still feeling tired as ever.
"No. Not really. It hurts, y'know? It hurts knowing you hurt somebody but you didn't realise it. It really hurts. It isn't easy, it's really hard to be honest with you."
"Well good, because even though you tried to genuinely apologise, I'm not going to forgive you. Hah! In fact, I'm still going to punish you!" She laughs.
"Oh no! Shiver me timbers! I'm so afraid!" I say, sarcastically.
I honestly thought she was going to leave but instead she punched me in the face and then left.
"You know you're in the wrong Panic. Stop denying it." She says.
I'm honestly tired. Really tired!
"Charlotte, just stop. I know." I say.
"So you admit to lying that you can't control it?"
"No. I don't. I'm not lying, but it's okay if you don't believe me I guess, but I know you will someday."
She kicks me in the chest and throws me on the cold, concrete floor.
"Stop being pathetic and own up to it!" She screams.
"You're the pathetic one! You're an absolute fool!" I say, kicking her in the knee as she falls back onto the floor. I use her leg to get back up.
"Oh you're done bitch, you're really done." She says slowly getting up.
I try backing away but I'm too slow and she yanks my arm and throws me on the bottom bunk. She kicks me and punches me all over. It feels more painful than before due to the scars and bruises she left on my skin. She hits me on every single part of my body. I try to tussle against her solid paws but it's extremely hard. She was too powerful for my figure. My strength was lacking and there was no way of those grippy hands loosening.
It was getting too much and I couldn't breathe. I was coughing and panting so loudly. She was punching my chest and my body felt as if It was burning. I'd had enough.
"Charlotte please! You have to stop, I beg of you!" I begged her.
"No!" She screamed.
"Please!" I yelped.
Salty tears ran down my skull-face.
She looked down on me with such anger. She was definitely a person who gave no mercy, well not until the few last seconds of my begging.
After one last bunch in the gut she slowed down and hopped back on the other bunk. My back was pounding and my ears were ringing. I felt extremely nauseous and I knew I was about the throw up. Right after the others walked into the shelter, I rushed behind the partition and kneeled right in front of the toilet, put my head over and moved the fluff out of my face and let it out.
Ava, Taro and Jaquelin stood next to the partition watching me puke. I was in extreme pain. I was sniffling.
"Woah Panic you ok?" Taro asked.
"Ye-eah." I responded.
"What happened?"
"I beat her. She wasn't obeying me." Charlotte says crouched over with her arms crossed as the others turned to look at her.
Ava's ears pricked backwards and her snout crinkled.
"You did what!?" She screams
"I beat her in the chest, the throat,head, stomach, leg,tail,arm, back,everywhere. What's it to you?"
It just kept going. I couldn't stop.
"Hey man, that's not cool. You shouldn't do that, regardless of where we are." Jaquelin said.
I may not be emetophobic but this felt horrible. I was intensely sick and Charlotte really went hard on me. I really was sorry and I would never have meant to hurt her that bad.
"I don't care. Let her suffer." Charlotte says.
"No! Charlotte! You know that it wasn't intentional!" Ava says.
"But Ava, she damaged me so much. I went home from school crying every single day. I was afraid of going to school because she targeted me. I tried my best to stay as far away from her but she hurt me even before I could move. I couldn't just do nothing, I had to get revenge." Charlotte says as I cough and I've finished vomiting.
I tried to get up slowly but I couldn't. She hurt me so bad I was too sore to walk or get up so I shuffled over against the partition, sitting with my knees facing the ceiling and my arms resting in a cross over my thighs.
"I was afraid of going to school in fear of hurting you Charlotte." I say.
I was so tired out it even hurt to speak.
The others walked over to the beds to take a seat but Ava came up to me and tried to lift me up and onto the bunk beds. Her being a cat and me being a wolf-dog made it harder for her to lift me up since I was bigger than them.
"It was never my intention to do what I did to you in prep. I had nothing against you nor did I know anything about you. I'm not sure why I always went for you. I didn't even realise what was happening. My whole body just stops working for ten minutes and I can only hear voices as it's happening."
She was listening to me. One of the only times I was ever heard though, she just still didn't understand.
"But... I don't understand at all! How can you not control yourself like that? It's very hard to believe you."
"There are many disorders and syndromes that cause people to do things they can't control! I have tried to get tested but there was nothing. The doctor knew absolutely nothing."
I could tell by the look on her face she thought I was lying but I would never lie about something like this. This was something serious that I could never joke about.
"You're a pathetic liar. It's obvious that you're lying because a doctor couldn't diagnose you with anything." Charlotte says.
Jaquelin then gets out a book she had purchased from the special shop at the pound. She flips over to a random page which is full of many religious and spiritual information.
"It says here that about one thousand years ago, after Lord Zoren and Kaave were declared the rulers and gods of Xanixir many Xanixians especially living in Karglia developed an ancient illness or curse that possessed their bodies, possibly from an unknown evil mage. This book is very old but that doesn't mean that this could be key information to something in the present."
I leaned over Ava, who was sitting next to me and snatched the book from Jaquelin's paws.
The book dated from 900 years ago but this was a re-published version from 200 years ago so it was an extremely old book possibly found from an old church.
I was just about to read the first paragraph until Charlotte took it off me and ripped it apart with her large bear paws.
"This is pure bullshit. None of that happened at all. Lord Zoren and Kaave despise this magic stuff and would be so disappointed in you guys believing it."
We all gasped.
"Are you dead serious right now?" Ava says, jumping right up.
"What do you mean? It's true though!"
Ava suddenly slid out her extended, keen claws and slashed Charlotte in the arm. Charlotte then starts yelping and whining in pain. Cats were known for having extremely sharp claws so that would definitely be very painful.
"As a matter of fact you are so wrong for that. Magic is used so widely throughout the mythical creatures kingdoms and the Ivory and Saumbre. You have shown such disgrace to your own kings! How could you disregard the use of enchantment in the sacred history of Xanixir?"
Ava had gotten so defenseful that I was considering believing she was a part of the Ivory and the Saumbre.
"Ok ok maybe I was wrong about that! But how has it got to do with Panic? It was so long ago! It's an ancient mystery, this is the present!" Charlotte yelps, shielding her face from Ava.
Blood was dripping down her arm and onto the bed which joined with my blood that dripped onto the cushion of the bed.
"Well, we don't know yet." They say.
"We'll have to look into it more."
After some dinner and some recreational time it was time we were locked up and into bed. I wasn't very sleepy but I couldn't stay up. At least being sleepy gave me the advantage of staying on watch in case anything happens during the night.
We all slept in different ways and changed into our regular animal forms.
Oh! Right! I never talked about our other forms. Since the time of animals dominating earth and humans becoming extinct, animals have developed similar characteristics as humans; walking on two legs, talking in human languages, living in cities, all that kinds of stuff. But that didn't mean we ditch our traditional ways of living. Once a baby animal is born it is born in its regular way of walking. Usually for animals like me, wolves, we would walk on all four legs. Later on, these babies learn to walk on two legs like humans! But then we develop a power later on where we can form into our regular body structures. We usually do this when sleeping or meeting important people or other things. Some animals like to walk around cities like this. Some animals, like my friend Drake, also live in their traditional ways like living in packs for wolves. Although Chrissie is a fox she is allowed to be in the pack. I used to be in a wolf pack! All until my uncle (who was the alpha) was killed and my dad was sent away from us. We all split up. I kind of miss it.
I tried to fall asleep but all I could hear was the deafening snores of the bear's voice. Jaquelin and Taro seemed to be asleep. Only me and Ava were awake. We glared at each other for minutes, too scared to say anything because someone might hear.
"Hey! Panic!" Ava whispered loudly.
"What!" I replied.
"Let's go dance on the roof! I made a little hole a few days ago!"
Now that sounded like a horrible idea. There was no way we wouldn't get caught!
"No! We'd get caught! Are you crazy?"
"I've done it before, come on! It's fine!"
I gave her a little smirk.
"Alright. Fine."
He smiled back.
I checked to see if the coast was clear; no officer was in sight so I looked back at Ava and nodded to tell them we'd be good to go.
Unsurprisingly, Ava could fit through the hole perfectly. I could not. Ava had to pull me through the hole which scraped my sides a bit, but I was fine.
"How did you do that?" I asked.
"I'm a cat!" Ava laughed.
"Of course I can fit through that."
After we climbed up onto the roof we stood in silence. The harsh winds blew through our thick fur coats and our tails almost wrapped together.
I looked Ava in the eye, put one arm behind the other, held my paw out like a gentleman, bowing and said:
"Would you like to dance?"
Ava held onto my hand and curtsied with a precious grin on their face and said:
"Yes."
We let the wind take us wherever it wanted and danced in the moonlight, shining like we were the dancers on a stage in the spotlight. Our feet met with one another in the timing of our imaginary song. We twirled and spun like we were dancing on the stars. We were having a blast! Who knew dancing on a pound rooftop would be so much fun?
The large skyscrapers of the city could be seen up here, it was so beautiful. Planes and skywatchers spread along the skies.
The dancing felt like hours. We didn't even realise it actually was hours until it became dawn. That's when I started to slow down.
"Panic, why are we stopping?" Ava asks.
"It's sunrise! We gotta get back!" I say.
"No no! It isn't dawn yet! I want to show you something."
Ava then lets go of my hand and turns around. She walks a little far to the edge of the building and stands with his paw out.
"Come!" Ava yelps.
I slowly walk over to see what they are doing. He holds my paw and puts it on top of his and closes her eyes. She then kneels and sits on the back of the shins and puts her head down so I copy. Suddenly she forms into her regular form so I do too and we are sitting with our front legs in front of our back legs.
After about five seconds later I saw what Ava wanted to do. There came a dragon, a dragon who had porcelain-like scales; violet and aquamarine on each one which shone so vividly from the sunlight, extended silver horns and massive webbed wings with a sharp claw on each tip. They also had the same necklace that Valerie had which they gave to me. This dragon was much larger than Valerie, in fact, it was enormous! This must have been an adult dragon because their talons were the size of my ears! The dragon then faded down to its irregular size and glared into our eyes as we bowed our heads in respect. The dragon then proceeded to caress Ava's fluffs on her head. She then opened her eyes and we both looked at the dragon.
"Good to see you again Ava. I see you have brought a friend here? Panic, is her name yes?" The dragon says as Ava nods their head.
How did they know my name?
"You both will meet me in a few months or maybe years time, yes?"
We both nodded.
The dragon turns to face me but then looks stunned by looking at my chest.
I forgot I was still wearing the necklace Valerie gave me.
"I see you have Valerie's necklace. You must have been the chosen one. That'll be very useful for later on! Well, I must get going. Goodbye." The dragon says as they fly back and into the sunlight.
Ava then stands up and grabs onto my hand, pulling me up.
"Well? How cool was that!?" Ava asks.
"So cool!" I replied.
"Wait! We gotta get going!"
We then rush over to the edge of the roof and climb back down through the hole and back into the cell.
Only to realise the others are gone already.
And Officer Dantae and Officer Gustus were waiting for us at the front.