Vylt: The New Dawn

Chapter 34: Prepare for Trouble

The sound of children's laughter out in the hallways made me groan. Doing my best to ignore it, I remained curled up in bed, not even bothering to check the time on my phone. My body told me it was still too early for me. The noise only increased as I heard them run past my door, and then back, and again...

After adding a new set of holes to my pillow, I stood up and dragged my feet to the entrance of my room. Opening the door revealed two big cats. No, two kids with very noticeable feline features.

The creaking of the door caught their attention, causing them to stop in their tracks when they saw me. "Woah!" The twins exclaimed in unison. We stared at each other, silently processing what was in front of us.

Their most distinct feature was, of course, their ears. They stood near the top of their heads, trained on me at all times. Both kids had large emerald eyes. Almost all iris and with a thin vertical pupil like my own.

Their cinnamon hair, freshly cut short on the boy and twin pigtails for the girl, continued as fur down their napes and into their backs and shoulders. It seemingly reached all the way to their long tails, which poked out of their gowns. The outer side of their arms were also hairy and with short dark stripes along the forearms, though the density decreased the closer it got to their fingers, which had short claw-like nails.

Unlike their arms, their legs were bare from what I could see, and while they retained their human shape, they were slightly longer than normal below the knees, increasing the kids' height. Finally, their small feet were also equipped with claws, though much longer than on their hands. It looked like a single kick from these kids could inflict some serious damage, if they tried.

"So cool!" The boy yelled, revealing his fangs, which were also similar in length to my own. "I'm Oliver. What's your name?"

"Nora," I replied without thinking. I didn't know what was stranger, their reaction towards my appearance, or how comfortable they looked in their own new bodies. A real contrast with Connor. "You're Diana, right?" I asked the girl.

Her eyes widened, "How did you know?"

"Oh, I was here when they brought you in." A yawn then reminded me of what led to the encounter. "Hey, could you both tone it down a little? I was trying to sleep just now."

"But it's already morning!" Oliver countered. It wasn't comfortable having to look up at children who were so much younger than I was.

Diana nodded. "And Mommy says it's not healthy to sleep too much!"

Rolling my eyes, I responded, "Yeah, well, that doesn't apply to me. Just go play somewhere else, please."

I stepped back into my room and was about to close the door when Oliver stopped it, stepping halfway inside and gripping the handle. My further attempts were futile. He was not only taller, but stronger too, which added to my humiliation.

"Come play with us." He smiled confidently, keeping the door half open.

"Sorry, I'm not in the mood." I felt so tired and annoyed, even my inner child agreed with me for once. "You know, there's a huge playground outside. You should really tell your parents to take you there."

I was hopeful that the suggestion would be enough of an incentive for them to leave, or at least for him to lower his guard so I could try pushing him out.

"Okay, but you have to come with us," the boy insisted, still keeping the door in place.

Gods, he's one of those kids.

"Do you think you can order me around just because you're stronger than me?"

"He's just asking you to come play with us," the girl replied instead, to which he nodded.