The Last Daffodil

7

7

It was almost the end of May. My seventeenth birthday had come and gone. Everyone in my grade was preparing for the finals that would mark the end of our high school career. Most were preparing for grad, what would be in their speeches, what their senior quote would be. A few were preparing religiously for prom, what they would wear, who they would go with.

I was curled up on a couch reading a fantasy novel to a cougar and a bear. The bear was lying on his stomach, his head sitting about a foot above his paws, his dark eyes entirely focused on me. The cougar was curled in on herself, her head resting on her paws, her eyes were closed, but I could tell she was paying attention. Her pink tail flicked contently.

A red fox trotted into the room and nipped the bear gently on the ear. I stopped reading and looked at Christianna.

"Is it time for me to go home?" I asked. The fox yipped quietly. The bear stood up and rubbed his head against my leg affectionately. He would follow me all the way home. He always did. So I went home, believing without a doubt that I would be safe.

***

"Hello?"

"Daf? It's Travis."

"Hi."

"Hey. Look, I found something and I think I need your help."

"What is it?"

"It's too big to say on the phone, I'll tell you after school. Tell your mom you're planning on staying the night, I don't know how long this is going to take."

"Okay."

I was stressed all through school that day. I was tempted to call Travis back and tell him to just come pick me up from school and we could go right now. He hadn't sounded too worried about his find, but I couldn't help feeling the butterflies in my stomach.

He was standing out on the grass when the bell rang, like he always was. I ran up to him.

"What do you have to tell me?" I asked, trying to keep my anxiety to a minimum.

"I'll tell you on the way," he grinned. "Did you tell your mom you were staying? I don't know when we're getting back. We have kind of a long way to go. Did you bring over night stuff?"

"Yeah I told her. Yeah I have stuff. Where are we going?" We were walking to his car now.

He opened the passenger door for me and I slid into the front seat. He closed the door and got into the driver's seat.

"Vancouver."

"What? Travis I didn't bring any money."

He shrugged and patted his pocket. "I got you."

I sighed. "Why are we going to Vancouver?"

He started the car and started driving. "You do know that Christiana and Aeneas aren't my real parents, right?"

"What? I mean, I guess it makes sense with all the different last names... but how can you all have the same abilities when you aren't related?"

"Lycanthropes anonymous, duh."

"Travis."

"Quincy and I ran away from home. We found Christiana and Aeneas a few days later. I guess luck was on our side."

"I guess," I said. "You and Quincy are actually related though?"

"Yeah. We ran away from our mom in California when I was six and Quincy was five."

"You ran away at six?!" I nearly shouted.

"Yeah, and if you stop interrupting, I can tell you my story."