The Black Lion

"What?" I barely whisper. The paint had dripped down to the floor and dried. The magnificent features of the lion were realistic and resembled the ones from her dream. Its eyes glowered at her, although the pupils were not made.

"How can this be? How do they know the black lion?" I couldn't believe it. The sound of footsteps walking across the second floor railing indicated that Bastille was coming. I ran back into the building before he could see me.

I got the can of paint from his office and started painting over the lion, although it somewhat pained me to get rid of it. The black lion stared blankly at me, its eyes glowing at me. It was almost like it was trying to speak to me with its opened jaw full of imperfect fangs. It had something to do with my new friends; the lion was something really important. I dropped the paint can and threw the brush far. I can't do it. I'm not going to do it.

I walked away and signed out from my job early. My footsteps widened as I ran out of Bastille's view. When I turned around, I winced when I saw Reagan looking right at me from a quarter a mile away.

When I reached home, I opened the door to find Mom eating and chatting with Dennis at the kitchen table. "Mom, I'm home," I take off my boots and see that she's still talking to him, as if I didn't say anything. Her eyes didn't even gaze over to me for a second.

"Mom," I say a bit louder. She glanced at me once and continues talking to Dennis. My own mother. Not even Bastille would treat me this coldly.

I know what I should do now, and it has nothing to do with my mom. I grab a large tote bag out of the closet after realizing I never had a suitcase before. Packing is difficult for me since I have so much things I want to bring, but so little space. I decide to bring necessities such as clothes, food, money, and health kits in the tote. Bringing another bag would be a good idea  I think as I fill another smaller bag with everything else I would need for a while.

I dragged everything outside and stopped to face my mom's back. "Hope you live a very long life with Dennis," I say nearly sarcastically. She finally notices me. "Where do you think you're going?" she eyes the bags. "Somewhere, anywhere. As long as it's far from here," I head out the door and shut it behind me.

After walking more than ten blocks, I realize that it was a bad idea. I have nowhere planned that I could spend the night, let alone get everything settled in and complete my work for tomorrow. Stopping in front of the supermarket sounds appealing to me for a second, but it would include sleeping in the cold and dark. Reagan's house is a long walk from here; if I were to go there, it would be too late at night.

The local buses wouldn't work until six o'clock tomorrow in the morning. I notice that my backpack's smallest pocket was unzipped and photographs that I brought were flying away.

"No!" I caught one in the air and chased after the others. One got stuck in a bush and it stalled time for the other pictures to get away as I fished it out. After finally catching all of them, I found myself on an unfamiliar street with an unfamiliar name. There were more houses and less plants, except the occasional palm trees. The street was dead silent. The street lights were out and the only light source was the full moon.

"Ruby! Ruby...is that you?" someone called from the dark. I turned around rapidly in circles, trying to find who called me. My eyes focus on a dark, Victorian-styled house. There, I see a dark figure approaching me. Once they are about a yard away from me, I realize that it's Natalie.

"Ruby! How did you....how did you know where to find us?" Natalie was in a blue t-shirt and pajama pants. I blink in disbelief in everything that's happening at the moment. Is this where Natalie lives? What does she mean by 'us'? Would she be okay with having me over unexpectedly?

"C-come in first, you look exhausted," Alie took her bags and escorted her inside. Ruby slowly followed her. When Alie opened the door, the blinding lights inside made her flinch. Her eyes focused to see a warm interior with many people inside already. I turned around to see Natalie go up the stairs, so I followed her. We went down the following hallway and into a small room. My eyes widened at the sight of Ruby, Liam, T, Syrah, and Maya looking back at me. "Ruby! How did you find us? Did something happen?" Maya got up to greet her.

"I-I ran away," my eyes lock with T's concerned ones. "I realized that n-nobody cares for me at home, so I found this place. W-what are yo-you guys doing here?"

"This is the dormitory that we stay in. Our parents all either passed away or don't care for us," Chase came in with a tray with drinks. "Or can't afford to see their son love men," Liam took one and took a gulp.

"Y-you're gay?" Ruby asked softly. Liam nodded, "Also I want to stay with people who would support me for who I am. I'm glad I found you guys."

A chorus of aww's filled the room. Syrah smiled widely, "Don't worry. This group will be a safe place for us all." T spoke up, "No matter if your parents don't respect your sexuality, or they don't care for you in general."

I laid down in Maya's sleeping bag as everyone else were already fast asleep. The only sound was the occasional rush of wind and Stormy's light snoring. This has been the most peaceful moment I've probably ever felt in a long time. The people surrounding me appreciate and love me, all of my problems are far from my thoughts, and everything seems to be at a perfect order.

Then it dawned on me that I forgot to ask about the black lion.