Family Instinct | First Book in the "Majira Blackstripe" Book Series

Chapter 2 - Lost and Found

"Mom, we're home," I yell from the hallway of our home. The walls are covered with orange and black wallpaper, and there are a bunch of pictures of us as children. Young children. "There's some homework you may need to help me with!"

I hear a voice from upstairs, but muffled, so it was most likely coming from the bathroom. "Kids, we're gonna have to go to the market in a minute, we need to go get a new TV for the den."

Whispering to myself, I wonder what's wrong with our old one, I walk downstairs to the den, and sure enough, we do need a new television. Because...our other one is shattered. Not cracked, shattered.

As soon as I turn to walk out, Mom starts explaining what happened. "So, uh, your brother threw a PlayStation controller at it, and ended up doing a lot more damage than it should."

"Where is he now?" I ask, getting just a little worked up. "I'm gonna beat his ass."

My mom looks at me with a stern look on her face, but tries calming me down. "You are not," she cocks an eyebrow. "I grounded him to his room for at least a couple days. He's probably in his bed by now."

I calm down, slowly. "Well, let's go get that new TV, then."

"A-a-a-and, guess who's driving today?" Mom tosses me the keys to her red SUV, and walks Jasmine out to the garage, with me close behind.

As I start the car, my mom turns on the radio and puts on Jasmine's favorite singer, Gazelle.

* * *

Upon arriving at the store, it's actually raining, so obviously, my tail is getting soaked. I wasn't wearing my hoodie, either, so my ears and head in general were also getting damp.

Then, to top off the entire situation, the list of bad luck-ness got longer, because we ended up seeing Ms. Feral...you know, the mother-trucking canine. I tried avoiding her best I could, but I think she did end up seeing us. I guess she didn't wanna get physical with me while security was watching. And cameras.

Or, maybe, she's actually heeding my warning. Maybe I did scare her off. Maybe---oh shit...

It's...her dad. He spotted us, along with Sarah, and is COMING THIS WAY. God, I feel like the victim of a crime, and HE'S the suspect.

Wait, I think to myself out loud. I thought it was only her! Why the hell is her demented father here, too?!

Her father is coming through the tire aisle, and he's going fast. Who knows what he's gonna do to us?? He could kill us right now.

As he gets toe to toe with me, I realize I am taller than him. And stronger. Suddenly, I'm not really that scared anymore. "So, are you the one that tackled and scratched my daughter?" He said that in such an intimidating voice, and to be honest, I'm starting to get scared again. I don't know what he's capable of. He's a canine, for Lion's sake.

I have to be honest, however. "Yes, sir, I am."

He grabs my wrist and practically drags me to the next aisle. "Sarah, you stay right there. And if I see any marks on your "friend," I will personally give you a punishment."

He takes me to the next aisle, and tries talking to me. I give him my attention, since I don't really wanna get in the middle of a fight.

He gives me a firm slap across the face. "That's for bringing my daughter to the ground." But, then...he gives me a hug. What is he doing? "And that is for bringing my daughter to the ground.

"Sir, I'm confused," I say, calmly, rubbing my cheek.

He gives me a smile. "Thank you for finally putting some discipline into that devil. I actually had permission from the Great Lion to personally come and thank you." By now, I'm starting to believe him. "He wanted me to give you this."

"It's...it's a rock..." I tell him.

He stares at me for a minute in disbelief, thinking I should've known exactly what that "rock" was. "Boy, that is a remnant of the Great Lion's throne. He gave it to me, to give to you, because you decided to take a stand and bring down," he points to his daughter, "that devil."

"But, why would he give this to me? I didn't do anything. All I did was stand up for my sister."

"Sarah was supposed to be a test for your kind. She was supposed to be a test for felines, and originally, the Great Lion wanted to see how far you could go before you started going insane. But then, when they were all "fine" with her, He instead wanted to see how long your kind could go before someone took a stand. And the kitty that did would receive a great gift from the King. That "rock" in your hand is worth more than a pink star diamond."

"It...it can't be..." I am mesmerized right now. If it is actually worth that much...oh my god.

"If you're feeling confused, you can go see the Great Lion," the canine says to me in a soft voice. "Hopefully, He can answer any questions you may have."

I give a sigh. "Maybe I will, but for now, thank you," I chuckle a bit. "I actually thought you were gonna beat me up or something."

He laughs with me. "Of course not! I just, really needed to thank you for putting this demon in line. She's getting her sentence for the Underworld soon enough."

"Really? I hope you're actually, well...okay with that happening."

"I certainly am. I mean, hell, that just means I get to start over. I can have another offspring with my mate, and finally regain my life back."

"Well, I'm glad you're finally gonna be happy again." I hold out my hand. "Friends?"

He shakes my hand firmly. "Yeah, I'd like that." And after he lets go of my paw, he walks away with his "daughter," and walks the direction of the city, pretending like he and I didn't talk about anything.

* * *

So, after that "episode," we actually did end up getting the new TV, so after getting home, since I'm the tech junkie, I plug in the TV, install our PlayStation and XBOX into the TV's HDMI ports, and suddenly, voila, we have a brand new TV in our den.

But, as a good big brother should, I walk upstairs to check on Echo. His room is on the far side of the hallway, and, as it should be, the door's closed. 

Knock knock, and I'm in. I assume he's under the covers sleeping, but when I try waking him up...

"Um, Mom?" I yell from across the house. "Where's Echo?" I immediately go for the "sneaking out" reasoning, where he's probably somewhere in the house, just not in his room. But then, I find something that proves my point wrong.

Two words. Blood. Stains.

Now, I'm panicking. Echo has never even thought of self-harm before, so it...it had to be someone else.

"M-mom! Get in here, n-now!" I'm stuttering like crazy, and am also shaking like crazy.

In two blinks of an eye, my mother comes rushing through the door, also noticing the blood stains on his bedsheets. Her ears go down, and her tail falls to the ground. Now, we're both crying.

"Mom? Majira? Is everything okay?" Jasmine asks from downstairs.

"Yes, honey," Mom tells her, trying to stay calm as she talks. "No need to come upstairs. Go play your game or something, okay?"

Unsuspecting, Jasmine skips to the den and cheerfully says okay.

"What do you...think happened to him?" my mom asks me, her voice breaking out and goes straight to tears as she says him.

"I..." I'm trying not to cry, but I can't resist. "I don't know..."

"I can't lose my baby..." She is shutting down now. "Why does this have to happen to me?"

Just then, I may have found a clue. A knife...

"Oh, no..." My mom walks out of the room and goes to her room, and locks the door...

What have I done?

Thank you guys for reading the next chapter. This one hit me hard, actually. As I typed "Blood stains," I ended up making my own heart fall. I hope I made yours fall, too, because there's gonna be some answers in Chapter 3. Thanks again for reading, everyone.