Abnormal

Chapter 1 - Ace

Ace pulled his blanket up towards his chin but groaned in annoyance as the sheet sprung up. His feet were hit by a wave of cold air and he quickly curled into a ball, trying to shove them back under blanket. Sleepily he reached out from under it and lazily pat around his bed, searching for a secondary and much thicker blanket. Giving up after a while he pulled himself up, flinching as his bed gave off a squeak in retaliation. He blinked and tried to adjust to the darkness of his room before rolling over to the other side. Dragging himself out of bed he put one foot on the floor and when he went to put the other down something caught his eye. He moved just in time to avoid stepping on his little sister, Willow, and tripped over his foot in the process. Catching himself on his bed frame and jolting upright he stared down at his sister and sighed. If it weren't for the light of the moon peeking out and illuminating his sister's bright red hair he would have stepped on her for sure.

"Found my blanket." He muttered as he stared down at her. She had taken his blanket and wrapped herself in it like a butterfly in a cocoon. Ace froze as his sister whimpered and turned her head, moaning at the sound of his voice. When she settled down again he rolled his eyes at her. Willow had fallen asleep in her room earlier after she had demanded Ace read her a bedtime story. She must have come in earlier that night and slept on the floor to avoid waking him up, stealing his blanket in the process. Just like the rest of their siblings she had a tendency to sneak into different bedrooms to sleep and feel safe. And just like the rest of them, she would grow out of it, but in the meantime, the entire family dealt with it.

Ace rubbed his ice-cold hands. The heat must not have been on because he could see his breath. Shuffling over to his desk chair he grabbed his hoodie and threw it over his head, covering his bare chest. He then quickly found his slippers, big dog ones that he wore because Willow and his younger brother Eric had gotten them for him for Christmas, and grabbed his phone off of the bedside table.

Sighing once more he reached down and scooped Willow up into his arms. She groaned and pulled the blanket closer. He headed out of his room and walked down the blackened hallway, two doors down to her room. Not wanting to wake her he didn't bother with the light as he opened her door and walked in. Ace walked over to her bed and pulled back the covers with one hand while the other tried to hold her up. Once that was accomplished her placed her into her bed and tried to take his blanket back. Despite being asleep she had a tight grip on the blanket and buried her head deeper into it. Giving up Ace grabbed her bright pink blanket and pulled it over top of her. He was about to leave when he noticed something missing.

Her room was made of almost nothing else but pink, but he supposed that was normal for a six-year-old that like nothing but princesses and ponies. He searched the floor and when that brought up nothing he bent down to look under the bed. Pulling his phone from his pocket he turned on the flashlight. Immediately he found Willow's favorite stuffed wolf and grabbed it. It was her favorite because she said that it looked like their dad did when he changed. Just like their father looked as a wolf this one was a light, almost brown, black. Willow had even taken out a chunk of its fur on the back of its neck, matching the scar on the back of his neck.

Ace stood up and placed the wolf right next to Willow's head, before turning and leaving. Closing the door, he proceeded to backtrack through the hallway and head for the stairs. Shuffling down them he shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket until he reached the main floor of the house. On his way to the living room, at the back of the house, he made sure to be extra careful walking past the basement door. In the basement was Jane's room and if he woke her there would be hell to pay. There were few people he was afraid of and his older sister would be one of them. She was actually a relatively happy person, except when she was woken up too early. If that happened then he was a dead man.