Anne Morris and the Zodiac's: Arrows of the Centar

Chapter 7: Camp in the stars

Elwin and I looked at the old torn building. It was a small house actually. Its siding was falling off and windows were masked with dirt. I felt sad and uneasy. As hauntingly beautiful this house was, it is going to be burnt down to the ground.

"Now what?" Elwin asked. I pondered for a second then responded with "Take off your hoodie." Elwin blushed and looked at me confused, yet he didn't completely dismiss the command. He slipped it off exposing his long sleeve black undershirt. I place down my guitar next to my feet.

"Now what?" Elwin handed me the hoodie. I grabbed the article of clothing and stepped up the house.

The porch was splintered filled and weak, but I didn't plan to get in the house anyway. I threw it up on the porch and proceeded to remove my overshirt and do the same with it.

"What the heck Anne." Elwin shivered. I didn't look at him or respond but instead pulled the matches out. I hope this works fast enough, I thought to myself. If the rain came now I would have no luck with this and hopefully, it doesn't come when I ignite this thing. I take a match and ignite it. The flame danced and flickered.

"This is it." I whisper to myself before throwing the match on the porch. The flame danced on the old wood and soon it caught fire. It spread quickly. Before long the home was up in flames. I pick up my guitar and watch it. I can't help but imagine my mom's reaction to figuring out her daughter was burning to death while she rode home peacefully.

"Well done." A familiar voice called from our left. One glance over and it's Aries standing at a purple rip in the air. Elwin looked at him then back to me. I place the matches in my pocket and walk over to him. Aries smiles warmly holding his hand out to the portal like light.

"I- is this it, a portal to another world?" Elwin asked approaching my side. "Yes, now come." Aries replied walking through it. I carefully stepped through and Elwin grabbed my hand for security. The light was blinding for a second, but I adjusted in second to an environment that felt like it was lit by candles. The light from the portal still remained for a couple seconds and closed when Elwin let go of my hand and stood beside me. He was shivering.

"This will be your home now." Aries said happily stepping in front of us. The ground we stood on looked like healthy grass covered with flowers, the sky looked like stars. In the distance, I could see a big house painted red and decorated with vines. The patch to it was surrounded by a thick forest and vegetation.

"Is that where we are staying?" I asked Aries. He raised a brow curiously. "No, each Zodiac has a designated home. This one is yours and mine." he replied. "Why?" I rolled my eye. "Because I said so." Aries replied quickly. I shrugged at Elwin and he shook his head. Aries began walking up to the house and we both followed.

We were at least three-yards from the house but then Aries froze right in front of us.

"Uh, Mr. Aries?" Elwin whispered. Aries didn't respond. "Hey, whats going on?" I asked the ram star sign. He suddenly was pushed off to the side by something fast.

"Aries." I called in panic. He raised his arm and said, "it's alright just watch." Elwin and I looked at each other then back to him.

Aries stanced himself defensively once again, and everything felt still and quiet but was disrupted by the sound of a branch snapping and someone rushing toward Aries. I gasped at the speed of the thing that came to us, while Elwin fell over in surprise. His glasses were covered with little cracks, but they weren't just a little bit ago.

Aries went flying into bushes while screaming back to us, "I'm alright!" Both of us watched intently wondering what the heck that thing is. Suddenly Aries came out holding a young girl on his shoulders. He was breathless and scratched up, and the girl was giggling playfully.

"What- wh- who is that?" Elwin stammered. "This is Kyla," Aries said setting the girl down. She laughed and scratched his arm armor with her nails. He just chuckled at her.

"Who is she a child of?" I asked glancing at her hands. "She is the daughter of Leo." Aries signed patting her head.

Kyla's hair was black and bobbed cut only the bottom layer of her hair remained long and draped partially over her shoulders. Her skin was dark and her eyes were garden green. She wore and long blue cloak with green lining the inside. Her shirt hugged her and was tucked into blue jeans. Her sleeves seemed to be lime green, and the boots she wore were black and went up past her knee by two inches. Finally, her nails were all covered in metal and wrapped around the fingertips too. She looks like she was ten years old.

"Hello." she purred. I waved gently. "Kyla introduce them to this world." Aries commanded. She jumped excitedly and approached us quickly. "Come on you can drop your stuff off at your accommodations." Kyla laughed pulled my arm. Elwin followed us in fear of being left alone.

When we got inside I couldn't help but stare at the setting of the room. It wasn't fancy by any means, it was like having a bedroom right at the door. A nice carpet covered the floor and in the corner was a sound system for a guitar and piano. A black leather coach was centered to look out a window, and the walls were painted red with a painting of Chinese dragons.

"Whoa." Elwin sighed. Kyla danced around the room happily. I place my guitar on the couch and looked around at the room.

"This is the house of Aries," Kyla began "only children of Aries or a 'boyfriend or girlfriend' can be in here." Ewlin looked insecure about the statement but I didn't pay too much attention to it.

"Can we go to mine?" Elwin asked as calmly as possible. "Sure!" Kyla cheered. I snapped out of the trance of the room. I wanted to see as much as possible, just to learn what's up around here. We left and headed off on a different path.

"What are your names?" Kyla suddenly asked while skipping around playfully. "I'm Anne and this is Elwin." I replied. She looked at me kind of sad.

"My fake mom's name was Anne." Kyla said kind of distant. Her childish eyes grew big with sadness. The air felt thin and heavy at the same time making me feel sick.

"Is there a problem?" Elwin asked. Kyla looked at me and dropped head down. "Fake mom did something bad to me, but I got her back." Kyla's words were distant and lonely. "I'm not her, so don't target me." I panicked. She looked at me as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Hey, let's just get to my home." Elwin said distracting Kyla from me. She turned away but didn't cheer up.

"You causing problems for her?" some boys voice called to us. Ahead of us stood a boy with red hair that was down to his jawline. The hair fell over one side of his face. He looked Scottish and Scandinavian. He also looked two years older than us. His white skin was sunkissed on his cheeks and nose. He was kind of handsome. The strange boy wore a loose white flowy shirt tucked in black cargo pants, covering his black boots.

"No, not at all." Elwin tried to explain to the boy. "All because you're new doesn't mean you get to pick on the younger ones." The stranger called back. "They didn't do anything." Kyla cried to the redhead. "Then why are you crying?" He growled back. Kyla wiped away a tear. He didn't seem to buy it and approach us menacingly. The only thing I could think was, give me the strength to fend this guy off.