A Heroes Journey (Old/Unedited) :)

Chapter 6

"Hi, Aiden!" Zoë said happily.

"Mind if we sit here?" Dean asked.

"Nah" I replied.

They sat down.

"So Aiden," Dan said, "what animal did you decide to draw? I drew an eagle. At least... tried to."

"I drew a horse, except it's not done," I said.

"Lemme sees," Dean said, snatching my notebook away. He flipped the pages until he got to my horse drawing.

"It looks like a potato with a horse head attached to it" Zoë noted. They started laughing. I rolled my eyes.

"I told you it wasn't done," I said.

"Oh wow. What other drawings do you have?" Dean laughed.

Uh-oh. What if he goes to the page with the drawing of Kiana on it? I was about to get the notebook back when he started to go through the pages. He stopped flipping and stared at one of them, but I couldn't see which one it was. Please don't be it, please don't be it, please don't-

"what's this?" Dean asked, showing me the page with Kiana on it. Dang, it. Why isn't luck ever on my side?

"It's uh..... It's a drawing of a Mixed-Soul..." I said quietly.

"A Mixed-what?" he asked, puzzled.

"A Mixed-Soul is a mythical creature that is half human and half of any other animal in the world. Mixed-Souls even lived side by side with people until they went extinct for an unknown reason" Zoë said.

"Oh," Dan said, looking at Zoë then back at me. "So you drew a Mixed-Soul you came up with? Cool"

"Of course it had to be a girl" Dean teased.

"Well, I didn't make her up. She's real" I said.

They looked at me disbelievingly.

"They went extinct a long time ago Aiden, so that's not possible," Zoë said.

"Well, remember when I said that my dad wanted to go hunting in the forest for them...." I started.

"yeah..." they all said, except Dan.

"He wasn't kidding"

Their jaws dropped.

"Wait....." She said, "does that mean you saw....."

"Yeah."

"Tell us what happened!" she urged as they inched closer.

I told them about how we went into the forest, when we got in the traps and when they came and when Thorn wanted to kill me, when the other group of Mixed-Souls came and the possibility of them getting into a fight, how we escaped but eventually I had to go back to get the backpack, when Kiana crashed into me, when we started talking and she agreed to help me, and when we got back home.

They stared at me.

"Why would a Mixed-Soul aid a human? After all these years too. That's the thing I don't get." Zoë murmured.

"I wouldn't trust a creature who is half-animal and half-human." Dan said, "Especially if they point a knife at your face."

"Yeah, but didn't you say that she pointed the knife at you when she came face to face with you Aiden? So you can't exactly blame her Dan" Dean reasoned. Dan shrugged.

"Wait so... does that mean the Mixed-Souls have been living in the forest by your house this whole time?" Zoë asked.

"Sadly, yes, apparently it does," I said. "I just hope my dad doesn't want to go back to the forest."