Being An Assassin...And A Hero

My First Assignment

I got home around six that evening and went to check on Sarah. "Sarah, I'm home. What do you want for dinner?"

She came pounding down the stairs of our two story house and jumped into my arms. "I want macroni and cheese," she squealed.

I chuckle. "Of course little one. I'll go start it. You want to help?" She nods in excitement. "Then go wash your hands in the bathroom and come meet me in the kitchen." She runs off to do that as I go into the kitchen, pull out the necessary ingredients and then take my own advice and wash my hands. While I'm doing this, Sarah comes charging into the kitchen all ready to help.

"I'm ready! I washed my hands," she tells me.

I dry my hands on a towel and joke, "Let me see, I don't believe it."

"Nooo, you're gonna lick my hand and tell me to wash them again," she giggles.

I laugh and fain a look of hurt, "I would never do that."

"Yes you would, you did it to me last night!"

I wink at her and then get out the cheese grader. I almost always make dinner from scratch, and she loves my homemade macroni and cheese. "Then get the pot out and start filling it with water."

I don't let her do much, but I enjoyed her being there, and she liked to help do what she can. She's nine so she can do more than she could when I first had her help me in the kitchen just to get her mind off of our parents.

Once the food was done cooking and we sat at the table to eat I tell her, "There's something I have to show you after dinner, and you can't tell anyone, okay?"

"Okay."

We finish eating and I rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. "Okay munchkin, come out back with me." Our house is the only one for quite a ways around. I guess, now that I know, that was for my mother so she could shifter without anyone seeing her. We had a lot of woods behind our house. I think we owned like fifteen acres of just forest, plus the two acres of yard area and where the house sits. I lead her out back and a little way into the forest. It's only seven fifteen or so, and there's plenyt of light left to see by. "Okay, I'm going to do something, and you can't be scared. I'll never hurt you, no matter what, okay?"

"What is it Der?"

"Hold on I'll show you, stay right here, I'm going to go behind that tree, and come back out." She nods her head.

I go behind the tree and strip. My clothes don't go with me. I learned that lesson the first time when they ripped to pieces. I shift into my panther form and come out from behind the tree. My eyes are still my jade green, same as my dad's. Sarah gasps, "Der?"

I trot over to her and pur, rubbing my head against her hand. She looked scared at first, but then she giggled at my affection. "Hehehe, stop that tickles," she laughs, as my tongue rasps over her fingers. "Is that you Der?"

I nod my head and her eyes widen in surprise. She pets my head and then raps her arms around my neck. I pur loudly. Once she removes her arms, I trot back to the tree and change back, putting my clothes on. I walk out and she looks up at me.

"That was so cool!" she shouts.

I chuckle. "Yeah...well, I have a lot to tell you. Come on, lets go inside." I lead her back inside and sit her on the couch. "Well, you know how mommy's been...asleep for a long time?" Sarah nods her head. "Well, it's called a coma. Mommy was like me...or really, I'm like her. She can shift into a cat. I met with a man today who told me all about us. Mommy is like how she is because her familiar, the cat she can shift into, died. We have a familiar, it can talk to us, take away our pain, heal us, gives us special abilities. Well, hers took too much pain in the car accident and it died. Mommy was left in a coma because being without her mate, daddy, and her familiar, caused her to loose her mind in grief."