Avilien

A bag filled with potatoes

Wiping away tears with soft paws, Nebs settled down and shrunk in size before climbing up Luke's side to sit on his shoulder once again. Luke wasn't looking forward to returning home as he came off the small dirt road and onto a grey paved footpath. On Evergreen Close, the cul-de-sac where he lived, there were a total of sixteen houses, each with their own driveway and well-manicured lawn. From an outsider's perspective, it was a posh area with white-painted two-story homes that had two sets of grey-slated roofs and lawns with white picket fences.

To Luke, Evergreen Close was his only home; he couldn't remember living anywhere else other than Number Four. His dad rarely came home from working at a technical business called Orphine, a company associated with Ofcam, a global giant when it came to technology. He had little-to-no idea what his dad did there, but he was gone for months at a time and when he did return home, it was only for a day at most and with security escorting him like he was some VIP.

With great apprehension he travelled up the stone path, past the tall oak tree with chirping magpies that had made a nest there, Luke pulled down the silver handle on his red front door. A golden polished number four hung underneath a half circle of glass. The lock clicked and the door came loose, allowing Luke to enter his home. Sharon, his stepmother, adored the smell of lavender so the house stunk of it from well-placed candles and scented oil bottles. It always gave Luke a headache, so he disliked the scent.

Gently closing the door behind him, Luke stood in the red-carpeted hallway with cream walls that had pictures of Ethan, Luke's little brother, hanging upon them. Sharon had heard Luke arrive, even though he tried to be silent; she opened the living room door to the right of the front door and poked her head out to see what had made noise.

"Don't you know it is polite to knock first? You could have been a burglar or a murderer!" exclaimed Sharon as she threw open the white door. It was midday and she still hadn't gotten out of her pink sheep-patterned onesie. Then again, she had never had a job other than raising Ethan and looking after Luke, which she did a poor job of.

Nebs, reading the bad situation and noting that Sharon wore a pair of glistening orange GTs, had moved from Luke's shoulder and clung to his back, hidden away. He dug his claws in so deep they grabbed at Luke's skin and made him scrunch up his face. Sharon would spot Nebs straight away with the augmented shades, so Luke understood why Nebs clung to his back. The vast majority of creatures that managed to seep through from Avilien into the human world hid themselves. Well, any with the slightest hint of intellect did. This made it harder for players to farm them for XP.

"I'm sorry. I'll remember next time," said Luke as he bowed his head. Sharon was like a redheaded hydra, fierce and nasty all the time.

"Sorry! What are you doing here anyway, interrupting my virtual television drama series?" Sharon raised her voice and then came the soft cries of Ethan, who must have been sleeping in the living room, "Great! See what you have done now? You foul child! You woke him up! Get out of here now!" yelled Sharon as she slammed the door to the living room.

"Ow, ow, ow." Luke danced about on the spot as he pulled Nebs off his back by the scruff of his neck.

"Well, she's about as nice as a bunch of rotting apples. Anyone could tell that it was her swinging of doors and yelling that caused the baby to wake and cry." Nebs dangled from Luke's hand with arms crossed. He did some unusual stuff for a cat.

"Ethan isn't a baby; he's three but acts like one because of her. We best get to my room quick." Luke placed Nebs back on his shoulder and hurried up the flight of stairs to the left of the hallway.

Luke's home had four bedrooms, with his being the smallest and at the front of the house overlooking the well-trimmed lawn. For the life of him, he couldn't recall what the living room looked like, as he was forbidden from entering. Most of the house was off limits to him. Only the kitchen and his own room were areas he could inhabit. Sharon never cooked for Luke, so most nights it was beans on toast for dinner or whatever lay on the shelves of the fridge.