Amora

Weird, a guy like AJ is Raven's type down to the very last detail, so why is she outright rejecting him? Maybe his hair is too weird, or she doesn't like his scent, ooh! Maybe she actually likes him!! "Amora!" My head snaps up at Raven's voice "What?!" I speak as if her voice startled me when in reality I just wasn't listening to her rant about Arsine and how it "Isn't effective enough in small doses" for the hundredth time. "Were you even listening?" "Yeah, totally." I state simply. "Do you have a thing for AJ?" My sudden question catches her off guard and she doesn't have time to hide the furious pink spreading onto her cheeks. "No! He's disgusting, what in the world gave you that impression?!" I give her an innocent smile "just wondering." I shrug, "guess I was wrong." She definitely has a thing for him. We keep walking, in silence now being as Raven is still recovering from my unexpected question. My ears pickup on a rustling coming from a nearby bush and I freeze. Listen... there it is again, this time it is accompanied by the smell of cologne. "Amora? What is it, what can you hear?" Raven stops by me and listens carefully though of course she won't be able to hear them. The bush is approximately 75 yards away and the scent of cologne is very hard for normal people to pick up on. My cat ears twitch as I hear the rustling again. That scent is so familiar...wait, I jog over to the bush, Raven staying behind the whole 70 or so yards. "Ren?" He shoots up from the shrub and looks at me with an unsettling look of hyper-awareness in his gold eyes, I wonder if he knows how attractive he is. "Yes?" he speaks evenly and doesn't break eye-contact. "Why are you following us?" He points to the shrub as a gesture for me to look still not breaking eye-contact. I approach it carefully, one hand on the knife I have in the waist of my jeans, and peer down at AJ, crouching in the bush staring at Raven from afar. I clear my throat to announce my presence to him and he stands up, now noticing me. "Nice going, genius" he slaps Ren on the back of the head. He just shrugs "She asked me a question. I knew the answer." AJ rolls his eyes and smiles at me "Hiya Amora, fancy seeing you here." By now, Raven's curiosity has gotten the best of her and she approaches me with a look of severe annoyance. "Seriously, you again?" AJ looks at her "Yes darlin'" he shoves his hands in the pockets of his jeans and rolls back and forth on the balls of his feet. "So, where are you two beautiful women goin'?" I look back at Ren who's still looking at me as Raven and AJ bicker like children playing the 'cooties' game. I step away from them and closer to him when his eyes register something. He reaches over to me... wait no, my ears! Before I can move out of his path, he begins to pet my left ear and the look in his eyes goes from curiosity to pure enjoyment. "I knew it! They're real!" he scratches at my ears and I try to pull away, unsuccessfully. His yell of triumph has surely gotten AJ and Raven's attention and I find that AJ has come up behind me and is also petting my cat ears. I cast a pleading look towards Raven who looks simply pissed, she's probably using this as payback for me giving AJ her name. I slap at their hands in an attempt to get them off me, proving futile. I remember my knife still comfortably stuck in my jeans and grab it, I lash out at their hands drawing blood on Ren's and startling AJ enough to where he moves backwards. Ren quickly begins cradling his hand where my knife struck and looks at me with surprise. "Don't. Touch. My ears. Got it?" Ren nods his head in agreeance while AJ, fast recovered, smiles "Yes ma'am." I stomp away towards the direction Raven and I were originally walking, my two apparent new friends and Raven following behind. "So, where are we going?" AJ asks innocently, I barely know him and I can already sense that smile plastered on his face. Before I get a chance to answer, Raven fires back "We are not going anywhere, you are going to leave us alone and Amora and I are going to our hangout spot." Ren, most likely trying to avoid being in the middle of their arguing that is no doubt coming, speeds up his pace and walks next to me. He's on his phone and I glance over secretly to what he is doing, his fingers are moving rapidly over his digital keyboard and his screen is displaying a various amount of numbers with no certain order as far as I can tell. Whatever he's doing, he's the only one who knows what it is. I can't help but feel whatever it is, it's definitely not legal. My curiosity gets the better of me, "What are you doing?" His eyes stay glued to his phone. Did he even hear me? "Ren!?" His eyes stay glued to his phone but he responds "Yes, Amora?" His tone stays placid and barren of any emotion. "What are you doing?" I ask again. "Hacking." He shrugs as if it was the most simplistic thing in the world. "Hacking?" "Yes." "How do you get in to something like that?" Another shrug. "Can you teach me?" "No." His tone remains placid. How can someone sound so...robotic? "Why not?" "Because you don't have a high enough intellect to comprehend the amount of information I must give you in order to understand the process and technique of hacking." I ponder this long sentence and tilt my head to one side in a quizzical gesture "Did you just call me stupid?" He finally looks up from his phone, his features display complete astonishment but his voice remains cold. "That is not what I said but I suppose you would define it as so, I did not mean to make you feel that way all I was describing is that your intelligence level is not as high as mine. Therefore, it would be difficult to entitle the correct teachings for you to understand the concept you are wanting me to teach you." Another long sentence I don't quite understand. "English please?" Ren sighs "I didn't mean to call you stupid Amora, I just don't have the social skills to ensure that you understand hacking if I were to teach you." "Ohhh, was that so hard?" "Yes, actually. It's difficult for me to relay my thoughts in a simplistic way because of the level of my intelligence." "Okay, you need to stop doing that." He shakes his head in distaste "And people ask why I don't talk very often." He resumes his hacking and ignores me. As Ren and I continue in silence I tune in to AJ and Raven's conversation in enough time to hear Raven shoot back a retort with venom in her tone "You are such an unpleasant person you know that?" "Yes darlin', you've mentioned." "Stop calling me darling you pervy parasite!" "Sorry dear." That's when Raven stops in the center of the sidewalk and slaps AJ, sending his head whipping to one side. When his whiplash wears off, he keeps smiling "Fiery, I like it." "Ugghhhh" Raven rolls her eyes for the millionth time, crosses her arms and struts towards me, no doubt showing off to AJ exactly what he can't have. And of course, he stares, because that's just Raven's effect on guys. "Where you going Honeysuckle?" "Don't call me that either." "Well then, what do you want me to call you sweet cheeks?" I sense another eye roll from Raven "How about you don't call me anything, turn around, and forget we ever had an encounter." "Now that's just no fun darlin', you sure you can't think of anything else?" Raven ignores him and speeds up her pace to catch up with me. In a whispering tone, she says "Can I use one of my gasses on him?" Raven and her toxins... "No." "Why not?" "Because it's wrong." "Says who?!" "Well, I'd assume everyone. Not including you of course." From the other side of me, Ren begins talking "I don't think it's wrong, not with AJ at least. I'd do the same thing if I had the resources." Raven pauses, then leans in towards me to whisper something. "He talks?" I hold in my laughter, she seems genuinely confused and I rarely have the pleasure of explaining things to her. "Yes, Raven believe it or not, he too, is human." Ren speaks again "I'm not too sure about that part. It honestly depends on what you mean in the context of 'human'. If you mean 'human as in an organism that requires food, water, light, and social activity to survive healthily long enough to reproduce then yes, I am human. However if when you say 'human' you mean an organism that has emotions and language to communicate with others their warnings among other things, I would not ID myself as human." Raven gives me another puzzled look then switches it over to Ren, "Huh?" he just sighs and looks back at his phone. Raven looks away from him and talks to me under her breath "He's kind of a jerk." "I think he's just too smart to deal with us."

Ren

110010101011010110, what sequence is next? 101010? No, 00101011101 nor that, "Dude?"10110? No.... "Yes AJ?" 1001010011? No. "You sure you're alright? You've seemed extremely stressed all day." I look at him and then glance over at Amora and Raven. "Are you positive that you want to break character right now?" 110001010101? No, not that one either. AJ rolls his eyes in an uncaring gesture.

"Don't worry about it, they're not paying attention. And what character?"

"You knew how to answer the question; therefore, you know exactly what I meant by character."

110010101? No.

"Whatever genius, and get off your phone. Seriously dude, it's an addiction."

He snatches my phone from my hand and sticks it down his pants. I look at the area he shoved it and back up to his face with a brow raised "Do really believe that is going to stop me from retrieving my phone?" He laughs "I'd hope so, I'm not gay man and I wouldn't appreciate it if you made people feel otherwise." "Well I would appreciate it if you refrained from putting my things down in your pants, but I do not get that very often do I?" "Touché, genius." "May I have my phone back now?" "Nope." Was the sequence 1010000101111001? I believe so... "1010000101111001?" I ask AJ. He pulls my phone out of the area and looks at the numerical sequences I was using to get into the credit agency. "Yup, looks like it." He shoves the phone back into his pants. "Where are Millie and Jason today?" I ask AJ "What makes you think they're not at home?" "You're here, not at your home. You'd never leave them alone with your mom." I say simply, AJ shakes his head in disbelief. "Sometimes I feel like you know me too well, Millie's at her babysitter's house and Jason is staying the night at a friend's place." I take this information and compile a situation for this exact set of homes. "So your mom came home drunk this morning?" AJ's voice drops low and he hangs his head as he nods "Yeah." "I figured as much. Where has your father been lately? I haven't heard you speak of him for a few days." "He's been in and out of the house constantly, something about me not being smart enough to 'Complete a simple task like taking out the garbage. Why don't you just throw yourself in the dumpster?' He's been giving me hell about it for weeks and he can't stand not having the dramatic exit." AJ rolls his eyes "It's torture." "I bet...bruises?" he sighs and rolls up his jacket sleeve to reveal an angry purple bruise spreading across his arm. I shake my head in distaste. "I can't believe they let him out of prison, physical abuse and child endangerment and he gets out on good behavior?" AJ goes silent and stares down towards the sidewalk under him. No response except a noncommittal shrug. Realizing my mistake of mentioning the charges against AJ's father I direct my attention towards Amora and Raven. They are both quite beautiful, actually. Not in the sense of AJ's "Hot" but very pleasing to look at in their faces too. Amora with her blue-gray eyes and full lips. And Raven with her beautiful dark blue eyes, her luscious and wavy black hair framing her face, her lips seemed to look soft and her stare extremely seductive, or is that anger? It is now when I realize that they are both staring back at me as if I am a creep. Oh god, I've been staring at them. Before I can blink Raven cracks her hand across my face. I stand up straighter, "Sorry" The anger on her face vanishes and I feel relief rush through me towards the fact that I will not get slapped again for this particular issue. I direct my attention to the area around us. It is old, run-down and looks to be abandoned, there's a rat in the corner and a raccoon in the dumpster along with a homeless man down the street staring at us with an unsettling hunger in his eyes. I don't believe it is for sexual pleasure though. Actual. Food hunger. Two broken windows, a gray exterior as if it is nighttime but it is only 3 o' clock. The lights which are receiving no electricity, and I'm sure are meant to spell out "Motel" is missing the 'e' as well as the 'L' making it Mot. How peculiar that the girls would bring us to such a place. Maybe they aren't potential murderers but actual ones? Oh well, as long as they don't bleed me and drink my fluids I suppose we'll be fine. It is truly awful, the things that I've read about happening in abandoned motels. But, somehow, I have always wondered what motivates people to murder in such a way. It is very creative and easy to acquire the materials, but it is too messy, if I were to murder someone it would be in an unknown place with a fast death I would then melt down any material that I used and dispose of the body with a bath of acid. But some people just like creativity a bit more. AJ, obviously recovered from my earlier mistake walks over to the girls and whispers in Raven's ear. Although I can't hear it, my experience in knowing AJ and the shocked/terrified look on Raven's face indicates he said "Kinky" before he strutted around to Amora and smiled at her. "What're you gonna do to me in there?" Unimpressed, Amora shrugs, "Nothing, if you ask me, you can do whatever you want in there as long as it doesn't involve harassing Raven anymore. She's about to murder you." AJ, being who he is, responds with "So, that means I can harass you?" Another shrug "If you did that, I would let Raven murder you, so no." "What about a threesome? You wonderful ladies into a threesome?" AJ looks excitedly at the girls. And Raven responds "As long as the threesome involves you and Ren." "No" I say simply "I think I'd rather jump off the top of that building, can we go in now?" I start walking towards the building and open a rotting door to enter the nearest room. It is dark and smells like mold and mildew but looks to be used often, the dust is minimal, there are newly bought curtains hanging on the window, the bed is made and not moldy or infested with bugs, there are no cockroaches by what I can tell and there is a box in the center of the floor big enough to fit a semi-large animal such as a fox or coyote. The others join me in this room that on the door says B-7, Raven lays across the bed, stretching out her arms and showing off her legs. She looks like a young prostitute without all the caked-on make-up. It is mostly her clothing that makes me think this. She is wearing a green crop top with black printed letters across her chest that say 'Defiant'. She is also wearing black shorts, extremely short, and fishnet leggings. Her feet are clothed by black combat boots. When she stretches, she shows off the curves of her body in a way that surely catches AJ's attention as well as mine. Tearing my attention from Raven I look at Amora who is now adjusting herself to fit into the box in the center of the floor, there is no way she can fit into that box, it is humanly impossible I do believe. But as she twists and turns and leans, she fits perfectly and, as it seems, comfortably, into the square area. AJ plops down on the floor in front of Amora and to the side of Raven, of course, he also spaces himself equal distance from both girls making it easier to watch and harass them while I just stay standing in next to the bed in the room. "You gonna sit down genius? Or keep drooling over the girls?" What?! I wasn't drooling over them, well, maybe Raven but that's a given. I sit down on the floor. AJ looks annoyed. "You did that thing again." He says, "What thing?" "The thing when you answer the question in your head but never say it out loud." "Oh, well I apologize but I'd rather not answer again, my answer was quite...private, I suppose." I cast a look over at Raven again, still stretching. Now it's definitely just for show. AJ shakes his head from side to side. "Whatever man, what are we doing here anyway?" Amora is too content with her bag of chocolate and it appears Raven has decided to take a nap. "Well I feel appreciated." AJ states sarcastically. "Well, they did not want us here anyway. May I have my phone back yet?" "Nope" I sigh, what to do. What to do... I look back over at the sleeping Raven and study her again. She looks very peaceful in sleep as do most but, something about her expression leaves me wondering what inner demons she struggles with when awake. Her lips look soft, very kissable, not that I would really understand what that means being as I have never kissed someone, nor have I ever been interested in kissing someone. But she...sparks my interest. She wears too much eye make-up, it makes me wonder what she looks like without it. Very beautiful I'd assume. Does she know how beautiful she is? "Why are you staring at me again Ren? Didn't I already slap you for that once?" This response confuses me because her eyes are still closed. But her features are no longer tranquil. "I'm sorry." "Didn't you say that last time too?" "Yes." "Do you actually mean it now?" "No." "And why is that?" "I believe you are used to people staring at you. So, the only reason you're bringing it up to me is because you want me to feel uncomfortable and overpowered." To this she opens her eyes, they are still beautiful but, terrifyingly. "Excuse me? Did you just tell me what I want?" "Yes." She gives me a testing glare and I keep my features as unrevealing as possible. This apparently, works. Raven shrugs and goes back to sleep. I look over to AJ who has just witnessed that entire situation with a raised eyebrow. "Do you have a thing for Raven?" "That depends." I say evenly. "On what you mean by 'thing'." AJ gives me a smirk "What's the definition you have in mind Play boy?" I think through this very carefully and then decide not to answer at all. AJ will take it the wrong way no matter what definition I give him, I also decide not to answer because I'm now educated on the fact that Raven can hear everything we are saying as well as sense when a person's eyes are on her.

AJ

Ren has a crush? No way, the only time he has ever showed interest in anyone romantically was in third grade, and it was our math teacher. But this is about the third time I've seen him staring at her. Well, he won't fess up to it, so I'll just keep the knowledge handy for blackmail later on. I look over at Amora still eating chocolate. Damn, these girls are strange. Hot though. I take a look at Amora's cat ears, I didn't notice during our first meeting but, they twitch at subtle sounds. I wonder... "How'd you get your cat ears?" I ask, wanting to talk to anyone at this point, even if it's the weird cat girl that's obsessive over her chocolate. Her eyes dart up to mine "Well, I'm a science experiment basically sooo...yeah." I smile at her "What other parts of you are animal like?" She stares at me intently for a few seconds before she answers. "Well, I have a tail. And no, I'm not letting you see it." She either didn't understand my innuendo or ignored it. "So, this experiment thing, were you like created in a test tube or were you actually given birth to like that?" "I was given birth to, but I was sick, so my parents decided to inject me with animal DNA to build up my immune system. I grew cat ears as I got older, same with the tail." Her facial expression changes as she speaks, I notice, it went from almost completely oblivious to thoughtful and pained. "I feel like there's more to the story." I give her a look that lets her know she can tell me anytime. Wait, what am I doing? I need to put the game face back on. I change my tone immediately and put on my best darker intentioned smile. "So, you seem pretty flexible. Wanna show me what else you can do?" she gives me a thoughtful smile and looks over at Ren to see if he's paying attention. He's staring off at Raven again. Amora turns back to me and leans in closer. "I see right through you AJ." She says with a whispering tone. Her eyes are intense, and she seems to believe her meaning is clear. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about darlin'" I say with sarcasm, trying to divert her attention away from whatever she's trying to get at. "You never answered my question." I state, still trying to change the topic. She gets out of her box and bends down to make eye contact with me. "And you never answered mine." She says "Raven!! Come on, I have to go home." Almost automatically, Raven opens her eyes and sighs, "But I was having fun letting Ren think I didn't know he was staring at me." She looks at Ren, "And by the way, I know I'm hot, you're right about me wanting to make you uncomfortable." She then walks over to me and grabs my hair in order to force me to make eye contact with her. "If I ever hear you trying to jump on top of my best friend again, I'll end you. Am I clear?" I smile at her, the one that annoys her so much. "Crystal, darlin'" Wow, she's truly terrifying.

"Good."

She pushes my head down and looks back at Amora "Okay, we can go now." She grabs Amora's hand and drags her out of the room, leaving Ren and I sitting on the floor like helpless puppies. Ren, after an eternity of silence in the solemn room. Ren looks up at me "May I have my phone back now?" I burst out laughing and shake my head. "Yeah" I toss it to him and he catches it one-handed as he studies a questionable stain on the carpet. I stand up and grab my phone to look at the time. 4:30 "I got to go home and make dinner for Jason and Millie anyway. Later dude." I walk towards the door and pause, one hand on the doorknob "Do you know how to get home from here? I sure as hell don't" Ren is still studying the stain "Hm, yes, I do but if I were to explain them to you you'd take a wrong turn and end up across town, so I will just escort you home. Do you know what this is?" he points to the stain in front of him on the floor, it is dried and flakey. It has a crimson-brown color. "I'm pretty sure that's blood dude." He nods his head. "As do I" Ren states, still not taking his eyes of the stain. He stands up and walks up to the door that I still have my hand on and looks at me with confusion. "Shall we go now?" I take one last look at the blood on the carpet. Do I really want to know where that came from? Probably not I quickly decide. "Umm yeah." I open the door and we are greeted by the homeless man that was down the street, he is wearing a filthy trench coat, his grey beard is covered in something that reeks of fecal matter, he is missing his two front teeth. His shoes have holes in them, displaying his toes with a nice-looking blister and his breath smells like rancid milk. He is just standing there, staring at us and breathing heavily. Millie and Jason have probably been home for an hour now. They must be hungry after being away all day, I need to get home and this old geezer is standing in my way. "Look man, I would love to stay and chit-chat, but we really have to go." I try to walk around him, but he moves in my way. I sigh. "I really don't want to have to hit you. My hand will reek for days. Can you just move out of my way?" I try to walk around him once more and he still doesn't budge. Ren lets out an irritated sigh, "This is going nowhere." He steps in front of me "Sir, will you please move, my friend and I must get back home, something you obviously do not have and I am deeply sorry for that but we have families that worry, and my friend here has two siblings at home counting on dinner tonight and he has to be there to make it. Another thing about my friend is that he is quite a fighter and I know he will injure you if you keep him from his family, I am doing this to help you sir, please move." The homeless man keeps his eyes on me, it's unsettling because I begin to think about what it would be like to draw his eyes, it would be a challenge to capture the pain, as well as the insanity. "Alright, this stopped being funny a few minutes ago." A voice says from behind the homeless man. Suddenly, a hand with a rag comes up from behind the man, cupping his mouth with it. The homeless man has no reaction and just keeps staring at me with those eyes before they close, and he thumps to the ground, I wince when I hear the loud crack that comes with his head hitting the concrete. "Raven?" I hear Ren say. "Yeah four eyes, it's me." She says, I drag my eyes away from the homeless man's limp body and look at Raven "Did you just kill the guy?" I say incredulously. "No! I'm not that nice, killing this dude would've been a mercy, I just knocked him out with chloroform, he'll wake up in about an hour, maybe less, unless he died when he hit the ground," she shrugs. "Wouldn't surprise me." I continue to stare at her with concern. "You can't just do that! Can you?" I ask Ren "Well, it depends on what her parents job is, say if they worked In a branch of science that permits the use of these gasses she uses and if she has been given the permission to use these gasses and chemicals according to one of the professionals that handle them in her house. It also depends on if she truly felt the gas was needed to handle the situation." I look over at Raven, waiting for the answer to the implied questions in Ren's statement but all the words seem lost to her. "One more time for the not-so-smart people in the vicinity." She states sarcastically. This time I roll my eyes "He said that in order to have the authorization to use your gasses on the public your parents need to be scientists and you couldn't have had another option to solve the problem." Comprehension blooms across her face. "Ohhh. Yeah, my parents work in a branch of research called toxins and radiation. My mom gave me the gasses to use in case of emergency. And as for the problem part, I knew your method wasn't working and wanted to prevent bloodshed sooo. Is that good enough?" Ren thinks about her response for a minute. "Yes." Alright, now, I-m frustrated. "I have to go." I start speed walking to the street. Ren following suit and Raven not far behind either. "Jeez what's your problem pinkie??" I hear Ren whisper something to her about never calling me pinkie. Even though I don't hear all of it, I am 100% sure he told her about Jason and Millie. "Oh my god really?" she exclaims. "That's actually really freaking adorable" okay, that's enough of that I whirl around to face her. "Why are you even here Raven? I thought you left with Amora." I speak much harsher than I meant, and she looks at me with steaming offense. "I came to grab my phone moron, I lost it and thought I might have left it here. I didn't have to help you, you know." I grind my teeth and glare at her. "I'm aware, but if you didn't already know, which you did, I need to go make my little brother and sister dinner because they haven't eaten a damn meal all day and my lovely parents aren't going to feed them because they are too wrapped up in their own self-loathing. I've been trying to get home for thirty minutes and I've only walked a few feet because that brain-dead homeless man was in my way, and now I'm wasting more time dealing with your smart mouth and 'I'm hotter than you' attitude, any other time I'd be all over it and trying to get you into bed with me, but I don't care about any of that right now because I need to get home. Am I clear?" by now I am inches for her face, seething with rage. Ren has gone entirely silent and is watching me with pity-filled eyes. I don't need his pity, I think bitterly. I need to get home. Raven no longer looks offended, I'd expected her to look scared. She just looks guilty, but she soon washes it out of her eyes and smiles at me "Amora, is going to be so into you, I can sense it." She pats my arm "Come along, you can hitch a ride with a friend of mine." She leads us away from the dirty motel and brings us up to a cherry-red, old-fashioned mustang and knocks on the window. When it rolls down it reveals the face of a man, early to mid-thirties with brown hair and a nice dress shirt he has one of those faces that remind me of Flynn Rider from 'Tangled'. "Hey, I'm back, my phone wasn't there but I have some...people that need a ride. Would you mind?" Flynn Rider smiles at her "Not at all." Ren gasps. I look over at him, he wears an expression of terror and recognition. "What?" I ask him. "Professor Kempt?" Ren says softly. The man looks over at Ren and the same terror-recognition look crosses his face. "Ren? Ren England?" he nods slowly. I look at Ren for an explanation. "He is my physics professor at the college." "Woah, woah." I expect Raven's surprise to be at Kempt but her surprised look is at Ren and I "You two are in college??" I laugh "First of all, there's no way I'm ever getting into college. Second of all, I'm only 16. So's Ren, but he's wicked smart so he's taking a few classes at U of Arizona, can we go now or is Ren a deal breaker?" I ask Kempt, he takes a while to respond. "No, not a problem. As long as Ren doesn't call the cops on me." Ren ponders this condition. "I will not, it is not as if this is a serious relationship nor is it not consensual. I have no reason to call the cops, I can only pass judgement upon you and upon Raven for this extremely ridiculous decision you both made." Ren gets into the car. Raven gets into the front and I crawl into the backseat. 

Amora

Left, right, sidestep, duck, slide, swing, jump, left, right. Repeat. How long has it been? Hours? Minutes? I don't care. I always lose track of time while training with my swords. "Amora, the doctor is here to see you." I freeze, keep it together Amora, breathe. I try to make my tone light "Okay mom, be up in a sec." I hear her footsteps go upstairs. I stop my training and stand in the center of the spacious training room, attempting to hold back my tears and screams of rage. I can't lose it right now. After a long, drawn out drink of water, I jog upstairs to meet with the doctor. "Hello doctor, how are you today?" I say politely to the middle-aged man standing around in the kitchen sipping our bubbly water. "Quite well, thank you Amora. And you?" I smile at him "Oh, I'm doing well I"- He cuts me off with a snicker "Well, that's extraordinary dear but I was referring to the latest advancements in your skill." Don't scream, don't cry, don't react I tell myself. "Oh, I'm sorry. How rude of me. Of course that's what you meant. My advancements, hmm. Well, my reflexes have gotten faster, I feel stronger. My sense of smell has greatly increased. I smelt a whiff of cologne today from a bush 75 yards away from where I was standing. I was quite impressed with the improvements." "That's magnificent my dear!" the doctor exclaims "That leads me into what our next experiment will be." My heart drops into my stomach "Ne-next experiment?" I stammer "But of course dear, there is only room for improvement and you are doing so at a record-breaking pace. Our next procedure will be to enhance your animalistic instincts such as maternity, territory, and awareness of your surroundings at all times. What do you think?" I begin to answer but then I realize his question was directed towards my mother "I think that's a splendid idea, I am sure she will have to be awake for the procedure?" "Of course, Mrs. Ripley just as the fine print stated in our contract." My mother smiles at the doctor and then switches her look to one of concern "Will this procedure leave any...noticeable scars on her body. I simply cannot have this ruining her looks anymore than she does to herself, they're all she has." "No, no." the doctor reassures her, "very small incisions on the back, they will be hidden by her shoulder blades. Not to worry madam" my mother claps her hands together "Wonderful then! When shall we schedule it?" the doctor rubs the stubble along his chin in a thinking gesture "Any time after Sunday will work for me Mrs. Ripley." She smiles again "That will be perfect Dr. Hansen. Let's say Monday, at 7 AM. Is that alright for you Doctor?" "Exquisite" the doctor smiles. "Well, I'll be on my way now. Nice seeing you Mrs. Ripley." "Oh. Doctor you forget, it is now Ms. Ripley; since Amora's eighth birthday, I'm a widow." She shoots me a glare from the corner of her eye. The doctor bows in an apologetic gesture "I do apologize, Ms. Ripley so many years I have called you as my best friend's wife. It is a shame, what happened to Andrew but, the show must go on. Goodnight Madam." He tilts his hat towards my mother and walks out the door she is holding open. My mother closes the door behind him, gives me a once-over and scoffs "Go clean yourself up Amora, it's almost dinnertime and I will not have you smelling of sweat and blood at my dinner table. Also, we're having company tonight so for god's sake, put on something nice." I try to reel in my emotions and shake off the events that just occurred. another procedure? How much more do I actually need to go through? "Of course, mother" I say sweetly and rush upstairs to the bathroom. I close it softly before sliding down the wall with my head in my hands. Why does she keep putting me through these experiments? But of course, I already know. Because I'm a monster. Because I'm weak, because I will never truly be good enough for her. Because of the terrible accident that befell on my eighth birthday. Why did I have to be so careless that day? Why am I like this? By now tears have begun to swell and pour down my face. Why can't I just be normal? I want to scream, to go hide somewhere in the dark. "Amora!!" my mother yells from downstairs. "Hurry up! The doorbell will begin ringing any minute now!" I take a deep, shaky breath and try to muster up the confidence to respond evenly "Just a few more minutes mother!" I yell back down to her. Okay, breathe, calm down; I need to get into the shower and change my clothes. I should do something nice with my hair too. I stand up and face my reflection. My gray-blue eyes are blood-shot, puffy and tired looking, my white hair is a mess, my mouth is too droopy; I need to smile. Who's coming over anyway? Usually my mother doesn't let me do my own hair when we have company. I turn on the water to the shower and begin peeling off my sweat drenched clothing. I need to work a little bit more on my stance with my broadsword, I keep placing my feet too close together, it knocks me off balance. When I get into the shower the water is warm, too warm. I turn the handle to the left and wait to see how the temperature changes. It's begins warming my back more. I turn the handle again, making the water a higher temperature. Not quite, I turn it once more until it is scalding on my body that has been all too cold these days. I let it burn my skin as I wash. "Amora!!" my mother yells again "Do I need to go up there and clean your body for you?! You've been up there for ages!" I've been up here for about ten minutes. I think bitterly "I know mother, I'm sorry! I'll be down soon!" I turn off the scalding water and step out of the shower. I wrap myself in a towel and begin brushing my hair.

AJ

"JJ!!" I hear as I step out of the red mustang, I look towards the sound and see a 5-year-old little girl rushing down the walkway of my old, creaky house. I swoop her up in my arms, sending her into a fit of giggles. "Hey little monster, sorry I'm late. Where's Jay?" cradled in my arms, she looks at me with her big, green eyes. "He's playing video games." She scrunches her little nose. "I tried playing with him, but he told me to not be there no more." I put her down. "Well, he's not very nice, is he?" she starts giggling again "Uh-uh" she shakes her head at each "uh" for emphasis on the noise. I smile down at her, "Well you can come help me, let's go make some Mac N Cheese." I turn back to wave at Ren and Raven who are still in the car and then guide Millie back inside. I notice that the yellow-beige paint on the entire left side of the house is peeling, the two wooden steps leading up to our door are all but broken, and the lawn needs some serious grooming. I'll deal with it tomorrow. Tonight, I need to wash the dishes and clean up the living room. And I need to stay up to make sure Millie doesn't have another nightmare. I still need to get ahold of that pediatrician... When we get inside the house, there's yelling. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU BASTARD!!" "YOUR HOUSE YOU OLD DRUNK?! THIS IS MY HOUSE YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE"- I cover Millie's ears and guide her into Jason's room, who has his ear pressed up against the door. I surprise him when I come in "AJ?" he says. I close his bedroom door and uncover Millie's ears. "Hey" I say to him as I lightly push him away from the door "Stop listening to that. Here, keep Millie in your room. I'll be right back." I nudge Millie further into his room and move to walk out the door "AJ wait, don't go" Jason says while pulling on the back of my shirt, I look back at him and he pleads to me silently with his gray eyes. They're beginning to well with tears In a whispering voice he speaks, "You'll get hurt again" I turn to face him. "Jay" I begin soothingly, "I'll be fine, I'm used to it." I push his hair out of his eyes. He's trying to keep the tears from falling. I open the door. "You shouldn't be" Jason grumbles before I walk out. In the living room, it has gone from yelling to screaming and throwing glass at the wall. "STOP THROWING SHIT AT ME YOU F****** A**HOLE!" an empty glass of what was probably whiskey strikes the wall behind her and she screams. She grabs the closest object, which happens to be a lamp and throws it at my father who ducks before it can hit him in the head, the porcelain shatters against the wall and I have to shield my face from getting it in my eyes "YOU BI"- Hey!" I yell loud enough for them to hear. Their attention goes to me automatically. My dad is red in the face, his eyes filled with fury. and my mother looks disgusted that I interuppted them, I swear, she gets off on these fights. It reeks of alchohol in here, something else I'm going to have to clean up tonight. "You do realize that there are two young children in the back room. Are you both so insensitive that you can't do this privately? The window is open for Christ's sake! Our neighbors have already tried calling CPS but you two put on such a believeable show that they didn't do anything! So for once, could you please be the adults? I'm only 16, I shouldn't have to raise two children, let alone four."once the words are out of my mouth, I know exactly what is about to happen. In a scary soft voice my dad says "What did you just say to me boy?" The look in his eye is extremely threatening but I stand my ground "I said act like an adult, for once in your miserable lives." I respond in the same soft voice. Although my dad and I are around the same height he seems so much bigger as he walks towards me. Fists balled at his sides "Do you want to rethink the dumbass words flying out of your mouth at me?" I look him In the eye, challengingly "Nope" I pause, he looks at me with nothing but the intense fury of hatred. I take a step closer to him. "Just hit me, it seems to be your favorite pasttime." before I can blink he throws up his hands and shoves me into the coffee table "GET UP BOY!" he yells "YOU WANNA TALK SMART? SHOW ME YOU KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! FIGHT BACK LITTLE BOY!" I stand but make no move to hit him back. He shoves me again, not hard enough to make me hit the ground but enough to send me stumbling over the step separating the living room from the kitchen. "Not so smart now are you boy?" he continues to shove me, harder each time. "You gonna do somethin'? or just stand there and take it like a prison hussy?" he shoves me harder and harder and eventually backs me up into the kitchen table "You scared boy?" he asks tauntingly, I don't look back up at him until he kicks me in the leg, forcing me to collapse to the ground. He crouches down to meet my eyes "I'm waiting for an answer." I meet his gaze "I'm not scared of you. You're acting like Jason when he throws a fit." The fury in his eyes returns, he raises his hand and slams my head into the table, the impact immediately makes me feel lightheaded and nauseated. He stands up and kicks me in the gut before leaving the house and slamming the door. I feel the blood on my head dripping from where I was cut by the glass from the coffee table, as well as the bruising from where he just kicked me. I sit there for a few minutes, trying to gain back my swirling vision. I stand to walk into the bathroom and take one look over at my mother, she's sitting on the couch rubbing her temples with a cigarette between her lips. I go to the bathroom and wash off the blood and then place a pink band-aid with Disney princesses on it over my head where I was cut. Jason's going to get a kick out of that. I shut the medicine cabinet, leaving myself staring at my reflection. I keep thinking about the lie I told in the living room "I'm not scared of you." Such a lie. Why am I so scared of him? Why do I never fight back? I raise my fist to the mirror and slam it into the glass, shattering it. I look at my tattered reflection in the broken mirror. I'm such a coward. The warmth of blood spreads across my hand. It hurts like hell but I don't have time to fix it right now. I wrap my hand in layers upon layers of toilet paper and hold it down with superglue. I grab the Lysol from on top of the bathroom shelf and take it into the living room so I can hopefully dull the scent of alcohol. "Stop spraying that in here." My mom says "it's getting in my face." As if to emphasize her point, she goes into a violent fit of coughing. Yep, there's the sound of lung cancer kids. I roll my eyes, Once again, I feel that anger. "Well, Jason and Millie don't need the smell of alcohol all over the place." she scoffs "You care about them too much. They're people too, they're going to be around this their entire lives." "That's only because of you! They shouldn't be exposed to this right now! Jason's only ten and he already knows how to roll a ciggarette and what type of whiskey he likes best!" she stays silent until, "You remind me so much of your father. Whether you like it or not Arthur, you're gonna be just like him." I cut a glare towards her but stay silent. I place the lysol on the entertainment center so I can spray it as needed and then walk back to Jason's room. Millie is huddled in a corner with Jay's softest blanket with puffy eyes and Jason has turned up his TV so loud he didn't even hear me come in. I let out a long sigh and shake my head. I wish this wasn't normal for them. By now, Millie has noticed me and looks at me with pure sadness as she sees my hand. "JJ?" She's about to cry again. "Hey babby," I say quietly as I walk towards her. I cradle her in my arms "I'm okay Babby, I promise. Everything's okay. Okay?" I feel her nod as tears soak the right shoulder of my shirt. Jason has turned off his TV and is watching us silently. I let go of Millie and walk up to Jason. I put one hand on his shoulder and look him in the eye "Everything's okay. Alright, bud?" he nods once but stops when he notices my head. I expect him to start crying but instead, he says "Princesses? Really? Couldn't you have at least grabbed the car ones?" I snort "you know what, I should have." He starts laughing and that dread I was feeling replaces itself with.... something a bit lighter "okay, we need to get some food into children before you start eating the led paint."

Amora

At the dinner table, I sat quietly, Elbows off the table and wearing a nice, red silk blouse with sleeves that come down to my elbows and button up. As well as expensive black pants, not tight, tight pants show off more of a woman than is proper. The mystery guest has not arrived yet. My mother is anxiously pacing in front of the door wringing her hands. She keeps casting judgment glances in my direction. "Who's coming over for dinner mother?" She stops and glares at me again. She speaks through her teeth "Amora, how many times do I have to tell you? Stop asking questions, be quiet, and only speak when prompted to. Do you understand?" My eyes shoot away from hers "Yes, Ma'am" My mother takes a deep breath, as if shaking off her irritation with me "Good, now straighten up. Your posture is terrible." I shoot up straight in my chair. I almost say sorry before I realize I wasn't 'Prompted to speak'. The doorbell rings and my mother looks at me. "Well, don't be rude. Answer it." She then strides into the kitchen. When I open the door, I see a teenage boy, around my age at the door with who appears to be his mother. His light brown hair is slicked back and he's wearing a very nice suit with a red tie. He smiles, a great, big, white-toothed smile. "You must be Amora." He bows down and kisses my hand "Much obliged to make your acquaintance. I'm Derrick, this is my mother Edna." He gestures to the woman behind him. "May we come in?" I realize I just stood there, frozen the entire time he was speaking. Not smiling. I plaster the biggest, fakest smile I possibly could. "Of course, I apologize, I'm just a little bit tired this evening, I suppose." I open the door wider and step out of the way. "My mother, Camille is still in the kitchen. She'll be out shortly. Please, have a seat. Dinner will only be a few more moments." He smiles that big smile again. I can't help but notice his mother's facial expression has remained neutral this entire time. She looks at me with the same judgement as my own mother "Turn." She says simply. Used to taking orders and asking no questions I rotate slowly in a circle. Derrick's mother then takes my face in her hands and moves it to different angles. Showing off my cheekbones and looking closely at the rest of my facial features. "Pretty." She let's go of me. Derrick looks at me closely and then nods as if agreeing with his mother. They sit down at the long oval table that takes up most of the dining room. It is adorned with a white table cloth, handcrafted by our maid Beatrice. Fine China plates, and freshly polished silverware. I take the seat across from Derrick and he stares at me. It's quite unsettling, not that he isn't attractive. His dark hair and green eyes make for a charming exterior. His eyes are emerald green and his skin tone is a rare olive. His heritage seems Italian. There's just something too...perfect about him. Why is he even here? My mother walks out of the kitchen with our maid who is carrying two large dishes covered with our crystal dome lids. She places them on the table and rushes out of the dining room. My mother sits next to me and across from Edna. Beatrice walks back in and sets Champagne, bubbly water, and regular water in the center of the table. "Amora, I'm sure you've already addressed these two, lovely people?" "Yes, of course mother. This is Derrick and his mother Edna." She looks at our guests. Derrick smiles and reaches across the table to shake my mother's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Ripley." She smiles her sickening seductive smile "The pleasure's all mine." Derrick looks back at me "I see where your daughter gets her beauty. I trust she's been informed of the situation?" He raises an eyebrow in my mother's direction. "No, actually. I was waiting for her to hear the news from you. Given the circumstance." He nods "Of course." His smile is back on me "Well, Amora. Our two, powerhouse families have come up with the brilliant plan to forge our two plantations to become even stronger rather than wasting their resources by competing against one another. Meaning a marriage as you well know. But sadly, both of them are past their primes and thought it better for their younger generations to be married. So, we are to be married to one another by our eighteenth birthday." I froze "uh- um m-married?" He nods "By eighteen?" another nod I look at my mother "When was this decided?" My mother looks at me disgustedly "Well, I'm positive there is no issue with the marriage Amora. But if you must know, it was decided a few months ago. There is no issue, is there dear?" I look at Derrick, then back at my mother. "Well, not exactly. But I always assumed that when I did marry it would be for love instead of money. Like you and father." My mother bangs on the table with her palms "Well, yes that is what you thought. But you do understand how mine and your father's marriage turned out. Now he's dead! And I will not have you speak of him at my table as if he is still here." She takes a deep breath and huffs it out. "Surely you can find love with Derrick dear. He is...devastatingly handsome. I only wish his father wasn't married. No harm meant of course Edna." Edna laughs "None taken Ms. Ripley, Derrick does get his looks from his father." I begin to answer her "I-I suppose I could, mother but-" "No more buts Amora! You are to be married to this fine young man no questions asked! Are we clear?" I push back my chair and stand up. for a long pause I say nothing but then my voice drops to a whisper "Of course mother." I clear my throat and speak again. "May I be excused?" without waiting for an answer, I rush out of the Manor house.

Raven

"Valerie! Turn that music down young lady. I don't want the neighbors filing another noise complaint!" I roll my eyes "Whatever mom! I'll just put on my headphones!" I unplug my phone from the speaker and connect my headphones instead. The music Is still loud enough to drown out my mother's voice. All night she's been complaining about everything that I do. 'Valerie, get up, you've been laying around since you got home.' 'Valerie, you can't leave the house it's almost time for dinner.' 'No Valerie, you can't eat in your room. We are going to eat as a family.' 'What family?' I responded, that got me a two-month grounding and a sentence of cleaning my room until it was spotless. She already doesn't like my friends, my music, my attitude, my clothing style, my grades and now she wants me to clean my entire room without loud music? And for god's sake can the woman just stop calling me Valerie? I've hated that name since I was 10 and I've asked her so many time to stop using it. It just, doesn't fit who I am. No matter how big a disappointment that is to my parents. I sigh and look around my disastrous room, I've been cleaning for an hour and I still can't see my floor. There's dust piling up on my bookshelf, my dresser, my TV. There are clothes strung out all over the floor from my scavenger hunt to find my fishnet leggings and green crop-top as well as the discarded outfits from a week ago. There's trash on my floor, my bed, and in all my drawers. My bed is unmade and over halfway pulled off of the frame. Wow, I'm gross. Now, it's starting to bug even me. I also have an empty bottle of Jack Daniels on the ground somewhere, except it's broken so instead of somewhere, it's kinda everywhere and I can't take off my shoes because I'll probably step on glass. I put my hair into a ponytail, turn up my music as loud as it can go without making me deaf and grab my laundry hamper. Let's start with the clothes. I crouch down on the floor and grab armfuls of clothing. "Ow!" I exclaim, found part of the Jack Daniels bottle, great, now my hand is bleeding. Bandages aren't attractive on girls and the only guys who disagree are creeps, or perverts, sometimes both. Whatever. I run to the bathroom and rinse off my hand. I am not putting on a band-aid. I hope the cold water stopped the bleeding and go back into my filthy room. Amora has straightened up my bed and is currently searching for my stash of alcohol. "I had to move it." I say, "My mom came way too close while snooping. It's in the giant stuffed bear that has Velcro keeping it shut." Without a word she grabs the bear and rips it open, she hasn't turned to face me yet but I'm pretty sure I hear sniffling. "Amora? What happened? Who am I poisoning now?" I hear the shadow of a laugh come out of her mouth. "My mother." She says while turning around, she's definitely crying. In a quieter voice she says "My lovely betrothed." "Your what!? You're getting married?" More tears spring to her eyes as she nods "Unless I die before eighteen, yes." She has pulled out a bottle of my good vodka and is scarfing it down like water. "Woah, Okay." I take the bottle from her "Last time you got drunk you almost got arrested for jumping off a roof into a pool on private property that wasn't yours. Let's not relive that, K?" She sighs "You're right. It's just, maybe my mom will disown me if I go home drunk in the middle of her classy dinner." I wrap my arms around her "Amora, you know that's not going to work, your mother already did disown you and now you just need to be there at her every beck and call. That won't change by getting even more disowned, you'll only make your life at home worse." Another sigh, she hangs her head "I know" tears fall onto my arm. I hold her tighter, some minutes pass and I feel my heart throbbing for this modern day cat woman.  "I know why you're actually home right now Raven." "Oh really?" she nods and lifts up her head, tears aren't falling down her cheeks anymore, but I know she desperately needs to cry. "You're grounded, aren't you?" "yeah." I say grudgingly "And you were about to sneak out to meet with that AJ character. Weren't you?" How did she know? "What! No! He was a jerk, and annoying, and perverted, oh excuse me "Promiscuous" as he so annoyingly put it earlier. And don't even get me started on that smirk of his." "Raven." Amora said, cutting me off "What?" she has a knowing smile dancing across her lips "You're blushing." I self-consciously cover up my cheeks with my hands "Am I?" "Definitely, just admit it, you thought he was hot and you're going to meet with him tonight to show him just how annoying he is." I try to defend myself "He is hot, he's also extremely annoying and cocky. It's not like it's going to be a thing, just a one-night stand. He agrees that we should have nothing to do with each other afterwards because I'll murder him." Plus,I'm keeping him off-limits to me." Amora gives me a confused look "Why?" I smile "For you, Duh." I scratch behind her cat ears, it makes her purr, every time. She forgets about what I  said momentarily and then "Wait, What?" I start laughing "you heard me." "I don't even like him!" "But you will, trust me. It's my best friend soul-mate radar,it's tingling." She rolls her eyes at me "Since when is it safe to trust you?"I stand up and head towards my mirror to touch up my eye-liner. "Oh, sweetie.It's not" I fluff up my hair to make it look sexier. I go to my window and fling it open, throw one leg over the windowsill and look back at Amora "Are you coming?" Amora crosses her arms "Coming with you while you go get laid? No thanks." "ugh, fine just come with. I'll text him to bring Ren and call for a rain check on the hook-up. Good enough for you?" another sigh from Amora "I guess." "Good" I jump out the window and grab onto the vines crawling up my house to slide down onto the ground without messing up my make-up. Amora not far behind me, the only difference is, she doesn't even touch the vines and quietly lands on her feet. "Cat woman" I tease "Shut up." We walk into the woods surrounding my house.