Chapter One: Wake Up, Time To Die

The girl Lyssa lay on the bed, her face smooth and unblemished, her eyes closed in sleep; deep sleep evidently. The man standing watch over her bed fished out a coin from the depths of his trenchcoat. The coin was gleaming as if it were newly minted. An unfamiliar face and an odd language was printed on it and the man flipped it over and over about his fingers. He reached forward and put it into the girl's open palm, closing her hand into a fist around it. He stroked her long silver hair and took a step back. He walked to the window and looked out. Almost a full moon, but not quite then. Not that he needed to check. He could feel it in his blood. Just a day or two more to the full bloom of the moon. The Flowering Night, as his people called it, or the Night of Nights. He smiled slightly and lifted up the window quietly and jumped out, trenchcoat flaring behind as he fell to the ground, seven floors below. He landed with little more than a thud and he quickly made his way into the night after dusting himself.

“Hey, Lyssa! Wait up!” Tessil gulped heavy breaths after chasing the hooded girl. Lyssa only nodded to acknowledge her friend's presence and adjusted her bag and carried on walking.
“You don't look too well, Lyss.” Tessil commented, looking at Lyssa's deep eye bags. Lyssa just shrugged and kept walking.
“I'm okay.” She coughed out hoarsely.
“No, you're not, Lyss, you should stay at home.”
Lyssa shook her head and muttered, “I'm fine.”
“Your eyes are bloodshot, Lyss, you really should go and rest.”
“I said I'm fine, Tess!” Lyssa flared up suddenly, her pale skin radiating anger rather than illness and weakness.
“Chill, Lyss, I'm sorry, okay? You really scared me there for a moment. Your eyes even went all red for a second. Wow.” Tessil shrank back from her. The pair continued walking towards their class in silence.
As they took their seats, Tessil heard Lyssa murmur to herself, “Full moon up tonight, full moon up tonight.' over and over again.
“What do you mean, Lyss?”
“Huh?” Lyssa looked up distractedly. “What do I mean?”
“Yeah, you were saying 'Full moon up tonight' over and over again. Full moon important to you?”
“I was?” Lyssa appeared genuinely surprised. She shivered slightly and pulled her hoodie closer about her. “I didn't realise.”
“Oh.” Tessil looked over at her friend worriedly, even as Lyssa's gaze started going unfocused again and she started muttering things to herself. Suddenly, Lyssa snapped out of her reverie and looked at Tessil with an intense urgency.
“Tess, tonight we've got night class, don't we?”
“Uh, yeah. What's got you so worked up, Lyss?”
“Nothing. Nothing. It's nothing. Night class...” Lyssa stared around distractedly, “Okay. Right. Right. I think you're right. I should be home. I'll see you for night class then. Bye.” She stood up, grabbed her bag and just left the classroom abruptly as the bell signaling the start of lessons rang, leaving her friend staring after her, concerned for her odd behaviour.

“Lyssa! You look like you've been crying! And are these cuts? You weren't cutting yourself, were you? What happened?”
“Tess, I know what it looks like, but I'm fine now. Really, I am. Don't worry for me, Tess.”
“Yeah... You do look much better.”
Lyssa's complexion was less pale and more radiant; she seemed as if she were glowing. Her eyes were still somewhat bloodshot, though they appeared more alert and less distracted. There were cuts on her arms though, fresh new cuts just scabbing over beside her old scars. She had even pulled back her hood, revealing her long, beautiful mercury-coloured hair.
“The full moon sure is pretty, isn't it?” Lyssa commented, looking directly upwards at the full round silvery orb, a colour not too different from her hair.
“Yeah.” Tessil wondered what time exactly the moon would be full as she stared up into the night.
“It was full since seven. Seven thirty-eight. And it'll end in twenty-two more minutes.” Lyssa switched her gaze to Tessil, her eyes wide open and her mouth spread wide in an open grin. Tessil's blood ran cold.
“How did you know I was-”
“Thinking that? I don't know. I just know. It's amazing. The moon is amazing. The night is amazing. I feel odd. I'm getting this really strong pressure building up in me, you know? It's just building up, building up, building up, building up and I have to release it!” The last syllable left Lyssa's mouth with a scream as the lights of the classroom blew, plunging the classroom into utter darkness as an even deeper shadow pulsated from Lyssa and blasted across the room, black on black, throwing tables and chairs to the sides, throwing her classmates against the walls with bone-shattering cracks. The darkness picked up speed and the class was a whirlwind of shadow and blood, as the impacts left the stains of various people on the walls. All the while, Lyssa laughed maniacally, reveling in the sheer frenzy and adrenaline rush of the moment, soaking in the death like some deity having sacrifices offered to her. As the room started to settle and the unnatural dark receded into Lyssa, night reclaimed the room.
Barely realising the fact that the darkness had shredded away her attire, she picked her way through the splinters of glass and wood to the mangled heap of her friend. Somehow, she could see clearly in the night, even clearer than as if it were day.
“Tessil?” Lyssa called out in a singsong voice. She knelt down behind Tessil's broken and crushed body. “You're all snapped.”
Lyssa stood and straightened and skipped towards the exit, her feet somehow being simultaneously cut by the broken tables and yet mysteriously healing over with darkness shrouding over it. Humming a repetitive tune, Lyssa made her way home.

Heaving the body of her father into the chute, Lyssa found herself singing an old rhyme.
“Lizzie Borden took an axe
and gave her father forty whacks
And when she saw what she had done
She gave her mother forty-one.”
Repeating the same words with a little smile, she threw her mother in as well and started cleaning the bloodstains on the floor. Lyssa decided to leave the blood on the wall. It made for nice décor, she thought.
After she mopped up the blood, she finally went to get dressed. She pulled on a plain white shirt and some jeans before fishing another hoodie from the wash. As she took out the strange coin she had woken up with, the day's events caught up with her and she collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

“I may have a reputation for being an odd one, but I'm telling you, Ren, that girl is cra-zee! She's mad! She's touched in the brain, Ren! I don't even want to go near her!”
“Oh, calm down, Psycho. Granted, the way she awoke, taking out a whole class and going home to kill her parents, that's pretty unbalanced, but-”
“Pretty unbalanced? And you guys think the way I awoke was weird? Please, torturing that kid to death, I've got nothing on this girl, Ren, nothing at all. Don't send me in there, Ren, please don't. I know you've got a heart, I've saved it enough times.”
“Quiet Psycho. She's one of us, all the same. She's still a Daughter of the Moon, even as we didn't decide to leave you to die, you a Son of the Moon even though some of us were hesitant about you. You turned out nice enough.”
“But this girl's insane!”
“Enough, Psycho. I'll go in with you, if that will stop you complaining.”
“It's not going to stop me from complaining.”
“Just shut up, okay?”
The willowy Oriental woman pushed the taller man into the room, both adorned in a white medical gown.
Lyssa looked up from the white bed, a drip inserted in her right arm. She smiled a little.
“Oh hello, doctors. Which hospital am I in?”
“Good morning. Before you say anything else, know that we are the same as you.”
“What do you mean?”
The tall silver-haired woman raised both hands and Lyssa watched in fascination as shadows started congealing about her palms and then dripping onto the floor. The dripping increased in frequency until the dark puddle on the floor suddenly rose and formed a pitch-black split-image of the woman. The shadow-woman went to check on Lyssa's blood pressure and pulse as the woman herself took Lyssa's fever.
“This is what I mean.” The woman told her, after making sure that she was alright. “Now, child, tell us who you are.”
“I'm Lyssa.”
“No last name?” The shadow-woman dissipated after writing something on a clipboard hanging on the bedside table.
“I don't remember.”
“Well, that's alright. We'll be faking identities anyway.”
“So I can make my own name?”
“Essentially yes, but we'd like to know your real name.”
“You know I'm Lyssa. Could I go by Lizzie Borden?”
The man standing at the side flinched slightly and started muttering under his breath.
“Psycho.” The woman said firmly. “Control yourself.”
“So can I?” Lyssa asked again.
“Lizzie is close enough to Lyssa.” The woman conceded.
“Then who are you?”
The Chinese woman smiled. “I'm the one asking questions here. But I'll tell you. I'm Ren.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
“Lyssa, how old are you?”
“How.. old I am?” She hesitated. “I don't remember.” She whispered.
“It's okay. Memory loss is to be expected after such a violent and traumatic awakening. You're lucky our people picked you up quickly. The dramatic way you awoke sent the Guardians coming after you much quicker than they had spotted awakenings before.”
“The Guardians?”
“Bunch of madmen who seek to exterminate our kind and supposedly protect humankind from us.”
Lyssa groaned a little and brought a palm to her head.
“Are you okay?”
“A little headache.”
“I'll administer painkillers through the IV drip, if you don't mind.”
“No... I don't mind.. No. I don't feel so good suddenly.”
“That's normal, Lyssa. The rush of the power within you is very intoxicating, but it doesn't make up for proper nourishment. I don't believe you've eaten much or drank much for a while.”
“No. Isn't that the point of the drip?”
“It's to keep you hydrated, yes, but it cannot sustain you for long. Your lunch will be coming soon.”
“Lunch huh. How long have I been out?”
“Three days.”
Lyssa blinked twice. “Three days. No wonder I feel ravenous. What are we anyway?”
“Now Lyssa, you'll concentrate on regaining your strength. You are no good to anyone, least of all yourself in this state.”
Lyssa nodded and then turned to the nervous man.
“Who are you?”
He flinched when he realised she was talking to him, but he managed to keep under control as he hurriedly replied, “Psycho.”
“Lyssa, are you comfortable in your clothing?”
“Yeah, I'm fine, but can I have my clothing back? I don't feel safe without my wallet-”
“Don't worry, we've got your coin.”
“How did you know?”
“One of our people gave it to you. We give it to those who will awaken within the next day or two.”
“You knew what was going to happen?”
“Not so spectacularly, no.” Ren shook her head. “You are distinctly stronger than many others, but you need to exercise control.”
Lyssa gave a non-committal half-sigh. She drew a deep breath and exhaled. “I'm bored.”
“Try exercising your power, but slowly. We don't want you to wreck our equipment.”
“And how do I start exercising my power?”
“Simply. Start with attempting to draw shadows to you, or exude shadows if that's how you do it. It's a mental exercise, but it will tax you physically so be wary of overdoing it.”
“But how? You haven't answered me.”
“Feel the shadow. It will have a distinctive feel in your mind, unique to each of us. Grasp onto the feel, your impression of shadow and bring it forth.”
Ren headed out of the room, followed by Psycho but she took a step back and then told Lyssa, “If you need anything, we're around. I'll be right back with your lunch.”
Lyssa nodded and closed her eyes, thinking. What was her impression of shadow? Comfort. Where she could rest in peace. Slight cold, comforting cold. She imagined the cold misting around her hands and she opened her eyes to see the pores of her skin exuding an inky black fog. She lost her concentration with surprise, but somehow the shadows continued to seep out from her hands. She let it envelop her arms and then she pulled it towards her with a thought. She inhaled some of the darkness; the frost had a slight bite to it, but it was still extremely soothing. The thick fog of black quickly covered much of the room.
Lyssa started drawing shapes in the mist, pulling strands of fog here and there. Gradually, of its own volition, a face formed in the depths of black. Its features were barely discerned, but its shape was clear. The face, masculine in form, floated just in front of Lyssa, another patch of black among black.
Just then, Lyssa heard the door swing open and she heard a Chinese curse as the black fog started to spill out of the room.
“Lyssa! Call back your shadow! Now.”
Lyssa started and the face dissipated. She concentrated, concentrated on pulling all the frost through her skin into her blood, turning it black as sin, black blood coursing through her veins-
She gasped as the shock of all the cold shadow quickly entering her hit her sharply and she almost let loose the fog once more. She shivered uncontrollably, teeth chattering as her blood ran as cold as the mist had been and her bones felt as if they had been lined with hoarfrost.
Ren sighed as she pushed a trolley within Lyssa's view.
“I knew I shouldn't have told you to practice now. My mistake. I knew you were strong, but to release so much and then to take it back in so quickly, that's not good.” Ren took her temperature again and sighed. “You're too cold. It's due to the shadow, isn't it?”
Lyssa nodded numbly as she tried to pull the blankets tighter around her.
“At any rate, you'll recover quickly enough. I've brought your lunch.” Ren looked closer at Lyssa. “Girl, you look like you've seen a ghost. Are you alright?”
“There was a face in the shadow...”
“Of course. Was it fully formed?”
“N-No... The face was still forming when I called it back.”
“You're much stronger than we expected. Still, that is a matter for another time.” Ren lifted the tray of food and placed it on the bed table, then shifted the table so that Lyssa could reach it easily. “For now, eat and rest. The food may not be to your liking, I'm sorry about that, but we have no idea what you can or cannot take.”
Lyssa shivered some more and then slowly sat up to eat. Her appetite was ravenous and she quickly devoured the noodles and drank the thick soup with gusto.
“Eat slowly. I know you haven't eaten for days, but slow down.”
“It's delicious.” Lyssa commented as she finished the last few drops.
“I know, I cooked it. But still. You watch out for any signs of your stomach feeling upset. Toilet's over there, if you need to go, push your drip along or call me if you really feel too weak.”
“Okay.” Lyssa sighed contentedly and snuggled deeper within the blanket.
“I'll leave first. Anything you need, that button over there will alert me.”

Outside of the room, the nervous man approached Ren.
“I told you, Ren, she's mad!”
“She seems perfectly fine to me, albeit a little on the girlish side.”
“She's an actor, I swear! She's crazy!”
“I think, even though you represent a professional opinion, I think we ought to seek a third, unbiased opinion.”
“'Unbiased'? Look, she killed a whole classroom of her acquaintances, got up, went home and killed her parents for no discernible reason with a ceremonial knife, which I have no idea where she got that from. Who's the one being biased here?”
“I admit, I am being more lenient in my judgement to her, but as of now, she appears fully balanced.”
“I still remember when I was brought in. None of you trusted me for weeks. Is this gender discrimination?”
“Calm down, Psycho. Look, I'm sorry for what happened, but you did torture that little girl unto death.”
“And I admitted it. I never shirk from my deeds.” Psycho threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “But this...”
“Okay, Psycho, calm down. How about you go in there and have a chat with her and psychoanalyse her? It's what you do for a living after all, isn't it?”
“I'm too jumpy right now. Chances are I'd try to kill her first as a preemptive action to protect my own life.” Psycho shuddered and took a pill from a bottle and promptly swallowed it. “I have got to remember to take my own self-prescribed medication. Anyway,” He glanced through the one-way window at Lyssa dreamily lying on the bed, “She finished eating quickly. Aren't you going to clear the tray?”
“I'll send in Aco. Lyssa should probably get to know everyone of our little family.”
“Family. I never understood your obsession with that concept.”
“It's a Chinese thing.” Ren smiled and called out. “Aco!”
“Coming!” A responding shout came from the other side of the hall. The hall was not particularly spacious, but had a homely atmosphere. It was surprisingly different from the medical feel of Lyssa's room, mahogany walls and a polished floor instead of a sterile tiled white room. A Chinese boy, not much older than sixteen quickly emerged from a side room and stopped in front of Ren.
“Yes, Mother?” The boy had lively eyes that seemed to dance with a certain light in them. His onyx hair was a tad bit too long and was being held to the side by a hair clip.
“The girl in that room is Lyssa, a new addition to our family. Go and greet her, have a talk with her. Attend to any needs she might have and once you're done, take out the tray to the kitchen.”
“Yes, Mother.” The boy shifted his shoulders and headed in to do as he was told.
Psycho looked on with interest. “Explain to me again how you managed to get him to call you Mother after you killed his biological parents.”
“I was honour-bound to take him in. It wasn't a bad choice.”
“Funny. You just evaded my question. Never mind. Go do your paperwork. I'll watch them from here.”
“Alright.”

The youth Aco tidied himself nervously and opened the door; he hadn't had much contact with girls. Not that he had much contact with people in general, for that matter. But if, as Ren had said, this girl was to be a part of his family, then it only made sense for him to get to know her. He saw from the outside that the girl had nice silver hair, just like Ren and Psycho. She was probably one of them, with their dark powers.
He stepped in and closed the door behind him gingerly, feeling uncomfortable under the girl's gaze. He bowed, went to sit at the bedside chair and he looked at her.
“Uh... Hi. I'm Aco.”
“Hello. Do you also have shadow powers?” Lyssa asked, suprisingly straightforward.
“Don't I wish.” He blushed slightly at his admission. “No, but I've got something other.”
“Oh? What do you mean?”
“I inject myself with Mother's liquid shadow. It's given me... some poison abilities.”
“Oh cool.” Lyssa slowly sat up and grinned. “You look about my age. I don't remember my age. What's your age?”
“Uh, I'm not too sure either. Never kept track. Maybe sixteen or seventeen?”
“I see. Maybe I'm seventeen too. I can't remember. Are you Chinese? I remember something about Chinese friends in my school.”
He nodded in response, self-consciously brushing a hand through his hair.
“We're pretty similar.” Lyssa stared at him with an odd look in her eyes that made him feel even more uncomfortable. “You're cute.”
“Wha- I, uh, I-” He stammered, unsure of how to respond and blushed.
“Yeah, you're really cute.” She giggled slightly.
“Uh.. Okay... Thanks, I guess.. I don't know your name.”
“I'm Lyssa. You can call me Lyss or Lizzie if you want.”
“Alright. Lyssa. Uh, nice name.”
“Thank you. Aco's a nice name too.”
“Thanks. You're a Child of the Moon as well, aren't you?”
“What's that?”
Aco stared at her, eyes wide. “You don't know?”
“Nope. What's that?”
“It's people like you and Ren and Psycho. People who have the dark powers, like Ren's shadow and Psycho's blood. Children of the Moon.”
“Oh. I guess I am.”
“What's your power then?”
“Shadow too. Wanna see?” Lyssa asked, her voice lilting playfully.
“Umm... Okay. Don't tax yourself though. Mother would kill me.”
“Mother?”
“Ren. I call her my mother. But she's not my biological mother. It's complicated.”
“Oh, okay.”
Lyssa closed her eyes and a blissful blank smile came across her features. Slowly, oily, misty darkness began to pour from her once more. Then she opened her eyes and twirled her fingers in the mist; the mist was not as thick as it had been, nor as dark.
The mist slowly enveloped Aco, who inhaled as much of the slightly sweet smoke as he could. As his muscles relaxed and he slumped in his seat, he closed his eyes in complete comfort. While the dark mist was a little cold, it was just the way he liked it and he almost fell asleep.
“Like it?”
He jolted upright, remembering that there was still this strange, yet not unappealing girl by his side, sitting on the bed.
Lyssa giggled slightly at his reaction. “You sure looked like you were enjoying it.”
“I, uh, yeah. Reminds me a little of Mother's opium.” Aco continued soaking in the misty darkness, which started to intensify in its thickness.
“You look really blissful. Ah...” She sighed pleasantly.
Aco opened his eyes and looked straight at the girl emitting the slightly sweet smoke. “Did anyone tell you you're beautiful, Lyssa?”
“You don't look like someone who usually compliments people, so I'm honoured that you think so. I think you're rather handsome as well.” Lyssa pushed aside her blankets but Aco quickly stood up to stop her.
“Hey, Mother would most definitely kill me if I let you get up. I, uh, I'll clear the tray and then go for now.”
“Oh.” Lyssa's tone was crestfallen. “Could you come back later? You're really good company.”
“I wouldn't know about that, I don't socialise much.” Aco replied bluntly as he efficiently cleaned the table and maneuvered it back to its position in front of her bed.
“You can see so well in the shadow?”
“Yeah. I'm used to it, I guess. Uh, see you later.” He opened the door with one hand, balancing the tray with the other and exited, wisps of black smoke following him.
“Aco, boy, you'd best be wary of her.”
“Why, Uncle Psycho?”
“She's mad.” He whispered to the youth as if confiding a secret.
“She seemed perfectly fine to me. She's quite a nice person, though I don't have that much experience with people. Certainly, she doesn't seem mad to me.”
“What's wrong with you people?” Psycho exclaimed. “You all think she's perfectly fine and that I'm mad?”
“Well..” Aco shrugged uncomfortably. “You are mad.”
“Yes, yes, I admit that, my mind is not as properly structured as it should be, but you all think she's fine? This is ridiculous!”
“If you say so, Uncle Psycho. Now, I need to wash this or Mother will have a fit.” Aco politely sidestepped the older man who stared into Lyssa's room with wide, wild eyes and carried his tray, headed for the kitchen.
Psycho continued staring into the receding black fog of Lyssa's room. The girl was smiling dreamily to herself; quite obviously mad, he thought. She was most certainly insane to have decided to gone home and then kill her own parents after her powers surfaced. Most definitely insane. He decided to go in and analyse her, just as Ren had suggested. However, he couldn't go in in such a state. No matter, he simply ingested a couple of pills, calming himself down.

Lyssa cocked her head quizzically to a side as the door opened again, this time revealing that nervous American man who had came in with Ren just now. He looked much more controlled now though.
“Hello, Mr Psycho. It's nice to see another American.”
“This is America, Lyssa. It's not surprising to see other Americans.”
“Ren and Aco are both Chinese. I don't remember much of anything. I wouldn't be surprised if this were China.”
“Lyssa.” The man stared into her eyes as if searching her soul, making feel oddly exposed. “What was it like when your powers surfaced?”
“I felt full, overflowing with energy and I just had to release it. And then I did, of course.”
“You killed your classmates. Then you got up, went home and killed your parents. Why?”
“Why? My parents... were not the nicest people. I've thought of killing them for so long.”
“All children think of killing their parents at some point of anger. However, you obviously had no spur-of-the-moment hatred towards them. The long way home would have cooled you off either way. Why did you kill them?”
“I don't know. I don't remember. But,” She exhaled, “It felt great. Surely you'd understand. The killing. It's so.. exhilarating. I can feel the knife in my hand even now.”
“Yes, we retrieved your belongings, the knife included. Where did you get such a ritualistic dagger? It's too stylised to be anything else.”
“I took it.”
“Where from?”
“From someone. He didn't want to give it to me, but he let me hold it and then I stuck it in him.” She giggled softly. “It took me a while to find a good brand of soap that got rid of bloodstains.”
Psycho named a brand of bleach. “That's a good one to use. But back to the point. You enjoy killing, don't you?”
“Don't you?” Lyssa countered with a smile, her gaze just slightly off-centre but enough to be disconcerting.
“Do you? I'm the one asking questions here, Lyssa.” He pushed.
“Sure, why not.” Her mouth opened slightly as she smiled wider and Psycho caught sight of wisps of black smoke drifting out from her mouth, giving her a deranged appearance.
“You're insane.” He muttered to himself.
“Just like you.” She had heard him and she replied.
“Not like you.” He retorted. “I at least don't revel in murder for its own sake.”
“Neither do I. I like the feel of blood on my hands. You do, don't you?”
Psycho flinched as if he had been struck. “Insane, utterly insane.” He murmured again and made to leave the room.
“Wait, Mr Psycho, could you help me ask Aco to come back in when he can? I'm so lonely...” The longing in her tone sent shivers up his spine as he ignored her request and fled the room as quickly as he could without seeming as though he was afraid of her.

Heh. She starts laughing as he closes the door. I don't remember. What a lie, but only the crazy one suspected that something was out of sorts. So funny. Turns out the only one with common sense was the one who was mad. Ah, she remembered the slick blood on her knife and then her hands as she dug into the bodies of her parents. After a while, the blood turned sticky, but it was still a nice feeling. Then the blood caked and congealed, stiffening and then cracked when she flexed her hands. A nice topping to all those tears and pain she had endured. Mmm. Lyssa stretched, feeling completely at ease in the soft and comfortable bed. They didn't know, did they? That weird man Psycho might be out of the room, but she could still hear the strange tenor of his mind. It made her twitch a little.
She couldn't exactly tell what they were thinking, but she had a grasp of what they felt. And Psycho's subconscious was weird. It wasn't as straightforward as Aco's curiosity or even as Ren's mind, which admittedly was substantially more complex. Ren was curious too, but there was a whole host of other emotions that made it difficult for Lyssa to pick out how Ren felt. Psycho's mind though, the feel of his mind was just plain strange. It just seemed so jarring and unlinked, the undercurrents of his thoughts clashing against each other unlike the smooth flow of Ren's and Aco's. She couldn't hear their thoughts though, not like that night when she killed Tessil and the others. Even with her broken body, Tessil's thoughts had rang out loud and clear, expressing shock, disbelief and pleading for help. Desperate pleading, ah, how sweet it had seemed to Lyssa's ears, though it was all in her mind. It gave her a warm and fuzzy feeling deep in her stomach.
It was rather surprising to Lyssa, how easily she had figured out how it all worked. She felt someone else come within range of her mental hearing. To the best of Lyssa's knowledge, there were only three people in the house, Ren, Aco and Psycho. This mind was pretty colourful and held a certain care for people, evidently Ren. It wasn't that hard to distinguish minds and Lyssa tried to familiarise herself with the pattern of Ren's subconscious.
Psycho's twisted thought-flow approached Ren's. Oh, this would be useful, knowing the location of people through their minds. Nobody could surprise her now. She tried to concentrate on Ren, Psycho's mind a whirlwind of conflicting impulses. Surprise, Lyssa picked up, surprise and disbelief from Ren. Psycho must be telling her about Lyssa's own words. Heh. Ren wouldn't believe him. Not with the little fostering of a good impression that Lyssa had done on Ren's psyche anyway. Ah, but the subconscious was so easy to manipulate and change. It hadn't taken Lyssa that long to figure out what exactly she could do. If she could submerge herself in the undercurrents of the minds of other people, why couldn't she tweak it? And so she did, just because it seemed fun. And nobody suspected a thing except the crazy man, whose own mental instability perhaps protected him from her mind-warping power. Not that it mattered. It wasn't as if she was going to hurt any of them, was she? According to Ren, she was one of them. It would be nice to be among people who didn't dislike her. Or found her scary.
Hmm? What was that? A twinge of alarm from Ren. From Psycho too, the emotion strong enough to be sensed over all his disturbing thought-flows. Something was wrong. Slight panic from Ren, but tightly controlled. Something she knew would happen but dreaded, then. Ren was approaching.

Ren threw open the door, just stopping it from slamming against the wall.
“Lyssa. We have to leave now. Are you well enough or do we need to carry you?”
“I.. I don't know.”
“Aco!” She shouted out the door. “Quickly!”
“Yeah! Just finished packing!” The reply echoed back, his voice getting louder as Lyssa felt his mind come along. He was... quite fearful. Not exactly fearful, but worried. Yes. Worried and nervous. Ah, Lyssa reveled in the relative ease of comprehending him.
“Yes, Mother?” Aco's head came into the room, slightly breathless.
“Carry Lyssa out; we don't have much time.”
“Yes, Mother. The IV, I'll just bring along the bag then?” He asked as he stepped into the room and quickly pulled aside her blankets. He was carrying a backpack, rather large and bulky.
“Just take the bag.” Ren left the room with that final instruction.
Aco unhooked the IV bag from its stand and handed it to Lyssa, hefting her into his arms without much effort. His arms were warm to her touch and she took the opportunity to examine his face closer. Dark brown eyes, almost black, a rounder nose in contrast to her own hawk-like visage. A mouth curled in anxiety, he glanced down in askance as he caught her looking at him.
“Are you okay?”
She blinked sharply and averted her gaze.
“Yeah. I'm good.”
“Aco! Time?” Ren's query rang out.
“Daylight, Mother. Shall I cover Lyssa?”
“Yes, yes, we don't have much time, the Guardians will descend on us in less than ten minutes!”
Lyssa sensed the tension in the air and started to become nervous as well.
“Who are these Guardians?”
“Shh, I'm sorry Lyssa, but Aco will have to cover you for now.” Ren's face came into her view as she draped a dark blanket over her. Before her sight was completely obscured, Lyssa saw that Ren wore a cloak and hood with a cowl.
From under the dark cloth, Lyssa felt Aco moving, moving out of the room, going to somewhere which she could not see. She felt the odd mind of Psycho and Ren, following. Anxiety was the greatest emotion present- no, it had changed. Something nauseating. Fear. It made Lyssa feel sick.
“Shit!” Psycho started swearing. “They're here!”
“Go, Aco, take Lyssa and run!”
“But where-”
“Just run! We'll find you later!”
Lyssa felt Aco's pace quicken and within a few seconds, she could not feel Psycho or Ren's minds anymore. Then she felt someone else in front.
“Aco!” She yelled, the blanket muffling her voice. “There's somebody up ahead towards the right!”
“How do you know?” He asked, voice strained as Lyssa felt him turn to a side.
“I'm not sure.” Then she felt a whole cacophony of minds, too many people, too many for her to think and she screamed with the confusion of so many thought-flows. The impulses bombarded her and she barely felt Aco stopping suddenly.

They were surrounded. Aco swore in his native tongue and concentrated deeply. The men around him him wore black masks, something that looked straight out of a science-fiction military game. Green goggles reminded him of night-vision goggles that were so common in movies and the rest of their outfit seemed similarly surreal. Most of the men held rods in their hands, rods that Aco recognised from Ren's teachings to be stun-rods similar in nature to cattle prods. Others held guns that accomplished the same purpose, tasers with electrical charges crackling as if in anticipation.
There was no way out. While Aco was not one of the Children of the Moon, he had abilities of his own, as he had told Lyssa.
“I'm sorry, Lyssa.” He told her as he laid her limp, seemingly unconscious form on the ground. “Don't take away the blanket or you'll get burnt.”
He straightened and reached into a side pocket of his backpack, removing a vial of murky brown liquid. The smell of the air changed, an odd sickly smell that seemed to be coming from Aco. His skin started to glisten with an oily substance and his eyes seemed to drip with it. His sharp fingernails seemed to turn black as if his fingers were diseased and he flexed his hands slightly.
“You Guardians won't take either of us.”
Suddenly, the lead Guardian raised an outstretched palm, stopping his men from advancing. The Guardian took a step forward and removed his mask, revealing a man in his mid-thirties with auburn hair.
“You.” He had a rich, baritone voice and he raised a finger to point at Aco. “You are not a Child of the Moon. But, there is one of the scum here.” The man looked down at the dark bundle that was Lyssa and smiled. “There, is it not? Vulnerable to sunlight, so you wrap it.” He lifted his stun-rod lazily. “Tell me, why do you aid these monsters? Do you even know what these filthy beasts are? They are enemies of humanity, young boy.”
“So that's your rationale?” Aco whispered. “That's what you Guardians think?”
Without warning, Aco threw the vial at the Guardian and ran forward. The Guardian raised his arms to ward off the vial which broke, spraying its odourless, foul-looking liquid over him. Aco reached him and slashed at him with fingernails that looked as if in a deep stage of decay and the Guardian flinched as Aco drew blood. Then the Guardian brought down his stun-rod and Aco was thrown to the ground, even as other Guardians closed it on them.
“Hmph.” The lead Guardian gave a sound of contempt as he eyed Aco, held to the ground by other stun-rods on him. Aco couldn't move. He looked towards the black blanket.
“The blanket has one of humanity's foes. Take it back, we have much work to do on it.”
The other Guardians heeded his command and one of them carried up the bundle, Lyssa not responding in the slightest to the movement, dead to the world.
“No!” Shadows emerged from a side corridor, harbingers of Ren's path.
“Leave the boy! He is not one of the beasts.” The lead Guardian commanded. “Take the scum and leave, we have what we came for.”
“No! Stay and face me, gutless fools!” Ren shouted as she ran out from the corridor with a shadowy doppelganger of herself and Psycho along with her.
“Any other time, I would gladly kill you, scum. But now is not the right time.” With which, the numerous Guardians quickly left, bringing Lyssa with them. But not before the lead Guardian dropped a small cuboid.
Ren cursed and grabbed Aco, dragging him away into the corridor with Psycho's help just as the explosive detonated, scorching the entire passageway. Ren looked Aco over as he slowly regained his motor skills. He got up slowly and yelled his frustration out to the whole world.
Lyssa was gone.
A/N: Ahh, I am so very sorry, people! I've been meaning to post this up, but stuff has been catching up with me, some really bad stuff. Been through a fair bit of emotional duress errr I think you could call it that. Having a bit of emotional turmoil etc, your regular wangsty shizz. So, uh, for the first time, I'm planning to write a story that will be continued and finished. I'm trying. And uh, sorry for the length, having copy-pasted from word document, it looks loooong. 11 pages on OpenOffice, with font size 12 Times New Roman. Bleh, I'm just bullshitting, aren't I? So uh, I apologise for the length again and please read and review! I would really appreciate feedback and criticisms. Really.
-CerebrateBen

Edit! Thanks to a spur of the moment change, oneshots now come in pairs! Please feedback which oneshot you prefer for me to continue as a comment on this post preferably! Thank you lots lots! =D
-CerebrateBen

Oneshot First Pair, 2nd: Diary

Hi there. So, I'm writing a diary over here. I don't know why I'm writing this diary. It just came to me all of a sudden. See, I looked at my life and realised that somebody ought to have a look at it and have a good laugh or two. I'm Adrian Tabrein. Odd name, yes, I know. I'm going on fifteen this year. So, my life isn't too boring.
I guess I should introduce you, dear random person who might read this diary someday, to my family. My mom's name is Reila Tabrien, my dad's overseas so I don't see the point of mentioning him till he gets back. I have no siblings, which is a real pity, otherwise I wouldn't have such a hard time with Kate.
Katherine Alleigh's my half-cousin. I'm not too sure about the exact details of our relation, I still don't know why she's my half-cousin and not my cousin, straight-on. If she was my cousin, then at least our parents would hint her away from the hope of a relationship with me. But no, she just has to be my half-cousin.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate her or dislike her. Quite the opposite. She's funny, cute, pretty, intelligent, all that. The only thing is, I don't actually like her. Sure, as a friend, but not in that way. You know the good ol' cousin with a crush problem? I've got that in spades.
She's got a crush on me. Nope, it's not my wishful thinking or anything, it's just really obvious. Plus, she said it herself. No, it wasn't a joke. She was quite serious. Though she did look rather cute when she said that. But still. That is hardly the point, is it.
Ah, there she is, coming up the stairs. We live in the same house. Her parents, her brother, my mum and I and our 'cat'. Let me think, is there something else I forgot to add regarding her biography? Ah, yes, she's the same age as me. Oh, and she plays the violin beautifully.
Oh dear. She doesn't look too happy.
"Adrian!" Her tone is kinda angry. Crap. What did I do?
"Yeah?" I reply in what I hope is a calm and relaxed manner.
"Who broke my bow?"
Ah. Her violin bow. Oh dear. She treats the violin like an adored pet. I don't want to point any fingers, but I have no choice.
"Daniel." I say, knowing that it could not have gone any better but could have been worse. There's no point lying to her. She'd just get even more angry when she finds out you lied to her. Also she would cry. And I really, really, really, can't stand it when she cries. She just looks so, well, I don't know what's the word for it.
Her brother is almost certainly, to use the colloquial term, screwed. While Daniel is nineteen, nothing can stand up to Kate when she's pissed off. For good reason, too.
As she stomps past me to Daniel's room, I can hear her muttering, "I will not hit him, I will not hit him, I will not hit him..."
Oh dear. I follow behind her. This might be interesting. Scrap that, this would definitely be interesting. Plus, I am pretty sure I will have to restrain her. A lot.
She knocks, almost politely, on his door, gritting her teeth. Daniel's been hiding in his room the whole time. He knows what's coming as well as I do. Kate's still muttering, "I will not hit him." She has some anger problems.
Daniel opens the door and almost immediately, she hits him. Ouch. That has got to hurt. I think I can almost hear his shoulder dislocate.
"Ow! I'm sorry, Kate, I'm sorry, will you stop hitting me!"
Of course, Kate totally ignores that and I have to grab her from behind. Her body was kinda hot. Scrap that, I don't mean it that way. I mean, well, she is quite hot, but I really meant that her body is radiating heat in a nice, comfortable and angry way. Oh yes, I do enjoy holding her like that. But that's not the point.
She's practically vibrating with anger in my arms. If it were anyone else restraining her, she'd muscle her way out. And believe me, she's much stronger than her thin body would indicate. She is struggling of course, just struggling to get out of my arms without using force. Somehow it just feels good, feeling her rub against my arms.
"Let me go, Adrian!"
"So that you can beat Daniel up? Not a chance. Calm down first. Don't get angrier. Remember what will happen."
She's red-faced and breathing deeply. Good. She's calming down. Otherwise, the whole world will be doomed. No, that's not hyperbole.
The thing is, she can cause the end of the world. Yes, you read that right. End of the world, Ragnarok, Apocalypse, Kralizec, call it whatever you want, it's all the same. Personally, I just call it Kate. But that's between you and me. If she ever finds out, then it really will be the end of the world.
Let's just say our family isn't really, well, normal, I guess. I know, you're reading this diary of a guy who claims to have powers and has a half-cousin who crushes on him and can cause the end of the world, yes, it sounds like utter rubbish, doesn't it?
I guess I'm just writing this because I don't really expect anyone else to believe it. Maybe one day my diary will get published as a fiction book. But anyway, I'm digressing.
So try to picture the scene, dear random reader. Daniel is standing there, a nineteen year-old buff guy looking really afraid and raising his hands up in defeat to a girl who only looks about twelve, or so people say. A pretty girl, who is being held in a bear hug from behind by me, scrawny ol' Adrian Tabrein.
As I hug her, well, hold her, I'm trying to concentrate more on waking my own ability up instead of smelling her hair which by the way smells like the sweetest flower you've ever smelt except that the smell is so concentrated you can hardly stop yourself from wanting to inhale more and oh God, why am I digressing so badly?
Yes. Concentrating on waking my own ability. See what I mean? Even away from her already I still can't help but think about it. Companies would make millions if they could bottle her smell.
So, there I was, holding her back and trying to wake up my own ability, just in case. You never know. She just might flare up again.
She's gritting her teeth again. I think she copes by gritting. Doesn't seem to work too well though.
Daniel is trying to apologise. "I'm real sorry lil' sis, it was an accident. I didn't mean to, so I got you this as an apology, hold on..."
Daniel disappears back into his room for a moment and returns with a brand new violin bow. I don't know much about violin bows but this one is dark blue and glossy and looks rather nice to me. I think Kate thinks so too.
She's definitely calmer now. I feel like just nuzzling the back of her neck. What an odd urge.
"Uh, yeah, so I got a matching bow for you."
Yeah, it's matching. Kate's violin is a dark blue, like the unreadable depths of the sea, just like her hair, not the regular boring ol' brown you see on violins all the time. It's just like her hair, her long, silky, shadowed azure hair that falls past her shoulders.
"I'll just, uh, leave the bow on the table then." Daniel quickly flees down the stairs.
I start to release Kate, but suddenly, I realise that she's rubbing against me.
"Kate..." Suspicion is extremely obvious is my voice. "WHat are you doing?"
Her head half-turns towards me and she's smiling ever so slightly. I know that look. Let's see, I suppose you could describe that smile with words. Mischievious? That's an understatement. Playful? Doesn't really cut it. Either way, she was moving her body up and down. Against mine. I'm sure you get my meaning.
Her hand slips back to me. No points for guessing where it went.
"Kate..." She knows that I'm warning her off.
"Oh, A, that's not the message I'm getting from your body. You know you want to." She teases me as she rubs her hand there slightly.
I'm hard? Oh. Didn't realise. She sees my look of realisation and giggles.
"You mean you didn't realise? It's been poking into me for quite awhile."
Really? Darn.
"Kate, we're not in a relationship."
"We can always start now. She turns fully and faces me, locking my gaze with those alluring, pure, cloudy, murky, mercury eyes. The look sends a shiver up my spine.
Did I forget to mention that? Her eyes are a pure and murky mercury. Of course, that's what I call it. She calls it thick quicksilver.
"Kate. Y-Your parents are just downstairs. So is my mum. We really should- Mmph!"
That 'Mmph' is the sound I made as she lunges forward and her lips meet mine.
Oh, Lordy Lou, that's the moment I realise that perhaps a relationship isn't too bad an idea, after all, I guess that I did like her regardless of what I said. When I said I didn't actually like her, I think I was ignoring that gigantic bundle of affection in me. I'm such a person, so indecisive.
The kiss is long. Like, really long. I don't deny it, it feels great, and her smell is so intoxicating, but its still weird to hold there for so long. Ah, our bodies have also mysteriously come into extremely close contact. Our arms are entwined around each others' body, pulling each other closer and tighter as if trying to force the two of us into one.
Just then, I realise that someone's at the stairs. I pull away and see a man with silvery eyes that are startlingly similar to Kate's, though his are gleaming where Kate's is murky and his has flecks of red among the silver. The man has neatly combed violet hair, perfect parting to the side and all. He's wearing a business suit, quite plain and regular. He also has a black briefcase in his hand. He adjusts his tie somewhat nervously and coughs.
I recognise him now.
"Uncle Karma!" Kate exclaims, pulling apart from me as well. I'm blushing, I think. Hah. Kate certainly is though.
"Uncle Karma? I haven't seen you in a long time." I wonder what he's thinking of us.
"Um, hi, Adrian, Katherine. I, uh, you heard that I was staying over for the time being?"
Well, that's something new. I certainly didn't know that. Kate nods though.
"Yeah, mum told me and um, I was supposed to tell A, but uh, I guess I forgot."
"Not surprising." I hear Karma mutter under his breath. I blush even further. "So, uh, I am sleeping in my regular room?"
"Yes, Uncle. I prepared it for you already."
"Good, good. Ah, Adrian, would you kindly follow me to my room? I have some things to discuss with you."
Damn it. He's gonna lecture me.
"Of course, Uncle." I reply like the obedient little kid I am.
"A, I'll be in my room, alright?"
Heh. I wonder what Kate's thinking.
"Okay." I follow Karma. His room's beside mine and its not really big. Just enough free space apart from the table to stretch fully in all directions.
He opens his briefcase and takes out his laptop, setting it up in the room and talks as he moves.
"So, ah, I see that you've tamed our spitfire."
"Um. I wouldn't put it that way."
"I can see that she loves you, Adrian."
"Uh, yes." No shit, man.
"The question is," He turns and looks at me directly, "Do you love her?"
"Uncle, you know she's had a crush on me for longer than I remember, right?"
"Yes."
"Thing is, I don't know. That kissing? I was holding her back from hitting Daniel and after that she suddenly just kissed me as I was telling her that we weren't a couple."
"Hm? Really?"
"Yeah, she told me we could always start, then I was replying halfway when she just kissed me. From there, I don't know."
"Okay. We'll see how things develop from there then." His face has the ghost of a smile. "But actually, that's not what I originally wanted to talk to you about."
"It isn't?" Huh. I wonder.
"Not at all. I wanted to find out how your ice is progressing. Let me have a look at your eyes, won't you?"
"Uh, okay."
Yeah, the ice he's referring to? That's my power. I can... Well, actually, I don't really feel like describing it. Not now. I'll describe it when I actually use it. That'll be better. You can tell how my ability has progressed by looking at my eyes.
My eyes are, well, were a regular blue. Then, they gradually turned from a deep blue, to a really light blue and ever since I've been practising using my ability, it's now really white. White-blue, but very, very light.
"You have not been practising regularly."
I didn't know you could see that from the eye colour as well.
"Yeah. I, uh, I've been pretty distracted."
"That's not surprising. Do remember to practise more. If you encounter any problems, you can ask me."
"Alright. That's all you wanted to know?"
"And I came back also to check on Kate and her, ah, situation with you."
"Um, why do you want to check on that?"
"If you handle her poorly, then nothing will go well for any of us."
Right. End of the world. Bugger.
"Um, okay. I'll be going now."
I quickly get out of his room; as I close the door behind me, I almost bump into Kegawa. I inhale deeply.
"Kega! Don't scare me like that again!"
Kegawa Nekogami is our 'cat'. The inverted commas there are because she's not really a cat. I mean, she is, but she appears human. Really. Sounds all magical and stuff, doesn't it? She looks like a, say, thirteen year-old girl with a pair of cute, pointed, furry cat ears. She's got a tail too, of course. Apart from those two, it's kinda hard to tell her apart from regular humans.
"Yo. I'm not allowed to go fishing by myself."
"Uh, okay, and I'm guessing that you want me to go with you."
She nods and purs lightly. She's got nice auburn hair that goes to her chin and complimenting brown eyes. Also, I'm about half a head taller than her so its quite odd talking to her. I'm sure you find it odd enough that I'm talking to a cat with a human body. She looks more Oriental; if I had to make a guess, I'd say Japanese or something, but I don't really know nationalities.
She already has a fishing rod held behind her and a picnic box of presumably bait.
I nod, slightly wearily and knock on Kate's door and pop my head in.
"Kate? I'm bringing Kega out for fishing. Coming?"
"I can't." Her face is crestfallen and disappointed. "Mum grounded me."
"What? Why?"
"Because she heard that I didn't tell you that Uncle Karma's coming."
"Oh... Sorry."
She shakes her head. "Not your fault. Have fun."
Somehow, I get the feeling that she's wishing that I'm staying behind. But what to do? I can't satisfy both her and Kegawa.
Kegawa's tugging the back of my shirt. Impatient little cat.
Closing the door, I follow Kegawa out after alerting mum. We head off to the little lake by the forest just outside town. Not many people come to this lake. There are two lakes around this area actually, and this is the smaller and thus less attractive of the pair.
I lean against a tree and relax as Kegawa throws her line and leans back as well. As I look around, I see another girl at another edge of the lake, sitting with something in her hands. I think I recognise her.
Yes, of course I do, she lives right beside us. Feana Soarl. Fifteen as well, in the same class as Kate and I. She comes over quite frequently. Knowing her, the thing in her hand is probably some embroidery she's working on. She spots us and starts to come over. Oh dear.
"Kega. Quick. Hide your tail."
"Hm? Oh, Feana. Okay."
Feana waves to us and we wave back. Well, I wave back, because Kega's intent on her rod. Something's on the line. Oh dear. If she hooks a fish, she's most likely going to eat it raw. That is probably something Feana won't expect. And she shouldn't. To outsiders, we're a perfectly normal family. Yeah, right.
Yeap, I see it now, it's embroidery. She likes sewing. She reaches us and sits with us.
"Hey, Adrian, Kegawa."
"Yo." Kegawa's succinct greeting says it all and she returns her attention to her fishing rod. Her tail's hidden up her shirt; seems a little uncomfortable to me.
"Hey. Doing your sewing here?"
"Yeah. Kegawa, still wearing your cat ears?"
"Huh? I'm not wearing any-"
"Yeah, she always wears them. It's her favourite accessory." I interrupt quickly. Kegawa's still focusing on the little ripples in the water.
Suddenly, she gives a pur of excitement and pulls hard on the rod; she caught one. The fish lands in her hands, as accurately caught as only a cat can. If you were here, you could see the hunger in her eyes. She really likes her fish.
"Kega..." I whisper. "Control yourself."
"Yeah, yeah, okay." She keeps it in the picnic basket and takes out a bottle of milk. I feel like hitting my head.
Milk is to Kega what alcohol is to humans. I really should have checked the picnic box. Trust the cat to bring milk, eh?
"Kega! Don't drink, not now!" I try to hiss as softly as possible. It's a good thing Feana isn't so attentive to details.
"Nya." She makes that cat sound and ignores me. Feana's talking.
"Adrian, where's Kate?"
"She got grounded."
"Oh. You're not fishing?"
I shake my head. I can't think of anything to say to take her attention away from Kegawa. Supposedly, Kega's my younger sister, but when Feana comes over to our place, Kega's usually in her room. That is to say, my room.
"Just taking care of Kega. You come out here just to sew?"
"I like this place. It's so calm and peaceful and quiet. And you know, some people say that there's a fairy who lives by the lake. I always hope to see it, but," Feana shrugs, "I guess it's just a legend."
It's not a legend. Goodness knows, that fairy's irritated me more than enough times than should be possible, but I can't say that, can I? I just nod and make a murmuring noise of agreement. Oh yes, that fairy's also the one who first figured out my ability.
So we carry on with small talk as Kega catches several more fish. And I'm right. Kega's cheeks are now quite red and I think she's drunk.
"Kega, you okay?" So Feana noticed after all.
"I think she's just tired. Kega, come over here." I indicate the grass beside me. She crawls over, taking the picnic basket and the now-empty milk bottle with her. And her fishing rod too.
She gives a little contented pur and she curls against me, head on my lap and starts sleeping. I stroke her hair a little as well as thumb her ears like you would towards cats. She's cute when she sleeps.
"Your sister tires easily." Feana notes. "No offense, of course."
"None taken. She's young."
"Still. She's thirteen, isn't she?"
I nod.
"Why's she not in our school?"
"Autumn intake. She's coming in mid-autumn." It's already early autumn. I wonder how she'll adjust. Or if someone will try to pull her ears and discover that they're actual cat ears. Or how she's going to stand sticking her tail up her shirt for so long. As she's sleeping now, I can make out her tail moving underneath the fabric.
"Oh."
We sit there for quite awhile like that, the only sound being Kega's soft snoring. My phone starts vibrating then; I always put it on 'Silent'. I pull it out, waking Kegawa in the process.
"Hello?"
"Do you realise what time it is? Get home now or your dinner will be thrown away!"
I wince and move the phone further away from my ear. Mum's voice can either be soft and nice and pleasant or, in this case, loud and screechingly angry.
Kega's ears twitch and she grins.
"Nya, your mu-, I mean, mum's angry."
At least she caught herself.
I quickly reply to mum, lest she start shrieking again.
"Yeah, yeah, coming back now. Bye." Time flies. Sitting there so comfortably, I didn't realise the time slipping away. "Well, Feana, we've got to go now. Are you coming over for dinner?"
"Not tonight, Adrian. Be seeing you. Bye, Kega."
"You too."
"Bye!" Kega replies, her voice pitched high. She also seems quite high after waking up from a milk-induced sleep. I guess cats don't get hangovers like humans.
We run back home, Kega easily out-sprinting me. Somewhere along the way though, I had to get her to stop for a while; her tail had came out. We got home quite speedily, about twelve minutes or so.
Dinner is sumptious, mum and Kate's mum cooking, as usual. Karma's seated on my left, Kate on my right, mum opposite me, Kate's mum and dad beside my mum, all of us around the round table. Hah.
Where's Kegawa, I hear you ask. Because she's a cat, (obviously) our parents don't let her eat at the table. Kegawa doesn't mind too much.
Maybe it's just me, but I think Kate's glaring at Kegawa everytime she thinks nobody's looking. I wonder what got her so pissed off.
After dinner, I head back to my room only to find that instead of one mattress (Kega's) on the floor, I see two. What.
Oh goodness. Kate follows into the room behind me, dressed in her night clothes already. (How did she bathe so fast?)
"Kate? That isn't your mattress, is it?"
"It is."
Ah, damn it all. How am I supposed to sleep like that? Its hard enough ignoring Kegawa at night; she loves making me (her master or, I guess, the more appropriate word would be owner) squirm and how does she achieve that? She's female, I'm male, so she just does the obvious, eh?
She strips. That's right. She strips in front of me. Some of you might think, 'Oh, what a lucky guy' or something along those lines, but I can tell you that it's extremely embarrassing. Bugger.
"You're sleeping here tonight?"
"Yeap!" She's abit too excited about it, I'm afraid. I can't help but notice that her mattress is strategically positioned to be right beside my bed, in Kegawa's usual spot.
Kate lies down first, I'm sitting on my bed and reading a little. Some fiction to distract me, but fiction somehow just seems to pale in comparison with what goes on in my life.
Kega comes in and she's- Oh Lord, I quickly hide behind my book. She's completely nude. That's something new. She usually comes in first, then strips.
"Kega! What are you doing?" Kate, it seems, takes offence as well to Kegawa's nudity.
"Oh? Kate? You're sleeping here tonight? Hey, that's my spot!"
"I'm sleeping here tonight." Kate seems to think her word's final. It should be, I guess. I do hope that Kega doesn't go all confrontational.
"Nya." At least Kega has the sense to realise that Kate getting angry is a bad thing overall for everyone. I hear her drop down on her mattress; can't really tell without looking and I am definitely not going to look.
It's been awhile since the lights got turned off. I can't get to sleep. Too much stuff to think about. Kate and me, Kegawa in school, my own practice, all that. If only I could just sleep as and when I like at any time like Kega. Kega, as I said, is really cute when she's slee- What the.
Kate's sitting upright, head turned and looking straight at me. Lord, that was scary.
"Aren't you going to surprise me?"
"What?"
"We're sleeping in the same room."
"No, Kate, just no." I go under my blanket covers and turn away.
"One day you will be mine, A." I can hear the smile in her voice. Oh Lord. That is just creepy. Creepy with a capital 'K'. I'll end the first day of my diary here. Good night to whoever's been reading.

A/N: Hi, as promised (though a little late, but that's not the point), the second oneshot! Huzzah! And, uh, yeah, I really apologise about the length. Really. Sorry~ It's a teensy weensy bit too long. When I pasted it into Microsoft Word, it came to about 11 pages. =X Er, yeah.
So, whatcha think about it? I know, the first part was a little, er, close to lemon, but be thankful there wasn't any. =D Believe me, it could have been worse, if you get my meaning. And, yeah, I was toying about with the idea of romance (obviously, silly me) so what inspired me was just the end of the world. I was just thinking about all that, and hey, idea for a character! Why not make a girl who will cause the end of the world AND has anger management issues? Err, also based on the "I am not going to hit him" line. Uh, I appear to be suffering from amnesia right now, I can't remember where I heard that one...
Kegawa was heavily based-off a character from a bullet madness game series known as Touhou. The character in question is Chen! Whoever knows Touhou should find this quite obvious. Chen is this cat-girl too, but she's a nekomata with two tails. This A/N is already too long, so I'll leave you to find out for yourself what that is.
Okay, inspirations for names... Katherine Alleigh. The surname is thanks to this book called SuperFreakonomics where they mentioned this prostitution house closed 100 years back in Chicago, Illinois and the place was called the Everleigh Club. So I plucked the leigh, just for fun.
Adrian Tabrein, no particular meaning nor inspiration, just came about by staring at my keyboard and mentally rearranging letters.
Karma was suggested by Raven when I asked her who would be Death's secretary and somebody everyone would know. Kegawa's first name was helped by several friends, Shadow and Wolf (you know, the other writers whose blogs I've linked to?) Basically, if you translate Kegawa Nekogami from its Jap, it just equals to Cat Spirit of Fur. Kegawa is literally fur, Neko is cat and gami is added at the end for the spirit bit. Aye. Nekogami was suggested from a great friend of mine, who only wishes to be known as H2O.
Feana Soarl. I don't remember where Feana comes from, but I do know that Soarl was derived from Soargyl, one of the merchant houses (or something like that) from a certain city in the Forgotten Realms settings...
Uh, specific moments, the last bit was taken from Mirai Nikki, this manga where the girl was lying on her mattress beside the guy's bed and also asked if he was going to surprise her. Actually, I believe this story was heavily influenced by Touhou from the second half onwards. The ice fairy also. Inspired by Cirno from Touhou. Er.
Ah yes, that reminds me, I wanted to say that at the time of writing, I *did* know exactly what his power was going to be. I just didn't want to reveal it so early. Besides, its a little awkward to introduce. Okay, seriously, this whole post is waaay over-long and that isn't even a word. I'll end here. Good night and goodbye, have a good day/rest depending on when you're reading this!
-CerebrateBen

Oneshot First Pair, 1st: Team Serenity

"Team Serenity, going in." I murmured into the comms. I signaled to Calm behind me to move out.
"Tranquil, aye."
"Peace, aye."
"Harmony, aye."
"Concord, aye."
"Placid, aye."
Across the zone, I knew that the others would be tightening the noose around our targets. This was not going to be easy. The darkness was not natural. Nothing about this setup looked natural, and every corner seemed to me to be a perfect ambush. I was getting paranoid. I kicked open a door and rushed in, gun raised and looking for the targets.
"Sector clear." Tranquil reported, all the way from the opposite side of the zone.
"Sector clear." Harmony echoed, directly west of my position. A single red light flashed once, then twice in my visor's display. The signal was coming from Placid. My blood went cold. Placid was the only one not part of a pair, and the sequence of flashes coming from him was our signal denoting the presence of hostiles.
I flashed a string of three yellow flashes through our system, alerting the others to cease all voice comms and work through hand signals. My breathing suddenly seemed to fill up the whole cargo bay as Calm and I slowly picked our way towards Placid's location. Placid was at the eastern end of the zone, just by the pier's edge. Having inserted via a boat, he would be in deep trouble if his position was compromised. He would be cornered against the Sea and isolated from the rest of us.
The various cargo containers around turned the place into a potential maze of death, giving ambush teams numerous killing fields. At least Placid's continuous signalling indicated that the primary concentrations of hostiles were around his position.
Click.
That was all the warning either Calm or I had before the world turned into an crackling inferno of death and destruction.

The mission was not going to be easy. We knew that from the start.
"Man, Team Weather? We are so screwed."
"Can it, Concord. Team Serenity is the best."
"Aw hell, Harmony, Team Weather is helluva good at defending a strongpoint or keeping alive in a trapped situation. We're trying to do what no one else has managed to do before! In case you haven't realised, every other defeat they've suffered is from either attacking or retrieving, not defending!"
"First time for everything, Concord. Shut up and get kitted up." I didn't want to admit it, but Concord's words embodied everything I feared about this fight.
"Hey, Brother? Are we really going in without magical support?"
"Yes, Tranquil. Any magic on this zone is our own personal magic. Unless you happen to have a hidden destructive talent for magic, I say you leave magic to Peace, Harmony and me. Placid."
"Hmm?"
"You sure about this?" He nodded. Somehow, I wasn't too sure that Placid would be alright. He hadn't been the same after that incident. Nowadays, he was much quieter and kept to himself mostly. "You don't have to insert that way, Placid."
He just shrugged. "No pain, no gain, Amity." His voice seemed much more... hollow from what I remembered.
Now, pulling myself back up and behind cover and dragging Calm behind the container as well, I wondered how things could have gone so bad, so quickly. Gunfire tore the night apart and the previously dark harbour was in flames in various areas. Calm got up, slightly disoriented by the explosives and I stated over the comms in our trademark robotic, emotionless, cool and steady voice.
"Position compromised, going loud."
I couldn't believe it. We were taking so much fire that the container we were hiding behind was nearly turning into so much scrap metal yet we had not even caught a glimpse of the opposing team. No wonder they were so good at defending. We couldn't shoot what we couldn't see.
I took a few steps back and vaulted onto the top of the twenty-feet tall container and landed on one knee, gun firing on full auto in a wide arc, only to realise that I was shooting at smoke and shadows. The gunfire stopped as Calm landed beside me, looking for targets. I ran to the other edge of the container and took a quick look around from my vantage point.
The pier was empty, deserted and I could only spot Placid through his identification tag through my helmet. He was dangling from his legs from the top of the crane and blending in with the large hook. Suddenly, he fired and I just managed to see the bullet hit someone or something I could not see behind yet another container.
"Target eliminated." He uttered. He was good at what he did.
"Contact." Calm pronounced clearly behind me, already firing several shot down. I followed his arc of fire and spotted a trio of black-armoured hostiles moving towards the crane. Their combat armour was similar to our own in colour, though different in design. The matte-black colour made it seem as if I was looking at moving humanoid-shaped voids rather than at people.
I mimicked Calm's actions and started firing at them even as I started muttering the words to a spell. I suddenly froze as I realised that the bullets were just passing through them.
"Decoy." I was already turning around as I shared my realisation. I was too late. The three were already behind us and Calm was struck down instantly by several well-placed headshots. His armour shut down and he collapsed as I quickly finished my spell and several orbs of fire materialised around me and shot towards my foes.
"Calm here, guys, I'm down." Calm alerted the rest of the team.
The fireballs disabled one of them and my rifle took down another while the third threw down his gun and drew his sword from his back as he leapt at me. I took a couple more shots at him as I pulled out my twin swords as well, their blades singing with a mono-molecular field about it's edges as I activated it. My opponent's own bastard sword smashed down, taking full advantage of his weapon's strength to try and batter me down.
Luckily, I managed to roll to the side and rushed him before he could raise his sword for another blow. His sword was surprisingly swift for such a heavy weapon and it was all I could do to just parry his attacks and try to hit him once or twice.
All of a sudden, I heard Placid's calm, unhurried, yet distinctly hollow voice through the comms.
"Duck." I obeyed without thinking and above me, a single shot lanced into my foe's helmet, taking him down as well. I breathed heavily. That was too close.
Across the zone, there were other encounters and a quick check on my team's status showed that of the team, only my sister, Placid and Concord were still up apart from me. I confirmed with my team the total number of casualties inflicted on the other team; there was only one last opponent.
Leaving Calm to talk with the three foes from Team Weather we had taken down, I leapt from container to container, trying to spot the last target.

A/N: Hey guys, as promised, the first oneshot's up. Second will likely be coming up tomorrow. So, my inspiration from this came from Unreal Tournament 3. First-person shoot 'em up game, pretty fun. You've got two bands of super-soldiers fighting it out in all sorts of environs, etc etc etc. So I toyed with the idea of Teams fighting it out in a pre-set location with rules and all that and this was the result. The names of all the members of Team Serenity are just synonyms of, well, serenity obviously. Hah. Inspiration of Placid's dangle-sniping comes from the under-suspended-development-game, Starcraft: Ghost where I read from a review that you could actually hang upside down from a pipe and shoot the guy. I incorporated magic into it just because I incorporate magic into almost everything. Anything I write that doesnt have magic in it makes me feel lacking inside somehow. Heh. Aight, that's all for today, so glad to be able to finally post this. Bye!

-CerebrateBen

Hey guys, CerebrateBen here again. I will not be continuing that story arc anymore. :O Shock, horror, anger! Aye, t'is a sad life to be left hanging. However! I will be posting a series of oneshots, not too sure how many there will be in a set. Once I have finished a set of oneshots, I will post them up. Then, through feedback, I will take one of the oneshots and try to continue it as much as possible. Altho, the oneshots will either be a beginning of a story or climax of the story sort of thing, either a start or an end.
Yes. So, as I said, I don't know how many oneshots I'll put in a set, but it's definitely more than two. Because I have finished one and have ideas for the second, probably starting on it soon. Oh yes, at the end of each oneshot post, I will also add my inspiration for the oneshot. "Why?", I hear you ask. Just. Because. :D Apart from the inspiration, also all the stuff that came to mind regarding it. Not 'all' the stuff, of course. Just (heavily) edited stuff. I wouldn't want you to think that I'm odd, would I?
Another reason I will take awhile is because I will not post until Blogger has resolved its problem about my paragraphing. I don't know if it will appear this time, but there was a line left just before the 'Another reason'. Blogger's been deleting my paragraphing recently and that just pisses me off. Sadly.
So, as always, thanks for reading and have a blessed time guys!

-CerebrateBen (Yes, I just tried to put a space)

EDIT: Woots paragraphing is ON! Will be posting the first two oneshots with a one or two day interval ASAP!!!