• Preface
    It all hit me with a flash: the rushing of green forestry, the blow of the wind in my face, and the rhythmic beat of the feet hitting against the jungle bedding. I wanted to help. I wanted to do something to protect the people I love, but right now, I was helpless.
    I was just a baby, and there was nothing I could do. My parents held onto me with their lives and ran as fast as possible. I was about two days old at the time, but after the years my mind had developed and my brain held onto this memory. After many nights of it running through my nightmares it was very familiar and I probably knew it off by heart. I could also remember what happened next.
    Everything would stopped moving. My mother hugged me harder and I could feel it through the nightmare. My eyes would wander all over the place and I would see different views of the forest we were in. My dad leaned over my face and my eyes focused right into his. A tear fell from his face and then he brushed my hair to the side of my face, while kissing my forehead and saying goodbye.
    A creature jumped out of the forest wall and stood in front of us drooling. This drool was darker; it wasn't saliva, but it was blood. It had the body of a dragon. It was covered in bright, red scales all over its body. It had three large talons coming out of each paw as they sat on the ground and he had two large horns sticking straight out of his head. His bright red eyes haunted my every move, but he wasn't focused on me. It was my parents he was after, even though it wouldn't stop him from getting me after.
    My dad backed away from me and ran into a spot where the light shone through the forest curtains. He bent his arms and made his hands into fists. He slammed them into the air and his whole body started to morph. Blue scales started to slowly come through every inch of his body. Soft pads came out the bottom of his hands like how you see on a dog or cat. His fingers folded in half and morphed into paws while claws came out from in between. His whole body got thicker as his muscles expanded and when he was all finish he was a beast standing ten feet in the air. He then fell on all four paws and he was also a giant dragon. Somehow, I felt calmer than when I saw the other dragon.
    The wild dragon knew he would not be able to handle my father. He ran to my dad, but at the last minute, he faked and went to my mother. My mother was still human and she easily died. I fell to the forest floor and started to cry. Of course I couldn't see myself, but I could hear my innocent baby tears.
    My dad's eyes widened as they filled with hate. He tackled the creature. Although my dad was strong, the beast still threw him against a tree in seconds. My dad looked at me and nodded knowing something was going to happen. He closed his eyes as two big bubbles formed in the air: one around him and one around the other dragon. Both bubbles popped and both dragons fell to the floor dead.
    I just laid there crying: one of the only things I could do. On a good day I would have gotten to the part where I was found, but today it was definitely a nightmare. I woke up screaming. I was half sitting up now and I was gripping the sheets from under my body. By now, Carol did not come because she was so used to this happening every night. I couldn't help it if this moment haunted me now. I couldn't help it if I had lost parents at a young age. Better yet, I had watched them be killed and sacrifice themselves for me right in front of my eyes. I closed my eyes and drifted into half sleep.



















    1: New Family
    I woke up in the morning. I was covered in sweat because the nightmare hadn't totally replayed yet. My room was emptied because it was the second day of summer. Most kids would be happy, but I wasn't. Today was the day: the day I was going to my next family, because this one didn't work out. This had been my seventeenth family and not a single one has worked out yet. I'm fourteen and soon I won't be adoptable anymore. I tied my hair intoquick pigtails and put on the last pair of clothes I left out to change in.
    I took a deep breath before exiting my room for the last time with my purple dragon plushie in my right hand. I walk down each step taking in my surroundings which I would never see again. Carol came up and hugged me. She said she loves me and doesn't want to let me go, but then why do I have to leave? It doesn't make sense. I know the truth. They aren't my family. My family died long ago and no one will ever take their place. I will never have true "family." James grabbed my suitcase and walked me to the front door. He gave me a little charm for this charm bracelet I have. I told him I'd put it on later because it was packed.
    I left the house and they stood in front of the door. I walked down the sidewalk and when I reached the end I turned back facing the house. It was small, but cozy, covered in brown bricks. This had been my home for the last two months and I wish I could day I'd miss it, but I wouldn't. I picked up my big heavy suitcase easily, and then headed into the bluepurple car I had seen since I was two: the car of my social worker, Brianna. She did the work for me and usually just brought me to where I needed to go. My next family was the Mitsuki family.
    I waved one last goodbye as we drove away. Then, clicked the little switch and the window went up. Brianna attempted to make small chat, but I'm not one to enjoy it. So, I just sat and nodded when necessary.
    It felt like a century when I finally arrived to the Mitsuki household. I grabbed my suitcase and walked out of the car. Brianna drove off promising she would call and check in later. I walked onto the sidewalk and studied the Mitsuki house for the first time ever. At first, I saw the house. It was at the back of a large lawn on the side of the woods. There weren't houses around for miles. The house was mostly white with a light blue roof. The shingles didn't need to be dark to absorb heat because there was a canopy of branches and leaves hanging over the house protecting it from the sun. I looked around. No one was around so I kicked a hole in the dirt and threw the charm in. I then covered it up quickly with my foot.
    I always got little trinkets like that. I had always hid them after and forgot about them because I didn't need reminders of families that didn't work out for me. I was really sure this would be just another family like that.
    I walked up to the door slowly and knocked. Two adults answered. One was a woman who was very beautiful. She had long, black, wavy hair. Her skin was flawless and smooth from my sight. She had purple eyes that I had never seen anything like before. The man next to her looked strong. He had messy, black hair falling in every direction it could. His eyes were green. He had his arm around her in a very protective way I could tell they were my new stepparents. I could tell they were special, as my people would say. I could read auras and she had a light blue glow, where he had a brown glow. All humans give off either clear or yellow glows depending on how strong they are. I was trying to think of when I was young and actually had a person that taught me about mystical creatures and how to use my powers. Mystical creatures blended in with society all the time and people didn't even know it. I just had to figure out what form they had underneath. They waited for me to answer some question I hadn't heard, so they repeated it. "What's your name again?" "Aura Alexis, Mrs. Mitsuki." It was just a coincidence I could sense the very thing that my name was. The man nodded, but the woman spoke once more. "My first name is Sky and he is Andrew. You can call us by our first name or mom and dad Call us by whichever you prefer." He nodded once again and I nodded to show that I had heard.
    That name triggered a lesson in my head. The light blue aura could only mean one thing: she was part angel. The name Sky had made me think of angels in the sky. Now I only had to figure out what he was. She obviously hadn't married in her same species, but that is what true love does to some people.
    He grabbed my bag easily ,although, I could have carried it, but until I know what they both are they can't know I'm a dragon from my parents. After passing quite a few bedrooms we arrived to a plain room. It was white like most of my temporary rooms. There was a bed and a table with a chair. There were many shelves and I had seen in one of the passing rooms someone's was packed with books on all different subjects. "Here is your room and there are many shelves. We didn't know what you like, but you can put whatever you enjoy on these shelves." I nodded once more so they knew that I was aware they had spoke.
    I put my suitcase on the floor in front of my closet and made the little changes I always do to make it homier. I took my dragon plushie from the elastic on my suitcase and set him on the shelf closest to my bed so he would be there when the nightmare came. I put my jewellery box with the few valued items I have, including the charm bracelet I had when I was found at one year old in the jungle. I took the MP3 I had got on sale one day and set it next to my bed with my dollar store headphones. All together it had cost ten dollars and they didn't work very well, but they got the job done.
    They straightened their positions and I gave them a smile. We walked down to the kitchen and on the way I saw into another room. It was another room that looked like it was for a male, but it had fewer books than the last and was filled with many different things.
    Then I saw it. Under the bed someone had tried to hide it, but with my stronger vision I could still see. There were claw marks like the ones that would have had to been the size of the dragon I saw when I was two days old. Sky and Andrew had turned around by then to face me. There were no dragons in this house though. Dragon was a hereditary gene and if the parents weren't, the children couldn't be. Not even if it skipped a generation.
    I had to think now. What creature is similar to a dragon? I could have gone through many, but I was trying to match his brown Aura with something that would fit the description and something his children could have had passed down to. Then it clicked in; a brown aura was like brown fur. They were werewolves, well, the dad was. They walked up to me and Sky put her hand on my shoulder as I stared at the scratches thinking about their true forms: an angel and a werewolf. Then Sky spoke to me, "You know we're something else." It was a statement, not a question. I didn't speak, so she continued. "And you are too," another statement.
    She must be able to read auras too. I knew I had a green aura, just like green dragon scales. "I can be honest with you." She nodded and hugged me tightly. "I know it can be hard when you have to hide part of yourself, but now we are here and the kids are aware of mystical creatures." I finally had a family I wouldn't have to lie to and it felt very good.
    We went downstairs and she brought the kids up from the basement so I could meet them. There were two were fraternal twins: Cloud and Tifa. He was a werewolf and the one who had the room with all the books. She was an elemental fairy, although I'm not sure how that was passed down. Next were two identical boy twins: Joey and John. In my opinion, Joey was the cutest. Last up was a small little girl: Nikki. Nikki was interesting because she was the only angel; where all the boys were werewolves and Tifa wasn't either. She had the last bit of DNA from her mother's side.
    We all played the day through together and then settled in for dinner. The Mitsuki family had prepared for me because they had something for me to eat. Some families didn't care whether I was a vegetarian or not and I would starve for a while. I have had my share of unhappy and families that weren't very good to their kids: foster or not.
    For the rest of the night we just sat in front of the fireplace huddled together for extra warmth. It was like we were a real family and like we were all blood related. For a few hours when we did this I had forgotten that we weren't and that my parents had been killed years ago. I felt like this is where I really belonged and I'd really stay here, but what did I know? I go through these same feelings every time that I get a new family. I get really attached and then loose them just like that.
    I sat in between Sky's legs and she played with my hair. It felt really good and the other kids would look at me every little while to see how I was. I was used to the staring before. No one in this house really knew that much about me yet and they were just curious. It didn't anger or annoy me in the way it should so I just kept doing my business and ignored it.
    Before bed we had a serious family meeting about chores and responsibility in the house. Andrew also told me and gave me warnings on full moons to be careful what choices I make because there would be four werewolves in their rooms and the surrounding woods. He wasn't aware that a dragon could easily kill ten werewolves at once, but they were my family and I didn't want to scare them so I kept that comment to myself.
    We had a very interesting talk about mystical creatures before bed. Sky said the next day she would introduce me to her friends all over the city that were all different forms in disguise: pegasi, unicorns, fairies, merpeople and even alchemists. I was very exited to see them because since I moved from my mentor at age 4 I had been out of touch from the mystical and magical world. I was also exited to show them my form because Sky said it would be alright with them and they do it to teach each other different things. From now on, I would belong to a group of people just like me who had powers and wanted to learn about other peoples' powers. I finally felt like I fit in.
    Since it was summer at night we went out and had a bonfire in the backyard. I had forgotten it was summer, the time I usually dread most because of having no family or friends to hare it with, and I was having fun despite the time of year. I guess when your with important people it won't matter.
    That night was the scariest part of the whole day; even than finding out the people you're living with turns into a giant wolves on certain nights each month. I was scared to the nightmares to come to me.
    Sky had tucked me in for the night and was turned away from me, when I started to cry. Why did I have to have such a wonderful day and then a silly dream at night is going to ruin it just like that? She came up to me and just rubbed my back as the tears rolled down my cheeks. Once I stopped crying I told her about it all; how I had been haunted by the same horrible memory for the last thirteen years. I knew as she rocked me she'd never leave me.
    Eventually I had fallen asleep, but I didn't have the same nightmare. This was a wonderful dream with all the new people in my life I love: Sky, Andrew, Joey, John, Cloud, Tifa and Nikki. My dream was I spent the rest of my life with them.




    2: Stepbrother
    Beep, Beep, Beep.
    I snapped out of my dream with a simple sound repeating itself. I could tell it was the alarm clock my new foster mom had given me yesterday when I moved here. The beeping was starting to rise in volume. I knew I got this as a gift and Sky was trying to be nice, but it was just annoying now. I took a deep breath and slowly let each sense awaken again.
    First was my taste, although it wasn't useful yet. I flicked my tongue around and felt the top of my mouth. There was also a lot of venom, although I wasn't producing poisonous venom right now. It was pretty much just dragon saliva.
    Next up was my touch. I put my hands into fists and stretched them back out afterwards. After that, my whole body slowly regained feeling. I could feel the blanket Sky had tucked me in last night, I could feel my pillow through the back of my hair, and I could feel my dragon plushie on my hand. I had named him Rufus because that name was always close to my heart.
    Next, I did my hearing, which was one of my strongest and favourite senses. I could hear Sky and Andrew downstairs talking. It was nothing, just simple conversation. "Would you like some coffee honey?" "Sure." That was the highlight of it. I could hear Nikki and Tifa fighting over the bathroom. John was still sleeping, and my Joey was taking a shower. Cloud was reading.
    I brought in my scent next. I could smell coffee and burnt waffles. I could also smell pine coming though my window from the forest next door.
    I opened my eyes and let my last sense in, sight. I saw my room once more. I had barely spent any time in it and I already felt like it was mine. The walls were plain white with no dirt marks or anything, just a clean slate. The floors were hardwood, although I was not sure of which wood it was. I had already filled one shelf with things my new family had given me as welcome gifts. Cloud gave me a book that he said I would enjoy: A Midsummer Night's Dream. I would have to read that sometime. His twin sister and Nikki had gone shopping with me and helped me pick some new outfits for school today. The Jojo twins had shown me around the town. I went to see some cool things like the mall, along the river, and a giant ball of string. Sky and Andrew had gotten me a laptop like how every other kid in this family had.
    Now that my senses were loaded again, I could get ready. I sat up and looked at my alarm clock: 7:15AM. I did not have very long to get ready since Andrew drove us off at seven forty-five. While both showers were full, I put my clothes out and got ready. I put all the new stuff for school in my backpack. I set out my clothes on my bed. I picked this animal print shirt—which was a mix of cheetah, tiger, and a jaguar—and a pair of jeans with a blue scarf like belt. I had always loved animals, especially cats.
    I heard a shower go off so I went into the hall to wait. Joey came out in a towel and I had not even thought of this part. I quickly covered my eyes as he laughed, "I'm sorry. I forgot your new here. Next time I'll bring my clothes in with me". I nodded while still covering my eyes. I ran back to grab my clothes, and then went into the bathroom. As soon as the steam hit the walls of my lungs, I could feel them tingle. I loved this feeling; it gave me an amazing talent. I didn't want anyone here to hear today , so I did my business and took my shower. I put my clothes on—which looked much better than I thought they would—and started to brush my hair. I had long, wavy, brown hair. It went down about halfway my back and shines in the sunlight. My eyes even matched it; they were brown with a shine all the time. At one school I was super popular because they thought I was extraordinary beautiful. The boys would be all over me and I went out with a few. It never worked, because all they ever cared about were my looks and never my personality.
    I jumped from a sudden noise. It was a knock on the door. "Aura, hurry up. We're going to be late." I threw my new backpack over my shoulder, slipped on my flipflops, and ran out the door. The other kids were already in the van, so I hopped in the only seat available. Cloud was in the front seat, Nikki, Tifa, and John were in the back seat and Joey was next to me. I sat in the middle row with Joey.
    "So, I was thinking. We should get to know each other." I nodded and waited for him to go first, although he was doing the same thing. Then he spoke, "So, what's your favourite color?" He was looking at me from across the aisle, so I nodded to tell him I was thinking. My favourite color had always been the color of my scales. Most dragons had green scales, or an ordinary color, like solid purple or blue. For some odd reason my scales were a beautiful silver that glistened in the sun and would glow in the dark at night enough for me to see around myself easily, but not bright enough for others to see me. "Silver, I just love the way it shines. It is like a royal color, a jewel, a star. What about you?" "Um, blue, but I just like the way it looks." I giggled; my response was a little deep for a simple question.
    "Your hobbies?" "Well, I like animals a lot. We always seem to have special connections. I love stuffed animals. I used to collect them and I had super rare animals that were worth hundreds of dollars." They smiled and Andrew's face showed he was wondering where they were since he had not seen them yet. I always hated this part of the story; my smile turned into a frown as I told the next part.
    "In one of my foster houses, my sixth and I was seven yearsold, we had a fire. The fire burnt through the house and we lost everything, including my stepbrother, who understood me sometimes in ways I could never figure out. Sometimes I think he knew I was a mythical creature, but there was no way I could ever really tell. Anyway, we lost everything and they couldn't house me anymore. I went to my next family. I went back the night before I was flown to Canada, and thanks to my dragon abilities, I could see through the ash and soot. I saw a small, blurry object in the area my room used to be. Since it was dark and no one was around, I went dragon, used my huge claws, and dug through the dirty mess of my old home. Went I got to the bottom of the mess there was a little plushie. It had a purple belly with four little arms sticking out, two silver, yet dirty, horns, two wings and a long tail sticking out. It was the little dragon plushie you saw me with last night. I named it after my stepbrother Rufus. The plushie had a note on it:
    Dear Aura,
    I have loved the year we spent together, and you are the greatest big sister a little boy could hav. Thank you. But I have to tell you somethin. I am part dog. Mommy and daddy didnt want you to know becase something may have happened to me, but I know you wouldn't tell anyone. I know yor secret, you're a dragon. My sixth sense has said im leaving this world tomorrow. I wont fight it, its just fate, I cant change it now. I give you my favourite stuffie, you may name him.
    Love Rufus
    I had ready the letter and cried over it many times. "I then went to my next house and kept Rufus, it was the only thing I could do. Anyway, what are your hobbies?" I turned away from the seat in front of me and looked at the others. Joey and John were holding hands showing how much they loved each other, needed each other, and showing how horrible it would be if one died. Tifa was deep in thought, probably about something very sad. Nikki had just wiped a tear off her face. I turned back to the front and Andrew handed Cloud a tissue because he was balling his eyes out and had blew his nose on his arm numerous times.
    "Come on people, cheer up. Today is a new day." They all wiped their faces and got ready clearing their minds once more.
    The car stopped and we arrived at my new school: St. Angela Catholic Canon School. Where we live we don't have to go to school, but the options are available. So instead we go to a Canon school which gives us the options of grade 711. We could also take classed all year round, so we decided it would be much easier to take them in the summer than the winter. I looked over Joey to my new school. There were about 400 kids, to my estimate. I took a deep breath as I entered the dangerous place they call school.

    3: School
    Joey opened the door and stepped out of the van. I followed his lead by undoing my seat belt and scooting over out the door. We stood outside while we waited for everyone to get out of the van. This was the first time I had a good look at anyone today.
    Nikki was dressed in a white, flowing summer dress. It was strapless and fit to her curves right to her waist, where there it flew into all different direction. It had soft colors that were shown on blue and pink flowers and green leafs. Altogether, it complimented her long black hair, and unique indigo eyes. She had topped off the look with pink lipgloss and green earrings.
    Tifa had on a black corset that smoothed along her body and showed off her curves almost perfectly. She had a white shirt on underneath and jeans to make it look even better. She had a Gothlike look, but it looked like it was created for her to wear. Her eyes were a greengold color that looked wonderful when the lights hit them at just the right angle. Her hair was also black, but not as flowing as Nikki's was. She was not wearing any makeup and she did not need it. She was beautiful in her own special way.
    Joey and John were both wearing jeans. Joey had a red and blue striped polo shirt, where John's polo shirt had yellow and green stripes. They both had the same hairstyle, which was black, about shoulder length and spiky at the end. The both had deep blue eyes that were like pools of water. I could probably stare into them for hours and you could get hypnotized at the sight of them.
    The last person to step out was Cloud through the front seat. He had a button up shirt with the buttons undone laying on top of his white long sleeve shirt to have that cool sleeve effect. He had ripped jeans with punk chains. I almost laughed at this outfit. His hair was cooler than his actual outfit. It was black with dark blue streaks in it creating a mysterious effect. It matched his eyes that were also like a whirlpool of water, but they were light blue instead of the twins' darker colors.
    In this Canon School, I was in grade eight with John and Joey. Cloud and Tifa were in the ninth grade, while Nikki was all alone in the seventh. We had already been a few weeks in so everyone else already had classes and schedules. Everyone was about to go to their lockers, so I spoke. "Could someone show me to the office to help me get my schedule?" Cloud was about to offer when Joey jumped at the chance. "I'll help you", and he was at my side in seconds. I giggled and he showed me to the office. They gave me a school map, schedule and a lock for my locker. The bell rang and Joey headed out hoping not to be late. It took me about a minute to find my locker, which was number one hundred, eightynine. I did not have much time not so I jammed my backpack in there, while grabbing the things I would need: my recently attained papers, a binder, some writing utensils, and my new lock. I knocked the door close with my foot and popped the lock on.
    I checked my new schedule. Since I had registered later than most kids had, I did not have many courses to choose from, but I chose ones I could handle for my first year here. My home room class was English. Lucky for me, the classroom was two steps from my locker and I found it easily in the big and crowded hallways. I stepped into the classroom. The first impression of it was it was a wideopen area with lots of light. There weren't many people, and only about thirty desks. There were chalkboards to the front and right of the classroom. The teacher's spot was at the back of the classroom. It consisted of a desk, chair, a few filing cabinets, and a computer. The biggest feature was the big windows on the left side of the room that made the room glow and feel warm.
    The teacher walked up to me. "You must be our new student?" I nodded my head, "Yes, I am. My name is Aura Alexis, sir". He showed me to my seat and I sat down. I was just about in the middle of the room. When everyone had sat down, I did a rundown of everybody's' auras. There were not any different ones except for a girl named Star. She had a light purpledark blue mixed aura around her. I was very intrigued on what she was, until the teacher called the class' attention. We did some grammar, and while others were struggling, to keep up, I was flying through the work pages. I hoped to finish quick enough to have five minutes to talk to people, especially Star, during class. We needed the time to work though, so when the bell rang, I went to my next class.
    The rest of the day went by quickly. Joey showed me around at lunch, and helped me find out where my next classes were. My first two periods were English and science. I loved science because of biology and DNA was so interesting to me. By changing anything's genetic maps, I could change them completely. I would never dissect anything in biology though. In my opinion, everything deserved life and what they were making us do was just sick and wrong. I did online computer dissections instead.
    My other two period classes in the afternoon were physical education and photography. We played dodge ball and I held back on my strength and speed. I did cheat by using one of my skills. Because I did not want to be pelted with rubber dodge balls, I used my strong sense of agility. I tried not to show off, but when I was almost hit in the face with the ball, I accidentally slipped. I jumped about eight feet in the air, curled into a ball, did a flip in the air, spread out again, and landed on the ground on all four hands bent backwards with my stomach facing the ceiling and my back to the floor. The ball landed and I easily balanced it on my nose. I knocked the ball back in the air with my face and stood up back onto my back feet, then caught the ball with one hand. Most of the class, including John, were staring at me with their eyes wide and mouths open. We continued and the whole time people were trying to hit me. Either that, or trying to get me to do a trick again for them. They did not end up doing either.
    After physical education, they all wanted to know how I had done that. They could not know the truth. The truth was I was an nearly indestructible mythical being, built for battle that had super speed, super strength, nearly perfect defence, and weapons built into me. I always wondered how humans would react to finding something like that out. Instead, I told them that I had been taking gymnastic lessons and yoga since I was little. That little stunt made me the most popular kid in the class, although, I just really wanted to fit in.
    In photography class, we were given an assignment. The assignment was not only photography, but also part of an English assignment. We would hand in an independent study unit in a few weeks before the semester was over. We had to make a scrapbook of things we have had since we were little and write about them: the only things I could think of were my dragon stuffed animal and my bracelet. It would be extremely hard for me considering I did not even know much about the bracelet. All I knew is I has it on my since the day I was found. The other thing was it had a strange carving on it.
    The top part looked like a pyramid and the bottom one looked like a bumblebee. Which never made any sense, so I am guessing it is a language from the land I originated from.
    When school was finished, I met up with Joey and Cloud. The others said they had homework and other things to do. I was going to meet a few of their friends. I was really exited, because Cloud talked about a girl named Kamri a lot, and I wanted to become to friends with her. I left school following Joey's lead once more and went to meet my new friends.











    4: Slip up
    We decided to split into groups. Because I was new to the town, they decided it would be better to not drag me around when they found the others. Joey and John took me home. The only thing Cloud said was he had to stop at the skate park. That sounded weird to me, because Cloud seemed more of the intelligent type. Not the extreme sports type.
    When I returned home, I decided to use my time wisely. I organized the next few weeks in my planner to make time for my photography assignment. I decided on Tuesday and Thursday for three weeks I'd put an hour aside for work. I made a snack for Joey and I; we had grilled cheeses. It was the only thing I could cook that didn't end up burnt, gross, or tasting like mold. We told each other about our days. John had told him about my little "accident" in gym. I promised him I'd show him more of my powers later as long as he didn't tell anyone. He promised and I knew I could trust him. Joey was probably the person here I felt most attached to so far. I could tell he was really going out of his way to make sure I was happy here.
    I brushed my hair out again because it had gotten a little messy today during gym. Then, I brushed my teeth to get my snack out and they were perfectly sparkling white after.
    By the time I was finished, I heard people talking downstairs. I recognized a few voices, but a few were new to my ears. I felt shyness coming over me. I was fine when I met my new family. I was so used to meeting new families it was something I could do in my sleep. I was also fine at school, because it was a group of people. I only felt shy when I had people who wanted to meet me specifically. My body tensed up and I had the urge to go hide in a corner. I started to back up. I was headed to my room, since I was in the second floor's open area or "Chill Zone" as we called it. They started walking up the stairs. I could hear the pit pat of feet hitting the stairs. My shyness quickly changed to a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. I started sweating all over and my ears started to ring. I felt horrible and I guessed my face was turning some shade of green. It was then I realized, I was going to be sick. This was the worst possible thing that could happen. I didn't mind being sick, but I was worried about losing my control.
    Besides being a dragon, each dragon creature got another power. It was like a side power for extra help when they needed it. The one I had gotten was the power to transform into any animal. I wasn't sure what the official name was. I used to read a comic book titled "Animal Girl" and we had similar powers. I could also put animal parts onto my human body. A while back, I had developed a form.
    I would have my cat tail and cat ears on my human body whenever I was alone. That became my main form. My plain human form became my secondary form and I used that around other people or in public. My dragon form became my last defensive form.
    Joey just saw me and tried to help. "Aura, are you okay?" He ran to me, but I headed to the bathroom instead. On the way there, I felt my main form slipping through. I could feel the hair on my head part as my skin stretched and grew into thin catlike ears. I felt my tail bone expand and grow. The skin stretched and grew with my extended tail bone as it became a tail. My tail slipped through my skirt and just hung in place.
    I ran into the little room. I had barely enough time as I leaned over the toilet and threw up my lunch from today.
    Joey was walking to the bathroom slowly. "Aura," he said gently, "do you need anything?"
    Yes, I needed him to go away. I slammed the door with my tail and yelped because a lump of fur got caught as the door slammed shut.
    When I finished, I got off the floor. I flushed the toilet and washed my face off. Because my cat ears were out, my hearing was stronger and I could hear the others talking outside.
    "Kids, what happened?" It was my new foster mom, Sky.
    "I don't know. Joey was the only one up here when it happened." It was Cloud.
    Joey sneezed and then answered, "I came up and she looked sick. I asked her if she was okay, then she ran to the bathroom. I followed her slowly to see if she needed you or water or something, but when I asked she just slammed the door shut on my face. She yelped when she shut the door and there was gagging sounds and puke and stuff," he was gasping for air after his long explanation of the last minute.
    I heard footsteps and then a light knock on the door. "Honey, can I come in?"
    I had to hide my animal parts. So, I brought them in and I slowly felt my body take the flat shape again.
    I gave a weak "yea" and she opened the door. She put the toilet seat down and sat on it. She then pulled me on her lap as I still gasped for air. She rubbed my back as Andrew came up with a bottle of Pepto Bismol to settle my stomach. I took a lid full and after a few minutes, I felt much better.
    "I'm sorry everyone. I got nervous about meeting my new friends, but I'm better now." I gave a weak smile because I was still feeling nervous.
    "They are downstairs honey. they knew you probably wanted privacy."
    I got off her lap and we walked into out Chill Zone. Joey was sneezing out of control and it looked like he couldn't breath.
    Andrew handed him an inhaler and he took a few puffs.
    Sky spoke next, "That's weird. We don't have any cats to set off Joey's allergies now."
    I was overwhelmed with guilt because I could have killed him from lack of oxygen just now.
    That was when Cloud picked up a bunch of hair on the floor next to the bathroom. It took me a minute to recognize, but when I got it in my mind I felt even worse. It wasn't hair, but fur. When I snapped my tail fur in the door some must have came out.
    Everyone looked at me. I nearly cried as tears sped out and I was able to say, "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were allergic. I wouldn't have never if I knew."
    Joey came and hugged me. "It's okay. You aren't the first to bring a stray cat in the house."
    This was the closest he's ever been to me and it felt wonderful. I never would let him go, but he sniffed my hair because he was taking advantage of the situation.
    At that moment his eyes started to water and he sneezed once more so he backed away from me. His allergies automatically cleared up.
    Sky looked at me and knew I was hiding something. "Honey, just let yourself out. We told you you could be honest here. We won't be mad."
    At that moment I stopped holding it. It felt amazing and a little tingly as my tail and ears popped out.
    I wasn't the only one though. As soon as my ears came out, Joey, John, and Cloud had wolf ears grow out of the top of their heads too.
    Andrew broke the silence as we all starred speechless. "You may not know this Aura, but the ears are a sign of virginity. I'm not sure about the tail though."
    I laughed. "It's a sign of strength and wisdom in my culture. We are awarded with a tool to help us out." I swung the bathroom door shut with my tale, quieter and care fuller than last time.
    Joey took another puff of his allergy medication and then started touching my cat ears.
    Then he handled my tail very carefully. "What pattern is this, Aura?"
    My tail was a yellowbeige color with brown spots all over it. Some of the spots have little white patches on them.
    "Mostly cheetah, but I made it unique because off ones have more of a jaguar pattern and a touch of white."
    My ears were the same pattern.
    Then I remembered the guest downstairs. As I slowly pulled my tail in Joey interrupted, "They know about our ears, so they will be fine with your tail."
    I let it out again and slowly walked towards the stairs.



















    5: Friends
    I walked down the stairs slowly. My ears stood up with curiosity and I was curious to listen.
    Sky had cut a small hole in my skirt for my tail to flow through easier. It now flew freely and I could control it better now. It stood straight up, but didn't do anything else.
    Walking down the staircase reminded me of American Idol when they had to walk down the long hall to see whether or not they made it to the next round. They also usually said their feelings before they went. In my mind, I decided to do just that.
    I'm really nervous right now, and even though I've done much worse things, this will be really hard for me. I know they will be wonderful people though, and I don't have much to worry about.
    When I finally reached the end of the hallway, which felt like a century, I saw two girls.
    The first one I recognized from Cloud's description. It was the girl he hadn't stopped talking about in two days: Kamri. She was about the same height and weight as me. She had hair that went a little past her neck that was a redbrown color. She had blue sparkling eyes.
    Her outfit was tomboy styled. She had baggy, white cargo pants. Her top was a long sleeved white shirt with a regular dark blue short sleeve shirt on top. It was fairly close to cloud's top.
    The tomboy look was an obvious feature, but that wasn't the biggest feature on her. She wore a necklace that had a metal with a shade that looked like brass. It had three symbols carved on it and the metal shapes hollowed out. There was a red jewel in the middle that appeared to be a ruby.
    The other girl was the girl I had seen in English class with the purpledark blue aura.
    She had brown hair that was waist length and brown eyes. She had a cream colored shirt with little stylish holes in it. Her bottom was a knee length pink skirt with patterned dark circles on it.
    Joey was right behind me. He knew I was nervous because I was still shaking a little. He became my voice for me.
    "This is our new stepsister Aura." He said calmly and motioned in my direction.
    Kamri spoke then, "I'm Kamri Carter and this is Starlight Rakhshaw."
    "Star." She spoke only one word, but it was enough to hear her voice. It was a very beautiful, light voice. She spoke very quietly and it let off the impression she was shy as well.
    Kamri's aura was clear, which meant she was human, but very strong. Either that or she was a form that evolved a human aura. Magicians and sorceresses learned to do that to hide in easier over the centuries.
    I was really curious about what species Star had underneath and my next words just slipped out.
    "What are you?" Even I knew I could have phrased that better.
    She stood up with a confused look on her face and then faced Joey.
    I was trying to think of a better way to phrase it when Joey decided to help.
    "Aura can read auras. She's just curious of what species you are. Right Aura?"
    I nodded.
    "Oh. I'm a siren. It is like a merperson, but when I turn human I don't go straight into my water for from touch of water."
    I nodded once more. A siren was a mythological creature I didn't know a lot about. There are so many mythological and magical creatures in the world it's hard for anyone to keep track of them all. My current knowledge count was about fortyfive and I learn more all the time.
    Some were smart and more involved: they had both a wild form and a human form. Even though some never evolved human forms. Those ones without human forms were wild creatures. Some examples of ones with human disguises or forms were dragons, me people, sirens, shape shifters, and Gods. Some unevolved wild creatures pegasi, unicorns, wild creatures, regular animals, gargoyles, and griffins. Some were always really smart and found other civilizations and paces to live like fairies and merpeople. Some always had human forms and used their auras to do different skills or got their powers from different sources like magicians, alchemists, witches, and wizards.
    Cloud broke my thought train. "So, why don't we go watch TV or something?"
    "Sure," Kamri replied. Star nodded.
    We all went into the living room. Cloud, Kamri, and Star sat on the love seat. John, Nikki, and Tifa sat on the couch taking up much more room then they needed. I looked around and when I was about to sit on the floor, Joey patted next to him and scotched over making room for me.
    I sat down and it was very nice. We were touching a little, but it was in a good way and not a bad way.
    We watched a show called "The next Top model". It was good, but a lot more people would watch it if they made an edition with male models.
    We all chatted and told different stories. Star even opened up a little once she got used to me.
    We started planning future events and things to do like movies.
    We really got to know each other. Kamri loved skateboarding. I was relieved because I was still having a hard time imagining Cloud doing skateboarding tricks. I didn't learn much about Star because although she had opened up, she was still really quiet and gave others chances to talk first.
    After a few hours I was exhausted and it showed. Without even noticing I had leaned my head onto Joey's shoulder and fell half asleep.
    He didn't seem to mind. He just sat back and smiled. I think at one point he also played with my hair.
    I had to admit it: I was crushing on Joey.
    At about eight at night Kamri and Star had to head home early because it was a school night.
    Sky made us some French fries before bed for all of us because we had missed dinner.
    We all headed our separate ways and went to bed for the night.