It was indeed bright and warm, for a winter’s day. I sat at my computer, typing away, sipping an ol’ can of Canada Dry, and eating a bun Canadians would call a “coconut bun,” but I call gey mi bow. I am even so lame and tired of my own music to listen to a playlist on a web graphic site. Yep, this was the life. Quite plan and simple, indeed. There was only a week left of winter vacation and I intend to spend it very wisely.

I take another sip of Canada Dry and quickly punch in the password for a certain business account I owned. My name is Raina Dougan, I am 15 years old and I’ve been all over Vancouver, my city of birth, and Edmonton. I live with my dad and my Uncle Keith, who’s the older sibling, by the way. I have an Aunt, but she gave up on Vancouver’s lifestyle and moved to New York, the Big Apple. Her name is Sunny, by the way. We haven’t heard from her for five years, we’re guessing she’s living a happy, joyous life right now.

There are many things that fascinate me; a few of them are the things in this world that are extraordinary, the mysteries of life, and curiosity. Things I don’t understand, yet do in a way that I can’t explain. Like how it’s always—if not, usually—about you (or me, in this case). Example: Ever since I was little I’d sit on my couch and stare out at the cars passing by, since we live on a busy street. When I would go out with my father, we’d just cruise around; I’d learn the area and eventually fall asleep in the car. A few times I’d bring my stuffed cat, Kitty, who was always ragged and dirty—she used to be a lovely Hello Kitty plushie before, when I was young. But never had I thought of both of them together, like they were the same thing. Because they are, but aren’t. I think about how it feels to be the person watching, and the person doing, and how it feels to be aware of each other. Nowadays, when I’m in a car and driving somewhere, and we pass a pedestrian, I’d turn my head as I pass, thinking about how it felt to be standing there and watching the cars to by. Knowing how it is to be the observed and the observer.

Odd mind I’ve got, eh? Well, it’s our little secret. And I know you may not understand it now, but that’s just because you’re reading text. If I were to directly tell you this, then it’d sound more sophisticated… Or does being able to type it out—with correct grammar and spelling—make me more smart than if I were to just tell you? Ah! Yet another mystery, eh?

“Rai! Raina, time for lunch!” my father called. I sighed and left my computer aimlessly running, music mindlessly playing, and my examination for Zakura Inc. open on my computer.

I ran down the steep stairs and did a 90 degree turn with the end poll to turn for the dinning room. “Non! Komisa dori dare, Dari,” I said and took a seat at the kitchen table.

My dad looked at me with a stern face. “Didn’t I tell you to stop talking in Iipe around the house?” he said and dumped a mound of noodles and ham on my plate.

“But I have to practice for the domination of the world some day, Dari,” I said calmly and took a bite of food.

Keith came in from the back door, his leather jacket hung over his left arm. “Good afternoon, you two!” he called and walked to the dinning room. He looked at my father then at my own gleeful posture. “Is Riri speaking in Iipe again?”

“Yes. And I don’t like it.”

“Oh, c’mon, Dari. Just embrace my future as taking over the world! You can be the king of anywhere you please! You can even name your new country, if that is what you desire.”

“Raina, please. Just eat.” Keith and I laughed. He took one of the two empty seats and started eating, so did I.

After, when I finished eating, I got up and dumped my plate in the sink then turned to leave when my dad called, “Wash your plate.”

“Bisa!” I whined.

“Wash your plate and stop speaking Iipe! You speak it so much even your uncle and I understand you.”

I smiled. “That was a part of my plan, Kau,” I whispered. And for your information, “kau” means sir, or mister, and “bisa” means no.

I turned around and started to wash my plate. “Royo, Dari, Unuly?”

“Okay, I don’t know what ‘royo’ means, but I understand ‘unuly.’ What is it, Riri?” Keith asked.

“Don’t encourage her!” my dad scolded.

“It means ‘hey.’ But, to the point, I have a suspicion.”

My dad groaned. “Oh, no. Not again…”

“Go on, Riri.”

I smiled. “I think our neighbors are either Vampires, or Night Walkers,” I stated.

“Oh? Why do you think that?” Keith’s face turned curious and somewhat sarcastic.

“Well, I’ve stayed up until 4 a.m. for almost 3 nights in a row. And I’ve noticed that their porch and kitchen lights are always on. And they’re always out having fun during those hours. But when it’s daylight—like now—they’re all cooped up inside.”

“What kind of Vampire, if that is what they truly are? And which neighbor?”

“The ones across from us in the alley diagonally to the west. I can always see their back lights from my window. And I don’t know, they’ve been out in sunlight before recently—two summers ago, actually—and they behaved normally… So maybe they’re the type who has slight resistance to sunlight? Or the resistance builds up over time? But either way, they’re not human,” I explained.

Keith thought for a moment while my father finished his food and dumped his dishes in the sink. He started cleaning his and mine, since I was too busy with my uncle to do anything else.

“Oh, those ones?” I nodded my head and took my father’s previous seat. “I work with one of those people… well, not really, they take the night shifts,” he explained.

“Ah! That only further supports my thesis! Thank you, Unuly Keith!” I said loudly and kissed him on the cheek. “I have to finish my examination for Zakura Inc.! Non!” I ran up the stairs and to my room, slamming it when I entered.

“Hey! Raina! Don’t slam your door!” my father shouted at me.

“Hori, Dari!” I called to him and continued on the examination and Zakura Inc. business.

Then the phone rang. I stopped typing to take a glance at the caller ID. It read AVELINE ANATOLE, it was my friend Angelique.

I made a swift grab for the phone and hit the TALK button. “Nasai, Keda-chi,” I said and continued to type.

“Nasai, Rai-chi. What’cha up to?”

“I’m working on the report you told me to do on the Acelin family. Have you any more data for me to put in other than what I’ve collected?”

“Bisa, komisa sada, sadly,” she muttered in an angry tone. She had said, ‘No, I don’t, sadly.’

I sighed. “Nothing new, really. My unuly only told me information that we already know.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“That one of the members work at his job… doing night shifts,” I told her and turned to look out my window.

“That’d too bad. Anyway, let us just hope they don’t interfere with Zakura Inc., eh?” I could hear the hope in her voice.

“Yeah, let us just hope, Keda-chi,” I whispered.

“Well, then, just called to check up on you and your work, ya’ know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Aka, non, Kan!”

“Kenji.” She hung up the phone first. I pushed the TALK button again to turn the phone off, and set it down on the desk to continue typing.

By now you’re most likely wondering what Zakura Inc. is about, what report I’m working on, what is Iipe and why do I speak it, and what is up with my crazy delusion with the Acelin family? Well, let me tell you.

It all dates back two years ago, December 2nd, which was when the Acelin family first moved into the neighborhood. My friends and I never really found the need to use our ever-growing language, Iipe, in public, only for fun. That is, until we started noticing strange activity in our area. Our language wound its way into our daily vocabulary, replacing the words they covered for themselves. This was our own first defense against this new family, which consists of one mother, one father, one uncle, one teen, and three children under the age of 13. We—my friends and I—truly want to find out what that family is.

And so, Zakura Inc. was made. Zakura itself meaning apple in Iipe, we thought it was a cute name. Later on, Zakura Inc. would become a good spy agency or something like that—we hope. Zakura Inc. would become a great place to get information and data on almost anything in the world, because we’d grow and become vast. And to think this idea of taking over the world started with spying on mysterious strangers. Ha!

I smiled as I added the scan of my signature to make the document more authentic. I pressed SEND and moved my mouse to click the SEND/RECEIVE button to get any emails. And, just as I had predicted, my inbox was once again filled with “applications” to join Zakura Inc. I don’t even know how the information about Zakura Inc. got out or understand why people would want to join. And because I was confused about this, I sent all of them the same email I’ve sent every other person who “applied” for Zakura Inc.

I told them to bud out and mind their own business. I told them to never mention this again or else we’d hack them and ruin their online lives forever. And we actually can do that, with our friend Kadin, who is a computer and technical genius—at least, to us and most of the school.

After I had hit SEND again, I turned my attention to the real emails that my fellow Zakura Inc. members had sent me, and the ones sent by my pen pals. I picked the earliest email first, since it was emailed first and was in need of replying. It was from a pen pal of mine in Florence, Italy. His name is Nerio Favore. He’s 15, just like me, but his birthday is way before mine. The email goes:

From: Nerio Favore

To: Raina Dougan

Subject: Re: Hello!

Ciao, Raina! Glad to hear from you again! We haven’t spoken for such a long time! What is this business with Zakura Inc? It’s all over the net, you know ..? They’ve even got your email address up there on that site! Dangerous, I think.

I read about what you and your friends are doing on that site and I’m just wondering if it’s true. In your last email you just briefly mentioned Zakura Inc., and ever since I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Yes, that means I read your email and ignored it… ; But it was just for a little while, you see… It’s been only one week since you sent the email to me! I’m loyal to our pen pal-ness XD;;

Soo You’ve found new music? . ? Where? And what graphic site? My browser wouldn’t load the page DX;

Okay, well, I’ve got to go now! Glad chattin’ with you like the old days. And see? My English is getting better!

Love, Nerio 3

“What?!” I shouted and blankly looked at the screen. My eyes got bigger with every word after the first mention of ‘Zakura Inc.’ It had a website? Since when? I’m co-owner, I’d know if there was a site or not. So does that mean we have our own spy in our group? Unbelievable! Intolerable! I quickly hit REPLY and my fingers typed out the words that I was just thinking, no edits.

To: Nerio Favore

Subject: Re: Hello!

Yes, I see you’ve gotten better! I’m very happy for you, Nerio:D Now let’s focus on how you use those emoticons ; You seem to abuse them, my friend…

And… WHAT?! OO? Zakura Inc. is on a site?! Since when?! What site? Send me the link ASAP, got it? I have to stop anything else from leaking… It’s... important business, Nerio.

And let me tell you about Zakura Inc.; don’t believe anything posted on that site. Zakura Inc. is a corporation dedicated to spying, data collecting, and assassinations only. You understand? Please do not speak of this with anyone other than my friends or fellow members of Zakura Inc., which I will tell you if you join. Do you want to, my friend?

Love, Queenie :D

I may have put on a tad too much sugar in that email, but it must be done for the privacy of Zakura Inc. I hit SEND and went to the next email. It was from Angelique, and the topic was ZAKURA INC. DOCTUMENT IMPORTANT , yes, all in capital letters. When I opened the email, it just said, “Here’s the document that holds all the data on Zakura Inc., use this wisely and FYEO.”

I took in a gasp of breath. Complete Zakura Inc. data document? Angelique kept this? Amazing. We had made this document more than two weeks ago and I thought she scrapped it for a more official setting, which she printed out and gave to every current member of Zakura Inc. There were not many: Aveline Ora, Angelique Anatole, Anastasia Bear, Miyuki Tsukiyo, Kadin Glory, Keenan Williams, Kody Bask, and Jordan Brown. Then you have to include me… and maybe Nerio. The document also included the rules and guidelines of Zakura Inc.; they were updated, as well. There was a list of our current, past, and future projects, the people on our “Hit List,” and the subjects of which we either have data on or are within easy reach of that data. There was also a table where all current members were listed as with their positions. There were many blank spots, not what we hoped. At the very bottom of the document read, “This is a very classified piece of data, Raina. If you accept this, you are officially granted the position of co-owner, second in command, and all-around secretary of Zakura Inc. FYEO.”

I smiled at Angelique’s attempt at a threat. She was so small and tiny… but feisty, alright.

I continued to read the rest of the real emails until it was 8 p.m. in the evening. Yes, I had a lot, so much it occupied over 6 hours of my life… I’m so lame.

I spent the next few hours reading Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. When I finished that book, I moved onto Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. When I had finished the book, I took a quick glance at the clock. It read 3:34 a.m. I raised my eyebrows at the time. “Already?” I whispered.

I had a meeting with the members of Zakura Inc. at 4 in the “Secret HQ,” which was basically an old Victorian styled manor three blocks away from my home. I got quickly dressed in my personal Zakura Inc. uniform. It was a black gothic lolita dress with pure steel pins in the mess of net and black fabric skirt. The sleeves ended just below my elbows with a satin sash that looped through the fabric to make the end of the sleeve “angelic” styled. I wore a black lace choker around my neck that was attached to black glass beaded jewelry and a gothic styled cross.

I printed out the list of Zakura Inc. members for attendance and an outline of tonight’s course of work. I slipped on the black fishnet stockings, black leather gloves, my black flats then jumped out the window. I landed as softly as I could on the patio, as not to draw any attention—my father’s room was behind me and if he woke and decided to look out the window he’d see me. Or, some thief who looked a lot like me.

I crouched down and made my way down the patio stairs. Once my foot touched the ground I sprinted across our yard to the back gate, opening it with the spare key I’d acquired “somehow.” I took a quick glance at the Acelin household and instantly regretted it. On their back patio stood two males of the household, the teen and the uncle. They stared at me, and then the teen said something to his uncle. The uncle laughed and the teen made an angry face, and then went inside. The uncle kept staring in my direction.

A shiver went down my spine and I forced myself to look away. I freaked out then, and sprinted the rest of the way to the Zakura Inc. HQ, looking back every few houses to make sure I wasn’t followed.

I slammed open the back door and walked inside, my face angry and upset. “What’s wrong?” Aveline asked from her seat. It was just me and her in the kitchen, the rest of the group was up in Chamber 3, I knew it.

“Two of the males in the Acelin household saw me escape from home,” I growled at her and took a seat in one of the old chairs with slight difficulty. It was dark, musty, and dusty in the old Victorian manor. No power was sent to the house so we usually fired up 5-10 lamps and during the cold months we’d light up the fireplace and have the meeting there. But usually we’d just meet in the second floor’s chamber 3.

“Well that ain’t too bad, Rai-chi. I highly doubt they’ll call your home; it’s 4 a.m. for crying out loud!” she said with a happy, yet worried tone. Aveline wore a plain black satin dress with a white sash in front to adjust for size, a cute little frill for design, a doubled skirt, and thick straps.

“How would you know, Ave-chi? We all know they’re night owls!” I cried.

“Look at us, Rai-chi! We’re up half the night as well for the whole day! And you say we’re not night walkers or Vampires?”

I stared at her like a weirdo. “Well… er... we are able to go out in the sun...”

“And so are they, can they not?” she challenged.

I looked at her defenselessly. “But... but… the last time I saw them outside was two years ago!”

“Rai-chi! You live on opposite side of one block. Of course you don’t see them! The only time you ever do is if you look out your window, and even then it’s their backyard, too.”

“So if you’re a non-believer, then why are you here, Ave-chi?”

She sighed. “I’m not a non-believer, Rai-chi. I just don’t believe that they’re night walkers or Vampires. They’re something supernatural, that’s for sure, but there’s absolutely no way for them to be those dark creatures. It’s a topic of tonight, look on the list you have there.” I peered down at the list in my hands to see TOPICS, and indeed, it was a topic, the second one, actually.

“Fine.” I gave in. Then the question of why Aveline was in the kitchen? “Royo, Ave-chi.”

“Chuki?” She said ‘what’.

“Why are you down here? Shouldn’t you be upstairs?”

She laughed. “I’m here getting the others something to eat and drink. Have you forgotten the battery powered fridge we got here?”

“Bisa, I have not. But why aren’t you getting them the things they want?”

“Because I was chatting with you, and decided to give you my full attention. Now if you please, Angelique would be wondering where I am and where you are by now. It’s 4:05. Get to it. Want to take the lamp? I have the fridge light for now. Send someone back down to get me, ‘kay?”

“Will do, Ave-chi. Kenji!” I took the lamp off the kitchen table and headed a short ways down the hall, turned to my right, and pushed on the wall. It gave in and acted like a door. This was one of four secret walkways in the house. I smiled slightly and started up the old, squeaky stairs to get to the top floor. “Guys?” I whispered.

A knock came from above and down the hall a bit. “What do you call a wind that blows west?” said someone.

I smiled. “Zephyr,” I replied. The staircase that led to the attic came down suddenly with no sound.

“Quickly,” the same person whispered. I climbed up the stairs and the person closed the stairs.

“When did you guys finally get the attic available?” I asked and wandered around to find an open sofa. I took it and set the lamp down on the nearest flat surface.

Everyone took off the piece of cloth that covered their lamp. I saw that it was Jordan who manned the stairs. “It was Jordan and I. We got here at three and decided to try at the attic. With our luck, it just… opened,” Kody said. All the boys wore the same uniform: black pants, a black jacket with a black cotton shirt underneath.

“Creepy,” I whispered. A wave of agreement went around.

“Where’s Aveline?” Angelique asked. She wore a gothic lolita dress with tons of lace and ribbons and multiple layers of her skirt.

“Oh, uh... she’s still downstairs in the kitchen. She gave me her lamp... she told me to send someone down to get her, anyone volunteer?”

“Idiot! There are Shadow People in this house! Have you forgotten?!” Anastasia shouted. Her uniform consisted of a black satin dress with a mess of a skirt—it had two cut up skirts, a cut up fishnet skirt, and chunks of fabric sewn onto it. The sleeves were “angelic” styled and around the waist a black sash was tied to keep the dress on her.

A feeling of dread came over me. “But there are Shades, too, are there not?”

“Hori, but they have no real connection to us. So why would they protect one of us?” Angelique said wisely.

I was absolutely speechless. “Aveline is a practitioner of some magical arts, she should be able to handle a Shadow Person or two long enough to get here,” Keenan said calmly.

A Shadow Person is usually a dark spirit that controls shadows and likes to cause unhappiness until they themselves are either happy with what they have done, or are exorcised. Shades are like Shadow People, but are much kinder and more powerful. They control shadows, can appear and disappear in them, engulf a creature in shadow, etcetera, etcetera. But they feed of off life force, which is what we give them. Life force is something that humans automatically expel, and we’ve made a pact with the Shades; if they don’t bother us, then we’ll let them have the life force that we leak, as well as our able to see them. But, as Angelique said, no real ties to us.

“You’re right, Keenan! Aveline can defend herself. But let’s just send someone down there to get her now, eh?” Jordan said.

“I’ll go,” Kody said.

“I’ll go with you, just in case there really are Shadow People down there,” Miyuki suggested.

“Alright, good luck, you two,” Jordan said and opened the stairs to let the two down. To inform you, every member of Zakura Inc. can use at least basic magic. The ones who can use more powerful magic are Angelique, me, Keenan, and Miyuki. But the most powerful out of us is Angelique. She even has her own Shade, it is kept in a stuffed pink bunny plushie of hers. I’d always wished I’d have something supernatural to myself, like a familiar or a Shade…

“Get out!” a voice wailed. Everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to Angelique. Her eyes were closed and the grip her hands had on the armrests of the recliner chair made a ripping sound.

“Angelique! Angelique!” Anastasia shouted and rose to her feet to try and wake our queen free of the hold something had on her. Kadin grabbed his lamp and wandered around the area behind Angelique to check for any evil spirits.

“Shadow People!” he shouted and threw the lamp to the floor. Glass broke and fire blossomed into a bouquet of flame and eat.

“Idiot! Fire doesn’t do nothing but stall the Shadow People’s attacks!” Anastasia shouted.

“Get out! The Shadow People have turned violent!” the voice said again. I instantly rose to my feet at this next wail, it was different from the first. Shades.

I forced myself to stay calm and think straight. What to do what to do what to do, I kept repeating in my head over and over. Then it came.

“Get out of the way,” I growled and pushed Anastasia away from Angelique.

“Royo, Rai-chi!” she shouted.

“Kai kogaratsu, Keda. Miyoki kaori hozuki. Ga animo hikaru chi,” I mumbled over and over three times. It meant, “Come home, Angel. Follow (the) light lantern. Go away dark one.” Lame, I know, but those were the words that I was to say, according to Angelique herself.

We heard awful wailing and I didn’t know whether it came from the Shadow People or the Shades, since they were both dark. “Aikome hime,” I whispered and the wails died down a bit. But the fire was growing.

“Anastasia, wake Angelique up. We have to leave this house now,” I said.

“Who made you boss?” she replied rudely.

“Angelique. I am head secretary, co-owner and second in command. If you’d like to die, you can check the papers I have with me, otherwise, wake Angelique up,” I ordered her.

Her face turned pale and emotionless. “Hori,” she said and tried to wake Angelique up.

A banging came from the stairs door. Jordan immediately sat on it. “What do you call a wind that blows west?!” he shouted, trying to be louder than the banging beneath him.

“I don’t know! A zephyr?!” the man called in a velvet voice. The banging stopped.

“Is that your final answer?!”

“Let the man in, Jordan. It’s someone here to help us. Something must have happened downstairs and saw the fire up here! Quick, the fire’s getting larger!” I shouted.

“But he hasn’t answered!”

“If it was a spirit then wouldn’t he go through you and kill you?!” I scolded.

“Let the man in, Mr. Brown. He’s here to help.” I gasped and turned to Angelique, her eyes molten lava; one red the other fiery gold.

“Angelique?!” Jordan shouted.

“Open the door, Jordan!” I shouted. He nodded and opened it. To everyone’s surprise—even Angelique, even though she didn’t express it as much—was the Acelin teenager. “Wha…?” I muttered. Everyone ran to the stairs to get down and out. I helped them down the stairs and made sure they never touched the fire whenever they came close to it; I caught the clothing before it touched. So I was the last one in the attic. I spotted the lamp next to the door and I thought of throwing it at the flames behind me. There was only a meter between me and the surrounding fire, so I’d make it quick.

“Come on!” the teenager below me shouted.

“I’m throwing a lantern!” I shouted.

“You’re throwing a what?!” he shouted, sounding exasperated. I ignored him and grabbed the lantern then turned around. There was less than a meter now. I threw it in the flames and spun and crouched to the ground. I then hurried my way down the stairs from the attic.

But I tripped on the second last step and fell on my face. I pushed myself up off the ground and faced him. But once I did that he grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet then spun me around very fast.

When I stopped he dragged me down the secret staircase and out through the kitchen. As soon as cool air hit us he let go of me and I flung into the fence with the underbrush. “Hey! What the hell was that for?!” I shouted at him once my head had stopped spinning. He faced the burning old building, not saying anything, and not even panting. I took offence to his silence. “Hey! Acelin boy! Answer me! And how did you know about the secret staircase?”

He turned to me, a type of worry and sadness in his eyes. They drew me in and everything became two shades brighter. His eyes were olive green. “Are you alright, miss?” I stared at him, this would be the first time I’ve been this close to any Acelin. He had loose dark brown hair and fair skin, like me. His facial features were firm and strong, defined. Sharp. “Miss?” he asked again, looking slightly concerned now.

“Uh.. yeah. I’m fine,” I whispered.

“That’s good,” he said, seemingly relieved.

“Hey, why did you spin me so suddenly? And why did you just fling me here?” I asked, albeit a bit rudely, motioning to my current state.

He laughed. “I’m sorry. Your dress was on fire, and the only thing I could do at that moment was to get the fire out… so I spun you. Sounds unethical, I know. And I’m sorry about flinging you there; I didn’t meant to, honest.” He sounded sincere.

“How did you know there was a secret staircase?” I wondered.

“My father used to live in this house. He’d acquired the floor plans somehow and I used to go over them as a child,” he explained and extended an open hand to me. “My name’s Kira Acelin. Yours?”

I blushed slightly and thanked the darkness for it’s cover. I took his hand and he helped me up. “Raina Dougan.”

He didn’t let go of my hand when I was up. Instead he raised it to his lips and kissed it softly. “Nice to meet you, Miss. Dougan.”

I blushed madly and made a huff. “Well, what do we have here?” He dropped my hand and it fell to my side like stone. I turned towards the back of the house to see my friends. It was Miyuki who had spoken, a large grin on her face. Anastasia looked angry and upset with me. The silent words that came from her lips read, ‘Traitor.’

I shook my head lightly. “N-nothing!” I stuttered. Kira stiffened and he forced a smile to his face as he looked at my friends.

“Good morning, ladies, gentlemen,” he greeted. I stared at him. He was so formal. Maybe it was because these were just strangers.

“It’s 5 a.m. people, we’d better get home before our parents wake up,” Angelique said stiffly. Then she set her eyes on Kira. “You,” she said coldly. A shiver went down my spine and Kira glanced worriedly at me, then paid full attention to Angelique. “I wish to speak to you, Mr. Acelin,” Angelique continued.

He closed his eyes and bowed slightly, stood upright then opened his eyes again. “Alright, then. So long as I’m home before nine.” He said it so calmly, and softly. His velvet voice engulfed me and I gazed. But I caught myself and I looked away at my group of friends.

“Walk this way, Raina,” Aveline said calmly. “We have to do have attendance before we go home, you know. And you have the list.”

I nodded and walked away. But Kira grabbed my arm as I passed him. “Come by my house at twelve,” he whispered then let go. I stared at him in disbelief as I walked slowly backwards to my friends.

“Ouch!” Jordan cried as I stepped on his foot.

I spun around. “Oh! Sorry, Jordan. Are you okay?” I apologized.

He smiled weakly. “Yeah, I’m alright.”

I patted his back. “That’s good, then,” I said and smiled. I glanced back at Angelique and Kira worriedly. “Go on ahead you guys, I’ll meet you at the Cherub statue…” I told them and walked to stand behind Angelique.

“Go ahead, Raina. You need to do attendance,” she told me.

I pursed my lips. “Angelique, be careful. Email me the data you collect, alright?” I whispered. “Before twelve,” I added, thinking of the meeting I had with Kira.

She looked at me incredulously, but nodded softly. “Sure thing, Raina,” she replied lithely. I smiled at her then exited the scene to join my friends and fellow Zakura Inc. members.

“Nasai, everyone. Are you ready for attendance?” I asked and took out the papers and clipboard that I’d hidden in my dress. I took out the pen from under the cherub statue and smiled widely.

“Non, Rai-chi!” Miyuki said happily.

“Alright, let’s start. Angelique?” I stopped. “She’s over there. Here.” I put an H next to her name. “Kody?”

“Here.” I put an H next to his name.

“Anastasia?”

“Oh, shut up already, Raina. We’re all here, okay?” Just mark us all H and let’s get home,” Anastasia said cruelly.

I grimaced and marked her H. Then continued. “Jordan?”

“Here.” Marked H.

“Well… I’m here.. Kadin?”

“Yeah, I’m here, Raina.”

“Aveline?”

“Here.”

“Oh, by the way, are you alright, Aveline?”

“Yeah, Kody and Miyuki came in just in time. I was almost devoured by a Shadow Person.”

“Gee, sorry.”

“Nah, it’s alright.”

“Miyuki?”

“I’m here!” she said hyperactively.

“And… Keenan.”

“Yo.”

“Okay, we’re all here!” I proclaimed happily. “We can all go home. I’ll email you the set date and place for the next meeting when I hear from Angelique. Have a nice two-hour nap!” I called to them as they all left through the back gate. If Angelique was right about the time then sunrise should happen in two hours, at least. I left through the back gate and locked it, thinking Angelique could either scale the fence herself or leave through the front, and walked down the alley towards home. I walked silently in the dark, thinking only about what would happen when—or if­—I was going to the Acelin’s household this afternoon.

I could hear talking ahead of me now. It sounded familiar. “Miyuki? Aveline?” I called. The talking stopped and my speed rushed until I could see two figures ahead of me. It wasn’t hard to see them, considering I could see it actually was Miyuki and Aveline in the dark; everything still looked two shades brighter.

When I came into view for them, they were all smiles. “Oh, non, Rai-chi,” Miyuki greeted.

“Non,” Aveline said when I had joined them. We continued to walk then.

“Nasai,” I said happily.

The two then continued their chat on the old Victorian manor burning, sometimes looking back at the bright light in the sky. I walked with them until they turned and took another way. I walked a block by myself.

“Pretty cute…” I muttered to myself but immediately felt guilty for Zakura Inc. I shook my head. “What am I thinking?! Cute? That boy?! Ugh!” I shouted and punched the closest telephone pole. When I retracted my hand I saw it made a small dent… again. “Damnit,” I muttered and just stared at the mark awkwardly. How do I get rid of it..?

I shook my head as to dismiss the question and jumped my back gate as quietly as possible, then sprinted my way to the patio again. Now getting back up to my room was the hard part. I crouched down as low as possible, my hands on the ground and my head tilted up at my window, directly above me. I let out a soft sigh then jumped with all my might. I flew up to my window and caught the ledge, and then pulled myself inside, landing gracefully on the floor. I sighed then got undressed and redressed in my nightgown, a silk dress that had thin straps. It ended two inches above my knees.

I quickly climbed into bed and stared face to face with one of my stuffed animals. It literally looked sick. I frowned. “Poor thing,” I said and cuddled with it gently. I fell asleep muttering sympathetic words in Iipe to the sick plushie.