Hedgesville, West Virginia
Caspian Residence
Monday, August 19, 1996
10:32 AM

“What happened?” Nick questioned as he stood in the living room beside Jennie with his arms crossed over his chest. A look of confusion was on his face while he watched his eldest son fumble with the bleeding wound on Nahele‘s right cheek.
“That red headed guy,” Jennie said, motioning with her hands frantically.
“Rowen,” Nahele stated flatly.
“Attacked Nahele,” she continued, thrusting out her arms in a wild gesture. Her eyes were red as were her cheeks. It was apparent that she had been crying for a bit.
“And,” Nick questioned, “you know this boy…how?”
Jennie became unearthly silent. Her arms dropped to the sides of her body as she cracked a smile and croaked out a laugh.
“I’ve been talking with her,” Nahele mumbled as he winced at Riley’s touch. “Trying to keep the others away, but looks like that failed.”
“You‘ll definitely be walking around with a nice scar,” Riley said with a sigh. “How about Reiyl and Kasei?”
“Still outside,” Nick replied with a shake of his head. “Geez, what a day.”
“Nick,” Jennie asked as she brought her hand to her mouth, biting her thumb, “do you think it‘s okay for Nahele to stay with us?”
“No worries, bra,” Nahele interrupted, lashing out and grabbing a hold of Jennie‘s hand. He gave her a forced smile as Riley placed a gauze bandage over the cut. “I can get a dorm at the school. Nothing wrong with living at the school.”
“But it would be safer here,” Nick said as he shook his head. “More protection.”
“Nah,” Nahele said as he chuckled, “if I can‘t protect myself from Sanction, then why should I even bother protecting the Seraph, eh?” He gave Jennie a glance then threw up his hand, showing her a ‘thumbs up’.
Dropping down to her knees as she placed her hands on the floor, Jennie stared him in the eyes. “Please stay.”
Nahele stared at her with questioning eyes then shook his head as a small laugh escaped him.. “It’s not your fault,” he said, reaching out his hand. He lightly tapped his finger against her nose. “Rowen would’ve probably done worse to me if you hadn‘t been there. So let‘s say you‘re my lucky charm, okay?”
“Some lucky charm,” she mumbled, standing up.
“It‘s Rowen we‘re talking about,” Riley said as he began closing up the first-aid kit, “and Nahele came out of it alive. That’s pretty damn lucky.”
The sound of the front door slamming shut caused Jennie to jump while Nahele stood from where he sat on the ground while pressing his fingers against the bandage on his cheek. Nick’s attention turned to the doorway of the room to find the two cat brothers walking in. Both looked far from disheveled.
“What happened to you two?” Jennie questioned.
Tattered from head-to-toe, Reiyl stood with a bloody lip. Even his hair which was usually nicely combed and pulled back into a neat ponytail was tousled. It appeared that he had lost in a street brawl.
Then there was Kasei who stood with a forlorn look on his face. His cat ears folded down on his head while his face and clothes were dirtied. He held onto the bottom of his shirt tightly as if afraid someone was going to rip it off him while his tail was tucked between his legs.
“Ahou,” Reiyl cursed. “Can’t take a simple ‘no‘.”
“They pulled my tail!” Kasei wailed as ran at Jennie, wrapping his arms around her as she reluctantly hugged him back. She peered down at his head and frowned as she could the small boy cry into her chest.
“They didn‘t have those angel weapons, right?” Jennie questioned.
“They wouldn‘t,” Nahele answered. “Rowen is the only Sanction memeber with an angel ore weapon, so no worries. But I‘m surprised that Team Echo roughed you up like that. They‘re espers, so to think they used brute force…”
“No angel ore,” Jennie said to herself as she sighed in relief, hugging Kasei a little tighter. She could hear him purr lightly at her squeeze.
“What’s he doing here?” Reiyl questioned, stepping up beside Jennie while ripping Kasei from her hold. His eyes were on Nahele as his face contorted into a look of pure disgust.
“This is another good reason why I don‘t want to stay here,” Nahele said in a sing-song voice, “birds and cats don’t get along.” He stepped back and held up his hands.
“It has nothing to do with you being a bird,” Reiyl stated flatly, pointing to the door. “You‘re Sanction.”
“He’s been kicked out,” Nick stated flatly, “so there‘s nothing to worry about.”
“Once a member, always a member,” Reiyl hissed, “He could betray us just like he betrayed them. And I don’t want him near her!”
Snatching a hold of Jennie’s wrist, Reiyl yanked her forcefully. She let out a yelp as she stumbled and fell into his chest as his arms locked around her. Her eyes looked upward to see that Reiyl‘s attention was focused still on Nahele.
“Reiyl, he isn’t going to hurt me,” she replied as he quickly threw her a defiant stare.
“What the FUCK is going on?!”
Everyone’s attention turned to the entryway to the living room. Rem stood with his yellow eyes focused on the older cat boy who was holding Jennie firmly then to Nahele who was standing with a look of uncertainty.
“Rem, go back to your room,” Nick stated flatly, pointing back upstairs. His voice was tedious, but held a sternness. But it appeared it held no affect to his son.
Taking a step forward, Rem glared to his father then looked back to Reiyl. His hand jutted out abruptly, crashing powerfully into Reiyl’s face. He squeezed firmly then lifted his hand up, pulling Reiyl off the ground. Jennie was quickly released as she dropped to her knees.
With a simple flick of his arm, Rem sent the cat boy into the wall. “Fucking cat!”
“No one touches her!” Rem shouted. His fists clenched up as he looked down to Jennie with heated eyes. “You’re not to let anyone touch you EVER! You understand me?!” He grabbed a hold of her shoulders, pulling her to her feet. “Didn’t you understand what I was trying to tell you?! Don’t trust any of these fucking bastards. They’ll take you in a second.”
The room became silent as Rem pushed Jennie back, sending her into Nick. Turning swiftly on his heels, Rem retreated to his room.
“I think there’s a misunderstanding floating around,” Nick mumbled as he looked down to Jennie who looked up at him.
“Don’t look at me,” she said. “I’m confused.”
“I‘m going to let myself out,” Nahele said, motioning with his hands toward the front door. He stopped for a moment and looked over his shoulder to Nick and Jennie. “And I’m definitely staying in the dorms. I‘ve already lived through Rowen. I‘m going to pass on Rem.”
“Then I‘ll see you at school?” Jennie said as she waved.
“For sure,” Nahele called out, leaving out the front door.
“Now what?” Jennie questioned, looking to Nick.
“I don‘t know,” Nick said with a shrug. “Tomorrow is your parents’ funeral, so you have that to look...forward...to.” A look of displeasure filled the room as Nick rubbed at the back of his head.
“Yeah,“ he mumbled, “bad choice of words. How about letting Riley show you his store?”
“Guess that wouldn’t hurt any,” Riley said, scratching at his forehead as if thinking about it. “I should be heading out anyway to open the shop. Hell, it should‘ve been opened hours ago, but with all the shit that just happened…hope there isn‘t any pissed off customers waiting.”
“Sorry,” Jennie replied.
“No worries,” Riley said, throwing her a smile, “I don‘t get too many anyway.”
Kasei kneeled down to his fallen brother and poked at Reiyl’s body. “I think he’s been knocked out,” he replied as he looked up to find everyone leaving. “Oi, minnasan! Wait for me! I want to go, too!”