There are things in this world that humans don't want to believe. They don't want to think that there are things in this world that could destroy everything in its path. The humans want to believe that their world is safe. But the humans are wrong. There are things in this world that humans can't even think about. Impossible things. Dangerous things. Things that can only be stopped by forces that are equal in power.

I am the only of my kind. I don't even know what I am. All I know is that I was created by a scientist who thought he could create a better human being. But he didn't create a better human being; he created a monster. I had a long bushy wolf tail along with a set of matching wolf ears. My eyes were bright yellow and I had wings. I was able to make fire as well as control it. I had sharp upper canines and rapid healing abilities. But I was thought to be dangerous and was scheduled to be destroyed. The scientist decided that putting me in an incinerator would be enough to kill me, but that didn't even leave a scratch. I broke out of the scientists lab and ran until it felt like my lungs were on fire.

Being a mutant freak who spent all thirteen years of her life in a cage was a major drag. Plus, the flames from the incinerator burned away my clothes, so I was completely naked. How could my life possibly get any worse? By getting discovered and having to hide day and night. That's how.

It started a month after I escaped from the scientists lab. My night had started out like it normally did with me digging through garbage bags. I was looking through bags of clothes that someone had thrown out and found a pack of underwear that were still in the package along with a purple nightgown that went a little bit past my knees. I put on my new clothes and, relieved that I wasn't naked anymore, moved on.

I was looking through the dumpsters behind a burger place. The restaurant threw out wrapped burgers that were still edible. I could get as many free burgers as I wanted. That was a plus because I needed more food than a normal kid. I had found a little kid backpack and was zipping it closed when I heard the sound of a door opening. My heart stopped and time seemed to go in slow motion.

The backdoor of the burger place was opening and a man stepped into the alley. He was holding a camera. He didn't see me at first but then he turned towards my direction. At that moment, everything went back to normal speed. At first, all he saw was an outline beside the dumpster. But he used his camera and took a photo. The camera had the flash on and the man was able to see me fully. He looked at the photo and began to panic. He called me a monster and ran out into the streets. He caused a huge commotion which made people come over to see what happened but I was gone by then.

After that night people began asking questions. I saw the newspapers that people had thrown away. On the front page was a picture of me beside a dumpster. It was the picture from the burger place with, "HAVE YOU SEEN THE SHE-WOLF?", as the headline. I knew that people would start looking for me and that I would have to hide. It scared me. It made me start to wonder if the scientist I ran from would come looking for me too. I didn't want to go back.

I decided I would find a place somewhere on the roofs of the city buildings. Some of them had little sheds on top that were big enough for me. I searched at night and hid in dark places during the day. It took a few days but I eventually found a shed. The building was still in use but from the condition of the shed, no one had used it for years. I guess I was lucky because the shed I found was used to store camping gear. There wasn't any food but I had no problem getting some. There was some old blankets and a sleeping bag. There was even a flashlight and a few packs of new batteries. I was set. As long as no one came to the shed, I was perfectly safe. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the cameras from getting pictures of me. I guess I wasn't as careful as I thought I was. No one saw me in person, but there were some security cameras that caught me. Every day there was a new picture of me and some new article to match. Some people said I was a hoax and that I was just a kid actress who was being used to make money. Some people said I was real and should be caught so they could learn more about me. Those were the type of people I really wanted to stay away from. But there were also some people who still saw me as a girl. They believed the story that I wasn't human but from their perspective I was an innocent child who was used in terrible experiments. That part was true. I was used in experiments and I was still an innocent child. I hadn't done anything wrong. I didn't deserve the life I was living. I just wanted what every girl had. I wanted a loving family and a normal life. I wanted to fit in and feel safe.

About a month after I was first sighted, I encountered something new. I was doing my usual rounds of the garbage cans and was looking through the ones in an empty parking lot. The street lights nearby provided some light so I could tell what was good and what was bad. I was hoping to find an old brush or comb because my hair and tail fur were starting to get knots. I was almost to the bottom of the trashcan when I heard a light whisper. To normal ears the sound would go unnoticed, but my wolf ears could tell that someone was nearby and was whispering. Panic started to rise within me as I tried to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. I couldn't figure out where the voice was but I could understand what was being said.

"Affirmative. The target is in sight. No threat yet but it seems to have sensed something. Now awaiting order to fire."

I started to panic even more. Fire what? Am I going to get hurt? I began to think about what to do when I heard more voices.

"Hey, Blue. Ever seen anything like this before?"

"No. Never. I can't seem to find anything about the creature. If I could get closer to it I may be able to get some data that could help us."

"Well, you're going to have to wait till this thing is caught. It could be dangerous so we-"

"Can we please stop saying it? It is obviously a young girl who is probably scared out of her mind. Poor thing must have been through a lot."

I could tell that the voice I just heard had sympathy. It sounded like a woman and it seemed like she cared. But sometimes voices are different than the faces they belong to. I listened harder but didn't stop being scared. These people definitely knew I was here and were watching me. I wondered where they were as I started to slowly step away from the trashcan. I heard the first voice again followed by another voice from before.

"Target is now moving. Target now in sight. Preparing to fire."

"NO! She isn't doing any harm. Hold your fire. Don't shoot her."

"Hold your fire? Are you crazy? There is a monster right in front of you and you want to let it go? Don't listen to her. Shoot the thing. That'll be one less monster in this world and one less thing to worry about."

The man the first voice belonged to obviously listened to the last voice. I started to run and heard a loud bang behind me. Dust exploded from the wall and a hole was left. I ran faster and more bangs were heard. They seemed to follow me as whoever fired tried to hit me. Before I left the parking, the shooter managed to hit me. I was thrown off my feet and hit the concrete. Pain rang out through my head but my left ear hurt the most. I brought a hand to my ear and felt a hole. It hurt to touch but the pain was forgotten as I heard rushing footsteps coming towards me. I didn't look to see who was coming. I just got up from the ground and ran away.

I ran down the street and into an alley. Unfortunately, I made a wrong move because the alley was a dead end. I frantically looked around for an escape but found nothing. I could have flown out but there wasn't enough room to open my wings. I was trapped and there was no escape. To make matters worse, the people who were running after me had caught up. Shadows covered me as the people stood at the only entrance to the alley. I spun around to face them with my back pressed against the wall. There were nine in total. I whimpered and felt tears stinging my eyes. Knowing that my time had ended, I slumped to the ground and hugged my knees.

Footsteps started to come near me and I tried one last thing. Before the footsteps came any closer, I engulfed myself in flames. Whoever was coming towards me faltered a bit as they saw the flames rise. The other people were shocked too because gasps of astonishment were heard. I looked up to see what the people were doing and was able to see them fully. The one who walked towards me before was strange. He was tall and muscular. I wasn't sure if it the fire or just my imagination, but his skin looked red too. An even stranger thing was that the man had horns on his head that looked like goggles without the band. Also… he had a tail! I was surprised and curious but that didn't bring me out of my fire. He looked at me and started to walk towards me again. I was scared because the man didn't put his gun away. I whimpered loud enough for him to hear. One of the people behind him heard me and quickly stepped up behind the man.

"Red? Maybe I should go first. You seem to be scaring her. Maybe she would open up if she saw a motherly face. I may not have much experience with kids, but I know enough to know that they won't talk to a scary monster. Nothing personal."

"If you say so, Liz. All yours."

The man backed up and the woman stepped forward. She approached me slowly and had her hands up to show that she wasn't a threat. When she got closer, she lowered herself to her knees. She had a kind face and was really pretty. Her eyes were caring and didn't hold any threat. I kept my fire up but calmed down a little. My fire turned blue and the woman smiled.

"Hi. My name is Liz. You don't have to be afraid. We're not gonna hurt you. Do you have a name?"

I shook my head. The scientist never gave me a name. He just called me experiment X. The woman understood and spoke again.

"You've been alone for a while. You don't have to be anymore. You can come with us and we'll keep you safe." She paused and waited to see if I would respond. I didn't so she continued. "I know you feel different and are afraid of people because you are different. But that's ok. I'm different too. But I have people that care about me and are ok with me being different. I have a gift that I was afraid of. But I'm not afraid anymore." With that, she brought up one of her hands and it became covered in blue flames. I stared in wonder at the fire. Liz could control fire just like me. Reaching out my own flame covered hand, I slowly touched Liz's hand. We entwined fingers and for the first time, I smiled. I looked at Liz and she smiled at me with her arms open. I pricked up my ears in curiosity and then embraced Liz. Her arms wrapped around me in a comforting hug. Liz was engulfed in flames too as we hugged. I snuggled into Liz, my fire slowly going away as I was comforted. Liz let go and stood up, helping get up with her. She led me over to the others, who had been waiting.

I hid behind Liz as we approached because the red guy seemed a scary up close. He looked at me through a cloud of smoke from a cigar he was smoking, something I was all too familiar with because the scientist used to smoke them. He moved aside and Liz led me to a car that was at the curb. I hesitated but Liz got in first, making it ok to get in after. Liz buckled me in. The red man climbed in last and it felt weird. He was huge and made me feel small. The car started to move and we were on our way. The hum of the car echoed in my ears, making me feel sleepy. I fell to the side, leaning against the red man. If he noticed, he didn't seem to care as I fell asleep.

I woke up a while later to the sound of a heavy door opening. I looked towards the sound and saw a man in a suit pushing a cart. From the smell coming from the cart, I could tell that the cart contained food. After the man came the red man. He was actually red. He saw that I was awake and smiled at me. I smiled shyly as he walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge.

"How ya feeling?"

"Ok. My ear hurts a little and I'm a little hungry. But I'm ok."

"That's good. If you want to you can have some of my food. I wouldn't mind sharing."

I stared at the man and smiled more. The man got up and went over to the cart of food. He made a plate and gave it to me. It was breakfast food. Sausage, scrambled eggs and bacon. I felt like I was in heaven.

I followed the red man into a library after I was done eating. Liz and the blue man were inside talking. But the blue man was in a tank of water and had gills. I was shocked but then thought it was cool. He was like a fish. I walked over to Liz and gave her a hug. She happily hugged me back.

"Hey. Glad to see you're up. Abe took care of your ear while you were asleep. I think it's ok to take the bandage off to let the wound air out."

Liz took the bandage off my ear and it felt good. I gingerly reached a hand up and felt a hole in my ear. The inside was perfectly healed and Liz seemed a little shocked.

"Oh. It's ok. My wounds get better fast."

They seemed to understand. The red man spoke next.

"The kid is part wolf, can heal fast and controls fire like Liz. Anything else?"

"She has wings, Red. I felt them when I hugged her."

Red seemed ok with me having wings and just nodded. Silence settled over us for a little bit before Red brought up something.

"We need to give this kid a name. She's one of us now."

"What sort of name should we give her, Red?" Liz asked.

"Something that represents her. Something unique."

Everyone thought of names for awhile. I thought they would never think of a name but Abe had one.

"What about Lupin? It means wolf. She has wolf features so the name fits her perfectly."

I liked it. I smiled at Abe and tried out the name. I liked the way it sounded. Liz and Red seemed to agree and nodded their approval.

I was happy with Liz, Red and Abe. I finally found some place where I belonged. Now here I am three years later. 15 years old with a family and a name. I was safe and protected. I no longer was alone and never had to be ever again.