Just a quick clarification: this is all one story, "Siren's Gem". But I will be including one-shots throughout the story to fill in plot holes and such. Hope you enjoy!

Unloved

The bell rang, and everyone rushed out of school. I stayed behind until the rest of my classmates had left before walking out with my backpack. I moved around and got to the gate. Then I walked home. It was a long way. Daddy and I live far, far away from school, but Daddy never drives me to school. I don't mind walking. Especially if it's sunny outside, like today. But it takes me a long time to get home. I have to walk all the way through the town we live in, Beijing. When I had arrived at my house, I opened the door and walked in. Daddy was sleeping on the couch with bottles around him. I hate those bottles. They smell very bad.

I tiptoed upstairs to my room and crawled into my bed. My room is very small; there's only a bed, a couple old books, and my panda doll Mommy made for me. My Mommy is never at the house. She fell asleep one day and didn't wake up. Daddy takes care of me. He buys food for me so I can cook. He brings home bottles of bad-smelling water. He drinks a lot of that water. I tried it once when he wasn't looking, but it tasted very icky. Daddy sometimes brings home leaves and makes things with them. Strange people come to our house and buy the leaves or the powder Daddy makes with the leaves.

Daddy's waking up. He's yelling for me. I walked downstairs and saw Daddy was watching TV.

"When did you get home?" Daddy asked me.

"A couple minutes ago." I answered.

"Why the hell didn't you wake me up?" Daddy yelled.

"You were sleeping." I said innocently.

Daddy shook his head. "You are so damn retarded. You'd think going to school would make you learn. Oh well. Go make me some dinner!"

"What's for dinner?" I asked.

"I don't give a damn!" Daddy snapped. "Make some chicken."

"I don't know how to make chicken." I told him. I didn't like chicken, but I can't tell Daddy.

"Useless little rat!" Daddy shouted. He stood up and smacked me. I didn't cry or whine or even flinch. Daddy hits me a lot. "Go to your damn room and don't come back until you're useful!" I turned and ran up to my room. When I was there, I jumped onto my bed and cried into my pillow.

I missed my mommy. I can remember her. Daddy was so happy when Mommy was around. Now, he's mean and hurts me. My tummy growled; I had forgotten to eat lunch. Daddy probably won't let me eat dinner. I hugged my panda doll tightly as I fall asleep.

When I wake up, it's dark. There's smoke in the house. I go to my door and peek out through the cracks in the door. There's no fire. Daddy must be making the smoke. It's a cool trick. He puts a stick in his mouth and pulls it out and blows smoke into the air from his mouth and nose. He looks like a dragon when he does that. Mommy never liked that trick. I think it's because of the smell.

Then, someone pounds on the door. A voice shouts, "Chang Jin! This is the police! Open the door!"

Why are the police at our house? Did we do something wrong?

The pounding continues. I look through the door cracks and can see the front door. It opens fast as some policemen come in.

"Chang Jin, you are under arrest for illegal drug sales and distribution." A policeman said while two others put handcuffs on Daddy. Daddy shouted at them, calling them mean names. I jumped onto my bed and wrapped my blanket around my shoulders, clutching my panda. The policemen are walking around my house. Suddenly, my door opens, and a policeman stares at me with wide eyes. I stare back.

He turned and called over his shoulder. "Hey! We've got a kid in here!" Another policeman comes and jumps when he sees me. They talk for a minute and I can't hear what they're saying. The first one slowly walks up to me.

"What's your name?" he asked.

I stayed quiet.

"Do you have any other family?"

I didn't speak.

"We're going to take you someplace safe, alright?"

I nodded.

The policeman led me off my bed and down the stairs. I still held my panda and my blanket. The policeman led me outside. There were a lot of other police cars outside my house. The policeman that is with me tells me to wait next to his car and walks away. I sit down on a rock next to the car. The police are all around me, talking. I can't see Daddy. I pull my blanket over my head and hug my panda. I don't want to see what is going on. I'm scared. I want my mommy. I want to go to sleep. I rock back a forth for a moment before lying down to sleep.

I have a dream that Mommy is with me. She is in a pretty white dress. She hugs me and says it will be ok.

"Be strong, little one." Mommy said. "Everything will be alright. You're going to a new world, where someone will find you and take care of you. He is very nice and will not hurt you in any way. He looks like this." Mommy gave me a gold heart on a chain. She opened it and showed me the picture inside. Then she put it around my neck. "Stay strong. You will be a great warrior one day." Mommy disappeared.

I woke up and pulled the blanket off my head. The police were gone. I was still outside my house. They must have left without me. Mommy's gold locket was around my neck. I looked at the picture again before I stood up and started walking. My house is next to a forest. I walked into the forest, looking for the person in the locket. I walking around and around for a long, long time. The trees were scary-looking. My feet hurt because I had walked for a long time. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. Then, I tripped and fell into the dark. I squeezed my eyes shut.

I opened my eyes when I stopped falling. I was sitting on the ground next to a tree. I stood up and kept walking. Trees and bamboo were all around me. I didn't stop walking. But I was getting more and more tired.

I saw a little house in front of me. I knocked on the door, but it opened by itself. I walked inside. No one was home. But there was a nice bed in the corner. I was so tired. So I climbed into the bed and pulled my blanket over me. I snuggled into the bed and held my panda close to me. Soon, I was asleep.

The sun woke me up the next morning. I sat up and stretched. I had a nice sleep.

"Hello."

I spun around to see who had said that. When I saw them, I froze.

It was a very large lizard, like the ones I see in my backyard, but more colorful and a lot bigger. He had on a dark red shirt and light blue pants. His tongue flickered in and out of his mouth. He stared at me with his big, colorful eyes. I stared back for a long time. I took my mommy's locket and opened it. I looked at the picture, and then at the lizard, and then at the picture, and back at the lizard. I showed the lizard the picture in my locket. He looked, and then he smiled.

"Come, little one." He said, offering a clawed hand. "I'll take care of you."

I smiled a little and took his hand.