Hey guys! Thank you so, so, so much for reading my story! PLEASE review, but no flames—if you don't like it, don't bother. So read on and don't forget to review! –Roxy.Gurl.7194
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It was an early Sunday morning when Charlie Bone awoke. He squinted his brown eyes against the annoyingly bright sunlight pouring in through the curtains and across the bed sheets. The branches of the huge tree standing right outside his window were swaying gently back and forth in the breeze, losing more and more crimson, gold, and orange leaves by the second. Charlie laid there and watched it for a few minutes, thinking about his first day back at Bloor's after his long, carefree, relaxing summer. The date, September 7th, was approaching faster than he would have liked.
He was about to fall back asleep when he heard someone's shrill voice calling his name from downstairs.
"CHAR-lie! Are you up?"
Charlie groaned, dragged himself out of bed, and slowly began to climb down the stairs. His eyes were still half closed, but his nose was following the scrumptious aroma of a delicious morning meal.
"Good morning, Charlie. Breakfast?" Charlie's grandmother, Maisie, smiled over at him as she stirred this morning's pancake batter, round and cheerful as always. Groggily, Charlie croaked a hello and plunked himself down on a nearby chair. Maisie's jolly smile quickly turned into a concerned frown.
"What's the matter, Charlie? Rough night?"
"Um, yeah. Bad dreams," Charlie replied with a sudden pang of guilt. He didn't often lie, but at the moment it, was necessary. He wasn't about to tell her that he had been up all night "talking" to his endowed friend, Naren, whose gift was speaking through shadows. They had been worriedly discussing something about new endowed children coming to Bloor's Academy when first semester started in about a week's time; a fact that Naren had overheard while on one of her escapes into town. She lived in the outskirts of the city, in the woods with her adoptive mother and father. Charlie was nervous that the children, whoever they were, would become Manfred Bloor's allies and once again uneven the number of endowed children on either side. Long after Naren had said goodbye, Charlie had laid awake; tossing, turning, and worrying.
Now all that restlessness was coming back to haunt him. He left the kitchen, claiming to need to use the bathroom. As he made his way down the hall, he glanced in the mirror at his midnight-black hair, more flyaway than ever after his late night, and narrow face. When he looked closer, he realized that underneath his dark eyes were bags as purple as bruises. "I need to get some more sleep," he muttered.
"CHAR-LEEEEEEE!" somebody shouted from the kitchen. Charlie jumped and ran towards the voice, skidding on the slick linoleum of the floor just in time to see his other grandma, Grandma Bone, slam the refrigerator door shut with a ferocious scowl on her pinched face.
"Did you eat my prune cake?" she demanded. "I had my stomach all set for prune cake this morning! What happened to it??"
"I didn't touch it, Grandma," Charlie told her. "I didn't even know we had any."
"I threw it away, Grizelda," said Maisie hotly. "It was old and gross, and I didn't want it in my refrigerator for another second."
"You had no right!" Grandma Bone fumed, turning her accusing glare on Maisie. "This is my house, and when I want prune cake in my refrigerator, I will have it. Have you forgotton that the only reason you scum are living here is because of my generosity?"
"That's enough!" boomed a voice from the top of the stairs. Charlie, who had been watching the whole argument silently, jumped at the sound of his Uncle Paton's tone.
Even Grandma Bone was slightly taken aback. She fell silent for a split second, and then turned around to stomp up the stairs. But Paton blocked her way.
"Screaming is not necessary, Grizelda," he said. "Maisie was simply trying to help you out by cleaning up this mess of a house. Isn't that right?" He looked at Maisie, who nodded, still a little shaken. "You can have your revolting prunes when you go to the store yourself. Clear?"
Charlie's grandma glared fiercely at her brother, who, even though he was over twenty years younger, was an imposing, brawny figure when compared to her frail, skinny frame. So, still looking completely furious, she nodded and he stood aside to let her pass.
As soon as they heard Grandma Bone's bedroom door slam, Paton turned to Charlie and Maisie and said, "Well, I'm off. If you need me, I'll be at Julia's." Charlie's uncle grabbed his overcoat and dark sunglasses and headed out the door into the bright sunlight.
Maisie sighed. "Guess it's just you and me then, Charlie," she said. And she was right; Charlie's mother, Amy Bone, and his father, Lyell, who had been recently awaked from his eight years of being under a powerful hypnotism spell, were taking a second honeymoon somewhere in the Bahamas and wouldn't be back for another two weeks.
Just as Charlie was about to agree, the doorbell rang with a pathetic pong sound. Charlie swung open the door and saw his friends from Bloor's—Fidelio Gunn, Lysander Sage, Tancred Torsson, Gabriel Silk, Emma Tolly, and Olivia Vertigo—standing outside, wrapped in scarves and coats, and carrying pets of all sorts on leashes, shoulders, or cages.
"Hey, Charlie!" said Olivia. Olivia, the best actress at Bloor's, had discovered her endowment most recently of the six of them (only Fidelio wasn't); she could create illusions. It was often helpful when the group needed somebody else distracted. "We're heading to the Pets' Café. The Flames say Mr. Onimous has important news. Can you come?"
"Sure, but…" Charlie looked down at his attire: some ratty, old, oversized sweatpants, a T-shirt, and bare feet.
"We'll wait for you to change," said Emma, whose endowment was turning into a bird. Charlie smile gratefully and ran up the stairs my twos. After a few seconds, he reemerged in proper jeans and sweatshirt.
"I'm going out, too, Grandma," he said to Maisie as he passed. She smiled and waved the wooden spoon that she was using at him to signal "goodbye".
Charlie hopped out the door. "Fido," he said, using Fidelio's nickname, "You got a pet for me?"
Fidelio nodded and handed Charlie a butterscotch-spotted gerbil. The rule at Pets' Café was no pet, no entry. Since Grandma Bone hated animals and wouldn't allow Charlie to have a pet, he had to borrow his friends' animals frequently.
The group began to head down the street. "I wonder what the news is?" Gabriel wondered aloud. Gabriel Silk's endowment was very unique. When he was wearing or touching other people's clothing, he could feel what they were feeling or think what they had been thinking. The Silk family could never buy Gabriel used clothes or give him hand-me-downs because he couldn't handle two or three different feelings at once.
"I hope it's good news," commented Lysander darkly. Sander, as he was called among his friends, had the power to summon up the spirits of his African ancestors. Sometimes, when something was wrong, Lysander could hear the ancient beating of drums and war calls in a corner of his mind.
By then the gang was at the café. The bouncer let them pass; after all, they were regulars there. Mr. and Mrs. Onimous, the owners, knew them all by name.
"Good, you're here," said Mr. Onimous, appearing from the back room. Orville Onimous was a small, gruff little man, with untidy gray hair and rather pointed nose. Charlie knew it was absurd, but the Pets' Café owner had always reminded him of a large mouse.
Mr. Onimous ushered them quickly into the back of the restaurant, where Mrs. Onimous was waiting, along with Billy Raven, a nine-year-old albino boy whose endowment was speaking to animals, and a small, bouncy little girl around five that Charlie recognized from a few months before.
"Hello," said Mrs. Onimous, smiling warmly. She towered over her husband; she must have been about six and a half feet compared to his five. She had feathery gray hair and a beak-like nose, and like Mr. Onimous, she reminded Charlie of an animal, but to him she resembled a bird.
She was gesturing towards a large table set with 11 steaming cups of tea; one for them all, even the little energetic girl.
Charlie and his friends took their seats. Once they were all settled and contentedly sipping their tea, Mr. Onimous whistled for attention.
"Some of you may remember my niece, Una," he said, gesturing towards the little girl, who waved shyly. Charlie and a few others nodded and smiled at Una, who was now rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. "If you remember her, you may also recall that I said we were going to keep her endowment a secret until it had been fully developed." Charlie nodded again. "Well…it seems that her parents have decided she's ready enough, so they shipped her here." Mr. Onimous sighed. "But I don't want to expose her to the Bloors quite yet. So she's staying here."
"Sir, what's her endowment?" asked Fidelio.
But Mr. Onimous didn't need to answer. At that moment, little Una suddenly morphed from a little girl into a roaring, crouching tiger.
"Aaaaaah!" they shouted. Gabriel was so shocked that his chair tipped over, but luckily he was caught by Mrs. Onimous before he hit the floor. Unfortunately, in her haste, she had knocked over Tancred and Emma's teacups, sending dark liquid splashing to the floor and all over them.
"Una!" Mr. Onimous barked. "I told you not to do that when we have guests!"
In two seconds, a brown-haired little girl stood in the tiger's place, a sheepish grin on her round face.
The only one who seemed unfazed by the whole catastrophe was Billy. Billy Raven was never afraid of animals, even big ones with sharp teeth. He stood there, trying not to laugh, as everyone righted themselves and began to mop up the mess.
"How did she do that?" asked Olivia after everyone had calmed down.
Mr. Onimous shrugged. "How do you do what you do? It's her endowment. No one can explain it."
"Is tiger the only thing she can shape-shift into?" asked Emma.
"No," squeaked Una, speaking for the first time. "I can do other animals too. Watch."
Before their eyes, Una grew smaller and smaller until she was just a little ball of fur on the floor.
"Oh, how adorable! A kitten!" squealed Olivia, scooping the brown cat off the floor and cuddling it in her arms. Slowly, Una changed again and again; into a hamster, a puppy, and then a rabbit.
"What a great endowment!" said Emma, tickling the bunny in between its ears. "I can only do bird. Can she?"
Mrs. Onimous shook her head. "Wings are your talent, Emma."
After about an hour, sipping refill after refill of tea and doughnuts and watching Una change from horse to lizard to cheetah to snake and back again, the group got up to leave. Charlie was not looking forward to being in the house alone with Grandma Bone while Maisie did her daily errands, but he had no choice.
He parted ways with his friends to head right while the rest went left. He scuffed along the sidewalk, thinking of Una and how long the Onimouses would be able to keep her a secret from the Bloors.
He had a feeling that it wouldn't take long.
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Well, that's it for the first chappie! DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW, and check back soon for the next installment! Thank you so much! –Roxy.Gurl.7194