A request story for Skelligton Girl. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own Rachel, Dr. Farrener, the two dogs Chocolate and Taco, Russel Jocklin, and Sharon. Bellatrix Bente (Nightingale) and her father and stepmom belong to Skellington Girl. All other characters belong to their respective owners.

His Friend, The Nightingale

Bellatrix Bente left the animal center that evening after helping out the staff with the dogs and cats. Being an animal lover, she felt happy spending time with the animals and showing them that she loved them all. It was like owning them all, even though they were in the center, but every animal loved her. Even the shy ones or ones that had been abused took right to Bellatrix, sensing her to be kind. She always cried whenever they'd get an animal that had been abused or was very sick and she would help the veterinarian with the animals by singing softly. Her voice would calm the animals and help them, several times to the point of them falling asleep in her arms. The vet often said Bellatrix was an angel because no matter how severe the sickness an animal had, when she was there, they would recover rapidly.

Smiling, she started to walk home, although she was apprehensive because of her stepmom. After her mother died, her father had married a lady he knew, but Bellatrix didn't really like her because something felt off about her.

Suddenly, she heard a gunshot and something hit her arm, making her cry out in pain as she fell to the ground, looking to see who had shot at her and saw two men in a van, one holding a gun. "Miss Whitney is going to pay us well," said one as he got out. "First off, we've got to get this one to the river."

Bellatrix was scared as she realized that her stepmom, Whitney, was behind this. Tears came to her eyes as she watched the men come closer to grab her.

But just then, a piercing howl sounded. It was so loud it actually broke the van windows. The two hit men covered their ears and screamed while Bellatrix just lay there, her arm sore, but because she was on the ground, she was safe from the piercing howl. Then something landed hard right by her head and she jumped a bit, glancing up to see gray fur and some green. One hit man turned on a flashlight and aimed it at the creature growling at them and the girl saw it was a wolf, although it looked like a hybrid because it was different from any wolf she had seen.

The wolf growled again and to Bellatrix's amazement, the wolf's muzzle split in four different directions, similar to how someone might peel a banana and an echoing howl sounded again, blowing the hit men back. "Tell Miss Whitney she'll be getting a visit from someone important soon," said the wolf, startling all three humans out of their minds.

The hit men got in the van and took off, fear set deep in their faces. Bellatrix then saw the wolf come closer to her and was fearful that he was going to eat her, since she was wounded and wolves could smell blood. However, she was more startled when he picked her up and placed her on his back, using a rope to keep her in place since he knew she couldn't really use her right arm while it was wounded. "Hold on to me with your left arm," he said to her. "We're going to have to book it to the mansion."

The young teen did as she was told, holding on as best she could as the wolf ran fast, zipping down the roads and through a thick forest before arriving at the Grant Mansion. Bellatrix realized it was the same mansion everyone said was haunted and those that went in didn't come out. She was a little afraid as the wolf hurried in and a twenty-one-year old woman came out to the door.

"Blitzwolfer, what happened?" she asked before she saw the girl on the alien's back and her right arm had blood dripping down her arm. "Oh, my word!" the woman exclaimed as she quickly went over and lifted the teen in her arms after the wolf alien had untied the rope and followed her as she ran down the hall.

Rachel ran quickly down the hall, trying not to jostle the injured girl in her arms as she hoped Frankenstrike was there. She burst into his lab. "Frankenstrike!" she called out, startling the large scientist alien, who turned to see why she was frantic and his eyes widened at seeing the injured girl in Rachel's arms and the blood now soaking Rachel's shirt from the injured girl's left arm.

"Let me see her," he said urgently and Rachel handed him the girl and watched as he placed her on the table, pushing up her shirt sleeve to examine the wound. Bellatrix was a bit scared when she saw this Frankenstein-like man examining her wound, but noticed how he was being careful and then he started cleaning it to get a better look, using an x-ray machine to find the cause of the wound.

"Frankenstrike?" Rachel asked, concern in her voice.

The scientist alien nodded and put away the x-ray machine. "She's very lucky," he said. "The bullet hit her but it only grazed her arm, so it's only a flesh wound with no bullet lodged in her arm."

The wolf alien and the woman both sighed in relief and Bellatrix stayed still as the alien she heard the woman call Frankenstrike bandaged her arm expertly and gave her some medicine that would help the pain. She felt better afterwards but then noticed her shirt was stained with blood as was the woman's shirt. "I'm sorry," she said, indicating to their blood-splattered clothes.

"Don't worry about it," said the woman, coming up and gently taking the young teen's left arm. "Come on, let's go change and I'll put these clothes in the wash."

Fifteen minutes later, both Bellatrix and Rachel came back to Frankenstrike's lab, where the large alien handed Bellatrix a sling so that she could rest her arm and Rachel helped her put it on. "What's your name, hon?" the owner of the Grant Mansion asked.

"Bellatrix," she said. "Bellatrix Bente."

"That's a very pretty name," said the wolf, coming up.

Bellatrix looked at him and the other two. "Who are you guys?" she asked.

The woman smiled. "I'm Rachel Jocklin, owner of the Grant Mansion," she said. "The scientist alien is Frankenstrike and the wolf alien is Blitzwolfer."

The young teen looked at Blitzwolfer and smiled. "Thank you for saving me," she said, but her amber brown eyes were troubled. "But how did you know my stepmom sent them?"

Blitzwolfer looked away for a moment and then stood up on two legs, gently pulling Bellatrix into a hug, feeling her hip-length brown hair swish lightly against his arms as he gently rubbed her head. "I was on patrol this afternoon when I overheard your stepmother give the order to those two men to kill you," he said. "When I heard her tell them your name, I went to find you and overheard the local vet praise you for helping out the sick animals. After you left, I went in to see the vet and asked him your name. When he told me, I knew I had to hurry and find you and the vet promised he called the police."

Bellatrix looked at him. "Wait, didn't he freak out at seeing you?" she asked.

"Blitz? Was it Dr. Farrener?" Rachel now asked.

"Yes," said the wolf alien with a nod.

Rachel also nodded and looked at the young teen. "Dr. Farrener is a good friend of the family. Some time back, Wildmutt got sick and we couldn't figure out what was wrong and my uncles called him to come. We were a bit skeptic at first, but we didn't have much choice if we wanted to help our friend. Thankfully, Dr. Farrener was able to help Wildmutt and he promised to keep our secret," she said.

Frankenstrike nodded as well. "Dr. Farrener is a good man," he said. "That is why all those animals trust him."

Bellatrix reached for her neck and suddenly looked panicked when she found her locket was gone. "My necklace is missing," she said, trying to hold back tears. "My dad gave it to me on my birthday."

"Could this be it?" asked a new voice as Rook walked in, having heard them talking. In his hand was a silver, heart locket. "I found it at the crime scene."

The teen was so happy he had found her necklace that she surprised him by hugging him with her good arm. He was a bit stunned but then hugged her back gently, smiling. The others also smiled as the teen then opened up the locket and showed them that it was a picture of her with the animals at the animal center and they all smiled again.

"Bellatrix?" called a voice frantically, coming in.

"Daddy!" she said, running into his arms. Mr. Bente hugged her and realized her arm was in a sling.

"Sweetie, are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded. "They helped me," she said. "I wouldn't be here if Blitzwolfer hadn't stopped those men."

"That's what we do best," said Blitzwolfer, winking at Bellatrix, who blushed, the blush giving her tanned skin a copper-like color.

Mr. Bente hugged his daughter again. "The police have taken Whitney away," he said. "I don't think I'll remarry again, not after this. I'm never going to let anyone hurt you again, my little Nightingale."

"Daddy," Bellatrix lightly protested at him calling her his special nickname for her in front of everyone.

"Don't be embarrassed," Rachel said with a smile. "Chocolate and Taco have told me about a girl who could sing like an angel and take their minds off their fear and pain."

The teen looked at her. "Chocolate and Taco?" she asked and suddenly found herself on the floor under a huge chocolate brown Labrador and a small Chihuahua, who both barked happily and licked her face, making her laugh as she recognized them. Rachel also laughed as she then realized it was time for the dogs to eat and gave a short, one note whistle.

"Chocolate. Taco, come," she said, still smiling as the two obeyed her and got off of Bellatrix, following their master out to the kitchen. The teen looked at Frankenstrike.

"What did she mean that they told her about me?" she asked.

Frankenstrike smiled. "Rachel has the ability to talk to and understand animals," he said. "No matter what type of animal, she can translate what they're saying."

"Wow."

That one word made the others all laugh in amusement at her stunned face.

About half a year later, Bellatrix walked into her home after finishing up at the animal center and saw her father sitting with a very pretty lady, who was smiling and then spotted the girl in the doorway. "You must be Bellatrix," she said, her voice and smile both pleasant. "I'm Sharon. Your father's just been telling me about you and your work with the animals."

Bellatrix smiled, instantly liking her. "Hi," she said and then noticed something on Sharon's left hand and smiled. "Daddy! You've been holding out on me!" But she wasn't mad.

Mr. Bente chuckled. "I wanted to be sure she was the right one this time," he said. "I met her through Russell Jocklin, one of the local store owners and well, they say love can happen at first sight."

"I think you mean at first crash," said Sharon, with a smile. "I turned around to find you behind me and I bumped into you and we ended up wearing my groceries."

That made all three laugh heartily as Bellatrix went up to do her homework and found Blitzwolfer in her room. "Hey, when did you get here?" she asked.

"Just before you came home," he said. "I met Sharon. She's very nice and trustworthy. I think she'd make a wonderful mother figure for you."

The teen smiled. "I think you're right," she said. "I like her and she told me how she met my dad and they ended up wearing all of her groceries."

Blitzwolfer laughed. "Oh, I remember when Russell told us that. We couldn't stop laughing for a bit, and Rachel said it was similar to how she and Rook met," he said.

Bellatrix laughed with him and then set her bag down and took out her books. "You can stay if you want. I have a little bit of homework to do," she said.

He got up. "Actually, I have to get to the mansion. I have patrol tonight," he said. "But I wanted to see you before I headed out."

She smiled and hugged him and he returned the hug. "Thanks for everything, Blitz," she said. "You're one of the greatest friends in the world."

"You too," he said. "Take care, Bellatrix."

"See you later," she said.

With that, she turned back to her homework and Blitzwolfer headed off to do his patrol, making sure the town was safe for the night for everyone.

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418