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Hello, everyone! *hides* I'm so sorry for not updating for like SIX months. :O THIS (this story) among other things that have been counting towards my grades and social life (lol) have kept me so busy that I haven't found much time to write at all, let alone read or anything.

But, this story is the main project I've been working on for I think two months now (?) for my Reading class. There's only going to be two "Chapters" because even with all the time I spent on it, I never even got this story half way done. The second part (chapter) is going to be an overview of the rest of the book.

Thanks a bunch for reading, everyone, and I really hope that this helps satisfy your reading urge from me for just a little while.

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Chapter 1

Awake as… me

The alarm buzzed and I groaned.

I groaned.

I didn't grunt, I didn't snarl, and I didn't growl. I groaned.

I groaned like a human.

Carefully, I moved my right upper limb. It was long, slender, and lanky. Next I silently prayed that I would find my fingers instead of the hoof that I had fallen asleep with.

A tingling sensation shot up my arm. That was my first finger, at least. Oh, thumbs, oh I REALLY hoped I had opposable thumbs.

Another flash of feeling told me that indeed, I did.

Oh no. Now I was narrowing down my options. There were two left, and one was heaven and the other would be hell.

The real question here was, "Am I human again?"

Slowly, and cautiously, I crept my hand and arm toward my face. It didn't feel furry, which was a good sign. Lifting it off the bed, I closed my eyes and let it hover there. At this point, I hadn't seen my hand this morning.

Now or never, right? Let's get this over with.

I blinked, focusing my vision. There, in front of me, was a human, flesh hand.

It was my hand.

I clenched it into a fist, grinning. Opening it again, memories came with the sensation of real skin stretching, but for now I blocked them.

I was human again, which meant that I had another chance.

Quickly, I jumped out of bed and pulled on some clothes, dark jeans and a long sleeve shirt that was striped red and black. I looked at myself in the mirror. There was my pale skin, dark, straight hair that was getting long enough to touch my emerald green eyes. The back of my hair stood up a bit, but I just left it like that. I needed all the time I could get today to find just one person, just one girl.

That was the last part of this stupid curse that had been put on me. After I got a girl to love me, I would be set free and never turn into an animal again. As I thought about this, I let myself finally remember the rest of my human memories. I couldn't keep them back any longer.

Six Months Ago

"Think you have enough makeup on your face today, Sarah?" I sneered as I set my tray of food on the lunch table.

Sarah Calry sat diagonally across the table from me, snickering gossip with Becky until I had spoken to her.

"Hey! Lucas!" She produced a sugar sweet, lip-gloss-coated smile across her face. Then she batted her unnaturally long and navy blue eyelashes at me as I sat down.

"What were you saying about my makeup?" She asked, trying to be cute.

Girls like these ones, or maybe it was just Sarah, drove me insane.

"I was just saying that you don't need gallons of makeup for school." I didn't say it kindly.

Her smile faulted for a moment, and then became an angry pucker.

"Well, you, you don't need… need…" She fumed angrily. "Come on, Becky."

Sarah and Becky stalked away from the table as Guy and Matt sat down in their now-empty places.

Guy laughed lightly, his crystal blue eyes sparkling. "Scare 'em away just to get us a seat, eh?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or was that just you causing Sarah's fit of the day?"

"Both," I replied, grinning. Some people called me mean, or uncaring, but Guy always suck by me, even when I was mean, he wouldn't ever be that way too, but instead he would just stop me. I didn't care either way. We just had our differences.

I looked over to Matt, with his brown hair and blue streaks with brown eyes.

Guy had golden hair in a choppy style.

"So what's been going on with you two today?" I leaned back in my chair.

Later

As I closed my locker, Lynn opened hers beside me. She had a bright neon green stack of flyers balanced on her notebook.

"What's up with the flyers?" I asked her, leaning against the lockers.

Lynn was a quiet girl with dark burgundy hair and pale green eyes. We'd known each other since we were little kids, and she was probably my second best friend, right after Guy.

"Oh, these?" She had already stuffed them under a few books on the top shelf of her locker. Shifting her things to one arm, she pulled one out for me to see.

Before she handed them to me she hesitated.

"What's the matter?" I asked her curiously.

"Just promise me that you won't go to my Grandma's fortune telling shop, okay? That's what the flyers are about. My mom was being over-enthusiastic about it and made flyers that she expects me to hand out as school." She rolled her eyes as she handed me the paper. "Right, like I would advertise my crazy Grandma's fortune-telling business, because that's what every kid does."

I glanced at the bright colored page.

It read:

Madam Uzlezi

Telling Fortunes and much, much more!

Come find out your destiny at the Madam's Sanctuary,

Located at:

2063 Chester Avenue

Seattle, Washington

45092

It had a few other crafty advertising squares with prices and other promoting deals.

"Hm," I glanced at Lynn.

"Oh no," Lynn said. "You're not really thinking of going there, are you?"

I gave her a smirk and raised one eyebrow.

"What's the worst that could happen?" I asked, shrugging and folding up the paper. I slid it in my pocket.

"My Grandma is… well, she's just weird. Don't get me wrong, I lover her, but she kind of scares me."

"Why? Or do you just think I'll think you're weird too, if I see her?"

"No, but I would like it if you don't judge me," She paused.

I rolled my eyes. "Lynn, come on, you're one of the only people I don't judge."

She smiled. "Thank you."

"Anyway, why are you 'scared of her'?" I made air quotes as we walked down the hall to our next class, which was science.

"It's just freaky because most of her fortunes, readings, or anything else she does… comes true." She shrugged. "It's just strange."

I started to laugh. Lynn punched me in the arm.

"Hey, it's not funny," She said, smiling.

"Of course not, it's just funny that, you believe that," I said. She hit me again. "Oh, come on Lynn, you totally sounded paranoid there." I smiled at her.

"Well, yeah, I guess I did, just a little bit, huh?"

"How about you and me, tonight, get our fortunes read. Or maybe something else, I can't remember what all was on the flyer."

"Noooo way." Lynn crossed her arms.

"Aw, fun killer!" I pouted. "Just once, then we'll go to the all or go out to eat or something."

She bit her lip and looked to the side, considering it for several moments. It looked sort of like she was remembering things and weighing her opinions.

"Okay, fine," she sighed. "But then you're going shopping with me."

"And how about dinner?" I accepted.

"Max and Erma's," She replied.

"Awesome, I'll pay," I said happily.

Lynn glanced at me with a shocked expression.

"What, did you want to pay?" I asked raising my eyebrows.

"No, no," she held up her hands. "You're just not usually this willing"

"I don't usually get my way that easily with you," I shrugged and grinned at her. "Something to celebrate."

This earned me another whack on the arm.

Later (that Evening)

We met at Lynn's house, which was about three blocks from her grandmother's fortune-telling "sanctuary".

"Let's just walk there," Lynn said as she pulled on a light jacket. It was a little chilly, being November.

"Good idea, smarty, seeing as though neither of us can drive, since we don't have a car." I pointed out.

"Lucas, shut up, okay?" She looked annoyed. "I don't even want to be going there."

We'd made it about a block and I saw an alleyway up ahead.

"Hey, you said your Grandma's house was on Chester Avenue, right?" I asked her.

"Yeah…" She looked at me suspiciously, and then followed my line of sight. "You wanna take a shortcut, don't you?"

"Yeah, and it looks like this leads right over to Chester," I said stepping into the narrow space between two apartment buildings. I saw a car go by at the opening on the other end, which was about 20 meters away.

"Lucas." Lynn gave me a skeptical look, "It's only three blocks."

"Don't be so un-adventurous, Lynn," I said, walking a few more steps into the dim alleyway.

She stayed outside the passage and crossed her arms.

"Oh, come on," I urged. It was dusk outside, and it seemed the shadows from the trashcans in the alleyway got longer with each passing second.

Finally, after a moment's stare-down, she shook her head, made a disgusted noise, and started to walk hastily into the alley. I triumphantly smiled while matching her quickened strides.

"I've been letting you get your way too much, Lucas." She rolled her eyes. I just laughed, but I could tell by her posture she was extremely tense, maybe even scared.

Halfway through the shortcut, in only a matter of 30 seconds, we heard a loud thump of a trashcan falling over. Lynn screamed, I jumped away and froze. Both of us were pressed against one wall of the alley as we stared at the small figure, huddled and trembling on the other side.

After a brief silence Lynn moved first.

"Lucas," she almost whispered. "I think it's a kid."

I stole a glace at her. Her eyes had softened and she slumped her shoulders a bit.

"What are you talking about? Why the hell would a random kid be in a dark alley way like this?" I tried to reason with her. Outside the alley the streetlights flickered to life.

"Hey," she said softly to the smallish human-shaped lump.

It snapped its head up to look at her. His eyes were glossy with fear. His face was drenched wet with tears and smudged with dirt. He had straight, chocolate-colored hair and dark brown eyes.

"P-please don't-t hurt me." He said in a high, hoarse, six-year-old voice.

"Shh," Lynn said, slowly extending her hand. "Tell me, how did you get here?" She flipped her hand over and up again to signal to the child that she didn't have any weapon.

"I just wanted to see the kitty, and I fell," a sob broke loose from his tiny chest.

"Did you lose your parents?" Lynn asked in a calm but understanding tone.

"Y-yes," he sniffled.

"Alright," Lynn nodded to him. "Well-" and she paused, looking for something to call him. "What's your name?"

"Blake." The boy whimpered.

"Blake, I will not hurt you, you can trust Lucas and I, we just want to help you find your parents, okay?"

"Whoa, Lynn," I interjected, trying to find my voice again.

She glanced at me.

"We can't just take this kid," I told her. She looked at me like I had just spoken in another language. Then her expression turned to anger.

"Lucas, he's a lost little boy. What do you expect us to do with him?" She could hardly suppress the venom in her voice.

"His parents have got to be around, they'll find him, what if we take him and make him even more lost than he already is?"

Worse yet, I thought, what are we going to do with him if he never gets "found" and has to stay with us?

"So you want us to just leave him here?" She sounded repulsed by the very thought. "Never mind, Lucas, I don't want to hear your answer. No, I'm not just leaving this child her alone."

"Lynn-" I started.

"No!" She turned to me. "This is going too far, you can't just leave a little kid alone in an alley way!"

Suddenly I didn't have anything to say.

Lynn gave me one last silencing glance and then turned back to Blake.

"Will you come with me, Blake?" I can take you to the police's station where they'll help us find your parents."

"The police? The one's in the uniforms who beat the bad guys?" he said, scrunching his face up a bit.

"Yep, those are the ones," Lynn said smiling, despite the situation. "The also help find missing people, like your parents." She held out her hand for the boy to take.

He grabbed it with his own, miniature hand, and pulled himself up.

"Come on," she said gently. She stared to lead him out the way that we had come. Then she realized that I wasn't following her.

"Lynn, I'm not getting wrapped up in this," I put my hands up, as if in defense. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be sorry for," She responded. I glanced at the kid. Blake was trembling and clutching Lynn's hand as if she would disappear if he didn't hang on to her. I watched both of them until they turned to walk back towards Lynn's house.

Trying to think clearly, I subconsciously turned and walked out of the alley the other way.

A glowing, bright-red paper lantern caught my attention as soon as I stepped onto Chester Avenue. A little ways to the left and across the street was none other than Madam Uzlezi's fortune-telling shop, our original destination.

Something drew me too the house like a moth to a flame. I didn't really think, and I didn't know why I decided to go there, but sure enough, suddenly I heard a chime sound as I opened the door.

The shop was just based out of a regular Asian-style house that had two stories. The inside was painted deep red and was illuminated by a mix of scented candles and modern lights built into the ceiling, probably set on dim. The floor had light brown tile covering it.

I inhaled a few breaths and a feeling spread through my body with the oxygen that I had just consumed. It made me extremely calm.

"Ah!" An older, short, plump lady with a green robe-type dress appeared from a hallway farther back. Her grey hair was neatly pinned back into a bun. Her face was big and wide with wrinkles and she had big grey-green eyes. "A young gentlemen lost on his path of life, eh?" She raised a thin grey eyebrow and studied me from a meter away.

"I guess you could say that," I admitted. Why was I here again?" It was awkward, standing even just this close to this lady that I was dwarfing. I must've been underestimating my height. Sure, I was about 6'2'', maybe less, but that would make this lady only about 4 feet tall. She was tiny.

"Come with me, come with me," She said and beckoned with her hand as she started into a doorway on my left. I cautiously followed her.

"Sit," she demanded. WE were in a medium-sized room, it wasn't too big, but it definitely wasn't small. It had the same red walls and tile, as the entry hall and the only light were still the mix of candles and dim, round lights in the ceiling. She was pointing to a mat in front of a low wooden table.

I did as I was told as she took up the mat on the other side of the polished table.

"My name is Madam Uzlezi, if you didn't already know, and may I ask, what reading shall I be giving you today, dear Lucas?" Madam Uzlezi had a shrill, but raspy voice. It didn't sound annoying, but it sure was particular.

"How do you know my name?" I asked suspiciously.

"Lynn has described you before," She responded evenly.

After a moment the Madam continued, "There are three that I can offer you today: a palm reading, a past reading, or a future reading. The palm reading will tell me what you truly are inside your soul, your future reading will tell me what it is you shall accomplish, and your past reading shall show me your mistakes and how to fix them. Also," She smirked "we do have a special deal gong on, $20 for an "All Three Reading"."

"Um," I thought for a moment. "I'll just stick with a palm reading first."

(These notes were to my reading teacher)

Notes: This story isn't completed, and I am sorry about that. I'm going to put the plot outline after these notes that I've written so far. The next part would have many more details, seeing as though it's only an overview. The story probably would have taken me about three more months to write, and about twenty more pages, approximately. Thank you for grading what I have so far.

The other reason I never finished it is because I have writer's block on this story. The words just wouldn't come naturally, and in my opinion, I'd much rather give you my work that is short (and good, since I put a lot of effort in this first part) than my work that is bad.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.

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Alright, well this ISN'T the end, I promise. The next part is an overview, outline, what ever you want to call it.

Please review if you'd like to :)

And also, tell me if you'd like me to post some one-shots (sort of like this) that I've just created. They'd just be Misc. because they don't really involve any characters from any other stories, although you can picture them as other characters. ^_^

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