From the Author of Lost Bird and the Ice and Blood series…

Linkinparkfan9799 Stories

Black Cat/Shugo Chara-T

Paper Flowers and Cat Whiskers

One: Good to Bad

Every story begins at some point. Mine begins at the very beginning on the very day I was born: Friday, November 13, 1981. I was born with purple cat ears and a thin cat tail I'm regulated to trim at least every Sunday. I had a good life, filled with loving friends, relatives, and presents from those loving people. Back then I was always smiling, but I always had a nick for dark colors like navy, black, and deep purple, such color of my tail and cat appendages. If you ever meet me in person, please don't ask if I have a 'backwards boner'. Trust me I've had enough of that crack to suffice a person's hunger for ten years. It's my tail, plain and simple.

Now, I bet you're wondering 'why I keep saying HAD this and HAD that'. Well, all of that was taken away, obviously. On my tenth birthday, my parents let me watch the only TV in the house for hours while they got the kitchen ready for my party. Julia and Max, my older sister and younger brother, sat on either side of me, watching an American show, seeing our parents were head over heels for American culture and behavior. That's how I got the American name, Trixie, and not a traditional Japanese one like Kaede or Maki.

After a while, Julia started to worry a lot, so she went inside. Max was oblivious to everything, even when I slapped him in his sleep to kill a bug on his cheek. Yep, he slept like a baby. Julia screamed and Max clung to me, so I had to limp in. Mom and Dad were wide-eyed and Julia was staring at something on a cabinet. The wall prevented me from seeing the exact words, and I never saw the message. Nope. Julia rushed me back into the room and shut off the TV. "Mama," I whimpered, "why's Julia upset? Mama?"

Mom walked in and smiled sadly. I didn't get it then, and I don't get it now. "Oh, that's because you're party isn't done yet!" she giggled.

"Oh," I blinked. "It's okay Julia. It's not that important."

Julia blinked out hot tears and sighed, hugging me. "Saying that is like saying you're not Trixie."

Max let go and sat on the ground, playing with the carpet fibers. After a few minutes, the doorbell rang. Mom and Dad exchanged glances before pushing Julia over to us gently. Mom took a deep breath and opened the door. "Ye-"

She didn't get to finish as the roar of bullet-fire damaged my ears temporarily. Her blood splattered all over the walls and Dad was pushing Julia, Max, and I for the back door. "RUN!" he screamed. "RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN AND DON'T YOU DARE LOOK BA-"

Someone shot him straight through the heart. He fell forward and Julia shoved us out the door, Max struggling. "Papa! Mama!" he cried. "PAPA! MAMA!"

I was sobbing as Julia hurried us along. Max broke free of Julia's grip. "NO! MAX!"

"PAPA! MA-"

His brains splattered all over the frigid concrete as his body fell backwards. In the back doorframe was a man with charcoal hair and piercing red eyes. I never forgot them. "Get the girls!"

Julia shoved me along as I cried, running as fast as I could. My purple bob hid my left eye, even though it wasn't any different from the right green one on the left with a cat's pupil. We ran for what felt like days, what was actually one. Julia stopped us in a damp alley, rats scurrying from one side to the next. "This is where we part," she choked on her tears.

"What?" I gasped. "Sister, no!"

I grabbed her sleeve, but she just jerked it away. "You…You have to live at least…They came for you. They wanted to kill you, Trixie. Please…at least live…"

"Can't we live together?" I begged. "Trixie wants to stay with Sister!"

She stroked the area between my cat ears. "I'm going to that orphanage," she pointed across the street. She wrote something down and slipped it into my nimble and dirty fingers. "This is my cell phone number. Call me when you need me, okay?"

I sniffled and she patted the crown of my skull before running across the street to knock on the door. I turned away and ran in the opposite direction. I was ten, and she expected me to fend off for my own. How was that going to happen? I tripped over a curb eventually, scrapping my knees and palms. My fingers dug into my palms, the knuckles white. I sobbed. "I need help!" I screamed with my eyes closed. "Someone…PLEASE HELP ME! I NEED A FRIEND OR SOMEONE!"

My forehead dropped onto the cold concrete as my tears warmed up my cheeks. "Don't cry, Onee-chan!" a small voice whimpered. "I'm here!"

I blinked out some last few tears and pulled my head up to a tiny girl with white cat ears, a un-trimmed, snow-white tail waving behind her rump. She was sitting on the sidewalk in front of my sharp nose, her head tilted to the side and her honey-gold eyes staring at me, big as her stomach. Her hands were replaced with fuzzy, white paws, tiny claws popping out. She had a white tank-top and golden-colored shorts going to her mid-thigh. Her feet were also replaced with white paws, the bottoms a light pink. She had a regular nose, sure, but little white whiskers twitched as she wriggled her nose. I smiled a little and sat up, seeing she had a white egg with two gold rings looping each other on it.

"Who're you?" I rubbed one blood-shot eye.

"I'm Willow," she laughed. "I'm a Guardian Character, or your wish!"

"So…you're my wish to…" I thought.

"To not be alone of course!" she flew up to hug my nose. "Don't worry, Onee-chan, I'll always be here for you!"

I laughed and hugged her in my hands, the egg on the ground. Something in me lit up that day and I picked up that egg and Willow flew into it, making sure to leave a decent crack to watch through. I held the egg and walked forward, remembering one skill my father taught me before he perished: how to handle a firearm. So that's how I got my present job. To be honest, it's a 'you choose' kind of thing.

Mercenary or Sweeper, your pick.