Her ears twitched, sensing something she knew only she could hear. It's been like that for awhile; she can even sometimes hear what people are thinking. There it was! She heard it again. In her gut, it felt like a beckoning, a summoning or something, but she didn't know how to respond. She wanted to know what had been happening to her lately. She closed her eyes and concentrated on contacting whoever was trying to talk to her.
Hello?
"Ashlyn! Dinner is ready!"
Ash heard her step-mother, but chose to ignore her. It wasn't hard to reheat dinner in a microwave. I'll eat later, she thought, this is more important. She scrunched up her face and concentrated on blasting one thought out, praying that someone heard it.
She heard a response—well, felt it—in her mind. It felt like the essence of a smile or something. She couldn't explain it, but she knew that somehow, someone heard her—someone heard her call; someone wants to talk to her. But, what made her so special to receive a response?
Satisfied, Ash opened her eyes; the first thing she saw was her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes automatically traveled up to the two soft fox ears resting on her head. They were an icy blue color that matched the pale pigment of her skin perfectly. Her hair was cropped fairly short, very choppy, and almost white in color. The bottom of the short hair was colored an icy blue. Her hair was tied in a small pony tail, showing nothing but short, blue bangs. She pulled the long, bushy fox tail around her. In color and softness, it looked exactly like her hair: white with a blue end. Swirling around her tail were transparent, light blue tendrils. Ash had no idea what the transparent things were, and when she first noticed them, they frightened her, but she always just assumed they were the physical representation of her aura or something. She honestly had no clue, whatsoever.
Ash remembered the first time she noticed her fox-like appearances. It was a month after her dad had remarried to Katie. Katie is a skinny, prissy, lady in her mid-thirties, who, Ash was convinced, only married her father for the connections. Katie had always disliked Ash, but things really took a turn for the worse with them when the change occurred. Ash had gone out for a walk in the woods at their last house. Her and Katie had gotten into an argument, she Ash took a book and left. In the woods, Ash was clubbed in the head from behind and blacked out. When she woke up the next day, she had ears, a tail, and blue tipped hair. No one in her family could see the ears or the tail, but they noticed her hair. Katie spent hours dying Ash's hair back to its original color. Three hours after, the dye faded and the blue shined proudly. Katie was determined that Ash dyed her hair back just to mess with her.
"Ashlyn!"Ash jumped as the door sailed open and Katie stood in the hallway, her arms crossed. "Didn't you hear me ten minutes ago? Dinner is ready. Wash your hands. Now."
Ash stared at her step-mother, waiting for her to leave. Katie lifted her eye brows in an are-you-kidding-I-don't-trust-you-for-a-second look. Ash rolled her eyes and groaned. This was ridiculous; it was just dinner for God's sake. But Ash stood up nonetheless and followed her down stairs for dinner.
When she walked downstairs, she received a dirty look from her brother and a sigh from her father, followed by a lecture from her Katie.
"Ashlyn, we've been waiting on you for ten minutes. I'm surprised we're all not famished by this point," she said as she dished out a hefty portion of mashed potatoes to herself. Ash looked around the small, ornate room, praying she was anywhere but here. She knew what would come next in the lecture. "And, gosh, Ashlyn, why did you dye your hair that ugly color? You were so beautiful before. George, tomorrow I'm taking her to the salon to dye her hair back to its original color. Don't give me that look, young lady! You are starting school next week, and it'll be hard enough being the new student, but having a weird hair color? You'll be miserable. Is there a decent salon in Fell's Church?" She directed the question to Ash's father.
He shrugged. "I'm not sure," he took a massive bite out of a roll and drank half of his milk before continuing. "I think there's one in the next town over. Ridgemont, I think."
Ash grabbed a hunk of meat and smacked it on her plate, the bone making a nice noise against the porcelain. She slammed spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, corn, and stuffing on her plate, and then started eating it as fast as she could. She wanted to get out of here.
"Don't eat so fast, Ashlyn," She glared at her step-mother. "And don't give me that look! You are a child, and you will respect me. George?"
"Katie, pick your battles. Ashlyn has had enough for one dinner."
Katie, Ash's step-mother, sighed and mumbled an apology. Ash raised her eyes in response, not believing for a second that she was actually sorry. Katie had always hated Ash, but after her hair changed color, Katie lost it. She assumed it was a good thing nobody could see her ears and her tail.
"Dad, can I go for a walk?" Ash asked. When her father looked down at the plate full of food, she hastily added, "I wasn't all that hungry." She heard a disapproving noise from Katie, but her father nodded and pointed at the clock with his fork, reminding Ash of her curfew.
"I want you home by ten," he said, "I don't know who's a creep around here, so don't talk to anyone who looks more than three years older than you," he thought it over and changed his mind. "Heck, just don't talk to anyone. And I don't know the streets, so bring your cell phone and a map, but call me if you get into any trouble, okay? Tomorrow we'll go venturing in town, deal?"
Ash nodded once, "Deal."
Ten minutes later, Ash was equipped with a map of the town, a cell phone, an iPod, beef jerky, and a flashlight, all of which were kept in a beat-up, old rucksack. She pulled on a pair of black and green roller blades and left her driveway, venturing out into Fell's Church for the first time. The warm wind felt nice against her face.
She wasn't expecting the town to be as busy as it was. There were people everywhere, but a majority of them were teenagers littering a local diner. There were a few shops, all of which were family owned, that lined the street, but what really caught her attention was a small candy shop which was, surprisingly, still open. Even with the diner right next to her, Ash could still smell the sweet sugar smell the wafted from those doors. She skated straight to the shop, nearly plowing down a middle-aged couple with a small tow-haired child who laughed.
"You'll have to take those off," a man behind the counter said. "With all these glass jars and windows and sticky floors, being on wheels seems like a bad idea." He smiled at her pleasantly.
"Well, I don't have any shoes on, I just have my skates."
He scratched his chin for a moment, contemplating her situation. "Well, I can't think of a single person who has died from having sticky feet, have you?"
"No, sir," Ash replied. She smiled.
He pointed at her with his rag and leaned on the counter. "I know every person in this town, yet I have never seen you before."
"I'm Ash. My dad moved into a house on Sunflower court."
"Ahh! Okay, I know where that is. I'm Mr. Honeycutt," he held out his hand and Ash shook it. "My son is around your age. Are you going to Robert E. Lee High School? I'll have him introduce you around. And, umm, about your shoe dilemma, I also run a sporting goods store across the way, open all week. Being new, maybe I'll give you a discount." He winked at her and continued cleaning the counter. "Have a look around, Ash, and I'll be here if you need anything."
Ash left her skates near the doors and walked on the sticky, laminated floors, eyeing all of the delicious sweets. The shelves were, for the most part, fully stocked, so she spent her time choosing wisely. She heard other people enter the shop. She looked over her shoulder, noticing the others in the shop were around her age.
There was a red haired girl who was looking at the candies like a young child would. She had a beautiful heart-shaped, pale face, and brown eyes that looked wide and innocent. She met eyes with Ash and smiled. Ash smiled back, glad that at least the girls weren't snotty. The red haired girl poked at a dark haired girl and pointed at Ash. The dark haired girl was tall with olive skin. Her face showed nothing but calmness and coolness. Ash couldn't decide whether she seemed mean or not. Definitely intimidating. There was a blonde haired girl with them too, talking to Mr. Honeycutt. Ash would have to analyze her later.
Ash went back to browsing the candy. She found what looked like homemade rock candy. She gasped and grinned, shoving handfuls of every color into a now bulging bag. Rock candy had always been her favorite candy. Her mother had first introduced it to her when she was in kindergarten. Ash missed her mother terribly, and the rock candy almost made her sad, thinking about her mother, but she couldn't help but leave with two and a half bags full of the stuff.
Ash stood in line behind the three girls. She stood a bit farther back. Though they seemed nice, Ash didn't want her first impression with them to be that she was some weird, young, candy-loving goon. The red haired girl popped a piece of bubblegum into her mouth and laughed as someone made a joke. Hopefully not about me, Ash thought. She self-consciously looked at her outfit, sighing in relief that she managed to wear something that wasn't weird. She also wiggled her nose, making sure she was booger-free.
"Okay, Mr. Honeycutt. Just tell him that I'll see him when school starts up. This weekend will be absurdly busy for me and Aunt Judith. Thank you!"
Ash stood against a counter as the trio of girls waltzed past her. The blonde girl was obviously the alpha of the group. She held her head high and looked down at Ash like an adult looks down on a child. She had beautiful, blue eyes, yet they disturbed Ash; they seemed to pierce her soul in that one glance. The red haired girl looked back at Ash one more time before turning the corner and heading back to town.
"Is that all you wanted?"
Ash's attention snapped back to the man at the counter. "Yes! Sorry." She placed her candy on the counter and handed him a twenty. "Hey, Mr. Honeycutt, who were those girls? Anyone I should be afraid of?"
Mr. Honeycutt laughed as he weighed her candy. "Elena? Not at all. She and my boy are friends. The other two with her were Bonnie, the red haired one, and Meredith," he took her money and typed the price on an ancient looking cash register. "Alright, twelve dollars and seventy two cents is your change. Great doing business with you, Ash. I hope to see you around more often."
"Will do Mr. Honeycutt!" Ash stuffed her candy in her rucksack and wrestled on her roller skates again. "And I think I'll take you up on your offer for some new shoes." Mr. Honeycutt laughed. "Thank you!"
"'Bye then, Ash."
Ash turned the corner and picked up momentum towards the park, which was a bit away from town. The streets calmed down some as the air become more and more humid. Ash checked her watch, happy that she still had an hour of freedom.
There were fewer lights at the park, which seemed more ominous, but it was still a park nonetheless, and Ash wanted nothing more than to skate around on the basketball courts. The gates were still open, thank God, Ash didn't think she'd be able to hop any fences tonight, and she glided inside, making no noise rather than the grinding of plastic wheels on concrete. The park had, what Ash assumed, a small, shady grass area, a plastic playground for children, one tennis court, and two basketball courts. When Ash looked out past the basketball courts, she could see the buildings of Robert E. Lee High School.
Why am I nervous, Ash asked herself. Her heartbeat picked up a little bit, and she felt like someone was watching her.
"That's ridiculous," she muttered to herself, "no one is here. Right? There isn't anyone here, is there?" she said the last question louder to reassure herself, she wasn't expecting an answer back.
"Well, if an assassin was here, they wouldn't answer you. That would be false reassurance, huh? Thinking no one was here when someone actually was."
Ash startled, lost her balance, and crashed onto the cement. She scuttled away from the voice and grabbed a tiny bottle of mace she kept on her keychain.
"Don't come closer! I have a weapon!" Ash saw a person move out from the inky darkness. She could tell it was a boy in the soft moonlight. She felt stupid and helpless on the ground. "Who are you?"
"I think the better question would be: would you like some help up?" He reached a hand out to her.
"I can get up myself, thank you," she answered. She managed to stand for only a moment before crashing to the ground again because of her skates. The boy chuckled and Ash glared at her skates. At least her nervousness was starting to evaporate; which seems strange, since she was in a dark park with an unknown boy and no one else is was around. She ripped off her skates and stood up.
She held out her mace at arm's length. "You never answered my question," she stated.
"Very true," the boy said. He clapped his hands together and started pacing in a circle. "But, who is a person really? I could spat out a name at random, and you'd believe that to be my identity in an instant. I can already feel you judging me now, isn't that right, Ashlyn Reeds?"
Ash stiffened. "How do you know my name?"
"That seems irrelevant at this time, Miss Ashlyn. You look like an ice fox, if there were such thing as an ice fox to exist at this point in time," Ash gasped. Could he see what no one else could? "I think it will take evolution centuries to turn foxes a blue color, don't you?"
"Who the hell are you?" Ash yelled. She held her mace with a tighter grip.
Ash heard the click of a lighter, turned quickly, and covered her face. She heard chuckles behind her. She turned her head and peeked between her fingers. The boy was holding a Zippo lighter, showing his identity to her. She uncovered his face and looked at him fully. He was a beautiful creature. His face showed Asian origins, but his clothes showed American living. His slim, Asian face was framed by short black hair with glowing red tips. Two red, fox ears were placed delicately on the top of his head, and a bushy, black fox tail, with a red tip, swayed elegantly behind him. There were a dozen or so red, transparent tails behind him.
He's like me, Ash thought. It took her a few moments to get her brain functioning enough to give her speech.
"Who are you?" She asked.
"I am Shinichi. I am a kitsune."