Chapter 2: Pocket Locket

Ashia groaned. She was in Gym Class, running and panting alongside Casper and friends, with Thatch sneering at them all for being so slow. Well, all except Mantha, who came close to finishing before the vampire, though he claimed it was only because he wasn't allowed to simply fly around the track.

Frankie, the teacher, was a Frankenstein monster with light bulbs on the side of his head. She found him to be nice enough once you got to know him, but he didn't let up when it came to his class... Which was why she liked him! Even SHE had been specifically told she wouldn't be treated specially in his class! (Although, she suspected he was going easier on her just the same.) She had cheered when he said this, getting a number of weird looks from her classmates and confusing the teacher to the point where he shook his head as if trying to dismiss the thoughts there.

He was apparently going out with Heady. His hair was short and striped with alternating lines of lime and emerald green, his skin itself was green, and his middle was a blue cube with an icon, probably a screaming fleshie, in the center.

Somehow, a student must have accidentally, or perhaps on purpose, kicked a rock into the gym, because it was kicked again and smashed into the wall so hard it sent a shower of sparks down on Mosshead, one of Thatch's so called "friends."

These sparks ignited a flame in his moss-like green hair, and he began to hop up and down, screaming and shouting, swiping at the flame frantically to put it out and stupidly burning his hands. Casper helped to put it out, but by that time Frankie had seen enough.

"Villagers with torches!" He shouted, and smashed through the brick wall. He didn't come back until class was well over.

Of course, the students spent the rest of the class as free time.

"So, he's afraid of fire?" Ashia asked.

"Runs every time he sees it," Ra grinned. "Free period!"

"Guys, it's not funny! He has a real phobia!" Casper scolded.

"Aw, come on, Casper! He runs like a baby every time he sees so much as a flame, even a campfire!" Mantha giggled.

"Ya gotta admit, it's nice to be able to relax and talk," Ashia pointed out with a shrug and a smile. When the bell rang, everyone flooded into the hallway, hungry and headed for lunch.

The lunch lady was a many tentacled she-creature from what you could see of her. She gave Ashia a better lunch than everyone else, but screeched when she protested against the special treatment. However, when the headmasters got lunch, she gave Dash the worst thing she could cook up and treated Alder like she did Ashia, purring the whole time at him. One of her tentacles even straightened his tie. Ashia rushed to sit with her new friends before she had a chance to puke...

"So... Kibosh said something about an arranged marriage..." Mantha began. Ashia had scrunched in between Casper and Ra. Mantha and Wolfie also sat with them, on the other side of the table. Ashia grimaced.

"Yeah. And OF COURSE, I didn't have ANY say in the matter whatsoever!" She growled angrily, and small jolts of electricity ran up and down her spoon. She dropped it hastily, shaking her hand vigorously.

"But, who? And WHY?" Ra asked.

"Some freak named Joey Griffinheart. He's the leader of some rebellion against my uncle, big surprise there!" She rolled her eyes. "They call themselves the "Double Demanders," because they have two opposing sides in the same army, banded together. One side is protesting that creatures be allowed to be meaner, to scare more, and the other side is asking to be allowed to be nicer, to be able to be friendly instead,"

"Really? That's great!" Casper beamed.

"Wait... But what about the balance?" Wolfie's eyes were wide.

"Ah, now you get it! It messes with the balance when things change like that, but since their rebellion is so large now, he hasn't got much of a choice,"

"But what does that have to do with you?"

"Sadly, Griffinheart is very charismatic, and he would turn the ordeal into a matter of honor in order to keep the rebels wound up even IF Uncle K gave them what they wanted. So to avoid his doing that, we have to meet ALL his requirements, and ONE of them..." She paused, and looked around at all their faces. "...Is me,"

"So, he demanded your hand in marriage, and Ki... "Uncle K" ACCEPTED?" Mantha cried, appalled. Ashia nodded grimly. She then made a face of disgust and said,

"What's worse, he has no interest in ANY of my hobbies and his favorite word is 'fabtasticular!'"

"You met him?"

"No, the cheapskate sent a card," The vampire girl took a sip from her drink, which was, of course, blood. Type B+, to be exact.

"What'd it say?"

"Well, it USED to say "Happy Birthday!" until he crossed it out and wrote, "Relatively safe travels, sweetie!" among other things... And he doesn't even KNOW me! He just saw me on the street somewhere! UGH!"

"So THAT'S why you don't like your uncle!" Wolfie decided, and she nodded.

"Precisely. We used to have so much fun together, before... But now..." She trailed away, and stared into space for the second time that day. Her hands moved on their own accord to clutch her amulet, and the others all shared glances.

"You said moonlight affects you differently; how so?" Wolfie asked curiously. Ashia smiled, all too happy to change the subject.

"OH! Well, I'll let you all wait to find out, but I'll tell you this... It'll be VERY unexpected!" She winked cheerfully.

"Just tell us already!" Groaned Ra impatiently.

"RA!" Mantha kicked him under the table.

"OW!" He jumped up and hopped on his good foot, holding his now injured ankle. Ashia giggled.

"Hey, there is one secret I'll let you all in on, if you promise not to tell," Ra immediately sat back down, pain forgotten. Reaching into her pocket again, Ashia produced a locket. It was the classic golden heart locket from storybooks, and inside it, as usual, was a picture. But not just any picture...

Inside was a small family photo, showing an adult male vampire, (Her Dad, Tirosh, Kibosh's brother,) an almost transparent female werewolf, (Her Mom, Scercilla,) Ashia herself, smiling next to a young, silver she-wolf, and someone else...

Tirosh stood beside his wife, looking surprisingly friendly for a vampire, and in front of them were their children, the werewolf in front of her mother and the vampire in front of her father. But in front of them, bent a ways over and grinning straight at the camera, was a FLESHIE!

"B-but, there's a FLE..." Ra began, but Ashia's fingers quickly crackled with electric currents, and she shot a well aimed, mini lightning bolt at his bad foot. He cut himself off with a cry of pain. Everyone turned to stare at him. Mantha managed to smile weakly.

"He was just... Talking about the "free" period we had in Gym today," She lied, and everyone went back to eating and chatting. "Whew..."

"You're related to a Fleshie?" The mummy asked more quietly. But she smiled, shook her head, and tapped the picture of the fleshie with one finger. She was a beautiful black girl, Asian with sharp, baby blue, slanted cat-like eyes, and shoulder length black hair, long and straight and thin. Her dark skin made her stand out from the rest of the family, but she still somehow looked like she belonged.

"Her name's Sara Whisper Willow. She's my best, and other than you guys, ONLY friend,"

"You have a fleshie friend, too!" Casper beamed happily. "When can we meet her?"

"Er... I would never bring her HERE, and I live a good ways away, so... I mean, I've lost so many loved ones already, if I lost her, too, I..." Tears brimmed in her eyes, and she wiped them away quickly, embarrassed to cry in public.

"Ashia, what happened?" Mantha's concern showed in her eyes, and she sounded worried.

"Nothing. It's nothing," Clearly, the girl was lying, and she refused to look into their eyes, staring down at her lunch and the table. "And call me Ash,"

"Ashia... Ash..." Wolfie said quietly. She looked up. Something unspoken passed between them, and the vampire nodded, as though he had just said something she agreed with. Casper, Mantha, and Ra exchanged glances. But to Wolfie and Ashia, it seemed like the event had been nothing out of the ordinary.

It was the kind of thing only the closest of friends could understand, and was unique to each pair or circle of said friends. Admittedly, Casper, Mantha, and Ra had their own connections, but they couldn't tell what had happened with the other two. All they knew was whatever it was, it had calmed Ashia down.

That might have been when they started being best friends.

(Not as long as the previous chapter, but almost as crucial, I can assure you. Are you all wondering about the moonlight tidbit? Well, Ashia wouldn't tell, so I won't either! ;] Hang in there, kitties! Thank you Maric and DigiCat99 for the reviews!)