Chapter Four

Just, so you guys know, the creature 'Kitsune' and 'Nogitsune' were not invented by MTV for the TV show, 'Teen Wolf.' They are both legends of Japanese folklore. If you've read Richelle Mead's 'Dark Swan' series, you'd know one of the main characters, Kiyo, was a Kitsune. My story of this creature doesn't follow all of the original folklore, but it stays close to it. (:

Chosen. Chosen. You are chosen. You are chosen. You must choose. Oh, go to hell. Damn stupid weird voice in my freakin' head… I grind my teeth together and pinch the bridge of my nose. I hate this. And why do taxi's have to go so slow? Jesus, it's not like there's any traffic near the Academy.

Crap, I forgot I had to walk a mile to the gates. Great. This is so much fun. And I can't let anyone see me.

Well… I don't think I can. I can't let them know I left them then came back to make sure they're okay. That's a bit selfish, isn't it? I guess me needing to know my family is okay isn't too selfish, but me leaving and being the cause of any pain and checking on them? Well yeah, that seems selfish to me.

You must choose. You must be kidding. Can you just not? Why the hell am I hearing this voice anyways? I must be crazy.

I look out of the window and see I'm a little more than a mile away from the gates. Okay, time to go for a walk. I decide to chance it and run there at full speed. There's a good chance that there aren't Guardians posted this far out. Shit, I'll need to jump the gate.

I lean up and tap the driver on the shoulder. "Stop here." He glances at me through the mirror and pulls over, coming to a stop. I pull my wallet out and toss a few twenties onto his lap. "Keep the change," I mutter and step out of the car.

I start to run, making sure I don't run too fast until the cab pulls away. As soon as I hear the car in the distance I take off at full speed.

I want to see them. I want to see my family. I want to hug my mother and, shit, I just want to be near her. I miss her. She was always my biggest supporter. She never really liked the idea of me being a Guardian and risking my life when I'm still only a teenager. But, whenever I had a cut or bruise from training, she'd come to see me and make me feel better. She was, still is, the most kind, heartfelt, selfless, person I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.

I was lucky to call her my mom.

I want my two best friends back. Ana and Sarah were like sisters to me. I don't have a real sister, and having them? It's better than having any sisters. I'd rather have them.

I jerk to a stop when I realize I'm right in front of the gate. I bend my knees and launch myself up. I climb over the gate and jump down onto the ground, pausing for a moment and looking around to see if my presence has been noticed.
The sun should be coming up in an hour or two, so most Moroi and dhampirs are in their dorms, but dhampirs who do extra training should be up.

Okay, shit. I should probably sneak into my dorm to figure out what I'm gonna do. I bolt to the dhampir dorms, making sure no one's around to see me. My dorm is two floors up. Oh yay, more jumping. I jump up and climb up the wall, avoiding the windows of other dorms. I steady myself on a ledge high enough for me to reach up and unlock my window. I lightly hit it until I hear the latch unlock. The window falls open a few inches and I push it open all the way. I use my upper body strength to pull my body up and into my old dorm.

I throw my legs over the windowsill and into my room.

"Never thought I'd miss this place…" I mutter to myself. I strain my ears to hear movement in the surrounding dorms or the hallway. I hear a few people moving around in their rooms but most are still in bed, which isn't a surprise since they would have spentalmost the whole day training.

There are seven dorms in this hallway so, excluding mine, I should hear six heartbeats, but I hear seven. That's not too weird. The weird part is ….one of those heartbeats is right behind me. I don't remember sharing a dorm with anyone. Fuck. Me.

"You know, I thought being strigoi would make me feel… different. I don't, though. The one other guy said this bracelet helps with my appearance, but it doesn't help with the strength. It's hard to hide that. Also, I still have feelings. That's even weirder." Strigoi? Shit.

I turn to Sarah, who is lounging on my bed. "How did you…" I trail off. I'm honestly at a loss of words. Would it be insensitive of me to say like father like daughter? I'm pretty sure it would…

"How did I turn into a Strigoi you ask? Funny story, remember that other witch that Sydney knew? What was her name… Ali? Oh, Alicia. Right. Anyways, it was her. She did some spell that turned me, but a different… kind of strigoi, I don't know. I have feelings, still, but I want blood. I… I can't stay. I have to leave. I can't risk hurting them…"

She really does sound like she has feelings… but, she isn't strigoi. That much I know. Strigoi have a certain smell to them, but her? She smells completely different. Definitely not dhampir anymore, that's for sure. She smells like… an animal, an animal with superior intelligence. That and she's cocky,just like her mom but then again, so am I.

She kind of smells like… me. But she couldn't be a Kitsune.

"She also left this weird marking on me. Here, look." She pulls up her shirt, revealing her side.

I narrow my eyes onto the strange markings and walk to her side. I brush my fingers over the symbols. How the hell did she know the demonic alphabet? I remember all the symbols for the letters in it, so this spells out… Nogitsune? The hell is a Nogitsune?

Hey, idiot, you have superior intelligence. The word freaking rhymes with Kitsune. Figure it out. I think I've heard of this before, but I can't remember.

Wait, if she's like me, then she really does need to leave. "Okay, go pack things you need. Clothes, you know. We can leave in a few minutes.

"But—"

"Look, Belikova. I had to do this a few months ago. They'll want to know why you're leaving and it'll be harder than just leaving. We'll come back to make sure they're okay. I promise." I start to walk away, but she grabs my wrist. I turn slightly to look at her. Her eyes are slightly wide and full of emotion. Definitely not strigoi.

"Why'd you leave, Kyles?" Her old nickname for me makes me sad all over again.

"So I wouldn't hurt you." I sigh, deciding then and there, I'll have to tell her everything.

Just as soon as I figure out what a Nogitsune is.