Chapter 6
Knock, knock.
The sound of someone knocking on the bedroom door woke me up, I looked over and saw Anubis enter.
"How you doing man?" He asked me, whispering.
"Better, I guess." I whispered back "Why are we whispering?"
"Didn't want to wake your girlfriend." He snickered, pointing to Kendal who was still asleep in her chair.
"She's not my girlfriend." I fired back, still whispering.
"Might as well be." He said, plopping down on the foot of the bed. "She hasn't left the room since we put you in here."
"Really?" I glanced over at her.
"Yeah" He smirked at me "I also saw that little moment you two shared in the stairwell."
"That wasn't a moment." I said "She just stopped to watch the sunset and she was my guide through the house, so naturally I stopped as well."
"And the extra twenty minutes you took to wait for the moon to rise?" He raised an eyebrow at me, I looked away from him and blushed. "It doesn't matter anyway, she's obviously into you."
"You think so?" I chuckled.
"She was really worried about you when you collapsed." He explained "So yeah."
"I just met her." I said "Why would she already have a thing for me?"
"Got me." He said "I still don't know how I got Eona to give a me a chance, but that's panned out nicely so far."
"How long you two been together?" I asked him.
"Let's see..." He trailed off, ticking off fingers on his hand. "About two years and... seven months now."
"Yeah I'd say that has panned out nicely too." I remarked, my longest relationship had only lasted about a year and a half. "I'm glad for you."
"Thanks man" He reached over and patted me on the shoulder. He paused for a moment thinking. "Hey if you and I can be acting like best buds after only knowing each other for three days, she can develope feelings for you in the same amount of time."
"Yeah I guess you might be right." I said. I paused to think about it, honestly I didn't believe it. She had to have a specific reason for taking to me so quickly. I decided to ask her about it some other day, everything was just a little too confusing what with all the changes in my life right now. "Wait three days?"
"Yeah you were out like a light." Anubis 's ears must have been burning because she began to stir from her slumber. She opened her eyes drowsily and lifted her arms to stretch.
"Well good morning." I said to her cheerfully.
"Good Morning." Anubis repeated.
"Morning." Kendal replied, still yawning. "You look a lot better today."
"Oh so you're saying I looked bad before?" I joked with her.
"You know I didn't mean it like that, you black furball." She laughed, perking up a little. "How you feel."
"Well I'm not screaming in agony, so that's a positive." I grinned, both Anubis and Kendal laughed at that one.
"Yeah my ears were ringing for another hour after you passed out." Anubis continued laughing, actually holding his sides he was laughing so hard.
"Oh come on, you have no idea how much pain I was in." I retorted, realizing he was now laughing at me rather than with me.
"Oh calm down I'm just busting your balls." He said. The phrase busting my balls made me think.
"Hey I'm gonna go to the bathroom." I said, swinging my legs off the side of the bed and standing up. I quickly lost my balance and began to fall, luckily Anubis caught me.
"Whoa there buddy." He said, lifting me back up to my feet. "It's gonna be a bit before you get used to your new legs." I looked down at my feet and realized what he meant. My calf had shortened slightly and was bent at a greater angle than I typically stood with. Also, my foot had extended so it was longer and I was only standing on my tiptoes. My toes were replaced with paw pads and claws, essentially my legs had become that of an actual umbreon. Anubis lifted my arm around his shoulders for support, allowing me to put some pressure on my feet so I could begin to relearn how to walk. "Alright let's go." He led me out the door and down the hallway slowly. I noticed the sign on my bedroom door on the way out.
"Thanks for letting me use your room for the past couple of nights." I said.
"No problem man." He said hauling me closer to the bathroom door.
"So how are the couches?" I asked "Seeing as I'm gonna be sleeping there from now on."
"Eh they aint that bad." He said "Snuck up into Eona's room last night though."
"Oh had a little fun did you?" I laughed.
"No none of that." He chuckled "Eona wants to wait until we can get married." We arrived at the bathroom door.
"What are you guys waiting for?" I asked.
"Waiting for Eona to turn eighteen." He explained "Jace's rule, otherwise we would already have tied the knot."
"Ah I see." I said. "Alright I can handle myself from here." I reached for the door and opened it, simultaneously slipping my arm off of his shoulder.
"Alright, there's handrails on the wall if you need to hold onto something." He pointed out a few of the handrails as he explained. I took a few stumbling steps into the room until I needed to support myself on a handrail. "I'll be right out here if you need help." He said, smiling as he closed the door. I stood up straighter, taking my weight off of the handrail. I took a few more steps toward the sink, I was pretty wobbly but I was slowly learning to walk on my new legs. I realized I would have to take a few steps to the sink where there wasn't anything to support my self on. I steadied myself as I took my hand off the railing.
I took one step, things were looking good, then two, still standing, then on the third step I began to lose my balance. I tipped forward and stepped to try and catch myself, surprisingly I succeeded in doing so. I let out a sigh of relief, last thing I needed to do was crack my head off the sink. I took the last few steps to the sink and supported myself on it. I looked in the mirror, Arceus did I look different.
My mouth and nose were extended into a round muzzle and my teeth were sharper and more canine like. My eyes were larger but, surprisingly, they were the same color as before, a blueish gray. There was a gold colored ring of fur on my forehead and similar rings on my new, longer ears.I was surprised to see that my chest and shoulders had changed as well. My shoulders weren't as broad and my chest was more rounded and smaller. I was also pretty sure I gained at least two inches in height, probably on account on my new legs. I saw my tail swish to the side, I turned to look at it. It was about the same length of my torso and rather bushy. There was a golden ring around it, much like on my ears and forehead. I noticed the hole Kendal cut in my cargo pants and it brought me back to the main reason I came in here. I sucked in a breath, preparing myself for the worst, and I dropped my drawers. Thank Arceus everything down there was still the same, well besides the fur.
I pulled my pants back up and haphazardly got my tail back through the hole in them. I made my way back to the door, still relying on the handrails. I opened the door and Anubis was still where I left him.
"You good?" He asked "I didn't hear the toilet flush."
"Prolly cause I didn't go in there to use the toilet." I said, shutting the door behind me.
"Ah, checking yourself out." He said, nodding slightly. "I did the same thing after my change was over." He started back towards his room. "Think you can walk your way back to the room on your own?" I nodded and followed, sliding my hand along the wall on my way back. "Oh, morning Jace." Anubis said as he entered the room.
"Good morning Anubis." He said, smiling as I entering the room. "You too Zeke. I'm glad to see you're up and walking." He was sitting on the bed next to a pile of neatly folded clothes. "I brought you some fresh clothes to wear." He patted the pile. "After you get changed you can meet us all downstairs in the dining hall for breakfast." He and Kendal stood up and Anubis followed them as they left the room, leaving me alone. I took off my shirt and threw it on the floor, suddenly there was a knock at the door and it opened with little pause between.
"Hey, sorry, I just remembered that Jace forgot to tell you something." She said, her green cheeks seemed to flush a slight pink color. "Those cargo pants have a button on the back, it goes around your tail. Alright, see ya down stairs." She closed the door and I could hear her scamper off down the hall. Arceus she seemed excitable. I took off my pants and underwear and put on the new ones. I had to pull my tail through a hole that was in the fresh pair of boxers, I would have to get used to that. I picked up the pair of grey cargo pants and examined the back of them. There was a button on the waistline with a small U-shaped hole below it. I pulled on the pants and with only slight difficulty I managed to button them around my tail. The pants were a bit loose, luckily Jace had left me a belt. I pulled on the white T-shirt that was on the pile, it took some effort to get my long ears through. There was a black hooded jacket that I quickly threw on without zipping it up. It was time to go down for breakfast.
I made my way down the hallway, towards the stairwell near the bathroom. I still ran my hand along the wall as I walked, just in case, but walking was progressively getting easier. I ran into a slight issue though, stairs. I had forgotten about how hard it would be going down stairs for the first time with my new legs. "Well, now or never." I muttered to myself. I would feel alot better if i knew someone would be there in case I did fall, I'd just have to deal with it. I slowly placed my right foot, well paw, on the first step. I continued down to the second and the third, eventually I made it to the landing halfway down the stairs. I got a little cocky and took the second flight a little faster. At about the fourth to last step I slipped and fell forward. I put my hand out in front of me to catch myself but to no avail. I felt my face touch down hard on the floor as pain exploded through it. Then, nothing but blackness.
"Hey. Hey kid, wake up." I came out of my catatonic state reluctantly "There we are. You alright?" I looked up to see who was talking to me. I saw a fox-like hybrid kneeled down next to me, I was laying on my back at the bottom of the steps and my face really hurt. I grunted and sat up, wiping the back of my hand across my face as I did. I looked at my hand and, though it was hard to notice because of my black fur, there was a red streak on it. "Here I got something for that." The Hybrid said, reaching into one of her pockets and pulling out a tissue. She handed it to me and I made sure to smile at her.
"Thank you." I said.
"We really haven't formally met yet." She said. "I'm Jewel, Ninetales."
"Zeke, Umbreon." I replied "You're Leon's wife?"
"Yes, yes I am." She said. "So, still getting used to your new legs?"
"Yeah." I said "Jace had brought me some new clothes and told me to meet me downstairs for breakfast. I forgot about having to walk down the steps though."
"Don't worry, it'll be a cakewalk soon enough." She assured me, helping me to stand "Anyways, Jace just got to breakfast not too long before I found you here. So you prolly weren't knocked out for very long. You're just lucky I needed to grab something from mine and Leon's room."
"Thanks." I said as I got back on my paws "I guess I'll see you at breakfast then."
"Try not get anymore bloody noses today." She said, smiling. "Alright?"
"I'll do my best." I assured her as I walked towards the living room, on my way to the dining hall. The dining hall wasn't too hard to find, what with the large amount of chatter coming from it. I walked in and smelled eggs and bacon, freshly cooked no doubt, Kendal spotted me and waved me over to her. She appeared to have saved me a seat between her and Remus, there was a plate with food already set out for me.
"What took you so long?" She asked me, wide grin on her face as I sat down.
"Took a little stumble down the stairs." I explained "But I'm alright."
"Oh, sorry." She said "One of us should have stayed to help you down the steps."
"Nah, it's fine really." I assured her.
"So Zeke, I'm glad to see your up and around." Michael said, noticing that I was now at the table.
"Yeah feeling a lot better." I remarked, taking in the sight of the group. Kendal sat on my right side and Sasha next to her. On my left sat Remus and Romulus, accordingly. Lucy was seated at the end of the table to my left. On the far left of the other side of the table was a Luxray hybrid, who I assumed to be Leon because he was the only one I hadn't met yet. There was an empty seat next to him, for Jewel. Across from me, was Eona, who seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me, then Anubis, Michael and ,at the head of the table, Jace.
I looked down at my plate, there were two eggs sunny side up and three strips of bacon with a biscuit. I picked up my fork and began eating, it tasted amazing. Before I knew it the meal was gone as well as the glass of orange juice that came with it.
"Jeez, hungry much?" Kendal giggled at me.
"Hey give me a break." I told her "It's the first real meal I've had in three years."
"Three years?" Sasha repeated, catching what I said. "Now you're gonna have to explain that."
"Well, it's kind of a long story." I explained.
"We don't care, just tell Zeke." Anubis chimed in "Not like you have anything better to do, you already ate all your food." Kendal, sasha and Michael started laughing.
"Alright, alright." I said "You got me there." I then proceeded to tell them the same story I had told Kendal a couple of nights before, minus the crying though. It took me about ten minutes to explain everything in detail, by the end the whole table was silent.
"I can't imagine what that must of been like." Jewel said, she slipped in a few minutes into the story. "To spend three years like that. It's just... gosh. How old were you when you went in?"
"I had just turned sixteen a few months before ." I said, trying not to dwell on it too much. "What was worst was that for some reason I couldn't do anything but stew on the event of the weeks before I was put in there. I tried to remember something else but just... couldn't." My voice began to falter slightly, my emotions about to get the best of me.
"Hey, none of that matters now." Kendal said, elbowing me playfully. "You got a new life here, a new family."
"Yeah the years I've been here, some of the best years of my life." Leon added, there were murmurs of agreement from everyone except Remus, who seemed to never talk.
"Zeke." Jace said, I looked at him. "There is hope for you to still have happiness, you being here confirms that. Whether you choose to hold on to the past or let it go is your decision, it's also up to you whether you stay or go, none of us will force you to do either. But, I want you to know, you have a home here and people who care about you. So what will it be?" I looked at each of their faces, receiving a warm smile from each of them, even Eona. I never thought about leaving before, but after all, it seemed a silly thought. Where would I go anyway?
"You ain't getting rid of me that easy." I said, genuinely smiling. There were comments of happiness and congratulations on my new life, seemed this was a big deal to all of them. Out of all their smiles, Kendal's had to be the biggest and I still didn't know why.
"Well that's good to hear." Jace said "So what do you want to eat at your party?"
"Party?" I asked.
"Oh you didn't know?" Jace asked "Sorry, I thought someone would have brought it up already. Every new resident gets a party to celebrate their decision to stay. Think of it as a way to start off the beginning of a new, better life."
"Well way to leave that little detail out guys." I remarked, we all laughed. "I'll have to think about it Jace."
"Well don't take too long, I love welcome parties." Leon told me.
"Calm down Leon." Jewel said " There is a lot more planning than just the food, it's gonna at least take a week to set up. Right Jace?"
"Yes I'll have to make some calls and get some deliveries." He explained "We'll also have to rent a music system. Remus I assume you would like to DJ like you always do." Remus nodded enthusiastically. "Zeke you can coordinate with him so he can get your music preferences. It's your day after all."
"Alright." I said, a little overwhelmed. "Sounds like the next few days will busy."
"Eh it will all pay off in the end." Anubis said "My party was a blast. Heck, all the parties since I got here were fun."
"I'm sure it will be fun." I said.
"Well that's enough small talk for me this morning." Jace said standing "I have some business to attend to. Zeke, since your change is over you will be sleeping on the free couch in the living room from now on." I nodded and he turned to leave but stopped. "Oh, and welcome to the family." He smiled widely at me.
"So what's on the agenda today?" I asked turning to Kendal.
"Well, I have to do laundry today so I'm busy." She explained.
"You're with me today Zeke." Michael butted in. "Gotta get you completely used to those new legs, so you and me are hitting the treadmills." Great I haven't gone for a good run in three years, unless you count running for your life, and now I was gonna spend all day on a treadmill. "Come on." Michael was already standing, waiting on me.
"Alright." I stood up and followed him to the multi-purpose room. He walked over to a dresser and pulled out a pair of basketball shorts and tossed them to me.
"Those should be easier to run in than those pants." He told me. I took off my pants and put on the shorts. I pulled my tail through a hole in the back. Where did Jace get all these modified clothes? "Alright, step on up kid."
"I do know how to use a treadmill." I told him.
"Yeah, but you don't seem too excited to be getting on one." He accused.
"Hey, I just fell down a flight of stairs because I'm not used to these legs." I fired back "Forgive me for not being very enthusiastic about running on a treadmill."
"Well you're gonna start out just walking." He explained "But yes, you will be running by tonight. If I can help it."
"Great." I rolled my eyes, looking forward to probably faceplanting at least twice. I stepped up on the treadmill. Alright you're gonna do custom exercise number one. I pressed the custom exercise key and then the one on the number pad. I stumbled slightly as the treadmill started moving at a walking pace. I placed my hands on the sides of the control panel to steady myself.
"Ah ah ah." Michael wagged his finger. "No cheating." I reluctantly let my hands fall back down to my sides. "Alright over the next hour this thing will slowly gain speed until you reach a brisk walk. After that hour is up, you will need to do custom exercise number two and you will move onto jogging and running, that'll run about an hour and a half. I'm gonna be at the weight bench, lifting, come find me when you're done." Michael walked across the room to the weight bench and turned on the stereo on that side of the room. Some loud metal music began blaring through the room, I couldn't even understand what the vocalist was saying. I was really wishing that I had my MP3 player right now. I just focused on my workout and kept walking. after about half an hour the pace of the treadmill grew greatly, I was surprised I didn't fall flat on my face yet. Before I realized my hour must have been over because the treadmill stopped.
I pressed the code for the next exercise and the treadmill jolted into action. This time I did fall on my face, the treadmill threw me backwards onto the floor. I got back up and jumped back on the proverbial horse. Now jogging, and occasionally stumbling, I was starting to get a handle on my new legs. I had already worked up quite a sweat as the treadmill increased in speed for the third time. I looked at the timer and it said I had another twenty minutes to go. Beside the timer was a speedometer that tracked the speed of the treadmill, it read twenty two miles per hour. It was amazing, I'd only ever gone this fast before in a car, my new legs obviously had a lot more potential than my old ones. Eventually my run was over and, needless to say, I was tired. I was panting heavily, Michael must have noticed I was done before me needing to tell him because he killed his music and brought me over a bottle of water. I took it graciously and dumped the bottle's contents down my throat.
"Getting used to those legs?" He asked, slapping me on the back.
"Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it." I said between my deep breaths.
"Yeah well that's not even the hard part." He said, I gave him a slight look of worry. "Don't worry too much, We are gonna rest up a bit before we move onto that. In the meantime, how bout a game of pool?"
"Sure." I replied, we both made our way towards one of the billiards tables. I racked up the balls while Michael grabbed a cue for me off the rack. He broke them but I sunk the first ball in a pocket, solids. The game continued on for a while, mainly because I was toying with Michael. Eventually I won out, Michael still having four balls in play.
"Damn, you're good at this." He remarked.
"At the Recreation Center in my old town they had a pool table." I explained "I used to go there all the time to play against the manager and a few other people. I've been undefeated four months, well, four months and three years."
"Alright I get it, you're good, quit gloating cause now I get to run you ragged." He sneered.
"Ok what are we doing?" I asked.
"Follow me." He said, I followed him out of the multipurpose room and down the hall. We made our way out to the back of the mansion, the same way Anubis and I had come in. "Alright, just follow me and try to keep up." He broke off into a sprint towards the back gate, throwing it open and running into the woods. I followed as Michael led me through some trail that only he could see, weaving through the forest, forcing me to jump over some rather large logs and a small creek. I stumbled any number of times, but always caught myself and got back to the chase. Michael was fast, it took all my effort to keep up, but I didn't let him out of my sight. Eventually we arrived at a cliff and we both stopped. "Alright five minute break." He told me. I sat down on the cliff edge and took a breather, I looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was about halfway from being below the horizon. I didn't have long to take in the sight before Michael commanded me to stand up again. "Break's over. Now I get to whoop you in something." He chuckled "We are gonna race back to the mansion."
"We putting anything on this race?" I asked.
"Loser does the winner's chores for a week." He said, sounding quite confident that he would win.
"Fair enough." I said "One, two, go!" I caught him off guard and gained about a ten yard head start.
"Oh, you're a tricky one kid!" He called ahead to me. "You and me are gonna get along just fine!" I could tell that Michael was gaining ground, it didn't help that I was losing speed because of my exhaustion. About halfway back to the mansion I stumbled and Michael overtook me. Now he Had a twenty yard lead and more speed, I was doomed to lose. Suddenly I felt less tired, more energized, and sped back up. I quickly began gaining ground on Michael and somehow regained my lead, now I was increasing it as well. I saw the wall of the property come into view and I ran through the gate and into the courtyard, I slid to a stop near the back door. Michael soon joined me gasping for breath, which was strange because I wasn't winded at all.
"What's the matter?" I asked "Getting too old?"
"Oh you're funny, that's what you are." He said " Just because I didn't account for the fact that the full moon would give you more energy." I cocked my head at him, confused, then looked up to see the full moon. Azrael had always been so much more energetic on nights of a full moon, now I knew how he felt. "Well a deal's a deal." Michael said after a moment. "Looks like I'll be doing your first week's chores."
"You don't have to." I told him "It's not really fair that I got that energy boost when the moon came out."
"Nonsense kid, you used your abilities the best you could." He said "You bested me with them now I have to pay up."
"If you say so." I decided it would be easier not to argue. "Now go inside and get some rest, you look like you're about to pass out on the lawn. Michael just laughed and went inside with me. He went up to the bedrooms and I went to the living room, on account of that's where I'd be sleeping. I fell back onto the couch, the run finally catching up to me, and closed my eyes. I had just fallen asleep when Kendal nudged my foot with hers.
"Hey, wake up." She told me. I opened my eyes, reluctantly, she was smiling down at me with a bowl in her hands. "Have a nice nap?"
"I was." I rolled my eyes.
"Well you missed dinner while you were out." She explained "So I brought you some Ramen." She handed me the bowl, I indulged in its aroma.
"Ahhh, thanks." I said "I love this stuff." I twirled the fork that was in the bowl around, wrapping the noodles around it. I took a big mouthfull of the salty noodles and slurped the the ones that didn't make it all in my mouth. Man that was good, it took me only a few minutes to eat all the noodles and I slurped down all the broth. "Thanks."
"Don't worry about it." She assured, sitting next to me. "So I take it you'll be doing Michael's chores for the next week."
"No." I replied "Why would you assume that."
"Well he had me race him when I got here, said loser does winner's chores for a week, said he does that with every new member of the household." She explained "Didn't he race you?"
"Yeah, he did." I told her "I beat him."
"Wait, you beat him?" She exasperated, her jaw dropping slightly. "He said that he's never lost a race, not even to Sasha and she's a Sneasel."
"So that's why he seemed so surprised to lose." I chuckled "Guess I just got lucky."
"I doubt it was luck." She said "If you beat Michael it had to be all skill." She moved a little closer to me. I blushed slightly, glad that my black fur likely hid the red in my face.
"Um Kendal, correct me if I'm wrong..." I cleared my throat slightly. "... but do you have a thing for me?"
"Oh sorry." She said, sliding back to where she was. "Animal instincts kinda made me a little more... forward, than before." Her lightly colored green fur didn't hide her blush as well. "But, yes I am mildly attracted to you."
"Only mildly?" I smirked at her. "Boy that helps my self esteem."
"Well the only reason I was attracted to you when you first got here was because you remind me of my ex a little bit." She explained.
"You know usually that's a bad thing." I told her.
"Well if you reminded me of my last ex then yes, it would be a bad thing." She elaborated, crossing her arms.
"Mind explaining a little?" I asked.
" I don't know, that's that 'fresh wound' I was talking about." She explained, getting slightly agitated. She thought for a moment. "I guess I can tell you, as long as you promise not to tell anyone." She growled the last part at me.
"I promise, I promise." I said, raising my hand defensively. "You can trust me."
"I know I can." She admitted "You don't seem like the type to throw away someone's trust in you."
"I'm not." I assured her.
"Good." She sighed "Well my last boyfriend kind of lied to me, about something important."
"What he lie about?" I asked.
"I'm getting there." She snapped at me, jeez she could sure turn on you fast. "When I first started showing signs of changing I showed my parents. They lost it, called me a freak and screamed at me to get out of the house. I tried to reason with them, but after my mom threw a lamp at me I packed a bag and left." Her voice began to quiver. I knew how hard opening up could be, so I rested a reassuring hand on her back. "I didn't know who to turn to at first, eventually I went to my boyfriend, Jack's, house. When he saw me so upset he hugged me, like he always did, and asked me what was wrong. I told him my parents had kicked me out, he asked why. I told him I was afraid of how he'd react and he said I could tell him anything." She choked back a sob, her eyes watery. "He said... that he loved me, but he lied. He reacted almost as bad as my parents, called me freak and said he didn't want anything more to do with me." A single tear traced a path down her cheek, reflecting what light was in the room. "If he really loved me he wouldn't do that. He tore my heart from my chest and tossed it aside like a piece of trash." She cried a little before continuing. "My boyfriend before him, the one you remind me of, wouldn't have done that. I know he wouldn't have."
"Why did you two break up then?" I asked.
"His father got a job out of the region, his whole family had to move." She explained "We didn't really have a choice, we both knew a long distance relationship wouldn't work." She seemed to calm down at the memory of this ex. "It was sad that he had to go, but he made sure to leave on a good note. He spent the whole day with me before he left, took me to the movies, took me out to dinner, we even watched the sunset together." She was smiling through her tears now. "You look alot like him, well... looked." She giggled slightly. "That's why you reminded me of him, also how you didn't hesitate to open up to me. He did that too."
"Sounds like a nice guy." I said.
"He was." She smiled "You seem like a nice guy too."
"Well that's your opinion to form." I said. "I'd rather you'd take some time to get to know me before you form that opinion, though."
"I will." She said, followed by a yawn. "I need to get some sleep." She got up and walked over to the other couch, across the coffee table, and took off her hoodie before laying down. "Good night." She smiled over at me. I returned the smile.
"Good night." I replied. I laid out on the couch, staring at the ceiling. I already found a downside to the full moon giving me extra energy, it was a real bitch to fall asleep. Luckily, after about two hours, I finally fell asleep.
AN: I got a lot of comments about my chapters being too short, well that was because I was setting up the story. Think of it like an onion, the core of it is smaller pieces and the meat of it is the larger, outer rings. Hopefully I'll be able to think up enough to keep the rest of the chapters longer, but don't expect a lot of them to be quite this long. (13 pages on my document manager) Please read and review, and thanks for your continued support.