A/N

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know I should be updating more ofen, and I did try, but I'm afraid that updates will most likely be reduced to once a week. There will be more if I can swing it, but I have so many things to do, band in full swing, greater workload in the way of homework, chores, I am booked! But I'm not abandoning writing, so don't give up on me!

Julian's ears twitched as he stood in the room. The animals had cleared out, not one of them remained. Several had moved over to his own room, but none stayed here. The closet, which had held bats and nests for several different creatures, was uninhabited. Under the bed, some cats and reptiles had slept, away from noise and conflict, but now had disappeared. Around the room, where insects and other more hefty animals had stayed, was empty.

He didn't like that. It made the room smell less like her. Stale. Dead. As if the only thing left was a memory of someone he had been attached to in a way no one else could be.

It also reminded him that she may not come back. There was always that possibility. The others put on happy faces around he and Jamie, to keep them from worrying, but hey knew. They played the game in turn. If they appeared happy and naïve, it took a load off of the others' minds as well.

But how would he be able to understand? Parents were supposed to live forever, to be there until they weren't needed to scare away monsters or they weren't needed, and everyone knew that parents would always be needed. How, if she died, if she never came back, would he keep going?

He shook his head and shoved those thoughts away. They were not true. She would come back, because he still needed her and she knew that. She was always there when he needed her, just like all mothers.

He stuffed his hands into the pockets of a hoodie that had holes cut in the back to allow for his wings. His cut-off shorts were two inches above his knees, when only a couple months ago they had been several inches below.

He turned around and left, shutting the door carefully behind him. He contemplated the doorknob for a half second before turning to go to the stairs.

And nose to chest with Mr. Logan.

"You okay kid?" His normally gruff voice held a note of worry.

"I'm great!" He said back to the taller man (though not for long) with a bright, though false, smile.

Mr. Logan studied him. "No, you ain't. But you'll be okay. You're tough, kid." He patted Julian on the head as he passed, something Julian was slowly growing less fond of.

Trotting down the steps, he noticed an odd smell in the air. Sniffing deeply told him that the smell was somewhere in the dining room.

It was not food, which was something that definitely should be smelled in the dining room, but a damp smell. A rotten, soggy smell, kind of like the ones he smelt when he was running around in the woods.

Passing Roberto in whatever story he was reciting to Amara while she primped endlessly n front of him, he made his was into the dining room, where he stopped in front of an odd sight.

The wall was blotchy.

Very blotchy.

The white wall had turned brown, and seemed to be in rings, though they weren't like circles. The wall itself was soggy, and he was almost sure that it would crumble if he pushed too hard.

"Hunh." He had no idea what it was. He shrugged and wandered back into lobby of the school, once again running into Mr. Logan.

"Hey kid. You smell anything weird?"

"Like rotting damp wood? It's in the dining room."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"I just found out!"

Mr. Logan growled and walked off. After a moment, Julian followed.

Mr. Logan, when he walked, muttered to himself incoherently in a Canadian drawl. It seemed to get more obvious when he was annoyed. When they got to the dining room, he paced in front of the wall and growled.

"Water damage. Hasn't rained in a week, must be a pipe." He poked the wall gently and a little piece fell off. "Kid, go tell the others not to run any water."

"Okay." Julian trundled off. He found Roberto in the kitchen about to wash dishes and stopped him. Roberto didn't seem all that distressed and quickly left the kitchen before he was told different. Jaime was outside, digging up worms for his latest prank. He offered to let Julian help, but he had to decline. He still had to find Amara. The Professor probably already knew. The professor seemed to know everything. About humans, anyway.

Amara was nowhere to be found. He was sniffing the air besides the steps, but since she had lived in the house with them for almost a week, her smell was everywhere and it was difficult to pick out a scent.

Hers ears twitched involuntarily to a sound. Rushing water. She must be in the bathroom. He bounded up the steps and ran all the way to the girl's bathroom and beat on the door.

Loud music covered up the noise he was making. He knocked again, getting a not so polite response back. He tried to yell over the music, but he couldn't anything human sounding over the din.

"GAAAAAAHHH!" The yell sounded very Canadian. The music switched off, the water stopped, and a minute later, a soaking wet Amara covered in a towel opened the door.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Mr. Logan just screamed. He told me to tell you not to use water. Why are you taking a shower?" Julian asked curiously.

"I'm not going to resort to low hygiene, especially if this bathroom is all mine." Amara sniffed. She opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted when Jaime suddenly appeared in the hall.

"There's a giant hole in the wall in the dining room! You gotta come see it!"

Amara rolled her eyes. "I'm going to get dressed."

"I wanna see!" Julian hopped after Jaime as they raced back downstairs.

PrincessOfWildfire: That's okay. Furry creatures used to consist of bunnies when I was younger. Heh, I have to mention wings more, I think I may have left a few people behind. Hope you liked the chapter!

AnonGirl88: A head shrinking device! How novel! I shall have to make good use of it, for ONLY good, meheheh…Hope you liked the chapter!

Raliena: Glad to see you again! Kally thanks you for the hat, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Asteria: Very good advice, thank you. Heh, I know what it's like to run on only a few hours of sleep, so I know how you felt. Hope you like the chapter!

Kally will take the reviews!