A huge thank you so much to my reviewers, now to the story, dun dun dun…

…As he stepped out into the light she had to look up to study him; he was so much taller than she was. As she stared without control and he seemed to become embarrassed and turned his head away. His face was so dog like and yet so human like all at once. And his eyes were such a wonderful colour, not quite blue, not quite green or grey. And his long, slightly matted hair hung passed his shoulders. Then she snapped back to reality and looked to the ground, rubbing her neck.

Feeling greatly uncomfortable she asked, "So… Nice place, old, I like it." And she meant it too; old houses were so much more interesting.

He laughed and gave a toothy smile, baring his large canine teeth, "Fathers house." He spoke slowly as though words were new to him.

She looked at him; "You're not a Manticorian?"

"Me first. Special."

She frowned, "You were the first one they made?"

He nodded, "Sandeman. Father."

"Oh." She was slightly confused as to who this man was.

"Name?" he asked.

"Um…" she thought, "My designation is X5991"

He smiled, "Ah! I call you 991, little one. For now."

"Little one?" she raised an eyebrow.

"You smaller. Much smaller."

She felt like the ice had started to melt. His looks were obviously deceiving, as he seemed so gentle inside.

"Are you in hiding?" she asked.

Joshua nodded, "Yes. P-people out there," her motioned outside "are afraid of what they don't understand."

She looked at him and smiled, "You're right there."

He walked into what looked like an old sitting room and beckoned for her to follow, so she did. He sat on the floor and motioned for her to sit in the one chair that occupied the room.

"Thanks." She said, "Do you live here all on your own Joshua?"

"Y-yes." He replied, "Friends come and see me. Max. Alec."

"Cool." She reached into her bag and pulled out a chocolate bar and broke a piece off, "Want some?"

He made an excited sound that was half between and gurgle and a grunt. She laughed, popping the piece into her mouth and chucking him the rest. He held it in his hands as if it were worth gold, looking at her with round, surprised eyes.

"What? It ain't poison, it's yum."

"Yummy! Tricks and treats!" Joshua shouted as he devoured the candy.

She stood and brushed her hair out of her eyes and studied a painting nearby. "Wow, I like this." She had been about to ask who did it, but she spotted the name in the right hand corner. "Awesome." Was all she could say as she delved into the colours. "You like painting" was an obvious statement to say in the least.

Joshua nodded eagerly, "Keep me out of trouble." He pointed to the guitar case, "Keep little one out of trouble?"

She laughed, "Yeah pretty much."

"You sing again?" he asked her.

"What?" she was caught a little of guard, "Well actually, no one was supposed to hear me. See I was singing pretty quietly."

He nodded and she gently tweaked his ears, "Bet you got canine hearing, huh?"

He laughed and gently pulled away as though it had tickled, "Canine hearing. And smell." He sniffed the air, "Cat and wolf in your cocktail?"

"What?" she frowned and then said, "Oh, you mean in my DNA? Yeah."

"Cat and Wolf not like one another."

She looked away and said quietly, "Nah, they don't get along too well. They were injected by accident, at least the wolf part anyway."

Joshua seemed to have heard her regret and disdain and so changed the topic, "You play?"

She nodded, "Ok then. Want something lively?"

He nodded eagerly, and she could tell he had no idea what she meant. So instead of trying to foolishly explain, she picked it up and once again started strumming, just randomly and moving her fingers to the different chords with break-neck speed. Thus, giving it a fast, catchy tune. Joshua laughed and smiled, starting to tap his foot, almost uncontrollably. He looked back to her, then to the guitar and then back to her.

"Joshua paint!" he thumped the ground with his large hand which slightly stunned her, simply with his great enthusiasm.

She laughed as Joshua gathered a canvas and his paints in such and excited rush. Immediately he started to put the brush to ease and painted furiously. She craned her neck to see, but to no avail, so she turned and became intent on her guitar. A curtain of her light hair fell across her face as she bent close to it. She immediately lost all sense of time and when she snapped out of her trans-like state she looked around, Joshua was fast asleep on a small bed-roll next to an ancient fireplace. She then realised she had been playing slowly and gently, probably aiding him off into a deep slumber.

It was becoming fairly dark outside and a number of candles had been lit in the room to help the poor light of a lamp. There was no sight of the painting, so she sighed and went and found the back door, the night would be freezing, so she started gathering bits of stray wood and twigs in the hope of lighting a fire. But just as she had two arm fulls, a strong arm snaked around her throat, causing them to drop and scatter everywhere. And as the air left her lungs, a voice dripping with venom and suspicion whispered,

"Who the hell are you? And what are you doing?" but all she could do was silently curse who ever it was, for they had just caused all her hard work to be totally in vain. With anger kindled into a flame, she drew back her elbow and drove it sharply into the unknown persons side…

Hope you like, please review and tell me what you peoples think.