Yeah! Christmas break is here and i am out of school for abot two weeks! Yippee! n.n Now i absolutely KNOW i'm getting a black nano iPod. Muwahahahahahahaha...

Anyhow, here's an early Christmas present to all of you! I dunno if i'll make/update any stories before Christmas but just in case i don't: Merry Christmas! n.n

Disclaimer: Don't even think that i own Zatch Bell 'cause i don't. But don't even think that i don't own Kalu 'cause i do.


A Gift from the Dark

Chapter 24

Meeting the Father

He chuckled to himself as he thought about the plan. Evil eyes turned to the side and landed upon a henchman standing beside him.

"Do you know why I'm so happy?" inquired the evil being.

"N-no, Lord Zophise."

The one known as Zophise let out another mild chortle and turned his attention away from the mamodo beside him. "I'm not quite sure when yet, but soon my plan shall be taken into action. I just have to find something to trigger the girl's emotion…"

The other mamodo's eyes lingered on the ground but he asked, "Do – do you mean her? The hybrid child?"

"Of course! Who the hell do you think I'm talking about?" snapped the other causing the henchman to flinch. Zophise calmed down a little and looked beyond the cliff he was on in the Mamodo World. "All I need to get my plan into action is to find something that can make her angry enough to do what I want her to do. Then my real plan will start and those two will pay…"

Looking up and beyond the powerful mamodo, the minor one gazed upon the land of his world without thought. Then his attention was brought back to Zophise. "Do you think her parents will or have figured out that you erased her memory and that you—"

"Nonsense!" yelled the orange haired mamodo with a frown. "There's no damn way they could realize what I've done to her. They've never even seen me use this kind of power."

"Yes," The other mamodo's eyes wandered to the ground again. Eh… I don't think I like this job too much, he mused to himself. The boss is creepy…

A low chuckle filled the silent air around them once more and Zophise turned around. "I might as well see what information the others have for me. You are dismissed."

Nodding his head, the henchman hustled off into the trees and disappeared. Zophise looked over to the side and smirked.

"Things will turn out quite nicely…"

-o-o-o-o-o-

Twenty seven days had passed and Halloween was over. Kalu, whom had never gone trick or treating before, went out with Emma. The girl's demon side still remained a secret from all the others except for Brago and Sherry, and there weren't any plans of informing others, either.

It was a Wednesday now and school was over. Kalu had brought some Halloween candy from the night before to school with her so she and Emma could trade different sweets since she had brought hers, too.

"Hey, I'll give you a piece of dark chocolate for a Hershey's Kiss," said Emma as she held out the piece of wrapped chocolate. Kalu nodded her head with a smile and traded with her friend.

They were sitting outside with warm sweatshirts on protecting them from the oncoming cold. All the children were playing on the jungle gym, running around, or talking about Halloween night.

"That was a funny costume your daddy had on Halloween," commented Emma after a minute or two. Kalu laughed and shook her head.

"That wasn't a costume," she responded. "He always wears that. Don't you remember all those times he and Mamma came to pick me up he wore it?"

The pale eyed girl stared at the ground. "No… I don't remember." She looked up to Kalu and met her lilac eyes. "I'm sorry that I can't remember. My aunty says I have memory problems…"

"Memory problems?"

"Uh-huh. She says it was from the car accident that gave me this," at this point Emma motioned to the scar on her arm. "It means that I forget things – or so she says. I guess that crash caused it." said Emma with a shrug.

The hybrid child looked down to her own hands. I suppose that normal girls – unlike me – can't handle these things and can get hurt easier, thought Kalu as she then turned to look at her friend. Poor Emma…

"EMMA!" Both Kalu and Emma turned around to face where the abrupt voice came from. A man with a short, shaggy beard walked outside. He carried a half empty bottle of beer with him that had its lid open. The man took another swig of it before he said, "Emma, get your butt over here and let's go home. My favorite show is about to start soon…" Again he took another drink from the alcoholic beverage.

"Who's that?" inquired the purple eyed child, turning to face her friend.

"My daddy," answered Emma as she stared at the ground.

Kalu raised an eyebrow as she turned to look at the man. "Not to be mean… but he looks like he needs new clothes," she said, pointing to his dirty attire.

"I know," said the other with a slight sigh.

"If Mamma saw me like that she'd have a fit," started Kalu, "but Daddy could care less. He gets dirty all the time and Mamma makes him clean up, which he doesn't like very much."

Emma giggled but then her father's voice called out to her again. "EMMA!"

"I'm coming!" said the little girl as loud as she could. She sighed and sat up, gathering her candy. "Well… I guess I gotta go now," she said to Kalu. "See you tomorrow?"

With a nod and a smile, Kalu agreed. Then she heard another voice that she recognized.

"Kalu, honey, let's go!" The hybrid turned and saw her mother waving to her at the door. Emma's father had stepped out of the way and was drinking more beer. Brago was beside Sherry and giving a rather crude look to the drunken man, whom was completely oblivious to this. Luckily he hadn't seen the teacher's disgusted look when he passed by her…

"Hey, there are my parents," said Kalu as she stood up and Emma nodded. "Let's walk to our families together!"

The two agreed and walked up to the three at the door, both carrying their small bags of candy with them. When they reached the front door, Kalu gave her friend a quick hug before turning to her parents.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Emma."

"You too, Kalu."

"Bye,"

"Bye-bye,"

Emma headed out the door with her father and said goodbye to the teacher. Sherry turned to look down at Kalu.

"That was your friend, Emma, correct?" inquired the woman while her child nodded. Sherry's face transformed into an odd look. "I don't like the look of that man… I presume that's her father?" Again, Kalu nodded. With a sigh, the blonde headed woman shook her head. "Well… not the type I'd like to associate with. But anyhow, let's get going. Alright?"

Her daughter followed her lead and the dark mamodo did so as well. "It's humans like that that make me sick," muttered Brago as they entered the limo. Sherry had recently hired a new driver for them for when she didn't feel like driving herself. She didn't always want to live the olds ways as she used to but that didn't mean she wouldn't.

"Brago, I can't help the fact that some people are slobs," said Sherry as she closed the door behind her; she then directed the driver to take them home. Kalu clambered through the door after her father and leaned against him after putting on her seatbelt.

The mamodo merely rolled his eyes and said nothing as he turned to watch Emma leave with her father driving. "That child will get killed by that thing someday if he's not careful…"

"Daddy, don't say that!" said Kalu angrily as soon as those words met her ears. "Don't say that about my friend!"

There was something different about the girl as she said that, her glittering lavender eyes piercing into her father's. The mamodo stared at her for a minute until the odd feeling passed and she turned to look out the window.

Crimson eyes turned to meet azure and there was a silence. Finally after a few more seconds Sherry spoke up. "I'll admit that wasn't the best thing to say…" she said, thinking about the sensation she also just felt. It was at this time that the woman decided to change the subject. After all, it probably wasn't a big deal. "But onto other matters, you two aren't going out again tonight to the Mamodo World, are you?"

Brago shook his head. "No, I'm not heading there with Kalu again until I hear word from Zatch. He had told me that he would look into some things after the break in."

The family still had not moved out of the hotel after the incident with Zophise's break in to their abode, but sometime soon the beat up mansion would be finished and they could move back in. It was a lucky thing that Brago hadn't scared away most of the residents at the inn.

Kalu thought it was amusing to watch certain people panic slightly and hustle off. Sherry was used to it by now since she had spent time with Brago since the Battle for King. Even long ago people would give off strange looks as she passed by with the demon. And to that day they would still do that, but often it would vary when Kalu was around too.

There was a small screech as the vehicle pulled up to the hotel and the family of three climbed out. Brago glared at the building and muttered to himself as he followed his wife and child to the two front doors after Sherry gave more directions to the driver. They made their way into the building, through the front lobby, and climbed the stairs to the third floor where their room was.

As soon as they reached their destination Kalu plopped on the couch where she spotted Yuki and began to play with the kitten. Brago and Sherry stepped inside the room and started to do their own things and talk at the same time.

When Kalu turned and headed into her room for something, Brago turned to face his wife.

"Did you feel that odd presence earlier in the car with Kalu?" inquired the dark being. Sherry nodded her head. "I don't know what it was… but I really don't like it."

Shrugging, the other spoke, "I didn't really think it was that big of a deal… but I really wouldn't know as much as you would."

The mamodo turned to see their child standing in the doorway, staring at them. "Did you feel that, Daddy?" asked Kalu, talking of a different subject. Brago's eyes raised and he turned to look at the door. There was a knock.

"Hello?" called Sherry as she turned around, now facing the door as well. She walked up to it and peeked through the hole in the door. Her eyebrows rose when she turned around and spoke, "It's Zatch Bell. He's come here to the human world."