* * * * *
Chapter Two
* * * * *
Sesshomaru
* * * * *
"Lord Sesshomaru. . . Lord Sesshomaru. . . Master Jaken, what rhymes with Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin was asking.
"Now, let's see. . . Sesshomaru. . . Sesshomaru. . . Um. . . kazoo?" Jaken said weakly.
"'Lord Sesshomaru, his voice like a kazoo?'" Rin asked. "That doesn't sound right, Master Jaken. Isn't that kinda' insulting?"
Jaken became very quiet.
All of a sudden, I smelled wolves. A young half-Demon girl in some kind of blue pants and a baggy grey shirt with a kind of blue printing on it and very wet brown hair came dashing by, not even noticing my us, and jabbering away to a wolf.
"Ruby! You heard them, too?!" she huffed, as though she'd been running for a while
The wolf growled in response.
"I know! I can't even smell them anymore!" she cried as though she could understand the wolf's every growl. Then she ran right into the barrier that I'd noticed minutes before hand.
"Rawr!" Ruby cried, grinding to a halt right next to the girl.
"O-o-o-h." she moaned, holding her skull in her hands. "Oh, God, my head. What did I run into?"
The wolf started up a series of barks and growls.
Slowly, she got up and felt along in front of her. Finally, she found the barrier.
"What. . ." she said quietly, feeling along it. "A barrier? In the middle of the woods? What's going on here?"
A male voice screamed from somewhere inside the barrier.
"They're in there!" she cried, kicking the barrier and almost falling on her rump. "God dammit, they're somewhere in that barrier, and I can't get in!"
I was mildly suprised when that half-demon brat began to punch and kick the barrier with as much strength as she could muster. I was even more shocked when it was Rin who went up to her and began to talk to the girl.
"Um, excuse me." She said timidly, walking over slowly as though the other girl was going to rip open her throat.
"Huh?" she asked, turning around to face Rin.
"Hi, my name's Rin. Uh, what're you doing?"
The girl tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace.
"I'm trying to break down this damn barrier to save my friends from. . . um. . . whatever's got them in trouble." She answered, adding a punch for good measure. "Thing is, the thing isn't coming down. I am getting so annoyed it isn't even funny! I'm Susan, by the way. Susan Thomas." and with that, she started to body-slam the barrier, which wouldn't have done very much even if it had been a normal wall, since she was just so skinny.
It was only then that she seemed to notice her wet hair, since she growled deep in her throat and pulled it into a pony-tail rather like what that wolf-demon Koga wore.
"I am so glad that I put the band on my wrist instead of with my other clothes." she mutterd, feeling around her skalp and flattening down any bumps. "Wait a minute, what the hell am I doing?! I'm worrying about my hair at a time like this?!"
"Um, Lady Susan? Who're your friends?" Rin asked timdly.
Susan looked at Rin like she was a little weird.
"What did you just call me?" she asked with a bit of a laugh in her voice. "Lady Susan? Kid, let me tell you, I'm not royalty, not by a long shot. And have you ever heard of Koga, Hakkaku and Ginta of the Wolf-Demon Tribe?"
Rin stiffened at the mention of the wolves.
"Yeah." She said carefully. "Um, Koga let his wolves loose in the village where I was staying after my parents were killed. But he saved me from a demon a few weeks ago, so I guess he's alright."
Susan's eyes widened.
"Koga did that?!" she demanded, covering up her mouth with her fist in horror. "Oh, my God. That's. . . But then he saved you. . . Damn, what is that wolf's problem? Eat a human one day and save one's life the next? That's insane. I'm going to kill him, I really am. As soon as I save him, I'm going to kill him. Or at least break his nose for him or something."
Rin laughed.
"So, your friends are in danger?" I asked, finally stepping out of the forest.
Susan's eyes widened at the sight of me.
"Whoa, where'd you come from? I didn't even smell you." She said.
"That's Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin chirpped, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "He saved me after the wolves attacked me!"
"Hi." Susan said, biting her lip. I could understand her caution. It is very unnerving for a demon, even a half-Demon, with a strong sence of smell to find somebody has followed them or snuck up on them and to find that they havn't smelled the opponent. I nodded in her direction.
"This barrier smells of Naraku." I said, drawing my sword, the Tokijin. "The both of you get back." Rin nodded with gusto and ran back behind me. Susan quickly followed suit, running backwards until she hit a tree.
"What're you going to-" She began to ask before I slashed at the barrier with the sword and brought down the barrier with a slash of purple. "Oh." Was all she said. Then she told me happily: "Thank you!" and took off twords the direction of the smell of wolves with the animal that she'd called Ruby close on her heels.
* * * * *
Susan
* * * * *
Well, that was odd. I thought as I ran toward Koga and the others. But I have to admit, that Dog-Demon sure was strong. Hey. . . he smelled a hell of a lot like InuYasha. Or am I just immangining things again? No matter, I have to get to Koga.
Dismissing Sesshomaru from my mind, I picked up speed as I ran downhill and lept clear over a small cliff.
"YYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" I screamed as my legs searched for solid ground. Just because I was able to do it didn't make it any less terrifying.
After what seemed like an eternity, my feet touched down and I actually did fall on my butt. I jumped right back up, though, and kept running. Ruby miraclously made the jump, too, and caught up with me withing a few seconds.
All of a sudden, I heard Hakkaku and Ginta screaming in unison. I ran over toward their frightened voices to see them hugging each other in fear.
"Ginta! Hakkaku!" I shouted standing in front of them and planting my hands on my hips. "What the hell is going on?!"
They looked at me with wild looks in their eyes.
"Susan!" Ginta cried, moving over to clutch at me instead. "It's the Band of Seven!"
"The what?!" I demanded, trying untangling myself from his grip.
"The Band of Seven!" Hakkaku told me, trying to assist me in my futal attempt to get Ginta off. "Haven't we told you about them?"
"No." I gasped, finding it hard to breathe. "Who are they?"
"They're undead mercenaries who love to kill!" Ginta whinned, holding onto me even tighter than ever. "Naraku brought them back to life with the Scared Jewel Shards! Koga's in trouble! He's fighting their leader!"
"Their leader?-Ginta, would you fucking let go of me?!- But if Koga's in trouble, shouldn't we be over there helping him instead of hiding out over here?!" They looked at me like I had a mental issue.
"No!" Hakkaku said as Ginta finally released me. "He'll kill us!"
I rolled my eyes.
"C'mon, you guys! Toughen up! You're Wolf-Demons and you're afraid of some dead guy?"
"He has a big halberd." Ginta said like that made a differance.
"So?" I challenged, not thinking too hard about the fact that the leader weilded an oversized halberd. "Just dodge it! Whatever, why am I wasting time debating with you two? I should be helping Koga like a half-way decent person!"
And with that, I started running off toward the direction that Koga's unmistakable stench was coming from.
* * * * *
Koga
* * * * *
It was one of those moments that I hated being the leader of the Demon-Wolf Tribe.
I was bleeding and baring my fangs at some bastard in white baggy clothes and a kind of guard with purple vines painted on hanging between his legs. His long black hair was pulled into a braid that hung to his waist, a huge halberd was leaning against his shoulder, and a very bord expression was settled on his face.
"Look," he was saying. "hurry up and die, already! Or do you want me to come over there and chop your head off right here and now?"
"Who in hell are you?!" I demanded, pushing against my face to stop the blood flow of a rather nasty cut.
"Heh. Havn't you guessed?" that son of a bitch sneared. "Fine. I'm Bankotsu, leader of the Band of Seven!" he finished, flourishing his halberd toward me.
At that moment, I heard a loud crashing through the trees, and a very famillar scent hit my nostrals. Susan.
"Huh?" I mumbled, looking in that direction. I guess Bankotsu heard the noise, since he looked in the same direction. And lo and behold, Susan came into the picture right when she was needed the least!
"Koga!" she shouted, coming to an abrut hault. "Uh, wait a minute. What the hell? Bankotsu?!"
Bankotus leered at her. I frowned. I didn't like the way he was looking at her. I was already starting to think of the girl as a part of my pack, and I wasn't too fond of this undead man looking at her like she was a piece of meat.
"Hey, there, Susan." he said to her, leaning the handle of his halberd on his right shoulder. "Guess I'm seeing you again sooner than I thought I would."
Susan had a very confused look on her face.
"Hang on one God-forsaken minute!" she said, crossing her arms. "Hakkaku and Ginta said that the leader of the Band of Seven was fighting Koga. Judging from the looks on their faces and the fact that Ginta was holding me in a strangle-grip, I guess that isn't too good. But I thought they also said that the leader was dead, and you're sure as hell alive!"
"Naraku revived him." I growled. "He brought the whole group back to life. Two are already dead. I killed one, and InuYasha's half-brother Sesshomaru killed the other."
"You know, the Ninja said that the barrier was almost inpenertable. How'd you get in?" Bankotsu said to Susan, utterly ignoring me.
She gave him a weird look.
"Ninja? Like on Naruto? What're. . . never mind. It doesn't matter. Anyway, some Dog-Demon dude named Sesshomaru killed that barrier with one swing of one of his sword. It had one heck of a demonic aura, so I guess it wasn't exorcized properly."
I decided that I definately didn't like the look Bankotsu was giving Susan. It was like he could see straight through her clothes or something! Come to think of her clothes, Susan was dressed very weirdly for her. She was in some kind of pants made of a different, more casual matieral than usual, and her sweatshirt, as Kagome called it, was more form-fitting than I was used to seeing her in. It came closer to the spaghetti-strapped top she'd worn on the night I'd met her than amything else.
"Susan." I growled, shielding her from view. "Run."
"What?!" she demanded, looking at me like she couldn't believe it. "I am not running away from a fight, Koga! I never have and I never will! Besides, you're hurt really badly; don't think I can't see or smell the blood!"
"Just get out of here!" I ordered desprately. "This guy is tougher than any human you might have ever fought against!"
"What makes you think I've just fought humans?" she demanded, standing her ground. "I've faced down demons before too, you know!"
This is getting us nowhere! I thought. Not even thinking of what I was doing, I picked the skinny girl up by her waist and threw her over my shoulder. I ran off with Bankotsu's taunts at my back.
"Running away? Coward!" he shouted. I wasn't even listening. I had to get Susan away from that molestor-freak! Of course, the girl in question wasn't too happy about being tossed over my shoulder and banging her nose on my back.
"Fuck, Koga!" she was shouting at the top of her lungs as I ran along the country-side after yelling at Hakkaku and Ginta to catch up when they could. "Put me down! I'm not some carrion bag!"
I ignored her until we got to the Well that took her back to her own time. Susan had gotten it out of Kagome that we weren't in their own time, and instead of something they called the "Twenty-first century" we were in the Feudal era.
"Koga," Susan said in a threatening voice as I lowered her down from my shoulder. "You had better no-AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!" she screamed as I more or less threw her and her thousand-pound bag of clothes that I had grabbed while fleeing Bankotsu down the well. As soon as she was over and I couldn't smell her anymore, I uprooted a tree and shoved it, branches first, down the well. Over-reactiong? Maybe. But there was no way I was letting her get hurt because of that Bankotsu.
* * * * *
Susan
* * * * *
"Damn Koga!" I whispered after I tried to get back through the Well but just ended up in the bottom of my basement. "He must have blocked it up over on his side!"
I was madder than I had ever been in my life. First he picks me up by my waist and then he chucks me down the well without even saying goodby?! I was mad at Koga for doing that to me. I was mad at Bankotsu for doing what I saw at the ultimate betrayal of my trust. I was mad at Ruby for not trying to stop Koga, or if she had, not being very effective at it. And most of all, I was mad at myself for being fooled by the nice-guy act that Banktosu had put on. How had I been fooled so easily?! Was I that starved for affection from a guy that I would let him walk all over me?!
"I'm pathetic," I mumbled, throwing my bag up and over the edge. "I am so damn pathetic."
When I got up into my kitchen, all I wanted to do was sleep. But I knew that I couldn't. I was hungry, and it's hard for me to think on an empty stomach.
"Something easy." I muttered, searching through the freezer. "Something that doesn't take too many brain cells trying to figure out how to cook it. . ."
Finally, I settled on cheese ravioli and Ragu sauce. I threw some water in a pan and set it on the stove on high, and put a bit of the sauce in a small sauce-pan on low so it didn't boil before I had even got the water to. Once the water started to boil, I threw about half the bag of the ravioli in and just let it go for three minutes. I knew the drill. How many times had I fended for myself while mom was at work or one of her many parties? I had lost count after the first week.
As I sat down at the table to eat the pasta dish, I realized that something was missing from the entire set up. Something warm and fuzzy that lay at my feet and filled the lonely house with converstaion as I ate. Something that I had come to depend upon every single day. Ruby. Ruby was back in the Feudal Era of Japan. Silently, I started to cry, my ravioli entirely forgotten. Ruby was a part of me now. Leaving her was like leaving a part of my soul. I kept on crying as I forced myself to eat and change into my pajamas. I was still crying when I went to bed, and I even cried myself to sleep, missing to warmth of cuddling up to Ruby as I shared a bed with my little wolf.
* * * * *
"Hey, Ellie!" I shouted the next morning. "Ells, wait up!" I jogged to catch up with my blond friend.
"Huh? Susan? You're alive?!" Ellie shouted joyfully.
I rolled my eyes at my one friend who didn't dress like a freak.
"Yes, Ellie, I'm alive."
As I spoke, a penguin poked it's head out of Ellie's bag and started to chatter to Ellie.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure. Yeah, I'll tell her." Ellie said to it. Then, to me she said: "Pizlop says you look like shit, Susan."
I glanced down at the penguin named Pizlop that Ellie had owned for as long as I had known her. Pizlop was Ellie's brain, since she only had enough to breathe and pass school with seventies and the rare eighties or nineties. Don't get me wrong, Ellie is a smart girl, but she just doesn't have the attention span to get anything higher.
"Thanks, Pizlop." I said sarcasticaly. "That'll do so much to boost my already dwindling self-esteem."
Pizlop and Ellie laughed, though Pizlop's laugh was more like a bird choking than a real laugh. Penguins just aren't meant to laugh.
"Uh oh, Ellie." I said, looking over her shoulder. "Principal at twelve o' clock!"
Quick as a fash, Pizlop dissapperaed into Ellie's bag, my friend zipped it up, and it was like he was never there. Now, you might ask how a penguin could survive in a backpack all day in a very artificially-heated school building. I know I did. As it turns out, Ellie's bag is built like a freezer, set to around twenty degrees so Pizlop doesn't get heatstroke and die. You might think that it's a little extreme to do that just so you can cart a penguin around with you where ever you go, but when you get as close to an animal as Ellie is to Pizlop or I am to Ruby, you just can't get by without them. As it was, I ate my lunch in the cort-yard near the forest so I could be with Ruby.
"So what's wrong?" Ellie asked me once the principal was clear and it was safe for Pizlop to come out agian.
I bit my lip. How was I going to explain to Ellie that I had spent the last five days in the Feudal Era, been tricked by an undead mercenary, been shoved down a well, and that Ruby was stuck with a full-fledged Wolf-Demon's pack and that I was pretty much lost without her?
As it turned out, I didn't have to, becuase at that moment, Ellie noticed the apple tree that was behind me and had only been in that exact same spot for all of out school careers.
"Oooooh, look! Apppples!!!!" Ellie squealed, dashing over to pluck some of the fruit from the lower branches as Pizlop chattered in protest. I couldn't be sure, of coure, but I was pretty sure that he was saying: "Ellie, No! Those apples will be there later! Something's up with your friend, any you just asked her what! You should listen to her answer!"
Ellie shoved Pizlop impatiently into her back-pack and I just had to laugh. One would swear that she had the attention span of a mouse!
* * * * *
"Suze! Hey! Susan!" my friend Heidi asked me the after the bell rang to signal the start of fifth period. God, why the hell was the day moving so slowly?!
"Huh? Wha?" I asked, being jerked out of my trance.
"Girl, you have got to start paying attention! I know this block schedule sucks, but Hon, it's already sixth period!"
"Sixth? I thought it was fifth." I said, still in a daze.
"Then mind telling me why everyone is leaving the classroom to go to seventh?" Heidi asked, rolling her eyes.
I blinked. Everyone was passing to seventh period.
"Oh." I muttered, shoving my books into my bag and running for the door. My schedule sucked. Period 1/2 I had Science, 3/4 sent me packing for Global History in the other buliding, 5/6 I was either in Science or Gym, my 7/8 was split in half, 7 being Chorus and 8 being lunch (at one in the afternoon!) and 9/10 was my very noisy, hyperactive Algebra class. I didn't get English or Spanish until the second semester, and those are my favorite (and my best) subjects!
"Suze, what's up?" Heidi asked, falling into step with me since we were in the same chorus. "You're not like, well, you today. What's wrong? Did something happen with your mom again?"
I forced a smile. I may have known Ellie for the longest, but Heidi was definately the girl I told my secrets to. Ellie would just go and forget everything that I'd said, anyway.
"Well, sorta'." I admitted, turning the corner. "She hasn't been home all week. That's why I haven't been in school. I've been looking for her."
Heidi looked spooked.
"Do you think she went off to look for your dad again?" she whispered.
I sighed. But then the tears came to my eyes.
You see, I told people my dad was dead, but there was never really any proof about it. He just kinda' dissappeared when I was in kindergarten. I thought he had to be dead, since we never got any phone calls or letters or anything. But my mom held fast to the idea that he was still alive, just hiding out somewhere. She thought that he might have hit his head and gotten amnesia. Or that his tribe had showed up and taken him away. Hell, she'd even told me that he'd secretly enlisted in the Army and gone off to fight in Iraq and that he'd been stranded on a deserted island when his ship sunk. Anything other than the simple fact that he was probably dead.
Mom looked for dad in surviver lists and Google searches. I looked for him in obituraries and graveyards.
My mother was so desperate for him to be alive that she even went off to look for him while I was at school, leaving me alone in the house with only a note, food, and a couple hundred dollar bills for groceries and emergencies. It was pretty pathetic, if you asked me, that after seven, eight years she still spent her weekends Google-stalking military people and interrogating demons via phone calls.
"I. . . I'm not sure, Heidi." I whispered. "She might have gone on one of her party-rages again, or. . ." I wouldn't say 'Some demon might have kidnapped her to mess with me.' Not even Heidi knew that I was a half-demon. "Or. . . I don't know." I finished lamely. "But Ruby's away with. . . with her tribe. So I'm totally alone. But for how long, I don't know. I met this guy this week while I was looking for mom, and he might even come to my place with. . . with a new lead or something." I finished in a mutter. Sure, Koga might come, but that was very unlikely, since he'd just thrown me down a dry well the night before. The night. . .
"Oh, shit!" I whispered, coming to an abrut hault.
"What?" Heidi asked, looking at me with a concerned gaze in her eyes.
"I totally forgot. . . tonight. . ." I hissed, totally ignoring Heidi. "Dammit! Dammit to hell!"
"Susan, what is your problem?!" Heidi demanded, shaking me soundly.
"Oh," I said, faking a smile. "Nothing much. I just forgot something that I was supposed to do tonight."
In all the drama, I had totally forgotten that I was going to turn into a human the next night.
* * * * *
Derik
* * * * *
"Finally," I muttered as the last bell rang, releasing me from the torture they call algebra. Friday was finaly over!
Glancing to the other side of the quickly emptying classroom, I saw Heidi and Ellie grabbing their things and rushing over to Susan to talk to her. Looking at the three psyco girls, I had to laugh to myself. Then a different kind of smile came to my lips. Heidi was in black trip pants with red chains that she spray-painted because she thought that colored chains were cool on trips with a blood-red spaghetti strap shirt she had half-covered with a white sweat-jacket adorned with multi-colored skulls. Her hair was pulled into four pony-tails like Temari's from that Anime show Naruto. Heidi was insane, with her personalities that ranged from Sandy from Grease to Rizzo the punk girl and everything in between.
Ellie was really the only semi-normal chick that I hung around with, and her clothes that were almost prep-like. But Ellie was anything but a prep. With her Evenessance book bag slung over her shoulder and mischevois green eyes, she was the most insane of us all. We all knew that she kept her penguin, Pizlop, in the main compartment in her bag, and we also knew that Pizlop acted like something of a brain for Ellie. Ellie is so absentminded she'd loose Pizlop if he hadn't praticaly Superglued himself to the girl.
But that wasn't the reason I smiled. It was Susan, the craziest of us all, was looking pretty depressed, just sitting there and forcing a smile for her friend's sake. She was in silver jeans and a black tee-shirt that said 'You're just jealous that the Voices don't talk to you, too!' with her hair pulled into teased pony-tails on the sides of her head. She had on heavy eyeliner and black eyeshadow. Under her t-shirt, she had on a long-sleveved fishnet top. I had to admit, that smile was pretty authentic, but the way her pointed ears drooped just a bit told me that something was up.
"Yo, mah peeps." I said in my usual greeting.
"Derik!" Susan squeeled, jumping up and hugging me. Susan was pretty big on hugs, I'd noticed that about her after knowing her for a while. It was a pretty convincing act, but damn, that look in her aqua eyes. . .
"Hey." I said, briefly hugging her back. "What's up? You act all depressed."
Heidi looked gloomy.
"Her mom left again." she told me. "And as if that isn't enough, that wolf of her's is away with her pack or something. She's lonely. I guess she's close to it."
"Duh." I whispered back. "That would be why she had lunch in the courtyard everyday."
"Anyway." Susan said, standing up and smiling an actaul smile with those pretty little lips of hers. "Tyler and Taylor are driving. There's a sugar party at my place."
Ellie, Heidi, and I all grinned like idiots. A sugar party at Susan's house?! That could only mean an afternoon of cookies, brownies, Pixie Stix, Hawian Punch, loud music, and crazy tricks and suprises. And if Tyler and Taylor, Susan's crazy goth twin neighbors, were involved, then thing would get utterly insane. In other words, our kind of afternoon.
"Ah, sweet." I said, snatching my pack and following the psyco-chicks to Susan's locker. Of course, our good mood couldn't last for long. At that very moment, none other than the cheerleading prep MacKenzie and her best friend Vivi came along.
"What're you freaks so happy about?" MacKenzie demanded, leaning up against the locker right next to Susan's.
"Fuck off, MacKenzie." Susan said calmly, more or less dropping her math book in her locker and slamming the door shut.
MacKenzie's face turned from disinterist to fury in less than a second.
"What did you just say to me, Susan Thomas?" She demanded in a dangerous tone, poking Susan's collarbone.
"I told you to fuck off." Susan told the prep, shaking her off. "Or is that too much for your tiny prep brain to digest at once?"
As me, Heidi, and Ellie howled with laughter, MacKenzie and Vivi advanced on Susan, looking like they would like to hit her.
"Just try it," Susan hissed, balling up her own fists. "But you two won't stand a chance against me. Especially with Derik backing me up."
I nodded, movng to my friend's side. I would protect Susan to the death. Not that she needed much protection, it was just something that I had always told myself that I would do.
At that last statement, MacKenzie seemed to snap. She lept at Susan, bearing her nails and crashing my friend to the ground. I shouted as Vivi jumped on me, trying to tear my eyeballs out. Heidi and Ellie were cheering for me and Susan, but at that moment, Susan growled from deep in her throat. I punched Vivi in the gut, sending her sprawling on the ground. Looking over in Susan's direction, I saw she had a bloody lip and a black eye, but MacKenzie was on the loosing end. Susan was punching her anywhere she could reach, but the prep just wouldn't give up. She took a hold of Susan's long brown tresses and started banging the goth/emo girl's head against the lockers. Heidi and Ellie frowned and tried to pull the two apart. All they managed to do was piss MacKenzie off more and yank on Susan's head even harder.
I swore and pulled MacKenzie off my friend. Then I slapped her face for good measure.
"Susan! Are you alright, girl?" Ellie asked as Pizlop squeeled in terror.
"Ohm. Oh. Yeah, I'm fine." Susan said, feeling the gashes the locker had left on her face. "Bitch!" she added to the cheerleader. "You ahd better get out of here right now or I'll break your arm for you!"
MacKenzie didn't need telling twice. She sped off with Vivi close on her heels. Susan sighed and pushed herself up.
"Let's go." she said, pulling her bag over her shoulder. "The twins are probably still waiting for us."
We just nodded and followed her to Taylor and Tyler's car. This had certainly been an interesting week.
* * * * *
Bankotsu
* * * * *
"Well," I said to Jakotsu, surveying the tree shoved down the well upside down. "That's a little more than weird. Why do you think somebody shoved a tree down a well, Jakotsu?"
"Couldn't tell you." my femenine friend said, looking at it with quizical eyes. "You gonna' take it out, Ban?"
"Hell, yeah!" I said, grabbing onto it. "I'm going to see why some idiot did this!" I pulled, but the thing was heavy.
"Bankotsu, there's an easier way that that." Jakotsu said, drawing his Jakotsuto. "Stand back!" and with that, he used to sword to cut the tree into a million tiny pieces. Most of the tree trunk even flew out of the well, leaving only a few chunks and the branches still in the thing.
"Great job!" I told the guy, reaching in and pulling out mess of leaves and twigs. "So who's going in first?" I added, standing back and surveying the well.
Jakotsu looked at me like I was the crazy one.
"Whadda' you mean 'who's going in first?!'" he demanded, planting his fists on his hips in a very good inpersonation of Suasn. "I didn't know we were going to be jumping in!"
"Duh." I said, moving in a little closer. "Somebody wanted to keep people out, so there's probably some big secret about this thing. It'll be fun to find out what."
Jakotsu nodded.
"On three?" he asked, swinging his legs over the side.
"Alright." I agreed, copying the gesture. "On three."
"Ready? One. . ."
"Two. . ."
"THREE!" We finished in unison, lowering ourselves in at the same time. There was a giant flash of purple light, and then we were at the bottom of the well.
"Well," Jakotsu said dryly. "That was certainly interesting."
"Huh." I said, crossing my arms. "I was sure that something was going to happen."
"Hey, Bankotsu?" Ja said, looking up. "Isn't it mid-afternoon?"
"Yeah, why?"
"'Cause it't totally dark in here."
With a start, I realized that he was right.
"Weird. . ." I muttered, grabbing a hold of a loose brick and trying my weight on it. "Well, we might as well have a look around while we're in the middle of a mystery!"
When we climbed up out of the thing, I realized that we were almost definately not in the same place anymore. We were surrounded by four walls that were adorned with shelves, which in turn housed a thousand boxes and jars of all shapes and sizes.
"Jakotsu?" I asked uncertainly, looking around. "Where are we?"
At that moment, loud. . .was it music? drifted down to us, making us look around in terror for a second.
Then. .
"I think it's music." Jakotsu said nervously.
"Yeah." I answered, finding a staircase. "Let's check it out."
Jakotsu followed me up the stiars, and we rounded the corner. I pulled him back almost immedietly.
There, not two yards away from us, was Susan and a bunch of other kids. She was surrounded by other boys and girls in black, chains, and fingerless gloves! Loud music seemed to be blaring from a strange box with mesh circles around it, and a boy with red eyes and some kind of leather jacket was putting some kind of disc into it.
"Ty, play it already!" a girl who looked shockingly like him shouted, reaching over and grabbing some kind of cake from a plate.
"Keep your trip pants on!" 'Ty' called back, pushing a button. Instantly, the room was filled with the sound of drums and some kind of strings being strummed.
It was ninteen eighty-nine my folks were sure my head was wrong,
Caught somewhere between a boy and man.
She was seventeen and she was far from inbetween,
It was summertime in northern Michigan.
Splashing throught the sandbar,
Talking by the campfire,
It's the simple thing in life like anywhere.
We didn't have no Internet, but man, I never will forget,
The way the moonlight shined upon her hair.
And we were trying differnt thing,
We were smoking funny things.
Making love out by the lake to our favorite song.
Sippin' whiskey out the bottle,
Not thinking 'bout tomorrow,
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long!
Catching while out by the docks,
Watching the waves roll of the rocks,
She'll forever hold a spot inside my soul.
We blistered in the sun,
We couldn't wait for night to come!
To hit that sand and play some rock and roll!
Well, we were trying differnt thing,
We were smoking funny things.
Making love out by the lake to our favorite song.
Sippin' whiskey out the bottle,
Not thinking 'bout tomorrow,
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long!
Well nothing seems as strange as when the leaves began to change,
or how we thought those days would never end.
Sometimes I hear that song, and I start to sing along,
And think man, I'd love to see that girl again.
(Man, I'd love to see that girl again!)
Well, we were trying differnt thing,
We were smoking funny things.
Making love out by the lake to our favorite song.
Sippin' whiskey out the bottle,
Not thinking 'bout tomorrow,
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long!
(Writer's note: Not sure I got all those lyrics right, but I did what it sounded like to me, so don't be too mad if I didn't get them all right!)
All throughout the song, there was a lot of whining and howling. At the end, they kept repeating 'Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long' over and over and over again.
Apparently, one of the boys agreed with me that the song was crap.
"Damn, what that fuck is this shit?!" he demanded, crawling over to the contraption from his spot on the floor.
"It's 'All Summer Long' by Kid Rock." Susan said, punching him flat on the head. "And don't change the song! This one's almost over, and it's one of my favorites!"
Looking closer at her, I could see the girl was in a state. Her face was cut up, her lower lip had been gashed open, and her right eye was black and blue.
"Derik, you heard the girl!" the one girl who wasn't wearing black called over. "Let the CD play, God dammit! Pizlop says to let it play, too! He likes Kid Rock! But then put on Evenessence!"
"Linkin Park!" a girl with purple hair who had yelled at Ty to play the music called out, picking up a can of something and drinking deeply.
"Mastodon!" A girl with red hair and a red shirt insisted, pulling the can away. "Taylor, that's enough soda, already! You're gonna puke!"
"Nightwish!" Derik shouted. "Nightwish or Joan Jett and the Blackhearts!"
"Dammit! Anything other than country!" Ty called, stuffing a cookie in his face.
"I happen to like country, Tyler!" Susan said, hitting him on the head now. "So don't diss Carrie or Taylor!"
"Who?" the boy asked, throwing a pillow at the younger girl.
"Carrie Underwood." Susan said, catching the pillow. "She was, like, the second American Idol or something. And don't even ask me how Taylor Swift got famous, 'cuz I don't know!"
"What's American Idol?" the red headed girl asked.
"Are you a hillbillie or somethng, Heidi?!" Susan cried, slapping her own forehead. "You don't know what American Idol is?! It's that TV show with all the singing and people being mean and everything!"
"Dude! This one guy I saw on that show was hot!" Tyler shouted, turning up the volume.
"You bish!" Taylor shouted at her supposed twin and threw a pillow at him. "Not if front of the kids!"
Eventually, thing calmed down and people began to leave.
Everybody but Susan, who stayed and picked up cans and plates filled with nothing but crumbs now.
With a start, I realized that she lived here. This was her house. And those lunatics were her friends.
* * * * *
Susan
* * * * *
Okay, I'll admit it! My friends are insane! Happy?!
After my friends had gone away and left me alone (Yes, in case you're wondering, Tyler is gay. But honestly, who cares? He's a cool guy.) I put in my alleged Taylor Swift CD and started to pick up the living room. Thank God I had one of those noiseless vacum cleaners. Suddenly, as I was picking up empty soda cans (Coke, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, Twister, Vanilla-Cherry Pepsi, you name it, we had it.) Teardrops on my Guitar came on. I couldn't help myself. I started to sing along in the soft voice that I still could hardly believe came from me.
...I fake a smile so he won't see,
That I want and I'm needing,
Everything that we should be.
I bet she's beautiful,
That girl he talks about,
And she's got everything that I have to live without.
Drew talks to me,
I laugh 'cuz it's do damn funny,
That I can't even see anyone when he's with me,
He says he's so in love,
He's finally got it right.
I wonder if he knows he's all I think about at night?
All of a sudden, I stopped singing. I loved to sing, but I just didn't have that much faith in my voice. Blushing, even though nobody had heard me, I finished cleaning up and went up to my room to get ready for bed. Ten minutes later, I was back in my living room with all of my makeup off and adorned in a blue flece shirt and pink, blue, green, and white pinstriped lounge pants. I craked up the heat the seventy-five to combat the howling autumn storm outside, and curled up on the couch with a blanket thrown over my shoulders. I found the TV remote and turned on the TV to see South Park playing. And lo and behold, the one scene that I had memorized thanks to Youtube was playing.
"Dude, what's the big deal about fuck? It's not hurting anybody, look. Fuck fuck fuckety-fuck." Cartman said.
"How would you like to see the school counsler?!" demanded of Cartman.
"How would you like to suck my balls?!"
"What did you say?!"
"Oh, I-I'm sorry, What I meant was. . ." Cartman plugged in an amp and microphone. "AHM. HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SUCK MY BALLS, MR GARROSON?!"
There was a brief silence, interrupted by Kyle saying: "Holy shit, dude."
Howling with laughter, I changed the chanel to Nick to see Avatar the Last Airbender was on. But then I heard the laughing coming from my kitchen, and the scent of dead bodies and graveyard soil hit my nose. Cautiously, I made my way into the room, walking ever so lightly so that not even Koga could hear me coming. And then I saw them. Bankotsu and some cross-dressing guy, rolling on the floor laughing their heads off.
"I have got to pull that one on Renkotsu sometime!" the new guy was laughing, tears streaming from his eyes. "I can just see his face when I go up to him and say 'fuck fuck fuckety-fuck!"
"Yeah! He'll loose it!" Bankotsu agreed.
"What he hell?!" I demanded, backing up. "What are you people doing in my house?!"
Bankotsu looked over at me.
"Oh. Hey, Susan!" He said.
"So." Cross-dresser said, walking over to me. "This is the girl, eh Banktosu? Well, I have to admit, I like her clothes. Very future. But the rest of her, well..."
"Fuck off, dude." I said, crossing my arms. "Like you're one to talk about. . . whatever it is that I don't have."
The guy just shrugged.
"Well, that guy she was hanging around with was pretty cute, at any rate." he said like that settled it.
"Which guy?" I asked, intregued despite myself. "Dreik or Tyler?"
He just looked at me.
"Which one's Dreik and which one's Tyler?" he asked.
"Dreik's the one my age, and Ty's the senior." I said, rolling my eyes.
"Oh, yeah! The older guy!" he said, snapping his fingers.
"Tyler. Well, dude, you're in luck, cuz' Ty is as gay as they come. I could hook you two up if you were from this time, but you're not, so tough luck, I guess. Ty would think I was either very weird or smoking something very funny if I tried to get him with somebody from the Feudal Era."
He looked crestfallen.
"But hey." I said, trying to make nice. "I could introduce you guys."
I dont't know if Ty is into dead guys, though. I thought.
The guy gasped.
"Could you?!" he demanded. "Oh, if you could-"
"Not now, Jakotsu." Bankotsu said, asserting himself in front of the taller boy. "You have InuYasha."
I had to hold in a laugh.
"Um, InuYasha?" I asked, not able to hide a smile. "Sorry to tell you this, but I think that Dog-ared mutt is as straight as they come."
"'Dog-Eared Mutt'?" Bankotsu quoted, looking at me strangely.
"Koga's wording." I said. "He calls InuYasha a dog-eared mutt sometimes. He calls him other things, too. Mutt-Face, Puppy, InuTrasha. . . You name it, Koga's probably called InuYasha that name."
Banktosu rolled his eyes.
"Whatever." he said, unable to hide a smile. "Hey, why was that tree shoved in that well?"
"Koga was probably trying to keep you away from me. You know, the whole perverted-mercenary-leering-at-his-pack-member might have set him off."
Banktosu scowled.
"Sure. Whatever. Anyway, you're coming back with us." he informed me, grabbing my upper arm.
"I couldn't agree more." I said, trying to shake him off. "However, Koga seems to think I should be back in my own time."
Bankotsu barked out a laugh.
"Your own time?!" He demanded, grabbing my arm tighter. "Look at you! Were you in a fight or something? You look terrible!"
"Actually, yes. I happened to face down the super preppish cheerleader MacKenzie and her mindless underling Vivi today." I grinned. "Derik took on Vivi and I faced MacKenzie. I think we won. But MacKenzie decided to bash my face up against the locker before Derik pulled her off of me. You should see her face, though. I got really angry at her for jumping me like that. I'd be suprised if her parents don't decide to press charges." I laughed. "But I don't care. If I even get wind that they're taking me to court, I'll just mysteriously vanish into thin air. To the Feudal Era." I clarified for Jakotsu's sake.
"Well, I just guess you're going to 'vanish into thin air' now, since I'm not exactly thrilled of the thought of you getting your face beaten in every day!"
"Fuck off." I said, attempting to wiggle my fingers in under his so I could get the blood flowing through my arm again. "It's none of your buisness if I get my face beaten in by a cheerleader and her 'roid pumped boyfriend or one of Naraku's demons in your time!"
Bankotsu was looking at me with something strange brewing in his eyes. It almost made me pass out, his gaze was so intense.
"Will you just shut up and listen to me?!" he demanded, his voice suddenly husky. "How long do you think it'll take Naraku to come to this place? How long do you think Koga will last against him? Or any of your friends for that matter?"
I snorted.
"What're you trying to do, get me crying? Cuz I have news for you, buddy, big girls don't cry."
Okay, I'll admit it, I took that line out of that song Big Girls Don't Cry. But hell, it was the only inteligable thing that I could think of at the moment!
"Nah. I don't like it when girls cry. But you don't really think anybody you know would stand a chance, do you?"
He jerked his head at Jakotsu. Whining, Jakotsu left the room.
"I wanted to see the rest of this." he complained.
Bankotsu waited until his friend had left before he continued to speak to me.
"I don't know what you have against me." he began, grabbing my other arm and looking imploringly into my eyes. "But I think I'm interested."
Good Lord! The guy was actually asking me, and I could or couldn't answer if I wanted to.
I took a breath and let out a sigh.
"I don't think it's you so much as what you stand for." I said quietly, not meeting his gaze. "I mean, you're an okay guy, really. But I did some research last night. I came across your name." I looked up at him. "You killed a whole lot of people and demons, didn't you? And I guess you liked it, too, 'cuz the web sites said the the main reason you came back was to get your numbers up to a thousand humans and two thousand demons. They never said what ended up happening, so don't even ask me." I lowered my eyes again. "And also. . . I half think it's Naraku's fault I'm in the mess I'm in right now."
"What mess?" Bankotsu asked, sitting me down on a chair.
I totally shut my eyes this time, not wanting to even meet his. I never told my real problems to people. I had just let that little bit slip out, and I was feeling like a damned fool for doing so. I knew he would never let up if I didn't tell him, though, so I plunged foreward.
"My mom's gone. I came downstairs almost a week ago and I heard her scream. I ran into the living room, but I couldn't find her. All there was in that room was Naraku, my mom's blood, and her wedding necklace." I fingered the choker that I handn't taken off since that faitfull night, and I felt my throat tighten up. "It was from my dad on their wedding night. She would never loose it, I know it, so I'm thinking that Naraku might have killed her."
"What about your father?"
"Who knows?" I whispered, clenching my hands into fists. "He left when I was, like, five or something. Anyway, I was in Kindergarden. Mom was always so sure he was alive and didn't leave us. I'm just now starting to think that she may have been right. That he may have been lured away." I bowed my head, fighting the tears that were starting to form in my eyes. God, why were they coming now?! "I think. . . Well, Wolf-Demons can make a lot of enemies. And if that's true, he's dead. Long dead, actually, since it was close to eight years ago."
Bankotsu didn't say anything. For once I was grateful for some silence. Then, after what seemed like forever, he said quietly:
"So you started to dress in black and hang out with weird people, right? After a while, it just became too much and you went totally weird."
"Yeah. A few years ago." I said, again not looking at him. It was true. None of the other kids had understood why I was always so out of it. So I had done the one thing I could think of. In the sixth grade, I had gotten a bunch of punk T-shirts and black and silver pants, and chopped my hair into a bob. Weird thing was, I was happy that way. I mean, people looked at me and said I was a freak, with the amount of times I used temp. dye in my hair and all the heavy make-up I started to wear half-way through the seventh grade. People saw me and thought I was weird and somebody to be avoided. But for once in my life, I felt like me. I didn't feel like those girly-girls who always wore bright colors. I was happy. The tops I wore made me feel sexy, and my friends, the first in my life who would alway stand by me, did the same. It probably helped that I had gotten my hair profesionally fixed, and I'd grown it out to just below my arm pits and I had really eased up on the cosmetics, but I felt awesome!
Then my eyes snapped to Bankotsu. I had almost forgotten who I was with. What I was with. God, I had just spilled my heart out to an undead mercenary! What was wrong with me?!
"Right, well." I said, gaining complete control of my voice. "I think it's time for you to go now."
But the only thing the guy did was to jump up from his perch and stand right in front of me. He siezed my shoulders, making my arms tense up.
"You know," he murmered, pushing me back against the counter. "You're really pretty, with or without all that makeup."
What the heck is this guy doing? I thought, looking at him uncomftorably.
"Thanks?" I said, the word coming out more of a question than a statement.
There was a fire burning in his eyes, and a deep want begining to brew on his mouth.
And suddenly, I knew what he was going to do. I tried to break away, but I was too close to my transformation, less than twenty-four hours, and the dude was just too strong. My upper thighs tightened, forcing my legs together. I guess that it was a natural reaction.
"Um. . . " I said. "Bankotsu? What're you-"
I never got to finsish that question, because right then and there, he brought his lips down onto mine. It was a rough, bruising kiss, formed entirely out of raw need and desire. It was almost like it wasn't even me anymore, but some other girl. I mean, it was me, but the experience was like an out-of-body one, like I was in the movies watching Bankotsu kiss another girl who looked exactly like me.
And then I snapped. I didn't want him on me, I didn't like him on me (that much. I mean, c'mon! I barely even knew the guy!) and I was determined to get him off of me! I pushed him away as hard as I could, breaking the connection our lips had temporairly formed.
"What the fuck?!" I gasped as the same time as Koga shouted: "You get off of her!"
"Koga!" I said in relief as Bankotsu jumped away from me and, not even looking at Koga, walked down into my basement with Jakotsu close on his heels.
* * * * *
"Are you alright?" Koga asked for what seemed like the thousandth time.
I sighed. I was glad the guy was concerned and all, but enough was enough!
"Yes, Koga." I said patiently. "I'm fine." It had just been a very long day, and I told him so.
"You're worried about something." he said, displaying one of his rare signs of concern.
"Yeah. I, um, well, I turn into a human tomorrow night, is all." I told him. "My sense of smell and hearing has been regressing for the last couple days, and it's pretty nerveracking, but I'm used to it by now."
Koga started to laugh.
"Don't laugh." I muttered, sitting down on a log. We were back in the Feudal Era and walking through the woods. I had told Koga everything. Why I was alone, why I was a punk/goth/emo chick, everything. At least, everything I had let slip to Bankotsu. I guess I thought Koga deserved to know it I was going to be hanging around with him so often.
"I'm not laughing at you." he said, sitting down next to me. "I't just too funny! That's why you were having all those weird mood swings all week? Gods, we thought you were going through some kind of crisis! Look, I'm sure your mother is fine, your father may very well be alive, Ruby is right here with us, we've kept her very safe, and as for your transformation, don't you think we'll protect you? That you're close enough to us that we'd die for you?"
I closed my eyes and smiled gratefully. I rested my head against Koga's shoulder, suprised at how good it felt.
"Thank you." I whispered, enjoying the feeling of my cheek against the fur on his shoulder and the skin where my face touched. "You have no long I've waited to hear those words. Thank you so much, Koga."
"Yeah." he said, equally quiet, placing one hand on my left shoulder, not shaking me off or scolding me like I might have expected.
Of course, this was the real world, and it had to be interruped by an elderly wolf running almost silently into the clearing where the sun was just begining to set, casting a warm, welcoming glow on everything. I lifted my head up and Koga took his hand away from me.
"Koga." The wolf said in the Human language I'd been raised on. I felt my eyebrows rise. So he'd learned the gift of speech?
"Koga, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I have urgent news."
"Go ahead." Koga invited, standing up with me following suit. The Elder glanced thoughtfully at me before Koga said: "It's alright. She's with me."
The Elder nodded.
"Koga, it seems that the rumors are true. He did indeed have a child."
Koga raised his eyebrows, a dark shadow crossing his face.
"Who had a kid?" I asked, crossing my arms around my stomach.
"The original founder of the Wolf-Demon Tribe in our region." Koga muttered. "He took off a while ago with some woman, and ever since our tribe has been feuding over who gets to be the leader. I just recently took control with the Sacred Jewel Shards."
"Fourteen and a half years, to be exact." the Elder said.
"Fourteen and a half. . ." I repeated, biting my lip, suspicion coming over me like a dark clowd. "What did you say this guy's name was again?"
"Julian." The Elder told me. "His name was Julian."
Ohhh." I whispered, covering up my mouth and sinking back down onto the log.
"Susan?" Koga asked, looking at me in concern. "What's up? Does that name sound falmillar?"
"Well, it should." I said. Suddenly the golden meadow didn't have nearly as much as an apeal to me as it had just moments before. "I mean, my mother's been repeating that name for nearly a decade now. How could it not sound famillar?"
"Susan?" Koga asked, his voice almost fearful. "What're you saying?"
"I never knew. . ." I whispered, the tears now coming from my eyes. "All this time and she never told me. . . I never bothered to ask. . .
"Koga, that name sure as hell means something to me." I sobbed, holding onto my knees. "'Cuz that was my father's name, Koga." I looked at the Elder. "Black hair to the center of his back with a purple streak in it, right? With green eyes that you just can't seem to forget no matter how hard you try?"
"Yes." The Elder said at the same time Koga said "Yeah."
"Oh, my God!" I gasped, shaking my head to rid it of all the memories of my father that had all of a sudden come rushing back. Of him holding me as a small baby. Of me flying over his head, me shrieking with laughter. A million memories that I had banished into the back of my head and refused to even look at. "Oh, my God." I repeated in a whisper. "Koga. . . I. . . I'm so sorry."
"Sorry for what?" he damanded, sitting down next to me and putting his arm around me again.
I shut off the water works.
"Sorry. . . Koga, think about it! This means that I have a blood claim! You know better than anybody how everyone else will see it!" It was true. Wolf-Demons have a very high regard for blood claims. If Julian. . . my father. . . admitted that I was his child which he definately would, then I was in the competition with Koga for the leader of the tribe, wether I wanted to be or not.
Koga was silent for a minute. But he didn't take his arm away.
"It doesn't matter." he said finally. "I don't care, and neither should you. Susan, look at me." he gently ordered, carefully cupping my face in his hands. "If it comes down to it, I'll willingly hand the position to you. But I really don't think that it will come down to that, alright? You have a blood claim. I'll respect that if you want me to, I really will. But don't you ever think that it'll change things between us. We're friends, and you know it. So stop worrying about it, okay?"
"Right." I whispered, pushing my fists to my chest. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against Koga's shoulder. "Thank you." I added, hugging him like I would Derik or Tyler. Like a brother or a friend. Somebody who I just couldn't believe I'd gotten through life so far without.
I felt Koga nod against my back and he gently squeezed me back.
God. I thought, This is just like one of the thousands of hugs I've gotten from the guys. But then why does it feel so different? Why do I feel like my heart is soaring through the sky? I'm not sure, but God, I could just stay here like this forever and not move one muscle.
After a while, we broke apart.
"You okay?" Koga asked, tapping me on the shoulder.
"Yup." I answered, leaning back. Then something clicked. "Hey, why doesn't Julian. . . er. . . my father. . . take the position for himself?"
"He doesn't want it." The Elder said instantly. I felt my face heating up, and I didn't know why. The whole school had seen me hugging Tyler and Derik, for crying out loud! "He says it's time for somebody new to come into power. Er, Susan, did you say your name was?"
"Yeah." I said, looking at him.
"Your father would like to see you. He said that if we should come across his daughter, he would very much like to meet with her."
I nodded, suddenly determined.
"Yeah, I'll see him." I said in a strong voice. "I'll meet with him, alright. And when I do, I'm going to make him tell me why he left me and my mom eight years ago! He at least owes me an explanation, God dammit!"
End Chapter
I hope you people are happy! I stayed up very late all week to finish this baby! I've been falling asleep on the bus, in chorus, and in algebra because I'm just so wiped from typing so late at night and thinking so hard! Right now it's 9:30 on the night before Halloween, and I'm going to regret staying up this late tomorrow night, I just know it!
One the upside, I really think this thing is coming along pretty well. Things are starting to fall into place, and my dark family history is starting to be revealed. Bankotsu was kinda' a jerk in this chapter, and I'm sorry, I love him too, but I really wanted a cute part with me and Koga in it and the bit about my dad, and I really didn't see any other way to do it!
Anyway, this has been a concern amongst my friends, and I guess some people are pretty concerned too, so let me get my reality straight. As far as I know, my parents are both human. I do cook for myself sometimes, but it's not that often, and usually it's because my mom's seeing the lawyer about her divorce with my dad. Yes, my parents are divorcing, but really, it's not the end of the world. I don't have a well leading to the Feudal Era of Japan in my basement, and I do not have sugar runs with my friends at my house.
Just for the record, some of my characters are based on real people. One of my BFF's Kayla asked to be Ellie, and she's the one who came up with the idea of Pizlop, so don't give me any grief about making fun of her or anything, because she's actually really smart. MacKenzie is based on a girl I used to know and hate. She was insane, but we never got into a fight and I don't want anybody thinking that I did. Ruby's personality is based of of one of my BFF's Tesla. She's always concerned about me, and I love that! I just wanted to have a wolf, so I mixed some ideas about Ruby with Tess, and this is the end result! Vivi, Tyler, Taylor, and Derik are just figments of my immaningation, but Heidi is based of from my friends from swim team mixed together. I wasn't sure what to name her, so I hit the book shelf looking for names. I finally settled on the book Hitler's Daughter. The plot is that the one girl, Ana, is telling a story about Hitler's supposed daughter, Heidi. Heidi is a sweet little girl, and I love the personalitly about her, so I named my character Heidi after Heidi Hitler (she doesn't exist, and I'm fully aware that all of that sounds fairly twisted.) Oh, before I forget, Derik's name I pulled from the book Project 17, one of my all-time favorite ghost story books. Derik is my favorite guy character. Vivi's name is pulled from the Ya Ya books, since Vivi is my fav. original Ya Ya! Actually, the twins are the only ones that I didn't get from somewhere or another