-Tori-
I glanced behind me at the two following me. Ace had his hands buried in the pockets of his black shorts and Marco hands were lazily clasped behind his head. I walked quickly, eyes darting back and forth in case someone noticed me. "Where exactly are we going?" Ace asked catching up to me easily.
"The woods, where I live," I pointed to the trees surrounding the village, "I'm not welcome in town so I live in the woods outside it." I shrugged.
"Why aren't you welcome here, yoi?" Marco asked popping up on my other side.
"I'm a Demon Child," I answered openly, "I'm sure you noticed my ability to change from a human to a cat. No one else can and nobody knows how or why I can do it so they figure I'm not human. Mom was human with strange abilities, so my father must have been a Demon, logically." I shrugged ducking into the shaded tree line.
"That's terrible," Ace frowned glaring at his feet.
"I'm not asking you to feel bad for me, it's just…the way things are."
"Well, the way things are is wrong!" he shouted punching a tree.
"A child should not be judged by who their parents are but how they were raised and the way they behave, yoi," Marco placed a hand on my shoulder with a small smile.
I nodded, the corners of my mouth turning up in a smile that didn't quite reach my eyes, "This way."
*Awhile later*
I stopped in a small clearing and kneeled in front of two stones right next to each other. Covered in weeds, I started clearing the vegetation away.
-Marco-
I watched Tori with interest as she brushed vines and weeds away from two blocky stones standing in the center of the small clearing she lead us to. "What are you doing?" Ace asked sitting next to her.
"Clearing off the graves," she stood brushing her hands off on her threadbare skirt and turned to face me, "You wanted me to take you to my parents, well here they are," she gestured to the tombstones.
Ace stared from the tombstones to her shock written all over his face. She took a few steps back, starting to leave. "I should be going. It was really nice of you to save me and all but I don't want to get you in trouble," she reasoned, "You can just follow the trail back and you should make it to town. Bye Ace, Marco."
Ace crossed the clearing quickly and wrapping an arm around her waist threw her over his shoulder turning back to me. "Come on, Pops is waiting. We should hurry back."
I nodded leading the way back through the trees. "Can you put me down please?" she asked quietly.
"Are you going to try and run off, yoi?" I asked slowing to walk next to her again.
"That depends on what you're going to do with me," she looked up at me with another forced smile.
"We're taking you with us. We can't leave you here alone with these people. Who knows what they're going to do to you," Ace answered, his hand sliding from her waist to her hip as she tried to push herself up.
He quickly readjusted his grip, cheeks red. "They'd just do to me what they always do," she shrugged like it was no big deal.
"Such as?" I asked catching sight of scars crisscrossing her shoulders.
A glint of fear flashed in her eyes as she shrank away from me. She transformed quickly scrambling from Ace's shoulder to under his hat.
-Tori-
I curled up under Ace's hat not wanting to talk about anything the villagers did to me. If I closed my eyes I could still smell the smoke and hear Mom screaming. If I sat still long enough I could even hear the gunshot.
*Flashback*
"For the crime of having sexual relations with a Demon, your punishment is death at the stake," the Mayor shouted over the roar of the crowd as Mom was dragged forward in cuffs.
"Mommy!" I screamed trying to pull away from Dad, crying, "No, Mommy didn't do anything wrong it's my fault," I begged.
"No Tori it's not your fault," Dad held me close blocking my view of what they were doing, pressing my face into his chest.
The scent of burning wood and flesh washed over us as the stake was lit. "Rebecca!" Dad shouted breaking away from me and running towards Mom.
He didn't make it there steps away from the crowd before someone pointed a gun at him and fired. I screamed.
*End Flashback*
I trembled under the bright orange fabric breaking out into a cold sweat despite the heat building up, trapped between his head and the brim. "Hey, you okay?" Ace asked reaching his hand up to pet me.
Gently he wrapped his fingers around my small frame and removing me from my hiding spot. Holding me close to his chest he stroked my fur in a calming manner, "Don't worry, they can't hurt you anymore."