Disclaimer: I don't own Black Cat/ credit for Vanessa goes to Chronian Demoness XIV/ partial credit for Jessica and Tiffany goes to Chronian Demoness XIV we created them together

Chapter 8

I had been running through the woods all day and I was finally starting to get tired. I had been farther away from the bridge then I had first thought. I had been thinking I'd only have about a quarter of the distance left by lunch time, but it turned out I had a little under half of the distance and it was passed lunchtime.

I climbed up a tree to see where exactly I was. I saw the bridge. It was closer but I still had a ways to. I climbed down and took off again. I was hungry, thirsty and tired. I hadn't slept since the night before and there wasn't enough food to eat. I mean berries were starting to get boring, especially if that's all you can find to eat that you know won't kill you. The only reason I was thirsty though, was because I had been running all the time.

The sun was just starting to set when I finally made it to the edge of the woods. That didn't mean that I was anywhere near the bridge, although I could see it along with some lights from Rubeck City. I kept running until I made it to the bridge. Baldor and Kranz spun around when they heard me. I wasn't exactly being quiet with my arrival but it was almost as hard to sneak up on Kranz as it was Anubis. But I had managed both.

"Heartnet? Where the hell did you come from?" Baldor asked as he recognized.

"I don't know. The woods maybe."

"You shouldn't be back until tomorrow."

"Yeah, well, it's amazing what you can do when you decide not to sleep. I guess this means I pass. Considering I'm the first one back."

"Fine." I heard Baldor grumble.

"What was that?" I asked trying to get on his nerves.

"I said fine. You passed. You happy now?" He asked as he chomped down on his bumble gum. He always seemed to be chewing a piece of it. It gave me an idea for a prank to pull off on him. It would probably end with him hating me, or trying to kill me, but it would be so worth it.

I jumped down off the bridge and went underneath. I sat down on the river bank and drank a few handful's of water. I guess I'd sleep underneath here tonight. My eyelids were already starting to droop. I leaned against ton of the supports of the bridge and immediately fell asleep.

"Train! Wake up." I heard a girl complaining. I just rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

"Come on, man. We're getting ready to head back to school."

I opened my eyes to see Jenos and Jessica standing over me.

"What do ou want?" I groaned.

"Come get up. Baldor and Kranz said we were leaving. Everyone is back so we're heading back to the school."

"Yay. Exactly like I feel like doing. Going back to school."

"Come on, Train. It's not that bad." Jessica said in an attempt to cheer me up.

"Whatever.' I mumbled as a huge yawn overcame me. I stretched and got up. As soon as I was on my feet Jessica was clinging to my arm.

"Um… Jessica?" I asked.

"Yeah Train?"

"Would mind letting go of my arm. It's starting to fall asleep."

"Sorry!" She cried.

"It's fine." I started walking away before she could grab a hold of me again.

"When did you get back?" Jenos asked as he caught up to me. "When I got back Baldor said that someone had already gotten here before me. I came down here and found you asleep and I couldn't wake you up. You're definitely one heavy sleeper, Train."

"Around sunset yesterday."

"What!? You made it back in two days!?" Jenos exclaimed.

"Yeah so? What's the big deal?"

"No one's made it back in two days before! Not even me!"

"I didn't sleep." I told him simply.

"So that's why you were passed out." I just nodded. "How did you manage to do that?"

"I've gone a few days without sleep. It's not that hard once you get used to it."

"What do you mean 'get used to it'?"

"Before I started living with Karl, I had quite a few sleepless nights."

"It's not like you were living on the streets were you?"

I didn't say anything and looked away. Sometimes I wondered if Jenos actually knew stuff about me or he was kidding around, but it wasn't the first time he had something like this. Once he had said something about my parents having been killed. He hadn't noticed I had gone completely quiet afterwards and he had just kept talking.

Jenos, who was now my best friend in a way, Karl and Vanessa still didn't know anything about my past. I knew I had to tell Karl and Vanessa soon but thinking about telling them about what had happed to my parents made me feel like it was going to just reopen the hole in my heart that was there since my parents died. It was finally starting to heal. It had been almost year since Zagine had killed my parents. It had been only a few days before my birthday.

"You didn't did you?" Jenos asked when he noticed I wasn't saying anything.

"Of course not. Think Jenos, I'm only 10."

"Good point." I was glad he believed me. I guess I was getting better at lying.

Later that night during supper Karl decided to start interrogating me. We were waiting for our food to be brought out to us when he asked a question I hadn't been expecting.

"Train," He started, "Please don't storm off, but can you please tell me what happened to your parents and why you had a gun in your hands when I found you?" I hadn't been expecting him to ask me something like this. "I really want you to tell me but if you're not ready to talk about it, that's okay." I didn't say anything and the table was completely quiet.

"They were killed right in front me." I mumbled. I knew I had shocked Karl with what I had said.

"You poor thing." I heard Vanessa say as she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close.

"Train, I'm sorry. I had no idea." Karl apologized.

"It's fine. No one knew expect me and the man who killed them."

"Who killed them?"

"It doesn't really matter now. He dead. That's why I was on the streets."

"What do you mean, Train?" Karl asked.

"He was an assassin hired to them. His employer didn't tell him about me so he no idea I was there. He wouldn't have killed my parents if he knew about me. He said he didn't kill couples that had children." I took a breath before continuing. "He took care of me after that and taught me how to use a gun. He died and I ended up on the streets all alone. Until you found me."

Vanessa squeezed me tighter. I let her. I didn't feel like moving and now I had no appetite. I just let Vanessa keep her arms around me and I stayed quiet.

"I'm sorry Train. I had no idea that was why you wouldn't tell us." Karl said. I nodded.

"Can I be excused from dinner?" I asked. I didn't want to stay down here when Karl and Vanessa felt sorry for me.

"Of course. I'll get Vanessa to bring you something to eat after." Karl told me. I got out of Vanessa's arms and headed to my room. I closed the door and jumped on my bed. As I lay there all the memories from the past few months came flooding into my head. I lay there trying to ignore them but it didn't work. This week wasn't going to be that great. My birthday was coming up and that meant the anniversary of my parents being killed was coming up too.