Author's Note: I would like to dedicate this chapter to Ryu Dragonclaw for helping me a bit on a special thing that I planned out for ages to do and I would also like to thank some friends who viewed it and told me whether if it's awesome or not. Enjoy!
Shelby's POV
I glanced at the destroyed areas of Castelia on the rooftop of the tallest building, satisfied that we now have them where we want them. I began to think back when I met Alice Tanner. I knew there was something odd about her. Although she's not like her brother, she has the similar appearance and scent of an Eevee. But what does it mean if she's not really an Eevee? How could the little brat be useful to us?
"Are you okay love?"
I slowly turned around, finding Zack approaching towards me. He held my hand and placed his other on my check.
"What's bothering you?"
"Nothing sweetie," I told him, "just tired."
He slowly wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me on the cheek.
"If you want, the both of us could sleep out here under the stars," he whispered.
"Mm, that would be lovely," I whispered back.
I turned around; wrapping my arms around his shoulders, and gave him a gentle kiss on lips that he savored every second of.
Brooke's POV
We stayed in the lobby where it was certain we would be safe and boarded up all of the windows and locked the doors to prevent anyone coming in. Lilly and Megan where in the kitchen preparing food, Gregg and Heidi were talking amongst themselves, Trina and Peter were checking our supplies, Riley looked out the window as his little sister Alice sat next to him and kept herself busy with the pokemon, and Vinny sat next to me quietly as he tried to get signal from Xtransceiver. I glanced at Riley as he continued to look out the window, his innocent red eyes shined from the moonlight as he bit his delicate lips that remained silent the time I regain consciousness. His long, twilight black hair almost covered his sadden look. I could picture his real form in my mind: he would be sitting against a large oak tree on top of a hill, his fur blowing against the cool wind, his graceful tail against his feet, his ears twitching slowly, his red eyes staring at the large moon above him, and his body and rings glowing under the moonlight. He doesn't seem much like the others which makes me curious about him.
"Food's ready!" Lilly announced as she and Megan carried a large platter of sandwiches and placed them at a nearby table.
All of us scurried over and grabbed one from the platter as all of us sat on the nearby seats. Everyone quietly glanced at each other as they ate, leaving an awkward silence.
"Cheer up everyone," Lilly announced, "I'm sure everything will get better soon. Why don't we take our minds off of the situation and talk or something?"
"Riley, why don't you play your guitar for us?" Alice asked him.
"I don't know," he said softly.
"Do you really want to leave us bored out of our minds and wait for them to barge inside and kill us all?" Trina questioned.
"Alright," he gave a small smile as he leaned over to his bag and pulled out an acoustic.
He checked carefully that it was in tune and glanced at all of us as he held his black pick firmly.
"This is one of the first songs I wrote when I was little," he announced as he strummed.
All of us heard the graceful sound of the guitar as he began to sing in a majestic way.
When I was three or four
I used to stare my bedroom window with such bore
Tired of all this mess
With such pain on my chest
Feeling this could be forever
Never having such an adventure
And then my father came in
He placed his hand on my shoulder and gave his heartwarming grin
Sayin' son don't let them
Push you around
And keep you down
Continue with your dreamin'
And one day you'll be leadin'
Keep your mind open
Heal the broken
Brittle little things in life
See everything in brand new eyes
Your possibilities are always high
And the imagination will help you reach the sky
I declared out loud
I'll make you all very proud
And make you guys a soothing sound
About the extraordinary adventures I had
All the good and all the bad
And when I travel around the world
I'll fight evil with a majestic sword
And with my imaginary words
And find new friends
That'll stand by me 'til the end
And following dreams that they're destined
Keep your mind open
Heal the broken
Brittle little things in life
See everything in brand new eyes
Your possibilities are always high
And the imagination will help you reach the sky
All of us listened to him carefully as he continued on, forgetting our situation outside. As his gentle voice flowed into my ears, I began to fall more and more in love with him.
Vinny's POV
"So how you've been Vinny?" Lilly asked me as she began to place her things neatly around the room.
"Besides barely surviving from the collapsing of Skyarrow Bridge and escaping from Sigma Six, I'm fine," I gave a weak smile. "What about you guys? How you've been?"
"Went through a lot after you left New Bark," Lilly announced. "Kept him out of trouble, Riley found out eventually about himself and was pissed at me for not telling him earlier, he fell in love with Megan, and Zack… well… he's now the enemy."
I watched her violet eyes carefully drift away from me.
"You never told Riley, did you?"
"That was the past," she said softly.
"But Riley needs to know that you and Zack are or were together."
"Of course I will tell him that the one I loved tried to kill him."
She sat down on her bed, sighing and calming down.
"I just don't know what happened him Vinny. Before he 'disappeared', we would spend most times together even with Riley as an Eevee or an Umbreon sometimes. When we found him, I thought that he still wanted me and he just played me from there. I still don't how he ended up like this."
"Hey, hey," I said calmly as I went over and hugged her, "don't feel bad. You still have me and Riley. And don't forget that you're an awesome girl who's caring, smart, and kicks ass when she needs too."
"Thanks Vinny," she gave a small smile as she glanced at me, "you always know how to make someone feel better."
"No prob," I said softly.
I slowly grew apart from her and looked at our pokemon who were wandering around our room and announced, "So… how are we organizing on who sleeps where?"
"Actually guys, all of us decided to stay up and watch while you get some rest," Sparky said.
"You guys need some rest, especially from the battles we encountered just to get in here," Lilly pointed out.
"We'll be fine," Lilly's Sandshrew named Sandy gave a small smile as she placed her paws at Lilly's knee, "none of us will live can with ourselves if something horrible happened to you two."
"Still…"
"Get some rest," Blaze said slowly in his low voice. "We can take it from here."
Lilly changed into her Espeon form and I changed back into my Lucario form, getting tired from today's mess. We crawled into bed and watched Lilly's Butterfree, Mina, flutter above us.
"Do you two need some help sleeping?" she asked sweetly.
"I don't think it'll be necessary," Lilly assured. "Good you guys."
"Good night," they all replied back.
"Good night Vinny," she said softly before drifting to sleep.
"Good night Lilly," I smiled as I closed my eyes and slowly fell asleep.
I ran in the woods, not even thinking of stopping. My paws were caked in dirt and ached, my stomach growled and demanded food, and the picture of my family dead on the kitchen floor stayed in my head. Although it's been days since I left home, I still felt like I was in the backyard playing survival or hide and seek and expected my mother to call me in for dinner. But the longer I waited for this to all be just a game, the lower the chances of living another day. I collapsed in the mud, too weak and tired of taking another step. I curled myself up in the mud, barely staying conscious. Then, she rushed towards me. The one who saved me. The one who became my "sister" and had an unbreakable bond with. Lucia.
Alice's POV
We slowly walked down the empty hallway of our school, couldn't wait to get home. I glanced at Riley's innocent red eyes that were glancing back at me.
"How was your first day of school?" He asked me.
"Great," I said softly, "but I still have to wait three more years to become an official trainer."
"But in the mean time you'll have me," he smiled.
"I guess so," I smiled back.
"Hey look guys; it's the freak of nature."
A group of boys around Riley's age began to surround us. Riley grabbed my arm and brought me close to him as a boy approached towards him with a deviant smile.
"Aren't you going to beg for a treat?"
"Screw off," Riley said angrily and pushed him.
"Calm down Tanner, no need to be violent."
The boy stared at me and then announced, "So this is your sister. Dang she's pretty, I hope she had her shots."
"Get the hell away from us," Riley threatened.
"Watch out guys! The Umbreon is angry! He might give us rabies!"
They grabbed us violently, preventing us from escape. They boy glanced at me as he slowly pulled out pokeball.
"Let's welcome your sister the same way we did to you."
He quickly opened it, letting the white flash almost blind us, and saw a Raticate glaring at me.
"You know what to do," he told his rat pokemon.
The Raticate raced towards me with its mouth wide open, ready to pierce my skin with its sharp fangs. I closed my eyes as he was inches away from me, not wanting to see what'll happen next. After several seconds, I knew should've already felt the Raticate biting my flesh off and slowly opened my eyes; finding an Umbreon in front of me growling at the Raticate. Riley. His rings began to glow as he unleashed Nightshade on the rat creature. He quickly turned around and tackled the boys that were holding me, giving me a chance to escape.
"Raticate prevent him from escaping!"
I watched in horror as the Raticate leaped in the air, ready to attack Riley.
"Riley watch out!"
He was too late to react. The Raticate tackled him down and snapped on his neck, causing Riley to yelp in pain.
"Riley!" I screamed as the Raticate bit him even harder, letting blood spill on the floor.
"Get out of here!" he ordered as he tried to throw off the Raticate.
I knew I couldn't leave him to die and I knew I'm no match to any of them. I looked around, desperate to find anything to save my brother. I quickly spotted Riley's belt with his pokeballs attached to it and ran towards it as one of the boys began to chase after me.
"You're not going anywhere!" he yelled as he grew closer and closer to me.
He grabbed me and pinned me on the floor, keeping me inches away from the pokeballs.
"Let me go!" I screamed and tried to reach for the nearest pokeball.
His grip grew tighter as I continued my attempt to reach it, just inches away.
"Don't do something you'll regret later on," he threatened me.
I ignored him and tried once more, feeling the glassy like texture of the pokeball. I quickly opened it, letting the white flash almost blind us again, and a turtle like creature stood in front of me.
"Squirtle use Bubblebeam!" I exclaimed.
He shot the marble looking bubbles at tremendous speed, forcing the boy to get off of me. He quickly went toward me and gave a worried look as I slowly stood up.
"Are you okay Alice? Where's Riley?"
"Umbri!"
We turned around and found the boy beginning to kick him as the Raticate watched his master. He slowly looked up, finding us staring at him, and gave a sinister smile.
"Little Tanner trying to save her brother," he announced. "Go ahead, stop me. I want to see if you're capable of hurting anyone Eevee."
I felt anger mixed with fear raging inside of me as Riley glanced at with his innocent red eyes, trying to tell me to run home while I still can. I felt an unusual sensation taking over my body as I begin to race towards the boy, enraged.
"Alice!" Squirtle exclaimed.
But it was too late, Alice Tanner was gone.
Riley's POV
My eyes wandered around, scared and sickly looking as ever. My father gently placed me in the basket and made sure that I was secure in my soft and cozy blanket.
"Don't worry Riley," he said soothingly as he got on the bike, "I'll get you to the Pokemon Center faster than you can say…"
"Eevee," I said weakly.
"Let's go with that. Now it's one of those times I wished I bought a car."
I dug myself deep in the blanket to get as much warmth as possible, but still able to see the outside. I stared at my father as he looked at the road in front of me intensely, trying to get me to the Pokemon Center as soon as possible. I began to cough hoarsely and began whimper.
"Hang on buddy," I heard him say softly, "we're almost there."
I slowly began to close my eyes when he stopped, causing me to slam my head against the side of the basket.
"I'm sorry, but can you two move your car it's sort of in the way."
"Are you Bailey Richard Tanner?"I heard a man's voice.
"How can I help you?" I heard my father ask.
"Where's the child?" I heard a woman's voice question him.
"Excuse me?"
"Don't toy with me, where is your son?"
"I don't have a son. Just a daughter who's six months old."
I heard footsteps heading towards us and they shoved my father out of the bike, causing me and the bike to drop on the floor.
"Listen to me Tanner, you better tell where your son, Riley, is or forget about ever seeing your wife and that daughter of yours again," the woman's voice snapped.
"Mr. Tanner, or better yet let me call you Bailey, you're an intelligent twenty-five year old man who loves his family and would do anything to protect them. Let me assure you that if you tell us where the child is, we will kindly leave you and your family alone as well as taking good care of the child that is far from being human."
"Like I said before," I heard my father announce with a bit of anger in his voice, "I only have a daughter."
I began to cough again, worse than before, and heard footsteps heading towards me, making my heart race.
"Look who we have here," a man with short blond hair and had huge scratch on the side of his face announced as he took off the blanket. He glanced at my father and said, "I suppose this isn't just an ordinary Eevee, is it?"
I stared at the woman's dark green eyes as she carefully picked me up and held me in her arms.
"Don't worry little guy, you'll be safe with us," she said sinisterly.
"Thank you for your cooperation Bailey," the man told my father, "if you can excuse us, we'll best be on our way."
"You're not going anywhere!" my father yelled as he pulled out his gun.
"Don't make the wrong choice Bailey."
"Give him to me," he ordered, "or I'll shoot."
"Have you ever killed a man, Mr. Tanner?"
"If you don't give me back my son, you'll be the first," he said as he loaded his gun.
"Alright then," the man gave a faint smirk and the woman placed me in my father's arms. "You know Mr. Tanner? I think you have guts to kill, too bad you won't live to do it."
The man's hands began to glow and threw a Shadow ball at us.
"Oh shit."
He jumped out of the way in time and he began to run in the forest with the gun in one hand and me on the other. I buried myself in his chest, frightened as ever and not wanting to see what happens next.
"It'll be okay Riley," Dad tried to keep me calm as possible.
He ran downhill as fast as he could as we heard them getting closer and closer. He stopped at a nearby tree and gently placed me in the opening of the trunk. I stared at him, confused and scared, and he gently petted me.
"Stay in here Riley," he said gently, "no matter what happens, don't leave this spot."
He covered the opening with fallen branches, keeping me hidden, and ran off in the forest the gun held tightly in his hand. I curled myself up, coughing again, and prayed in my head that my father will be okay.
BLAM!
I tried to look through the branches, finding two figures in the distance carrying what looks like my badly wounded father. I shrank back in horror as I watched them carry him away.
"Daddy!" I cried. "No! Daddy!"
I snapped my eyes opened, finding myself buried in Megan's chest.
"Are you awake Riley?"
I slowly peered out, finding a Leafeon glancing back at me.
"I am now Megan," I told my mate as I nuzzled her neck, making her smile.
"Morning guys," Alice gave a small smile as she made her bed, "Heidi came in a short while ago, she said she wants everyone to meet at the cafeteria in ten minutes."
"So much for staying in bed with the girl I love for awhile longer."
"I was actually looking forward to walk around with the guy I love to be with," Megan smiled as she nuzzled my cheek, causing me to purr.
I jumped out of the bed with ease and trotted to the bathroom while carrying my clothes with my mouth.
"Don't take long," Alice announced.
I closed the door with my head and transformed into my human form, letting my naked body exposed to the cold air. I slowly stepped in the shower as I turned on the warm water. I stood there, letting the water warm up my body, and stared at my left hand. It was pretty horrific looking: black fur covered every square inch, my fingernails were long and curved like claws, fingers were bony and seemed to be twisted and almost fused into a paw, and paw pads replaced my palm. Damion punished me by stabbing my arm and I ended up with my left hand being a gross mixture of Umbreon and human. My side began to burn and saw some of my skin shedding off of me and dropped into the drain.
What the hell?
I looked over and found a big patch of black fur around the wound that Damion gave by stabbing me in the forest when Megan and I tried to escape. I felt as if my mind was being scattered with my instincts, beginning to feel more Umbreon than human. Everything around me began to blur as I felt queasy and my skin began to itch and burn.
"Crap," I muttered as I began to my balance and held onto the wall.
Megan. Find mate. Alice. Protect. Hungry. Play.
"What the hell is…umbreon…umbri…"
I huddled underneath the showerhead, feeling more of that nice warm water keeping my body warm.
"Umbri," I smiled. "Umbri."
"Riley! Are you okay in there!" I heard Megan knocking on the door, "you've been there a long time."
I quickly snapped out of it, the mind of an Umbreon and the horrible feeling went away.
"I'm fine," I told her. "I'll be out in a minute."
I took a deep breath as I shut off the water and felt the cold kissing my skin again. Something was wrong with me and I wasn't sure what, but I'm not planning to wait around and find out.