Jazmine felt excited. It's happening again. She thought. I'm so glad, finally.
She closed her eyes, and picked up where she left off.
Me and my crew, messed these guys up real good. They just went and ran off! Scaredy cats they are.
"Gremling will be back you know." Derrick said. "He always comes back."
"I know." I say, not looking anyone in the eye. "He's also one of the Fire Huns."
A Fire Hun was a descendant of a malicious group of assassins that went all over the world pillaging societies. They could shape shift into anything, that's what got them arund without a bounty on their heads.
"The only way you can tell who they are, who they are is by looking into their beady black eyes." Derrick said. The Earth rumbled beneath our feet.
"Derrick!" I shouted. For the first time, the nut was actually pretried. Angel All Mighty.
I looked up, and there it was, thousands of feet long, in pierced through the waves.
Gremling Freedom took the shape of a serpent. Boy we were doomed.
"Derrick! Let's go!" I shouted, grabbing his hand, and trying to run.
"It's no use Jazmine." He clenched his eyes together, and I saw him grow. Derrick towered over the island, and wings burst from his back, his eyes became small and mole-like. I threw myself back.
To say I was shocked, would be the understatement of the century.
The serpent rorared, with a repitillian twang, Derrick countered Gremling with a sound barrier piercing shriek. I flew towards sanded Old Abigail. I grabbed my ears, but that did no good.
"Starflake! Get down!" Katana called. She grabbed me, and we went under the floorboards.
From my view I couldn't see a thing, and in a strange way, i was glad.
Jazmine opened her eyes from her new imaginary chronicle. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to really be Jazmine Starflake, travelling across the Earth, and even the galaxy!
She could daydream for hours on end, but time was cut short today, because Jazmine needed something to drink.
She got out of her room, and something felt wrong. It wasn't the feeling that someone was watching her, in fact it was a feeling of void. She gulped, and knocked on her parents' door, opening it with caution.
The curious eyed 10 year old peered her head through the crack in the door. She gasped.
No one was here.
"Mommy? Daddy?" She called. They're probably at work. Jazmine thought. She looked at the clock in her room. It's so early, though.
She walked through the rest of the house, calling their names. But the only response she had was the echo within the walls, the miniscule cracks, and the sound of the heater turning on.
She imagined that the little noises came from the cities that the little people lived in. They seemed more active at night, she thought. Yes, they must really like to party!
Jazmine walked into the kitchen, to get something to eat. She poured some cereal in a bowl, and watched t.v, while lovingly sketching the familiar characters that popped up on the screen.
Jazmine was enjoying the peacefulness that her house typically had. It was usually so happy when there were no witch aunts in the house. Well in this case, Jazmine thought. The Guest House. She laughed.
Then she heard the familiar sound of the backyard door open. Jazmine's grief increased, and she switched the cartoons to the news. She hated when her aunt criticized the shows she loved
"What the hell? What are you watching? You know I bet you, that these psychos just want to destroy what's left of your brain." Aunt Miyanne pouted, while Jazmine was sitting on her belly watching the latest adventures of the characters she loved.
She remembered that day like it was yesterday.
"What? No good morning for your aunt?" Aunt Miyanne complained. Jazmine frowned.
"Kids these days. No manners." Aunt Miyanne said. She burped, and picked at her bum.
"No manners." She flicked her 'findings' on to the dinner table.
Jazmine held back the desire to puke. "Good morning...aunt Miyanne." Jazmine said. "It was before you showed up." Jazmine said under her breath.
"What did you say?" Aunt Miyanne asked.
"Nothing." Jazmine replied.
"Whatever." Aunt Miyanne said.
An alert went off in Jazmine's head. That whole conversation happened when she was talking to Huey! It was when he wanted to get his friend out of jail. No, she couldn't associate her best friend, to this nasty woman. It was weird, though.
"Look, you're parents are gone shit knows where." Miyanne said. "So I take it upon myself to supervise you. It would be the right thing to do, afterall."
"Uhh...thanks." Jazmine said,
"Yeah...yeah. Now go clean my shed."
"Pardon?"
"You heard me, dollface. Clean it up. I want it looking like those fancy home magazines that your mom likes so much."
Jazmine felt a surge of defiance. She stood up, and put her hands on her hips. She raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Why should I?"
Miyanne got up. "'Cause if you don't your parents aren't getting a damn dime from me." She got in Jazmine's face. "Meaning that this whole trip was a waste of one precious week of your life."
Aunt Miyanne stood up to her full height, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Now, does that give you enough of an incentive?"
Jazmine looked up at her aunt, fearing for her mommy, and daddy. She didn't want this whole thing to be a waste! Oh, how mean could this woman be! Jazmine dreaded.
"Fine." She said, and Jazmine walked outside.
Aunt Miyanne sat back down. She peered over, and saw a sheet of paper. It was a sketch book.
Curious, she took it and opened it up. Her mouth dropped from surprise.
Dozens of sketches crowded every page, but each one was unique, and beautiful. "Hmm, I guess this moo-lotto is good for something." Then one of the pages fell out.
It was the drawing of Jazmine and Huey sitting on the hill, laughing.
Aunt Miyanne gasped. It was perfect.
Her eye drifted from Jazmine to the little boy sitting next to her. He had big hair, such big hair! Why this was the little boy that lived across the street, wasn't it? She felt a tear run down her cheek. Something about this kid was so memorable.
"Do you want me to clean your linens?" Jazmine asked, taking aunt Miyanne from her world,
She put her hand over her breast. "Uh...no, dear, it's fine." She said.
Jazmine raised an eyebrow. Dear? Since when does aunt Miyanne call me dear? That's weird.
"What are you looking at?" Jazmine asked. She crossed the floor, and looked over at aunt Miyanne. "What is that?" She asked.
Then aunt Miyanne was taken from her calm state. She scowled, what the hell was this child doing near me?
"Back off, kid." She snarled.
"That's my drawing." Jazmine declared.
"I said back off."
"But it's mine! Give it back!" Jazmine asked firmly.
"Oh you want this back?" Aunt Miyanne asked, now standing. She walked towards the hallway, still facing Jazmine. "You want what yours?" She asked, almost shouting. "Do you have any idea what WANT really feels like?" She asked, now angry, her voice slightly cracking. "You want something you can GET BACK, you have no idea what it feels like to WANT SOMETHING YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T GET BACK!" She shouted, throwing the paper down on the counter.
"Take the damn drawing." She sneered. "Did you clean my shed?"
"No! I don't have to!" Jazmine yelled, she realized why. "I'm 10 years old! I don't need to be your slave!" She got her drawing. "You still have to give your money! You signed a contract!"
"Ah fuck that contract." She said bitterly.
"Stop swearing." Jazmine said, angrily.
"Quiet." Aunt Miyanne said. She put her hands over her ears. "I can't hear you. LA LA LA LA!"
Jazmine fumed. "I hate you." She said. "I wish you would go away, and never come back. I don't care where you go, as long as it's as far away as possible!" Jazmine said. She grabbed her sketch book, and ran upstairs, slamming the door.
She sat down on her bed, angry. She wanted to scream louder than Gremling Freedom ever could! Maybe even louder than Derrick. She remembered just a week ago, her daddy suggested that aunt Miyanne's visit would be like a challenge her character had to face.
What would Jazmine Starflake do? Jazmine thought. She closed her eyes, and thought.
Bingo.
Jazmine went to her closet, and opened up a little box. It had a mirror on the inside of the lid that she studied intently. She put on a bandana, with a little fire sign. She grinned in the mirror, and her eyes narrowed. She was Jazmine Starflake: she was adventurous, strong, smart, creative, good hearted, and tough. She travelled the world, and the galaxy, fought demons that could squish her like a grape, visited beautiful unearthly kingdoms, saved the world more times than the civilians could remember. The universe was a huge mark on her road map.
Now it was time to face one of the harshest demons she had ever faced, this demon sure was the ugliest, and it invaded the DuBoisian kingdom. Game on.