A/N: Hey people of planet Earth! Well…I guess now I have more than one review(er)! Special thanks to yana, HonoraryMarauder, amisstarrynight, and Midnight Fearie for the reviews! Anyway, for those who wanted to know, you can get Dead Is Not an Option at Barnes and Noble, and most places books are sold in bounties! Well, on with the story-

I don't own D.I…

CHAPTER FOUR:

"Great, another thing I can epically fail at." I barely heard my littlest sister utter.

"Okay, guys, who wants to go first?" Bone asked, rubbing his hands together and surveying my sisters and I.

Seconds ticked by.

"Um, why don't you go first, dad." I offered in attempt to break the silence. Dad looked around nervously. I knew he'd back out soon if I didn't have support. I nudged Daisy. Hard.

"Ow!" She threw me a look, rubbing her arm. "Yeah. Go Dad." She said flatly, getting my message.

Poppy stayed silent.

"Um…well, yeah...I guess…okay. Fine. I'll go first." My dad stuttered nervously. Bone motioned for my dad to join him in the middle of the room.

"Okay, Rafe. I want you to stand here, in the middle of the room. Think of something that makes you angry. Very angry, in fact." Bone backed up to where me and my sisters sat. Dad did as he was instructed and began to think.

It didn't take to long.

Dad looked angry. I could only imagine what he was possibly thinking of. Suddenly, brown coarse brown hair sprouted all over his body, and small-ish yellow-y fangs protruded from his mouth. He tripled in size (and I imagine weight), standing on two giant feet. Long black nails extended from his toes and from the ends of the paws, which his hands turned into.

Standing where my father was moments ago, was a giant brown bear.

Large yellow eyes scanned the room. My mother cried out in surprise. Daisy just stared. Poppy closed her eyes to escape his image.

I poked into Poppy's mind for a minute. All I got was: No. Can't be happening.

It didn't take a genius to figure what couldn't be happening. I stopped poking around my sisters thoughts, feeling sorry for her. If any of us read Twilight, Poppy would definitely be Team Edward, just for the fact that he's a vampire, like her boyfriend, Liam. Daisy and I, however, would be Team Jacob, just for the werewolves.

Nicholas locked eyes with me. His brown-eyed gaze urged me on. He wanted me to be a shifter like him, I knew. I wanted that, too. It would make things so much easier.

I glanced back to see my dad standing in the middle of the room, instead of a bear. He shuffled back towards mom. She made a sound in the back of her throat and scooted over so he could sit next to her.

"Good, good. Now, next." Bone said with a smile. Again, he turned towards me and my sisters.

We exchanged a look. None of us wanted to go.

"Look, um, well, why don't we call it a night, and let the girls shift on their own time." My mom offered.

Bone gave a curt nod. "Alright, that sounds fine by me. But you have to try, girls." He said seriously to me and my sisters.

"Kay."

"Fine."

"Whatever."- our responses.

He gave a nod and we were dismissed.

"What are you gonna do?" Nicholas asked me as we made our way to my car. His arm was slung over my shoulder as he kissed my neck.

I sighed. "I don't know." I responded. "I mean, what if something bad happens?" I asked worriedly.

Nicholas laughed. "Nothing bad will happen. What could possibly go wrong?"

My phone beeped, signaling a text. I pulled it out and read the message from Daisy:

Hey, Ryan's taking me home. CU L8R.

I put my phone away as we approached my car. "Well, we're here. I should probably drive Poppy home before she has a meltdown." I said.

Nicholas chuckled and pulled me in for a quick good-bye kiss. "See ya, love." He said, pulling away. He turned around and walked back towards the mortuary. I bit my lip and turn to the car, pulling the door open, to see Poppy sitting in the driver's seat.

"I'm driving home." She said coldly, yanking the door closed from my grasp. I sighed and walked around to get inside.

I plopped down in the seat, closed the door and buckled as Poppy drove the car out of the lot and onto the highway.

We drove in silence for a few minutes, but I just couldn't take it.

"What's your problem?" I blurted.

Her eyes darted from the road, to me, and back to the road. "Why do you think?" She asked sourly.

I bit my tongue. I knew exactly why she was upset.

"I'm sorry." I sighed.

"Don't be. I don't want your pity." She snapped. We drove the rest of the way home in silence.

After Poppy parked the car, we headed inside. Mom and Dad weren't home yet, because they texted me saying they were going on a date to some restaurant in San Carlos. Which meant we would be relying on Daisy's cooking skills for he night.

Ryan's car was in the driveway, so thankfully she was home. As we walked into the house, he walked out. It didn't escaped my notice that his hair was a little more mussed up than usual.

I made my way into the kitchen.

"I got mom's text; I'm making Tortellini." She said, leaning over the counter to grab a pot.

"I'll be up in my room, so call me when it's done." Poppy said.

"Kay." Daisy called as Poppy disappeared up the stairs.

I hopped up onto the counter next to my little sister. "I feel bad for her." I said.

"Don't be." She said, looking up at me. Her lips were red, as if recently kissed.

An amused smile came onto my lips. "Exactly how long have you been home?" I asked with a giggle.

Daisy blushed and went about pouring the tortellini into the broth-filled pot.

I hopped down and wandered upstairs to my room to do some homework. I cracked open a book and began to read. I got so absorbed, it seemed only like a few minutes later, Daisy came up to get me to eat.

I jumped off my bed and joined her at the door. "Did you get Poppy?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, I'll get her." She said. She turned around and walked a bit down the hall, pausing at Poppy's door.

I approached the stairs, then turned around and ran down the hall to ask Daisy where the bread was, just in time to watch her push open Poppy's door.

"Poppy? Dinner." She called. Poppy, who had her back to us, writing in her diary, jumped up in surprise, her pink diary falling to the floor.

But she just kept going up…and up…and up. Her yelp of surprise turned into a caw. Feathers grew out of every pore on her body, which seemed to be shrinking, until in Poppy's place, was a small, white dove.

A/N: Um, well, yeah, I guess I'll end it there. Haven't updated in a while, so…

ANYHOO, please take your time to review, and if anyone has written or thought about writing any fan fiction for the Dead Is series fan fiction, then post it, please! We definitely need more fics in this category.

OH, and things start picking up next chapter!

So, until we meet again! =)

Read on and Rock out,

NinjaNakkiOfCabin11