Animilia

Chapter 6 (Lynette)

I was confused but happy; Lowell and the others should be at our checkpoint right now, not here. Did something happen? Lowell didn't look too happy to see me. He was staring right at Mary. "Lowell, what ar...."

"What are you doing here?" Lowell said coldly, still staring at Mary.

"Well before you so rudely cut me off, some of Dr. Flower's lackeys was coming near where the checkpoint was so I told Dashi and Mia to hide while I got them off track. I got chased for a while but when I thought I lost them one of them shot me, hitting my arm and wing. I fell in this lady's backyard and her and her son helped me. They..."

"What have I told you," he said cutting me off again, so rude.

"I know I shouldn't trust anyone but right now I had no choice. It hurts just to stand let alone fly. I fell in Mary's yard and she fixed me up. Plus Mary already told Dr. Flower that we went to Holton so they should be off our tails for a while if we keep going the way we were," I said. Lowell finally looked at me with his brown eyes. For a second I saw a sign of relief when his eyes met mine but it was gone the next second.

"I told you not to leave the pack alone while I went to investigate, and what do you do? Leave the pack, get spotted and shot at, let a complete stranger near you, have both me and the others worried sick about you, what were you thinking?!" his voice got louder as he talked. I've never seen him so upset since we left the lab. "I was doing what I thought was best," I whispered to myself.

"Well since it seems I'm not going to be introduced, I'll introduce myself. I'm Mary Blue. I took care of Lynette since she was injured and in pain in my backyard. And who might you be?" Mary asked holding out her hand. I almost forgot she was there. I guess she either ignored the fact I said I had wings or just missed that part. Lowell stared at Mary again ignoring her hand completely. "It shouldn't matter who I am because I'm taking Lynette with me," Lowell growled. Just then a little blonde head popped up from the broken window.

"Dashi! He said to wait over there, you're going to get us yelled at again," a female voice said a bit behind the window. The blonde head boy climbed through the window and ran to me. "Lynette, I'm so glad you're okay. I thought you died," Dashi cried hugging me. I patted his head on my chest and said, "I'm alright Dashi, are you okay though?" He looked at me with his teary blue eyes and wined "Mia and I are alright. No one found us at the checkpoint except Lowell. When he got there before you we got worried that something bad happened to you, like you were captured or injured or even killed." He then saw the bandage on my arm and got wide-eyed. "What happen?!" he screamed.

"It's nothing to worry about, just a little scratch. Mary fixed me up so I'm alright," I said petting his hair. Dashi just looked at me worried and hugged me. Lowell looked at him then me and gave me an 'I told you so' look. I rolled my eyes.

I glanced at Mary. She smiled at me and said, "I'm glad your friends found you. Although you're all welcome to stay and rest, I'm guessing Mr. Rudeness doesn't want you staying here for much longer." A laugh broke out from behind the window. "Mr. Rudeness? Really? I think it suits Lowell well. I like this woman," Mia said sitting on the window pane where there wasn't any broken glass, or I hoped.

I guess Dashi didn't even notice Mary until just then because he then turned toward her and stood in a defensive stance in front of me as if to protect me. This was only one of the many reasons why I loved the pup. For a thirteen year old, he acted more mature for his age, most the time. "What did you do to Lynette?" Dashi growled at Mary. She just smiled at Dashi and bent down a bit to get at eye level with him. "I only helped your friend get better. I promise I won't do anything to hurt her or any of you," she said. He looked in her eyes searching for some kind of sign to tell him that she was lying. He must not have found it since he started to let his guard down. She smiled wider.

"So what's the catch here? No human is this nice and expects nothing in return," Mia said from the widow. She jumped from the window and landed on the other side of the glass filled floor with ease. Her short, brown bob hair bounced a bit as she walked toward Mary still expecting an answer. Mary straightened up, looking at Mia and said, "I only want to help in whatever way I can. I understand it's hard to believe what a complete stranger is saying and I'm glad you're smart enough to think that way, but I also understand that your group must have been through a lot of hardships. To tell the truth, you all remind me a lot of Chris when he was smaller."

"Who in the world is Chris?" Mia asked. This time I answered without thinking, "He is Mary's son. He helped with taking care of me as well. He can also see......'that'." All three eyes of my pack shoot at me in shock while Mary looked confused. "Wait, are you saying he's an Animilia?" Dashi blurted out. Lowell shot him a glare and Dashi bowed his head as he realized what he just said. As expected Mary said in a confused tone, "Animilia?"

"It's nothing a human like you could understand so don't even worry about it," Lowell said indifferently. "But is Dashi right? Is he one of 'us'?" Mia asked this time and once again Lowell shot a glare at her as well. "No, I don't think he is. He said he only saw them for a bit before he couldn't see them anymore. To tell the truth, I'm not sure what he is but I'm pretty sure it's not human or Animilia," I told them, ignoring Mary's puzzled look. "So I'm guessing she didn't see them," Mia said pointing her thumb at the be-withered lady.

Dashi walked a few steps in front of Mary and looked up at her. She observed him trying to figure out what he was doing. Just then a faint glow came from the back of Dashi's neck and a pair of white fluffy ears came out of his head along with a long puff tail coming out the back of his pants. We all looked at Mary, searching for any signs of shock, surprise, or even fear, but she kept her same puzzled look. "I take that as a yes. Which means we need to talk to Chris and figure out why he can," Mia suggested.

Lowell scratched the back of his neck (which he always does when he thinks hard about something) and sighed. He looked at me and asked, “Where is Chris?”