The Pet Shop Helper [G/t]

Chapter Nine

As I was sleeping in since it was the weekend andI ignored the sun in my eyes. I had the room to myself now since I moved the borrower house into the town. I had sent the forms in last night and only a day later I was told each and every one of them were complete. Derek stopped by with the little girl's mother, making her so happy. Even I started to cry a bit from it.
I still don't know who Derek is bringing over. Honestly I'm not very comfortable with it either. It's not that I don't trust him, it's just he was secretive. It's a bit unnerving to say the least. I toss in my bed as I think these things. I then hear a familiar little voice.

"Time to get up, Rose!" Said a small boy's voice. I playfully groaned.

"Zachary, I don't want to get up now..." I told him. He giggled.

"It's marking day! Derek is coming over again to give us our marks!" He said excitedly. To know that these marks have him more protection was exciting to Zachary. He wouldn't be quiet about it after I explained it. The others were skeptical but I assured them it was only for protection. I wasn't too fond of it either.

"Wait...What time is it?" I mumbled. Zachary was quiet for a moment, most likely reading my alarm clock.

"Nine o'clock." He told me. I jumped up, thankfully not knocking him over. Somehow, gods only know how, he got onto my nightstand.

"Damn it! Derek is coming here in an hour!" I cursed. I covered my mouth. "Oh gosh, don't ever repeat what I say Zachary."

"Don't worry, Amy swears when she is mad too." He told me innocently. I shook my head and gently lifted him up.

"I need you back in the other room, buddy. I have to change." I told him as I got out of bed. "Is there anyone else in here?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Nobody came with me. Amy doesn't know I'm here. She told me to let you sleep but I was too excited to wait."

"Well thank you for that. I need you to do me a big favor and tell the others that Derek will be here in an hour." I told him. He nodded as I set him down next to the city-room door. I leave it open enough for them to come out of if need be.
I then went back to my room, through on some clothes, and got ready. Soon my doorbell rang and I ran to open the door, nearly falling as I did. I was honestly a mess running around. When I did I was greeted with not only Derek, but a guy with black hair and blue eyes. He had four borrowers with him, three nekos and one human. He was looking me weirdly as I was catching my breath. I make such good first impressions.

"Uh...hi." I said nervously. Derek chuckled.

"Rose, this is James. James, this is Rose." He said casually. James stuck his hand out. He was older than me, but young all the same. I took his hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Rose." He said politely. One of the nekos with a brown pixiecut and black ears tilted her head at me.

"You're the killer?" She asked. I felt my face redden as I felt confused.

"What?" I asked awkwardly. James sighed with his eyes shut then gently nudged her.

"This is Jessica. She tends to say what she thinks, even if it's rude." He told me. Jessica stuck her tongue out at him with a laugh. "Max is the red haired one, Maria is the sweet little brown haired Neko, and Tyler is the human." He told me. I smiled.

"It's very nice to meet all of you." I told them. The red haired Neko's face reddened. Seems like someone has a little crush now. Boys will boys I guess.

"Shall we begin marking?" Derek asked. I nodded and walked with them to the city room. James seemed astounded by it.

"You did all of this?" He asked. The borrowers on his shoulders were also shocked.

"Yeah..." I said sheepishly as my face reddened.

"Now James knows that this is not exactly legal. To the government this is stolen property. However we can all agree it is not." Derek told him.

"I agree it's a good thing, and do not worry about me telling others." James said nicely.

"Thank you." I told him with a smile. "Not many would say the same."

"Well, I have four little borrowers here that all came from places that were terrible to them. So I can respect what you're doing." He told me as we carefully sat in a row in front of the city. I made sure to have room where I or others could sit without a chance of hurting someone. The borrowers began to come over one by one.

"Now, Rose, will you please tell your friends to get in a line and explain what's going on?" Derek asked. I nodded.

"Alright guys, Derek would like you all to form a line. These marks will not hurt and will not ever be used to harm you. Olivia will be the one giving you the marking that I will be given. With this, if one of you is kidnapped or lost, you will return here before damage can be done." I told them. They knew what marking meant by now, but it's always good to repeat it.
Little Olivia took out a paint brush and so did Derek. First Derek painted a symbol onto my arm which became a permanent tattoo. It was a rose that grew around a heart like a wine. Derek said it was for my name and my heart. Olivia painted the same symbol onto each and every borrower's shoulder. Each one looked at their mark as it sunk into their skin. The younger ones poked and picked at theirs.

"Alright, all done." Derek said. He handed the brush to James and Olivia handed four brushes to each of his borrower companions. "Take care of these. They're your tools now." Derek told them.

"I will." James told him.

"We will as well." The one named Jessica said. The other borrowers agreed. Derek then turned to face me.

"James will be here to help you with your small city. He has the ability to paint marks, his friends do as well. When you need a borrower marked, he's here to do so." Derek told me.

"Thank you. Both of you. I don't think I'd be able to do all of this myself, let alone afford it." I told them.

"Don't you have parents?" James asked curiously. I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"We don't get along." I told him. He didn't pry anymore thankfully.

"I look forward to working with you, Rose." He said politely. He could tell my parents was a touchy subject.

"I do too." I told him politely. Derek smiled and told me how he'd be funding this project. Anything I needed he'd get. It was like a dream. I would never had dreamed of being able to help out all of these borrowers.
Weeks would pass and the city would become bigger. James ended up moving into my house since Derek suggested that for security reasons, it would be better to have two people watching the city. Georgia never found out about my city, and everything was going smoothly. I still can't believe I was only a pet shop helper and now I'm a full blown borrower rescuer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, this is the end. A really crappy end. I'm sorry :(. I just don't know what else to write. Tiny Neko is also finished as well. I will still be continuing to slowly write Chemistry, and High School Of Giants as well as possibly a few new ideas. I know both this ending and the Tiny Neko ending sucks. I just have no more ideas for either one. Again, I'm sorry for this crappy ending and for taking forever to write it. Thank you all for your support! I never thought this book would get over 1k views! I feel terrible for this crap ending but I can't keep writing this and dragging it out. Please forgive me for that. However, I hope you enjoy my other stories and future ones though! Hopefully this is not our final goodbye.

~Molly_The_Fabulous