Queen Of The Ventils

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I officially do not like, or understand, the game 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'.

At first, I thought we were playing with literal rocks, paper and scissors. Then, Toby explained it to me more in-depth. But, that didn't stop me from losing, and I don't exaggerate, to everybody. I even lost to Archie, and he doesn't even have the fingers to make the symbols!

So, guess who has to live with a new, magical companion? Me. Of all the people in the world, I was elected to keep the Ventil with me. Under constant supervision. All I knew was that I was not fit to be a supervisor for a girl who could kill me almost instantly. At first, I asked Douxie and Archie if they could keep her. They had more experience with magical creatures like her, so they should be able to handle her, right?

Apparently, I was wrong. They said, if anything, them keeping the Ventil would be the worst option. They said that GDT Arcane Books was full of magical relics; things the Ventil could pick up that could make her magic unlimited, lest she use it correctly. They also said they didn't want to risk her hurting Nari, the protector and commander of all living things, plant and animal. So, they were out.

Toby said he didn't have room for her because his house was too small. Plus, Aaarrrgghh!!! took up enough space as it was, and Go-Go Sushi didn't have a three-player mode. So he was a non-option as well.

Jim said that he couldn't because his mother and Mr. Strickler were caring for the Changeling familiars, and he didn't want innocent kids to get hurt. Claire said the same thing about her little brother. And none of us trusted Steve not to get himself killed by saying or doing something stupid to upset her.

So, we were stuck together, whether we liked it or not.

She slept like the dead the whole night. We decided to let her stay in Aja's room, with security cameras in place to make sure she didn't wake up. Douxie also fixed a special choker on her, to make sure she didn't try anything suspicious.

It restricted magic, had a mini camera I fixed in it so we could see where she was all 24 hours of the day, and a fail-safe if she tried to take it off. The moment something tried to remove the choker without authorization, a paralyzer would be released, and soak into her skin. She wouldn't be able to move until an antidote was administered, and

We had been up all night, pacing, waiting for her to wake up. Empty soda bottles littered the floor, and candy wrappers were everywhere. VHS tapes of old action movies were stacked in a heap near the television, and Lucy, the blank robot who was like my fake mother, was vacuuming up stale popcorn and Cheetos.

Toby was shaking with energy, having at least five, extremely carbonated and caffeinated sodas. Claire and Jim were curled up on the couch together. Douxie and Aaarrrgghh!!! were playing the Go-Go Sushi video game from his house, Aaarrgghh!!! teaching him how to play.

Archie was sleeping on the kitchen counter, and Steve was snoring on the couch. He had raided the refrigerator earlier, and his fingers were now stained permanently fluorescent orange. A mountain of crumbs and crumpled junk food bags surrounded him like a wall. I was tinkering with a new invention of mine, trying to calm my nerves.

Engineering had always been an outlet for me, something to get my mind off stressful things. But right now, not even multi-step algebra could get me to stop thinking of the creature sleeping in my sister's bed.

We were waiting in silence, listening to the radio talk about today's weather. Thankfully, Costas had told the school all of us had the flu, so we had a few days to rest and recover from staying up all night. The sun had risen about two hours ago, buttercup light streaming through the huge windows and glass door leading to the pool, where it reflected like a gorgeous lake of golden water.