The town Blue wasn't really remote as in there was no other town or city near it. In fact, there was a city just a couple of miles in front of the town. The town itself was surrounded on three sides by tall mountains and dark and large woods. What made the town remote was that the town itself was just forgettable to other people. Even the small city in front of the town, Turklay, wasn't very populated and crime wasn't very active. That also means that the police weren't active either.

  Kyle was currently waiting out of view of a large Japanese-styled house. In his hand was a suitcase. He was currently steeling himself up for walking in. While the house wasn't his, it was where he will be staying. It belongs to his friend, Steela Pachimo. He hasn't seen her in two years, and they haven't had a proper conversation in four years since he moved away. Now, he was going to stay at her house for a while.

  Kyle had no idea how to handle his current predicament. Should he just walk right up and say hello? Should he take out the gift he bought for her or give it to her later? How he wanted to call Owen right now. Unfortunately, his friend is busy at the moment so he is on his own.

  Taking a deep breath, Kyle walked into the view of the house and was shocked to see Steela outside, crouching down by a flower garden. Her eyes met his instantly and Kyle felt the air turn awkward. He forgot that Steela has some rather insane senses. She probably heard him walk just short from entering and staying behind the oakwood fence a while ago.

"Um...Hi Blue."

  Steela rubbed her eyes before standing up, one hand clutching her right arm. Her eyes were on him but her face was facing the ground. Kyle has never seen Steela so...nervous before. It was an entire alien sight compared to her normal bubbly talkative self.

  Steela ran over to Kyle and hugged him. Kyle froze for a moment before hugging her back. After a bit of hugging, Steela looked up and met Kyle's eyes. She was crying yet a relieved smile was on her face.

"Y-you finally arrived, huh?"

"Yep. Sorry, it took so long."

  Steela shook her head. She still looked the same despite two years having passed without seeing each other. Steela was a whole two heads shorter than Kyle yet well-built. She didn't have much in her breasts but that didn't take away from her charms. She had sharp features and white skin that would make even models jealous of her. She has large wide blue eyes and short but wavey 'natural' blue hair. She was wearing what she normally wears, a grey shirt with a red check in the center and black shorts. To complete the outfit, she was still wearing the two metal white pieces on top of her hair, though those are a bit special.

  When Kyle first met Steela, he thought she was cosplaying as a fox or wolf or devil. The two white pieces of metal resembled horns as well as animal ears. They even moved slightly. It wasn't until later that Steela revealed that the "ears" have been surgically implanted into her head. Steela, despite her looks, is the oldest member of our group. She is technically twenty-one but she has lost seven years' worth of memories of her life. To top it off, she was drugged so the growth of her body was stunted.

  While no one wants to admit it, Steela was probably a part of the mass kidnappings that happened a while ago. Unfortunately, her growth, hair, and horns aren't all that happened to her during her time away. Steela now has a rare mutation known as 'Devil Eyes'. The eyes that are meeting Kyle's are slightly glowing and are shaped like diamonds. They were grey and the pupils were a light but noticeable red color shaped more like a cat's. To top it off, blue and red veins were visible in the whites of her eyes.

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  While seemingly harmless, Devil Eyes activate when Steela is feeling certain emotions. They also make her emotionally distressed and prone to feel more emotion than normally. In this case, Steela was excited and happy, causing the mutation to appear. Kyle was surprised and angry when he learned of them but seeing that Steela was fine with them and the kidnappers were captured and brought to justice, there was nothing to be done.

  The hug lasted a little longer until Steela broke it. Her eyes met the suitcase in Kyle's hands.

"That can't be all of your stuff. Where's the rest of it?"

"The rest of it is coming in through a truck. You don't have to worry about that though as the truck is met for when I get the house."

  Steela shook her head.

"No can do. Tell the truck to stop here. I have more than enough room for you to bring a little extra stuff in."

"Steela, I'm fine-"

"No buts! Tell them. In the meantime, let me show you to the room I've prepared for you."

  Kyle let out a small chuckle. This was closer to the Steela he knew. There is no winning with her. Kyle let himself be dragged by the hand into the large house. Steela, even if she was depressed, was still as strong as ever. Kyle couldn't help but notice that she was in a much better mood than what Owen told him.

I guess she is excited to see me.

-

_

-

  Blue let out a sigh as Kyle went into his new room to unpack. She heard the sound of someone walking up but whoever they were decided to stay out of sight. As more and more time passed, Blue kept on losing hope that the person was Kyle. Then he stepped into view. Kyle was even taller than Blue remembered him to be. his face grew too! It got a little more depth to it. Compared to her who hasn't changed at all, Kyle at least looks like he grew. Still, Blue wasn't that worried. She knew she would grow in time.

  When Kyle said he was moving into her house, Blue felt like she just won the lottery. She started to clean up and make some work on the house so that even if Kyle brought all of his stuff, he would have more than enough room. She worked for hours on end and took three days planning it beforehand. Despite being in ninth grade, Blue was smarter than everyone in her class. Whether that is due to her being "older" than everyone there or simply because she was smart was unknown. Blue would like to think it was the latter.

 "Hey, Steela. Where can I put my safe?"

  Blue entered the room to see a small black portable safe. She let out a tiny giggle at the fact that Kyle was carrying that around with him.

"Here. Put it in the safe system."

  Kyle gave her a blank stare as she walked over to a wall next to a window. There Blue flipped open what many would assume is a small electric panel. Inside was a num lock. Blue punched in a passcode and a small square-shaped hole door in the wall above it opened up. Blue then grabbed Kyle's safe and jumped up to put the safe in the space. She then hit the passcode in again and the door closed.

"In case you're wondering, the passcode is eight, seven, one, nine. If you forget, call me."

  Kyle gave a weak laugh.

"Just how much security is in your house?"

  Blue shrugged.

"A lot. You'll be safe here."

  Kyle nodded. Blue noticed that in the closet the room has, there was a gulf and hockey stick.

"Oh! You can put those in the-"

"I think they are good where they are."

"Oh...Got it."

  Blue decided to leave before things got more awkward. Once outside, she remembered that she was in the middle of gardening and just left them there when Kyle arrived. She hurried outside and went to work. After working a bit, her eyes caught on to a red ribbon tied to a short stick in the ground. It wasn't really a ribbon and more of a rope. The words STOW was written in black on the ribbon, faded. Blue felt her gaze harden and the smile disappears on her face before she went back to work, her devil eyes activating as a small tear formed in the corner of her eyes.