Why do you do what you do?

Why do you care how you care?

For that little girl

Your once precious pearl

She cries

She dies

She lies

Oh, how your ways leave

How your ways leave

Those you say are yours

For the jewel that you named is a treasure

A treasure that hurts and feels

A treasure once trove

She cries and she cares

This jewel that was once your own

One you used to call your own

Why did you carry, why did you name?

What was once, is here again

So you now maim, you cut, and you kill

Oh, how you wished you had taken that pill

Crying alone, she was once your prize

Before it’s too late, won’t you realize, her eyes

Are not reflections of your own lies

For the jewel that you named is a treasure

A treasure that hurts and feels

A treasure once trove

She cries and she cares

This jewel that was once your own

One you used to call your own

Now she’s broken, no more fear

What once was yours, is now gone away

A treasure you threw away

But your garbage that you loved will rot

Your treasure you cast out, shall not

Not just a treasure

That jewel that you named

To hurt and feel, for her has been the same

Not now

But not now

A treasure, she’s always now cherished

By those that would keep her near

She won’t cry and she will care

For this jewel is no longer your treasure

One no longer named your own

For the jewel that you named is their treasure

Their treasure that hurts and feels

A treasure now trove

Who cried and still cares

This jewel that was once your own

One you used to call your own

Sorry, Mom

For everything

All the pain I’ve caused you

The hurt my life has brought you

But now I’m loved

Now I’m loved

And I am no longer alone

No longer is she your treasure

Another's now to own

And never to be alone

And never to be your own

Goodbye…

~Always a Treasure, lyrics

~Feldyn Goldchord, the Endless Bard

* * *

She sat on a boulder next to the smoldering crater, which was the remains of the hideout in the mountain. The blood moon had ended, and the sun risen, about forty minutes ago. Belle’anne, back in another pastel blue dress, sat on a blackened log not far from her master’s boulder. Jen’taa’yi, long hair straight and loose and wearing her black human leather leotard, paced silent and absentminded nearby, among the ruined trees. Ki’yi’xyit had still not returned, or reported back in.

And Iiyni’jeari’eea, legs dangling over the boulder, was bored. Again.

Puffing air into one cheek, then moving it to the other, back and forth, made her look like a spaced out kid trying to amuse themselves in silence. Belle’anne knew better. Any demon that saw her should know better.

“Hey, granny, you think this plan is going to work?” Iiyni’jeari’eea casually asked, without looking her way. “I am afraid I do not know the entirety of the plan," Belle'anne replied, "only the desired endgame.” Answering her imp master without a choice, was one of the perks of being enslaved to a tyrant.

Figuratively, not literally. The tyrants were myth. Or at least their powers were. Stories to strike fear into lesser demons. Regardless, the names of the mythical tyrants was something Belle’anne did know, despite spending most of her existence sealed. Iiyni’jeari’eea was not one of them. Unless she came from somewhere other than the Earth region...

Iiyni’jeari’eea blinked. The emotion in her eyes, passively expressed to her pet, were of murder, cruelty, and evil. “Oh yeah, forgot you sorta suck at everything. Couldn’t have expected you to be smart enough to have, I dunno, figured things the fuck out on your own?” As soon as she finished speaking, her passive gaze changed to a deadly glare.

Luckily for Belle, the cause of the glare was the figure that walked out of the trees. The imp had sensed her presence long ago, so wasn't exactly surprised. Iiyni’jeari’eea just hated the fucking cunt. Neither sister nor pet could blame her, the witch queen was the type you hated more the longer you knew her. No one liked the preppy, snobby, bitch types, not even demons.

“Why are you still here?” the young blonde woman in short pigtails asked the imp. “Xal is pissed enough at you right now, don’t have to go out of your way to make it worse.” Her hands were on exposed hips, due to the low-cut miniskirt. Matching croptop, and their colors, weren't worth mentioning. Neither was the fact she wore no bra, yet her perfectly-sized and perky boobs defied gravity, preferring their own physics. The very cropped top exposed underboob, yet somehow (as in witchcraft), it always stayed covering nipples, boobies never quite bouncing low enough.

Not like the imp hated her for any of that, of course. Why would she? Jealousy? Puh-leez! What man would actually fall for the blonde bouncing bimbo type? And what demon gave a flying fuck what anyone fell for, anyway? Things like being wanted and being attractive weren’t needs a demon had. Normally.

Besiiiiiiides, Iiyni’jeari’eea knew she was hot. Bouncy ol’ bimbo boobs over there wasn’t exactly gonna rattle her self confidence. 'You can’t fake true sexy,' the imp smirked to herself. Not like Shuzariel actually looked like that.

“Going out of my way to make it worse is so much more fun, though!” Iiyni’jeari’eea chirped back, matching the bubbling hyper, to a much more adorable effect. Shuzariel glared the glare of an angry twenty-year-old gold digger. Sighing, Iiyni’jeari’eea got to her feet and stood on the rock. “I was just waiting for Zit. She’s late. Any idea where she might be?” The imp wasn’t worried about her sister, not in the least. Little twit could handle herself.

Shuzariel didn’t look so cute anymore. Still sexy enough to lick till your tongue went raw, but her eyes were furious. “Dammit, you little shit,” she hissed at the infuriating child-looking creature with the smirk plastered on her face, “you know where the fuck she is, and I know you’re the one that sabotaged me! Us!”

With a simple nod, and hopping down from the rock, “You’re right on that first part,” Iiyni’jeari’eea said casually. She didn’t know exactly where Zit was, but knew the general direction. “And I wouldn’t say sabotaged. I only spiced up the difficulty a bit. Poor auntie Xal, having to get off her ass. And my condolences to your titty squad; kudos to you for not exploding, or immolating, or whatever the fuck else happened to them."

Despite Shuzariel's outward appearance and personalty, she was the queen of the witches for a reason. Keeping her temper in check, she choose to ignore the now clapping imp, and turned to Jenta. “I’m going to risk looking more of an ass than I already do, and assume you, at least, did your job?” By the look of the smoking remains, not to mention the explosion, Shuzariel was confident that at least this went like it was supposed to. She and Larry had retrieved what they had been sent for, and were gone before the serious demeanored imp had finished.

Jenta nodded. “The old priest and girl are dead. Auntie had warned me to be careful, though it was unneeded. The girl died by accident, the man wasn’t much more difficult.” The bubbly witch grinned, “Good! At least one sister can follows orders. Can’t have Larry going all mental to recover his long lost doll.” She gave a fake sigh, and matching sad face, “Poor Zit, though. X'al'antra is rather angry, you know. Out of all of your roles, her's was probably the most important. I don’t even want to imagine what type of punishment Xal has planned for her.”

From the sound of her voice, Iiyni’jeari’eea knew punishment meant torture. Not that she cared. Zit had burned in the fires twice now. Once she had jumped in on her own. The little twit always had been a bit mental. There wasn’t a damn thing they could do to her that amounted to more than a finger prick.

“Larry is demanding she bring back some type of gift. To… err… ensure her punishment isn’t too bad.” Suzie continued. Iiyni’jeari’eea rolled her eyes dramatically. Of course Larry was the camp punisher. “What is it with you fake-bloods and the asinine names? Larry and Suzie? Pshh!”

Shuzariel -Suzie- was finally starting to lose her cool, the whites of her eyes becoming striped and swirled, a rainbow of colors that were not supposed to combine, fetid shades of putridity, and filth, and death. “Do not compare me to that sack of rot!”

Iiyni’jeari’eea sighed loudly. Slutty Suzie was right. “Yeah, I know. That self-appointed zombie kings a vile shit a sack.” Looking thoughtful, before adding, “Almost literally, I ‘spose. You’re just… well, you.” Iiyni’jeari’eea shuddered. Jenta was having a very hard time not smirking at the way Nini was terrorizing the witch queen.

“Go find your cunt of a sister. Now," Shuzariel ordered. "Oh, and we have guests, so mind your fucking manners when you return, and stay out of sight. All of you.” Shuzariel smiled impatiently, and waved bye to the two imps. Iiyni’jeari’eea gave an equally infuriating smile in return, and matching wave, then leapt away, Jen’taa’yi and Belle’anne following.

As they left, Belle'anne caught one more whiff of the copious amount of the half-elf's blood, spilled nearby. Larry and Shuzariel sure tore him up, didn’t they?

* * *

Ally and Gigi had left long before the events of the blood moon. Ally had been planning to run away from home for almost as long as she could remember, but didn’t want to leave her friends. Just in case though, she kept a small baggie with a fake ID and funds, safely sewed inside one of the plushies on her bed. Sometimes taking it out to hide elsewhere, since she found her mom essentially tossing her bed once looking for hidden God only knew what.

Since she had no intention of ever seeing this room again, Ally gave a ton of her stuffed animals to Sally, including the one with the bag inside. When Sally started crying and hugging the duffel of plushies, the adults couldn’t tell her to leave them here. Though, where Ally had felt no guilt in giving them to her, now she felt horrible. Not only was she lying to her poor cousin, but in a sense she was now also using her. End result, to abandon Sally and Gigi both.

You see… Ally had every intention of going through that portal to Aethra. If it wasn’t real? Then she would have to basically go into hiding until eighteen. Maybe longer. For what her parents would do to her if they ever found her… she didn’t even want to imagine.

As they went out to load up into the Jacobsons’ SUVs, Ally had conveniently forgotten her shoes upstairs. Other than boots and flip flops, she didn’t have many pairs of shoes that the adults even counted as nonspecialty footwear. Her dad had at first kept saying they needed to talk when she asked to go get them. He was also giving her strange looks at her replies. When her mom said there was no time, he had gotten furious, and insisted on getting her shoes for her. After she convolutedly explained where they were, he said she had three minutes, and started his watch.

That was more than enough time. Ally had known the combination for her dad’s wall safe for years now, and had practiced opening it time and time again. She only needed sixty seconds.

Her time had just run out, as she had made it down the stairs, her dad coming in the front door. “Sorry, had to change.” She held her pink tennis shoes in one hand with some balled up leggings stuffed into one. Now wearing a black, near micro miniskirt with pink trim, and a V-neck short sleeve black shirt with tiny pink hearts on it. She had also bound her hair in a high ponytail with a black and pink scrunchy. She spun in a circle, revealing a more than a proper lady -or any, really- should. Ally wasn’t wearing a bra either, hoping it would fluster the prudish asshole. Instead, he stared at her unflinching.

“Need to search me? What? These shoes are pink, I had to change!” she tried her best pissy teenager mood, her dad looked furious again. “We need to talk,” he said, in an odd sort of dry deliberate manner, looking directly into her eyes. She rose her eyebrows, “Um, okay, what?” His reaction was like she had slapped him. “Go to the bedroom, and remove your clothes,” he told her, again in that dry voice. The hell? Now he wants me to change? “Why? I thought I had to hurry?” she asked, puzzled. “How?” he asked in return, voice full of despair. “Uh, how what?” Ally was so confused at his actions, she was feeling a bit of panic. One wrong word form her, and it was all over.

While her dad stood there, stunned and unmoving, she cautiously side-stepped and walked past him. Opening the front door, she looked back. His shoulders had slumped visibly. “Ally?” he suddenly said, as she was about to go out the door. She looked back again. “I’m sorry.” His words almost made her drop her shoes. “It was because I love you,” he explained, still facing away. “I… uh…” Ally struggled for words. Why was her dad apologizing? She had never heard him say he was sorry in her life! He also never said he loved her! “Was it… Was any of it…” Now he seemed to struggle for words. “Did you ever love me the same way?”

Standing there in the open doorway, her mother bitching at her to hurry, Ally's mind was spinning. What was he talking about? “Oh course,” she said finally. He turned now, shocked. “R-really? So you, on your own- How long have you known? How long ago did it quit working?”

“Dad, I’m sorry, but I really don’t know what you’re talking about. But, uh, I love you too?” She turned and hurried from the awkward situation out to the SUV. She was afraid he would get angry. Whatever he was talking about, he wasn’t the type of man that ever felt sorry. Nor did he know the meaning of the word love. He was almost acting like some guy whose girlfriend had just dumped him. Either way, sooner or later he would get pissed, and that was something she did not want to deal with right now.

Priest Creepo and her aunt had their eyes all over her as she got to the car. Her mom scowled at her like she was the Whore of Babylon. “I grabbed leggings too!” she defended herself to her mom, showing the black leggings mostly stuffed into a shoe. “Get in the car!” she seethed. Ally wasn’t sure if her mom’s eyes were full of hatred, judgment, or jealousy. Maybe a combination of all of them?

Moving to get in the SUV, she froze. Gigi and Sally were on the other side, having got back out to move something it looked like. What shocked her, was through the open doors, the girls standing there, Gigi was much taller than she should be. Ally didn't get to ponder about that long, when she made eye contact with Sally, who was staring at her intently, a look of profound confusion, before moving her eyes back to Gigi, like she was seeing the child for the first time. Ally's mom snapped at her again, and she quickly got into her seat.

Stashing her shoes (leggings concealing what she had stuffed inside of one) under the seat in front of her, where Sally was sitting. The SUV had two back rows, she had gotten into the far back. Her aunt Jacobson got in the front passenger’s seat. Looking at Ally in the rearview mirror, the amount of lust she let pour visibly out of her eyes… you didn’t know if you should commend her self-restraint, or condemn her creepy mind. Aunt Jacobson was beautiful, and kind. And she loved looking at girls more than anyone Ally knew. She liked men too, but seemed to have a fondness for young females. Especially naked ones. She had never done anything inappropriate, but Ally was no fool, she knew good and well her aunt wanted to.

Without much else to do, Ally leaned back and let out a long sigh of relief. “Why are you wearing my pantsu?” Gigi asked from where she lie on the floorboard at Ally’s feet. “They aren't yours. Shh,” Ally said, without a start. She was used to Gigi climbing around in vehicles and getting yelled at. True, these weren't Ally's undergarments, but they were with the clean clothes in a laundry basket to be folded outside the bathroom door in the hallway. Same basket Ally grabbed the skirt, top and leggings from. Probably belonged to one of the twins. Or... to Sally now, she guessed. They were extremely tight, not that it mattered to her, as Ally loved the feel of overly tight clothes. Long as they weren't uncomfortable or something.

Ally then gave a rare scream when Gigi sat up and grabbed her knees, pulling them apart and leaning in to get an up close and personal view of the panties she wore. “Those are mine!” Gigi complained and poked them. “Gigi, get in a seat!” her uncle snapped, looking in the rear-view mirror, unable to see her. He and his wife ignored the scream. Sally did look behind her though, that look of intense confusion still on her face, eyes moving subtle but twitchy, like she was searching her brain for understanding.

Gigi took the seat next to Ally, as Sally returned to snuggling stuffed animals from the bag she had opened on the seat next to her, in silence. As Uncle Jacobson started driving, Ally, blushing furiously, was contemplating tossing Gigi out of a window. After a moment, when her embarrassment settled down, and Ally was staring out the window, her whole body tensed when Geeg put a hand on her inner thigh.

Closing her eyes, and with a deep breath, “Gigi, will you please quit touching me?” she growled to her little cousin. All the touching right now was making her uncomfortable. She felt way more physically sensitive than usual.

“What is your plan?” Gigi whispered back, removing her hand. Startled, Ally opened her eyes. Gigi looked… a bit angry. “I’ll explain later, okay? Not right now,” Ally quietly lied. She felt bad enough at the lie, and worse, as Gigi nodded her agreement and settled back in her seat. Something in Ally’s mind told her that Gigi might trust her, but her eyes didn’t seem to believe her, as the child scowled into the seat in front of her. Does Gigi suspect I’m going to sneak back?

After a few moments, her little cousin said, "those are my pantsu. Jessie is dead, so they belong to me." Ally fell a cold chill, focusing on Gigi with horror and shame. "what is wrong with you!" she scolded, and the little blonde shrugged, still looking at the seat, glare gone, eyes wide. "they fit me now, and she doesn't need them. Sally is too uptight to wear pink." Sally shifted in her seat, Ally's mouth open in shock.

So many harsh words went through her mind to say to the kid, but she bit them back. This was a terrible time for all of them. Ally was sure her own tears would precede sleep for weeks. How much worse it must be for Sally, and her parents. Gigi too young to really get it. Even if the girl was a mutant now, that had fought a demon dog monster, didn't change she was the same borderline mentally challenged seven year old they all knew and loved.

The trip continued basically silent. Her uncle didn’t believe in the radio, calling it an, ‘unneeded distraction while trying to concentrate’ and people speaking also annoyed him while he was driving. In fact, everything annoyed him while driving. He acted a lot like Ally’s dad, actually, and the two were not even related by blood.

Ally was surprised when Sally shook her awake. She didn't even remember feeling drowsy. “Where are we?” a sleepy Ally mumbled as she sat up, looking out the side window, squinting into the bright light of early day. Morning… ? “We are at the airport. You need to get your stuff.”

Looking around, Ally saw she was the only one still in the vehicle. Sally had just gotten back in and leaned over the seat in front to wake her up. Ugh, she hated sleeping in cars. So uncomfortable. And she hated waking feeling unrested. Ally was cute even without proper slumber, but extra beauty sleep hours didn’t hurt. Waking all stiff sure seemed to though…

Getting out, Ally stretched, and was a little confused when a group of old dudes in suits walked by, staring at her in a mix of joy and terror. “Not in public, dear,” her aunt politely scolded. A quick inspection and Ally found her skirt had hiked almost totally up, and either herself or Gigi had apparently removed the too small panties as she slept. Pulling her skirt back down, she frowned. Probably just made those creepy old guys’ lives. Ugh.

“I seriously need to change.” Ally whined to her aunt, feeling a bit violated. “Well, you can either do so here in the car like Gigi did, or inside in the bathroom,” her aunt replied, motioning to Ally’s single large suitcase in the back of the SUV. Of course her mom only packed her one bag… Bag? Oh shit! “I’ll change in the bathroom,” Ally answered, trying to sound casual, gears in her head spinning. “But I should probably put on some underwear, at least,” she added, gruffer than intended, and opened the suitcase while still in the back of the SUV, the back door already lifted high.

“Oh, shoes!” she smacked herself in the forehead, as if she was a silly ditz that forgot. Her uncle had walked over to them to see what the hold up was. Ally needed to distract them. Not like her uncle hadn’t seen her naked a good deal, but even he wasn’t used to naked teens purposely trying to be slutty and tantalizing. Without hesitation, Ally climbed into the back, across the suitcase, and leaned over the back seat to get her shoes, naked derrière (and consequently, a lot more) exposed for all near to see. Ally slid back on her stomach, depositing the items from her shoes stealthily into the suitcase.

Looking over her shoulder now, she saw her uncle hadn’t said a word because he had turned and fled. That was... he was... It was like... couldn't be. She had intended him to panic over someone seeing her, moving to block views, not escape. Her aunt remained where she had been, eyes carnivorous.

Never before had she noticed her aunts creepy side being this obvious. And her uncle? He was acting like any other straight guy. Holy crap, had her aunt and uncle always been this weird? They were nudists! Did they… Or... naturists... or...

Cold chills filled Ally's head, before escaping down her spine, leaving in their place a disorienting nostalgia of wrongness. She had been around them naked, plenty of times. Hadn't she? Sure, Ally hadn't ever gone to Russia with them... but... she had. No she hadn't! When had she ever gotten passport? Surely she had one...

“Oops!” Ally giggled, pulling her skirt back down, voice trembling a bit. Turning to dig in her suitcase, she forced the weirdness to the back of her mind, focusing on clothing. Not the time to get distracted! Wrinkling her nose at the horrible clothing her mom had packed, she found a some pair of black hipster dance briefs, which were much better than the granny-panties options. And there wasn’t a single bra. What the fuck mother? Nor makeup or electronics. Bitch. Good thing Ally had planned for all of this. She guessed bras weren’t really a requirement either, and hated wearing them anyway… but a damn sports bra or two would have been nice!

Pulling on her briefs, back to her aunt that was still staring at her, Ally put on her pink tennis shoes, laced them, then closed her suitcase. Her aunt finally moved to follow her husband, who was already at the far end of the parking lot from with the other two girls. Ally frowned, looking around her. She swore her cousins had been standing right here. Weird. Must have followed after uncle when he retreated.

They walked forever to get to the main building, and once inside, the reality of where they were hit Ally like a freight train. Why the hell were they in Los Angeles?! Sure, they were flying out to Minnesota, but… why from LAX? Portland was closer to Castle Rock. Hell, Seattle was closer than L.A. Weirder was how long it should have taken to get here. It was like a fifteen hour drive with good traffic. Even weirder: how had she slept the entire time, and why had no one woke her?!

Feeling someone staring at her, Ally once again shook of the confusion, to find Sally, with that curious intense expression. Matching her younger cousin's frown, Sally smiled hesitantly, and held out an ugly rhino plushy, offeringly. The teen felt her stomach drop. Oh, that woulda been bad to take through security! “I put the ribbon on its neck. It was sister’s. She loved it, so thought since you loved it too…” Sally averted her eyes towards the floor, holding the stuffed animal out farther.

Ally almost burst into tears. She took the ugly thing (a blue ribbon now tied around its neck) with shaky hands. Jessie… had loved this? That... The sensation to cry halted, confusion welling up inside of her again.

“Hurry up, girls!” Uncle Jacobson urged, several counters down from them now. The place was like a jungle of roped-off waiting lines. Only there was next to no one waiting. Who flew these days unless they had to? The two hurried over to the rest of their group. “I need to change,” Ally whined alongside her aunt. Aunt Jacobson sighed and stopped walking, looked around, and located a restroom sign. “Honey, I’m going to take Ally to the restroom to change,” she told her husband. “You two wait here,” she said to the two little girls. Gigi was the only one looking like she was about to object.

Carrying the heavy, old-school suitcase her mom had packed for her, Ally was frustrated when her aunt followed her into the restroom. “You gonna watch me pee too?” she half-joked as she went into an empty stall. All of them were empty. “Only if you plan on watching me,” her aunt answered, only half-joking herself, as she went into a stall farther down. At least she was doing something else so Ally could get this stuff organized.

Clumsily opening the big suitcase, she set it to the side. Then taking the plushie she had been carrying, ripped the stitched cut in it open, taking out the small sandwich bag. Inside it was her fake ID, credit card under her false identity, and five one hundred dollar bills. She then fished around inside the suitcase for the debit card of her dad’s she had taken out of her shoe, as well as the nine hundred dollars she had also taken from his safe.

Hearing a toilet flush, Ally quickly (and awkwardly. This stall was small) changed into a loose-fitting pair of jeans, pulling them over dance briefs. As well as a stupid looking purple t-shirt with ponies all over it. Ally fucking hated ponies. All those that loved bright, shiny, rainbow-colored ponies needed to be slapped, unless they were female and under the age of ten.

Ally was quite opinionated about some things. Shouldering her aversion, and ignoring her opinions, it was the best fit, with the most breathing room. No bra, so she didn’t want some skintight shirt on. Her boobies were tiny and perky, so it all worked nicely. Gravity? Not when you’re fourteen! And small chested to begin with. She’ll worry about sagging when she starts getting old, like in her twenties. If she looked like her mom and aunts, however, she should look like a teenager until she was well into her thirties or something.

Hurrying, she put the contents of the sandwich bag into a small black zippered purse her mom had -random and conveniently- packed; then it, along with the plushy, went back in the suitcase, leaving the fake ID out for ease of access.

Her aunt knocked on the stall. Ally had just finished lacing her shoes, which she had removed to put her pants on, and opened the door. “All done!” she smiled to her aunt. She had left her hair in the ponytail, high on the back of her head. Her aunt was crazy for ponytails, and Ally hadn’t felt like taking it down and dealing with the tangles from sleeping in it right now. “Didn’t you need to use the toilet?” her aunt asked. Was she listening for me to pee? Thinking it best not to overthink, she answered with the truth, “I was being sarcastic when I said that. Thought you were following me to make sure I didn't run off or something.” One hell of a wide dodge.

Ally tried to look both ashamed and offended. It worked. And the look on her aunt’s face also told her she had been right, they were expecting her to try to run. “Now Allyssia, you know your uncle and I trust you.” She smiled and gave Ally a hug. Her aunt wasn’t much taller, making it easy to place her face against Ally’s neck and breath deeply. Creepy as it was, Ally kinda liked it. 'Focus, you perv! Fight your creeper genes!' Ally encouraged herself. “Thanks, aunt Jacobson,” she said, pulling away and picking the suitcase back up.

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“You know you can’t wear that through security,” her aunt spoke, stopping Ally dead in her tracks, mind spinning as to what she had done wrong. “It will set off the metal detector.” Looking back at her aunt, Ally followed her eyes to the small golden bracelet watch on her wrist. Oh! She had forgotten she had still been wearing it! She would have been heartbroken if she had left that behind. “It’s okay, I’ll take it off and put it in the little container,” Ally answered. I mean seriously, who would just walk through the metal detector still wearing metal? She didn’t need to give creepy-fingered TSA an excuse to give her a pelvic. Ugh, why were security measures in America so fucking weird and passively sexual? Government sanctioned rape and molestation. Not high on her list of shit to deal with at the moment.

Without another word, she left the restroom, escape plan piecing itself together in her mind, mixed with thoughts of how weird her aunt and uncle were acting. True, they had just lost a daughter, and how justifiable reason to be a bit off. However, they didn't seem sad, or to be grieving in the slightest. Unlike Sally, who was obviously beyond traumatized.

Uncle Jacobson was using his cellphone, and looked angry when they caught back up to him and the girls. “What’s wrong?” Ally’s aunt asked, concerned. “It’s Father Shiplin,” her uncle complained to his wife. “He isn’t here yet, and he isn’t answering his cell.” Ally remembered overhearing them talking in the car. Apparently, Father Shiplin was driving his hearse with Jessica’s body. He was following them to the airport, and they were flying the body back. So where was he? Not that Ally minded he wasn’t here. His obsessively lecherous gaze would have made it even harder to slip away.

They were standing near the baggage check counters; being the only ones in line, they hadn’t worried about holding anyone up, allowing an agent to overhear their conversation. “Sir, maybe he is stuck in traffic due to the emergency?” an uncommonly helpful female airline employee volunteered to him. At being spoken to, her uncle, aunt, and all the luggage and girls in tow, walked to the counter.

“What emergency?” he asked. “Are you flying with us?” the agent, wearing a faked smile, answered the question. The process of checking luggage had begun! Ally tensed, totally forgetting they had to check her ID here, and she had handed over her false one. Nothing on it should be different other than her date of birth and address. It wouldn't hold up under any proper checks or scans, but looked and felted completely real.

When the agent was confirming Ally’s information, she frowned, then looked up at the teenage girl for a frighteningly long second, before sighing and looking back to the monitor. Her fingers clacking an overly excessive amount of keys the entire time. “Something wrong?” her uncle asked, and was again ignored. Ally acted as casual as she could. 'Please God, please let her not notice! Please, Jesus, let it work!'

“All of you for Missouri, then?” the agent abruptly asked. “Missouri?!” Ally and Sally exclaimed in unison. Mr. Jacobson ignored the outburst, “Yes. Is something wrong?” The agent shook her head. “What emergency were you referring to?” he asked next. Clicking away on the keyboard, she ignored him for a moment, “There was a huge electrical storm over Southwestern Washington last night. All flights to or near Washington, Idaho, and Oregon were temporarily grounded. The I-5 corridor is closed along most of Oregon and Washington, and highways across the state are jammed due to traffic. Looks like you all made it here just in time to avoid the chaos.”

The adults took the news casually as the woman had explained it, accepting it was also the likely cause of the priest being late. “Guess flights are going to be delayed,” her aunt said, to no confirmation from the lady at the counter. That was confirmation in itself. Airports were never on time when they weren’t busy. Expecting an onslaught of customers? Yeah. They were going to be delayed.

Ally was still reeling at the knowledge she was going to a different state than she had been told. Why Missouri? Minnesota was strange enough, but at least there was family property there. The hell was in Missouri?! Not that it mattered. The other part of what the lady told them was the important part.

“Did people die?” Ally asked over her uncle, receiving a scowl. “They haven’t said much,” the lady replied. “Stand there and shut up,” her uncle commanded her quietly. “What’s wrong?” Gigi whispered to Ally. “Something bad happened. Back home,” Ally whispered back without thinking, noticing for the first time the outfit Geeg had changed into at some point. A scarlet red spaghetti string tank top and black skirt. Red looked good on her, the kid should wear it more. Uncle Jacobson picked up Ally's suitcase to weigh it. “NO!” she exclaimed. Blushing honestly, “All my stuff’s in that. We might be waiting here for days if flights get grounded!”

“It will not fit in the overhead compartment,” the agent droned, with a bland smile. Eek! She hadn’t thought about her bag getting checked! Shit, shit shit shit shit- “Put my animals in there, and your stuff in here,” Sally said to the mentally panicking teenager, holding out her duffel full of plushies. “That will fit on board,” the lady said without looking at them, still typing.

With a begging gaze to her uncle, he consented. Ally quickly took the suitcase from him, and started emptying out the plushies from the duffel, stealthily moving her important items over with the shit that didn't matter. 'That was close! Way to save my ass, cousin!'

The adults refused to give an answer as to why they were going to Missouri, so the girls did the only thing a kid could do: what the adults told them. Finishing at the counter, they made their way over to and through security. Aside from someone that made a huge scene when they were selected for extra screening (Shut the fuck up and deal. Kids do it for years, you can do it for five minutes at airport security, dumbass!), they got through pretty quickly.

Despite minimal to no lines, the area beyond security was fairly crowded. Most of the terminals were either almost full, or flat overflowing. With so many flight delays, people had just set up shop. When they had been at their terminal no more than thirty minutes, the large flat screen TV monitor near them announced the breaking news of all flights in the nation being indefinitely grounded, and a state of emergency being declared. There was a lot of groaning, booing, and curses from people as they watched the news announcement.

The military was cordoning off over half of Washington, the story went on, and according to the news reporter, this storm (told to them by a source they won’t name, since they were blabbing without permission) that caused all the drama, seemed to be centered over Cowlitz County.

Ally had to get home, now! She trusted the survivability of her friends, old and new, and was positive they were still alive, whatever it was that was going on. She was going to fight with them no matter what! And when this was all done, the dust had settled… Ally was going to Aethra. She didn’t give a crap what Feldyn said, one way or another she would go through that portal, successfully running where her parents could never reach, and she would be free.

Aethra sounded like the things she had only dreamed of! Magic? That alone was enough! Ally’s desire for, and curiosity of, magic, had caused her to make some dumb choices in life. This world was so very dull. She had always wondered why the magic of fantasy couldn’t exist. Not the evil ‘magic’ the Bible spoke of, just something she had no other word for but ‘magic’.

Why didn’t Christians ever believe in the supernatural? Why did they preach faith, and salvation, and miracles, but not believe in anything other then what they could see with their own eyes? Why did they preach forgiveness, yet judge everyone and everything around them like they were scum? It made no sense to the girl, and went completely against the teaching of Jesus. Luckily for her, the foolish narrow-mindedness of people didn’t push her from Christ; it pushed her from organized religion. Was she a perfect Christian? Hell no! Who was? But her love for Christ was real, and God -literally- knew she tried. Even more lately, since realizing...

“I’m hungry,” Ally told her uncle. He ignored her. “Is it okay if I take the girls and get some food?” she smiled sadly at him. He eventually sighed, “Right there, and right back. Leave your bags here.” She nodded in agreement, but kept staring at him. He didn’t move. Shrugging, she opened her duffel and took out a small black zippered purse that she had put her her cash and cards in. “I said to leave your bags here.” Ally rolled her eyes. “So you prefer I steal the food? It’s my purse. Unless you want to pay?” He scowled at her, “Fine, take it. But come right back!” Giving her uncle a smile, nod, and a kiss on the cheek, Ally practically skipped away in faked happiness, Gigi and Sally following after her.

They ended up getting burgers. And it took forever. Gigi and her damn pickles! The first place they went wouldn’t give them extra, and Geeg started crying. Ally refused to pay, and moved on to some place she had never heard of. Their uncle stalked within sight once, but seeing them in the line from hell, he left, content Ally wasn’t pulling something.

Of course Ally was pulling something!

Getting bacon cheeseburgers (Sally’s with nothing but ketchup; Gigi usually added as many pickles as possible, so if she didn’t like the toppings, the pickles sorta drowned them out…), drinks, fries, and onion rings (Gigi hated onions, but loved onion rings) for all three of them. She motioned the girls over to an empty table.

“Just a sec, let me condense the bags down,” Ally told them, as she discreetly unzipped her purse. Moving the food from three bags into one, it obviously would not fit, and needed to be in at least two. However, doing so gave Ally the chance to drop her purse, and retrieve it from one of the bags. And that bag ended up the lone empty one, nothing in it aside from the contents of her purse that she had emptied before taking it back out. “Good enough,” Ally smiled, her cousins eyeing her suspiciously. Or judgmentally. Gigi was actually glaring...

Balling up the extra bag with her stuff in it, she skipped a full trash can, and tossed it into one that was near empty, outside of the eating area, closer to the restrooms.

When they got back to their terminal, uncle was pissy about them taking so long, but that was the only problem. So far, so good! Quickly drinking her gargantuan soda, Ally ate her food fast as she could while still appearing casual.

When finished, Ally waited about ten minutes, then asked, “Can I go use the restroom?” Wiggling around a little, trying to seem embarrassed, “I sorta need to pee.” Her aunt's eyes twinkled at that revelation. “Of course,” her uncle answered, irritation gone from his voice. “Leave your bag and purse this time.” Ally stood and smiled at him, “I know,” she agreed, before doing her best I need to pee bad walk to the restroom.

* * *

Watching her older cousin quickly walk away, Gigi waited… waited… now! “Uncle,” she squeaked, “I gotta go, gotta go, gotta gooo!” Geeg grabbed her little girl parts -over her skirt, sickos- in two hands. Kicking her feet, the skirt hiked enough to reveal she had once again decided to forgo undergarments. Her own expression of needing to pee (and double-handed crotch grab) was not anywhere near discreet. “I can catch Ally!” she squeaked again, and flopped over in her seat, to lean against Sally. “Fine, hurry up!” Uncle Jacobson consented, highly uncomfortable. He didn’t like noisy scenes, especially ones caused be a pantyless Gigi holding her hoohoo, squealing, wiggling, and whining.

“I love you Sally…” Gigi whispered quickly in her cousin’s ear as she sat up.“But Gigi has to go get the bad guys so no one else gets hurt!” Sally blinked at her, puzzled, mouth opened like she wanted to say something. Gigi hopped off the bench, noticing Ally had left the yellow rhinoceros. “I thought you had to pee?” her aunt asked. “PEE!” Gigi squealed, grabbing the plushie and running off, hands in the air.

Whew! Gigi had made her escape without needing to kill anyone! Ally wasn’t very good at explaining stuff, but Gigi knew she had to be smart. Ally was going back, and Gigi was supposed to just understand, like spies do without saying it! She was in sight of the bathrooms now and-

Where was Ally?

Looking around, 'did she get captured?' She should be by the garbage can to get her stuff she hid in it. Then Gigi saw her. She had the paper bag already, and was by the security gates. Ally… was leaving her.

Ally was leaving her? … Why? Why?! Ally’s not like that! Ally wouldn’t leave Gigi! Ally wasn’t like the grown-ups! She didn’t leave the kids alone! Why, Ally?! Why are you leaving me?!

A surprising feeling welled up in her, tears filling her eyes. Before the annoying emotions could take hold, she saw them. The security soldier guys. They were looking and pointing at Ally. Oh no, they were following her! Ally was gonna get captured! Maybe Gigi should let her? The fucking bitch deserved it. No! Nooooo! Gigi was a good guy, and she had to help her friends, and fight the bad guys! What should she do?! How to make everyone forget Ally? How?! Find a gun and shoot people as a distraction? Stab the cops? Ugh, probablies not. What would Jesus do?!

Jesus would remind her that sometimes being bad was good. Sin was sin, perception was... something something. Or, something.

“IIIIIEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Gigi screamed a wail of absolute gut wrenching terror, it even freaked her out a bit. Eyes open wide, holding her hands to her face, plushie still clenched by its leg in her left fist. Everyone -including Ally- turned to look at her. Staring straight at the guard-soldier-cop-idiots, Geeg pointed blindly off to the right. “He has da bomb! KYAAAAA!” Her second scream was actually adorable. So she looped it. Scary and cute. Contrast was key, she heard someone say online before.

The effect was magnificent! Eyes freakishly wide, hands on her cheeks, screaming ‘kyaa!’ over and over, as every single person in the area flipped the fuck out. Not ten seconds into the chaos, someone actually pulled a gun and started shooting. It was madness! It was awesome!

Ally was grateful. She knew she would probably never see that precious face again. That wide-eyed vacant stare she cherished so much. She knew Gigi had been trying to catch her. That child was smarter than she looked; she had picked up on everything. 'I’m so sorry, Gigi! I love you so much!' With tears near blinding her, Ally turned and ran through security, using the chaos, and now throng of people, as a perfect cover.

That was what Gigi knew Ally thought and did. And FUCK THAT! Like hell Gigi was gonna lose her now!

Running straight for the exit near security, Gigi dodged and avoided people as they crashed and rushed all around her, making it through as they were closing some big gate thingy!

Her tiny legs moving her faster than they should be able to, she made it outside and stopped, panting on the sidewalk. Cops, flashing lights, and people running and screaming; she didn’t see Ally anywhere. Poor Gigi began to panic. No! No! Not nows!! Where is she?! Where???

With no one to call to, she thought of the voice that had been in her head. It last spoke to her when they were leaving Castle Rock, telling her to stay away because it wasn't safe. Angry at it telling her what to do, she ignored it. Now, maybe it could help her.

‘Heeeeeey, where’d she go???’ When getting no response, she clenched her fists and eyes shut, and tried screaming it louder in her head. Nothing. No answer. ‘Where‘s my cousin?!' she wailed in her mind, feeling that terrible sense again that made her start to cry.

“Hey, little girl! You okay? Come here!” Gigi looked to her right to see a fat cop, with a dumb beard thing, yelling to her. She pretended to not see him, and started to turn away. “Hey! Don’t ignore me, look over here!” he called to her louder, walking closer. Oh no, oh crap! Oh poop! “Look at me!” he sounded angry. Gigi looked at him, and was glad his eyes, full of urgency, were not angry.

Then, behind him, way down on the other side of the road in front of the loading and drop off area, she saw Ally getting on a bus. A bus far away from where Gigi stood. And, as the little girl watched, the bus began to drive away from her. This… wasn’t happening!!!!

“Quickly child, hurry!” the annoying fat cop yelled to her again. He needed to shut up! Gigi was having a bad day! Ally’s bus drove down a curvy ramp, making a directional u-turn, heading directly back towards Gigi, but on a lower level road.

Directly back towards Gigi on a lower road? She looked across the street, as people ran everywhere, police-lights flashing all confusing, to the metal railing on the other side. It wasn’t too high up, only a little taller than her…

“Hurry!” Grrrrr, why did this dumb cop keep shouting at her to hurry? She knew she had to hurry! 'Jesus, don’t let Gigi go squish!' With a determined squeak, she sprinted across the lanes, without looking either way. At the railing, she stepped on the concrete, grabbed the big metal rail, pulling herself up.

And she jumped.

Little Gigi leapt fierce and far, falling well over a story, still clutching onto the ugly yellow stuffed animal, landing uninjured on the roof of the bus, which had just turned under her to head down the road in the direction she had jumped.

At first, disbelief filled her as she sat blinking on the roof of the big bus. Quickly realizing she needed to hide, Geeg got down on her belly, and kicked her feet in joy, containing a Pazely caliber screech of triumph. She did it! She really did it! Yes, yes, yes!

Don’t worry, everybody! Gigi’s comin’ back to save you!!!

* * *

Watching the bus drive away, the cop with the poorly sculpted facial hair, smiled. It had been quite a shock how loud and clear her cry had come across. The others currently assigned to this airport (a middle-aged janitor, old woman, a flight attendant, and the agent that had checked in Ally and her family) were quite occupied with assignments and responding to cries, to do anything to help the child themselves. When she ran outside, directly in front of him, he took on her request, answering those cries. However… peculiar the answer had needed to be. Generally, one would not be led to jump atop a bus, let alone a child. Her plea had just been so very loud.

It was almost as if she had been calling to one of them specifically, though if that had been the case, she would have been answered by the one in question. Or at least identified by such to the others. Not a one of them knew her name.

She was too young to no longer be innocent, yet the Mark of Christ was apparent and bright on her young soul. That should not be possible. This needed to be looked into further, but to question was not their role. Their duty was to follow order, and follow orders they had. Although, one could not help feeling... curiosity.

Age and innocence aside, how the blonde child could cry out so loudly to so many angels, was one of those things that tempted them to forget their assignments and follow her. However, free will was not an option for the Palaidisu, regardless of the reason.

* * *

What kind of a moron follows orders blindly?! Iiyni’jeari’eea sure didn’t. She did currently wish that her little sister had at least listened to her enough to have returned by morning.

Zit had apparently been stalking the priest that was transporting the corpse of that raped and murdered girl from the other day. Iiyni’jeari’eea, Jen’taa’yi, and Belle caught up to Zit at a rest area, on the highway near Vancouver. The roads all being closed, and everyone gone after last night; moving unnoticed was easy. Not that it mattered at this point.

The hearse was parked off in a tree shaded part of the lot. Zit had sat pouting near the restrooms as her sisters arrived. Why had she stalked this priest? To try to have sex with the rotten old scrotum! Big sister Nini loved her as much as a sociopathic demon could, but did she have to be so damn retarded. Zit, being the retarded little pimple she was, blamed herself, and had been pouting.

Her choice to seduce the priest was born of more than just curiosity. It was a well-known fact that her sister, the great Iiyni’jeari’eea, had never managed to seduce a priest, and Zit just wanted to succeed where her sister never had. Not to show her up, but to impress her.

Iiyni’jeari’eea had tried to fuck a handful of priests and pastors -the real ones, not pretenders-, failing each time. A few sent her packing back to Hell. A few escaped. The rest she had killed. She had respect for priests. They were the most difficult challenge she had faced in her sexcapades. Maybe if she had a penis? All those nasty priests into their shota shit were generally nowhere near to being Christian. They just faked it for the pedo perks. Fucking Catholics…

Leaving Zit with Jenta and Belle, as the stupid little turd was throwing a bit of a tantrum, Iiyni’jeari’eea headed over to the parked hearse. He had apparently slept here unmolested all night. Who or what would fuck with him, having Zit nearby? The imp marched across the lot. She was seething, and marching in anger felt sorta stress relieving. How dare he upset her sister!

Reaching the hearse, Iiyni’jeari’eea ripped off the back loading door (fuck tact!), tossing it casually over her shoulder, and out of sight as it cleared the treetops. Father Shiplin woke with a start, sitting up and flailing around wildly, looking for danger. And Iiyni’jeari’eea saw immediately why her sexy little slut of a sister couldn’t get his limp dick nice and firm.

Not only was he not a priest (The chains of sin were practically dripping off of him. Zit failed to mention that part… Or she was too stupid to notice?), but he was also snuggled up, in nothing but his stained briefs, with the attractive blonde child’s corpse. A lolicon necrophiliac? Iiyni’jeari’eea honestly didn’t care how someone got their rocks off, but she loathed fakes, phonies, and pretenders. And nothing was more fake and phony than a false priest.

“Yo, fuckwad, you touch my sister?” Iiyni’jeari’eea sneered; Father Shiplin seeming more afraid of his corpse snuggling at the moment, to register what the hell she was talking about. Iiyni’jeari’eea sighed, and yanked the man from the vehicle by his ankle in one tug. It sent him skidding across the parking lot to the grass on the far side, scraping off a good deal of his old leathery skin along the way.

Iiyni’jeari’eea casually hopped the distance to land in front of this near naked, bloody, and whimpering old fake. She had to say, she was surprised he wasn’t screaming. The road rash he just got was sorta like being cheese-grated. She was fairly sure if he turned around he would have exposed spine and rib showing. Not that it would matter. “I hate you false priests. Go around preaching Jesus, yet your soul belongs to Satan. The fuck is with your lot?” she sighed. His eyes focused, then filled with hysterical panic, as he took in the child before him. The demon before him. “Oh my God,” the necrophiliac child molester whimpered. She felt a little surprised. He at least paid enough attention to his job to recognize a demon, even if he faked his beliefs.

“Ya know… He doesn’t know you for shit, right? You don’t even like the guy. God to you is a concept, a symbol. What you like, what you love, is death. Cold, rotten, fetid death, rubbing all over your cock. Right? Bet you like to make young girls submit, and inflict pain and fear on them too. Probably while forcing them to be naked, and praying.” He was whimpering loudly now, as the imp rested her hands on her knees and crouched down to get closer to his face. “You know what I like?” she smiled, cute and sweet. He whined loudly, snotty and teary-eyed.

Iiyni’jeari’eea ripped out one of Father Shiplin’s ribs so fast that he hadn’t even realized it happened, despite the fact she was now shaking it in his face. “I like to murder people using their own bones! Wee!”

As the others watched her stab the old man to death with his own rib, Jenta wasn’t in the least surprised he didn’t once call out for Christ. Zit was thrilled he didn’t. It meant later, back home, she could punish him, over and over and over. She liked to peel people's skin off like string cheese.

The old man now more than dead, Iiyni’jeari’eea was still irritated, though her anger had mostly abated. Discarding the rib, she grabbed his head with both hands. Putting her right foot on his chest to hold the corpse down, in a twist and tug, she removed it, most of his spine coming out as well.

Nini walked back over to the three watching, snapping the spine from the head and tossing it away. “Take the head from the girl’s corpse, and put limp dick’s remains back in the vehicle and burn it. The heads of a false priest and the raped bitch should be enough of a gift to get Larry all wet, and forget about Zit’s punishment. And if he doesn’t like it, he can fuck himself in the ass. Auntie and Suzie too, for that matter.” Iiyni’jeari’eea grinned broadly, “We are here for a job, and we will do it. More or less. But I ain’t nobody’s bitch. And neither are my sisters.”

* * *

Ally had no idea where they were. She had been paying no attention at all, so lost was she in her own dark thoughts and guilt. She couldn’t believe she just left Sally and Gigi like that. She regretted it almost to the point of going back. Only, doing such would accomplish nothing but her being put in juvie until she was eighteen. Then, probably adult jail…

The bus eventually stopped at a gas station. Getting off and looking around, this was not L.A. She knew L.A. well, so where the fuck were they? Why wasn't she paying attention while they were driving? No matter; Ally saw bus ticket signs on the station. Wherever here was, she would just get a ticket for where she needed to go.

Walking beside the bus, Ally was stretching her legs, trying to think, when something landed on her shoulders quite hard. “Allyyyyyyy,” it moaned, and she barely (barely) didn’t scream. She did fall to her hands and knees, which let Gigi easily hop down. Ally’s heart was still pounding too hard to even wonder why the hell Gigi had just fell out of the fucking sky.

Gigi marched around, to stand in front of a kneeling, gasping Ally, who was clutching her chest. She glared hard into her older cousin’s eyes, while she composed herself. “Gigi-” Ally began, and her little cousin slapped her across the face. The shock of it, did something to that wall she had put up, immediately triggering that painful nostalgic wrongness.

Her world spun. This was all wrong. But why? What? Eyes settling on Gigi, who was saying something- and that was the moment when Gigi's appearance, her changed appearance, finally and truly sank in.

Why had she accepted it so easily? Why had no one else mentioned it? Or freaked out?

Gigi had always been gangly and undersized for a seven year old. She could have passed for four, and her weird way of talking and acting fit with it. Now? She had no gangly at all, was proportioned as she should be for her features, and looked older than her seven years. She was so much taller, about the same as Sally, who was ten. ... Wait. ... That didn't feel right either. Time.. wasn't timing.

"How old are you?" Ally asked, Gigi freezing mid sentence, her glare sharpening. "I'm serious, I ... I can't remember." For a long several seconds, the child said nothing. "Six," was he eventual answer. Six? That couldn't be right. "And Sally is ten?"

"Nine."

"Are you sure?" No reply this time, just an intense stare. "And I'm..."

"Fourteen." Ally nodded, relieved. Her own age did feel right.

Fearing the answers, she was about to ask more, when Gigi closed her right fist, left fist holding the yellow rhino plushie Ally had left behind, and decked her in the face.

Which had hurt like hell. “What the fuck?!” Ally snapped, now sitting on her butt. If she got a black eye from that... “You left me,” Gigi stated, "and now you're asking dumb questions about age! So what if Reba saved me, and now I'm bigger! Gigi saved you at the airport! Do you know why? Do you even care about anything other than if you were naked and, and, and how olds I is?”

Ally looked into this child’s eyes that scolded her, and was more confused. The kids words wording was strange as ever, but her eyes... were... dead.

“Cuz Gigi didn’t want you to be sad!" the child explained, dead eye quickly filling with tears. "You cry all the time and you think no one knows! You act all brave! But you were too scared to even save me from that monster!” The six-year-old's eyes were producing enough tears, for them to drip from her face to the asphalt.

Then, something changed. Gigi twitched. Flinched. And her voice now quavered.

“So Gigi saved you! All of you!” Not exactly true, but true enough. And for reasons the kid didn't understand; they hurt. In a weird way. Thinking about Ally, all her friends, not caring. About being sad. About them being sad; it made her feel terrible. Really terrible, in a way that made no sense, and she started bawling. “It hurt so bad!” Falling to her own knees, Gigi wailed, “Why did you leave me, Ally?! Why? Why did you leave me?!”

Everything else forgotten, Ally cradled her favorite little girl in her arms. Gigi quickly got her loud wails under control, but kept crying. All Ally could do as she hugged her tight was say, “I’m sorry.” She did still have the presence of mind to realize they were causing a scene, so she took Gigi in her arms and carried her off to the side, around an outbuilding.

When her crying had subsided, Ally set Gigi down. “How did you get here?” she asked, as Geeg looked around for something to blow her nose in. “On dah roof,” she answered nasally. The roof? Wait… “The roof of the bus?” Gigi nodded, and took off her top. “You jumped on the roof of the bus, just to follow me?” Again, Gigi nodded, and blew her nose in garment.

Fucking wonderful! Wasn’t like Ally could just send her back. She also couldn’t leave her here, or buy a kid with no ID a bus ticket! Geeg blew her nose a few more times, then tossed her shirt on the ground. And to complicate things, Gigi is now practically naked. Why do these things happen to me?

Before she could think of anything else, the oddness of her little cousins appearance took the forefront yet again. She had abs! Not crazy abs, but abs! Standing there in only her small skirt, Gigi... was still Gigi. Skinny, big ears, freckles, floofy thin hair, but now she was muscularly toned, and her filled out face and body was, well, pretty. Not in a lewd way, but attractive enough Ally almost blushed at the realization.

“You gonna send me back?” Gigi sniffled at her older cousin. 'Would if I could,' Ally thought. She had no idea how in the hell to make this journey back with a five- uh, seven, err, six-year-old. Even if that six-year-old was Gigi. Who knew what kind of problems or dangers she was going to encounter while trying to find everyone? Let alone once she found them.

“I couldn’t if I wanted to,” Ally sighed, and turned to look behind her at a big bus pulling into the station. Wonderful. Looking back at Gigi, “Stay here.” The little girl glared at her suspiciously. “I’m not enough of a bitch to just leave you in a random parking lot. Stay here!” Ally raised her eyebrows, and held up a finger, in a ‘just hold on’ manner. Gigi smirked at the word ‘bitch’, but agreed.

As she started to walk away, Ally looked at the discarded shirt. May as well blow her nose too – Then she remembered her stuff. She still had it in the crumpled food bag! SHIT! About to really panic, she saw it on the ground near where the bus she rode here on was parked. The hell?

Ally hurried to the bag, picking it up, she glanced inside, and looked like everything was still there. Hadn't she forgotten it under the seat? Writing it off as she had just spaced carrying it off with her, and thanking God no one picked it up, she went into the gas station. Relieved they sold some clothes, traveling and tourist items, Ally grabbed a few random t-shirts, a pack of generic little girl’s panties, a bunch of snacks, and the biggest duffel bag they had, and brought it to the counter.

“Need a bus ticket too, for that one there, if any seats are open,” Ally said, motioning to the big bus that had arrived. The female cashier laughed. “It’s going north and is almost empty.”

“That’s perfect! Err, north I mean,” Ally smiled. The lady eyed her suspiciously, “ID? And where north are you trying to go?” Ally casually handed her the fake ID, and credit card, praying it worked, having never used it. “Castle Rock,” she answered.

“Castle Rock? Hate to burst your bubble, but the government won’t even let anyone get as close to Washington as Portland.” The clerk set the ID and credit card down after examining them, and went about scanning the merchandise. “Well, I have family back there. Can I just buy a ticket for as far as I can go? Would rather be close, than waiting down here.” The clerk seemed to ignore her.

Instead, as she picked up the pack of panties to scan them, she again eyed her suspiciously. “Aren’t you a bit old for these, hun?” Condescending middle-aged bitch. “Not all of us hit eighteen and blimp out,” Ally replied, with a smug grin. “Can I buy a ticket or not?” Ally’s voice was still pleasant and soft, but the clerk got the point.

“Hey, Henry, how far north can you guys get?” The bus driver wandering the store looked up at the call from the clerk. “Not even sure. Halfway up Oregon, at least. Maybe farther.”

“Got ya a passenger here, not sure where to book her ticket for.” The driver frowned from where he was looking at cheap sunglasses, “Just charge for Portland, and I’ll get as close as I can.”

That worked for Ally! She was glad she was going to Aethra, and wouldn’t need money. Everything, including the ticket, was almost four hundred dollars! Holy crap! She never had that kind of money. This credit card only had a five hundred dollar limit on it. She would need to hit an ATM soon as possible. Her uncle probably hadn't called her dad yet, not wanting to admit he let her escape, and he rarely shopped, so wouldn't notice his missing debit card anytime soon. Still, better to be safe than sorry.

Looking out the window as the clerk droned the instructions on how to get on a bus, Ally saw that the outbuilding Gigi was hiding behind had a restroom symbol. After the clerk shut up, Ally asked if she could use the restroom, and was handed a set of keys. The bus driver told her to hurry, she had five minutes. As if this wasn’t stressful enough!

Hurrying back to the outbuilding, when she got close, she said, “Gigi, stay back there. I’m going to open a window for you to climb in.” Gigi didn’t answer, and Ally hoped the child was still there. Couldn’t risk the nosy clerk seeing her go around back of the building and getting even more suspicious. At least she hadn’t noticed her before entering the store, or she would have seen Ally with the little girl.

Unlocking the single door, Ally got inside and quickly opened the small window, and was startled as Gigi climbed into view without warning. “Now what?” the little monkey asked, wide-eyed. “Now you climb in the bag, be quiet, and pray.” Luckily for Ally, Gigi was all too happy to climb inside the duffel bag full of snacks, and be zipped up.

“Okay Gigi, I’m probably going to have to put this bag, and you, in the storage under the bus. You’ll be fine with the food and drinks, but do not move or make a sound. If the guy putting this bag under the bus knows you are in there, we are both in huge trouble.” Gigi didn’t say a word, but Ally heard a bag of chips open. “And no eating until you are under the bus, and it’s moving. Got it?”

“Mm hmm!” was the tiny response. Then a thought occurred to Ally. “And if you start getting sleepy, do not fall asleep!” It wasn’t full of carbon monoxide under there, right?

With a deep breath, and a silent prayer to Jesus, Ally shouldered the bag and walked out of the bathroom, hurrying to the bus. The chubby old bus driver with the pornstache was waiting by the baggage storage area, looking at his watch as she hurried over to him. “One minute,” was all he said. Ally stood staring at him. He ignored her. She shrugged and tossed her bag under the bus; farther than she meant, since there was near nothing down there. The bag thumped hard and Ally winced. Poor Gigi.

“Thirty seconds.” What was with this tool?! Handing him her ticket, he took it, marked it with a marker, then motioned for her to get on. Ally took one step up, remembered she had the restroom keys, and sprinted them back to the scowling clerk.

It was empty on the large bus, save for two black guys in the back, and a fat old white lady sitting by the door.

Taking a seat behind the driver, Ally sighed a sigh of relief. This was insane! What was she going to do with Gigi? She was taking her back to God only knew what chaos and danger! Yet…

Yet no matter how worried she was, or how stupid it all seemed, it honestly felt like she was doing the right thing.