Chapter 5- Peaceful

We reached my house in a matter of minutes। He tried to set me down, on the porch, but I wouldn’t let go of his shirt। He unlocked my door and brought me in the house; and tried to set me down again once we were inside, this time I let go। I took off my one shoe and sat down on the small dark colored leather two-seater couch.
“I guess I’ll leave now.” Tsume said, turning to leave. I shook my head at him vigorously,
“No. You should stay here.” I said in my haste. He stood there and stared at me.
“Fine.” He breathed the word, and sat down next to me. “Well you should take a shower or something ‘cause you look pretty bad.” He snickered, smirking at me. He stared at me; I was blushing a pale pink. I must have looked bad because of lying in the dirt, and running through the forest.
“Hmph, fine,” I grumbled, “and what about you? What are you doing?” I tried to change the subject. He closed his bright yellow eyes in thought,
“I’m going to run back home, tell my uncle I’m staying at a friend’s house. I’ll get some clothes and then I’ll come right back.” His comment sounded final so I didn’t argue. I just nodded crossing my feet under me. I took a breath and he stood up. As he headed for the door I stood up as well and walked toward the stairs to get my shower ready. I looked back at him from over my shoulder and a thought accrued to me,
“Hey you can turn into a wolf anytime so can you turn into one right now?” it sounded a lot like a command even to me. He blinked once, a little confused but he did it anyway, just as I had asked. I walked over and opened the door for him. Tsume, the raven-black wolf cocked his head to one side. Seeming to ask me a question of why. “That way no one gets suspicious. If a boy spent the night my neighbors might call the police or worse: my parents. But if I let my pet ‘dog’ in, then it’s more normal.” I explained casually thinking that if Tsume gets caught he’ll go to jail. He only nodded before bolting out the open door. I glanced after him; he was running down the street with out looking back. I went back inside, shutting the door, to gather my stuff up. I grabbed a dark purple towel, my pajamas, my hair brush, and my toothbrush for my shower.
After about thirty minutes later I was standing in front of my bathroom mirror, in my lavender plaid pajamas, blow-drying my hair. I was soothed and squeaky clean. Now I was waiting for Tsume’s return. Soon ten minutes past; my hair had been blow-dried and brushed through about ten times. When I came out of the bathroom and walked downstairs I had all but forgotten about Tsume coming as a wolf. I heard a light scratch on the door and a faint whine. I opened the door expecting to see a stray dog or cat begging to come inside. But instead of a stray I saw Tsume in wolf form. He had the handles of a single black duffel bag in his mouth, his wolfy tongue hanging out the side. He looked like a dog who belonged there, and who knew it. He looked so angelic, so cute… until he opened his mouth,
“So are you going to let me in?” he still sounded like Tsume all right. I moved out of his way and took the black leather bag from him, being careful no to touch the part his mouth had been on. “You look clean now.” He mentioned as he walked into my living room. As he turned into a boy again, I looked him up and down. He still looked pretty muddy,
“Did you get to shower or do you need to use mine?” I asked and I ignored his clean comment. He shook his head to tell me no and sat down on the couch pouting slightly,
“Do I have to?” he asked all sulky like. I had to blink; his yellow eyes were so hypnotic it was like being in a trance by the sun. I nodded not trusting my voice yet. He sighed, “If I have to then I guess I have to.” he stood up as he said that. I walked up the stairs slowly, still carrying his bag,
“I thought dogs liked the water.” I said, teasingly. I heard him chuckle under his breath at me,
“Yeah, you think? Well I’m a wolf not a dog.” He said it more playfully then I thought he would. He had been leading the way until we reached the top of the stairs then he stopped, “Your bathroom, where is it?” he asked. I led him down the hallway. On the left there were two doors, and on the right there were three doors. I ignored all the doors in the back and opened the first door on the left and turned to face Tsume,
“Here it is. And after you shower you can use this room.” I said pointing to the room directly across the bathroom. He nodded, sulkier then normal. He closed the door behind him after taking some things from his bag and tossing the duffel into the room I had indicted. I shrugged and walked down the carpeted stairs, went into the kitchen, and poured myself a glass of milk. I walked back into the living room and plopped myself down on the dark violet leather couch. Sitting there, I flipped the TV on, it was just local news. The volume was down low, and I wasn’t really paying attention. I took a careful sip of milk, just waiting for Tsume to get out of the shower. Then a picture of the drunken man from just hours ago appeared on screen. I cranked up the volume to listen, the news lady; who was dressed in a bright, expensive, red women’s suit was in the middle of saying something.
“….. Was rushed to the hospital after getting attacked by what eye-witnesses claim to be a ‘wolf-like creature’. He has not been able to tell us anything yet due to the fact that he has been unconscious. Police have not yet proven it was or was not a wolf. Only that this man has serious, but not lethal injuries. He has three to five long slashes going from his shoulder blade to his lower back. Doctors do believe that this man will survive as well. Some experts say that these wounds could have come from long knives that can be hooked around one’s fist. Local police say that there have not been sighting of wolves in this area, or surrounding areas since wolves had been put on the endangered animals list. And claim that it was just a large dog or some criminal that needs to be caught. They promised that if it is in fact a large dog, it will be caught and humanely disposed of. We will update you at 10. This is,”–click- You could hear the remote click as I turned the TV off. I then turned on my surround sound CD player. I pushed the play button to listen to the music that was already in- it was all classical music. I clicked the remote again skipping to my favorite track, on with all piano. I didn’t know the name of it but I loved it. I had been drinking my milk the entire time; I placed the now empty glass on the side table a foot away. I clicked on the light that stood there and, using the remote turned off the main lights. I leaned on the couch arm, my slightly wet hair clinging to the back of my neck, and closed my eyes. Letting the music fill my brain, allowing it to take over my imagination, pictures of dancing wolves were in my brain before I even realized I was getting sleepy.

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After my shower I barely dried my skin, throwing on some black pajama pants and a dark midnight blue beater. I wore no socks or shoes of any kind. My hair was too wet and too drippy. Overall I felt way to uncomfortably wet. I slung the dark blue towel over my shoulder as I left the steamy bathroom. I shook my head a couple times, trying to get the water out, but it was no use, if I wanted the water out I would have to dry my hair. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to that either, hair dryers were to loud and they scared me a little. I opened the door Kira had told me I could use and threw my towel onto my bag. From there I could hear music coming from downstairs; it was a beautiful grand piano playing melodiously with a small flute. As the track drew to a close and another song stared up it almost startled me- it was some song by muse and it was louder then I expected. Soon I realized what song it was- Time is running out. I let my breathing go back to normal before I walked down the stairs; making almost no noise at all. Kira was curled up on the edge of the couch, fast asleep. Her light purple hair was flung all over the couch and covering her eyes. I smiled gently and sat down on the arm of the couch, leaning forward to brush her hair away from her face. She smiled in her sleep but didn’t move. I sighed, and leaned close to her ear so she would be able to hear me.
“Hey, Kira.’ I said barely above a whisper, “Wake up, come on Kira.” but it was a fruitless labor, a waste of breath. I shook her a tiny bit by the shoulder,
“Hmmm?” She mumbled most likely still half asleep. I sighed again and stood up, scooping her up in my arms. She really wasn’t heavy at all I was impressed. I carefully cradled her in my arms and started to carry her up the stairs.

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I was mostly asleep but because of someone shaking me I was still kind of conscious. I definitely wasn’t out of it just yet. It felt a lot like I was floating in mid air, but that was impossible, somewhere in the conscious part of my brain I knew that. But I still really liked the feeling. And I hoped it wouldn’t end, it was…. nice, and with that last trailing thought I drifted off into a peaceful, dream filled sleep.

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