The afternoon sun blares down on us as I quietly make my way down the street, hoping to not draw attention to myself or this bird on my shoulder. He chirps quietly in my ear as we reach a street corner. I begin to step off the kerb and he chirps again.

"This way?"

His head turns the other way, down the street.

"No this way is better."

He pecks at my shoulder and chirps a little louder.

"Yeah, yeah. Jeez, pushy bloody bird."

My feet are sore by the time we reach the destination, I have no clue where Jonah was leading me. I found it surprising that we didn't see anyone on our path here. I was worried that people would see the bird and be fascinated by it, after all it's not as if you see a large orange bird, looking very much like a peacock on the shoulder of a woman walking down the street. But thankfully, our path was an easy one. I had looked for rock faces along the way, there was nothing, and now I stood at the edge of a sand bank, staring at the ocean. As the waves crash into the beach, the foam frothing onto the sand, I look around and see why he brought me here, a cliff. I rummage through a nearby bin, not finding any bags to hide him in.

"Sorry Jonah, you aren't going to like what I'm about to do."

The bird looks up from the ground at me as I lift the lid to the bin, pulling the liner out and dumping its contents into the bin.

"Pee-eww." I crinkle my nose. "I think it's been sitting here a while."

I move to put the bird in the bag and he squawks at me, flapping his wings and fails at trying to fly. He scampers along the ground as I fall onto my knees trying to catch him.

"What do you want Jonah? You said non see through bag. I don't see any other options, do you?"

He sticks his head up in the air and begins to walk down the path to the beach.

"Fine, be picky."

It was a long walk to get to the cliff, but it was worth it, an easy door into mid jump out of view of the passing world. The bird stops walking and squawks at me, I kneel beside him.

"Are you going to get in the bag now?"

He chirps as I put it down and to my surprise he picks up one of the edges and lifts it over his head, moving down to the bottom of the bag.

"Oh, so you want it inside out do you, mister fussy pants?"

He squawks at me again.

"Hang on, let me wash it first."

I take the bag and wash it in the ocean and turn the bag inside out, which of course the bird happily got in the bag. The bag is still smelly and now it is wet. I form the key and open the door to mid jump, grateful to be safe.

People bustle around me, looking at me and crinkling their noses. Yes, I had a stinking wet bag under my arm, its contents a mystery. Jonah stayed very quiet and still as I made my way through the corridor for the gates. When this place was first built, it consisted of one level of about a fifty gates. But as time started to pass and mid jump became more popular, the queue for the gates increased. Now there were three levels of about fifty gates per level. The only time there were queues now was when the shops were having massive sales and I refused to be anywhere near the place when they were on. I hated crowds. At the very end of the corridor was one solitary elevator, the sign above the button said it was restricted access only. A few of the office staff had started to congregate behind me, lunch hour was over and they were returning to their jobs. The door opened with a ping and took a deep breath, entering one tiny box with a stinky bag. The elevator takes forever to reach the top floor, many of the people who had gotten into the lift with me only stayed for one floor, opting to get out rather quickly. The bird continued to remain quiet and still, obviously not wanting to draw attention to himself. We reach the top floor, I have never been here before, it is the new grand council meeting place, unless you are a member or have been specifically instructed to be here, your presence is not welcome. The doors open to a small foyer, at the end is one door, two guards either side of the door.

"Stop." one of the guards says "You are not permitted on this floor."

The bird wriggles under my arm, squawking again. I struggle with him as he pokes his head out of the bag and squawks again.

"Your highness." the guards bow and open the door.

"Follow the corridor to the end."

"Thank you."

I walk down the corridor, the light shines off the marble floors. As we reach the end, there is a reception desk, a woman sits behind it. I was about to approach her but a door flies open and Terrance practically falls out into the room.

"Jonah!"

The bird wrestles from my grip, moving up to my shoulder and out of the stinky bag. Terrance sniffs the air and screws up his face.

"Ellie, can you dispose of the bag please."

"Certainly."

The woman moves from behind the desk and takes the bag.

"Follow me."

He leads us to a bathroom to the left of the reception desk. Jonah reeked of the bag, even I smelled a little off.

"We might wash him first, he still stinks."

"Yeah, sorry, it was the only option."

"What happened?"

He turns on the tap, trying to make it warm for Jonah.

"We went to get the lounge that he ordered, it was an ambush."

I can feel the tears beginning to form. Holding them back, I took a deep breath. Two little black eyes looked up at me, like he was trying to be supportive.

"They killed my guard, chained us, told us that they were after the first born of the four leaders in payback for a rogue leader's death, his father."

Terrance gasps.

"It's ok, after they left Jonah spoke with Godfrey who is going to look after Ariella and Lucian. Then he turned into the bird so that we could get out of the hand cuffs."

He nods, turning to the vanity he grips its edge, closing his eyes. Talking to someone. I test the water, warm, I get some soap and lather it over Jonah, washing his feathers. Terrance sighs as he reopens his eyes.

"All that are a target have been notified and your parents. An urgent meeting will be formed, tomorrow evening."

"Why not now?"

"Because he won't be ready for another twenty-four hours. He will be a bird until this time tomorrow. Until then, he should be in a hot room."

"A what?"

Terrance rips paper towels and begins to dry Jonah.

"A phoenix bird should be in a hot room otherwise they will get cold. Come on Jonah, I will take you home."

The bird squawks at him as Terrance tosses the paper in the bin.

"Home young man."

He climbs up my arm and settles on my shoulder, squawking at his father again. Terrance rolls his eyes.

"She can't go in the hot room. It will near on cook her."

It tickles as he snuggles into my neck, the feathers so soft and warm.

"He needs heat, a lot of heat, do you have a fire place?"

"Yes, there are a few around the house, I have one in my room."

"That should be sufficient, come on." he groans in defeat. "I'll show you how to keep him warm."

I wondered how Terrance was planning on getting around mid-jump with one very pretty bird on my shoulder. One little secret rock face hidden in a back room of the top floor and I was home being hugged to death by my parents. I wanted to tell them everything that had happened but with the horde of siblings around I held back. It wouldn't be nice for them to hear it; I didn't want that many people knowing anyway. I didn't want anyone knowing. After my parents finished hugging and kissing me, Terrance showed me how to keep the fire going sufficient to keep Jonah warm. It didn't matter if there was a fire or if it was just embers in the ashes, so long as it was hot he would be fine. I found it amusing as Jonah flew down from my shoulder and walked over to the fire place, his little talons scraping on the wooden floor. He climbed into the fireplace and turned three times before nestling into the ashes, falling asleep.

"He will be like that for most of tomorrow. Best not to disturb him, of course if you need to stoke the fire, that is fine, he will probably just squawk at you for waking him."

He gets up from the lounge.

"Now, tomorrow, I will return with a change of clothes before the meeting."

"Sorry? Change of clothes?"

"Yes, what do you think he will be wearing when he turns back to a vampire?"

"Oh."

I think that if I could blush, I would be as red as a tomato.

"We are to be at the meeting room at five o'clock, I will be here at four. Ivy, you are requested to attend this meeting with your parents."

"Oh ok."

My parents follow him out of the room, leaving me with an unbearably hot room, a smouldering fire place and a phoenix bird asleep in its ashes.

I scrubbed myself five times, washed my hair three times but still I did not feel clean. I could not remove the stink of rogue from my skin. My body was sore from the endless scrubbing, I slumped to the shower floor, sobbing into my knees as the water poured over me. I could hear a funny noise, little scrapes on the tiles, then a tiny chirp. I wiped the tears and looked to the end of the shower and saw the bird. He moved closer, the water beading on his feathers. Shaking the water off, he flapped his wings and jumped onto my knees and chirped again. I laughed through the tears, knowing he was trying to be caring but was unable to speak words. I scratched below his head, he closed his eyes and moved his head to one side, enjoying the scratch.

"Thanks for the cheering up but I think you should probably get your tail feathers back into the fire."

He made a cluck sound and jumped off my knees, moving out of the shower. I heard him ruffle his feathers as I turned off the taps. After I have dressed for bed, I wander out into my room, finding that he has already nestled down again, asleep in the ashes. I look down at the floor, his footprints in ashes across my cream rug.

"Gee thanks for that one Jonah." I mutter.