Kero listened carefully as I told him everything. I could tell by his expression that he was still angry with me but he didn't say anything.

When I was finished my story, Kero leaned back on the chair and sighed. "So... A Raakshyan came to you and told you he was being paid to spy on you and now Diyo says that someone ordered him to kill you." Kero shook his head. "I have a feeling that both their masters are the same person."

I nodded. "But who? Why would they want to hurt me? What have I done?" I asked.

Kero shrugged. He then got up. "I'm going to go follow Diyo's scent." He said. "The last time you saw him was in here, right?"

I nodded. "But can't you search for him tomorrow?" I asked. I really wanted Kero to stay here for the night. I guess I really was scared.

"If I don't go now, it will be hard for me to track him. His scent will disperse." He walked to the window and stuck his head out.

"But... what if he comes tonight?" I asked as I got up and walked towards the window as well.

"I'm sure he won't. Especially since I'm back." He looked at me.

"And my friends?" I asked.

"I'll make Chirpy keep an eye on them." He said.

I looked down. "Are you sure that he won't come?" I asked.

Kero put his arm under my chin and lifted my face so that I was looking at him. "It was wrong of you not to tell me."

"But-"

"I know, I know." Kero said. "He threatened you, but do you think that I would be careless and let you or your family or your friends get hurt?" He asked.

I guess he had a point, but I was too busy trying to remember how to breathe to even bother saying anything.

Kero raised an eyebrow. "Well?" He asked.

I bit my lip. "Yeah, sorry."

He smiled. "You are absolutely enchanted by me, aren't you?"

I felt my cheeks heat up. "No." I lied. I've been doing a lot of lying for the past few days.

He bent down and kissed me, but only for a second. "I'll be back before morning." He said, moving towards the window.

Before I could say bye, he was gone. Again.

I sighed loudly as I got up. I picked up my blankets, pillows and a few teddy bears and walked towards my brother's room. The door was already open, so I walked in and saw Aathavan turning off his computer. He looked up at me.

"Where do I sleep?" I asked.

He looked at my handful of stuffed animals. "Are you kidding me?" He asked.

"You know I won't leave them alone. I'm going to go back and get the rest." I said.

He laughed, which made me happy. He then got up, stretched and collapsed on his bed. "You can sleep next to me, but you have to use your own blanket, mine is too small."

I nodded as I dropped all my stuff onto his bed. I then walked back to my room, got the rest of the stuffed animals, turned off my bedroom light and walked back to Aathavan's room.

"Turn off the light." Aathavan muttered, already half asleep.

I turned off the light and jumped onto the bed, and lied down next to him.

He had his back turned to me. "Aathavan." I called.

"What?" He asked.

"Are you mad at me?"

He hesitated. "Yes." He said.

"Why?"

"Because you've been lying to me."

I frowned. "I was lying cause I didn't want you to worry about me."

He turned around and glared at me. "Well you did a bad job at making me not worry." He said. He then softened his face. "Listen. I'm here to worry about you. I want to know what's going on in your life." He said. "If you can tell Kero, you can tell me. It's not Kero's job to protect you, he's doing it because he wants to. However, it is my job to protect you and I want to. Do you understand?"

I nodded, feeling strangely happy.

"Good." He said. "Now I have a question, and you can't lie."

I nodded again. "Ask away."

"Do you love Kero?"

I felt my cheeks heat up, but I sighed. "Yes." I admitted.

He nodded. "Alright." He said.

"You don't have anything to say?" I asked, surprised.

He smiled and put his arm around me, pulling me close. "No. Nothing but 'go to sleep' and 'goodnight'."

I smiled, snuggling close to my brother. "Goodnight." I said.

For some reason, I felt like we were kids again.

When I woke up, my brother was already gone. I got up and rushed into the bathroom to get ready for school. After freshening and washing myself up I stepped out of the bathroom and was surprised by Kero. "Hey!" I said. "Did you find him?"

Kero shook his head. "No. He went back to Raakshya."

"Oh." I said. I was a little disappointed. "Good morning, by the way."

Kero smiled. "Good morning."

I walked to my bedroom and pulled out some clothes.

"I'm returning to Raakshya tomorrow." He said.

I frowned. "But tomorrow is the start of the long weekend." I whined.

He smiled. "I'll be back soon."

"That's what you said last time." I said. I then realized something. "Wait... can I come with you?"

Kero snorted. "Even if I say yes, your father won't allow it."

"I'll beg! If he says yes, can I come?"

Kero hesitated, but then nodded. "But you must stay by my side at all times. Is that understood?"

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah, okay." I said. I was suddenly crazy excited.

Kero walked me to school that morning and looked really... jumpy. There were crows out, a lot, and that was making Kero freak out.

"Well, I'm expecting today to be a good day." I told Kero, trying to make him calm down.

"Why is that?" He asked.

"Because that rumor is going to disappear. I don't need to be nervous of someone coming to ask me something about my habit of talking to animals which aren't really animals."

Kero nodded. "Tell me if someone does."

"Why?"

"Do you know how much I want to hurt Chris?" He asked.

I smiled.

When I got to school, I said bye to Kero and walked in. I was surprised by Ivana who was sitting in the front foyer. "Hey Ivana!" I said.

She ran up to me, grabbing both my hands.

"What happened?" I asked, starting to freak out.

"What's wrong?" I heard Kero's voice say.

I jumped when I saw him next to me. "Please do not scare me!" I said to Kero.

He smiled, but looked at Ivana. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but... guess what?"

"What?" I asked.

"Well, Kero, when you came yesterday, you looked around my room and left, right?" She asked.

Kero nodded.

"And you asked me if anything was missing, right?"

Kero nodded again.

"I said no, but then I opened one of my drawers and noticed that someone looked through it. And Aathy... you know how I always keep doubles of every photo I take?"

I nodded.

"Well, that drawer had my photos in it and I was cleaning it up and noticed that a lot of the photos were missing!"

I looked at her. "Are you sure that you didn't just put the somewhere else?"

She shook her head. "And do you want to know what the craziest part is?"

I hesitated, but nodded.

"All the photos that went missing were pictures of you!"

My mouth fell open. "What?!" I turned and looked at Kero who was staring at Ivana. "Why would Serpethion want pictures of me? Are you sure it was him, Kero?"

Kero nodded. "I know Serpethions scent as well as I know Chirpy's... but I also don't understand why he would want pictures of you."

I shuddered. What would he want from my pictures?

"Are you going to go back to Raakshya?" Ivana asked.

I nodded. "Haven't asked my dad yet though."

"Seriously? You think he'll say yes?"

I shrugged.

"Maybe you should ask on the phone and then leave." Ivana suggested. "I found that parents are more flexible on the phone."

"My dad isn't at work when I get home; he's already on his way back."

"Um, Aathy... today's a half day."

"What?!"

"Yeah..."

Kero laughed.

"No one told me!"

Ivana frowned. "Maybe if you were listening to the announcements when you should have been, you would have heard."

"Well, that's a great thing! Why am I upset? Other than the fact that I found out a serious creep is stealing pictures of me, today has started off great!"

Kero smiled. "I'll pick you up at noon then." He said.

I nodded. "Great!"

"But right now, I'm going to try and find out why Serpethion would want your pictures." Kero said.

"You're going to go back to Raakshya?" I asked.

"No, I'm going to go talk to Chirpy, he saw Serpethion before he took off."

I nodded.

He waved as he turned around to walk away. "I'll see you later." He said.

I waved back, but then remembered something. "Kero!" I called.

He turned around.

"You still owe me a date." I said, crossing my arms.

He grinned. "I haven't forgotten." He said.

I smiled.