"Alright, Chris! Your turn." Said Andrew as he shoved the pink Nintendo DS into Chris' hands. Chris snapped out of his trance and stared dumbly at the pink device in his hands.
"Uh?" Chris asked. Andrew rolled his eyes.
"The game? Henry just kicked my butt, so it's your turn now." Andrew said. On the small bright screen of the device flashed LOSER over and over again. Chris shook his head and clicked "continue" on the screen. Chris was no more than sixteen years old. He had sandy blonde hair and green eyes that looked like dragon scales. His best friend, Andrew, looked nearly identical to him. The only thing that separated the two were their eyes.
Henry, who sat cross-legged from them, waited patiently for Chris to choose his racing car. Henry was African American, black stubby hair and brown eyes. He was seventeen, almost eighteen. "Come on, already," he said. "Choose your car so I can leave you in the dust." Once Chris chose his car, the racing game began. Chris watched as the game counted down from three to one. As the cars zoomed ahead on the track, Chris could feel Andrew's breath down his neck.
"You can do it, Chrisy!" Andrew cheered on. By the time lap three came, Chris was in the lead. As he made his car zoom up the virtual road, something caught his eye. He glanced up, back down, then back up again. Out from the walking trail that led into the orphanage's garden, came out the new girl. Chris took a great notice of the turtleneck sweater she wore and thought how hot she must be wearing such an outfit in the summer heat. Especially in the state of Maine. Suddenly Chris heard Henry's cry of victory and Andrew's wailing voice.
"No!" Andrew cried in despair. "How could you let him win!" Chris glanced down at the small screen just time to see the replay. Henry's car had just barely managed to zip by and hit the finish line. Andrew sighed. "All right then... Xavier! It's your turn, dude." Xavier, who hadn't said a single word since they've been out there, glanced at them and glanced back in the direction he was looking in. Xavier has black hair and eyes, pale skin, and wore a u-neck shirt to hide his rash that never seemed to go away. He shook his head at his friends and continued on staring. "Fine by me." Andrew said and took the pink device away from Chris. "Round two!"
Starting to feel like he had enough, Chris stood and dusted off his pants. "I'm going inside guys." He told them, but Andrew and Henry were too engaged in their game to hear. As Chris walked away, Xavier watched him go and returned his attention back to where it was.

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Chris began his journey back to his room. When he neared the TV room, he made sure that the five to seven year old girls didn't catch him. Anyone who dared pass the TV room while they were in there was doomed to be kidnapped and be taken as a hostage. Forced to watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, along with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and on occasion, Dora the Explorer. Thee who past has been warned, Chris thought humorously to himself. When he made sure that he wasn't spotted, he made a mad dash for the stairs.
His room looked like all the other rooms. Two beds, bedside tables, wardrobes, trunks, and one scratchy, ugly looking rug. Sighing, Chris sat on his bed on the right side of the room. He stretched out, lying belly side on the bed, and stared thoughtless across the room. He suddenly reached for the drawer on the bedside table and took out a small black box. Taking his index finger, he traced the symbol that was engraved on the lid. Three white ovals that overlapped each other creating an old shape snowflake.
He opened the lid to find a ring resting peacefully inside. The ring's band was a dark smoke grey that curved and swirled. Snuggling on top of the band was a green jewel. It shined brilliantly against the natural light of the sun coming in from the window. Chris took the ring out and studied it. His fingers traced the gem to the band and ended with him twisting his fingers around the chain that hung loosely from the ring's band. Chris couldn't tell exactly how he got the ring. The only thing he knew was that Miss Lucy gave it to him on his twelfth birthday, saying that it was a gift from his mother.
He let out a long, tiring sigh. He wondered if his birth parents actually loved him, that they left him here because of some reason, not just because they thought of him as a nuances. Putting that thought aside, he placed the ring back in its box and placed the box back in its spot in the top drawer of the bedside table. He looked at the digital clock, it read: 12:25. Chris soon realized that he was hungry. He rolled off the bed and made his way down to the dining hall. But as he reached the door to his room, he heard the sound of someone tapping on the window behind him.
Chris turned around and saw a cat sitting on the edge of the window, staring sternly inside. What the? He thought as he walked over to the window and let the cat inside. The cat stared at Chris for a long moment, watching him intently as Chris slid the window open. The cat jumped inside and patted around. Its leopard pattern fur flashing against the sun's light. The cat turned, facing Chris. Its bright green eyes staring at him like Chris was some sort of ant.
Chris crouched down and put out his hand, palm up. He clucked his tongue. "Come here," he said. "You can't be here. Miss Lucy wouldn't allow it." As Chris reached further out to pet the strange cat, the cat, instead, hissed at him and gave a low warning growl. Its tail thumped on the wooden floors, irritated. "Sorry!" Chris said and stood up. As he walked back to the door and opened it, he felt something soft and furry run up against his legs. Chris saw as the cat slipped out between his legs and made a break for it, disappearing without a trace.

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Evalyn stared out onto the starry night. She had never seen so many stars before in her entire life! Back home, no stars shined at all. Not at the Capitol, that is. She sighed as she thought of her home world, Tigen. "Do you think they've taken over by now?" Evalyn asked Leo, who was half asleep on the bed pillow.
I think they've taken the world hostage, Leo said. But I also think they won't do anything until they know they have all Tigenians under their black, clammy claws.
"So that would mean finding me along with Mr. Collins and the others who had escaped." Evalyn summed up. Leo didn't respond. He just purred to sooth her thoughts.
All will be alright, he finally said. We just have to trust that Mr. Collins and the others will come up with a plan to retake Tigen...
"And bring us home?"
And bring us home, Leo resaid. Now get some sleep before you've become sleep deprived. Evalyn smiled and joined Leo on the bed. As she was making herself comfortable, Leo moved his position to sleep on the curve of Evalyn's stomach. He purred so loudly that the room seemed to vibrate. Evalyn gilded her hand up and down the cat's spine and eventually fell asleep to the sound of his purrs.

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Evalyn had woken up to the sounds of broken glass and screams. She jumped from her bed and peered out of her room to see what the commotion was. Leo trailing close behind her. As Evalyn opened the door to her room, her father came bursting in at the same time, knocking Evalyn to her bottom. Her father was breathing heavily, hair tousled, and eyes wild and full of fear. He noticed his daughter on the floor and pulled her to her feet. "Come on!" He said pulling her along.
"Father!" Evalyn said having a rough time keeping up. "What's happening?" Her father said nothing as he dragged his daughter along to safety. Hisses and screams could be heard from behind them as they traveled down the halls of their home and down the spiral stairs. Evalyn saw the door to their main door smashed open and windows shattered to non-existences. And then, she saw them. The shadowy demons known as Dormins.
Fear gripped Evalyn as her childhood fear came alive. All the history lessons that were given to her and all the talk from her father's council members. All of it was true. Evalyn's father threw open his study door and barracked them in. "Evalyn!" Her mother said as she pulled her daughter into her arms.
"W-why are they here!" Evalyn said, returning her mother's embrace. " I-I thought—"
"We thought too." Her father said. The sounds of the creatures banging on the study door caught their attention. They hissed and growled. "It won't hold them for long." Thinking quickly, Maurice Carson rushed to the shelves of the books and tilted one of them. They heard a click, and a secret passageway behind a section of the shelves opened up. "Go. Quickly." Evalyn's father ushered his daughter and wife into the passage, along with Leo, Ruby, a red furred dog, and Tin, a silver furred dog. Once everyone was through, Evalyn's father began to close the door behind them, leaving himself on the other side.
"Father?" Evalyn said. "Father!" She ran to stop her father from closing the door, but it was too late. "No! Father! Open up! Open up!" Evalyn began to sob. She felt her mother's strong grip on her arm, pulling her away from the door.
"Come on, Evalyn..." her mother choked. "We have to go."
"No!" Evalyn fought, but it was pointless. Before Evalyn knew it, she and her mother were heading down the passageway with heavy, broken hearts...

...Evalyn woke up with a gasp. The heavy memories of the past slowly fading away. Before she could stop it, Evalyn began to sob. She buried her head into her pillow and filled it with her salty tears. Leo, who was awake for the past hour, watched as his human Bonded cried her eyes out. And he knew there was nothing he could do to help her.