Direct continuation of last chapter. Sorry this chapter is super long, I wanted to go it in one! And also sorry about the delay on VOL I got carried away with this but a new chapter is on its way!

"Alright." Stellaluna steps out of a taxi and Crystal out the other side.
"It's a three minute walk from here to the warehouse."

"Ah," Stellaluna pauses.
"Close your eyes. I'll guide you though the world, like a blind baby chick and it's older sister chicken...or something, y'know."

Crystal looks unsure but closes her eyes.
"I don't make promises, but I won't guide you into more than three fire hydrants." Stellaluna assures.

A few minutes and one fire hydrant later Stellaluna dropped Crystal's hand.
"Open your eyes, kid."

Crystal did as instructed.
"Oh." She said without a hint of enthusiasm.

Stellaluna tapped her foot against the pavement.
"Ah, well, wait til you see the inside!" She pushed open the windowless door and strolled in, Crystal behind her.

"It looks like a...total dump..?"

Stellaluna snapped her fingers
"It is a total dump!"

There's a boxing ring in the middle of the large room. Two boys are fighting and other people off to the side spectate, cheering them on.

Stellaluna taps on the shoulder of a black haired girl in the audience who turns around and smiles.
"Stellar!"

She smacks her chewing gum as she points to Crystal.
"And who's this?"

Stellaluna puts her hand on Crystal's shoulder.
"This is my roommate. Quartz."

Crystal looks up to Stellaluna.
"Quartz?"

"Stage name. You can change it if you want."
Stellaluna smiles and Crystal smiles back. Something tells Stellaluna she won't be changing it.

The girl nods and takes a long look at Crystal.
"You didn't come to watch did you? What do you want?"

Stellaluna points to the clipboard in the girl's hands.
"The race tonight; is it still on?"

The girl blows a bubble with her gum.
"Hmm. You got a car?"

"Nope, do you know where I could get one?"
Stellaluna asks.

The girl pauses. She spits out her gum, onto the floor.
"Do you mean steal or rent?"

Crystal looks concerned and makes a strange noise.

Stellaluna smirks.
"Well...I take what I can get."

The girl laughs, clearly surprised that Stellaluna would have the guts.
"Princeton manor. There's a real nice car there, (no surprise) and it usually don't leave the driveway."

Stellaluna's foot taps against the floor, and she smiles dangerously.
"Security cameras?"

"Almost definitely."

"I like odds against me." Stellaluna stretches and cracks her knuckles.

Crystal grabs Stellaluna by the arm.
"I'm not involved in this right?"

Stellaluna's mouth opens as if to say 'oh' and she looks surprised, like a normal high school junior would steal a car from a high tech manor without batting an eyelash.

"Ah, I'm sorry- I can go it alone if you're a looooserrr."
Stellaluna makes her finger and thumb into an L.

She drapes her arm around Crystal.
"Really, kid- I've done this before alone, It's not like I need someone."

Crystal nods.
"I want to get to know you better...so...I'll come...but I'm staying in the car."

Stellaluna nudges the girl with the clipboard.
"Write me down. I'll be there, with a shiny new car."

She glances to Crystal.
"That or I'll be at the police station."

The clipboard girl puts down her clipboard.
"You'd be lucky. One time, I was at the station, and the Princeton prep was getting questioned. You see, some worker from the lab on the outskirts of town, they went missing while passing by his place. Security cameras showed the boy getting let into the house, and not coming back out."

Stellaluna's eyes widen.
"Well! Isn't that scary!"

Crystal looks like she could puke.
"That's terrifying!"

Instead of requesting to take herself off the list Stellaluna turns on her heels and motions for Crystal to follow.

Crystal does, very quickly, not unlike a squirrel, scurrying away from a fallen tree.

"Looks like we're going to have a eventful night." Stellaluna comments, hailing a parked taxi from across the street.

And sitting in the room Peggy didn't tell them they would share, Stellaluna and Crystal stare up blankly at the ceiling.

"You said we'd leave at seven?"

"The race is at eight, so yeah."

"I'm scared."

"That's logical."

Crystal turns onto her side to face Stellaluna across the room. When they got to the apartment they found Peggy had shifted all of Stellaluna's stuff over and tossed in a mattress which Crystal now lay on.
"Are you scared?" Crystal asks.

Stellaluna rubs her bruised knuckles.
"Good question, bunhead."

She sighs.
"I don't know. There's a point where fear goes numb I guess."

The alarm clock on Stellaluna's bed stand goes off and both girls jump.
Seven o clock already.

"I think I'm going to hurl up Peggy's pasta..." Crystal mutters.

Stellaluna grabs a black hoodie from her dresser drawer and puts it on.
She throws a near identical one to Crystal.
"Put this on."

And soon, they're in a taxi heading to a street where they'll surely look out of place.

The houses are huge, and every hedge seems perfectly trimmed. Except at the last house on the row, where thorns grow wild, wrapping around a large wrought metal gate and ivory pillars on either side.

In the centre of the gate is the letter P.
Princeton.

Crystal walks a foot behind Stellaluna, trying her best to match the girl's pace.
"This house looks especially haunted."

Stellaluna grabs a hold of one bar on the fence and kicks off the pillar next to it. She is able to hoist herself up, to where she now crouches on top of the fence on the tips of her toes.

She reaches down to Crystal.
"Jump and I'll toss you over." She says.

Crystal shakes her head.
"I said I'd wait in the car and that's what I'm doing."

Stellaluna pauses.
"You realize there's no car..?" She chuckles to herself as she cocks her head back towards the mansion.
"Not yet at least."

When Crystal doesn't move she adds
"The longer you stand in front of the security cameras the more likely the police will be able to identify you."

Crystal finally takes Stellaluna's hand and jumps. Stellaluna falls to the ground on the other side, Crystal too.

The two dust themselves off, Stellaluna offering Crystal a hand up. And then they head down the long driveway, the huge manor looming over them, casting a dark, eerie shadow.

When Crystal leans in to Stellaluna for protection she can feel her heart thump quickly, she might not know it, but her body is afraid.

However, Stellaluna's not the type to choose flight over fight.

When they get to the end of the driveway the two crouch behind a bush in a small patch of garden. Not long after a light flickers on inside the manor.
It illuminates the silhouette of a young woman and man. They stand feet apart, conversing over unknown matters.

It doesn't seem angry, or romantic, it doesn't even seem friendly. Crystal and Stellaluna have no idea what scene is playing out in front of their eyes.

But the man opens a drawer in his desk and pulls something out. The woman does not flinch, she says something and the man responds before the two both leave.

Crystal finds her heart thumping and her breath speeding up, despite the fact that surely nobody in the mansion could have seen them.

"What do you know about these people?" Crystal asks her roommate.

Stellaluna shrugs.
"Just as much as everyone else. The Princeton family was one of the richest in a decent area. They had a lot of influence, but they lost that when a good portion of the family died in an accident."

"Well who has the fortune now?" Crystal queries.

"I never payed much attention to the preppy kids sob stories- all I know is that they had a son or two or three who didn't die, and they got every last dollar."

"We shouldn't steal from orphans..." Crystal muses lowly.

"Take from the rich to give to the poor!
-Orphans ain't better than you or Peggy." Stellaluna argues.

She leans back to look into the window. With the two shadows gone they can move freely.
"How do you say we do it? With a rock? My knee?"

"What?"

Stellaluna scoffs.
"How do we break the car window, duh."

"I don't usually go around stealing from people who are doing better than me."

Stellaluna looks surprisingly hurt by that comment. She clenches her fists.
"Well, look at it this way; if I win the race tonight I get five hundred dollars, and then I can afford to live half-comfortably for like a month."

She looks up at the night sky.
"Rich boys don't get that."

And what she says next makes Crystal tilt her head. The Stellaluna she moved in with wouldn't say with a straight face:
"Kid, stealing is really bad."

Stellaluna fixes the collar of her jacket.
"And I shouldn't have brought you along.
Just go home now, I'll do what I have to."

Crystal pushes herself off the ground, but she stops, and sits again.
"I...I can't leave you now...I still feel like puking but..."

Suddenly a loud sound tears through the brisk air.
A girl stands in the open doorway of the mansion, a gun pointing toward the gate, far behind the girls.

The gun gives off a lot of smoke, concealing her appearance from the two.

They can make out her silhouette. She's tall and fairly slender, and-

The second the smoke clears something pounces on the girl, knocking her to the ground.

This beast is larger than a person, but not huge. It's fur is mostly slick and it's hair is jet black.

But it's eyes...send a chill down Stellaluna's spine.
They're greener than any green she's ever seen in her life. Fluorescent.

And this thing...it isn't a human, but it's also unlike any animal Stellaluna knows of.

In snarls and shows a mouth full of long, sharp, fangs as it circles the girl, walking on four legs.

This is all happening on the porch, about twenty feet away from Stellaluna and Crystal.

Crystal...Stellaluna doesn't look at her. For two reasons. The first is that she herself is terrified of this thing that can only be described as a monster. The second is that even if she doesn't know the girl very well, she doesn't want to see Crystal's fear.

So Stellaluna has no choice but to keep her eyes on the infernal monster.

Stellaluna pauses with her train of thought. The girl...the girl the beast attacked is gone. And there's no body or a drop of blood. That's impossible, that's not-

Stellaluna feels a something grab her by the shoulder and whirls around to see the girl, looking enraged, a fire of pure anger burning in her orient eyes.

"Anatahadare?!?" She snaps.
She grabs Crystal by the wrist and without thinking Stellaluna slaps her.
"Let go of her!" She yells.

The girl drops Crystal's hand and faces her. She's certainly a lot taller than Stellaluna.
"What are you doing!? Get out!" The girl demands.

"What in the world is that thing?!" Stellaluna points to the beast in the open doorframe, tearing apart the girl's discarded jacket.

"Damare! Get out!" The girl's features are clearer now. She's japanese, and has a strange haircut, comparable to a messy bob, her hair is a flashy magenta and her face is dead serious. Stellaluna is scared of her.

The girl scoffs at Stellaluna and Crystal frozen to the ground in fear.
"Pathetic thieves."

She lifts her gun from where it had laid on the ground, unbeknownst to Stellaluna. She takes aim and shoots it again, narrowly missing the creature as it dives inside.

"All this time wasted talking to you-" she hisses before standing up and running off.

Stellaluna is clutching her jacket and staring blankly. She's never been the type to scream, and her crying days are long gone.

"Grab my hand."
She instructs Crystal.

Crystal seems paralyzed so Stellaluna just grabs her and throws her onto her back.

There's something about fear that makes it seem easy as she runs as far as she can away from the mansion, through small patches of trees, across properties and until she feels she's far enough away.

The two collapse on the staircase of a mansion with no lights on.

Stellaluna catches her breath, or at least tries, and turns to Crystal.

And it would be hard, near Impossible at any other moment, but now it's only natural that Stellaluna leans in and holds Crystal to her.

She strokes her hair and she can feel every breath of the younger girl.
Words mean nothing right now.

Stellaluna feels something unusual around her arm. She hadn't noticed at all but...
The girl must have tied part of her otherwise destroyed jacket around Stellaluna's arm.

"Why..?" She wonders aloud.

Until she sees it. Green, shocking, electric green. Two slits staring her down from mere feet away.
There's a snarling sound and Stellaluna buries Crystal's face in her embrace, praying that she won't have to feel fear before death.

The creature has long, thin, sharp teeth and claws and it bares them as it takes one step towards them, then another.

You can hear the water splash as the beast stares them down.

Stelllaluna looks into its eyes, and the beast takes a step back before running forward and snapping at them.

Just as she's about to die Stellaluna hears a loud bang echo through the air.

The scene that plays out isn't unlike the one before, but this time it's a boy engulfed it the gun's smoke.
And more importantly, this time, the beast drops to the ground with one single bullet.

The boy still points his gun at the beast, it's a long while before he puts it into his holster.
He turns to the girls and barks something unintelligible at them.

He's wearing a a mask from his nose to his neck, obstructing their view of his face. But Crystal who  is now turned to face him covers her mouth with her hands.

"It's you..." she says.

He pulls down his mask with one harsh tug.
"Who are you!?" He snaps.

Stellaluna's eyes widen as she realizes why Crystal has seen him before. This is Axel, the boy from the league.

And she's noticing a lot of things about him that she didn't before.
Like, that he has one white strand in his maroon hair, or that both his eyes are different colours.

The one thing that really stood out though was a deep scar just below his eye. Two intertwining scratches, forming the shape of an X.

"What are you doing on my property!?" He snaps.

"Your property?"

He leans in close to Stellaluna, meeting her orange-brown eyes.
"I said; my property."

Stellaluna puts her hand to her forehead.
"You tell me you're (1) rich kid Princeton, (2) Axel the ridiculously skilled fighter, (3) monster hunter, (4) murderer (5) cute guy from the street-"

The boy; Axel, smiles. Unconcerned by the rest of her statements.
"Cute guy from the street?"

"Ugh- don't get full of yourself. It's the last time you'll hear me say it." Stellaluna says through gritted teeth.

He twirls the gun in his hands.
"I'll except that challenge."

"Now," his soft smile seems very at peace until he barks
"Get off my property and don't come back!"

Stellaluna jumps back.
"On one condition...tell me what the heck the thing you just killed is?" She yells and points to the monster.

Axel turns around, away from the girls and the beast.
"I'd rather have you stick around than tell you about this. Just forget it."

Stellaluna stands up and makes her way to Axel.
"Axel. I'm not leaving without answers."

"Yes you are. These bullets are tranquilizers, that thing is gonna wake up and you can't handle it."

Stellaluna was about to argue that she could but...no...she couldn't.

"I'll go..." she accepted defeat, but not fully, never fully.
"Fourth West Street. Room 602. Be there tomorrow, I'm expecting you to explain everything."

Amabilis doesn't reply, so Stellaluna takes that as a yes.

Walking away, the boy's shadow grew further until he was gone.

Stellaluna looked to Crystal.
"That was insane." She says, and she's walking really fast.

Crystal nods.
"Thank goodness for that boy..."

Stellaluna is thankful that Crystal doesn't show signs of trauma.
Fear, yes, but it's calmed down.

"This isn't normal here, is it?" Crystal asks.

"Heck no!"

She pauses, maybe Crystal won't feel so troubled if...
"That was a pretty big wolf. But just a wolf. Don't stress yourself out over this."

Crystal looks skeptical.
"Oh...okay..."

They walk quickly together. Waiting for a nearby taxi. There are none at this time, in this neighbourhood.

So they just continue to walk, slowly picking up speed.

When rich person lane is over there's a small patch of greenery.

As the girls pause there they both hear the sound of heavy breathing coming from the trees.

Stellaluna steps forward to investigate and lays eyes upon a girl. A year or two older than herself, very pale, with messy black hair that falls over her face and eyes.

Stellaluna doesn't say anything, just looks down. But the girl sees her anyway. She looks up and Stellaluna gasps at her florescent green eyes.

"Who're you?" She asks.

The girl slowly stands up.
"My name is Midori Korudo. I am the property of Korudo Laboratory, and it is my duty to end those who wish to kill off human advancements."

"Well, that's not us!" Crystal says with a smile.
"Nice to meet you."

Stellaluna looks skeptical.
"Human advancements?"

"As humans we move forward. If we cannot evolve we will self evolve. I am of the first generation of Modified Humans, and invite you to join us."
Her voice is clear, emotionless and serious.

"What are you doing out here in the cold forest, Midori?" Crystal asks.

"I could sense your blood..." She growls as she gets to her feet. She stumbles forward, limping. And there's something stuck in her leg.

It's a tranquilizer bullet.

"But you..." she stands in front of Stellaluna and she's a lot taller, it's threatening.
"What's with you?"

Stellaluna steps back. She raises her fists.
"What are you talking about?!"

"You carry the blood of two different people. One is not on he list and mistress doesn't allow that. Tell me, how is the blood of a criminal poisoning your body?"
As she talks Stellaluna can see she has fangs, they're small, but still there.

"Look, crazy, I don't even know my blood type!"
Stellaluna starts to walk away, never fully turning her back on Midori.

"Wait!" She yells. There's a fearful desperation to her voice that makes Stellaluna turn around.

She begins advancing again.
"I don't want to make this more painful than it needs to be. Did you and number 5 kill X?"

"Look, I don't know any number fives and I didn't kill anyone!"

Crystal breaks into a run and Stellaluna stands her ground.
"Get away from me or I will have killed someone!"

Midori strides up to her, looking the younger girl in the eye.
She grabs her arm but instead of twisting it she unties the piece of fabric the magenta-haired girl left tied around her arm.

She's about to say something when she stops.
"No...the source of this blood...he's here..."
She turns around, theatrically laughing into the air.

"Ah, X! You're done running? Finally ready to face a mod without your slave?"
She calls.

The magenta haired girl materializes out of thin air. She restrains Midori, knocking her to the ground.
"No...I'm here too."

Axel drops down from a low tree branch.
He dusts off his hands.
"Join me for tea when you wake up?"

Then he shoots another tranquilizer.