"Hold on, shut up. What was that?"

 "What was what?" she whispered.

 "That noise- I think it came from the kitchen."

 "I didn't hear anyth-" and then she heard it. It sounded like footsteps. "Oh, shit!" she whisper-screamed. 

"Shut up!" the other girl yelled. 

There were more footsteps, and then they stopped. Then there was- what the hell? Water running, maybe? 

"Come on. I wanna check it out." 

"Are you insane?" said the first girl, Kass. 

"Oh, come on. Stop being a wimp." And then the second one, Candice, turned into a rat. 

Kass then followed by turning into a cat and picking up the rat in her mouth. Ugh. She was gonna kill Candice later for this. 

She walked out, and saw their strange intruder friend: 

A very pale, very terrifying, very hairy doll lady. 

Her face looked sewn on and patched up, her eyes blank black beads which held no emotion or light whatsoever. It was like looking into living shadows. She was wearing a very ugly brown apron, with dull black dress shoes that looked like they were from the 1920's, a once-white, dirty, slightly bloody knee-length skirt and and a greenish-rusty looking shirt. 

"What the fuck-" Kass spoke into Candice's mind. 

"Let me go, I have an idea" Candice replied telepathically. 

"Fine. This better be worth it, bitch." 

She dropped the rat, who then scurried to the doll woman. It climbed up the woman's leg, then her side, and finally rested on her shoulder. Right next to her ear. 

"Hello! Why're you in my house?" the rat said, in the most clown-like voice you've ever heard. 

The doll lady then proceeded to black out, Candice The Rat jumping off stealthily and landing right next to Kass The Cat. 

"That was alright, I guess." Kass said, turning back into her human-like form and tying up the doll woman, locking her in a closet. 

"Alright, back into a cat." 

"What?? No. Why?" 

"People are more likely to think they're imagining things." 

"Ugh." And with that, Kass turned back into a cat, grew wings, grabbed the rat, and jumped out the window.

It was always such an exhilarating feeling, flying. It never got old. The wind felt so nice as it stung her face, even if it was small and furry, and it felt so sweet to let her wings out once more. Said wings were large and feathery and black, and they had a thin outline of pure gold around every feather, making them shimmer in the sunset. 

She dropped the rat, which then sprouted wings of her own. Her wings were different: they were a light grey, with a deep blood red lining the outside of each wing and a few of the feathers were the same dark red, but they seemed to glow with their own sort of light. Almost as if there were rubies embedded into the red feathers; which there were. 

She looked down as she slowly spun around in the air, letting the cold fall air embrace her wings. She could faintly see the city all the way down there, it all seemed so small. 

Candice flew up and purposefully bumped into Kass, sending her rolling around. Kass retaliated by grabbing her in her claws and flinging her downward, even though she quickly recovered and flew back up. They were soaring next to each other, laughing and messing around, until they saw it: the top of the roof of the mansion. 

Home sweet home. 

"Race you!" Kass yelled, swooping down to the driveway and turning back into a human to get better diving capability. She payed no attention to the rest of the world as she glued her arms to her side, her long black hair getting all messed up in the wind, her wings spread out as thin ass possible to let the air rush by. 

She tucked her wings onto her back at the very last second, curling her body up into a ball and rolling onto the driveway only a half second before Candice did the same. 

"I win!" she laughed, walking over and ruffling up the brunette's already messy hair. 

"Whatever. You're just lucky." 

Even though Kass was was a Fire, she loved being in the air and it seemed to love her, too. Usually when someone with an element in their blood spent too much time around another element, the other one would try to protect itself and reject the person, trying to cast it out of its atmosphere and/or destroy it. 

Kass, however, seemed to be on good terms with all of the elements. She loved being in the forest and in earthy areas, and it would always guide her to the best, most beautiful spots. If she had an image in her mind of where she wanted to go, the earth would make a path for her to get there. 

If she was ever at the beach, or a lake or river, wherever she stood there would be water. It seemed drawn to her, for some reason. To waves would be higher when she was there, and the water would guide the air bubbles to her nose or mouth, so she could stay under for longer. She was not nearly as close to them as Allie was, but she could kind of understand what the sea creatures were trying to say. 

And the air- oh, the air. It was wonderful. It was her favorite place to be, and flying was her favorite thing ever. She would sometimes just sit on the roof and stare off into nothingness, simply enjoying being high up in the air. Right after she woke up, before she even got properly dressed for the day or ate or anything, she would jump out of her window and go flying to wherever the sky led her. It was her favorite thing to do with her friends and siblings, and she would fly at night whenever she couldn't sleep. Which was very often. She loved the air, and the air loved her. 

Fire, though. Fire. It sent shivers through her bones, it made her whole being feel safe. If her hand was in the fireplace, she was instantly warm and content, and she felt happier. If she was ever in danger of not landing safely, she could just start a fire and be safe on impact. If she was standing in a flame, she would instantaneously relax and be safe. She could envelop herself in a ball of flame if she was having a panic attack, or if she was in danger, and it would protect her from any outside interference. It was the best feeling, right after flying. 

"Sure," she said sarcastically, dragging out the r. 

That bitchass thinks she's so cool, just because she's good at flying-

"Landing, too." 

Candice looked at her, confused.

"You seriously forgot I can read your mind? You can too, for fuck's sake-"

"Oh, piss off." 

And then they walked, side by side, Kass laughing and Candice throwing insults, through the front doors of the Mansion. 

Their mansion. 

Their house.

Their life.

Their home. 

Home.  

The place of so many miracles. 

The place where everything went to shit. 

Home sweet home. 

Home.