We bring art to life... (Darren/Alejandro)

[mesmu]

Frown I nod, "Alright... I'll take you back... Because I value your hopes and dreams just as much as your life." The ending I snap and I walk out of the tent and morph quickly.

My neck bends down as I crouch, Get on, Darren.

[Neko Scot]

Shame fills me as I clamber awkwardly onto his back; clutching his scales tightly. Again, my breath was taken away as he leapt into the sky and swooped up so fast my head spun.

Not a word was exchanged after we took off; and even when he dropped me off in my back yard his only words were, "Be safe."

Safe? My home is the epitome of safe.

[mesmu]

You know what I mean! I snap as I take off into the sky.

[Neko Scot]

A strange ache panged in my heart as I watched him soar off, my eyes following his graceful movements long after he'd disappeared.

The hours that followed were strangely....empty. I know that sounds stupid, but everything I did just didn't seem right. I cleaned the house till it shined - but there was no relief from scraping the dirt off the kitchen floor. I organized my father's drink cabinet - but there was no guilty pleasure in pouring half his store down the sink.

Eventually I sat down on my bed and began drawing; desperate to get away from this endless monotony. Then his face ended up on the page, carefree and grinning at me.


In the end I gave up and flopped backwards onto my pillows. Maybe some sleep will help me.

[mesmu]

Flying until I'm home, watching the kids, noting which ones will someday be mated off it they don't find theirs in time. Sleeping with the smallest ones on me, clinging to me. They should just let go...

I should just let go.

Heavy sighs in the morning, I don't even feel like flying to go see him this morning. I just feel so... Rejected...

[Neko Scot]

I woke from a nightmare that seemed so real; Al's lifeless form in a mangled heap as my father stood above him, a broken bottle dripping with blood held in his hand. And I could only stare in distant horror, my hand sketching in spastic speed in my notebook. A high pitched note was ringing, growing louder in intensity and volume. Over and over than bottle cracked and split Al's skin as I watched, my whole body frozen apart from my one drawing hand. And finally, when I tore myself away from the nightmare and woke up, I could swear I heard someone really screaming in fear.

Until I realized someone was. In my house.

I scrambled out of bed and somehow managed to get out of my room without tripping over anything. It was a woman crying now, amid the low, angry grunts of my father. I vaulted down the stairs and skidded to a halt at the living room doorway, gaping in disbelieving horror.

My father slapped and tore at the dark haired woman's clothes, forcing her out of them. I didn't believe what I was seeing - my father was a drunk and a beater, but not a rapist. Never a rapist. My very words were contradicted as he managed to force his hand up her shirt; grinning and snarling angrily at her.

I reacted. Moving quicker than I thought possible, I seized the back of his hair and hauled him off; using the momentum to send him across the room and crashing down onto the coffee table. It broke under the strain, sending splinters of wood collapsing onto the floor.

The woman staggered, still crying. But then her eyes took in the prone form of my father, and a made glint came into her eyes. Those dark orbs flickered up to me, and a laugh escaped her lips.

"You wan' it?" She slurred. Her high heels clunked on the hard floor as she stumbled over to me, fumbling about her person. "This is for yoooou." She cooed, handing me something small and plastic.

.....a debit card?

"I'm going far, far away." She told me earnestly. "This isn't the first time. Never was. But I gotta go now, babies." Those eyes were wide now, glancing about the place. "Momma's gotta get out of here before they show up. I'll be back, I promise. No, Noah, I'll be back.."

Her hand cradled my cheek. For one instant I saw clarity in her expression. "It's 1745." Her tone was cold. Icy. "Use it well." Her hand had turned into a claw with nails that dug into my skin, almost ripping it. "Now go." She threw me off, disgust in her voice.

"Get out of here." She snarled. "Go. GO!"

I didn't think twice. I stumbled backwards before running up the stairs, only pausing to shove essentials into my bag before running back down. In the living room beneath me,. I heard a slick thudding sound; repeating itself over and over again until I heard a wild cry that was silenced before it had even properly begun.

Scared now, I tiptoed down the stairs towards the living room. A scraping sound could now be heard. The noise continued, and over the noise of my thudding heart I heard a low, sultry laugh.

Sitting with my fathers head in her lap, the woman kept scraping a broken bottle across my father's back. The instant I saw his bloodied torso I knew he was dead - the dark blood pooling the floor around him was also a clear indicator. I must of made some sort of noise as she looked up; splattered flecks of blood on her once white shirt.

"Noah, my darling." She told me earnestly. "Momma loves you. Always. Now fly, my pretty. Let your dreams take wing...like pretty colours in the sky...."

The bottle edges moved from my father's back to her arm and collarbone, almost like she was...caressing herself. "I gotta go, babies." The words were whispered now. "Don't take the shotgun off the wall, Noah." She murmured fiercely. "That's daddy's. He'll tan your hide if you touch it."

Already I was backing off; shaking with terror. The bottle was stroking her neck now; harder and harder with each stroke. And I turned to go I saw the first lines of blood trickling down her neck, ruining the last spots of white on her shirt.

And as I was tearing through the front door and down our driveway, I heard a crazed shriek that ended in a gurgled babble of nonsence, crying out in apparent pain as I raced down the empty street.

I needed Al. I needed him now.

Al. Find me. Please.

[mesmu]

My eyes flash open, Al. Find me. Please. And I scramble up from my makeshift bed. Darren... Oh god Darren!!! I leap to my feet, preparing to go find my mate in this exact moment.