
Dear SJ,
"Hello Lux," said Geon. I nodded a hello back, too stunned to speak. Where were all these dogs coming from?
I turned back toward Maro.
"How did you get in the house?" I inquired.
He shrugged. "Shay needs to learn to close the windows at night." He pointed at the window near the bed. I noticed that it was ajar.
"Not meaning to be rude, but what are you guys doing here?" I directed the question at Geon and Maro.
Geon flipped her white hair and her ice-blue eyes glowed.
"To get you out of here," she said simply.
Maro stood up.
"I know Shay saved you," he said, "but you can't stay here. You belong back in Nox City with the Elites---"
I cut him off. "Does it look like I care? The Elites aren't what they're cracked up to be, Maro."
He glared at me for a few moments, but said nothing.
It was Gon who broke the silence.
"It doesn't matter now," she said, her green wings flapping irritably. "What matters is that you go back to your real home. Your sister will be---" she stopped short.
I almost went off on her, but decided not to. It was almost easy to forget that Mira had died in the hospital last night. Tears pricked at my eyes.
"Look what you did!" Geon snarled at her sister. She pushed past Maro and Gon to sit on the bed next to me and give me a comforting hug.
"It's okay," she whispered. "Don't cry..."
Crying in front of these dogs... Well, things couldn't get any worse, could they?
Wrong.
Shay chose that moment to make his entrance, casting a disapproving glare at Maro.
Maro returned it and started toward Shay. He stopped him and backed him into the doorway.
"Brother," hissed Shay. "I see you've made up your mind to return home."
Maro's eyes narrowed to slits. He looked like an angry cat.
"As if," he snarled. "My home is in Nox City."
Shay laughed, but it was a hollow, emotionless sound.
"You seriously think the Elites are the
good guys?" Maro's gaze faltered for a second, as if he were taking this in. I, of course, was still trying to take in the fact that Shay and Maro were brothers.
"You're just jealous because they didn't choose you," said Maro smugly.
Shay didn't seem to care. In fact, he was ready to defend himself in a heartbeat.
"Hah!" he said, releasing another hollow laugh. "The reason they didn't choose me is because I'm not young and gullible like you are. When they found they couldn't trick me, they gave up and moved on to you. And guess what? It worked. I tried to convince you that it was all a hoax, a trap, but you didn't believe me.
"And now you've become one of them. One of Derek's servants. And his intentions aren't all that good, if you know what I mean."
Shay had stunned his younger brother into silence.
"So..." said Gon. "Um...."
But in a split second, the room had become pandemonium.
Maro started grappling with Shay in a flurry of grey and white fur. Shay kicked Maro, sending him sprawling into the back wall. Geon, Gon, and I spread our wings and flew out the open window. We landed on the roof a few feet above and listened to the chaos.
"I hope no one gets hurt," Geon muttered.
"Hmmph, you know how brothers are," Gon snorted.
I could only silently agree with them both.
Suddenly, it happened.
The window opened wider with a
snick and I saw a grey and white shape be pushed out of it and fall several feet to its death.
I stifled a scream.
Flapping my wings hard, I jumped off the roof and sped down toward the dog who had fell. His body lay on the ground, broken and contorted in a sickening way.
I landed with a heavy thud next to the body and broke into sobs when I saw who it was.
It was Maro.
~Lux