"Claire stop!" I squealed when I saw her huge black form rush by me. My face hurt from smiling and my heart pounded against my chest as I ran over to a tree to my left. Pressing my back hard against the bark, I tried to catch my breath and prayed that Claire wouldn't find me.

Chuckling, I pressed my hand against my forehead, staring at the grass that danced in the gentle breeze. The sound of children laughing caught my attention and my eyes darted over towards a small playground to my far right. Little kids ran around tagging each other, sliding down the slide, swinging from the swings, and shouting at their made-up games. I looked at them with a wishful smiled; part of me jealous of the childhood that I never had, but another part of me dreaming for...that.

I snapped my head to the left, away from the playground at the sound of playful snarling and screaming and laughed when I saw Claire's giant black wolf chasing a small group of children. She barked and yipped at them as they ran from her, laughing as they played their unorthodox game of tag. When they settled, the kids came over to her and brushed against her fur, smoothing it down, and scratched her head and behind her ears. A warm and fuzzy feeling spread through my chest at the sight of Claire bending down in the grass and tilting her head down so the smaller kids could reach her ears and climb on her back.

In an instant, Claire snapped her head up and looked in my direction, shooting me a sly grin. She got up of the grass, made sure there weren't any kids on her, and took off in a sprint, heading right for me. I squealed again and laughed as I ran. Her paws beat against the ground, matching the rhythm of my pounding heart; she was gaining on me.

I giggled when I felt her wet nose press against the small of my back, sending cold shivers through my body, and fell into the grass. I rolled around as Claire stood over me, each paw resting beside my outstretched limbs. She whined and leaned down, nudging my face with her nose and licked my cheek once, causing me to laugh again. She stepped over me and laid back down in the grass and rested her head on my chest and sent a low contented growl through me. I sighed and ran my fingers through her soft dark fur and giggled when she lifted her head a bit and licked my chin.

After a minute, she sat back up and yipped at me, gnawing at my arm, making sure to not break the skin. I giggled at her and followed her, sitting up. I then took off running again and smirked when I heard Claire growl at me, taking off after me. I laughed and teased her as she tried to nip at me but at the last second, I swerved, catching her off guard.

I saw a figure walking towards us, familiar with long dark hair, and smile when I remembered who it was. I ran over to her and latched myself onto her arm, skidding to a stop behind her. She looked back at me with questioning eyes and her brow raised, but before she could speak, I beat her to it.

"Michael, you need to help me," I said as I tried to catch my breath. I saw Claire standing in the distance, looking or me before she stuck her nose in the air; she would find me soon.

"What's...up?"

Before I could answer her, Claire barked and ran over at us. I let out a loud noise resembling a playful scream and ran out from behind the vigilante, running away from Claire. Claire circled around Michaela, barking and panting as she tried to catch me. Michaela's face remained confused, but soon contorted into one that I couldn't make out. I stopped running and looked over at her with concern. Claire, sensing the change in my mood, also stopped and turned towards her friend, letting out a little whine.

Michaela tilted her head up and closed her eyes. Her chest heaved as she breathed in sharp gasps of air, her face contorting more and more as her nose wiggled and her mouth hung open. Then, as soon as it happened, it ended, and Michaela lurched forward, sending her hair flying all over the place as she sneezed. A bright almost blue light shot out from her fingers, zooming through the space between us, and headed straight for Claire. It hit her and danced across her fur, touching every strand as it caressed her body. Claire flinched and shook off the electricity, and for a moment, everything was fine.

Michaela and I watched for a moment, her face changing into fear as her hands flew up to her mouth. Claire looked between us and gave us both a little grin (as best as she could while in her wolf form) and wagged her tail. I—along with Michaela—started to relax a bit, but just as we did, Claire's fur erupted and shot up, standing erect against her, creating a large fluffy cloud of blackness. Claire stood shocked as she tried to comprehend what happened and Michaela and I looked over at each other and back to Claire before we exploded in a fit of giggles.

Claire growled at us, turning to look at each of us, causing the dark cloud of fur to dance in the breeze of the movement. We didn't let up. We continued to laugh harder and harder as she continued to growl at us. Michaela collapsed onto the grass and rolled around holding her sides and kicked her legs in the air. I—still laughing—walked over to Claire and touched the static fur, patting it as I moved my hand up and down. Claire looked at me and growled again, showing her fangs; she was serious (but I knew she wouldn't do anything).

Before I could calm down and even attempt to make the situation better, a small voice cried out, "Oooh! Fluffy doggy!" and ran over to Claire and started playing with her static fluff. More and more kids came over to her started playing with her, laughing at how funny she looked, comparing her to a black cotton-ball, and so on. Claire stopped growling and huffed as kid after kid climbed on top of her and pressed their face into her fur as if she was one of those toys with the pegs that create designs when you press your hand into it. I started to giggle again and her light purple eyes shot over at me and narrowed.

"You're gonna get itwhen we get home."