I was woken up when Barry tried to unravel me from his neck. I relaxed, and shifted to a small mouse so he could hold me. He stroked my small ears before he stuck me in his shirt pocket. How did he manage to put his shirt back on?

I stuck my head over the top of the pocket as Barry began walking back to the deer and wolf I had completely forgotten about. The wolf sat down as she tilted her head with her ears open with a curious look.

I looked at Barry skeptically, "Are you sure? They seem a lot more peaceful like this."

He nodded towards the pair despite my indiscernible squeaks, and I shifted them back. Nicole cracked her knuckles as she stretched her arms out.

"That was fun, thank you. It got especially exciting when I got to chase Lizzie around a few times." I liked Nicole. She had a fun personality that reminded me of Clare. I missed my life now that I thought about it.

What about my old life? I had a family, friends, who forgot about me. A life lost, and no one noticed.

I leapt out of Barry's pocket, and shifted back to myself. We said goodbye to the girls, and began our walk back home.

In the moment I had to ask, "Has anyone left?"

Barry looked at me seriously, "No, why?"

"I just can't help feeling bad about being here, and the fact that I didn't get to say goodbye to my family, and they forgot me. Could you leave if you wanted to?"

"Some tried in the beginning, but there is a barrier, and we cannot pass through it. The only time that barrier is down, is when a new resident comes in. But by that time, we can't move to the exit. Some tried to end their life here, because they couldn't live with it. But it doesn't work. If you shatter, you rebuild, drown, resurface. But most of the time we just can't do it. She stops us from doing so."

I looked at him for a while in silence. I needed to find a way out. When we got inside the house, I ran to my room, and shut the door behind me. The realization of having lost my family caused an overflow of emotions to coarse through me once again. There was no way for us to leave. I screamed into my pillow, and nearly tore it to pieces. I was sobbing at this point, and my eyes were bright red. My family was taken from me. They might as well be dead, and I might as well be too.

After an hour of this, Barry came into my room with a small knock. He was carrying a tray of cookies and a glass of milk. The intoxicating smell was hard to resist, and Barry set the tray on my lap before leaving, and shutting the door behind him.

I slowly took a bite of one of the cookies, although they smelled amazing, I wasn't really hungry. I took a sip of milk, which had an odd taste to it. I set the snack to the side, and continued stew with my thoughts until everything faded to black.

✦✧✦✧

I awoke and checked the time, 11:35 am. I lurched up where I sat, and tried to remember what happened. Barry had slipped some sort of drug in my milk. I shifted Barry to a turtle from wherever he was. I knew he didn't like it, but I wasn't very fond of what he did to me.

I stomped out of my room, and opened Barry's door to find his room empty. I searched carefully just to make sure before I left the room. I headed to the kitchen, and every other room in the house, repeating the process.

I shifted to a wolf, and tried to track his scent. It was harder to find, but I was able to pick it up, and I wouldn't let go. It went out of the house, and his trail went in a circle, and made a strange pattern. He was trying to lose me. Or he had planned this already.

I followed his trail that occasionally got lost, but I soon approached a turtle that was trying it's hardest to hide in some bushes. I shifted back and picked Barry up. I lifted him to my eye level, and he tried to avert his gaze.

"Why did you do that?" I spoke so he could understand me.

"Good morning," He replied shyly. My expression went flat. Barry looked up at me once more, and I shifted him to a fox, so he didn't retract into his shell, which I could tell he was trying to figure out.

I knelt on the ground, and Barry rested on my lap. He curled up, and rested his head on his tail. I stroked him and asked the question again, "Why did you do that?"

He turned his head to look at me, "I knew what you were going through, it happened to me in the beginning too. I... couldn't think of anything but my family, and everything just seemed wrong. I just don't want you to get so caught up in it that you forget about everything else. You were also doing it out of the blue for a long time, and I was getting concerned."

I understood what he meant, but drugging me? I nodded, and held Barry in my arms, holding him close to me. I whispered softly in his ear, "I would never forget about you."

He let out a rumble in his chest, and it vibrated through my body. Why did this need to be so hard? I just wanted out, but to be with Barry. I put my face in his fur and let out a silent stream of tears that soaked it. When I raised my face, Barry was watching me silently.

He softly licked my face, cleaning up the remaining tears. Barry swished his tail around, and I made us invisible.

I put Barry down, and shifted to a fox, and laid on the ground, while Barry walked up to me, and laid beside me, pressing his body against mine. He purred softly, and I closed my eyes.

I awoke out of my light sleep when I heard footsteps in the distance. I turned my head to see Nicole and Lizzie waking over here. I knew I was invisible, but nonetheless, I shifted to a wolf, and grabbed Barry by the scruff of his neck, before silently running into the underbrush. I made Barry visible once more, rendering me invisible to him. I switched back to a fox, and slunk deeper into the plants before moving to the edge of the bushes a distance away.

Barry walked out of the bushes, and up to Lizzie and Nicole.

"Hi there." Lizzie greeted. I wasn't sure if she knew that Barry couldn't understand her.

He barked up at her, and Nicole picked him up.

"Did she find you yet?" I could tell that Barry was trying to secretly look for me while shaking his head. I walked out of the bushes without moving a leaf, and sat on the ground in front of them.

"Chloe, are you awake?" Lizzie called. I didn't respond, and watched her frustration. I could then tell that she was having a conversation with Barry. I relaxed, and laid down on my back, staring at the sky, the clouds slowly moving on their way.

My tail moved with grace, and I barely even controlled it as it moved with the wind. It accidentally brushed against Nicole's leg, and I quickly moved it away. Nicole looked at the ground where my tail used to be, but shrugged it off.

"How much of a dosage did you give her?" Nicole asked quietly.

"She should be awake by now. She may just want to be alone." I was glad Barry wasn't talking about my extra ability. But still, right then and there, I shifted Barry back. But sadly, I did not get the excitement I was looking for. Nicole wavered when he unexpectedly changed, but seemed to effortlessly hold him before setting him on his feet.

"Thanks," He muttered before subtly looking around for me. I walked off in silence, but headed towards that secluded pond once again to calm down.

When I reached it, I dove in, and after I hit the water, I switched to a duck. I lingered under the water for a moment that seemed to last forever. The plants under the surface swayed, and the water felt so refreshing.

I went up for air before diving back down to explore. I dove as deep as I could go, and eventually reached the bottom of the deep pond. I looked underneath the plants to see what animals I could find near the rim of the pond.

I found something else.

I froze as I saw a body. Bubbles erupted from me as I tried to scream. The water moved more plants, and I saw a cave full of bodies.

I couldn't move.

I looked inside, and I saw Barry. A scream came out of my throat, but this time it was completely audible in the water. It was Barry for sure, but these bodies weren't those of a gnome. They were that of a human. There were so many people there, it was horrific.

I swam up to the surface of the water, and took large gulps of air. Had I found everyone's bodies? I bravely swam back under the water, and carefully glided into the cave. The bodies seemed to be frozen in the state they were in, none of them decomposing. The cave was endless, and in what seemed closest to the entrance, there was a mountain of bodies. I was repulsed, but curious. I swam to the top of the pile, and shut my eyes immediately at what I saw.

I saw me.

I opened my eyes to stare at myself. My hair was slowly drifting around, and my eyes were wide open in shock. I darted out of the cave as fast as I could.

I swam to the surface, and shifted to a dog as I ran towards where I left Barry. I had to get away from there, to somewhere safe. When I reached the place I had left the group at, they were gone.

I picked up Barry's scent once more, and followed it to see Barry in the distance climbing trees, and exercising. Nicole and Lizzie talked with him as he alternated between different workouts.

"So what do you like about Chloe?" Lizzie asked curiously.

Barry stopped to take a break, and took a gulp of water, "What do I not like? Her laugh is the cutest, and she's so sweet, and so much more than that." Barry flushed, and the two girls smiled with small giggles, "Why do I even tell you guys this." I blushed at his words.

I slowed my pace to a walk, and tried to calm my rushing heartbeat. I walked up to the group, and laid down a distance away. When the conversation was not going anywhere, I shifted and flew up and dove to Barry, and shifted to a mouse, as I landed in his pocket. Barry got up, and headed back to continue his workout. I hope he didn't know that I listened to him talk about me.

"What is it?" He whispered gently to my invisible form. I shivered as the horrid memory replayed in my head. As Barry continued his workout, I could tell he was trying to be careful to not hurt me. He finished soon after, and he wasn't exhausted, and actually didn't even sweat.

"I'm going to go check on Chloe, talk later?" He asked the pair.

"Sure, hope it goes well!" Nicole called as Barry walked away.

When we were out of vision, Barry reached for me, and picked me up. I became visible once more, and Barry stroked me as I quivered. He asked me what was wrong once more, but I just shook my head. He walked back in silence, and when we reached the house, he went straight to my room, and set me on my bed.

I shifted back, and tears immediately stung my eyes as Barry held me, stroking my hair as his shoulder grew wet.

"I found us." Was all I could say when I stopped crying.

"What do you mean?" Barry wondered. I got up, and grabbed his hand, and made us invisible before heading back to the pond I didn't want to ever see again.