Every time I see her. I'm transfixed on the way she appears.

And she's not alone, there's the other girl. Why were they in the bookstore's basement? Thinking about it, how Emmet knew Terra, the other girl, and the rest I saw. Why that male's body was being burned? What is Emmet trying to hide?

I'm still more surprised that Declan, Violet, and Bertrand haven't seen Terra and the others. What is going on? I want to get up and see her again. Ask Terra, why she was in the basement. I can feel a slip in my mind; those nerves are getting to me. I think a migraine is coming. I try to shake it off. So much to think about. As much as I want to know, I want to stand up and go there to talk to them. Find out what were they doing down there.

Even though I feel my nerves pressuring me, I remain sitting. I decline the passion to know. I have Anita with me. Her head carefully leaning towards my shoulder. I feel her tenderness, her softness holding me down like an anchor. I can't walk away from her.

If I do walk away, Anita will have Zip to count on. I respect my friend. But she should rather spend the night with me. I need to honor that. She's my girlfriend in reality. My first one. I can't abandon her.

Something inside me just tells me, I can't ignore Terra and the other girl over there. They're at least twenty yards away from us. Terra is just standing, checking around for something. Then next to her, is the other girl. I don't know much about her. Unlike Terra, who I bumped into, I don't know the other girl. She has those grey eyes, plain skin, and a certain bobby-cut hairstyle. It looks extended to her right side, yet I then notice something peculiar.

Her hair has the color of a jaguar. I can see the jaguar fur-like hair from a mile away. I seen students from school mostly girls and some boys doing this exact same hairstyle. I remembered it, it's called fursplicing.

It's a radical hair procedure where doctors-rumors stating they're mages-are able to change a person's hair and turned it into fur-like hair. And the cool thing is that whoever wants that fur, can change the look anytime. The people, who like doing this, can theme their hair in many ways like Joa do with his bowties. Instead of coloring their hair, they can make their hair look physically like an animal's fur.

I had seen people with bear hair, dog hair, cat hair, even platypus hair. Strange as it sounds; it still is a fascinating trend. Adults try to stop the movement before, but since more of us youth keep loving it and pursue it, the adults are having a hard time to get rid of it.

Besides Terra's friend, there are even few people here having fur hair. I find it bizarre, but I will never try and do it. Anita hates what it does to a person's hair. She adores according to her-her natural look. She doesn't want to taint it. I glance at her hair. She doesn't need to change. I like her the way she is.

A loud bang is soon heard.

Anita jolts up. I hear Zip shouting, "Alright! That's amazing, bro!"

I turn back to see the Upwood twins turning their lights into fireworks. Anita mentions how cool it is. I glare at her. I rub her cheeks softly. However, my focus shifts back to Terra. She and the other girl seems like they're doing something, they both are wearing those same outfits I seen them wearing in the basement.

I hate spying on them, yet I just can't stop looking. There's something about them. I then see Anita as she looks worried.

"What's wrong?" She leans close. "The lights are so hypnotic."

I let her know that yes, they are hypnotic. It's hard to turn away from those stunning lights. The ribbon-like likes flying around us, circulating around, changing colors. But why I'm not solely looking at it. I think I know. The aura of Terra seems to be more mesmerizing.

Out of nowhere, a thunderous, shrieking roar abrupt everything.

Everyone is at a sudden pause. They don't know what just happened. So I know I wasn't the only one. Then one of the crowd members yells out, "What was that?"

I check on Anita, her hand holding my arm. I can feel her hand trembling. Almost like her whole her body is shaking.

"Yeah, what was it?" She wonders.

"It could be an animal dying." Zip says.

"How?" She questions what he says. I ponder myself, as I turn to see Zip shrugging, not knowing was that an animal squealing it's last breath or something else. Then I hear one of the Upwood twins, the short one, telling the crowd, "It's probably nothing."

The other twin speaks as well, "Well, I guess we have a show to continue." And then pumps up the crowd asking us how about it. Everyone shouts in rejoice, Zip even puts his cents in. They want this show to resume. And it does.

Many formations are made, colors bedazzling as always. The crowd is clapping and wowing at the same time. It's like that strange noise never happened. I then look back to see Terra and the other girl, how they felt. I spot Terra not happy about something; she pulls out a telen. She leans it close to her face. She begins to talk. I can't make it out. Her friend looks very agitated. A minute later, they share a few words.

I wonder what're they talking about, but then I feel anxiousness taking over me. They are coming this way. As soon as I spot a glare of Terra, she stares back at me. I rashly turn back and start exhaling quietly. I hope she didn't really see me. I wonder if she did, what would she said.

You're the boy that bumped me at that protest.

I wonder does she know I was watching her. Turning slowly, I notice the girls running away, leaving Mystic Corner. I turn back around, uncertain what are those girls doing. Do they even know what actually made that terrible sound?

"Are you okay?" Anita speaks outs. "What have you been looking at?"

"It's nothing." I reply. I wish I could tell her something, but I make sure she understands I'm fine. She smiles and not even arguing with me. She leans her head back to my shoulder. I'm so dumb. I got this great girl by my left shoulder. I feel disappointed. I didn't pay more attention to her. I almost ruined this moment for just between both of us. I feel stupid right now.

It was supposed to be us; this was going to be special. I almost forgot. Seeing the other girl got in the way. I don't know why, but I have to save this night. I need to keep this night awesome for the both of us; this light show isn't the end. I need to salvage what's left of this moment I lost with her.

Another few minutes as the show goes on, a male's loud voice give us a warning, something horrible. Something bad is looming by. "Centurions are coming!" The male yells.

The Upwood twins quickly end the show. They apologize to us and thank us for being here, but promises the next LightOut will be mind blowing. They let us know they're hoping to see us next month. Then the twins bolt, as everyone else start to flee.

Anita, Zip, and I quickly get up and run. I hold on tight to Anita's hand as we let our legs push ahead. Swiftly, the centurion sirens can be heard. They're coming. I hope they don't see me. Or they going to put me back in the holding chamber, and do whatever they can to make me a prisoner.

"Well this night was fun." Zip says sarcastically. "What's next?"

I turn to Anita and let her know I'm going to take her to my place. Anita looks a bit surprised, yet is ecstatic.

"Naveman, what about me?" Zip questions.

I pat his shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow at the café."

Zip shakes his head a little, yet reluctantly agrees. He then runs off right while Anita and I keep running to the left.

"What's next!?" She glares at me with confusion. I for certain have no clue. Whatever happens tonight happens. This could be a dream come true. But I don't know what to expect.

***

Addie lunges at me. He licks my face repeatedly and then moves forward to Anita. I close the front door quickly. Seeing Addie quirky its one of the best attributes I love about him. He loves me, he misses me. He's glad I'm back, and I brought along a visitor.

Anita continues petting Addie. I let her know I'm going to get two Sweetnade bottles. I walk to the kitchen as I place my telen on the counter. It begins to ring. I pay no attention to it. I'm so thirsty right about now. I reach to the fridge door. I pull it to grab hold of two bottles. However, as I close the fridge door, the two bottles in each hand. The telen then releases a holoport message.

Why I'm not surprised. It's Aunt Verdi.

She leaves a message, wanting me to know how I been doing. She always checks up with me several times a day. Right to a point I feel tired of it, but with her being my legal guardian. She has the right. I would chat back, but I'll talk to her in the morning.

I walk towards the sofa, where Anita is already sitting.

"What's with the call?"

"It was my aunt, doing her daily checkups."

She grins as I reach one bottle to her. She gets hold of one and begins drinking it. I sit down, lounging back. As I do, she then leans her head back on top of my chest. I start to smile. This is what I call cool tranquility, nothing but silence; not even Addie is making a sound. I lean my head back; my eyes slowly turn to see Addie resting on his cushy dog bed.

Soaking this in, I try to close my eyes. However, I hear Anita.

"Can we watch a film?"

"I don't know."

She then sits back up. I spot her lips frowning. She's not happy. I quickly get back up; I place my Sweetnade bottle down on the coffee table. The glass hitting the hardwood surface. She ponders what else we can do. It's getting late.

She already called her parents that she'll be sleeping with her friends. Her parents have no clue she's here. They despised me. I saw them once a few months ago. I heard her father tried to block her from coming to my birthday party. My aunt tried to convince them to let Anita come. Eventually, they allowed Anita to come celebrate my birthday. I was thrilled nonetheless. But I feel if they know she is here, they will be beyond pissed.

But after the day I had, I didn't even want to mention it. When she asked me earlier, how work went. Anything crazy. I wanted to mention the basement sighting, but I lie. Suddenly Terra is coming into my mind. I shake it off.

This is our night.

I turn to Anita, I hold her hand. I carefully rub it. "Let's make this time special."

Anita thinks a bit and then looks at me stunned. "You're not serious."

"I wasn't ready for this, but I want to do this." I lean over and start making out. My lips touching hers. We suddenly stand up, we're still kissing. We both make our way to my room. Anita giggles, I chuckle a couple of times.

I pause quickly to see Addie acting weird all of the sudden, he begins to look outside as if something is out there. I view briefly at the four large windows, and nothing is there. I shrug quietly, as Anita questions what's up. I don't respond, I just press hard on her lips. We enter the hallway and soon into my room.

Dragon, mystical, and action-themed posters plastered everywhere on the walls. I hardly see how messy my room is, some clothes thrown to the floor. At my fluffy matbed, covers a bit sloppy. If my aunt was here, she wouldn't love it. But I don't think Anita won't mind.

I then place her gently on the bed. I slowly lean on top of her. We resume the kissing for another minute. I then halt, I lift myself up to remove my red, sleeveless shirt, exposing my chest. Exposing the scar.

Anita suddenly touches my burnt scar. I react frighten, why I had to freak out. I guess she's the first person who saw it. The most surprising thing, she doesn't say anything about it. I see it in her eyes. She doesn't want to know my story, how I got that burnt scar.

I then lean forward. We continue the kissing. However, she halts. Maybe she's ready to take off her blouse. But then I'm stunned when she leans over and stares at something behind me. I try to ask her what she is looking at.

"What that rock is doing there?"

"Rock?" I say with gasp.

I turn back around, as she points towards my open closet. I see part of the rocky stone, peaking out of a bunch of dirty clothes. I always pile the clothes in there; throwing them everywhere around the room. I'm not too sticky to cleanliness. I never get the chance to clear the closet. I have no maid.

I climb out of the bed, and walk towards the pile. I bend down, removing several shirts and two jeans. I soon get my hands on the half-piece stone. The bottom edges look rounded, but at the top, it looks cut off like it been has been separated by something hard.

I pick up the rock and survey it closely. There're sort of cryptic symbols near the center; I can't tell what they are. It looks like a different language. I wonder if the bookstore might have answers. Other than that, I don't know anyone or any place that can decipher it. The bookstore has to be the best shot. Whatever those symbols mean, it was left for me for some reason.

I just can't think back. The memories are still plaguing me. I look to Anita who looks intrigued about it. "If you want to know the true story why I have this, I surely don't. I can't remember why I even have this piece of rock."

"What are you going to do with it?" She asks.

I shrug with my shoulders. I'll probably sell it in the Grey Bloc. But that's in the future; right now I don't care about it. I throw it back in the closet. I then get back on top of the bed. I try to sweet talk her to another kiss. We try to kiss, as I push her back. She then jerks hard. I stop, feeling frustrated if I'm doing anything wrong here.

"Is this right for us to do this, now?"

I try to hold her hands. I rub them, caressing her soft skin. I want to let her know that she's not alone in this anxious moment.

"I'm scared too." I smirk.

I always wanted to do this. Glancing at her hands, then back to her eyes, I really want to do this with the right girl. I feel something inside my heart that she could be that one. I let her know if we can take this slow, and see how it feels.

A minute of silence, I'm thinking hesitation. It's a mistake. She doesn't want to do it.

However, Anita just smiles, her thin lips grinning so high, "Okay."

She wants to stop at any time. We don't really have to do this, but I really want to do it. She seconds that as well. Without further reluctance, I reach to her lips. We resume kissing. I push her gently, her back to the soft matbed. As I try to undress her blouse, and continue kissing. I pause.

Barking begins to disturb our moment. "Stop it, Addie!" I shout out to the other room.

As I about to kiss Anita, seconds later Addie continues his barking. "Stupid dog." I mumble in my lips.

Anita laughs, and mentions he could be barking at the moon, most dogs do that. Maybe she's right. Explain why he kept looking outside.

"Just let it be." She says gingerly.

I really want to agree, but Addie is not that dog to just bark at the moon. But I don't hear him now, I lean to Anita. We resume the kissing. I'm ready for this. Just as I'm about to get ready to make this night unforgettable; Addie barks even louder.

The obnoxious barks are the last straw.

I get out of the bed and exit the bedroom. Anita tries to convince me that the barking means nothing. I hope so. I walk out of the short hallway and then back to the living room. I then see Addie barking again and again.

"Stop Addie! I shout.

This barking is nonsense. I even threaten him by sending him to Aunt Verdi. I don't know why I want to torture my aunt, but at least saying her name should shut him up. I think he does, but Addie suddenly takes defensive, staring at the front door.

The barking continues.

Someone maybe out there and Addie smelled him or her. It could be my rotten neighbors who across the hall always have strange scents accompany with them. They have a strange fetish with kooky plants. And some plants that smell like rotten fruits or sweet roses. I walk to the door cautiously.

I place my hand over the metal knob. I turn it counter-clockwise, open it slowly. Peaking outside, there's no one. I look upset; so Addie was just barking at nothing. I turn to him.

"See buddy, just the air. That's what you barked at."

Stupid mutt, the barking proved no cause. Now I can get back to Anita. And just as I turn back around, to check again and close the door. I notice a blackish, prismatic orb floating. I look astounded, what could it be. Addie resumes his barking.

I stare at it for a minute. Could this be a thank you gift from the Upwood twins? A mini-light show. I slowly reach out my hand, wanting to point it. To touch it. Feel the surprise, the burst of light shining.

However, I didn't see it coming.

A magical bomb exploding in front of me.

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