Running • Iggy

Porcelain

The little bell jingled as I pushed the heavy glass door open, glancing at all the art products. Sadly, we weren't here for the third time for them, though. Alisha turned to me, quite surprised to see 5 other children entering with me. "Can't get enough, I see?" Alisha laughed. Her brown eyes sparkled with light as she glanced over the 5 others behind me. "I see you brought your siblings." Annabelle called from the counter, then noticed Gazzy's physical discomfort.

"Oh - poor boy!" Annabelle said as she walked over to Gaz, crouching down. "What rabid dog hurt you?" She asked softly, noticing the scratch marks on his shirt. It took a few moments for her to register the feathers. Annabelle blinked twice, before straightening and glancing at Alisha. "Ali, could you shut the shop early? It's not like we're going to get any customers. You six, come upstairs. I'll get the little man fixed up right away." Annabelle offered. Max sucked in a small breath, but I wasn't as nervous as her. Something about these women made me believe I could trust them. I sighed. "We have a lot to tell you."

•

"So," Alisha began slowly as she stared at Gazzy's wings. "You guys were.. created in a lab-slash-prison-slash-torture chamber, with Avian and in a special case Tiger DNA, were tested on horrifically for your entire lives, the only reason you got out is because you managed to pull two needles from a whole country of hay who decided to kidnap you out of said torture chamber and put you in a house, and then said person disappeared and left you to grow up by yourselves, and then someone kidnapped your sister and brought her back to the torture chamber to lore one of you back there so they can test on you again." Alisha summed up, glancing and Annabelle.

Gazzy giggled at her simple way of putting it. "Don't forget the dog-humans who attacked me!" Gazzy chirped. "Ooor the fact I can read minds, and Gazzy can mimic any sound, and Iggy can feel colors, and Fang can literally become shadows, and Max and Citrus can fly super fast." Angel also added, then thought about it for a second. "...and Citrus can also draw really well from memory, has super sight, can literally flatten a car, can run faster than I've ever seen someone run, has super hearing, and her mind runs at most likely 300 miles per hour minimum when the average bird human runs at maybe 100, and humans at 50. Oh, she can also hide her wings" Angel finished. Wow, don't I sound like a Mary Sue?

Annabelle seemed to go silent for a minute, still tending to Gazzy's wing wound. When she took a break from cleaning the stinging wound, she turned to us. "You poor babies.." She said softly, sadness in her expression and voice. Alisha looked to me, her eyes displaying how bad she felt. "That's why you draw so much, huh?" She chuckled sadly. I nodded, bringing my hand up to my necklace without even realizing the motion.

"You're not going to tell anyone, right?" Max asked suspiciously. Annabelle's eyes widened as she shook her head frantically. "No way, I would never do something that could put innocent children in danger." Annabelle told Max firmly. "You guys can stay here as long as you'd like. We have two floors, 3 guest bedrooms upstairs, this floor is for me, Alisha and Adam, and all of the living essentials as well." she gestured to the kitchen, then bathroom door, then where we sat in the living room.

"Thank you, ma'am." Fang said, glancing down at his clothes before turning to Annabelle. "Do you guys perhaps have a way to clean clothes? We rarely get the opportunity." He asked, acting formally. "Yeah, the washing machine's over there." Alisha pointed to where the washing machine sat. Max looked to Fang. "We're gonna need more clothes than just that, how much money do we have left?" Max question as she ran her hand through Angel's hair. "Mmm, 50." Fang shrugged. "Estimate."

I pulled out the 60 dollars I had been saving, handing them to Max. "I was gonna keep it in case of an emergency, but we kinda need it now, so." I shrugged. "Thanks." Max smiled gratefully at me. Annabelle shook her head. "First order of business tomorrow, I'm taking you kids out shopping and I'm buying you all the clothes you need." She decided.