Card Demon

C H A P T E R O N E

 "Dylan, get your brother out here!" A rough voice dripping with kindness called. A boy of 5'3 stepped from behind the door, his odd silver hair looking blond in the sunlight. By his side was a smaller boy of 4'11, clinging on to his brother's arm.

"Yes, papa?" The smaller boy asked, perking up. Dylan looked at his little brother with a sad smile. Of course he didn't know.

"I want to show you an alien that I found in the backyard!" The elderly man, who adopted the two boys when they were younger, smiled. "I think it might be a Boiler!"

"A Boiler! Ooh! Papa, show me it, show me it!" The eleven-year old bounced up and down, giggling.

"Mr. Keaton, can I go inside?" Dylan asked, wiping sweat off his brow. It was midsummer and one of the hottest nights yet.

"Of course you can. Now let me go show little Scott here the Boiler!" came the response.

Smiling, Dylan walked inside. Closing the door, he was startled to find a blonde-haired girl with airy blue eyes staring at him. "Gah! Who are you?" He cried out, holding his hand above his heart to feel the pounding beat.

"I'm Aura - Sorry to scare you!" The girl squeaked. She appeared to be about his age.

"How did you get in here?" Dylan asked, his heart still threatening to break free from his chest.

"Your kitchen window was open!" came the light response.

"And you decided to break in."

"Yea kinda!"

Dylan rolled his eyes, letting out a tiny laugh of nervousness.

"Don't forget about me!" another voice called out. A boy, again about Dylan's age, rolled in from the window, landing on the floor. A muffled "Oof" could be heard.

"Uh, who is that?" Dylan asked Aura, confusing filling his gaze.

"Oh, that's just Ayren!" She hid a giggle behind her mouth.
"Well you two have surprisingly unique names." Dylan grumbled, pushing his hair out of his eyes.

"We kinda do!" Aura responded, her eyes lighting up. Dylan didn't think they could be more happy looking. "But do you like them?" She asked, placing emphasis on "like".

"Uh. I guess?" Dylan raised his eyebrow, turning to look at the boy still struggling to get up from the recently mopped floor. "I'd assume this one's IQ is around 50."

"Hey!" Ayren yelled out, clearly irritated by that.

"Pfft." Dylan rolled his eyes.

"Dyl, get out here!" Mr. Keaton called. "Scott here wants to show you the Boiler!"

"The what?" Aura asked, tilting her head.

"My little brother, Scott, he likes aliens and Mr. Keaton, my caretaker, threw a little robot together." Dylan laughed.

"Awww! That's so cute!" Aura giggled.

"Yea. Cute."

"But it is - And Ayren, are you going to finish making out with the floor or are you going to tell Dylan about what's going on?" Aura flashed a ten-star grin.

"Hey!" The boy cried out, jumping from the floor. "Not cool, Aura!"

"Yes cool, Ren!" She giggled, leaping out the kitchen window. Dylan swore he saw a pair of fluffy gray ears.

"I'll be out in a second, Mr. Keaton." Dylan called, following Aura with Ayren close behind. Falling out of the window, Dylan landed in a pile of soft leaves, which had been gathered by his intelligent cat, Scripp.