Demonfire: Welcome to the Family

Chapter 1

    Exactly one week before it happened, I woke up to the smell of burnt bacon and the sound of our fire alarm blaring.

    I sat straight up and ran down stairs, forgetting my morning routine. I stepped on a ladle and tumbled the rest of the way down, not having enough time to stop and catch myself. I landed at the foot of the stairs, staring up at my mother who was looking at me apologetically.
   
"Good morning sweety, are you alright," she said, offering me her hand. I rubbed my head. This happened more often than it should.
   
"Yeah, what's going on," I said, peeking behind her into our smoke-filled kitchen. She sighed, looking guilty. "Mom..."
  
"I wanted to make you a meal before I left for my trip, I feel like I owe it to you." I smiled. My mom had to be the nicest person on the face of the Earth, but sadly, she was not the best cook. I heard her sigh as she walked back into the kitchen.
   
"I had better clean this up." I shook my head and followed her.
   
"I got it mom, you should go pack." She smiled at me and kissed my head. She then seemed to tear up. No....
   
"I-you are growing up so quickly..." She cried a bit. Oh man... I wrapped my arms around her in a hug.
   
"Don't worry mom, I'm still only 15." She put her hands on either side of my face, studying me. I just let her.
 
  My mom did this a lot, so I just accepted it as it is. Sometimes things are kept special if you left them unsaid. That's what she told me when I once asked her why she never remarried. My mom claimed that she was loved enough by me, but sometimes I catch her with a faraway look in her eyes. Maybe she just spaced out thinking about groceries. It happens.
   
"You have your father's chin." My mom's soft words snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up at her curiously.
 
  She told me when I was young that my father had died. I never heard her cry about it, so I always figured that she moved on. Or did it in private, I don't know. To be honest, I've always been afraid to ask. My mom could be very sensitive at times.
   
After a minute of looking at me and smiling, she blinked and pulled away. She gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I could see something in her eye that struck me as odd. I've seen that a lot lately, along with frazzled looks and forgetfulness. So I guess it was good that she was taking some time for herself to go on vacation, X'hal knows she needs it.
   
I gave her a smile and patted her arm.
   
"Go ahead and pack mom, I'll call Lian to come help me with this, Lord knows she's just looking for excuse to pick me up early." She smiled more genuinely and shook her head.
 
  "Alright, do not throw away my cookie jar."
   
"But what if it's broke?" She feigned a stern look. I laughed.
   
"I'm serious."
   
"I can see that." She grinned.
   
"I'll have to forget your souvenir..."
   
"Okay, okay, we'll keep the cookie jar."
   
"Good." She walked upstairs and I turned towards the kitchen, walking in the direction of our fire extinguisher.

     2 hours later: Harper residence

    "Be safe."
   
"I'm more worried about you around those hot Hawaiian dudes." She rolled her eyes.
   
"Mar'i."
   
"I'm joking, mom, calm down." She sighed.
   
"Just...be careful." I gave her a soft smile, glad she even trusted me enough to do this.
   
"I promise, you?"
   
"I will stay away from anything resembling a man." I laughed.
 
  "Mom."
   
"Okay, I'll stay safe, goodbye sweetheart."
   
"Bye mom." I gave her a hug and kissed her cheek before she got into a taxi and rode to the airport. I heard footsteps behind me an Lian put her arms around my shoulders and put her chin on my shoulder, making a playful pouty look.
 
  "Its so sweet I'm gonna cry." I rolled my eyes, moving her arms and turning to face her.
   
"She's just going on vacation." Lian looked nodded absentmindedly.
   
"Yeah...hey, did you bring the movies?" She actually looked worried. I smiled and reached into my bag, pulling out six movies. The entire Wicked Scary series. Lian grinned mischievously, and I was pretty sure that I was doing the same.
   
"Did you call everyone?" Lian gave me a duh look and pointed down the street. A funky car with loud passengers was coming down the street. Uncle Roy walked out of his house and looked at the road before looking at us.
 
  "Did you two invite Jai and Irey?" We looked at each other, neither willing to own up to it. He sighed.
 
  "Oh boy..." He rubbed his temples and went into the house.
   
When Wally finally arrived with Jai and Irey, all of them were laughing at something Jai had done in the car. I smiled and ran to them, giving them the biggest hug imaginable. Irey grinned, Jai hugged me back, and Wally opened his arms as if to say: what about me? I gave him a hug and then stood in front of them, jumping up and down in excitement.
 
  "This is gonna be so much fun!" We all ran inside to see Roy west-proofing the house by putting away anything made of glass. We smiled at him before running upstairs to Lian's room.
   
It was weird to anyone who didn't know us, how we were so excited to see one another, but it made sense to us. Jai and Irey didn't live close to Lian and I, so every chance we got, we spent time with them. We have other friends, of course, but our parents have known each other for years, so it was easier to get close to one another. And I guess that since our parents are all weird, we accept each other's quirkiness.
   
So after tons of games, movies, contests, and snacks, we finally got to bed. We all kept joking around until Roy peeked his head in and told us to act our age. Ouch. I saw Irey put a finger up at him behind his back. Which just made us all laugh harder. We said goodnight, and promised each other that we'd bug Uncle Roy until he let us go to the amusement park tomorrow. This was gonna be fun.