Beyond the Thorns: A Novel

Talk about saucy teens, I think as I watch Ross talk to a teenage cat girl with unnaturally done hair.

“Okay, I need to be told before you go making choices. What will the others think when I bring a second kid with an unknown origin into the place, plus is there even enough room for another?”

“She can sleep with me. Let’s just get back, we need to discuss this elsewhere.” A cat-ear flicks sharply.

“But what about her friends she’s been staying with?” Ross says, attempting to keep composure.

“Who said they were her friends?” She jibes, I see the tick mark on Ross’ forehead as she does.

“Are you Cana? Surely you can’t read minds,” Ross snaps before turning to Cana. “She doesn’t have to go unless she truly wants to.”

“I kinda wanted you to stay with me instead,” Cana chirps, ignoring the previous fight, that of course having me toss myself into the conversation.

“I mean she can, but the only place is on the floor or in the closet.” I say quickly.

“We can just reuse the couch, it’ll be fine,” Cana smiles.

“I don’t have a couch though,” I say.

“Oh right! Uh…. we could make a floor bed,” she replies, stroking her chin.

“But my pillows….”

“That’s better than my place, I don’t mind,” the other girl shrugs.

“You have- uh-…” Ross lets out a groan that was more “mmm…” than a groan. “I’ll be praying for you Jyra,” he pats my shoulder before walking off and away.

Cana cheered, “I think they call this a sleepover or something, this’ll be fun!”

“Then weren’t we doing that everyday back there?”

“Whatever Mist, it feels different when you’re not forced to sleep on a thin brick-like thing.”

“I guess that’s true.”

一☉一

I yawn, “y’all ready to go to bed yet?”

“Nope! We’re still discussing,” Cana chirps happily.

“It’s fetching late, are you sure?”

“Yup!”

I groan, “well Imma go get a drink from downstairs.” I say, getting up all slouchy and drowsy. I walk over to the door and open it to find two officers, oh bull-poopercracker.

“Are you Jyrasck Yoliho?” One of them asks, struggling with my first name.

“Yes…?” I ask, realizing how I look in a tank top and shorts (plus with my hair messy and knotted).

“We’d like to ask you a few questions if that’s okay,” the other says.

“Alright, where’d you like to sit and chat then?” I step out and close the door behind me slowly.

“Right here’s fine,” another person steps out, pushing one of the officers aside. This one has a yellowish-beige outfit and cold eyes.

“So what’s up?” I ask, fiddling with my fingers a little.

“I was curious, we have reports of abnormal activity occurring near your vicinity on multiple occasions. Because of that, we’d like you to come with me,” the cold-eyed individual answers stoically.

“Uhm… can I get some things done beforehand? I don’t want to come back and be smacked with debt that will take the rest of my life to pay off.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get one of my co-workers to settle that for you. Right this way,” he pushes.

I pretend to muse over the offers as I look around. I spot Emma coming upstairs with a lean and calm woman. Perfect. Emma leaves though, I guess the other girl is here to pick up Mist (I overheard Cana calling her that).

“Are you sure I can’t wait a little? I just need to grab some things,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck.

“Oh, there you are. Thane needs your mist maker for something,” the woman says, emphasizing mist. Definitely here for her then.

“Right, the mist maker. Lemme go get it,” I turn before the yellow-beige wearing male grabs my forearm.

“I’ll go get it for you,” he says, making my back instinctively go rigid.

“Um, what division are you sir? I don’t recognize your outfit,” she cuts in, gripping tightly to her satchel bag.

“My division comes on odd cases. Please don’t intervene ma’am.”

“I’m curious, what odd things do you see then?” This perks the man’s attention.

“Well, I have experienced quite the strange phenomena,” he turns and walks over to the lady, who signals for me to go. She grabs the officers’ attention as well once I start turning the doorknob behind my back. I hold my breath, pretending to be invisible as I slide through the semi-open door, shutting it quietly as I cringe in the anticipation of getting caught.

I quickly speed walk over to the girls, “can one of you make everyone invisible?”

“No, why?” Cana chirps before I shush her for the loudness.

“We gotta go to Ross’ for the night.”

“Why?”

“For everyone’s good. There are officers and they’re trying to take me somewhere and if they do they’ll find y’all and put you in jail or somethin’. We just gotta go. Now.”

Cana’s brain attempts to load until Mist puts her hand on her shoulder, “they found us and plan on taking him with.”

Her eyes widen in fear, “how do we escape?”

I look around before kicking the rug aside to reveal a flattened, and most likely useless trapdoor. I walk over to the locked door leading to a quick wine delivery chute and order them to file in. Mist gives me a suspicious look before complying. The two slide down swiftly and I double check everything. I dart to kick up the girls’ blanket bed to make it look like an average 20-something year old’s messy apartment before retreating down the chute.

“What’s happening?” Cana asks after I struggle free of the tight confounds of the chute.

“Three officers asked me about ‘strange phenomena occurring in my locations’ and one with a yellow-ish outfit, which didn’t really suit in my opinion, tried to pull me somewhere else.”

“Where…?” Mist pauses.

“Dunno, but it seemed long-term.”

The two glance at each other anxiously.

“Do you have an abnormality?”