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"HOPE WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON OVER THERE?!" Hope was stunned for a bit as she tried to take in what happened with Ben. He looked totally different than he did last she saw him. And she could feel raw power radiate from his body.

"B-Boss you know the soul I was guarding?" She stuttered out with nervousness easing into her tone.

"Yeah what about him?" There was a short pause before he started yelling, "YOU BETTER NOT BE ABOUT READY TO TELL ME HE WAS DEVOURED ARE YOU?!"

"No sir, nothing like that!" Hope said calmly, "It just seems he has tapped into his Reaper powers prematurely somehow..."

"But Hope, that's impossible! No Reaper in history has tapped into their power until after death and that's only after we unlock it for them. I want a live video feed of this phenomenon if it's true!"

"One step ahead of you Boss" Hope said as she pointed her camera at where Ben was standing. He stood tall and looked somewhat smug while he stared the shadows down, as if daring them to attack. As soon as he noticed the camera, he grinned and gave her a wave which created a massive gust of wind to appear around him and clear the room of smoke.

"Damn Hope, you weren't kidding...the kid is a Reaper alright." Her Boss said as Ben started trash talking the Shadows who appeared to just be getting over their surprise and moving toward Ben ever so cautiously. "A bit cocky isn't he?" Boss said with a chuckle when he heard what Ben said.

'Typical! Give men a little taste of power and it all goes straight to their head!' Hope thought to herself as she watched Ben carefully, until noticing that one second he was there then the next moment he suddenly disappeared.

"Where...?" Boss and Hope said at the same time before Ben reappeared behind one of the wolf Shadows with his sword lifted high over his head. The sight of Ben was followed by a huge 'BOOM' as Ben just swung his huge sword at the poor unsuspecting shadow, cleaving it in two. The blow was so powerful that the floor cracked from pressure and a nearby window exploded outward.

"Damn, I was about ready to say be ready to give the kid backup but I don't think he needs it!" Boss said as he and Hope watched a panther take the moment to get a slash against Ben's side. "Whoops, did I just jinx him?" said Boss in apologetic tone. Ben then disappeared and reappeared in front of Dil (Who was covering Bens body from whatever was happening) while holding his now bleeding side but it didn't look serious enough to keep him from fighting.

"Ben must have twisted his body at the last second to just get a graze from the claws but I bet it probably still hurt like a bitch." Hope observed as she watched the wolf.

"Who's the civilian? "Boss asked once he took a slight glance at the panther before focusing back on the action.

"He's a friend of Ben's that umm...the spirit boy...he was with Ben when I knocked his soul out of his body. I think their more than friends though and I think he might be the reason Ben's powers awakened so early."

"How so?" Boss asked with peaked intrigue.

"Ben is extremely defensive when it comes to Dil, which by the way is the civilian. Dil's soul is unusually powerful for a mortal and it's like he's a beacon for the shadows to follow. How he lasted so long without being eaten is beyond me though. He must have some kind of charm or something to protect him. Anyway, instead of abandoning Dil like any normal mortal with no power would and at least attempt to find me...when Dil was threatened, Ben turned to this like someone flipped a switch. I just hope Dil doesn't get caught in the crossfire..."

Just then, all of the Shadows surrounded Ben and attacked at once. Ben looked behind him and saw Dil. A look of pure panic crossed Ben's face probably thinking along the lines of 'There is no fucking way I can fight them off and protect Dil with an injured side!' But then his ears swiveled in surprise like he heard something no one else could. After a few seconds, his expression changed to a mix between of concentration and determination. He quickly tucked himself into a ball and he seemed to be covered in flames while the wind also began to pick up around him almost like a small tornado.

"What is he...? Oh no! He wouldn't!" Boss said in horror and disbelief, plainly lacing in his voice before he started yelling. "HOPE GET IN THERE AND STOP HIM! EVERYTHING AROUND THAT KID IS ABOUT TO BE COVERED IN FLAMES!"

"Isn't that a good thing?" Hope asked as she watched the Shadows get closer and closer to Ben.

"Not when his body and the one he is trying to protect are right behind him! You will be burnt to a crisp as well!"

"Ahh Fuc-" Was all Hope could get out before Ben unleashed his attack, leaving Hope with barely enough time to put a weak magical shield around her to deflect the blast and even then, that wasn't enough to stop her from feeling the heat of the flames and get sent flying through the wall. Hope recovered quickly though and looked towards Dil, fully expecting to see two bodies burnt into a crisp but it didn't turn out that way once the smoke cleared. "No-No way..." Hope stuttered out as she saw the sturdy looking shield that protected both an unconscious Dil (Must of passed out from fright when he saw the flame coming at him...poor thing) and Ben's body from the blast.

"T-T-That's impossible! There is no way a newbie can have enough power to pull off a stunt like that AND summon a strong enough shield to stop his own attack from hitting someone at the same time!" Boss said in disbelief as Hope took in her surroundings again.

The room was trashed and covered in flames from Ben's attack. The only point that hasn't been touched was where Ben's comatose body and Dil were located. The Shadows looked pretty crispy but several of them had managed to survive the blast. The remaining ones began to melt into darkness and converged into one point. "Oh fuck this is bad!" Both Hope and Boss said at the exact same time while Ben, who looked like he was finally beginning to tire out breathed heavily. He seemed a bit woozy from the loss of blood also as he resorted to using his sword to hold himself up. While in this state, he just sat and looked at the Shadows action with confusion etched on his face as the Shadows began taking shape.

The beast was massive...it had a large wolf tail with four large arms and three massive heads of the three lasting shadows that formed this monstrosity. The panther, wolf and lion. It looked like some gruesome chimera with the Shadows flesh remaining the same inky black but it was far larger and looked much heavier. Hope noticed that the floor began to sag a bit where it stood. To make matters worse, the creature was fully healed of its earlier injuries and was really pissed and hungry.

Ben disappeared and reappeared in front of Hope while he stared at the monster, watching its movements in case it ever decided to attack at any moment. "Hope how long does it take for that healing spell to work and does it recover energy?" Questioned Ben with his voice strangely calm.

"Yes and its instantaneous why...?" Hope answered with a wary look in her eyes.

"No time! Do it now!" Ben said, still not looking away from the Shadow. Hopes hands were quickly consumed in the same green aura as earlier but this time it was tinged with yellow and she shouted.

"Heal!" Ben's injuries quickly vanished and looked ramped up. However, this time his cocky demeanor was replaced with calm, cautious determination.

"Thank you, now stay here and protect Dil in case more Shadows come while I'm away! Oh and," his cocky smirk returned. "So you won't get in my way!" On second thought maybe he didn't learn his lesson.

"You know with that attitude you'll wind up being Shadow-chow!" Said Hope, moving slowly towards Dil with her staff now extended.

"Huh, I'll just give him a nasty case of indigestion if it comes to that! And I was just fucking with you. By the way, I'm still kinda mad at you for dragging me into this in the first place but seriously, protect Dil. You at least owe me that...that and my body back!" With that he dropped his sword, brought his arms back and did a pushing motion. Hurricane force winds burst from his paws, sending the massive beast flying out of the window and into the grounds which now seemed to be evacuated. "But then again these powers are pretty cool...I'll be back in a flash!" With that he disappeared again, presumably through the giant hole in the wall after the Shadow.

"I still don't like that guys attitude" Hope said while walking up to the giant hole in the wall, adjusting the cameras zoom enough where she can see the battle clearly with crystal clarity.

"I dunno, I kinda like the guy and he does have a point, all of this is your fault. By the way I figured out your punishment I'll tell you when you get back to base."

"Fantastic!" Hope said sarcastically "I was hoping you forgotten about that" Hope mumbled, now miserable.

~~~

"You know that was kind of a dick move you pulled back there." Suzaku stated in a calm voice. He apparently was the source of my powers, as he mentioned to me earlier and the fact that he had been sleeping in my soul, waiting to be awakened when I died. Apparently all Reapers had them and have to interact with them in order to become more powerful. 'Wow...just when I thought my day couldn't get any weirder it does! I'm talking to some pigeon (Or phoenix as he claimed to be) that nobody else could see... great just great!'

"You do realize I can hear any thought, including insults you have so you don't have to talk verbally right?" I winced. Probably not the best idea to piss off something that can adjust my powers and easily turn them off like a faucet, especially when I'm about ready to go into a battle. _ "You're damn rigth!"_ Suzaku said as we both touched down to face my three headed opponent with fangs...and claws...slight height advantage...and a heavier muscle mass. Suzaku sighed at that. "You are starting to panic, calm down and keep a level head or you'll wind up dead"

'Well EXCUSE ME for getting a little nervous after pointing something out that has every possible advantage!' I nearly screamed inside my head.

'Oww, you don't have to yell...just remember everything has a weakness. Find that and this fight is yours.'

"How am I supposed to do that in the middle-" I started but was cut off when a yelp escaped out of my throat while using my new found speed to barely dodge a paw swipe that would have taken of my head from Mr. Big-Bad- and-Gruesome who took advantage of me not paying attention.

'PAY ATTENTION DAMNIT!! IF YOU GET EATEN THEN SO DO I!!!' Suzaku screamed in my head, probably actually mad from my shouting and this was likely payback from earlier. 'Right on both accounts now roll!' Suzaku shouted as I rolled away from getting made lunch for a hungry chimera monster...thing.

"Any ideas on a way to beat this thing?" I said as I dodged another chomp this time from the wolf and another attempted slash from the other paw before the paw got out of my reach, however I slashed at it with my blade causing Frankenstein to scream in pain.

'Well it does have a physical advantage over you.' Stated Suzaku, as if I hadn't known this already.

"I kinda already see that!" I pointed out irritably as I got hit in the chest with fur ball's tail that I didn't see coming which knocked the wind from my lungs and brought me to the ground. I rolled when I hit the ground, thus dodging another bite attack and this time it was from the panther.

'I do wish you would decide on a name for this thing it is kinda annoying hearing you change the name every five seconds' Suzaku said while also telling me to duck from another chomp from the lion which I successfully dodged. (Thank you super speed)

"Fine! Any ideas on how to take out Fur-Ball?" I said while trying to slash at the lion's neck but all I got for my trouble was to give the lion a haircut and a paw to the face. I recovered from the hit by using my air magic to stop myself from flipping so I'll be able to hit the ground running, which came in handy because Fur-Ball tried to pounce on me again when it though it had me in its grasp.

'Well I was thinking Cerberus after the Greek myth but Fur-Ball works to I guess...also more fun to say!' Said Suzaku with an amused tone coming in.

'Great now that that's cleared up...I NEED FUCKING IDEAS!' I screamed intentionally in my head.

"Oww, fine...what is true with most muscle bound men besides being sexy as hell?" Suzaku asked which caused me to stop and stare at him with a classic 'wtf?!' face which caused me to get grabbed by Fur-Ball's somehow dexterous tail. I quickly managed to get my arms free and managed to cut its tail off, causing it to scream again.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that" I said while hitting the ground running

"Whatever you say...hey, why are you blushing Ben?" Suzaku chuckled while my face did indeed turn a shade of red.

"Not getting into this now!" I said while dodging another strike. It seemed that all I could do was dodge.

"Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that most muscle bound men are dumb as bricks! So all you have to do is to outsmart him...or in this case cripple him. Have you noticed that Fur-Ball isn't using his paw that you cut earlier nor is he using all three of this heads to attack you?"

"I'll pretend not to take offense to that and yeah...now that you mention it yeah I have...thanks for the help!"

"Oh shut up! You're half and half which is a nice combination for a warrior and you're welcome" After another twenty minutes later of dodging and cutting I successfully crippled Fur-Ball's movements enough to where he couldn't move.

"Don't count him out just yet, look at his mouth!" Suzaku called out as Fur-Ball's mouth began to glow with dark energy then he fired a huge mass at me that I barely dodged with a tuck and roll maneuver.

"Great...now he has long range attacks too! What, now I can't get close enough to finish him off now?!" I said as I had to dodge another dark mass, this one smaller and faster.

"Why don't you meet his long range against yours? You can control Wind and Fire remember dummy?" suggested Suzaku.

"Oh yeah why didn't I think of that?" I said as I hit Fur ball with a hailstorm of fireballs, causing him to scream in pain and making him stop firing those stupid dark masses of energy at me.

"Why indeed...hey I'm going to take control of your body for a bit okay? Because I believe it's time for the finisher."

"Wait... what?" I managed to say before I felt my body gave control over to Suzaku, making me feel like I was viewing the next few moments through a camera lens. Suzaku closed the distance between me and Fur-Ball with my sword lowered against my side while coating it in fire and wind magic until he was 2 feet away. After that, he used air magic give him a sudden burst of speed that made it seem like he disappeared and reappeared on the other side of Fur ball (Which is how I did the disappearing and re-appearing trick earlier) with my sword outstretched with magic no longer coating it. Suzaku then put the sword back into the sheathe along my back, snapped my fingers and took a bow as Fur-Ball screamed and started to disappear in a mix between shadows and ethereal white lights.

"We did it!" I panted out just before collapsing where I stood once Suzaku gave up his control of my body.

As I laid there with my consciousness waning slightly, I still heard Suzaku say "It appears we used too much energy. I'm afraid you're going to be out for a time while your soul recovers from the strain. In the meantime I'm going to limit your power to beginner levels so your body will be able get used to using so much energy in battle. I have a feeling we are going to see each other even after the girl puts you back in your body...rest for now, you deserve it."

"Thanks...for...everything" I managed to think before my body shut down completely, making it impossible for me to hear Suzaku's reply as everything faded to black.

~~~

Dear Journal,

It's been forever since I last wrote and this is because I've been having a roller coaster ride of a week. Every time I think the ride is almost over, life throws me another terrifying, stomach churning, heart stopping hill for me to climb and endure the best I can without throwing up. Also on another note, so much has been happening around me lately that I've been questioning my sanity. Before I elaborate on the last part, let me tell you about my week.

Wednesday, January 11th

Ben had to leave school due to a family emergency that consisted of babysitting his dying grandfather who his parents decided to abandon to go to a vacation in Hawaii. Ben had always been really close to his grandfather so he of course was livid at his parents actions and even I didn't like his parents decision on choosing their job over a family member but it wasn't my place to place judgments on people's decisions so I tried not to think bad of his parents for this decision.

Plus it got us out of school and I got to spend some quality time with Ben (I know this is a selfish way of thinking, seeing it's to babysit Ben's dying grandfather but I can't help it! I try to think of positives for every situation but it's just how my mind works!) Anyway, our day started off normal enough. Ben and I woke up, got on a bus to Ben's house. Ben was being more withdrawn than usual during the ride but I understood his situation. I managed to cheer him up though with some teasing and messing around...anyway we caught his grandfather at a bad time...by bad time I mean he was jerking off. Needless to say, Ben and I are both officially scarred for life (Yes I am too even though I'm gay...I still find wrinkly old men to be gross! I mean, who wouldn't be after seeing that?!).

We played violent video games after that, doing our best to burn the memory out of our minds. All three of us pretending like it never happened...though his grandfather made it a game of his to mention it subtly to see the reaction on our faces, than laugh at our supposed reactions. Besides that, nothing else happened that day.

Thursday January 12th

This is when my week started go to hell and when all the weird stuff started to happen. I knew it was odd before because I was completely awake when Ben didn't wake up to the alarm and he is a REALLY light sleeper. Next clue was the fact that BEN WAS DEAD! He wasn't breathing, he had no pulse and his body was starting to cool. Then I noticed the fog over Ben's body and heard something but it felt like a breeze from outside. Confused, I decided I would check the window but it was closed and plus it was a bright, sunny day.

Then it hit me where I experienced all of these things before. I might have panicked just a bit because I don't remember what happened during the next few moments but when I came to, I was holding the phone talking hysterically to the poor fur on the other end. But then another weird thing happened when I was explaining his condition; He exhaled like he was holding his breath the entire time. Confused once more, I checked his vitals and he came up okay but he wouldn't wake up no matter how much I shook him.

After relaying the information, I hung up the phone then got a really bad feeling that I couldn't shake off no matter how hard I tried. It felt like all of my instincts were screaming at me to leave the room so I did while dragging Ben out of the room as well. Not even a few seconds later I heard a series of crashes and bangs coming from Ben's room. The wind picked up as well, yet we had no windows opened so that was impossible.

I put Ben down on the floor and went off to investigate to find Ben's grandpa was shirtless and looked as if he was about ready to take a shower (I completely forgotten about him during everything that happened). He asked what the hell Ben was doing to his room and I shook my head and explained that Ben has been in a coma all morning and an ambulance was on its way. Suffice to, say Benji (He always insisted I call him that) being surprised was an understatement. Benji dropped all his shower stuff, clutched his chest and demanded me to tell him all that happened and where Ben was now.

Understanding his plight, I tried my best to explain what happened while leaving out the Ben died thing. I took him to where I laid Ben and he bent down next to the boy gasping for breath as if he was suffocating. He looked extremely dizzy and was sweating profusely. I quickly realized that he was in the throes of a heart attack!

I slowly began panicking again but kept myself calm enough to try and remember what I had to do in this situation. It came to me in a flash; I pushed Benji down (Who was now trying to grab his car keys and yelling something about the ambulance taking too long.) I told Benji he was having a heart attack as calmly as I could and told him to rest and calm down while I call another ambulance and attempt to alleviate the pressure on his heart.

Ignoring Benji's complaints and a pointless argument, I went to the bathroom and grabbed several bottles of medicine. I also grabbed the phone I had thrown on the couch earlier and dialed 911 again, then I popped in two baby aspirin capsules telling him to chew. When he finished I threw some sleeping medications down his gullet and stuck a nitroglycerin under his tongue. Now Benji looked really sleepy (The sleeping medication was actually a tranquilizer strong enough to take down a rampaging feral lion) but looked like his condition was improving. After mumbling I would pay for this later he passed out where he stood.

I took a moment to admire the similarities between Ben and Benji as they both lied on the floor sleeping while I was ordering another ambulance and explaining the changed situation. Benji was still shirtless and Ben was still in just in his boxers. Both looked so much alike it was uncanny and I mentally slapped myself for not seeing it sooner. The only visible difference in Benji was like a really old version of Ben. After hanging up the phone I crawled next to Benji and Ben, lied down and rocked back and forth as I listened to the continuous banging and crashing coming from Ben's room that I no longer wanted to investigate due to how loud the banging and crashing were beginning to get and my instincts were also screaming at me not to go ten feet toward the door. As I tried to make the sounds go away, I succumbed to the stress and started to cry as I faded back into a moment in the past that hit me a while back when I began to panic in Ben's room.

--Flashback--

It was a time when I was five years old, back when my mom was still around, back before I even met Ben. I was a strange child growing up because I had tons of imaginary friends. Well, that is until one of them told me that what they were called spirits or if I preferred to call them ghosts. Being the kid I was, I just accepted that as a fact due to all the games I was thinking about playing with my floating friends. My parents were none the wiser and just went along with my childish antics of describing all the things my floating friends could do.

Anyway, one day while I was away playing at grandpa's and grandma's house (Well it was just grandma's house technically since grandpa died in a car accident when I was two but since I could see ghosts I could see grandpa as well, making it grandma and grandpa's house to me. Poor grandma though, even up till she died everyone thought she was crazy but me when she talked to grandpa since it seems talking to ghosts ran in the family.) with my friends, my mother went to the doctor's office because she had been extremely ill for weeks only to find out it was due to cancer and that she didn't have much time left.

My parents decided not to tell me until Mom was completely bedridden and hospitalized. When my parents finally told me, my reaction scared them both. At first it looked like I was going to tackle Mom and cry into her chest like any other kid would when I looked behind me and appeared to listen to someone and turned around wiped away the beginning of a fit away with a smile then I said "That's ok it just means mom will get to play with me and my friends!" Ignoring my parents shocked expressions I walked out of the room talking animatedly to said friends while bouncing a big ball I brought with me to the hospital.

My parents were livid. They gave me a stern lecture on mocking death and in turn mocking God (Since they were both hardcore Christians and my dad's a priest) and said me playing with Mom would be impossible. I tried to explain that it was but my parents wouldn't hear it and signed me up for therapy and made me promise I would try and make normal friends at school.

I think my Mom made it her dying wish to see me with one actual friend due to the way she threw herself into my social life by the amount of time she spent arranging play dates. But during my attempts of making friends things began to get a bit weird and difficult. Every play-date and attempt to make friends was ruined by 'accidents'. Several things began falling on my playmates and even one playmate fell down the stairs and broke his arm. I, of course had nothing to do with it! It was my ghost friends jealous of the attention I've been giving other furs and not them. Pretty soon I got tired of being the one blamed for everything the ghost did, so I had a tantrum telling them to go away and never come back.

The ghosts followed my wishes and I never saw them again. My parent were ecstatic when I finally began to acquire friends and people began to like me when they saw that the 'bad kitten that turned a new leaf' until the weird things began to happen again and they were worse than ever before. Instead of easily fixed problems, it escalated to almost homicides and I was also having night terrors, screaming about "my friends coming back so they could have their revenge on me." We had to move from the town we lived at because many furs wouldn't go near me with a ten foot pole, calling me a 'demon child' and stuff similar to that which was also an insult to Dad.

He tried every trick on me in the book but nothing worked. My parents then argued constantly about my behavior. Until one day when my mom passed away...

Immediately after her passing, fog started to roll in the room even though it was bright and sunny out. Then I saw a strange man enter the room like he owned the place, stabbed her body with some kind of short sword and out came my Moms spirit. They talked for a while and my Mom seemed to want to stay but the man in the cloak wouldn't let her because it was time for her to move on. Eventually she walked out of the room while at the lounging room aimed at me and dad. I pushed past the doctors that were coming in the room when my Mom flat-lined and rushed to her and the strange man in the cloak's side asking where they were going. They ignored me, thinking I was talking to someone else since I couldn't possibly talking to them.

Thinking they were doing it on purpose, I fell to the floor and cried in frustration yelling "Mom where are you going with the man in the cloak?" and they both looked at me in shock (Well since the man's face was covered by his hood I assumed it was shocked).

"You can see us?" The man asked me.

"Yeah of course I do! I couldn't talk and follow you if I didn't!" I replied annoyed "Though mom, you look like my friends now. How are you floating like that? They never told me how before they left." A look of understanding flashed across my mom's face before shadows began to converge on three points forming three frightening looking beasts with white eyes. One was a wolf, another was a lion and the last one a lynx. All three I instantly recognized from my nightmares because they were at one time, my so called 'friends' that now visited me every night in dreams.

"Bobby, Jake, Kenny...what are you doing here? I thought I told you guys to leave me alone?" I said while walking in front of the very two stunned looking adults. Just then three voices started assaulting my thoughts.

"We came for your soul Dillon like we promised. You will be ours and only ours! Then we will get to play together for all eternity!" Apparently my mom and the man in the cloak heard them too because my Mom gasped and the man took out two short swords.

"Not if I have anything to say about it you stupid Shadows!" Just then all three of them jumped at me, getting ready to tear me from limb to limb. I screamed and expected pain but I wasn't killed nor devoured. I open my eyes in time to see the man in cloak in front of me with his swords drawn like he just slashed at something. I looked around the man in the cloak to see all three of my friends disappearing. I think I started to cry, though I don't know why because they were the cause of everything bad happening to me and nearly killed me. Three ethereal lights came from the corpses and floated around me while speaking to me.

"We're sorry Dillon! We were jealous when you started to make friends! Our jealously turned us into Shadows of our former selves. It was our jealousy that made us do all those terrible things! Hopefully you will be able to forgive us eventually!" Then they disappeared.

Mom hugged me when started to I cry. When my sobs finally calmed down I said "So are you moving on?"

My Mom looked at the man in the cloak in a silent question and he shook his head no. She looked at me apologetically and said "Sorry honey...for everything. I really should have believed you before. And I'm sorry for dying and leaving you while you are still just a little boy"

"It's ok" I answered. Just then Dad came up behind us and started yelling at me.

"Dillon there you are, what are you doing here?! I've been worried sick!" Mom turned to me and spoke.

"Explain everything to your dad...make him see all those things weren't your fault."

"He won't believe me" I said bitterly.

He never did...she thought for a moment then walked up to the man in the cloak and said a few things before nodding and disappeared. I looked at Mom and she said "He'll be back. He went to pick up something for me so talk to your father in the meantime." I nodded and explained to Dad and as I expected, when I finished explaining my story he didn't believe a word of it and began yelling at me for making up stuff up. The man in the cloak showed back up in the mist of my dads tirade, holding something shiny in his hands which my mom took it from his hands while he leaned against the wall, trying to regain his breath back as if he ran a great distance. Meanwhile, my mom gave the shiny object to me while she kissed me on the head.

"Give this to your father and say it's from me. He'll believe your story when you do." Mom explained with a smile. While I was gazing at the silver metal choker that was now in my paws, the man in the cloak elbowed her and told her it was way past time to go. Before going, I heard her whisper something in my ear before standing up and after one last sad smile Mom and the guy in the cloak disappeared in the same fog that the man showed up in.

Meanwhile, I showed Dad the necklace and said "Mom gave it to me just now...said it would help you believe my story" My father's face paled.

"T-This is the necklace I bought you mother on our honeymoon! We lost it during the move here and your mom cried for days when she couldn't find it. Where did you find this?" Dad asked me with disbelief.

I just shrugged and said. "A guy in a cloak gave it to Mom then she gave it to me to help you believe my story."

"If your mom is here right now prove it by asking her this: When and where did we get this necklace?"

I quickly remembered just what she whispered before I replied to Dad's question. "March 5,1993 on the shores of Hawaii. You bought the choker from an antique shop after Mom saw it at a window. You didn't buy it immediately but you bought the choker for her as a surprise gift for her before you left to come back home."

My Dad's mouth dropped open and his facial expression turned to one of disbelief "There is no possible way you could have known that since we never told you the details of our honeymoon since we were going to do that together if you asked for the details yourself so that means...she must be here!" Dad looked all over the place as if trying to find some sign of Mom but must have come up empty because he mumbled something along the lines of "stupid seal" and turned to me, his facial expression was apologetic and said "Sorry son, I should have believed your story and the fact you can see ghosts. Sad thing is, I should have seen it coming. "

"Why would you be able to see it coming?" I asked while tilting my head in classic child-like curiosity.

"Well son... in your mom's family there comes a long line of Mediums which means that they can speak to spirits and ghosts. I myself used to have my own powers... but I gave them up years ago after an incident involving some acquaintances from a group I was in." He started, his voice sounding incredibly sad.

"This group had the same powers I had, at first everything was great until they made me do something so horrible that I quit the group and sealed my powers, vowing never to use them again to avoid the possibility of ever doing what I did ever again and no; I will not tell you what they made me do. It was so horrible that is still fills me with unimaginable feelings of pain, guilt, and regret every time I recall the incident." He muttered as if reliving said memory.

"I let time slowly destroy the memory as I moved on with my life...I guess while trying to forget about that part of my life I also forgot about my powers. If I think back now to when all of this started I could slap myself, because to this day I feel like a complete idiot for not seeing the signs earlier...I hope with all my soul you aren't too mad at us for not believing you or hate us for giving you this curse."

"It's okay Dad I'm not mad...and it's not anyone's fault for the way I was born, and don't worry about it, it's not like you can do anything about it. I'll try to ignore the ghosts the best I can!" I said while hugging my Dad as the loss of my mom and the pain I suffered through finally hit us both as we held each other in that hospital hallway.

We cried for a while when suddenly my Dad got up and said "Actually Dil, there is a way for me to help" confused at what he just said, I followed my Dad out of the hospital (I was still crying a bit over the loss of Mom) to a small pond they had presumably to make the grounds have a more homey feeling. My Dad took an old book that looked similar to a small bible out of his pocket.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't seal my powers completely...just the part of my powers that I can use as a weapon. Wards and other rituals on the other hand I can still pull off. Though they do seem to work, they are extremely weak and they consist of mostly basic stuff that any amateur could do with ease along with a few more tricks I didn't erase from my memory in case they could come in handy in a emergency. I did this in case you did in fact inherit my 'gift' though now, I see it as a curse...a taint in our bloodline." He said bitterly.

"I'm nowhere near as powerful as I used to be, but I should have enough power to do what I have in mind." With that he began chanting strange words that I didn't understand to himself in a deep, commanding voice that I only heard him use while preaching which was getting us all sorts of weird looks from furs.

Suddenly, he reached into the pond and took out a goldfish. I winced as I heard him snap its small neck. "I hate taking life but this was a necessary evil." Dad said when he saw my horrified and disgusted expression and with that said he began chanting again as the Goldfish's soul appeared in a white, bright light that began to creep out of its body and into the choker Dad had into his other hand. When the light disappeared into the choker, I thought Dad was going to stop but instead he was beginning to chant even louder and a dark purple aura started to surround him. I looked at the furs, expecting people to start to panic but all I saw were people staring at my Dad in curiosity. Some were just mumbling "crazy weirdo" and walking away (I guess I was the only one that could see this) before I turned back to my Dad just in time to see some of the purple aura flow into the choker.

When a bit was placed, my Dad stopped his chanting and collapsed with exhaustion. "That...should...do it" he said in between gasps while handing the choker to me. I held up the choker in the light and saw an eerie glow that was the same as my father's aura coming from the item that certainly wasn't there before. Its mere presence in my hands was causing my vision to blur and I became nauseous.

"Uh, Dad what did you do exactly and why do I feel funny?" I asked Dad as he slowly got his breath back.

"Oh yeah I should probably explain." Dad said while getting up shakily "Well son, I put the soul of the goldfish and some of my power into your mother's necklace. The point of this ritual was to make an item that greatly weakens your tie to the spiritual plane. Your soul is very powerful so I had to make the item just as powerful to limit your powers. Why you feel funny is because you're not used to being suppressed yet, but you'll eventually get used to it and feel nothing like I do."

"But DAD!" I whined. "Being able to talk to spirits is a part of me like any other of my qualities that makes me unique! I don't want it to go away even after all this stuff happened!" I started to sob like a child grieving over a lost friend. "I just want to be able to turn it off and on so I can be like a normal fur when the situation calls for it."

Dad picked me up and let me cry into his chest "Don't worry son I saw that coming, which is why I put a limiting spell on the necklace instead of using my power to seal yours. So If you wanted to be connected to the spiritual plane again, all you have to do is take off the limiter though you may have to wait for a few hours or even a day, depending how long you had on the choker for your powers to slowly go back to the way before after being suppressed for so long. Just be careful, don't misuse them for selfish intention and don't and I repeat DON'T mess with dangerous stuff or I will seal them in a heartbeat...is this clear Dil?"

I nodded and said. "Don't worry, I promise I won't do any of those things I'll be a good kitten!" There was a pause then Dad started to chuckle.

"Oh the irony! Your mother's choker is basically smothering your powers" That caused me to giggle like any other five year old even though my Dad's joke was horrible which caused my tears to quiet down which must have been my Dad's goal.

"That's pretty funny Dad!" I said still giggling at my Dad's joke. Dad shrugged his shoulders with a smile on his muzzle

"I try son...hey do you want to go for out for ice cream?" I looked at my Dad's watch before speaking.

"That's sounds awesome Dad! But it's like midnight and it's a school night. I thought I wasn't allowed to have sweets before bed?"

My Dad shrugged again and said, "I'll make tonight an exception because I think we both need a quick pick me up after all that's happened, especially when me and your mother treated you like a bad kitten for so long. I think I owe you a few...plus Helen just died and we have a funeral to go to so if that doesn't count as excuse to stay home from school I don't know what does!" As soon as he mentioned Mom we both became depressed again but before the mood was completely ruined Dad picked me up and placed me on his shoulders which caused me to giggle hysterically after I got over my surprise which earned us a few odd looks from passing furs, like we cared.

"To the ice cream shop!" My Dad said chuckling at my reaction.

"Yay I can't wait till we get there! I want chocolate and strawberry and..." I said, excitedly counting the flavors with my fingers.

"Slow down kitten we have to get there first!" Dad said, still chuckling as I blushed slightly while I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly

"Right...sorry Dad."

"No problem" replied Dad

"Hey Daddy, I have a question?" I asked after thinking for a minute

"Yeah what is it kitten?" My dad replied before looking up at my face

"What's irony?" I asked him, tilting my head with the classic childlike curiosity which caused my Dad to nearly drop me from laughing so hard. "Dad what's so funny...come on Dad tell me!" I said while mock pounding on his head as we started to once again walk to our destination with my Dad still laughing like a lunatic.

...

The next week after my Mom's funeral I went back to school. At recess, some of the other furs started to tease me about my Mom's necklace which I hadn't taken off since my Dad gave it to me. They told me it made me look like a girl and when I told them it was from my Mom they laughed at me and called me a 'mama's boy' and before I could explain that my mother died they grabbed my necklace, yanking it off of me and played monkey in the middle by tossing it to each other while still calling me 'mama's boy'.

I was ready to explode in a frenzy of claws and tears when I heard a voice call out "Hey! You guys pick on someone your own size! Let's see how you do when the numbers are close to even!" Then one of the bullies (The one who was holding my necklace at that time) was tackled to the ground by a flash of brown fur and was punched in the face by the brown wolf on his chest. After I grabbed the necklace that started to roll away when the bully was tackled I put it back on my neck. After having it back around me, I turned to see the bullies now beating up the wolf that was helping me.

"Hey! Three against on isn't fair!" I said, not using my claws as I punched away one of the bullies from the brown furred wolf. Taking advantage of the distraction, the brown furred wolf tackled one of the bullies and started to punch on the bully that remained uninjured from the fight. The other one who was nursing a bloody nose ran away crying, presumably to find a teacher. After a few minutes (It was a really big playground) of fighting with the other two and winning, four teachers came and split us up. After giving us a stern lecture they sent us to the principal, all of us nursing some kind of injury.

During the walk, I walked up to the brown furred wolf and tapped him on the shoulder. "Thanks for rescuing me back there...I'm sorry you got in trouble...where did you learn to fight like that?"

The brown furred wolf turned around and I got to see his face which was a calm but bored expression, like he was used to getting sent to the principal's office when the other furs were bawling their eyes out, knowing they would get in trouble with their parents. I recognized him as the wolf that recently moved here a few days ago. Usually he shot hoops by himself next to the spot I was getting bullied.

"It's OK and no need to feel sorry, I just did what I thought was right so no need to thank me. And my grandfather taught me to some of the stuff that I did back there, he was in the military!" He said with pride while pointing to his dog tags around his neck that looked way too big for him. His expression then turned to one of frustration and anger. "I hate it when other furs like that tease and bully other furs because they are a bit different...I used to go through the same thing at my other school and got into a lot of fights. That's why I moved here to hopefully get away from all that...but I guess butt faces like that are here too." I giggled at his insult to the other kids.

"Thanks for the assist...umm wait what's your name?" I asked while a blush formed on my cheeks. It was embarrassing that I didn't ask sooner. The brown wolf giggled after seeing my blush.

"It's Benedict but please call me Ben if you don't want to make me mad...what's yours?"

"Wouldn't dream of it...names Dillon but please call me Dil...I only allow friends and family call me Dil so can I call you my friend?" Ben smiled

"Yeah sure Dil you seem pretty cool...by the way is that a Transformers shirt?" Before I could answer yes and question him further on the subject we were shushed by the teachers that were escorting us to the office. We both mouthed 'talk more later' and nodded, then rushed to the group that we were beginning to fall away from and into the principal's office...I shivered when I pictured my father's reaction, he wasn't going to be happy about all this.