The Moon, a popular nightclub that supported the nightlife of North Tek. The single room club was cold and dark, but a light blue haze hung in the air, enchanting the atmosphere with a sense of hearth. Tables that reached chest height were scattered throughout the room, which was divided into an upper tier, which housed the bar and tables, and the lower tier comprised of a dance floor with lit tiles and a stage just beside it. An unoccupied microphone stood alone on the stage, along with a pair of guitars and a drumset. The eery silence was offset by flashing lights and music playing at a diminished volume.

“Craika...” Relisia muttered once again, slowly sliding across the marble floor, her hindclaws scratching against it’s surface gently. Strewn all about the club were bodies, some of club patrons disregarding the previous night’s curfew, some of the club’s employees. The sight of a waiter, dressed in a red vest and white shirt, with a bullet in betwixt the eyes, sickened Relisia with worry. “Damn!” She tensed visibly, casting glances around the room nervously, her eyes shifting from face to face, searching for any sign of her cousin.

“Relisia, calm d-“ D tried to say. “Zelester!?” she shouted. A few moments passed in silence, before a singular voice, deep and forbidding rose from the darkness.

“R... Relisia?”said this voice. A hekshanian with deep red brown fur and a head of long blonde hair emerged from beneath a table, a beer tap held in his right hand. “Relisia! Holy shit!” Zelestar said whilst dropping the wooden tap, as it splintered on the floor. He nearly dove across the gap separating him and Relisia, embracing her wildly, nearly a tearing. Relisia returned the gesture, patting his back and gripping cloth in her clenched fists. “Oh shit... you’re ok... Holy shit...” Zelester kept repeating, Relisia’s teary eyes dug into his chest. He swayed from side to side, as Relisia mumbled thanks and prayers into his breast.

“D? That you?” Zelester said, looking up at the stranger who had accompanied his cousin. “It is you.” He held out a hand. D approached and shook heartily with both hands. He’d known Zelester for a long time, but they had had their differences in the past. At the moment, however, simple dislike of one’s presence was no grounds for hostility. D faked another smile and shook Zelester’s hand forcefully. “‘S good to see you’re alright, Zel.” D looked around the room, a sudden question rising in him. “How’d you survive?” Zelester offered a harsh glare, but it softened within seconds of private thought. He tapped Relisia on the back, who slowly slid away from him and sat down on a stool beside him. Relisia sniffed, but regained her stoic composure rather quickly. Zelester sat beside her, his extremely tall figure shadowing the six foot woman.

“It’s a long story.” He tapped Relisia’s shoulder. “Smoke?” She dug into her shirt pocket and drew the pack of cigarettes she usually carried. She popped one free and handed it to Zelester, who placed it in between his lips. He felt at his own shirt pocket and took out a small, silver lighter. He cupped his hands and lit the cigarette, puffing once. Sighing, he began to tell his story. “I was sitting at home last night around six, listening to the radio like I do when I’m off work. I get a call, boss says we’re short staffed, so I need to head in for overtime or I’ll lose my job. Real nice, yeah?” He took a puff and exhaled. His chest drooped and his elbows rested upon his knees. “So I get all spiffed up and come in. Just as I’m about to head out the door, I hear the message on the radio.’Stay indoors, don’t go to work, etc.’ Well, I get another call from the boss, and he says ignore the mayor, because the customers are, too. What could I do?” The fumes from his cigarette rose into the blue haze like a serpent. “I come in, and it’s a regular day. A couple hours later, it’s like eight or something, there’s this huge bang at the door. Everyone stops dead in their tracks, even the band, and the manager on staff goes to check the ruckus. He reassures a few patrons everything’s cool. All dressed up in his striped suit, he stands at the door. ‘Can I help you?’ he says, head close to the door. ‘Open this door now, sir. Rulerist police. You have three seconds to comply.’ You could tell it wasn’t a hekshanian. They were speaking in Uni and the accent was different. The manager starts to panic a bit and slides the door open. No sooner does he do this than his brains get splattered all over the floor.” With this last comment, Zelester chokes a little, disgusted by the mental imagery. “So all the humans, dressed in black and camo’s start going around the room, looking at ID’s and executing folks, one bullet to the head, down on their knees. Just bang... I freak and hide in the freezer.” A certain air of shame overcame him, as he chuckled weakly. “For twenty minutes I hear screams for mercy and gun shots. It’s quiet, then I hear them chatting again. I’m pretty good with Uni, so I hears them say, ‘Knock it down. We gotta check everywhere. Orders.’ About a half a second later, the freezer door gets knocked off it’s hinges and I’m getting drug out by my collar.” D crosses his arms and his weight shifts awkwardly. “They put the gun to my head, and I hear the hammer get drawn back.” He puffed once more, rubbing his face with disbelief. “I’m squinting, I know what’s coming. All of a sudden, the one human with more bars on his jacket shouts something, like ‘Forget him. Fall out.’ The gun clicks. I look up, and lock eyes with the human that was about to shoot me. He looks pale and like he’s about to be sick, swallowing hard. His arm twitches and staggers as the barrel leaves my forehead. I could give two shits at this point what the hell is happening. My heart feels like it’s gonna explode. They all leave, real quick like. So I’ve been hiding out here since last night...” Zelester said, completing his story. He leaned forward, holding his head in his hands, the cigarette in between his fingers still smoldering. Zelester sniffed with a hint of sorrow and wounded pride. “Couldn’t do nothin’... damnit.” He chuckled weakly once more, much like a person hiding their true feelings does.

“We’re glad you’re ok, Zel.” D said, reassuringly.

“Yeah... thanks.” Zelester sat up, staring at the ceiling, letting the tears welling up fall back down into his eyes. “Yeah...” He sighed heavily, repressing his emotions.

“Uhm... Zel?” Relisia asked, a pained expression written all over her. “What?” Zelester replied quizzically. He leaned over.

“My... folks. Did they...?” She said. Zelester’s eyes cast down to the floor. “No... c’mon. No.” she kept saying to herself. “Uh uh, no.” She stood up. Zelester quickly stood and his eyes cast to a corner of the room incidentally. Relisia saw him do this and quickly jogged over to the space Zelester instinctively looked to.

“Rel, no! Wait!” Zelester gave chase, but smashed his claws into a chair and tripped over, crashing his chin to the marble floor painfully. He winced and a small dribble of blood spilt out. “Damnit... Rel, wait!” It was too late, Relisia was already there. A slow cry rose up from her chest as her eyes fixated on the corpses of her adopted parents, each with a bullet in the forehead. The corpses were beside each other on the dance floor. Even in death, they held each other. Zelester got to his feet with a little help from D, who hoisted him up by his shoulders. Without waiting, D rushed to Relisia’s side. He gently grabbed her, trying to comfort her.

“Rel...” D whispered. He expected Relisia to calm and thank him for helping, but instead, he was greeted with anger for his efforts.

“Fuck you! Get away!” Relisia screeched, shoving D away from her, tears laying waste to her complexion. She charged D once again and grabbed ahold of his shirt, shaking him. D was shocked both by the strike and Relisia’s strength. “Fuck you all! God damnit! Damnit!” she cursed while pounding on D’s chest. There was nothing D could do to stop her onslaught short of striking her, but he dismissed the notion immediately. “Damn... Damn... why...WHY!?” she howled, clawing her hands across D’s shirt. He could feel the fabric rip. With one final burst of hatred and uncontrolled violence, Relisia shoved D into the floor, as the leathery fabric of his jacket made him slide for a few feet before coming to a stop. He looked up at Relisia, an enraged, tortured soul, with no where left to go and nothing left to lose. Her eyes were fogged over and D doubted she could see well, her long black hair and tears clouding her vision.

“Rel...” D said again, as Relisia prepared to strike him. Zelester, running from the spot where he’d fallen, grabbed Relisia’s arms and wrestled her way, keeping her still.

“Calm down, Relisia. Calm down.” He stared her in the eyes, as she huffed and cursed and screamed in anguish. “Relax, Relisia.” he said smoothly, as she finally slid back into reality. The struggle gone from her physique, Zelister let go, and Relisia slid to the floor, sitting on her knees, arms limp. She stared into the floor, tears still slipping out. Zelester sighed and rubbed his swollen chin and wiped some of the blood away from his lower lip. He bent down and offered a hand to D, who still lay dumbfounded upon the floor. “Need a hand?” D placed his hand in Zelester’s palm and their hands locked. D quickly stood, straightening his clothes.

“She going to be ok?” D whispered, nodding his head toward Relisia. His concern was genuine, even after the beating he’d suffered.

“I hope so... she lost her Mom and Dad once before. It’s got to be hard on her to deal with this a second time.” Zelester replied, casting a glance over his shoulder, Relisia still sitting upon the floor, sniffling quietly. “We can only hope.” D nodded. He let go of Zelester’s hand as the much taller hekshanian crossed to comfort his cousin. D pulled a stool up and leaned against the railing that bordered the dance floor below. He rubbed his temple in a mix of agitation, confusion, and disbelief. He still didn’t want to believe it was all actually happening. He sat in thought for a minute, as did the others.

This isn’t real. Can’t be happening. Impossible. No, not possible. This is still a dream, it’ll pass when someone wakes me up. It’ll pass, he thought.

Suddenly, a pain shot through his chest. He grunted loudly and then gasped for air. It felt as if a one ton block were sitting comfortably upon his chest. He panted for a moment, before plummeting from the stool into the marble floor. The chair clattered beside him. He squirmed painfully, his hoarse voice gasping for air to flow. Zelester rushed to his aid.

“Hey! Hey! D!” Zelester said, shaking D. He heard none of it, however. His hearing faded and all that was left was the blurred view of the world. He could feel the blood build up behind his eyes, the pressure on his chest increasing still. Reaching under his shirt, he felt at the bullet wound while he still could maintain coherent thought. His palms became slick and wet with warm liquid, and he could determine the wound had opened while Relisia clawed at his shirt. Another lance of pain struck him like a bolt of lightning, as he grimaced and tossed to one side. “D, man! Stick with me, here!” Zelester shouted, rolling D back over and lifting his shirt. “Shit...” he mumbled, before leaping over the bar and bringing back an entire roll of paper towel and club napkins. He held in his free hand a cork opener. “This is gonna hurt... just sit still.” he said, well aware D could hear none of it. A third lance of pain struck D, whose eyes rolled back in his head and promptly passed out. Wiping and sopping blood from D’s chest, Zelester took the cork opener. He felt at the source of the bleeding, a bullet wound, with the bullet still inside, he figured. He then took the cork opener and dug it into the wound. “Gotcha.” With a flick of the wrist, the slug popped out and the bleeding began to slow slightly. Zelester frantically stuffed D’s shirt with napkins and paper towels, before placing his hands over the wound for pressure and leaning forward for pressure. He stayed that way for two minutes, the seconds counted as beats of his heart that echoed in his brain.

Oh shit, is he breathing... gotta remember... Zelester thought to himself as he placed one of his giant ears besides D’s mouth. A gentle cough followed by a series of staggered breaths indicated Zelester had succeeded. He sat back and blinked harshly, wiping the stink from his brow. He tossed aside the cork opener and lay back, his heart beating dangerously fast once more. He breathed slowly and steadily, and the ache finally disappeared from his chest. “Whoo...” he moaned. Relisia approached D on hands and knees, sitting over him.

“Is he going to be ok?” she asked in an innocent tone of voice, still sniffling lightly. All Zelester could do was shake his head in a positive fashion, before rolling onto his stomach and standing again. He was still panting.

“Y...yeah. Give him some time. Ah man, I need to use the can. I feel ill” Zelester began to walk away. “Don’t go nowhere.” As soon as he disappeared from sight, Relisia took D’s hand and began to speak to him, aware he couldn’t hear her. It was mite culture to talk to people in their sleep, or so Relisia read in the books. She thought to give it a try.

“Sorry, D. I’m so sorry for all of this. All you wanted to do was help me... make me feel more at ease. So I go and attack you.” She patted the back of his hand. “Don’t hate me for it. It’s just... these past few years have been nothing but death and sadness.” She said it indignantly, chuckling weakly much like Zelester. “Mom and Dad died in that car accident...” She sucked the tears back. “Me and Jenna were nine. I can still remember it like it just happened yesterday, as sick as that is. We were playing out on the sidewalk, the fire hydrants were always nice in the summer, kind of like sprinklers. We hadn’t had any rain for a while, either, so it was dry out that day. Dad needed to go to the grocery store, and told us he wanted to drive the car, even though the store was only two blocks away. He asked us if we wanted to go with, but we were already having fun... so we said no. You know how kids are. Mom came out and decided to go with him, she needed a few things, too, and didn’t have a list. Dad said sure, so they left us with Zel, who was eighteen, then. He was a great babysitter. The day drug on, and it started to get late, but we didn’t hear a thing from them. We assumed they just went gambling or something, they both were a little addicted to the cards and the races.” Relisia tried not to feel nostalgia, bordering on it meant more suffering. “We couldn’t sleep that well that night. In the morning, Zel called in sick for school and work, so he could take care of us. Around noon, a man in a blue uniform came to the door. I saw his face, before Jenna distracted me. It was solemn, cold, unfeeling. I left, thinking nothing of it, then. A little while later, we found Zel sitting on the couch, upset about something. He got the two of us in the room and sat us down. He broke the news quick, which was probably better for us in the long run. We thought he was joking, he always joked with us when he babysat.” she scooted closer to D, her knees placed against his short ribs. “But he wasn’t. We could tell by his face, his eyes. Some people say kids are ignorant, but they know more than they should. They can read your mind, there’s no fooling them. We knew. And we couldn’t believe it. We were sad, angry, god knows. It’s a miracle Zel held himself together. Our parents were the most family he’d ever had... The funeral was a week later.” Relisia paused, sickened by the memories. She inched even closer. “That’s kind of when things started going bad, you probably know. That was when I met you.” She laughed with a cruel smirk, but one that indicated jest. “You were always trying to get me away from the shit I did, but in the end, you caved, too. I don’t know... we never really talked about much, but we were always friends... always.” She started to cry again. “The drugs... the cigarettes, the drinking. School... And Jenna...” she trailed off. “I lost that innocence the second I saw that look on Zel’s face. The second I knew things would never be the same. And I hated it... I felt hate for the first time... I wish it never happened, none of this.” She looked around, the tears flowing more freely, her voice trembling. “None of it.”

“You can’t leave me... not like mom and dad, not like Anne and Feei... not like Jenna... you can’t leave me yet.” She leaned over and sobbed into D’s shirt, quietly falling asleep from the emotion overwhelming her. “I won’t let you, D. I won’t let you.”