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Shalbriri

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. Carefully and quietly, Eiry floated out of the house and onto the lawn of the backyard. He knew he wasn't supposed to go here by himself, especially with Edgar still up and about, but Eiry had to. He carefully fingered the plastic Tupperware box clasped tightly in his hands and glanced up to the tree house. Just last Monday, he had slipped out too. On his excursions, he felt like something was watching him. So he waited and then called out for the thing to come out.

So slowly, it came.

Honestly, Eiry didn't know what it was, but he did know that he had to keep it a secret from the rest of the family. They already had so many pets, they couldn't possibly want one more. There was Munchies and Beau and him and Riv. He bit his lip softly, tilting his head as he maneuvered himself under the tree house. It reminded him of what Beauregard is, but he didn't have a name for it. It told him that its name was "Shalbriri".

Climbing up the ladder to the top of the tree house, Eiry pulled himself through the trapdoor and smiled, "Hullo, Shalbriri. Hungry?"

Before him was a strange looking creature. It looked like it was the young lovechild between a demon and a sheep, and it didn't look particularly "fluffy". Which is ironic considering it's fleecy white coat. Turning to greet the raevan, the demon-winged lamb "Baa-ed" balefully and trotted over. Grinning, Eiry gathered the demon-winged lamb into his arms and petted it fleecy head.

"I brought some celery," Eiry said happily, "I didn't know what you liked, Shalbriri, so I just brought some green things."

The lamb watched as Eiry opened the Tupperware with a plastic pop and immediately started eating all the vegetables. Shalbriri didn't mind Eiry's petting hand and it contented itself with eating.

"We have to keep you a secret," Eiry was saying, "Isi might send you away if he finds out about you.".

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The News...

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. When Isi entered the kitchen and saw Aphismet staring blankly at his half-eaten breakfast, unmoving and frighteningly quiet, he knew that something had to be wrong. He didn't realize the intensity of the situation until he hobbled close and discovered what Aphi had been reading in the newspaper. Isi had given a startled gasp, before thought of comforting his brother. Then he realized that, in this kind of situation, Isi would want to be left alone. Maybe that's what Aphi wanted. Slowly turning back around, Isi left to go to his room.

Chloe was...Missing? Missing. She was gone. Nobody knew where she was. Where was she? Why? What happened? Where was his friend?

Chloe...

All Isi could think about was her smile and the way she had been in the orphanage...So alone, so sad, so sweet...

Pausing for a moment in the hallway, Isi made sure no one was watching before he weakly leaned on the wall and bit his hand. Choking back a sound, he forced the worry away from his eyes and he scowled bitterly. He couldn't make a sound, he couldn't let anyone know how he felt. He had to be strong, for the other's sake...

For Aphismet. .

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Causatum

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. Isi stood by his bedside, leaning on his forearm crutches as he meticulously folded his warm fresh laundry. It was afternoon, "brillig" as Lewis Carol would describe it and the air outside was golden and crisp. The sun still drifted high in the sky and made Isi's transparent curtains resemble veils of dripping honey. There was nothing but a lazy breeze that drifted by outside and playfully fondled the wind chime hanging just outside Isi's bedroom window on the wrap around porch.

The dim sound alerted Isi's attentions from the dead air space that the boy's distracted mind had wandered into and he glanced outside the see-through fabric curtains. It took some effort with the thin neck brace that he had been forced to wear and it made Isi grit his teeth. Where is he? Isi thought aimlessly as he scanned the backyard. "Oh, there he is.

Eiry was floating around outside, working on a new project of his that involved sticks and rubberbands. Isi could see that all the sticks Eiry collected had the potential of being "eaten", but Eiry had to restrain himself from making a midday snack out of his work. Isi was certain that it would lead to no good, but he simply didn't have the energy to deal with Eiry. Besides, the raevan looked happy and that was the most that Isi could hope for right now. Eiry was distracted from thinking about everything that just happened and that was good. Isi didn't want his young raevan to dwell on...

Edgar...Himself...Aphismet...Chloe...

Isi winced visibly and his fingers let the folded fabric of the shirt he was folding come loose. Gritting his teeth hard, Isi dropped the shirt back into the white plastic hamper and clutched at his stomach. It twisted and turned with worry. In fact, Isi couldn't even describe the terrible feeling. He just felt like he wanted to lie down in a ball on the floor and stay there. In fact, Isi couldn't remember the last time he felt like this. Well, certainly the night of Aphismet's possession, but before that... He had always acted numb to reality. He had always acted like he was better than it, that he knew it's tricks inside and out, like the back of his hand. Reality had stolen his parents from his at a young age, so Isi had thought that that was the worst it could do to him. There was nothing else that reality could possibly do to him, besides his parents and his secret, that could scare him so that his bone marrow froze and his heat trembled at the thought of the future.

...Until Aphismet.

When that happened, Isi wasn't quite sure how to handle reality. It all just hit him as if Aphismet's possessed form was the embodiment of reality itself come back to haunt him. It came and throttled him, chortling terribly, "You think you can hide from me? You foolish boy! I'm as real as Chloe's disappearance, as real as these hands about your throat, as real as the loss of your last family member, and as REAL your death!" Then that's when Isi realized that he wasn't as strong as he thought he was. He was weak. Very weak, indeed, and very fragile. He was so young.

Isi tried to refold the shirt he had dropped and he dug his fingers into the cloth suddenly, yearning for the touch of a caring hand, and that's when he released a violent hiccup.

Surprised by the sound that burst from his own throat, Isi painfully turned his whole body to check that no one was behind the door. He didn't want anyone to see. Nobody must know of this sudden weakness! He had to shut the door on everyone and make sure that none of them came within him. They would see the cracks of his breaking mask and then he wouldn't be able to protect them any longer. He couldn't be the big brother, the wise friend, the rock against the waves, if he left that mental door ajar. A long time ago he had locked it and thrown away the key. These sudden events felt as if someone had banged loudly against a window a cracked it's surface. Isi felt terrified, as if his mental door were going to be broken down by a battering ram at any moment. Turning back, Isi brought the cloth up to his face and choked out another sound that was muffled by the denseness of the shirt.

Reality...Reality scared him.

Isi was about to release another sound, pressing his mouth into the fabric of the t-shirt as if he were pressing his face into the comforting shoulder of a parent, when suddenly a pair of chill soft arms wrapped around him. Isi's entire body gave a surprised jolt and he lifted his face from the fabric to see...

...Young Eiry holding him gently to his shoulder.

"Eiry," Isi gulped, trying hastily to piece himself back together, "How did you...?"

The minty green raevan leaned his chin on Isi's head and weaved his fingers into his guardian's hair. The warmth of Isi's body collided with the tremble of Isi's limbs, and Eiry simply held him as if he were holding a breaking piece of pottery together with his own arms. So quietly, like a hoarse whisper through the leaves, Eirdirsceol replied:

"I came through the door."

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Failure

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. Isi pulled into the rocky part of the driveway to the Delaran home, his mouth practically melting off his face with a disappointed frown. The crunch of the rubber tires of the blue scooter seemed louder than usual. Perhaps it was the sound echoing and bouncing off the dense fog. The boy gave a sigh, which seemed louder, too. They had been searching all day for Chloe or signs or clues to where the missing woman could be, but they found nothing. Even with Eiry's ability to step through walls, they had found nothing in the neighboring towns.

They had failed.

With the twist of his wrist, the boy slowed the scooter to a stop and he squeezed his arms slightly. Eiry had his arms tightly gripped around his waist and Isi wanted him to let go. It was time for them to give up, put up their helmets and call it quits.

At the squeeze of the arms around his, Eiry slowly undid his fingers from the death grip he had around Isi's waist and he carefully peeled himself from the back of the boy. Floating off and away from the automobile he had come to tolerate, Eiry fixed his ribbon and waited for Isi as he maneuvered the scooter into the shed. Usually Isi left the scooter outside so they could use it for the next morning, but today was different.

"Why?" asked Eiry, moving closer to Isi so he could tilt his head and inspect the younger boy's countenance. "Don't we continue our search for Mum tomorrow?"

Isi shook his head as he passed under the doorway. "No, Eiry," he replied in a sagging lifeless voice, "We don't."

"Why not?"

Isi kicked the kickstand out so the bike stood on its own. Then he moved his crutches out from the back and slipped them underneath his arms, "We're done, Eiry. There's nothing more we can do. We've searched all over the place and there's still no sign of Chloe. We're done."

Eiry felt his face sag into a frown as well, feeling the claws of confusion and disappointment rake at the edges of his mouth, "What can we do now?"

Isi hobbled over and he cast his grey eyes to connect with Eiry's red orbs. He shook his head sadly and began walking to the house where the ghost of the young messenger paced the porch. "All we can do now is help ourselves, help Aphismet and Rivener, and pray." With the help of his crutches, Isi ascended the steps of the porch, passed the ghost who stared at him blandly as he passed by, and disappeared into the house. He was defeated.

Eiry turned out and watched the horizon, carefully knitting his brows in concern and confusion.

"Pray...?"
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Who Ya Gunna Call?

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.Finally having extracted the origin of the kikimora, Eiry and Isi venture to Mouse Pachinkorelli's house to return the "lost lamb". What's this? Paranormal activity in the Pachinkorelli's residence? Who Ya Gunna Call? Isi and Eiry, of course!.

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Garish

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.Isi twitched in his sleep, his lip curling up in a sneer and then his chest jumped with a startled gasp. With the choke of a whimper, Isi tossed his sweaty head to the side and tightened his entire body.

There was a doctor's voice. "I'm..."

He was running. Running? No, that was impossible. "Sorry" But he was, he was running. Isi was trying to get away from a fire and it licked at his feet, melting the soles of his shoes to the smoldering ground. He was trying to get his feet unstuck, "But" pulling with all his might until suddenly faceless bodies fell onto the ceiling. They withered and writhed, shrieking and dripping fire over Isi's shoulders. "Your" He shivered and tried to reach for them. They were reaching for him. They were begging. They were asking for help, but Isi couldn't remember who they were "Son". Then the fire licked their faces and the ash peeled away to reveal a brown-haired Chloe, a giggling Eiry, an un-nerved Rivener and a mouth-less Roux.

"His legs."

Isi called out to Roux and asked him something. But the icy raevan shook his head and melted into the flame. "It" Isi gasped and reached for Eiry, Rivener and Chloe, but they wisped into ashes before he could reach him. Then suddenly a body stumbled out form one of the burning corridors. It was Edgar. "Will" He reached for Isi's neck and he let his head tilt back. With a sickening squelch, the ghost's head snapped back and revealed a gaping hungry mouth with razor-sharp teeth. Isi tried to turn and run away from the horror but his shoes were melted to the ground. "Lead" The fire was leaping all around them. Was that fire?

The mouth snapped and bit and it caught Isi's flailing arm. The boy shrieked as he felt his arm get sucked into the slimy esophagus of the terrifying being. He tried to pull his arm out but each time he tried, the teeth dug deeper into his flesh. Isi shrieked for Aphi. "To"

Then the head came snapping forward and to Isi's horror it was not Edgar's face at all. It was the face of his brother, white hair wild and alive and eyes grinning with Edgar's mad desire. "An" With a jerk, Isi tried to pull his arm from the hungry neck of the strange terrifying being with Aphi's face. Aphi's arms slithered around his body in a deadly embrace and he could hear whispering words being implanted in his ear, "Don't worry, brother, I've got you. I'm here, Isi. I'm here..."

Then suddenly Isi was falling. He stared back up at a window that careened and toppled into the sky above with Aphismet's face pressed against the glass. Isi tried to climb his way up, but it was useless. He fell into the ground with a sicking crunch and he felt "I'm Sorry" his legs crumble underneath him. He fell to the side and began shrieking with pain, clawing into the ground and burying his face into the grass to wipe his tears. Forcing himself to glance at his legs, Isi gasped when he saw them bent like a cartoon accordion. He couldn't get up. He couldn't walk. Isi called for help. But the words became choked in his throat and his head snapped back to reveal another hungry mouth. He tried to put his head back on but he peeled away from himself and he was left like "There's" an unwanted skin while another being stepped out of him. It was him. But younger. It was a child form of Isi. He grinned maliciously and walked away into Aphismet's arms. Then turned to dust.

"Nothing we can do."

Isi violently jolted himself awake and he sprung up from the bed, breathing hard. His hear was pounding furiously, as if that little childlike version of him was demanding to break out from his chest. Slapping a hand over his heart, as if to keep it inside, Isi tried to steady his breathing. He felt a hot moisture in his eyes but he didn't let it take over. He wouldn't let it. Wiping sweaty bangs from his sticky forehead, Isi let himself lay back in bed and he tried to calm down.

But he just lay there. Too afraid to close his eyes, glance in another direction, call for help, or even move, just in case that the nightmare wasn't over.

This was the fourth night in a row. .

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Trick or Treat!

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. If it wasn't for Percy, the ghost of a youthful delivery man, Isi wouldn't have known that there was a gift left by the mailman on their porch steps. At the time, Isi was relaxing in the couch of the living room, trying to close his eyes and get some shuteye. While good dead sleep often eluded him, nightmares never seemed to miss him. He was just letting himself drift off when Eiry's voice cackled in his ghastly way.

Oh...Hell.

Reluctantly snapping his eyes open, Isi looked about and lifted himself from the plush pillows. He was surprised to see a ghostly visage gazing down at him, and Isi gave a startled jolt with his entire body. "Percy!" he gasped, "What is it?"

The young mailman of a ghost, pointed towards the front door. The gesture made his being wisp a little, as if he were made of delicate sensitive sea foam. "A package has been left on your porch step, Master Isikoro."

Isi fixed himself so he was in an upright position. "I didn't order anything...I don't think Aphi did either...Hey, Eiry!"

The minty raevan looked over from where he was stationed in his cardboard box, equipped with his lantern and Edgar Allen Poe book. "Yes?"

"Could you go get whatever is on the porch?" Isi asked, watching as Percy strode away, his duty done, so he could resume his position as watch guard on the place of his death.

Eiry nodded his head and he lifted himself up from the box like a balloon. With the glide of his body and the occasional flutter of his healed wings (they had finally healed completely and fully from the last of Edgar's attack and he was able to use them without hindrance). Passing through the door, not even bothering to open it, Eiry soon reappeared with a orange and green bag clutched tightly in his hands. Eiry's head was bent over the top, trying to peer inside it with curious eyes. "It's a gift," he announced.



"From who?" questioned Isi as he leaned himself up on his elbows.

"Alex to me and you." Eiry replied as he floated over to his box. Then as an afterthought, Eiry added, "She spelled my name wrong."

"Oh." Isi let himself slide back down into the couch, "You can have it, Eiry. That's nice...For Alex to have sent us something. That's very thoughtful...We'll have to do something for her."

"Okay!" Eiry piped. Then he settled himself down and continued his intense study of the mysterious gift. "Opens on...Halloween..."

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