The Promise -- Chapter One -- by Yvonne Lozano

leon knocked on the door to charles room.

"yo, charlie" he started, "you up?"

he scratched his dark skin under his work shirt; which was alot like an army jacket.

"charlie?" he called again. there was a mumble, a lach being undone, and the sound of the door rusttling open. a man, in mid-twnties, shorter then leon with dark brown hair and matel green eye's wearing the same clothes as leon except without the shirt appeared at the threshold.

"you know how hard it is to catch a break, let alone sleep, and so far, i've had neither." he snapped half asleep.

"i know, i know, your suposed to have a week off from all those missions. that's why i've come here" leon reached into his pocket and pulled out two bus tickets. "i've got these for you" you smiled.

"oh leon" charlie yawned and grumbled, "i want sleep. not a vacation. it would be nice, yes, but all i want is sleep"

leon chuckled.

"what's so funny?"
"you can't refuse this trip" leon gave a wide grin, showing his pearl white teeth.

"says who?" charlie shappend.

"says the location" leon replied cooly.

he handed charlie the tickets and charlie studied them grudgedly. soon his face was swept away of any emotion except fondness. as if an old memory had returned.

"leon... i... can't"

"and why not?" he fisted his hand and pulled them to his hips, "really, when was the last time you've been to calowic town?"

"not... since... the day we left"
"and how long ago was taht?"

"...'bout... five years..."

"exactly! now, hurry, pack your things, the bus leaves in just two hours"

"i can't"
"why not? i bet keya would be happy to see you charlie"

"i know... that's why i can't go" charlie turned to close the door. "wait" leon stopped the door with his foot and forearm, "are you saying the reason you've avoided going back home was because of keya?"
"i just don't know how to tell her"
"tell her what?"
"that i broke the promise" with that he shut the door.

the lach was bolted again.
"yeah... well... if i was in your position-"
"you not. so just go away" both of them talked through the door.
"i'm just saying, i'd find a way"
leon left.
charlie slumped down against the door, staring at the tickets in his hands.

i know i should. he thought to himself. an image flashed before his eyes and he thought again. i had a dream, that calowic was burned down.... another mage flashed again. i... i ... i should tell her... it's been five years, i'm sure she'll understand... im sure.... pluse... i need to check up on old ivan, see how that damn cat is doing.

he smiled, pleased with his rashenalsation.

***

"i told you, you couldn't refuse this tirp" leon poked charlie in the ribs, laughing.
charlie mumbled and rolled his head against the bus window.
"just let me sleep"
"i just wanna say, i think this will be a good trip"
leon folded his arms behind his head.
"half the trips getting there"
"it's only six hours"
"how long have we been riding?"
"50 minutes"
charlie groaned.

***

they stopped at The Square and departed off the bus.
"wow! it feels good to be home, doesn't it?"
leon chimed as he passed a look to all the old buildings, recalling lost memories.

"...yeah..." charlie agreed.

"looks just like i remember it" he added.

"charlie?" a sweet voice rasped, "is that you?"
a young girl in her early twenties rocked shyly on her heels.
"key?" he asked.
she smiled.

"keya!" leon bellowed. "it's great to see you! you look lovely!"

"thank you" she sweetly whispered.

"ye-ah" charlie agreed, unable to take his eyes off her. she looked the same as when he left. gorgeous!

she had hair like a black moon and eye's like white saphire. she looked at him and her eye's softened. "come" she said "i'll show you guys your rooms"
she turned to leave but waited for them to follow.

"you planned this?" charlie pressed leon as they start to walk.

"no comment" leon grinned.

charlie gave a hard sigh.

after they ate dinner and chatted for a while, leon headed for bed and left keya and charlie alone.

silence was shared untill charlie asked, "where's ivan?"

"around" she held her smile.

"there's something you want to tell me isn't there?" she asked.

"um... yeah..." he mumbled.

"are you?"
"am i what?" he said nervously.

"gonna tell me" she passed a reassuring smile. he tried to smile back.

"well... you know, that-that-" he took a deep sigh. he leaned back father against the couch. he gazed across the room trying to find words.

a picture of keya and charlie at age eight still hanged in it's same spot from when he left. the brown, soft couch charlie sat on still laid in the same spot it had laid in when he left. the chairs in the room, the shelves, the coffee table, everything, unchanged from the day he left.

he took a deep sigh.

"that promise i made to you-five years ago."

she nodded, still smiling.

"i... dont think, i love you like i did back then anymore"
her smiled faded and his face dropped.

"you promised" she mumbled.

"i know! but you don't understand-" he nearly jumped out of his seat pleading.

"you promised" she mumbled again.

"it was five years ago!"

"YOU PROMISED!" she roared.

he shrivlef back into his seat on the soft couch as keya stood.

fire filled her eyes. as she stepped toward him she seemed to grow and the room seemed to shrink. the door leading to the kitchen slanted inward. the picures on the walls and the shelves were sucked away into the walls. the coffee table and the couch along with all other things sank into the floor. soon, it was just a fifty foot tall keya, a small room and charlie crumbling under it all.

"YOU UPROMISED!" she roard again.

"charlie!" leon called, "charlie!"

"leon?" charlie mumbled.

"wake up"

"i'm up, im up" charlie rubbed his eyes. he was back on the bus with leon and all the other passengers. sunset was setting in the distance. he yawned.

"what is it?" charlie asked leon, some what relieved.
leon was not smiling, and instead just nodded to the window.

charlie looked.

black sooted rubbles of burnt down houses and body limbs were torn about in every direction. the bus had stopped. "what the hell" charlie gasped.

all passengers were peering out the window gasping and asking questions like charlie.

"welcome to calowic town" leon said painfully with a sense of bitterness.

charlie's eyes grew wide and glassed over with tears as he stared out the window. also growing angry.

-THREE DAYS EARLIER: KEYA AND IVAN: DAY ONE-

a phone rang in the middle of the night. ivan meowed repeatedly for keya to wake up. she groaned and turned over. ivan sighed in a way all cats do. he jumped on the bed then on the dresser table near the bed where the phone was. ivan pawed the phone off the reciever.

"hello?" came leons voice.

ivan meowed.

"ivan?"

he meowed again.

"HEEY!! ivan!! how are you doing?! i've missed you!" he laughed into the his side of the reciever.

Ivan purred at leons voice.
"i know it's kinda late, but i need to talk to keya, she there? is she awake?"
ivan meowed.

"well, it's about charlie"
ivan gave a slight half meow, a "mew" kind of a sound. high pitched in a way.

"well he's about to get a week off, i was wondering if it was alright that we came down there to, you know, visit" ivan imagined leon with that big smile of his, leon was just about always smiling.

ivan meowed once again then turned and jumped ..a. she batted him away and groaned.

ivan pawed around her to try and find an arm or a leg, when he found one he attacked it. she pushed him away but he only came back.

she sat up.

"what do you want?" she mumbled.

ivan trotted back to the phone.

"hello?" keya said half asleep.

"hey! keya! long time!"
"leon?"

"YEP!"

"HEY!" she was awake now.

"my god, it's been, what? five years?"
"oh yeah" he agreed.

"well what is it? how's charlie?"

leon explained what he wanted to do.
of course, keya agreed. with that they hung up the phone, and keya went back to sleep, with ivan curled up under her arm.

-DAY TWO-

keya set a bowl of wet cat food on the ground for ivan. she sat herself at the kitchen table with her own plate of sunny side up eggs and bacon.

when ivan finished he jumped up on the table and settled himself down, at a distance from keya's food. she taught him when he was little, and when he would jump up and nipp at her food, to stay away while she ate. if he did so, he usualy got a piece of what ever she was eating. after she was almost done she took a piece of her egg and held it out for ivan, he 'mewed' and took it in. delicous. he was carefull not to bite her fingers when he ate from her hand. he detested hurting her in anyway. keya was fair to him, always, she only punished him when he did wrong. once, when he was a kitten and wanted to play around he wrestled with her hand. but he took it too far when he bit down too hard and made her bleed. she smacked him and licked her wound. at first he was angry with her for hitting him, but then he saw the blood from where he bit her, and he understood. of couse, he had too much pride to go to her and apoligize by licking her wound for her, so instead he just gazed around the room and crouched down lazily.
but when he did things right, like come to her when she called, she praised him. ivan truely loved keya, she was the best master he could have ever wanted. ivan yawned and jumped down to her lap. she stroked him and gave him another piece of egg, then a piece of bacon. when she was done, she picked him up and put him on her shoulder. ivan slung his front paws out while he rested his back paws on her right arm. keya yawned too as she put her plate away in the sink.

11 o'clock.

ivan rested on the couch while he waited for keya to return home from work. growing bored he jumped down and trotted out the little cat door keya put in herself just for him. he streched on the pourch and rubbed against the pillar as a newspaper boy rode by. through out the day he basked himself in the sun or prounced around other cats(mostly females).

the sun began to set, keya had taught ivan to come in when it was getting dark. he retraced his steps all the way back to the cat door. keya was home and greeted him with a warm smile and a "hey ivan!"

she picked him up and kissed him on the top of his head, with that she set him down saying his food was ready if he was hungry and then she lached the cat door. they watched tv together, ivan was happy just to to lay at keya's side.

9:30 pm.

keya settled in bed while ivan went to the kitchen for a snack. as he ate he sensed something wrong, something bad, the feeling ached him. worried, he trotted speedily back to keya, who was sleeping soundly already. he gave a relieved 'mew' and pushed the door closed like keya had taught him. he settled next to her, under her extended arm. the feeling remained gone untill midnight. a sound rustled out side a near by window. ivan stared momentarily then went to check it out.

nothing was there as far as he could see. he sniffed, an unfamilar smell resided by the window, almost as if, the smell wasn't leaking in from outside-in. worried almost to panic, he jumped to keya and clawed her awake.

"what is is?" she rubbed her eyes.

the rustling noise came again, but on the other side of the room by the open door.
i... thought i closed that ivan thought. ivan was now shaking, keya wrapped an arm around him to confort him. keya couldn't see it in the dark, but ivan could. a strange creature that hobbled on two legs, using it's arms as balance. it was near a corner. from what ivan could see, the creature looked about the room curiously, searching for something. when it looked right in their direction it stopped, and seemed as if it was smiling. keya also sensed the danger and began to shake, herself. ivan growled the way all cats do. keya knew to let go of ivan when he growled. she leaned over and turned on the light. the creature screeched and ran out the door into the darkness. keya curled her legs close to her and hugged herself. the creature wasn't gone, ivan could see that.

it was staring at them in the darkness. keya mustered up courage to go close the door. when the door clicked closed she sprinted back to the bed next to ivan. ivan 'mewed' again, then growled as the door handle jiggled. the door slowly creaked part way open. a laughing sounded behind the door then a rustling noise that faded into the distance.

-DAY THREE-

"charlie and leon are supposed to come today, maybe, they can do something." keya said to ivan, both of them still in bed. keya finally sighed and walked to the door. she hesitated then swung the door open, sprinting back to the bed. she grabbed her heart and breathe heavily in and out. "i dont know how much more i can take"

ivan meowed his agreement and worry.
slowly, keya stepped off the bed and walked to the hall. she glanced both ways, still shaking. nothing was there. both her and ivan scouted the area, all clear.
sitting at the kitchen table niether of them did anything. last night was a big scare for the both of them. niether of them were hungry or were in the mood to do anything. finally "i wonder how it got in, what ever it was" keya pondered. ivan laid down his head and released another cat sigh. keya scouted the house once again and found how it had gotten in. "sorry ivan, looks like i have to get rid of your cat door"

ivan trotted into the next room where keya held a broken lach in her hand. she lifted the cat door and fingered black soot that was scraped onto it. "i hope they come soon" keya said to herself more than to ivan. she looked at ivan, ivan cocked his head to the side then suddenly the hair on him bristled up and he hissed. keya looked down to see a black creature with yellow eyes poking it's head under the cat door flap smiling. she screamed. the creature grabbed her wrists and tried pulling them to it's mouth. she pulled away. slinging it across the room. it hit the wall. the little creature seemed to laugh and growl at the same time as it charged again at keya. keya jumped to grab something she could use to defend herself. as she tried to move she tripped. another chattering laugh escaped from the cat door. attached to her ankel another black sooted creature was pulling her to it's mouth. it smiled and laughed, showing it's evenly spaced out sharp teeth. it bit into her flesh, she screamed and kicked it. the other black soot roared an evil laugh as it grabbed hold of her hair. just then ivan jumped on it, clawing it, and hissing. keya kicked the creature on her leg off of her. Black Soot and ivan circled eachother. a scream from the house next door and simular laughing filled keya's ears. they weren't the only ones under attack. there were more of them, evading them. but why? Black Soot grabbed ahold of ivan bit into his shoulder blade. ivan screeched and tried to shake his attack off. keya grabbed a chair near the couch and smacked Black Soot down. she grabbed ivan and took off down the hall, finding a closet.

Blast Soot and the other little black creature banged on the door. ivan hissed and shot forward, scratching the door in an attempt to scare them away. they only laughed. the door began to crack and spinter. keya held her scream in. she grabbed ivan, pulling him close to her chest. she wrapped her arms tight around ivan so he couldn't escape. a little monster hand broke through the door and clawed keya's right leg. ivan pulled out of her grasped and bit the hand. there was a screech then silence. ivan growled, hair still bristling. the door handle jiggled, keya realized quickly what was happening and practically jumped for the handle. holding the door closed. the screeching and growling returned. along with laughing. another hand slipped in through the crack in the door and got keya's side. ivan bit that hand again and hissed. the house shook, and suddenly heat filled the closet. at one point, keya was forced to let go of the handle several times becuz it burned. the laughing stopped and Black soot and it's companion had left. even then, keya was scared nearly out of her mind to open the door. more crackling sounds were heard. keya almost screamed when she saw the flames at the roof of the closet. her house was on fire! she began to cry. she let go of the handle and leaned against the farthest corner of the closet, under a few shelves.

ivan laid in her lap and she gently stroked him. suddenly the door open and a large mass of Black Soots were apon them. keya finally let out a scream. then, fearing for ivan, she fought them. kicking, and punching. they mobbed her and ivan. the fire spread down the walls and burnt her sides, but she was too involved with the Black Soots to notice. one of the shelfs caught fire, it broke off the wall and fell down ..a's head. she clasped under it. ivan meowed desperately. she managed to mumble. more Black Soots came in. they pulled her hair and bit her flesh. blood began to splatter the walls. ivan jumped in and attacked them. they mobbed him, and he ran out of the closet, all followed.