To my brother, 

 I love you!

         PROLOGUE

        BANG! The glass crashes onto the floor, as I wince in pain. Derick's eyes are flooded with tears. "Donovan!" He yells, "I'm so scared." The fire burns my skin as I walk backwards- to more fire.

        "We're going to be fine!" Mom yelled out.

The flames crackled so loud I barely heard her. 

"Donovan?! Rachel?!" 

Dad!

I see the fur gleam through the fire. 

"ARGGH"

All of a sudden dad's gone! 

"HELP!"

Tentacles fly all over the fire, flying. 

"Get over here! Stay still!" The dametreon leader flings his giant tentacles and whacks me down, my world becoming blurry. The sounds drown out, but I still hear it.

The screams.

I try to get up, and the fire is gone.

The dameterons is gone.

My family is gone.

I still hold the necklace til today.

    Chapter 1

    Zachary

        "I'm telling you, it was so vivid! It was like- real!" My mom looks at me like I smell. I always have a different dream every day.

"You should stop playing that alien game," my mom said, " those games are destroying your brain!" 

"The aliens in my dream aren't green, and they don't have giant, black eyes! They were furry, with a striped tail! I was one of them!"

But then I wish I hadn't said it. I was one of the aliens, but I-I di-

"Just- eat your cereal, you're gonna' be late!"

I snapped out into real life, but I think I was in real life.

"Look," my mom said as she dumped her milk into her cereal, " You're scaring me!"

"Hey sis! Woke up early?" It was aunt Melana. 

"I always wake up at this time!" My mom answered with a chuckle.

"Just getting old, I guess!" Aunt Melana chuckled, the same chuckle that her sister has. My mom.

        I don't want to go to sleep today. I'm scared that I will get the same dream as last night. I keep my eyes open at bed.

I'm not going to go to sleep. Not with that dream.

Chapter 2

Donovan

        I don't feel like wearing it today. I don't know why.

Life's kind of boring now. There's not much to do. 

But I'm always scared.

I don't have anyone to talk to- at least not anymore.

I look at my chain dangling from my chest. The green spiral- like a glow in the dark snail shell- since it's green. 

I just don't feel like wearing it.

Not today.

        I take the gem off my neck and I walk inside my home.

An abandoned warehouse.

I walk up the stairs up to the dark room where I keep my gem at night. It's a capsule I made myself. Just made out of junk I found here.

Glass, metal sheets, old bolts, and a rusty screwdriver I found under a carpet. 

        I don't know if I like humans anymore. Or 

 aliens.

They're the ones that ruined my life in the first place! I look at my reflection. My human reflection. But I know what I really am. 

"I'm an alien," I whisper to myself at the reflection of the glass, "or am I."

        I don't know if I would like the feeling of turning into an alien again. I know I can but, do I want to?

I sigh as I look at my poorly cut hair. My alien fur would hide all that.

        As my eyes start to feel drowsy, I suddenly think of the fire.

"Donovan!"

"Donovan!"

"I'm scared"

My eyes open wide! I slowly get out of bed. It haunts me.

I don't know if I'll ever forget it again.

It has been eleven years of pain.

Chapter 3

 Zachary

    "Whoa, your dreams are weird. But cool, I guess."

"Hey, I tell you, I didn't make this stuff up!"

Mason, my friend, chuckles and shakes his head. We place our lunch trays onto our table.

"The only problem is, my mom doesn't believe me. She says I should stop playing video games."

Mason gasps, in a funny way.

We both laugh.

"Man Zachary, you're a good friend!"

"I know."

Mason clears his throat.

"Is something-"

Mason interrupts me with by chewing weirdly on his PB and J.

"Mason, what's your prob-"

He takes another bite. I look at him disbelief. What's wrong with him.

"Bro, you can't just keep secrets from me!" Mason gulps. I sigh. 

And I give him the side eyes

He gasps.

"Ok, fine, fine you got me!" He says with a chuckle.

"HEY!" It was Cynthia, the most annoying girl in this school.

"You know, the cafeteria is a quiet place, be quiet! I'm trying to eat here!" She snaps.

"You don't need silence to eat!" Mason snapped back.

"Me and my girls don't need to sit next to your  table. Lets go girls!"

All her friends nod and leave their table. Mason rolls his eyes. I do the same.

    "So... what were you trying to tell me again?"

"Oh, yeah....." His voice trails off, "yeah..."

"Well, well, well, isn't it Lil' Zachary." I roll my eyes.

It's Eric and his... helpers.

"Yo' Mason! Why you sitting next to little dweeb boy here!" 

Mason gulps. and I know exactly why.

"How dare you!" I snapped at Mason. I jolted out of my seat, Mason doing the same.

"You betrayed me!"

"I'm sorry!"

"We were friends for a long time, why now! Why have you been hiding this from me?!"

"I told you, I'm sorry!"

I know he's not.

All of a sudden everyone started cheering, "FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!"

My body was boiling inside.

"How- how?"

I got so angry.

"How dare you!"

I shoved him, Mason falling to the ground

"Hey, why you doin' that to my  friend. Huh?"

Eric shoved me down, his boys kicking at me.

Mason- wide-eyed

I punched Julian, Eric's best friend, on the nose.

"OW!" he yelled. 

Everyone was raging, rooting for Eric.

"Zachary! Eric! Mason! To my office, NOW!"

Chapter 4

Donovan

       Oh how I miss them so much. I thought being an alien was so cool.

But being an alien is what.

What I think killed my parents.

"Derick, Mom, Dad," I say to my reflection, "I'm going to find you again. I'm not going to let you down. Again."

A tear drips down off my cheek.

"I miss you so much."

I stare at the gem. I slowly place my hand onto it. I feel the smoothness of the gem. I take a deep breath. I snap the gem onto my chain.

        We need somebody new to protect this town. Our town is still in danger.

The dametreons are still lurking around.

Ready to strike again.

I know it.

        I lay on my bed, casually glancing at the ceiling.

BANG!

I jolt off my bed and run to the window. 

BANG!

The metal sheets squeal with noise, the metal bolts clink  to the ground! My ears are bursting, the rumble of the basement shakes me to the ground.

"What's going on?!"

Then I hear it.

I hear from downstairs that the wooden door snapped open!

I hear the wood crumble to the ground! Is it an earthquake?

        I start to go down the stairs-

"HA, HA, HA! We have found you! The missing aniphalaxisis!"

My eyes open wide. I run back up the stairs.

"HA, HA, HA!"

It's the dametreons! All I can do is hide. I run as fast as I can under the bed, clutching my gem. 

"Please, not now!" I whisper to myself.

"HA, HA, HA!" 

BAM!

My room all of a suddenly went up in degrees. 

FIRE!

"I know you're in hear, DONOVAN!"

He knows my name! The leader! I feel the flames wrapping around the room, I feel the anger of the leader.

I feel trapped and I waited. I waited in pain.

"Just come out!" 

The fire roars to the to the tips of my fingers, I gasp in pain.

This is it.

I'm going to be burned alive! I closed my eyes, I'm ready for impact-

but everything was quiet. The fire was gone. But I didn't feel like opening my eyes again.

Chapter 5

 Zachary

        "Why, you three? What happened? Why did I have to come into the cafeteria with kids screaming all over the place with one kid now at the nurse with a bloody nose?!"

Eric looked at the principal as if he was his little brother.

"Look, Mr. Principal-"

"Mr. Schwender!" The principal corrected. Eric didn't care,

"I'm just so sorry. I was just trying to help Mason and Zachary solve their problems!"

"Liar," I scowled. Mr Schwender gave me a look.

"Hey, I'm no liar, right Mason,"

"Right." Mason mumbled.

I scoffed. I can't believe this guy!

Mason scoffed back.

"Eric's right. He was just trying to save me from Zachary. He's being weird Mr. He's just not acting like himself."

My jaw fell to the ground. 

"He betrayed me." I mumbled to a whisper.

"Huh?" Eric said, "Sorry, we didn't hear you! Speak up!" He smirked at me.

I didn't say anything. Eric frowned.

"C'mon, whachy'a needed to say." Eric looked at me as if he was the principal. "C'mon Zach! We're waiting!"

I growled.

"C'mon!"

I growled harder.

"Zachary!"

"Stop"

"Wha-?"

"Just stop okay!"

"That's ENOUGH! I'm calling your parents to pick you up.

Chapter 6

 Zachary

"Again Zachary?! You know this is not the first time!"

Mom placed her sweater onto the rack. 

"I know, and I'm sorry, okay?! It wasn't even my fault!"

"Oh so the one that started the fight wasn't the one with the fault."

I nodded. Mom sighed as she put her keys into her purse.

"What's wrong." She said with a tired look on her face. "Because I know this is different. Mason was there with you. What was that fight all about?" Her voice calmed with each word.

I didn't say anything.

"How'd you get in a fight with Mason! You guys never fight!"

"I know.... It's just that Mason decided that he wasn't going to be my friend. Anymore. He wants to be with my enemy's friends!"

Mom sat down at the table next to me. She doesn't say anything, she just rubs my shoulder and sighs.

"Life is sometimes not.... perfect."

"I know."

"Good, because you should. Life is never always gonna' go your way!

Life will shoot something at you and you'll never expect it. That's how you became friends with Mason."

"Yeah, because I threw the ball to his face!"

We both laugh.

"Hey what's the commotion about?"

It was aunt Melana.

Chapter 7

Donovan

So they know where I am.

        I walk across the shattered glass and broken metal. My house is ruined.

"Aliens." I mutter.

My fingertips still felt hot. And burned. I don't know what I'm gonna' do. I look around the room, seeing the damage that the dametreons have done.

        I have to kill the dametreons. They have to leave Earth. They don't deserve to live here.

My parents never deserved this.

"AHH!"

I see a hill of rubble right in front of me.

"What have they done?"

I kneel down onto the floor.

A tentacle was laying under the rubble.

"Where is it?!"

I run all over the house searching. It was on my neck! 

The gem is missing.

I look all over my room. The gem disattached from my chain.

"NO! I made a promise. Where is it?"

I made a promise to my parents.

Chapter 8

 Zachary

        "ATTACK!"

The long, striped tails swish all over my chariot, running to the endless space.

"HALT!" I yell, and everyone does my command. We stop in our tracks as our enemy the anaphalaxisis' leader places his snout right up to mine.

"You think your troop can beat me, rookie?"

I stare at him and snarl.

"It won't be like the last time." I snap back. The leader's sharp teeth glare at mine. He's larger than me but my troop has more people.

"ATTACK!" I yell to my troop

"ATTACK!" Yells my rival, the anaphalaxisis.

Both of our troops run to each other.

The war had started.

All of us, Khlojuroes have our spears and swords ready.

The leader comes closer to me with his giant sword as I come to him with mine. 

"It's OVER!" I yell to the leader.

The leader growls at me and he aims the sword right at me, and I suddenly back down and the leader throws his sword right at my stomach and I don't have the time to dodge and-

"NO!"

Aunt Melana comes running to me.

"Are you okay?"

I shake my head.

"It's not like I'm gonna' tell my mom about it."

Chapter 9

Donovan

I gasp in relief. I found it! I clutch the gem tight to my chest

"Oh yes!" But then I gasp, this time in horror; my capsule! The scraps of metal, the bolts, the glass.

It's all shattered. The one place I've found to live in, is ruined. The house I've been living in for eight years, is ruined.

I'm ruined.

I look out of the window, feeling the breeze, smelling gasoline.

"What am I?" I say to myself one more time.

"What am I?"

I stay human, even though I don't know if I am human.

But am I alien?

       I stare at the tentacle. Should I- touch it? I stare at that tentacle in disgust. I slowly reach my hand out. Slowly.

        I already feel like I'm going to puke. Just reach- touch the dead alien. I take a deep breath and I start to reach the slimy tentacle-

BAM!

I go flying and my body collapses onto the floor, my eyes blurry. My vision slowly starts to return 

and I see its tentacles. All ten of them.

"Ha, ha, ha! You really thought I was dead?" the dametreon snickered. I stared at the alien in disgust. The alien was hideous. A snout, red eyes, a curled tail, furry body, and its slimy tentacles.

        I slowly got up and right out of the blue, the dametreon slams his body onto mine. I grunt in pain as I use all my might to push it away.

"You can't stop me. I'm invincible, my tribe took out yours!" Perfect timing! I push the dameteron away from my body and I shove him, collapsing hard onto the rubble.

 The dameteron yells in pain with a scowl. A scar filled with blood on his eye glistens in the sunlight. 

He just laughs. A menacing laugh.

"You just got yourself in big trouble." He chuckles, and leaves my room with seconds later a thump from the door.

Chapter 10

 Zachary

"Are you still playing that video game I clearly told you not to play!?" That's the first thing I hear my mom say when I walk downstairs

"You kidding me? Aunt Melana told you?"

"Oh, so it is true- you are playing that game-"

"No! I'm not. I stopped playing a week ago! Before you even told me to stop playing that video game.

You know mom, I'm scared, just like you." I stare into her soul, she looks almost embarrassed.

"Oh. I'm so sorry- Zachary....." Her voice trailed off- and left the room.

        Then Aunt Melana came into the room. I scowled at her.

"Why would you tell my mom! She got angry at me!"

"I know. But she didn't get angry." Really? You kidding me!
"Yes she did-"

"No- Zachary. She was crying in her office. She told me that she failed you."

"Well I don't care," I mumbled and I left the room, and I slammed the door. 

        I stare at the window from my bed. 

"I'm not normal." I tell myself. "I know it."  

I walk to my door. I messed up. I slowly open my door.

I slowly tip-toe down the stairs and I don't care if my mom was there or not, but "Mom, I'm sorry," I blurt out.

"She's not here." Aunt Melana glances at me with a worried look on her face as she lays on the couch.

"She left. She was angry at herself. So she left."

Tears flood my face, "Forever?!" Aunt Melana shakes her head.

"I don't know for how long."

It's all my fault! I run at the door and I grab my bike.