Larkin peeked his head inside the kitchen, watching Mikael set the table."What the hell are you doing?" A voice suddenly called out.Larkin quickly turned his head."First of all, watch your mouth," he scolded."Second of all, why aren't you in bed?" He questioned."Can't sleep," Rick said calmly, followed by a yawn."Anyway," he continued."Why are you spying on Mikael?" He asked.A smirk slowly crept across his face."Oi, Larkin..." he whispered."Don't tell me you've got a cr-""Be quiet; he's coming!" Larkin cried, grabbing Rick."Oi,” Mikael said, coming around the bend."What the hell are you two doing?" He asked, narrowing his eyes."O-oh...you know," Larkin began, chuckling nervously."J-just bonding...!" He stammered."Are we, though?" Rick asked with a hint of sarcasm.Larkin quickly smacked him on top of the head."Ow!" Rick cried."W

“FOLKS, IT’S SHOWTIME!” A voice cried.Just as he said that flashing lights and smoke filled the room.“NOW, FOR THE MAIN EVENT!” The voice roared.“PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR OUR TALENTED ALVARO!”Suddenly a man came rising onto the stage.“My friends!” He greeted.“Thank you all for coming once again to see our show!” Alvaro cried.“For my first trick, my assistant, Mim, and I will demonstrate to you piercing swords in the box!”“Now, now, he’ll be unscathed…hopefully!” Alvaro roared with laughter.“Are you ready!?” He cried as he locked the door with Mim inside.After all the swords pierced the box, the lock fell off.With that, Mim climbed out of the box.“LOOK AT THAT, COMPLETELY UNSCATHED!” Alvaro cried.The audience roared with excitement.*After

As Kari lay wide awake in bed, she could not help but get lost in deep thought.Tears welled in her eyes.I wasn’t strong enough to protect papa, big sis Janine, or big brother Mim… And now they’re all gone… She thought to herself as tears trickled down her cheeks.“I want to become stronger…” She whimpered, as she closed her eyes.*“Kari?” A voice called out.“Yo Kars, Tammy’s here, you ready?” Another voice questioned.“Ah!” Kari exclaimed, rolling out of bed.“I must’ve overslept!” She cried as she began rushing to get ready.“Honestly…” Abbey sighed as Kari came barreling out of her bedroom.“Leave her be Abbey, she’s still growing.” Sena giggled.“I guess…” Abbey mumbled.“More importantly,” Sena began.&ldqu

As Kari and Tammy arrived at the park the next day, a whistle blew.“You two are late!” A voice exclaimed.“Eh!?” Tammy cried.“You said to get here by nine, and we did just that!” She frowned.“Yeah, I even got up earlier than usual…” Kari muttered, wiping her eye.“Well, you were two minutes late!” Rick exclaimed, trying to hide a smirk.“Anyways, welcome to Mr. Summers’ training camp, girls!” He beamed.Maru tugged on Rick’s shirt.“Rick, I don’t have to do this, right…?” She whimpered.“Of course not, silly!” He laughed.“Just sit back and relax,” he assured, petting her head.“Now then!” Rick blew the whistle.“Ten jumping jacks, go!” He instructed.“That’s not so bad…!” Tammy giggled, as the two did th

Running through the thickness of the heavy smoke was a boy.The boy, huffing and panting desperately, trying to catch his breath. However, nonetheless, he continued to run."Mama!" He cried out."Where are you, mama!?" He desperately pleaded.As he continued running, the boy tripped and fell to the ground.As he sat up, he realized what he had tripped on.His eyes widened."N-no..." He whispered."M-mama...!" Tears filled his eyes."PLEASE NO...!" He shrieked, grabbing the corpse's hand, gently pressing it against his cheek.Just then, a man hovered over the boy and the corpse."Crap, I guess we missed one..." The man narrowed his eyes."Boy," The man began slowly, unsheathing his sword."Grab that knife from that lady's abdomen."The boy looked up at the man, horrified."Now!" The man barked.The boy began to tremble as he slowly reached for the knife lodged in his mother's