It was late, seemingly midnight, and thousands of stars were littered in the sky-almost all the black was blotted out.

"...erry?"

Perry blinked and looked at her uncle who sat directly across from her, about five yards of distance between them.

Mr. Sid Perry had an eloquent summer dinner served on their backyard balcony overlooking the beach, underlooking the sky.

Dozens of ivory teacandles were scattered on the white clothed table, making dinner appear more extravagant than it really was: simple New York Steak cooked to a crisp with steamed vegetables.

This meal in itself would make average people sweat with the idea of eating it under the Ashwood summer degree of 119. But for Perry and her uncle, this was a heavenly meal; one reserved for special occasions.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Her uncle, a merciless lawyer, and sole guardian, smiled and asked, "So I can safely assume that your relationship with Brad Railey is over?"

Perry grinned awkwardly and swiftly drank half of her hot claret lemonade. The blood red liquid visibly drained through her tulip glass into her parched lips.

"As over as his beloved convertible."

Her date sighed.

"Perry, I don't care if you crashed his car or not, but I need you to answer me honestly. Are you going to destroy anything else this summer?"

"I don't plan on it," she answered with a shrug. "But you can't plan the exciting things, they come naturally."

In response, Sid tore apart his steak, almost as ruthlessly as he tore apart any lawyer who came against him in court.

"How did work go?" Perry inquired, deciding to change the subject. "Did you win any cases?"

"I did," he answered, plopping a piece of square meat into his mouth. "All, in fact."

"Were any of those you defended innocent?"

Mr. Perry snorted, taking a long taste of his blistering Irish coffee. "Please, Perry."

His niece exhaled fresh air, suddenly desiring a pitcher full of iced water.

She wasn't a child anymore. She knew that the law wasn't kind and the word Justice was near non-existent. But it didn't hurt to pretend that the only guilty person her uncle was protecting was her.

Perry swirled the mashed potatoes on her plate, watching as Sid frowned at his black smartphone vibrating for the sixth time since they sat down for dinner.

"Who's calling?" Perry asked.

"Work."

"It's okay to answer it," she pressed carefully.

"We're eating."

"But it might be important."

"I'll call them when we are finished." Mr. Perry's tone was adamant, fierce, locking Perry into her place.

After a brief awkward silence, Perry began, "Uncle Sid..."

"Hm?"

"We just don't talk about my mom or dad much," Perry continued meekly. "And...I wonder if they were like us."

Mr. Perry's head snapped at her quickly, eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"You know, did they like hot foods and hot places?"

Mr. Perry answered irritably, "Perry, you know I don't like talking about your parents."

"I know."

"But...you remind me more of your mother than of your father," Sid surrendered some information.

Perry's eyes lit up in glee. "Really?"

"Yes. Too much for comfort."

"So she liked hot things." Perry waited for confirmation.

Sid Perry smirked. "Our whole family loves hot things. It's genetic."

Genetic!

Perry was tempted to ask if he knew if her mother could leave her physical body. Or her father. But what if they didn't? What if she was the only one and she lost the normality of her uncle's relationship with her because of her freakish nature?

Perry gulped, recalling the very day when she realized she could walk out of her body.

Seventh grade she was walking home from school, tired of waiting for her uncle to pick her up, and found herself lost. As she was retracing her steps, Perry curved around the side of a block, right onto a street where a giant mattress moving company truck was only inches from hitting her.

She closed her eyes and felt the impact. The truck was hard, metallic, and heat burned into her chest as she fell onto the road. But when Perry sat up, she found herself sitting outside of her body.

At first Perry was frantic, instantly assuming she had died, and even more concerned when she couldn't find "the light" people spoke of. If she couldn't find the light and go to it, then she would be trapped on earth as a ghost forever.

As she panicked alone her uncle appeared. Mr. Perry was there faster than the paramedics were.

Her uncle gripped her body as if he was concerned she would melt. But she remained in his hands and he relaxed.

Perry stepped towards Sid and her body, seeing what they must look from another person's perspective: a young injured girl and her loving distressed uncle.

Mr. Sid Perry was not a man to distress and Perry was not a girl that was easily injured. It was so abnormal that Perry couldn't bear to see the situation, much less live it, any longer.

By instinct, Perry flopped into her body exactly how she would fall onto her queen bed.

Perry first saw the blue sky with clouds in the shape of ducks swim above, then a man kneeling beside her.

"Perry?" he asked hopefully.

"Uncle Sid?" she returned.

He did not embrace her as most guardians would. Instead, he ordered her not to move and wait for paramedics. During that time, he was going to sue the mattress truck driver for everything he had.

Perry was too dazed to speak.

Four years later, Perry sat across from her naïve uncle on a typical summer night. She asked herself if she would be happy continuing keeping this secret of hers from him.

But before she could answer herself her uncle swore loudly, making her jump.

"Sorry, Perry, not you," he assured, glaring down at his cell. "Shut up!"

Perry would like to point out that the phone had a shut down button, but was fearful she would get stung by Sid's wrath.

"You should really take it." Lydia stood. "I'm pretty much finished anyways."

"Are you sure?" Sid asked, concerned.

"Yeah."

"Perry," her uncle called as she walked down the balcony steps, "we are a normal family. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Unsure of what he meant but not willing to press further, Perry simply nodded and abandoned the scene, allowing him to finally answer his phone and give the person on the other end a piece of his malicious mind.

...

"This is delicious!" Kasey exclaimed, his bulging cheeks pink with pleasure. "I never knew eating one of my cousins could taste so good."

"It's chicken, Kasey," Chloe pointed out. "It is by no means your cousin."

"I don't know." Destery's partner held up one drumstick in his left hand while the other held a brown cardboard box. "I mean, we're both birds."

"You got that wrong too," Destery joins. "Chickens aren't part human at all."

"What about phoenixes?"

"Yeah, those are birds too." Destery looked at his partner like his was crazy.

"No, like, do you think phoenixes would taste good?"

"Oh, gross." Chloe scrunched her nose.

"I'm not meaning us, I'm talking about the actual birds."

Destery answered, "If anything, they'd probably taste like ash."

Kasey frowned and took another bite of his chicken.

"Where's Felice?" Chloe sighed. "I'm dying here."

"Who cares?" Kasey replied, his whole mouth shiny with grease.

The three lingered in the middle of a thunderous bright airport, sitting on a rubber bench before some plastic bamboo trees.

"Mr. Sid Perry, Ashwood, California," Destery said, ignoring his friends as he stared at the papers in his hands. "We've found you."

"Talking to a ticket." Kasey offered the last piece of chicken. "You're losing your mind. You should eat something."

Destery scowled at the crisped meat and opened his mouth to reject when someone said, "There you are! Seriously, do you even remember how to Emblaze?"

"Tcht, if only they knew that she was a devil in disguise," Kasey hissed under his breath to his socius.

Destery examined Chloe, the ying of Felicia's yang. She wore a black flimsy strapless dress tied around her neck, flaring above her bronze knees. Black wedges with buckles clasped around the ankles with her streaked hair pulled up.

"So?" Destery urged, forcing Chloe to pass forward her silver cellphone.

The rectangular screen lit and Destery was floored with a profile picture.

And so was Kasey.

"Mr. Sid Perry. Executive Defendant of Ashwood, California, Lawyer Department," Chloe explained flatly. "I triple checked. He's our guy."

"Give me that," Kasey ordered, snatching the phone out of Destery's hands. "It's him, Des."

"I know," Destery said solemnly.

"How could-He could." Kasey turned to Destery with excitement, but also fear, which his partner understood. The last time they faced this Charcoal Volucres, he had memories that they died fighting for. And this very same Volucres was involved with Lydia. Again.

"We're going to get to kill two birds with one stone," Kasey said gleefully. "Pun absolutely intended."

"Excuse me, am I missing something?" Chloe demanded.

"Thanks Chlo." Kasey tossed the cell at her before jogging to the terminal where their plane awaited them.

"You know, most people are prefer to fly," Kasey continued as he observed the restless passengers. "But they're not flying. They're just sitting there. It's boring."

Destery patted his friend's shoulder. "Then you can fly to California. We'll meet you there."

The girls laughed and smoothly glided past Kasey.

"I would!" Kasey assured, yelling after them. "But I already bought a ticket!"

...

Eavesdropping is wrong. She knew that.

Lydiana knew eavesdropping led to nothing but gossip and gossip led to rumors and rumors led to confrontations and confrontations led to...pain.

But there's a different eavesdropping. Not the eavesdropping on classmates, but the eavesdropping on the adults. The ones with the second lives kids are supposed to never know exist. And Perry really wished she remained ignorant of her uncle's.

Perry chalked her occasional distrustful feelings towards Sid as a part of a rebellious teenage phase.

But as Perry strolled on the beach, stealing glances back at her balcony, she began to believe her feelings towards her uncle weren't the same as regular children resenting their guardians.

There was nothing wrong going on at the office-he said he won all the trials. And he had no reason to lie to her, right?

But that persistent call was intrigued Perry.

Perry managed to slip underneath the balcony unnoticed and listened to her uncle above. She was surprised he hadn't migrated to his soundproof, gloomy, therapeutic office.

"...os. Since when?" There was a pause. "How many? FOUR?!"

Perry flinched, as if he was yelling at her.

"YOU-Yes, of course it's your fault. No, I don't have time tonight. Tomorrow." Another pause with the clicking of Mr. Perry's tongue. "Fine. No, not now fatuss. Tomorrow morning."

Perry held her breath. What was tomorrow morning? Who was Fatuss?

"You should have contacted me sooner," Perry's uncle growled. "I will take the killing from here. Any more mistakes and expect the same."

Perry heard the sigh her uncle always made when he returned from a laborious day at work, and listened to heavy footsteps press against the wooden floor as Mr. Perry went into the house.

Instantly, his niece zipped around the side of the mansion and snuck into the open door garage packed with gleaming vehicles.

"Where have you been?" Mr. Perry asked as he waited in the hall, suspiciously nonchalant.

"Walking," she said, trying to smother her panting.

Killing? Killing who? No, my uncle isn't a murderer. He couldn't be. It was definitely a figure of speech.

But looking at his face, remembering their entire history, made Lydia begin to doubt herself.

Her uncle spoiled her, but he never hugged her, never told her "I love you".

When she was injured, he was there. But when it wasn't serious, he would leave her to wash and bandage the wounds herself.

Maybe it was the only way he knew how to show affection after her parents died. What did she really know about her uncle's business life?

Wait. Why do I care? This is all just a big misunderstanding. My uncle loves me. I love him. It's all good.

"That must have been nice," Mr. Perry said.

"It was," his niece responded awkwardly.

After some silence, Mr. Perry said, "Perry, I know you look forward to spending summer with your friends with the partying and such-"

"Yeah?"

"-and I know this is a little sudden-"

Perry felt her heart sink.

"-but I just wanted to let you know that I was offered a great vacation opportunity at work. We will be able to spend the summer together." Mr. Perry hesitated. "For free. In Venice."

Perry recalled the phone conversation on the balcony and doubted that he was discussing a great opportunity for a family vacation.

"Venice? You mean, Italy?" 

"You don't want to go?" he frowned.

"Of course...I want to go," Perry answered cautiously. She had never been to Venice. Venice was a dream. Going to summer there wouldn't be so bad. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."

Perry's heart stuttered.

"What?"

"I know it's sudden. I didn't expect it, either." Her uncle sounded sympathetic, but he didn't look it.

You mean you didn't expect that phone call, Perry sneered in her mind.

She forced a refreshing smiled and asked, "Can I think about it?"

Mr. Perry returned his own fake smile. "No. You may pack your things tomorrow morning. I will be here to personally pick you up at noon after I finish things up at the office."

Perry watched her uncle walk away without so much as a goodnight, and felt like kicking herself for not fighting back.

Maybe it was time to go and crash one of his cars.