-Chapter 10-

Outside the hospital...

"You know how long you were in there?" Darien asked, deciding it best on to tell her about how she tried to kill him.

"How long?"

"About a week, I think."

She blushed. 'Oh, no! How embarrassing! Letting him see me like that!" Instinctively, she climbed up the nearest tree to recover from her humiliation.

"Hey, Serena! Why're you up there? Did I say something?" Darien wondered.

"N-No!" she quickly said. She climbed back down in a matter of seconds. "By the way, I need to ask you about something. It happened at the arcade, which, never again will I ever go to that rotten place!"

"It's a place where people go to have fun, Serena. And I didn't mean what I said to Andrew back there." he answered quickly."I didn't even think you'd be hurt that easily."

"HURT? What makes you think I'm hurt? I couldn't care less about you or this 'Andrew' person!" she retorted.

"O-Oh! Sorry!"

"In fact, I don't even know you." she disdainfully said.

Darien sighed and watched as she ran up the tree she always went in.

She immediately started cleaning the tree and noticed a trespasser on her home territory. The poor person got a slash to the face and punch in the gut. New warning: C.G.'s tree was off-limits again.

"Hey, Serena! C'mon! Don't start this again!" Darien yelled up to her. What was her response? A dead bird that she threw at him. "That was uncalledfor!" he yelled.

"You're uncalledfor!"

"Stop being immature, Serena!"

"Don't call me Serena!"

"That's your name!"

"I don't have a name!"

Darien left, frustrated, and Serena happily watched. She hopped off her tree and turned to leave herself. But then a particular group of boys stopped her.

"Hey, kit-cat! Looks like you lived after all, huh?" one of them commented.

"Yeah, and now I'm blowin' this joint." she told them.

"Whatcha mean? We were having so much fun! I thought we were friends, you know!"

"Deal with it."

"What if we want ya to stay with us?"

"No thanks. I think I'll decline."

"If you leave, we'll just follow you."

"And if you follow me when I leave, I'll kill you all."

"I think the government would get involved then, don't you?"

"Listen up and listen up good. I'm only gonna say it once. I hate you. I hate every other human out there, and I hate government! So leave me be if you know what's good for you."

She ran off, without the group of boys following her. Perhaps she would go to the city, or to a nice farm with a barn to sleep in and milk to drink and all the mice she could chase. Great fun!

It seemed to be hours later that she arrived at a condo. I was getting pretty late, and she'd been stopping so many times trying to find a new home for herself. She climbed up to the highest balcony she could find and went to sleep.

The next day...

Serena yawned and stretched in a cat-like manner. Her tail was waving back and forth slowly. 'Man, I'm starving...' she thought. No food was around at the time, so she climbed back down and automatically headed for a tree.

Once in the tree, she ate a bird and settled down a little. She looked at the ground below her, thinking of how lonely she'd been. It had started since the last she could remember. She was just a little kid then. Nobody wanted her. Her only home was a box that said: Free to a Good Home!. She lived in that box, understanding what had happened and how she'd gotten there. But every day humans and animals alike would pass by her, the humans glancing in disgust and fear. Was she to be feared, then? Was she to live completely alone?

Apparently so. Her catlike ears followed the sounds of the world as they passed by. Her tail twitched, a sign of irritation. Why? Why? Why didn't her parents want her? Why did they hate her? What had she done wrong? What had she done to deserve this? Would they at least come back to visit her?

She very vaguely remembered what they looked like. A woman with blueish-purple hair around medium height and a man with brown hair around a tallish height. How did she remember this? Nobody knew. She didn't really care. But, like all kids, she wanted the affection and love of her parents. She could only deny that with her voice, but her heart screamed out for her parents every day. And so every day she suffered the agony of knowing she would forever be alone. Her whole life, in a nutshell, had been one big unpleasant experience. What other surprises would it hold? What else did destiny have in store for her?

She shook her head, as though shaking out the thought and questions, and jumped off her tree.

She traveled until she was in the next town. There she spotted with her unique vision a small treehouse. It was very tiny and it looked like a place that nobody owned. It was in front of a wrecked building, like one of those old ones you see on the side of the road sometimes.

She went inside and found that it was hardly a home at all. There were several bird nests in it, and only one of them was being used. She could barely move in it and decided to keep it as a place to sleep. There was a nice, large forest behind her, so finding food during the wintertime wouldn't be that hard. Catching was always a different story, however. In front of her was a field, so she could walk out and kick up game. Hopefully a wild turkey or two might come along! She'd never had turkey before, but she'd heard it was really good.

A small girl came by and asked her mother if she could play in the little house again. Her mother kindly smiled and said yes. The little girl shrieked as she went in to play. Her mother swiftly came in and asked what was wrong.

Serena was lurking in the shed. The little girl had seen her.