Finding Bat Country

“Mitch, wake up.” Veronica’s voice woke me up.

I opened my eyes and looked around to find that I was in my bedroom at home. Mitch was smiling down at me and pointing at the clock that said it was 6:56 a.m.

“Veronica.” I breathed out of relief and hugged her.

“What’s with you today?” She asked, laughing softly.

“Bad dream.” I smiled and let go after a few minutes.

Veronica playfully rolled her eyes at me then smiled before leaving my room, “You better hurry up, cause Alex is driving us.”

I looked towards my window and saw that it was raining which was really the only time we ever got a ride from Alex. Quickly I jumped up from my bed and pulled out some clothes and headed for the bathroom. After taking a quick shower I dressed

“Hurry up Mitch!” Alex shouted.

I grabbed my phone and backpack then raced down the stairs. Alex rolled his eyes at me and pointed for me to get in his car. When I got there I claimed passenger seat and soon Veronica came out and took her spot in the back. Alex got in and started up the car, letting me pick music. I picked out a My Chemical Romance CD then relaxed in my seat, until we passed by the woods. There Synyster Gates stood with a smirk on his lips. He used his pointer and middle finger to salute/wave to me.

“Mitch what are you looking at?” Alex asked causing me to blink.

“What? Nothing.” I replied suddenly confused since Syn disappeared into thin air.

“Okay crazy.” Veronica joked.

I turned and playfully flipped her off, making her stick her tongue out at me.

“Oh children these days.” Alex sighed and pulled into the parking lot of the high school which was across the street from the middle school that Veronica went to.

“Later. Stay out of trouble.” Alex waved us off.

“Bye.” we answered in sync then burst into a fit of giggles.

Veronica and I hugged both wished each other a good day before turning and walking into our schools. I walked inside and walked to my locker to collect the books I needed for first period. While I was doing that Jackie bounced over to me and smiled.

“What’s up Tooty Fruity?” She asked using the nickname she had given me when we went to get ice cream and I just happened to order tooty fruity.

I went to answer but clutched my hip in pain when a stinging sensation suddenly rushed to it.

“Holy shit, you got a tattoo?” Jackie exclaimed.

I looked down to see that my shirt and hoodie had rose up a bit, revealing Syn on my hip. My eyes widened at that.

“Oh my god.” I stared at it.

Jackie examined it for a minute then helped me up, “Tooty, that’s a nice tattoo but what’s it mean?”

“I dunno.” I lied.

“Ah so you got a tattoo just to get a tattoo.” She noted.

I nodded and couldn’t help but feel guilty for lying to my best friend. Luckily the bell rang for first period, so I quickly said I’d catch her later and rushed off to class. I don’t think I had ever been in that much of a hurry to get to Math in my whole life. I took my seat and tapped my fingers on my desk until class started. A few minutes of listening to the teacher and I was staring out of the window due to boredom. Everything looked dreary today. Rain, parking lot, flag pole, Syn, tree……wait a second. I looked back to find Syn leaning against a tree with a cigarette between his lips.

“Miss Lanning, care to pay attention?” the teacher asked.

“Sorry.” I muttered and looked at the board to see what we were doing, but once again I found myself looking out the window only to see that Syn wasn’t there.

The rest of the day went the same. I would get distracted or bored in class and look out the window to see Syn and when I would look again he would vanish into thin air. Before I knew it the last bell rang and Veronica was outside waiting for me. I walked over to her with my backpack feeling a bit on edge.

“What’s with you?” She asked.

“Nothing, why?” I answered.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Something like that.” I muttered under my breath.

Alex pulled up and we both quickly got in to get out of the rain. This time I sat in the back and Veronica sat up front. We passed the woods but this time I didn’t see Syn, just trees. Once we got home and got inside our mom ushered us into the living room where she said she had a surprise for me.

“Tada!” She exclaimed, uncovering my eyes.

In front of me I saw a wolf with a collar that read: Brian.

“This is for getting strait A’s on your report card.” Mom hugged me then let Brian walked over to me.

“A wolf?” I asked.

She nodded, “Brian here was at the pound so I picked him up for you.”

“Aw Brian’s so cute!” Veronica exclaimed and rushed to pet him.

I was a bit cautious at first then after a while I warmed up to the idea of having Brian as a pet. At Dinner Brian sat next to me and rested his head on my thigh.

“I think Brian likes you.” Alex said with a mouthful of noodles.

“Yeah I guess.” I shrugged and looked down into Brian’s brown eyes that seemed familiar.

“Alright kids have fun. Tim and I are going out.” mom kissed each of our foreheads then walked out the front door with Tim.

Brian growled at Tim which made me smile because Tim had a fear of any animal from the dog family. The night went by pretty quick after we finished our dinner of ramen noodles, we all watched movies together then headed up to bed. But just before I was asleep I thought I heard Syn's voice, “Your mine now.”