I tried to look happy as I headed down the stairs, but I was devastated. My friend just called and told me she found her animal; a hamster she named Holly. I haven’t found my animal yet and I’m fourteen! I’ll my friends have found their animals and I’m getting bullied for not having one. “Hey sweetheart!” My mom said, closing the fridge and smiling at me, “Hey mom! I responded brightly, hoping she wouldn’t see past my act. My mom handed me a few pieces of toast with butter and I smiled. Sitting down at the table to eat, I say, “Hey mom, I’m going to the woods behind our house with my friends after school, is that okay?” “As long as you let your phone charge here and take it with you out into the woods so you won’t get lost, and if you do, I can come and find you with the GPS.” “Okay, I can do that!” “And be back by seven o’clock.” I nodded as I finished my toast then jumped up and hurried out the door.

~~•~~ (Time skip) (After School)

 I opened the front door to me and my moms house then went up the stairs, got my phone, came back out again, and headed back out the door, stopping and saying goodbye to my mom.
 “Okay,” I said to my friends, who had all brought their pets, “let’s go.”
 We went around my house and into the woods beyond.
 Each of us played around, Cristi played fetch with her Rottweiler, Jessie found some nuts and gave them to her squirrel, and Emma sat with her hamster on her shoulder. And me? I was watching them, envying that they had pets when I didn’t.
 “Remember when we were younger?” Emma said suddenly, loudly. Cristi’s Rottweiler tilted his head. “What do you mean?” Jessie asked, holding out one hand to her squirrel. “I mean, when we used to play hide and seek. Wasn’t that fun?” 
 “Yeah,” I said.
 Cristi slowly nodded, “Yes, I do too.”
 “Do you want to try that again?” Emma asked.
 “Yes!” Cristi exclaimed.
 “I’m down for it.” Jessie said.
 “I call seeking first.” I smiled.
 Emma smiled back “Well then, let’s start!”
 

~~•~~ (Another time skip ;)) (After seven minutes of seeking)

 I prowled through the forest, it had only been seven minutes and I had found both Cristi and Emma. Jessie was great at hiding but I wasn’t giving up.
 I suddenly heard a low growl and saw a pair of blue eyes peeking out from a bush.
 The creature stepped out and revealed their silver fur, ramp-like snout, small, rounded ears, and powerful paws, legs, and teeth.
 A wolf.
 I mentally flipped through what I knew about wolves and slowly dropped myself into a crouch, trying to make myself small and nonthreatening.
 I squeezed my eyes shut and felt my heart pounding.
 Until something wet touched my nose.
 Startled, I opened my eyes to discover that the wolf was right in front of me.
 They tilted their head then began to lick my face.
 I laughed and patted them on the head.
 “Your a pretty good boy.” I said.
 The wolf rolled over, and I corrected myself, “girl- sorry,”
 A thought occurred to me and I said, “Are you my pet?” The wolf rolled back over, barked, and nuzzled me with her snout.
 I felt happier then I ever had before, and I knew that it was just going to get better.

~~•~~

 My friends were absolutely astonished when I told them about the wolf, but my mom was even more shocked.

 “You found your pet?” My mom said.
 “Yep!” I responded, then called the wolf into the room, “This is Silver.”
 My mom cautiously reached down to pet the wolf. She let her and wagged her tail back and forth.
 My mom smiled and said, “Welcome to the family, Silver.”

I let out a shaky breath, looking at my surroundings, then reflected on what had started this.

 This was really happening.
 Turning to my family, I said, “I’ll do it, I’ll sacrifice myself.”
 Immediately they erupted into argument, each of them objecting then offering themselves instead.
 “I’ll do it, you don’t have too.” Dad said.
 “No. I’m the one and that’s final.” I replied.
 “But- you’re only thirteen!“ Mom exclaimed.
 I nodded, “Yes, I know.”
 My siblings seemed to be frozen.
 “It’s not happening, I’m the sacrifice.” Dad crossed his arms, “And like your mother said your only-“
 “IT DOESN’T MATTER!!!” I screamed, interrupting him.
 Everyone recoiled.
 “Besides,” I said, my vision blurring from the unstoppable tears, “You’ll think I’ve gone to hell anyway.”
 “What? You won’t- what?” Mom stammered.
 “Don’t you get it? I’m Trans! I know how you feel about anyone in the LGBTQ, that should make the whole sacrifice thing easier… right?”
 That was the last thing I remember…
 Now I know my place.
 I’m not in heaven.
 I’m not in hell.
 I’m not alive.
 My status?
 Fifty percent good.
 Fifty percent evil.
 I’m in a place called The Mystic, an exact replica of Earth but only neutral people inhabit it.
 Here, no one judges me, I can be who I am without people telling me I can’t. 
 I’m happy here.
 And I always will be

My eyes snapped open.

 (What the..?) I thought, looking around myself.
 It seemed to look exactly like the neighborhood I lived in, but something about it felt so… wrong.
 It was night, and freezing cold.
 looking down at the concrete below my feet, I remembered running for my life down this very sidewalk. 
 I was suddenly engulfed with my last memory; the memory of walking when a gunshot exploded past my head, obviously they had been trying to shoot me, so I ran. I remember hearing a few dogs barking from the houses I ran past, alerted by the noise of the gunshot.
 Then I made a wrong turn and ended up corned in an alleyway and then- the memory went black.
 I glanced up at the sky, where a few stars peeked out from the clouds, then back down to the concrete to realize my hands were shaking as I thought about the possibility that I was a ghost.
 (Okay, I should probably find my house so I can find out for sure.) I thought, then started walking in the direction of the house.
 As my house came into view I quickened my pace until I came to the front porch.
 I hesitated, my raised hand ready to knock, would my parents want to see me? If I was a ghost, would they not see me?
 Taking a deep breath, I knocked.
 No one came to the door.
 I pressed the doorbell.
 Again, no one came to the door.
 I reached toward the doorknob and twisted it, it was unlocked.
 Surprised, I pulled back then reached out and opened the door to the dark room inside.
 I blinked.
 Walking in, I flipped the light on.
 My eyes widened and filled with tears.
 “B-but,”
 The two people in front of me were the two people I thought I would never see again.
 I ran over and threw my arms around them, letting my tears fall.
 Then one of them spoke.
 “Welcome to The Mystic, Maddy.”

It was time to clean out the attic.

 Yay..?

 I reached up to pull down the ladder and nervously climbed up, pulling myself into the attic.
 The attic was dark and creepy, I hated this place. 
  I reached down and picked up a box of old clothes then very carefully went back down the ladder.
 After a few trips, I noticed an envelope in a box of old toys.
 I set the box down then crouched and plucked the envelope out of it, it was addressed to my mother. My heart stopped, I felt like it was important. 
 I opened it and pulled out the letter inside of it
 After I unfolded it my eyes darted across the paper.


 
 Dear Emma,
 
 
 I hope you are doing well, but I have a message. I feel as though I’m close to death, I need you to know that your child will be the one who shows you this letter, who finds what I have hidden.
 Ten steps toward the house from the tree in the backyard and three feet down, I know you will like what you find there.

-Sincerely, your mother, Jessie

 I lowered the paper, confused.
 The letter must have been mailed; if so, then how did it make it to the attic of my house?
 The house used to belong to my mother, but she had given it to me when I turned eighteen. 
 I knew I had to keep cleaning the attic, but curiosity overcame me and I abandoned the letter and the boxes, grabbed a shovel from my garage and headed out to the backyard.
 A huge tree was in around the middle of my backyard. 
 I put my back to the bark of the tree, facing the back of my house.
 “One,”
 “Two,”
 “Three,”
 “Four,”
 “Five,”
 “Six,”
 “Seven,”
 “Eight,”
 “Nine,”
 “Ten!”
 I stopped and started digging.
 After awhile, my shovel hit something.
 Crouching down, I swept away the rest of the dirt covering the top of a trunk.
 My heart pounding, I opened it to see actual. Solid. Gold. Coins.
 I reached over and pinched my arm, I was awake.
 Sudden ideas flooded my mind.
 I could use this to help orphans and homeless people.
 I could finally buy that expensive car I’ve been wanting.
 I could- no- I should split this with my mother, the letter was addressed to her. 
 Smiling, I pulled out my phone and called her.

It was time to move

I wasn’t very excited about that but the time had come.

 I lived alone in a small apartment, I had had this apartment since I turned nineteen. 
 Gazing around the empty living room and kitchen, I turned and grabbed the last of the boxes behind me.
 The tape on one looked like it was going to come off by itself. 
 I turned back and set the box on the kitchen counter, then left and came back to see the box had opened. 
 Reaching in the box, I pulled out a phone. I turned it on.
 It worked.
 I pushed myself up onto the kitchen counter and began scrolling through it.
 It seemed to be one of my old phones, so I went to see some of my old photos. As I tapped on the photos app, I froze.
 The pictures were of someone else.
 The last picture taken was of a girl with wolf ears on her head with a dark haired boy with his arm around a blonde girl at a party. 
 Was this a joke?
 Did my friends steal my old phone then photoshop a bunch of pictures of random people?
 I went farther and found a few videos of the same people.
 I found out a little later that the girl with the wolf ears was Maddy, the dark haired boy was James, and the blonde girl was Summer.
 But I still didn’t believe the videos were real.
 People don’t have wolf ears!
 And there was no way that someone else’s phone had gotten into my apartment. 
 I set the phone back in the box, put more tape on, picked it up, and turned away.
 But what I didn’t notice was a shadowy figure standing in the center of the living room.

I collapsed onto my couch, exhausted. It was nearly midnight.

 The day was absolutely insane.

 It had started out normal and suddenly became one of my best memories.
 It all started when a masked man with a gun had exploded in through the doors…
 
 “I’m going to say it one last time, UNLOCK THE SAFE AND GIVE ME THE MONEY!!” He had yelled, holding up the gun.
 I acted frantic as I pretended to search for the key, which was in my pocket.
 I quickly thought of a plan, grab the man’s gun, and get one of the petrified people behind the robber call the cops while I hold him at gun point, finally all my knowledge from police movies and criminal dramas would pay off.
 “I-I got it!” I said, “Good, now UNLOCK THE SAFE.” 
 Swiftly, I snatched the gun away from him.
 “And what if I don’t want to?”
 I wasn’t sure, but judging by the robbers silence(and how quickly he help up his hands), I guessed he hadn’t expected that.
 I made a signal to a woman cowering near the back wall and she grabbed her phone out of her purse.
 “911?”

~~•~~

 I watched as the now unmasked man was shoved into the police car, glaring at me.
 “That was awesome, how you handled that robbery.” The woman(who’s name was Cristi)said to me, I shrugged, embarrassed, “I watch a lot of movies about crime, so I just followed in the hero’s footsteps.” “Well you did an amazing job.”
 I smiled and looked around at the crowd around the bank. My smile faltered for a moment.
 “Hey, uh, do you wanna- maybe want to go out to dinner with me?” Cristi asked sheepishly, my smile brightened up again, “I’d love that,”