Feathered Serpent Quetzalcoatl

Jamal walked into the costume shop. It was strange that he hadn’t noticed this before; Jamal had lived in this town all his life. He practically memorized the inventories of each shop…Because he had gone there. Not that he planned on stealing anything. Costumes of all types were hanging from the walls. All of which had Jamal’s attention, but the first thing he wanted to do was to find the costume that lead him in here in the first place, some lizard by the door. The amount of detail put into the costume was amazing. It was as if he was looking at a portrait of that creature, or maybe even how it would look in real life.
“Can I help you?” A voice said.
Jamal jumped. He realized his hands were on a surprisingly realistic Lizard costume by the door. Not wanting to be breaking any rules, he let go of the costume. Jamal was hoping he didn’t smudge his fingerprints on the costume with the remains of a chocolate bar he just ate.
Unknowingly to Jamal, the owner of the Costume Shop had known he entered. Jamal didn’t see him though; he was off back tending to a new creation.
Jamal tried to look around for the voice, but he also tried to make sure he didn’t accidentally smudge the Lizard costume. It appeared to be made from Latex or Rubber, but still, he didn’t want to smudge it. What if the costume shrank if it was washed?
Jamal looked to his left towards the costume, checking for any visible fingerprints, but then he noticed something else. It appeared to be a man, and he was standing right behind him.
For the second time, Jamal jumped, and he turned around as he did so.
“Can I help you?” The old man asked.
Jamal was at a loss for words. During this period, the man cast a small spell to learn a little more about Jamal. He was rather pleased with what he found, especially with a secret Jamal held-His Aztec and Spaniard ancestry (Mestizo), and with it, a truly interesting desire. Once discovered, the secret desire shined in the rest of his subconscious mind like the proverbial Diamond in the Rough. This was it, he thought, he’s a good subject.
“Uh…I just saw these costumes and thought they looked interesting,” Jamal said, almost stuttering. Generations of living in a primarily-English-speaking country and cross-racial marriages had all but buried what would have been a telltale accent of Jamal’s ancestry under his white skin and bandana.
“Is there any one you like?” the man asked.
They all looked so interesting. Almost as if they could come to life at any second. Jamal even noticed a few “Furry”-costumes his older sister loved. How did he do all this? He could be rich off of selling these things; they were fantastic.
“I’m just looking,” Jamal said, “I saw a costume by the door that really looked interesting… err, I think I have to go.”
Jamal was feeling rather nervous, so he decided to leave. Jamal was out in the first place to find a job, not a costume party.
As Jamal walked off into the streets of town, the old man smiled.
“He’ll be back,” he reassured himself, “He can’t hide that desire for long.”
The man knew what had attracted Jamal’s attention from his mind. He reached over a shelf and pulled out a very realistic Aztec Mask. The man mentally smiled at the snarling mask, already having an idea of what Jamal wanted.


After a day of turning in two job applications for a Dairy Queen and Wendy’s, Jamal walked back into his house. Out of respect for his parents, he kicked his shoes off and took his bandana off his head.
Jamal walked back up to his room, where his Cell Phone was charging. The A/C inside the house was very refreshing after walking around in the sun all day. Jamal took his phone out and practically collapsed onto the bed.
There was a new text message from his friend, Kayla, who was off on vacation with her family. As it implied, she had a little run-in with Airport security, who felt that her brother’s DS was a bomb. Such a paranoid nation we were becoming.
After writing a small response back, Jamal noticed no more new Text Messages and decided to just watch TV. Maybe he’d play some games with his brother, Kyle later on.
Jamal walked down to the family room and turned the TV on. Because it was summer, all the shows ended and became reruns. Almost nothing interesting was on except for a few humorous reruns of Mythbusters every now and then.
For some odd reason, that costume shop was still on his mind. Why would he be feeling so bad about maybe smudging a lizard costume? No…The costumes. It was the costumes, definitely. Something about that place called out to him.
“Maybe I should go back,” Jamal thought, “To apologize for that Lizard costume maybe…Hey, I should take Kyle or Laura down there. Laura loves those furry costumes…”
Jamal also wondered…Could he inspire a costume based off of one of his sister’s drawings? Maybe that could make up for smudging a lizard costume. Before Jamal could think better, he was walking up to his sister’s room. Fortunately for him, she wasn’t home. If she was, he would have a lot of awkward explaining to do.
Jamal begun to pen through her old Artwork. Something in here had to be interesting, at the very least. Eventually, he noticed one old drawing she did. It appeared to be calling out to him.
The drawing was called, “The Feathered Serpent, Quetzalcoatl”. As its name implied, it was a serpent, but it more resembled a Naga if anything. Forest green wings protruded from the serpent’s back, turning yellow, blue, and red near the bottom. The feathers also covered its arms, its undersides being red feathers and the top being green. The serpent’s hands resembled eagle talons.
The look on Quetzalcoatl’s face also called out to him. It looked just like a Snake’s face, but was a darker green than the rest of its body, with a blood-red “stripe” on its top, extending into more feathers that stuck out like a Mohawk down to the center of its back, where it later changed back into a blood-red stripe. Two horns also poked out the back of its head, behind his eyes almost. There was also a small whisker-like-beard where Quetzalcoatl’s chin would be, extending down maybe half-an-inch if this creature were real.
Quetzalcoatl had a dragon-like underbelly, which was white in colour. The rest of its body was a light-green, and was curled up. Quetzalcoatl’s tail moved up, revealing more feathers sticking out each side. There were also three “beads” on the end of it, below the feathers.
As a finishing touch, Laura had drawn a golden breastplate on Quetzalcoatl.
“Yes, this will do,” Jamal thought.
He neatly folded up the drawing and pocketed it. A small rumbling sound came from downstairs. Jamal quickly ran out of the room and closed the door as quickly (and quietly) as he could.
The door downstairs opened.
“Jamal!” his mother yelled from downstairs, “I brought Taco John’s!”
Phew. Jamal knew from his 16 years of life how angry his sister got over her drawings.

The next day, while Jamal was home alone, he walked off back to the Costume Shop, drawing still in his pocket. It was about 11:30 AM and Kyle was still asleep (being thirteen). Jamal didn’t see any hours posted on the door, so he wondered if they were open or not. He could at least try to find a job at another place while waiting for them to open.
The store was right in the same place as it was yesterday. Jamal hadn’t paid that much attention to where it was, but it was as if some hidden desire was leading him to the store. The sign above him read, “The Second Identity”. Definitely the place.
The man from yesterday was sitting at a counter, as if he was waiting for Jamal.
“You’re back,” The man said, pretending to recognize Jamal’s bandana.
“Err…How do you come up with these costumes?” Jamal asked the man, hoping he’d eventually get to the drawing in his pocket.
“It truly depends,” the man responded, “Sometimes I find them, sometimes they come to me, and other times somebody gives me the design ideas.”
“Oh, I have a design…do you suppose this could work?”
Jamal reached into his pocket for the Quetzalcoatl drawing. He unfolded it and gave it to the man.
“So this is what he desires to be,” the man thought to himself, “Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent.”
He put the drawing down on the counter.
“Sure, I can do this,” the man said, “This is one of the better designs I’ve received.”
“Really? Thanks,” Jamal responded.
“Would you like a costume of this?” The man asked.
Jamal nearly jumped again. The man practically read his mind.
“You really would? How much?” Jamal asked. Jamal was hoping for something that was affordable to him.
“You gave me a good costume idea,” the man said to him, “I’ll give it to you for free. Just don’t be telling your sister.”
What the man just said struck Jamal in the face like an arrow.
“Wait,” Jamal said, “How do you know I have a sister?”
The man was a few steps ahead of Jamal. He picked up the drawing and pointed to a name signed on the top right corner. It was his sister’s name, followed by a date.
“Oh, I didn’t know she signed it,” Jamal thought, “Should look a little more carefully.”
“I can have this done in a week,” The man said.
“Wait…A week?” Jamal asked him.
“I make these costumes myself,” the man told Jamal.
“Well…thanks…I’ll come back in, how long?”
“A week.”
“A week then. I gotta go right now…Thank you.”
Jamal left the store. Drethan took the drawing to the back.
“This shall be interesting,” he said to himself, “I’ve rarely ever seen this version of Quetzalcoatl.”


Jamal wondered why he was so interested in that costume, in particular. Why that specific costume? Why that one? Now he actually wondered how he would walk around in it…It was a snake, it had no legs.
Then, another thought of what he could do with the costume entered his mind…He could hide in front of his house in Halloween and scare children. Maybe he could create a fake polearm to use as a prop. Something THAT realistic really could scare people.
Jamal walked back into the Air-conditioned home near the end of the day. Maybe he should stop wearing the bandana. It wasn’t helping him keep cool, and maybe some places just threw out his application because he would appear to be a gangster-wannabe.
He could hear some faint shooting and screaming coming from the family room. Jamal ran over and found Kyle playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Kyle was too into the game to even notice Jamal walk into the room.
“KYLE!” Jamal said, raising his voice.
Kyle literally jumped into the air.
“You KNOW you aren’t supposed to be playing that! Put that AWAY before mom finds out!”
Kyle scrambled to turn the Playstation2 off, not even bothering to save the data. Jamal’s parents were big on ESRB ratings.
“Please don’t tell mom!” Kyle said as he put the controller back where no one could trip on it.
“I won’t. It’s 5:30. Mom could walk through that door at any moment. You know how much she hates violence.”
Jamal’s parents, especially his mother, didn’t believe that anyone below the age of 17 should play any M-rated game. Jamal didn’t understand the reasoning behind that logic, but apparently at 17, you suddenly learned the difference between fantasy violence and reality.
“By the way,” Kyle said, “Laura called. She’s moving back home for the summer. She’s coming today.”
“Really? She’s not moving in with her friends?”
“They’re moving back home for the summer.” Kyle paused, noticing the time. “Can we watch Malcom?” he asked.
Jamal had nothing better to do.


The next week seemed to pass by rather quickly for Jamal. Laura came home from college (She was 19) but he didn’t really care that much. Maybe it was her “Goth”-style dress and attitude. It was almost as if she’d bite him if he pissed her off enough.
When the day came, Jamal got up early. Kyle and Laura were still asleep…Laura from Jet Lag and Kyle because he’s a teenager. Jamal had to see what this costume looked like and how he’d appear with it on.
Ignoring everyone, he walked to The Second Identity. The owner was waiting for him in the same spot as last week.
“Ah, good to see you, Jamal,” he said as Jamal entered, “I have your costume of Quetzalcoatl ready.”
The man walked around to the back. Something was now bothering Jamal…When did he tell the man his name? Probably last week…Yeah, last week.
After about a minute, the man came back with a package in his arms. Obviously it was the costume. He put it on the counter and Jamal took it in his hands.
“There is a changing room in the back. Would you like to try it on now?” Jamal was asked.
“Err…No…I’d like to show it to my brother and sister at home.”
“Ah, the designer of this…Good luck, and enjoy the costume.”
Jamal begun to leave. As he left, he thought he heard something else the man said to him.
“Be careful what you wish for…”


Jamal took the package up to his room and set it on the floor. Jamal’s plan was for him to be making some hissing noises to attract Laura or Kyle once they woke up. If Kyle came first, then he’d tell him to get Laura up and in the room. His reaction from Laura was what he wanted to see the most. If he could convince Kyle to get a camera, it would be a good YouTube moment.
Jamal had the door open just a crack and the blinds down. He begun to open the package and then noticed the costume. It appeared to be made of some form of rubber, but the feathers looked almost like real feathers. Such amazing work done.
It was rubber, so Jamal begun to take off his clothes. As he was doing so, he got an idea. He took his bandana and tossed it so that it landed next to the costume. The bandana would be hanging from the costume’s mouth. Maybe he could scare Laura right out of her mascara!
Unknowingly to Jamal, the costume had sensed his presence. A worthy host-Move in, this may be the only chance before it escapes. The costume begun to poke out of the package, like a snake charmer.
Jamal heard some rustling sounds. He turned around, covering himself in case Kyle opened the door on him. What he saw nearly made him jump. It was the costume – It was poking out of the package, there was actually a look inside its eyes. It was the look people imagined a snake would when it just discovered prey.
Too scared to say anything, Jamal only got out a few squeaks. Then the costume was on him. It instantly lashed out at him like a snake and grabbed his hands. Jamal tried to struggle, but the costume was too strong for him. But how could that be? It was made of some rubber-like stuff! It shouldn’t even be MOVING!
The costume moved its hands up to Jamal’s shoulders and turned him around. It creeped out the rest of the box and opened up its torso. It closed around Jamal’s lower chest, around the bottoms of his ribs, and begun to creep down his legs, binding them together as it went along. When it reached his feet, he was forced to his knees. It closed up around them. Jamal tried to struggle, but the costume was too strong for him. It was still holding its shoulders, a look of pleasure and smile on the snake’s face.
Then, the weird feelings started. All the feeling on Jamal’s legs vanished, they begun to merge into one. Jamal’s pelvis vanished, and his spine appeared to be pulled down. His legs were now an extension of his spine. Small lances appeared to poke out from his spine, forming rib-like bones that shielded internal organs. Muscles begun to form around his now lower body, what used to be his legs. He could feel his spine begin to extend even further than where his feet used to be, and the bony lances following his spine.
“Oh god,” he thought as he rubbed his front. The scutes were smooth to the touch, and he could feel his hands rubbing on them. His human skin now felt weird on his smooth skin. Is that what it really felt like to a snake?
The costume now begun to spread, as he felt his organs shift inside his body. It was interesting, he didn’t feel them before but now he could feel his liver stretching and his kidneys moving in front of one another. It didn’t make him nauseous or anything, but it felt kind of weird. His lungs stretched out a lot, making him lose his breath a few times.
The costume was now at his shoulders, with his still human arms poking out. The costume’s arms opened up and took over his arms. As all the feathers on the arms attached themselves, he felt countless stabbing sensations. Afterwards, he could feel his own breath ruffle the feathers that were now part of him.
The skin on his hands begun to harden. His ring and pinky fingers merged into one. It suddenly felt as if his bones pierced through his skin as his claws formed. Looking at his new arms, they actually still resembled human hands crossed with a talon. Jamal twitched his tail, being able to feel the feathers on that as well.
The wings were next. New bone lances poked themselves into his shoulders. Jamal tried to scream, but his right hand suddenly reached to cover his mouth, as if the costume KNEW what he was thinking. Against his soft lips, his hard hand kind of felt awkward. The pain and tingling of his new bones stopped after a few minutes, now leaving him with a rather spastic feeling. Jamal flapped his new wings several times, creating a gust that knocked a few light objects (Mostly empty soda cans) over.
Jamal’s arm now went limp. He couldn’t move his arms, or anywhere else in his body below his neck. The costume’s mouth opened up and engulfed Jamal’s head.
Jamal’s neck begun to stretch and become about as thick as the rest of his tubular body. The pain begun to spread up his neck and to the top of his head as the feathers on his…crest…yeah, crest formed. Now, he couldn’t breathe! He gasped for air in the rubber.
“Sstop ssstruggling, mortal!” a voice hissed to him.
Jamal’s face pushed forwards into the snake’s muzzle, eyes aligning with Jamal’s. Bone lances poked through his head. Jamal’s mouth was kept closed through the pain by the costume. Smart move, obviously it didn’t want to alert anyone else in the house.
Jamal’s teeth reformed into Quetzalcoatl’s fangs, his front teeth vanishing while his top canines formed into the snake fangs. As a final touch, his tongue was flattened and pulled forwards, forking itself.
Jamal was now completely the Quetzalcoatl, the creature that was worshipped by the Aztecs and was drawn by Laura. Quetzalcoatl didn’t have the breastplate on the picture, though. The scutes on its underbelly were white, while the rest of his body was green, turning a darker green at his head. A purple stripe went down his back, turning blood red on the top of his head. All his feathers were bright colours, making his wings somewhat resemble a Macaw’s, only the colours appeared as layers. The feathers on his hands were green on the top and red on the bottom, with a small line of yellow in between.
The costume took control of Jamal. Jamal even felt his mind changing…He was no longer the weak mortal named Jamal, now he was Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent. Quetzalcoatl slithered to the door and waited for its human sacrifices. There were two in the house…both of which belonged to him. Their hearts…to feel their still beating hearts in his talons…
“Jamal? What happened?” a voice asked.
The door opened. It was Kyle, with Laura behind him. Their jaws dropped and eyes widened as much as allowed.
“Jamal?!” Laura yelled.
“Jamal? Jamal isss GONE!” Quetzalcoatl hissed as he lunged for the two humans. Laura fell back onto the floor, but Kyle was seized by Quetzalcoatl. Quetzalcoatl was amazingly strong; he was able to hold Kyle’s entire weight with one talon. The claws dug into Kyle’s back.
“Please! No! I’ll be your servant! Your priest! Anything! Don’t kill me!” Kyle begged.
“Humansss alwaysss beg whenever their livesss are about to end!”
“What did you do with Jamal?!” Laura begged.
“Jamal? Jamal isss GONE! You are in the presssence of Quetzalcoatl.”
Tears flowing from his eyes, Kyle struck Quetzalcoatl in the front, where a human’s stomach would be. Quetzalcoatl released Kyle and hissed to himself.
“Are you…Jamal?” Laura asked.
Quetzalcoatl reached out for her but she ducked. Kyle walked up to Quetzalcoatl and hugged him.
“What are you doing?!” Quetzalcoatl hissed, “Get off me, human! You’re rabid or sssomething!”
“Remember!” Kyle shouted at the snake beast. He had a feeling that the snake in front of him was indeed Jamal.
“What are you doing?!” Laura shouted, “You’re gonna get yourself killed!”
Quetzalcoatl didn’t strike Kyle down.
“Remember us all!” Kyle shouted. He saw it work on Digimon, maybe it’d work on this snake beast in front of him.
The memories of Jamal the human flashed before Quetzalcoatl’s eyes. A feeling of confusion spread over the feathered serpent.
“W…what…” Quetzalcoatl hissed.
Quetzalcoatl was now confused…He was the Feathered Serpent, but why was he now feeling memories of Jamal the Human? These two were to be his first sacrifices…but now he couldn’t bring himself to hurt them. It was as if they were his own family. Who was he? Quetzalcoatl or Jamal?
The mischievously evil look vanished from the serpent’s eyes. Through its reptilian eyes, Laura now noticed a look of recognition.
“Wow,” Laura thought to herself, “After-School-Special tricks DO work on evil snakes…”
Kyle was gently lifted off of the snake. The snake slithered through Jamal’s room and opened the window. Kyle and Laura followed. Its head turned around to look at them.
“Ssstay there,” the snake hissed, “I’ll be back…”
It jumped out the window. Laura and Kyle ran straight to the window and noticed Quetzalcoatl flying off into the forest behind their house.

Drethan had seen the transformation while scrying.  How did that costume get past him? It must have been a rather clever costume to deceive him like that.
“I hope it hasn’t bonded to him,” Drethan said as he quickly prepared to confront the Feathered Serpent. Kyle may have been able to stop a murderous rampage, but for how long? How long did Jamal have before Quetzalcoatl took over his mind again?
Drethan knew exactly where Quetzalcoatl was going.

“What WAS that?” Laura asked, looking out the window to the forest.
“I don’t know…something happened to Jamal,” Kyle said.
Suddenly, his back begun to hurt, and feel wet.
Kyle doubled over.
“It hurts!” He groaned.
Laura rushed over to Kyle. There were four small cuts in his upper back, fortunately nowhere near his spine. Blood oozed from the cuts in his back, making his T-shirt wet.
“Uh oh!” Laura thought. She didn’t know how serious this was. The cuts didn’t look that bad, but they were on his back.
“Quick,” Laura said, “We’re going to this ER!”
She grabbed Kyle’s arm and lead him downstairs. Without thinking, Laura grabbed a towel from the hamper and put it on his back.
“What happened to Jamal?!” Kyle demanded as Laura practically shoved him into the front seat.
“We’ll worry about that later!” Laura yelled as she quickly pulled out of the garage.
“But he told us to wait there!” Kyle protested.
“No time!” Laura yelled as she stepped on the gas.

Drethan walked up to the large scaly figure curled up in a clearing. Sensing his presence, the snake creature got up, ready to strike. Its wings extended, and its mouth opened up. A threatening hiss rang from its mouth.
Drethan noticed the snake’s eyes. Jamal was no longer there – Quetzalcoatl was now in command, once again.
“How did you get past me?” Drethan asked the costume.
“You?” Quetzalcoatl hissed, “Good…Wizzzardsss have the BESSST hearts!”
Drethan shook his head. No recognition.
“Forgive me for what I’m about to do to you, Jamal,” he thought to himself as he prepared a spell of stunning.

Fortunately for Kyle, the cuts weren’t too deep, and they had actually begun to clot by the time Laura drove him into the ER. The disinfectants actually hurt more than the cuts did. Laura drove him home.
“Alright, now we find out what happened to Jamal,” Laura said.
“Mom and Dad are NOT going to like this,” Kyle said, referring to the bandages on his back.
“They’re not going to like that there was a gigantic snake in our house, either,”
Laura drove back into the Garage. The second she turned the car off, Kyle ran into the house, with Laura behind him.
The first place they ran was Jamal’s room. No sign of him there. There was, however, a box that Laura and Kyle hadn’t noticed.
“What’s this?” Laura asked.
Both of them knelt to the box. The only thing that was inside the package was a card that read simply, “The Second Identity”.
“What’s that?” Kyle wondered.
“Is this a business card?” Laura wondered.

Hands on his knees, Drethan panted. He hadn’t used up that much energy at once in awhile. If he had been younger, it wouldn’t have been so draining.
Drethan heard footsteps coming from behind him. He stood up and turned around to face the direction the footsteps were coming from. A girl who appeared like a stereotypical Goth minus black make-up and black tenchcoat and a boy of about 12 were walking up to him.
“Jamal!” The boy exclaimed.
These must have been Jamal’s siblings…So he had a little brother as well.
“What did you do to Jamal?!” Laura demanded, thinking that the old man in front of them was somehow responsible.
“You must be Laura and Kyle,” Drethan begun.
“How do you know our names?” Laura asked.
“I know many things,” Drethan continued, “I’m sure you’d like to know what happened to your brother, Jamal.”
Laura barred Kyle from running over with her arm.
“Yes,” She begun, “What DID happen to Jamal?”
“The creature you see before you is indeed Jamal. He was transformed by a costume of my creation, by his own wishes and desires. Somehow, it developed a mind of its own, as you could say.”
“Jamal wished to be THAT?” Kyle exclaimed.
“The costume would not have worked if it did not fit his wishes and desires. Deep down inside, he wished to be the Feathered Serpent. Perhaps it is the Aztec blood that flows through your veins.”
“Wait…You mean…we’re AZTEC?!” Laura asked in disbelief.
“Hundreds of years ago, yes.”
“And can you turn him back to normal?” Kyle asked.
“Unfortunately, I cannot. I tried to remove the costume from him before you two arrived. It appears to have bonded with him too much, to the point where he can’t be changed back.”
“Oh god,” Laura said, thinking of what Jamal would do if he woke up.
“I could at least do the next best thing…I sealed Quetzalcoatl inside Jamal’s mind. Jamal is in control of the body, but Quetzalcoatl can take control of Jamal’s mind at any moment.”
“Wh-What’ll happen if Ketsel-Ko-otto takes over?” Kyle stuttered.
“If it does, it could be dangerous. Jamal is strong enough to maintain control of his body. If it does, I will know. I apologize deeply for all the trouble I have caused to Jamal and your family. I apologize for the wounds Jamal caused you, Kyle.” Drethan apologized, bowing.
“Sorry? Sorry won’t cut it!” Laura said.
“Perhaps I need to speak with your parents? With Jamal here?”
Kyle and Laura now noticed that Jamal was beginning to twitch a little. The spell of paralysis was beginning to wear off. Jamal’s eyes opened. The way he looked at them…It was definitely Jamal, even though his eyes were reptilian.
“I don’t know! But you’ll have to make up for this SOMEHOW!” Laura said.
Kyle got an idea.
“I know!” Kyle said, “You can turn us ALL into snakes! That way we can be a family!”
“KYLE!” Laura said, giving him a little nudge.
“No. It is too risky. Not all of you may be as strong as Jamal is.” Drethan said.
“And by the way…”
Drethan walked up to Laura and Kyle. Laura had taken her arm off of Kyle.
“Here is your drawing back, Laura.”
Drethan pulled Laura’s drawing out of his pocket and handed it to her. Laura unfolded the drawing and nearly gasped again. The subject of the drawing looked exactly the same as Jamal did now…Only the drawing had a breastplate. Jamal didn’t have one.
“Feel free to meet me at The Second Identity if your parents don’t believe you. Don’t be blabbing about this to anyone.” Drethan said, his voice slowly becoming more of a cautionary-tone.
Jamal was finally able to move again. He tried to get up to follow Drethan, but just like that, Drethan was gone. Laura and Kyle all looked around.
“He seemed so tired,” Kyle commented, “Where did he go?”
Laura now felt mad that her drawing was stolen. Even if it WAS an old assignment, it was still her drawing. But still…Jamal got turned into her drawing, AND he had to deal with the creature she had created…Maybe it kind of evened out.
“Laura,” Jamal hissed, “I’m sssorry I sssstole your drawing.”
“Never mind that,” Laura said back, “How the heck are we going to explain this to Mom and Dad?!”