Midnight Melody

Aria jumped and slid down the roof, doing another small hop to get over the rain gutter, and landing on the soft, wet grass. She gently shook off some of the water, wet from chasing the monster through the sprinklers. Her least favorite part about fighting monsters at night.

She carefully jumped back in her bedroom window, and dismissed the transformation. She tucked the black crystal fragment in her pocket, and then pretended to be coming downstairs from using the bathroom.

"I'm back!" Aria announced to the room, sitting down in her seat.

"What took you so long?" her brother teased.

"Business as usual," she answered tactfully, avoiding any proper answer.

He frowned, frustrated that a common ploy hadn't worked.

"Honestly, though," her mother started, "you can't just leave for twenty minutes during dinner. Your food will get cold."

"Sorry, I know." Aria dipped her head shamefully.

"You've been making a habit of this."

"Well, you know. Sometimes you just gotta go." Fight monsters, she added to herself.