The Adventures of Casey and the Jackelope: Search for The Book of The Guardians

Chapter 1: A Surprise Visitor

Casey shook off the blur as she rubbed her face. Everywhere she looked, she saw trails of light. Her elbows and forearms bled minimally from the gravel that dug into her skin. Thankfully, she remembered to wear her leather gloves to this job. Unfortunately, someone else beat her there. She struggled to get to her feet, as she was still a bit shaken from the explosion. The blast had sent the small nineteen-year-old flying. She fought to straighten herself. She dusted off her black leggings and pulled down the sleeves of her dark pink hoodie. She knew she had to get out of there, because squad cars would be everywhere soon. She stumbled off toward her car.

She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw it again. There was no way. It couldn't be what she thought it was. She started to run for her car. That image sobered her and cleared her vision. She climbed into the driver's seat of her poorly aged white 1998 Hyundai Tiburon and quickly buckled her seatbelt.

Casey was five and a half blocks from the blazing house and had perfectly mingled into the evening's traffic before she saw the first fire truck fly by. Two squad cars followed less than a minute later. She couldn't get that thing out of her head. It was some kind of animal. Why was it wearing clothes? And were those antlers? She thought that she was just stunned from the blast. She tried to shake it off and figured she should go home.

Home wasn't anything grand. Over the last two or three years, the two bedroom condo had started to fall into minor disrepair. The kitchen and bathroom counters were stained, the cabinets and drawers were chipped, and the walls throughout needed paint. She wasn't usually the best at cleaning up after herself. At least she didn't have a mortgage. That wouldn't be easy for a nineteen-year-old to handle. Thankfully, her dad's life insurance check covered the remainder.

Casey pulled into her covered parking spot. She let out a huge sigh after taking one last look to see if she had been followed. There wasn't a soul near her, and it was an enormous relief. She examined the scrapes on her arms, truly surprised that they were the extent of her injuries. She leaned her head back on her headrest, still wondering what she saw at the house. She avoided drinking and drugs in order to prevent those kinds of hallucinations. She shook it off and made her way to her front door.

The front door pushed an overfull trash bag onto its side as Casey made her way in. She had placed it next to the door earlier and forgot to take it to the dumpster. This was a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the disarray. Several fast food bags from her favorite fast food restaurant, The Queen Burrito, were spread across the living room. She closed the door behind her and leaned back against it as she unhooked a small fanny pack from her waist. She chucked the pack carelessly onto the coffee table, knocking a burrito bag to the floor. She walked over to the couch and plopped down with a thud, bouncing a bit from the recoil of the cushion. She leaned her head back as she slumped down. What in the world did she see? "It had to be some sort of a weird dog," she wondered aloud.

"Jackelope."

Casey's eyes went wide. She bolted upright, and there he was, leaning in her kitchen doorway. "I'm a Jackelope," he repeated. He continued to receive a stunned silence. He was two feet and four inches tall with thick caramel brown fur. It was dingy from smoke and dust. He had the body and face of a jackrabbit with symmetrical antlers that were shaped like a lowercase letter "t." They held their share of scars from various battles. He wore a powder blue v-neck t-shirt and a black vest with several pockets on the front. Both had serious wear and tear. Attached to his back via magnets was an odd looking metal bat.

"Are you going to say something, or just stare?" he asked. "What, never seen a mythical creature before?"