Chapter 3

The morning of christmas eve, Tiger jumps up to see snowflakes falling down from the sky. Hoping for a joyful Christmas, Tiger rushes down the steps and out the door to feel the snow. However, every step he attempts at, the snow just melts away. "Tiger what are you doing barefoot outside, it's freezing." Mrs.Smith drags Tiger inside, sitting him at the table. "Eat up, we got to be at the church in 30 min." Mrs.Smith rushes Tiger. Eating up his breakfast for once, Tiger heads upstairs to put on the suit Mrs.Smith has prepared for him.

"Tiger come on, we're gonna be late!" Mrs.Smith yells. Tiger and the Smith's rush to the church making it just in time. "Tiger!" Billy comes running up to Tiger. "Hey whatsup?" "Come the others are in the back." Billy pulls Tiger towards the other kids from his class. They are sitting in a circle with a bottle. "What are we playing?" Tiger asks suspiciously. "Spin the bottle, when the bottle lands on somebody, the spinner has to kiss the person it landed on." Kid one says. "Come on let's do girl, boy so we don't land on the same gender." Kid two says. "So who spins first." Dick asks. "Tiger wants to." Greg smirks looking at Tiger. "Alright spin." In shock, Tiger takes the bottle and spins. It lands on Billy. Surprised, Tiger looks up at Billy who's just as shocked. "Ew, you gotta kiss a boy, I knew you were a faggot." Greg laughs. "There's no way I'm kissing a guy." Billy protests. "You gotta, it's the rules." Dick laughs. Tiger has never kissed anybody before, so anxiety yet again starts boiling up in his blood. Billy stands up, holding his hand out. Billy pulls Tiger up, and then they just stare. "Come on kiss already." Greg yells. The kids start chanting around them, Billy starts getting nervous. Without a thought, Tiger pulls Billy in for a quick kiss. The room grows quiet. "Tigers a faggot!" Greg yells laughing with his friends. Emotions start storming up Tiger's mind, and Tiger runs out the church, "TIGER!" Billy runs after him. Tiger runs out as far as possible in the snow and falls onto his knees melting 8 feet worth of snow in an instant, evaporating the water from the grass. "TIGER!" Billy catches up, surprised on the dry grass. "What the hell." Billy steps back, silence. Tiger doesn't look up, "T-t-tiger are you alright." Silence, Billy comes closer. Suddenly, Tiger feels arms wrapping around his shoulders. "Hey, it's alright, everythings gonna be fine." Billy says holding Tiger in closer.

Once Tiger gathers the strength, the boys head on back to the church. "YOU KISSED A BOY!" Mr.Smith yells in anger. "What is wrong with you?" He grabs Tiger by the ear dragging him out to the back. "It was just a game!" Tiger yells in defence, "You're such a disgrace." Mr.Smith chokes Tiger. He punches, kicks, slaps. "Herald, Tiger! Come on the ceremony is about to start!" Mrs.Smith saves Tiger. Mr.Smith drops Tiger falling onto the snow and leaves inside the church. Tiger wipes away the blood that started drizzling down from his face. He turns his head into a ball of flame, healing the wound. Tiger hurrys inside.

Tiger wakes up to the same nightmare on christmas morning. Mrs.Smith and Mr.Smith are fighting once again, but this time it's different. Mrs.Smith is louder than usual. Tiger climbs down the stairs, a flash from a gun fires before his eyes. Mrs.Smith falls on her knees crashing onto the table. "MRS.SMITH!" Tiger runs toward Mrs.Smith. "WAKE UP, PLEASE, DON'T LEAV…" Tiger silences. Mr.Smith stands with the gun in shock, backing up from Tiger. "Tiger you don't understand." Tigers' hair and eyes light up on fire. "Tiger?" In a blink of an eye, Mr.Smith was lying besides Mrs.Smith headless. Tiger stands still to look at what he has done. "M-m-merry christmas." He stutters under his breath.

Tiger wobbles horrified, out the door, walking as far from the house as he could. The sky starts snowing, Tiger falls onto his back and stares at the snow turning into raindrops as they get closer to him. He lays there for about 10 minutes in his thoughts. "A bit cold out here, ain't it." A voice comes up to Tiger. It's the strange man from the woods. "Do you remember me!" Lucifer asks looking down at Tiger. Silence, "I see you're quite the troublemaker. Stealing, threatening, kissing boys, oh and Mr.Smith." In aw Tiger lays staring at the man looking over him. "Get up boy, you gotta clean up the bodys." Lucifer says, pulling Tiger up to his feet. "Oh look at the time, I got a meeting to attend to." Lucifer disappears once more.

Tiger rushes back into the house, packing his things. He stares at himself in the mirror. This boy is no longer a child, just a lonesome kitten who's gotta survive on his own. Tiger grabs a paper and writes down a note for Billy. On the way out, he flickers his fingers and sets the house on fire. He hurries up to Billy's and slides the note under the door.

Dear Billy Gerald,

You were the only person who understood my suffrage, and I appreciate you for that. However I've done something bad, I need to leave this town. So I'm heading overseas far from Canada. I wish you well and hope for the best.

Tiger Maxwell

Tiger sets foot towards the train, he jumps into a coal cart. Once he arrives at the deck of the sea, Tiger quickly gets off and sneaks onto a boat.