I stepped back into the main room and held up the envelope so my mother could see it. “Did you write me a letter?” I asked.

 

“No, I’ve been at the office most of the week,” she replied with a frown. “What is it?”

 

“I have no idea,” I said, flipping the envelope over in my hands. “But it was on the desk in the office, and it has my name on it.”

 

“Strange. Maybe it’s from your friends, if they can write,” she said, before pausing. “Can they write?”

“I know that Tyberius and Angelica could read, but they couldn’t touch anything until earlier this week, so I have no idea if they could write,” I replied. As I tugged at the envelope’s flap, something caught my eye: movement from the kitchen area.

 

When I looked up, I managed to catch a flash of red in the kitchen window as Hairy tried to hide. I knew it was Hairy not only because of the familiar shade of red, but because even though he’d slipped to the side enough to hide his face, I could still see one of his horns poking out from the side of the window.

 

“I’ll be right back,” I said, throwing down the envelope and the rest of my stuff on top of the table as I sprinted for the back door.

 

“Tammy? What is it? What’s going on?” my mother called after me.

 

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” I muttered as I wrenched open the door and stepped onto the back porch.

 

Hairy must have heard me coming because he was halfway across the tiny yard when I stepped out. “Hairy, what are you doing? What’s going on?” I asked, causing the bull to trip and roll into the fence.

 

“Tammy,” the bull blubbered, “I’m sorry!”

“About what?” I asked as I hopped off the tiny concrete porch and crossed the tiny yard. “What’s going on?”

“Angelica noticed those agents watching the house, so Tyberius suggested we should make ourselves scarce for a while, to keep you from getting in trouble, but I couldn’t do it without seeing you again, and making sure you were alright,” he explained.

 

“You were all going to leave without saying anything?” I asked.

 

“No! No, no, no,” Hairy said, jumping to his hooves. “Of course not. Tyberius wrote a letter to explain the situation.”

 

“You wrote a letter to explain why you were abandoning me?” I asked, my voice cracking as I choked up.

 

“No! We’re not abandoning you,” Hairy exclaimed, as he scrambled towards me. “We’re laying low for a while so we don’t get caught.”

 

“Why not just disappear, like you used to?” I asked.

 

“Because ever since we came to this place, it’s been easier and easier for us to manifest, and harder and harder for us to disappear again. Tyberius believes if we stay with you, it’s only a matter of time until we can’t hide, and we get you in trouble,” Hairy muttered, lowering his head.

 

“You think I care about getting in trouble?” I cried. “Screw that. If anything, I was worried that the three of you would end up stuck in a lab somewhere and I’d never see you again. To tell you the truth, I was going to ask you all to vanish again, and if that wasn’t possible for you to hide for a while anyway, I just don’t understand why you didn’t wait until I got home.”

 

The giant red bull suddenly sat up straight and looked around suspiciously. “Because they’ve already broken into the house once before,” Hairy whispered hoarsely.

 

“What?!?” my mother growled, causing me to twist around to look at her. I hadn’t even realised she’d followed me outside. “They broke in? When?”

 

“Yesterday. Angelica saw them as soon as they parked on the street. They kind of stood out,” Hairy explained. “So we decided to stay outside during the day to keep an eye on them, and just before you came home yesterday, they broke in and snooped around. As far as we could tell, they didn’t take anything when they left, and they didn’t leave anything behind. They just rifled through Tammy’s room and left.”

 

“They went through my room? Why?” I asked, horrified at the thought.

 

The bull shrugged. “I don’t know, but Tyberius suspected they were looking for hints on how to find us. Ironically, while they were bumbling around, looking for an idea on how to find us, we were just a couple of feet away, watching them through the window.”

 

“That was dangerous! You should have retreated when they knew they were looking for you,” I exclaimed. “Why did you risk yourselves by spying on them? They could have spotted you.”

“Don’t worry, we were careful,” Hairy said. “Angelica used her tentacles to spy on them and let Tyberius and me know what was going on.”

“So once you knew they were breaking in, you thought it would be better to leave before they spotted you,” my mother said.

 

“Or they started putting cameras either in your house, or around the neighbourhood,” Hairy replied before frowning. “At least, that’s what Tyberius said.”

 

“Okay,” I grumbled, “I guess I understand why you felt the need to leave as soon as possible, even if it meant I couldn’t say goodbye. I don’t particularly like it, but I understand.”

 

“Where will you go?” my mother asked.

 

“Oh! That’s easy, we’re going to find the others,” Hairy said.

 

I looked at him strangely. “Others? What others?”

 

“Oh, you know, the others,” he said. It took me shaking my head and shrugging for Hairy actually to clarify. “The Sparks, Tiny, Pale, and all the other friends who have come and gone over the years.”

 

“Wait, you’re talking about all the other imaginary friends I had over the years?” I asked. “They’re still around?”

 

“Of course they’re still around… somewhere,” Hairy said, waving his hand towards the horizon. “Some of them wanted to explore, others felt cramped or claustrophobic with so many of us in your old, tiny apartment, and there were even a few that couldn’t fit in the house!”

 

“I thought that maybe I just got tired of them, or something,” I muttered. “At least, that’s what I thought at the time. I haven’t really had time to re-evaluate over the last week or so.”

 

“Wait… how does going to find more of Tammy’s friends help? If you want to keep a low profile, then surely bringing more figments here will only attract more attention,” my mother said.

 

“Well, I’m not sure; it was Tyberius’s idea. He said something about there being strength in numbers and that Tamera won’t be at the school forever,” Hairy said.

 

“I’ll be here for at least a year, though,” I said. “You can’t be planning to stay away for all that time!”

 

“Of course not! I’d never be able to stay away for that long,” Hairy exclaimed. “I’ll only be gone a month or two, long enough for the heat to die down. I don’t know about Tyberius, though… he might be gone for longer. He seemed to be taking everything extra seriously.”

 

“He takes everything seriously,” I sighed.

 

A loud knock echoed through the house, and my mother and I exchanged a quick look. “You’re not expecting company, are you?” I asked hopefully.

 

“I’m afraid not,” she replied, stepping towards the door. “I can only think of a couple of people who’d come knocking on our door at this time, and most of them are extremely troublesome. I’ll go see who it is, but I highly recommend you finish up here quickly, just in case.”

 

I nodded slowly, and once she disappeared into the house, I turned to Hairy. “I really don’t want you to go,” I muttered.

 

“It’ll only be a little while, and now you have some human friends to keep you company,” Hairy replied. “You’ll hardly notice I’m gone.”

“That’s unlikely,” I snorted. “You kind of make a big impression.”

“I do, don’t I!” the bull exclaimed happily, before his face fell. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too,” I whispered, leaning forward and throwing my arms around his neck. I realised that even though we’d been together for years, this was the first time I’d actually hugged the big oaf.

 

“I’m sorry to bother you, ma’am, but I’m Agent O’Neil from the Bureau of Empowered Investigations, and I have some questions for you. Can I come in?” someone asked, their voice echoing through the house.

 

“Not without showing me some identification,” my mother snapped. “And I’m going to have to call my supervisor to check whether you’re trustworthy or not, my daughter encountered a rogue agent the other day, so I’ll need more than a quick flash of your badge.”

“You'd better go, in case it’s the snoops, and that guy’s partner is sneaking around,” I muttered. “Getting spotted now would be bad.”

 

“I know,” Hairy whispered.

 

Despite what I said, I didn’t let go of Hairy’s neck for a couple more seconds, and when I finally, hesitantly, let go and stepped away, I struggled not to cry. “Go! And take care of yourself,” I said quietly. I wouldn’t alert the agent inside. “And if you see Tyberius, tell him that I expect to see him before I leave campus, even if there’s some risk involved. A year apart is too long.”

“I’ll tell him, and Angelica too!” Hairy promised, before standing up and glancing at the house. I didn’t hear anyone moving around, but who knew where the agent was. “I won’t say goodbye,” he said, with a grin, “because I’ll see you again soon. Take care, re Tam-Tam.”

 

I wanted to say so much more, but the words got caught in my throat, so I just nodded. I watched as Hairy crouched down, crept across the yard, and threw himself over the back fence. He immediately landed on trash cans, sending them clattering down the alley. Hairy immediately got up and booked it down the tiny gravel road, quickly disappearing behind a neighbour's house.

 

“What was that?” I heard my mother ask.

 

“Nothing, just a stray cat,” I replied as I turned, stepping up on the porch and opening the back door. “It’s gone now.”

I took one last look at the place Hairy had disappeared, sighed, stepped inside and closed the door.