 
Miraculous: Tales of the Unknown

A Paranormal Indie Author Anthology

Compiled By:

Krystal George and Amber Streed

Featuring Stories From:

Krystal George

Amber Streed

Amanda Alberson

Kate Marie Robbins

Cheryl Casey

Heather Kirchhoff

S Cu 'Anam Policar

Donna Kelly

Lisa Marie Pottgen

Illustrated by:

Cheryl Casey Ramirez

www.CCRBookCoverDesigns.com

*Each story was edited by the individual Author*

Formatted by: Krystal George

For All of the Readers

This is a compilation of stories written for you...

Thank you all for your dedication and support of what we do!

The Babysitter

By: Krystal George

©2013 by Krystal George

I hate babysitting. There was something about kids that really irritated me. They were smelly, loud, foul little creatures and there always seemed to be something sticky or soggy about them. So when my mom volunteered me to babysit the Anderson kids, I could have strangled her. There were three of them.

Tessa was the oldest at eleven. She had short wavy blonde hair and big brown eyes. Next was Malcolm at eight. He had brown hair that he wore in a spiked faux hawk. Last was Priscilla. She was only four and the biggest brat I had ever seen. If you spent any time hanging out at the local grocery store, you had surely seen one of her tantrums. Her long blonde hair was always tangled, her face was always red and her eyes were always full of tears. It was enough to cause me a headache just thinking about them... and I was about to embark on an entire night with them... a Friday night... alone... with the Anderson kids... UGH!

"Call me if you need anything," my mom said as I walked out of the front door. I rolled my eyes, but she didn't see me. I was just so annoyed at her for volunteering me like she had. Why would she even think I'd be interested in watching those little monsters?

The walk to the Anderson house was actually pretty pleasant despite my bad mood. There was a crisp breeze and the smell of rain in the air. I loved the rain. I loved the way it made the ground smell earthy and musky. I am obsessed with dirt. I know that it's strange, but it's true, and there is just something about mud that excites me.

My cell phone was tucked away safely in my pocket and I jumped when it started vibrating against my hip. Then I laughed for being such a sissy. When I pulled it out, I smiled because it was Ben, my boyfriend. "Hi there."

"Surrounded by kids yet?"

"Ugh, not yet. So not looking forward to it." I groaned.

"Where do the Andersons live again?"

I laughed, "no way Ben. It's going to be bad enough without getting into trouble for sneaking my boyfriend in."

"Come on Shaina, live a little."

I rolled my eyes once again to myself. "I'll see you tomorrow, promise."

"Ugh, fine."

I smiled when I ended the call. I was expecting that he'd be at the Anderson's within the hour. He wasn't the type of guy who took no for an answer, especially when it involved an almost empty house.

It was just starting to get dark when I walked up to the front door. Before I even rang the bell, I could hear the fussing going on inside. Someone was screaming, someone was laughing, and someone was crying. I groaned. This was going to be a long night. I reached forward and rang the bell.

Carrie Anderson opened the door with an exasperating sigh. "Shaina, thank God."

"Hello Mrs. Anderson."

She was dressed up in a slinky black dress and bright red heels. Her makeup was flawless and her hair was perfect... almost. There was a gummy bear stuck in the chestnut strands and I had to stifle a laugh as I picked it out and handed it to her.

She laughed, "Come in, come in! Please come in!"

It took every ounce of self-control I had to keep my composure. I was pretty sure that she wouldn't appreciate it if I rolled my eyes or groaned at the thought of walking in to her house.

"I'm sorry that the house is a little messy right now, but please make yourself at home."

The word little wasn't an adequate description of just how "messy" her house was. There were toys scattered across the floor like a broken battlefield. Clothes were stacked in piles that looked as if at one time they had been neatly folded, but now resembled something along the lines of falling towers. There was a fresh red stain on the carpet by the steps and a bottle of carpet cleaner and a scrub brush lying next to it. Luckily, for now, the kids were nowhere to be seen.

"What time are you going to be home again?"

She looked at her watch with panicked eyes. "I have to meet my husband in twenty minutes. We shouldn't be later than one; I told your mom one o'clock. That's okay, right?"

I could hear the panic rising in her voice and smiled trying to look reassuringly. "Of course, I was just curious." Crap I thought, six whole hours of these freaking kids.

She looked down at her watch again and then smiled at me apologetically. "I guess I should go and get the kids and make sure that you all are alright together."

She said that, but I could tell she wanted nothing more than to just get out of here, so I let her off the hook. "Don't worry about it Mrs. Anderson. I'm sure that we'll be just fine." Yeah and the pay better be worth my time, I thought.

"Are you sure?" She asked, visibly sighing in relief.

No! I wanted to scream, but instead I nodded and plastered a fake smile on my face. "Yup, I've got this."

She grabbed her purse and car keys off of a table next to the front door and smiled at me, "thank you so much Shaina. We really appreciate this," and then she was gone.

It was like they sensed the moment their mother was gone. The house exploded with noise. A radio somewhere in the house blared to life and someone started singing along with it at the top of their lungs. Somewhere else in the house, a television was turned up and an action scene complete with squealing tires and shots being fire echoed through the downstairs. Then to add even more noise to the already chaotic sound, someone started screaming.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and then began chanting to myself. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. Six hours... I can survive anything for six hours.

I chose to deal with the television first since I was already downstairs. Following the sound of crashing and glass breaking, I found my way into the rec room where Malcolm was standing on the couch and cheering for the bad guys. He had a stick of licorice hanging from his mouth and when one of the bad guys was shot and killed he started yelling at the screen.

"What the heck you idiot!!! You so could have gotten away."

"Malcolm?"

He turned and looked at me before pulling the sticky licorice out of his mouth after biting off a huge piece. Then with his mouth full, he asked, "who are you?"

I smiled even though inside I was thinking about where I could potentially lock him up for the night. "I'm Shaina, the babysitter."

He plopped down on the couch cushions and sat his sticky treat down next to him... on the couch... on the fabric of the couch cushion. I wanted to scream at him for being such an idiot... but I didn't. I kept my cool.

"I don't really need a babysitter, you know."

I looked around the messy rec room and raised my eyebrows, "oh no? Really?"

"Nope, I'm sort of the man of house, actually. My dad works a lot."

Before I could answer him, something sounding like a crash echoed upstairs. "I need to go and check that out. Do me a favor, would you, and turn down the volume on the TV?"

He rolled his eyes, but grabbed the remote and turned down the volume.

"Thank you."

See, that wasn't so bad, I told myself... one down and two more to go. I can do this! I walked up the stairs and into the bedroom where I thought the crash had come from. Once there I stood in stunned silence at what I saw.

I can't do this...

"It's a slide! See," Priscilla said pointing at her bed and dresser.

She had pushed her dresser down onto her bed at an angle. I wasn't even sure how she had managed it, but now she was using the back of her dresser as a slide. The front was facing the floor and the drawers that weren't blocked by the floor or the bed had slid open and all of the clothes had fallen out of them.

"Wanna try?" She asked.

I closed my eyes and prayed for a little patience. I just needed enough to get me through this night. That's all I was asking for.

"We need to pick this up." I told her slowly. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Those were the wrong words.

Tears began spilling down her reddened cheeks, her lips began to tremble, and then a horrendous scream tore from her throat.

"I... don't... want... to...!" She cried.

I took a deep breath. "Priscilla, I'm sorry, but we have to get this mess cleaned up. If you don't want to help, you're going to have to sit in the corner until I'm finished."

She cried, she pouted, she refused to help and in the end, she sat watching me from the corner with tears still streaming down her face and hatred blazing in her eyes. I allowed myself the satisfaction of the small victory that at least she was sitting where I told her to sit.

When the dresser was finally pushed back into place and the room picked back up at least most of the way. I turned on her TV and put in a movie to calm her down. With any luck, and I wasn't really counting on any, she'd fall asleep while watching it.

Once I was back in the hallway, I strained my ears to see if the TV was still turned down downstairs, but I couldn't hear it over the blare of the radio coming from down the hallway. Two down and one to go, I told myself. I looked at my watch. I'd already been there for an hour. I can do this... I can do this... I can do this. I can survive anything for five hours.

Tessa's bedroom was at the opposite end of the hall as Pricilla's had been. I knew which one it was right away because the stereo was so loud that it was practically shaking the closed door. I knocked out of courtesy but I knew that she couldn't hear it so a few seconds later I turned the knob and walked in.

Her room was decorated in true pre-teen fashion with posters of celebrities torn out of magazines papering the walls. She had a fuzzy hot pink rug covering the majority of her wooden floors, and her bed was covered with stars and peace signs. It was on her bed that I found her. Sprawled out on her stomach, chewing gum and flipping through a book. She looked up when she sensed I was watching her and rolled her eyes.

"I don't need a babysitter."

Without even waiting for her to hear my request, I walked to her dresser and turned down the volume of her radio. "Well your parents disagree."

The look she sent me was so angry and so full of attitude that I almost started laughing. I couldn't help it. She was this little girl who was just coming into her own as far as starting to grow up and she thought she could out do me when it came to the 'tude? I don't think so.

"I'm going to go downstairs and make something for your brother and sister to eat, are you hungry?"

She shrugged and turned her attention back to her book, "I don't know... maybe."

Awesome, I thought. "Okay well I'll call up here when it's ready so please leave your radio turned down so you can hear me."

Her only response was a thumb up. I took that as an okay sign.

Back downstairs I was happy to see that Malcolm still had the TV at a decent volume, but Priscilla was down there with him and both were covered with gooey sticky licorice. There was read sticky residue from their hands smeared on the couch, and after stuffing a particularly long piece into his mouth, Malcolm had thrown up red stained vomit on the floor... and hadn't bothered to clean it up.

"That's disgusting," I told him.

"Oh well," he told me.

I could have strangled him. Instead I grabbed the carpet cleaner and the scrub brush where they were lying by the first red stain, which I now assessed, was probably more licorice induced vomit, and handed them to Malcolm.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" He asked.

"Clean up your mess," I told him, "or you can skip dinner."

He cried, he complained, and he told me his stomach hurt too much to clean. I stuck to my threat and eventually he got down on his knees and started to scrub. That was when my cell phone rang again. It was my mom.

"I can't believe you signed me up for this," I told her in way of a greeting.

She started laughing, "It can't be that bad."

So I told her everything that had happened so far. "Wow, I guess it has been a little more than I expected."

I groaned. I was going through the cabinets and there was nothing to eat. "I guess you're lucky because you only had me to deal with. I couldn't imagine having three awful children."

"You weren't always so easy," she told me again laughing. "When you were about four I hired a specialist to work with you. It was amazing. Literally overnight you were a different child."

For some reason her statement gave me goose bumps. "I don't remember that."

"Well you were still young honey."

I strained my brain, but nothing was there. No memory of working with someone at all. "Still, I have absolutely no memory of that." Then I brushed it off, "maybe I should give Mrs. Anderson that same advice."

"I think I still have the company's name that I used. I'll text it to you and you can pass on the information. Be polite though Shaina, some people don't like to be told they have awful kids."

"I know mom," I told her before hanging up.

A few seconds later and my phone lit up with her text message.

CHANGED – 555-784-6589

I smiled and decided that this was just what poor Mrs. Anderson needed. Then I jumped when there was a knock on the kitchen window. With my heart racing, I peered out through the blinds and... nothing. There was nothing there. Frowning, I started rummaging through the cabinets again until there was another knock, this time louder than the first.

There was a door leading out to their back porch from the kitchen and I hurried over to it before I could chicken out. My heart was pounding, adrenaline was pumping through my veins, and I held my breath in fear. I pulled the blinds to the side and pressed my face against the cool glass. It was too dark to be sure, but I was almost positive that there was nothing out there, but again as soon as I turned away, the knock came again.

Several options ran through my mind then. Did I call the police? Did I grab the kids and make them stay with me in case there was an intruder? Did I call the Andersons? Then I shook my head and laughed at myself. If there was an intruder, they wouldn't be knocking, and it wasn't like I believed in things that went bump in the night... so pretty much I was just freaking myself out over nothing.

Strengthening my resolve, I flipped the switch for the back porch light and unlocked the door. Then, still trying to be brave, I opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. It was cold without my jacket on and I hugged my arms around myself to try and warm up.

"Hello?" I called tentatively. "Is anyone out here?"

Then a thought occurred to me. "Malcolm? This isn't funny. If you're trying to scare me, it's not working!"

Arms circled around me from behind and a hand came across my mouth to stifle my scream. "Who's Malcolm?"

I elbowed him in the stomach and spun around to face him when the force of my attack loosened his arms. "Ugh! That wasn't funny Ben!"

He was laughing even though he was doubled over from the impact of my elbow. "If you saw your face you'd think it was hilarious!"

There were two pizza boxes and a six pack of soda balancing on one of the deck rails. "Jerk."

He pulled me toward him and tried to kiss me but I turned my face away. "Aw come on Shaina, you know you love me."

I started laughing despite myself, "I love that you brought pizza, that's about it."

He moved forward for a quick kiss and then we hurried inside when I started shivering. "So where are the kids?"

He hopped up onto the counter while I pulled plates out of the cabinets and started filling them with pizza. "Malcolm and Priscilla were watching TV and Tessa was in her room." Without even asking me first, he opened the kitchen door and screamed for them to come and eat. "Why did you do that?" I hissed. "You aren't supposed to be here."

He smiled, "kids love me. They won't say anything."

I rolled my eyes. Yeah right, I thought.

A few seconds later, three kids slammed through the kitchen door. "Who is that?" Priscilla asked. "He's cute," Tessa whispered. "You aren't supposed to have boys over," Malcolm told me.

"Told you," I said to Ben.

He held out a plate of pizza to Malcolm, "come on bro, I brought you some pizza."

Malcolm took the pizza from him, but gave him a dirty look, "you aren't supposed to be here though."

A few minutes later and the kitchen was destroyed. Priscilla thought it would be funny to throw her pizza at her brother who then threw his back at her. The end result was one crying child, one laughing child, and walls covered with red pasta sauce and strings of mozzarella cheese. I looked at the clock. It was almost nine. I can do this... I can do this... I can do this... I can do anything for four hours.

After screaming at the kids to get out of the kitchen, I sunk into a chair and rested my head on my hands while my eyes surveyed the damage. I had only been there for two hours and I had cleaned more here than I usually had to all month at my own house.

"Wow, you weren't kidding, those kids are awful."

I sighed, "I know. I feel so bad for their parents. My mom gave me some information about a company that works with bad children, but I almost feel guilty telling their parents about it. I don't want to offend them."

"That's weird. What's the name of the company?"

I pulled out my cell phone and looked at the text again, "Changed."

There was a computer sitting on the counter and he walked over to it. "Let's Google it."

He typed, Changed located in Denver Colorado into the search bar and we waited while it loaded the results. There were about twenty different possibilities, but after reading the summary description of each one on the search page, we decided to try one about halfway down the second page.

"Wow, this is awesome!" He exclaimed when the pictures came up, "they all look like wax copies of themselves."

There were a series of before and after photos on the main page. In each one of the before photos, there was a messy and emotional child, and all of the after ones showed a well behaved, well dressed, smiling version of themselves. It was actually almost creepy.

"Look there's a place to put your information so that someone will contact you. Why don't we fill this out for the Anderson's? That way they won't know that it was you who referred them to the company."

An uncomfortable tingling sensation had begun to buzz in my head, but I pushed the feeling aside and took control of the keyboard. Almost as if my hands were more excited than the rest of me, they began flying over the keys and filling in the information. When I was done, I almost felt guilty, but then I looked around the kitchen and that guilt just dissolved right out of me. Then the doorbell rang.

Ben and I both looked at each other and then the computer screen. He started laughing first. "That's weird."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll be right back."

Despite the fact that there was no possible way that it could be the Changed people at the door, I couldn't stop my heartbeat from accelerating as I walked to the door. There was something tickling the back of my brain, some unrecalled memory just begging to be remembered, but every time I tried to grasp on to it, it slipped away again.

Tessa and Malcolm were fighting by the door when I got there; both of them screaming and taking swings at each other. Tessa was older and stronger, but Malcolm was smaller and faster so the fight wasn't really going anywhere, but the screaming was becoming loud enough to wake the neighbors.

"What the heck is going on out here?"

Immediately they both turned toward me and began yelling.

"Malcolm isn't supposed to be answering the door," Tessa screamed.

"Tessa is a big fat meanie head!" Malcolm screamed back.

I pointed to the stairs. "Both of you go to your rooms right now!"

After they both stomped up the stairs, I turned back to the door and opened it. Standing on the stoop with a smile on her face was the shortest and strangest woman I had ever seen. Her hair was brown but there was a strange texture to it that sort of reminded me of tree bark. Her eyes were moss green and she smelled sort of like fertilizer. I had to stop breathing through my nose to ensure I didn't gag.

She held out her hand for me to shake and I had to bend down to reach it. "Hello dear. My name is Acadia Brown. I am here on behalf of the Changed group. Is now a good time to talk?"

This had to be a joke. There was no way that this could possibly be happening. I looked past her, half expecting my mom or Ben to be standing off to the side laughing at the stunned expression that I was sure was on my face... only they weren't.

"I'm sorry; who did you say sent you again?" Maybe I wasn't the only one who had referred this company to the Andersons.

"Why you did, dear. We always respond quickly when it's for one of our own."

That tingling sensation started working its way back up my back. "I think you have the wrong person."

Just then, Priscilla came running up from behind me and kicked me so hard in the back of the leg that it buckled and I fell against the door.

"You can't tell us what to do! You're just the babysitter!"

The lady, Acadia Brown, smiled even bigger. "Oh no dear, I am exactly where I need to be. If I can just come in for a moment, we can get this all sorted out."

"No, really, thank you but there must be some mistake."

I closed the door and then backed away from it shaking. This was beyond strange. Something wasn't right and I was beginning to feel sick to my stomach from the stress of what I had set into motion. Who were these people and what had I done by giving them the Anderson's information? How could my mom have possibly used a service like this on me? It had to be a different company.

We always respond quickly when it's for one of our own...

No. No way. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed my mom's number. "Hello?"

"Mom, do you remember anything else about the company you told me about? I just want to make sure I give Mrs. Anderson the right information," I lied.

"Shaina? Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Yes!!!" I practically shouted at her.

"Wow, calm down. It can't be that bad." I heard her sigh "I don't remember a lot, just that the lady I worked with had a strange name."

A strange name. I tried not to panic. There were lots of strange names in the world. "Anything else?"

"I remember that she was tall and I think she had blond hair."

I let out the breath I had been holding and started walking back toward the kitchen where I had left Ben. "Thanks mom. I just wanted to make sure that I had the right place."

"Okay honey, just calm down. It's almost over."

"Okay, I guess that I'll talk to you later."

"Oh wait, Shaina? I think her name was Acadia. Acadia Brown. Call me if you need anything else."

The phone went dead at the exact time that the lights went out.

"Ben? Tessa? Malcolm? Priscilla?" I called. No one answered.

There was a flashlight application on my phone and I tried to access it with my hands shaking. I ended up fumbling a few times and almost dropped my phone in the process. Then I remembered that it was dead. I headed toward the kitchen in the dark. If there was something going on, something strange and creepy, I wanted Ben beside me.

"Ben?"

I'm not going to lie. The sane part of me knew that it was strange that he hadn't already come looking for me. The sane part of me began to shiver and cower in fear of what I would find when I walked into the kitchen. The insane part of me wanted to run into the kitchen, out the back door, and then down the street without looking back. Maybe I had those two parts of me confused.

The only light spilling into the kitchen was from the moon outside. I was so focused on not freaking out that it took me forever to realize that the reason there was so much moonlight was because the back door was open.

"Ben?" I hissed again. Nothing.

Then there was a bump from upstairs. I jumped and inhaled sharply in fear. Then there was a scream from upstairs.

I looked at my watch, with my phone dead and the electricity out, it was my only source of time. From the moonlight I could just make out that it was just past ten. I can do this. I can do this. I can do anything for three hours. There's nothing in the house. Everything is fine. I can do this.

The screaming stopped abruptly the moment I put my foot on the first stair. The silence that followed was broken only by the sound of my own heart beating in my head. Thump. Thump. Thump. The door to Priscilla's bedroom was slightly ajar and I crept toward it.

"Priscilla?" I whispered. No answer.

I opened the door further and slipped inside the room. The blinds on her window were drawn so there was absolutely to light filtering through. It took me a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the dark interior. Once they did I was able to make out shapes in the darkness. Her bed, her dresser, the television stand; all were darker masses in the unlit room.

"Priscilla? Are you in here?"

Two beady little eyes rushed forward to me in the dark and I fell backwards onto the bed. The door to the room slammed shut and I had to hold back the scream that was threatening to tear from my throat. It was then that I felt the hand on my arm.

"Shhh... it will hear you."

Relief flooded through me. "Tessa? Is that you?"

"Yes," she hissed, "Cissy is in here too."

"Thank God," I whispered. "What about Malcolm?"

Priscilla started whimpering. "It got him," Tessa said softly.

Fear seized me and acid began to sizzle in my stomach. "What do you mean 'it got him'?"

"That thing," Priscilla whispered, "the monster. It ate Malcolm."

"It's not a monster idiot, it's a troll," Tessa informed her.

"You aren't making any sense." I climbed down off of the bed and kneeled beside the two of them cowering in the corner. "There are no such things as trolls or monsters."

"It told us that it was going to take us away and give our parents the type of children they really want," Tessa said. "It said that they were going to eat us."

Okay, so this was definitely spiraling way out of control. It was time to get out of this house so that I could call for help. "Listen, we have to get downstairs so that we can go next door and call the police. I know that you're scared, but we can do this together."

Priscilla started crying again, but Tessa hugged her, "it will be okay Cissy. We have to get help for Malcolm."

"I want mommy and daddy," she cried.

I sighed. "I know. We are going to get your mom and dad, but we have to get out of this house first." I stood up and waited for them to stand with me. It was amazing how well my eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness. It was almost like it wasn't dark at all.

Together, the three of us tiptoed out of the room and down the hall. Downstairs another door slammed and Priscilla shrieked. "It's okay, Shaina's not going to let anything get us."

I smiled even though our situation was grim. It was sweet to see how caring they were of each other when in a dangerous situation. It almost made them more bearable. It almost made me regret thinking they were horrible children in the first place... almost.

We were just about to the stairs when Priscilla screamed, "Malcolm! You're okay!"

I spun around and saw to my immense relief that Malcolm was leaning against the door of what I could only assume was his bedroom. He smiled when he saw his sisters, "Of course I am."

For some reason, his reassurance wasn't reassuring at all. There was something off about him; something off about the way he looked and the way the words had come out of his mouth. However, when the sound of glass breaking came from downstairs, I didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Come on, we have to get out of this house," I told them all.

Priscilla took the hand of her older brother and pulled him along with us. Even though he seemed to go willingly enough, there was still something off about him. I just didn't have a clue as to what it was.

Downstairs seemed even brighter to me. The lights were still off, but I found no difficulty at all in finding my way around. The sound of glass breaking came again and I could pinpoint that it was coming from the kitchen. I turned around to tell the children to go out the front door, but only Tessa was behind me.

"Where are Malcolm and Priscilla?" I asked her.

Her face filled with fear when I asked her and she began looking behind herself frantically. "I don't know. Are they gone? I can't see anything."

"What do you mean you can't see anything? It's clear as day down here." Only it wasn't. The lights were still out. It was just clear to me. That uneasy tingling feeling began in the pit of my stomach again. "Look, let's just get to the neighbor's house. We will call the police and they will come back here for the others."

"No," she insisted, "we can't leave my brother and sister. You're crazy."

I let out a deep breath. "Tessa, we don't know what we are up against. It isn't safe in here," I whispered.

"Shaina! Thank God, I've been looking for you everywhere."

I turned at Ben's voice. He was standing in the doorway of the kitchen and I frowned. "Did you just come from in there?"

He nodded, "there's glasses broke and chairs overturned. What's going on? I tried to call the cops but my phone is dead."

"You didn't see anyone?" I asked suspiciously.

Tessa pulled on my shirt. "He's one of them, Shaina," she cried, "let's just go. We'll go next door like you wanted to."

I backed away from Ben and his eyes widened in what I guessed was fear. "You can't just leave me here alone."

"He's one of them Shaina, he has to be!" Tessa cried.

Too late I saw my reflection in the glass of the front window. Too late I noticed that in the light of the moon my chestnut hair took on the appearance of tree roots and branches. Too late I saw the hungry expression in my eyes that were glowing slightly in the dark.

Too late I saw the figure moving behind Ben and devouring him... but it wasn't too late for Tessa.

She screamed and threw herself in my arms shaking and whimpering. "We have to get out of here, Shaina."

It was too late for me though. I remembered everything that my mind had been trying to block from me. We let those memories stay lost so that it was easier for us to remain unknown amongst the humans... but I was not one of them. I was one of the others. I was a troll... and I was hungry.

It was just before one o'clock when the Anderson's drove into their driveway. I was waiting for them.

"Welcome home," I told them when they walked into the house from the garage. "How was your night?"

"Oh it was fantastic. Thank you so much for watching the kids Shaina, I hope that they weren't too much trouble for you."

I smiled at Mrs. Anderson. "Oh no, they were fine. In fact, we had a long talk and I think that you'll be surprised when things begin to change around here."

She frowned and Mr. Anderson laughed, "Well I'm sure you did your best, but I wouldn't count on it."

I smiled back. If only he knew.

He handed me a hundred dollar bill. "I know how my kids are," he told me with a wink.

I smiled and accepted it. Then I grabbed my jacket and walked out the door. Ben was waiting for me. Of course he wasn't the other Ben. That Ben was gone forever... but that was okay with me. This Ben didn't know what he was; he only knew what memories we gave him.

Somewhere in the Anderson house tucked away in the darkest of corners was a troll who was particularly good with memories. After all, changing places with the Anderson kids had been a big job. Four humans in one night is like a buffet for us. There was no need for me to be there, no need for Mr. and Mrs. Anderson to be harmed. We rarely ate adults. At his age, Ben was sort of a stretch for us.

"Is it just me or do you get prettier in the moonlight?" He asked me, holding my hand as we walked.

I shrugged and thought back to the moment my memories awakened. "Everything looks better in the moonlight," I told him.

Soulless

By: Amber Streed

©2013 by Amber Streed

I am a regular high school girl. Nothing ever happens to me that's out of the ordinary. I make good grades, I do my chores and I go to work. Life is boring. I envied Jessica. She was my best friend but somehow our social lives were never in sync. She played soccer, cheered and was the most beautiful girl in our senior class. Blonde hair, greened eyed and legs for days. I was unfortunately short and seemed to always be in a fight with my ever so boring brown hair. I wore glasses that always seemed to slide down my nose and make up never seemed to help bring out the hazy brown color of my eyes. I accepted it, I dealt with it. Sometimes it would get me down but for the most part I tried not to think about it. Until he showed up in my Bio class. A new student from Seattle, Washington. He took my breath away. Unfortunately he also took away my grace. Every time I saw him I did something totally clumsy; I dropped my books, spilled my drink, and stumbled over my own feet. I was hopeless. Love would never find me. I attempted to converse with people in class or at lunch, but normal the response was eye rolling or one word answers. The only guy who ever talked to me was Charlie, who probably only talked to me because we sat together in art class.

Dustin was in my math class. He was smart; which surprised me. Most guys in this school could care less about their education. All they cared about was parties, girls, and parties. He had it all I thought; looks, brains and mystery. If only I could stop being so awkward around him, maybe he wouldn't totally dismiss me. I told Jessica about my crush and she just laughed. Maybe it was because she was trying to make me feel like I should just go for it but maybe down deep she knew I never had a chance. After school I headed straight home. My dad was always at work and my mom left us when I was 3. I ran upstairs, threw my backpack in the corner and plopped on my bed. I laid there, thinking about my life. I just wanted to be happy and fall in love...was that too much to ask? Just before I was ready to cry out of desperation, I heard the doorbell ring. I slowly walked down the stairs, not even caring who was there on the other side. I looked through the peephole only to see Jessica putting on her shiny pink lip gloss. Reluctantly I opened the door and felt her strawberry smelling hair brush my face as she ran to the kitchen to find something to eat.

"So, dad gone again Rhy?" She asked in her bubbly voice.

"Yes, as always. He left me here all by my lonesome." I groaned.

"Get your ass upstairs. We are going to Matt's party tonight. Everyone will be there."

"Um in case you haven't noticed, I'm not the most popular person in the school and I'm pretty sure no one wants me there." I hissed.

"Don't be dramatic, you will be there with me. I promise I won't leave you by yourself tonight. It will be fun. You need to get out and socialize Wednesday Adams." She joked.

"Haha. You are so hilarious. Fine. I will go. I can be the dorky girl who follows you around." I mumbled.

We ran up the stairs to get me changed. She was going to do my hair and my makeup so I had to admit I was a little excited. Maybe this would be the night things would change for me.

She dressed me up in cute clothes and did my makeup and hair. When I looked in the mirror it was almost like there was a different person looking back at me. I kind of liked it. When she was done dolling me up, we jumped in her car and headed off to Matt's house. I had butterflies in my stomach the whole way there and I pleaded with her to take me back home. Of course she refused and kept on driving. She was determined to make me have a great time even if it was against my will.

Matt had a huge house on the west side of town. He was quarterback for the school's football team, and homecoming king all three years of his high school life. We walked up to his door, and right away I had a feeling this was going to be one hell of a night...

Music was blaring and there were crowds of people everywhere. Matt came down the stairs, beer in hand and open arms to meet Jessica. He looked at me up and down, turned to Jess, and right in front of me said "Wow is this the same dog that always follows you around?" All of his buddies heard him and everyone turned to look at me. Of course they all thought this was hilarious and stroked his ego more by laughing with him. She punched him in the arm and gave him the look to shut up. I sighed and turned away, heading for the door. Jessica tried to pull my arm to make me stay, but I pulled it as hard as I could and kept walking. I was so done with this bullshit. As I opened the door a cool breeze hit my face and Dustin was standing right in front of me. Normally I would swoon and freeze right where I was standing. This time I was so overwhelmed with what happened, I pushed him out of the way and tears started flowing from my eyes. I ran outside and down the steps, out into the dark starry night. Matt's house was isolated with acres of land in every direction. I ran into a patch of trees nearby and sank to my knees. I was tired of this life. I was tired of everyone who pretended to be in mine.

I hated school, I hated my dad, and I hated this life. I looked at my phone to see what time it was and I had a missed text message from Jessica. She pleaded with me to come back to the party, she promised Matt and his friends would behave. We had been friends since Kindergarten but I just didn't see the point anymore. We were too different. I didn't belong in her world. I texted her back exactly what I felt in my heart at that moment...Sorry Jess I can't. I don't think we should talk for a while. I don't fit into your life. We live in two different worlds.

With that, I deleted her number, and everything else I kept on my phone that had anything to do with her. I was determined to leave everyone in this town behind and to start over somewhere else where I had a chance. I started walking down the tree lined road. It was quiet out but it was still close enough for me to hear the base from the music at the party. I knew this town and the people in it weren't right for me. As I continued in the dark I started to hear things behind me. Every time I turned around to see if someone there, there was no one. I was alone...or so I thought. I heard a loud rustling this time and turned around as fast as I could, ready to completely lash out at someone. With all the anger boiling up inside me right now, I was sure I could do some damage. When I turned I saw Dustin walking behind me. I stopped in my tracks and asked "What the hell are you doing? You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry I saw you left the party crying so I came after you to see if you were alright." He said sincerely.

"Of course you did. So you and your friends could have a laugh about it later? Fuck off dude." I demanded.

He gave me a look that made me feel guilty for saying what I had said. But before I could speak he snapped back at me "Those aren't my "friends" up here ok? I went to the stupid party hoping I would see you." I was taken aback by this and didn't really know how to respond.

"Why me? No one at that school even pretends to like me." I replied.

He looked at me with confusion in his eyes and muttered "Well I'm not anything like the people at that school. I just, like your art and you seem cool in math class. I could use a friend. I really don't know anyone out here."

I was speechless. Here I was being a complete bitch to this guy who actually wanted to get to know me.

"I'm sorry." I stuttered. "It's just that I never know who to trust around here you know? Everyone is so fake."

"Yeah I'm catching on to that." He added. "By the way where are you going? There's nothing out here but dirt roads and trees. Let me take you back to the party and I will drive you home." He requested.

I studied him for a few minutes and decided to give him a chance. After all what's the worst that could happen? He could end up being just as idiotic and mean as everyone else but that was ok-I was already used to that. "Sure." I said reluctantly. We turned around toward the mansion which looked so ominous now in the dim light of the moon and the stars. We walked in silence for a while. I could tell he wanted to ask me something, he kept looking over at me and opening his lips but closed them quickly and turned away. Finally I broke the awkward silence by saying "So, what made you come to this place? I mean I'm sure Seattle is a hell of a lot cooler than Silver Springs."

"Actually I move a round quite a bit, my dad seems to never want to stay in one place. Why are you still here if you hate it so much?"

"Good question. I guess I don't have the means to leave. I literally have no one." I grumbled.

"Well maybe it's not the place that's so bad, maybe it's the way you approach things. Maybe these people aren't so bad." He stated so gingerly.

"Oh yeah they are lovely here. Getting called a dog on a daily basis is super fun. Being tripped in the lunch room and having your food fall down your clothes in front of the whole cafeteria is awesome. Matt and his friends have treated me like shit ever since we were young. It's never going to change." I hissed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know it was that bad. I guess when you are on the outside you just don't see things how they really are." He said. I could tell he felt bad which in turn made me feel bad for being so rude to him. Maybe I was just too dramatic. Maybe I should just give him a chance. Maybe he's not like them.

"It's ok look, let's not talk about them okay? I'm done with them always ruining things." I said defiantly.

The night was getting darker, and colder. No wind, no birds chirping, no dogs barking. It was an eerie feeling; like everything in the world was shut off and our shoes were the only things making noise. He looked over at me with this look, this sexy almost sinister look. I never noticed how dark his eyes were. They were beautiful, but dark. Not just in a color way, there was something behind them. Something...disturbed. But they were surprisingly inviting and tempting.

It was a long way back to the house, and I knew I was being awkward and whiny. I wanted him to see me for who I really was; a kind, artistic, funny girl who wanted nothing more than for people to see the girl behind the glasses.

"So do you like it here? Where are you from?" I asked.

"Oh here and there, my family moves around a lot. You could say it's part of our....religion." He smirked.

"So where are your parents?" He continued quickly, I could tell he wanted to change the subject.

"Oh my mom died when I was young, and my dad, you could say he died when she did-not physically but he was never the same." I said solemnly.

"That sucks." He answered. I could tell he saw the sadness behind my eyes, the sound of my loneliness in my shaky voice. Then he stopped and turned to me. His eyes, dark and ominous-swirling with wrong and right all at the same time. They began to glow with a low light, like when a candle is down to its last centimeter of flame; dying to live. Suddenly the silence around me filled my ears, and everything around me turned black. He took my hand. His hands were so soft and warm to the touch. It was awkward, since I didn't think anyone liked me enough to hold my hand.

"I wasn't sure if I could help you before, but now I know I can. Hear me out, listen to everything I have to say-it's very important you keep your mind open." He demanded. He was so serious I dared not disobey him. I couldn't look away. His eyes were drowning me in a pool of darkness and I could feel a slight breeze brush my cheek that seemed to come up from the ground below us. It was so quiet, not even the sound of the leaves rustling could be heard.

"Rhylan, what would you say if I told you I could take all your pain away. All of your sadness, your loneliness. What if I said I could make you happy? What if I said you would find your true love within the next two days?" His eyes were staring deep into mine, searching for some part of me that I didn't understand. He knew my deepest desires-to be loved, to be happy. How could this even be true I thought?

"I would say you are a crazy bastard." I answered sarcastically. The look in his eyes made me feel like he was telling the truth, but my mind was telling me it couldn't be true. Paranormal stuff isn't real, and if it was real I sure as hell wasn't lucky enough to have it happen to me.

There was silence between us. The kind of silence where we studied each other closely. I wanted to believe him. I wanted so bad to trust him.

"Ok why are you looking at me like that?" I asked quizzically.

"Look Rhylan I'm offering you something that you can't resist. Don't you want to be happy? Don't you want to find your true love?" He asked with his dark eyes still glowing with curiosity.

"Yes of course I want to, who wouldn't? I just don't know why you are asking me?" I said, giving him a questionable look.

"I've seen you around school. I see what you go through. I understand your pain. I can see your sadness peering through your beautiful brown eyes." He reached up with his warm hand and touched my cheek.

"All it takes is a kiss...technically. There is the part where you swear to give up your soul to me. But that's just the wording on the contract. If you look at it this way-who knows what it's like in heaven? I sure as hell don't. Wouldn't it be better just to give yourself to me and know where you are going? Hell is so much more fun." He gave me a devilishly sexy grin and pulled back my hair behind my ear. It was impossible to resist him. He made it seem so easy. What was my soul worth anyway? If I was happy and found my true love what harm could it do? I would be dead anyway. I took a deep breath in and stared him back in the eyes.

"What exactly does it entail? I just swear to give my soul to you and when I die it's yours?" I anxiously exhaled.

"Seems so simple doesn't it?" He said so casually cruel.

"Well um yeah. I don't mean to be rude but what the hell are you?" I asked with a cool tone, trying to shake off my nervousness.

"Some say I'm just a handsome devil in a meat suit, but Rhylan I'm so much more."

He pulled me closer and put his hands over my eyes. We were traveling through some sort of wormhole. I could still feel him holding me tight. He was so warm and he smelled so good. The atmosphere around me was swirling by, colorful and picturesque. I could see him, always the same age, always handsome and dark and mysterious. I saw him through different centuries making deals with the sad, the sick and the poor. All I saw was the happiness that exuded from the unfortunate people who came across him. In a way he was like an angel, coming to the aid of those desperate souls. He brought them love and fame and popularity, happiness and health. All it took in return was a simple agreement. A small gesture for his generous gift.

Finally everything started to fade. The scenes I saw were leaving us behind, rushing back to live forever in the grace of their memory. He still had me held close. Close enough to where I could see the small light glowing in his eyes. I never noticed how beautiful his eyelashes were, or how soft his lips looked. Maybe that was all part of the scheme and really he was some scary, ugly demon with horns. I just couldn't think of him that way. He was too beautiful. And he understood me. What else could I be asking for and actually be receiving at this very moment?

"Ok Dustin. If that's even your real name. What do I need to do to make this happen? I'm tired of this life, I'm tired of the people in it who don't give a shit about me. I want to make the deal." I said firmly, with a small tear starting to fall down my cheek. Yes, I was desperate. Yes I wanted happiness and love. Who didn't? It was my turn now. He did what he did best. He gently wiped my tear from my face and looked at me lovingly in the eyes.

"Kiss me Rhylan. Kiss me and I promise you won't regret a thing." He said casually romantic with a mischievous yet utterly breathtaking smile on his face.

It was happening. He pulled me closer. His breath was hot but sweet on my face. His hand was resting on the small of my back, pulling me closer every second. Then it happened, he pulled me in for the kiss. I didn't resist-I couldn't. I couldn't risk this not being real, it was literally the chance of a lifetime. Kissing him felt so right; not just for the deal but because I kind of liked this "guy". Truly he was something out of this world. He was like me in a way-an outsider.

His lips pressed against mine. They were softer than I thought they would be. His gritty exterior and casual coolness left me believing his lips would be cracked and cold. They were far from that. His kiss enveloped me into this dark place inside my mind. I found myself craving this happiness he spoke of. I wanted to find my true love and I would do ANYTHING to have it be mine. I knew he was still kissing me in reality but what happened in my mind was like a dream. We were standing in the middle of a dark and cold desert. The sky was not filled with stars, but with words. I had no idea of the language of origin but it looked old, unspoken or forgotten. I could hear the contract being whispered to me, through thousands of voices surrounding us. Each dialect was different, but one started to get louder than all the others. It was Dustin. He stood in front of me looking like the demon he was. His eyes were pure white, no color, no pupil. He slowly recited to me the contract of which I was so anxious to seal.

"Rhylan. From this day forward you pledge your soul to the one they call Alazander. You will be given 10 years to live, free of pain and sorrow and toil. After 10 years your demon will call upon you to return your soul to him and him alone. Do you agree to these terms set forth by Moloch?" He dictated in a slow, monotone voice.

I'm going to die anyway, I thought to myself. 10 years happy is better than 70 unhappy.

"Yes. I agree." I said without hesitation.

That was it. We were back on the same simple street in this fancy neighborhood, kissing under the dim light of the moon. We pulled away from each other in an awkward silence. Our hands fell to our sides and we started walking back to the house.

"So are you still driving me home?" I asked quietly.

"Yes of course." He replied.

"So how does this work? I just go about doing my own thing and everything will just happen on its own?" I asked, puzzled about my next step.

"Yes, everything will come to you. You don't have to do a thing I promise." He smirked.

I laid in bed that night, wondering of all the things that would come. Without even realizing, I drifted off to the most restful sleep I've ever had.

The light of the sun shone through my window on to my face, waking me up for the brand new day I was about to have. I ran downstairs to get my breakfast and there my dad was in the middle of the kitchen...breakfast already made. He kissed me on the head and gave me this look. I'd never seen it before, but I could tell he was sorry. Maybe it was just part of the deal, but it was enough for me. I grabbed my backpack and hurried to school, anxious of the beginning of this brand new life. I arrived at school minutes later. The energy about this day was magical and I knew something epic was about to happen. I walked into math class to a class full of curious seniors. It was like they were seeing me for the first time. I felt...sexy today, I felt a confidence that was new and radiating. Matt didn't see me walk in. With all the heads turning towards me as I walked in he was forced to look my way. His jaw dropped when he saw me. I looked the same as I always did but there was something about my energy that erased everything he ever knew. I sat in my usual seat and survived the boring formulas and unforgiving word problems. The glares from every angle were unrelenting and I was glad when the clock turned 1. At my locker Jessica approached me, and feeling sorry for the way I acted I apologized for what I said. We hugged it out and I left to art class. Dustin was sitting in his normal seat seemingly waiting for me. He grinned his sexy grin and I took my seat. Charlie was late to class and he tried to make unobvious by slipping into his seat while everyone was up getting their supplies. While I was sorting through used canvas to paint over, Dustin came up next to me. He made sure the area was cleared and he grabbed my arm gently.

"You know Charlie right?" he asked with his smoldering eyes.

"The guy that sits next to me? Yeah I guess. We've gone to school together since Kindergarten. Why do you ask?" I whispered.

"He's the one." He declared, keeping intense eye contact with me.

"What?" I accidently said extremely loud. Of course everyone looked over at me to stick their nose in my business. Dustin thought this was funny, so he gave a small chuckle and gave everyone a look that they dared not disregard.

"Just talk to him, you have to trust me Rhylan." He pleaded. He took his hand off my arm and casually slid back into his seat. I returned to mine, only to find that Charlie talked to me first. The only thing was, I could not get my mind off Dustin. Something about him made my skin all warm and tingly. The kiss was shared was so electric. I felt like it was so much more than a deal.

Charlie and I made plans to hang out. He seemed like a nice guy. He was cute and artistic and funny...everything I liked in a guy. I could see Dustin out of the corner of my eye watching us as we shared smiles. Then I saw him look down for a second and shake his head, like there was something lingering in his mind that he could not let go of. He got up quickly and left the room before I could even say goodbye. I guessed that was the end of it, until of course it was time to pay him.

Months went by and I didn't see Dustin. He just disappeared. Everything in my life was going so perfectly. Charlie and I had been dating, my dad and I actually had a relationship and no one was bullying me at school. On paper everything was wonderful. It was my heart that told the truth. I didn't feel for Charlie the same way I felt about Dustin. I just always wanted to see his smile and throw myself into his gorgeous demonic eyes. Why couldn't there just be a way for us to be together?

I stayed late that day after school. I had so much built up tension and anxiety I just wanted to paint. The classroom was empty. I knew from experience the janitors didn't get to this classroom until about 7, so I had plenty of time to relax and let it all get poured out onto my canvas. I chose the largest one still left in stock and poured as many color as I could onto my palette. I tied on my old smock and sat down in an old rusty folding chair. I messily threw in my ear buds and cranked up my Ipod. I closed my eyes and took a breath. This was the time to let everything go. I started to paint furiously. Gray and white filled the background as I carelessly scribbled words across the canvas. He was the only thing on my mind. I had to paint him just to see him one last time. I started to outline the shape of us. I wanted to forever capture the moment he kissed me. I felt like all my sadness and my happiness were pouring out at the same time. Happy that I was finally, well, happy... and sad because I had to let Dustin go. I finished my face and started to work on his. I carefully thought of every inch of his beautiful face, his strong jawline, his full lips-the intense look in his eyes that I could not escape. Not 20 minutes into my session two warm hands felt their way over my glasses.

"Guess who?" the voice of a guy behind me.

"Oh shit! I screamed. I turned around ready to punch someone square in the nose. I pulled my earplugs out and turned around.

"It's just me, Charlie." He grumbled.

"Oh Charlie. Geezus you scared the shit out of me." What are you doing here? I hissed.

"I just wanted to see if you wanted to go have dinner. But I can see from your painting you aren't thinking about me at all." He snarled.

'"No Charlie it's just a memory, it's just a painting of a memory." I assured.

Then there was another voice coming from behind Charlie.

I moved my head around Charlie and my jaw dropped. Dustin was standing there, ironically looking like an angel. He literally made my heart skip a beat. Before I even had time to react he leaped toward Charlie. He grabbed him by the throat and threw him up against the wall.

"Charlie I will tell you this once and only once. Leave here now and forget you ever met Rhylan. This is your only warning." He hissed a low hiss that would normally only come out of a wolf hunting his prey.

He let go of his grip and Charlie fell to the floor. As soon as he could get to his feet he took off running at full speed, tripping over chairs and almost falling to the ground.

"Well that was fun." He said snickered.

"What are you doing here Dustin? I thought you left. I didn't think I would ever see you again." I mumbled.

"I didn't want to ever come back Rhylan, and risk seeing you with him. From the moment I made that deal I regretted it. There is something that pulls me to you. I don't understand it. I have never felt this. I had to come back to see you one last time. When I walked in and saw your painting I knew. I knew I had to be with you. The kiss we shared was more than just a deal. It made me...feel something, and I'm not used to that. I don't know what is and I don't know what to do about it. Can I just try one thing?" He asked not only with his alluring voice but with his expressive yet somber eyes.

"Yeah sure I mean, you already have my soul." I said quietly. I was unsure of what was about to happen but it was happening none the less. Everything started to become hazy. He slowly moved closer and wrapped his arm around my waist and laid his hand on my lower back. He pulled me in toward him all the while keeping my gaze. I closed my eyes and waited for it to happen. I dreamt about this for months. I saw him in my dreams. I saw his face in crowds of people on the street. This was finally it.

He put his lips on mine and a pulse ran through my body. Just like before we vanished into a desert. This time it was filled with light. He looked beautiful. His eyes were light green with a yellow tint. He didn't look so, devilish you could say. He looked at me and laughed. He looked around us as if any second he was expecting the world to fall out from underneath us. And then he appeared. A tall, dark man with black hair and white eyes. He was terrifying yet I had no fear, I knew Dustin would protect us.

"Alazander, never in my existence have I seen this. For centuries I have had my demons make deals for love and happiness. I have watched souls be taken into hell to wander forever in the darkness. You have been my most loyal servant. Surely you must know what releases a demon from his lord. You have lived a long time Alazander and you have served me well." He lamented.

"Moloch my lord. Never did I think this would happen. I knew as soon as the deal was made that this was the end. I could do nothing else but think of her safety and her happiness. I wanted to be the only one in her life-even if that meant killing a man. But I knew I couldn't, because then we couldn't be together. I have never given second thought to human life. You know my nature Moloch. But this is the end. You have to release me of my duty. I have served you for longer than anyone else. It is written in the stars that if a demon finds true love, he contract is broken and he is allowed to live as a mortal, and die as a mortal." He asserted.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. They stared at each other for a long time before Moloch took his arm and wrapped it around Dustin's. A light came from the sky and twisted around their arms like barbed wire. The ground shook and light began to fall from the sky. Our bodies were vibrating, it felt like we were going to explode. Then their grasp loosened and Moloch was sucked into the sandy earth. Dustin turned back to my gaze and locked his lips to mine. We were back in the classroom next to the painting. No words needed to be spoken. I no longer needed a contract to find true love. My soul was his the day he kissed me.

NIGHT CACHE

By: Cheryl Casey

© Copyright 2013 by Cheryl Casey

No part of this story may be

Reproduced without permissions.

All rights reserved.

She found the green metal box hidden behind a bush, next to a wall of the crumbling cemetery. She tugged on the latch and it released with a bang, making her jump. She looked around though she knew there was no one who would see or hear in these desolate woods. The nearest building was a shell of an old farm house, burnt and leaning.

She lifted the lid and found an assortment of things, a compass, a small sewing kit, a small plastic zombie with a dog-tag tracking code attached to it. She sorted through the other things and found what she had been looking for, a small notebook and a pencil. She had brought her own pencil in case this one had been missing.

She opened the notebook and hurriedly printed her handle and the date, Aayla - February 11, 2013, under the name and date of the previous hunter. With a last, quick glance around, she placed the metal box behind the bush and returned to her jeep. Aayla was tired from driving most of the day and she was ready to return to the safety of her home where her cat, Oscar, waited for his evening meal.

The sky was darkening but there was one more geocache in the area that she wanted to find before making her way out of this murky back-country - and another one that she planned to avoid.

Locking the doors and starting the jeep, Aayla checked her handheld GPS device for the location of the next geocache. She knew it would be complete dark by the time she got there but it was the last one on her list, besides the one she would skip. She flicked the flashlight on and off, checking the batteries.

She left the moldering cemetery and let the GPS device guide her. She drove for miles along the deserted gravel road until it deteriorated to a trail and she thought she had accidentally strayed onto someone's pasture road. There were just two tire grooves in the sand with grass growing between them, a fence to the left, and lanky trees stretching over the passage to form a dark tunnel. Her GPS device still showed that she was on a marked road. She kept driving but had her doubts.

The dark tunnel finally gave way to the gravel road again. She took a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders, trying to loosen the tension a bit. The sky was completely dark now with a thumbnail moon low in the West. She felt like she had made a mistake in not finding her way back to a populated area after the cemetery. She didn't like to be alone in the dark, though common sense told her there was nothing to fear if she was the only person out here.

Aayla rounded a corner of the narrow road and, as her jeep lights panned across the darkness, she was stunned to realize she had been guided to the geocache she had intended to avoid. She checked her GPS but the tiny gray map seemed confusing.

With dread, she lifted her gaze to the road. The strange things there seemed to creep up from the gravel in black and white, illuminated by the stark headlights, shadows thrown deep into the darkness beyond. Several stones outlined a tiny grave next to the road, though there was no cemetery for miles. Standing guard were several Virgin Mary statues, tilted or fallen completely, weathered and dark, old dolls in various stages of decay, and a small, chipped, cherub statue. Draped over everything were rosaries and silk flowers, faded and torn. Tokens left by disquieted visitors at the century-old grave.

The nearby geocache was called "Pains of the Wagon Train". It drew geocachers to the 1870 grave where a wagon train had passed through and a three year old girl had died on the journey. The family and other members of the wagon train had buried the little girl and soon had to move on.

Aayla checked the locks on the jeep again and imagined what it must have been like for the family to leave their little girl behind. To drive off in the wagon toward their destination and leave her body buried alone in the woods. She could picture the mother staring at nothing with empty eyes from the wagon seat.

There was no cemetery and Aayla had supposed there would be just an old grave marker near the road like the one she had seen on the way to Moran. Neither grave had ever been moved. They both remained in their original locations as part of history.

This would have been an interesting stop in the daytime with other geocachers. They would have looked over all the things that had been left. Taken the time to make out the dates on the lichen-covered stone. But alone at night in the back-country, gooseflesh slipped down her spine.

Part of her wanted to say "Forget the geocache, I'm not getting out of this jeep." But she didn't; she would have felt silly. There was nothing out here but trees and dust covered toys.

She clutched her flashlight, left the jeep running and found the cache, another green metal ammo box, across the road under a fallen fence post. The night was still and quiet as she retrieved the little log book from the box, this time careful to keep the latch from banging open. She took it to the hood of the jeep to note her geocacher's handle and the date. She turned to replace the log book but was halted by a glance at the grave. The hair raised on the back of her neck. The Virgin Marys were upright and all facing her.

She felt a strong urge to drop the log book and get in her jeep. She was sure the statues had been toppled over and disheveled when she had pulled up. She wasn't certain now. She forced herself to walk back to the cache and replace the log book. Her hands trembled and she fumbled with the latch. She just wanted to be done and gone, to get back to Oscar who was surely walking from room to room in her tiny house, wondering where she was.

Aayla shoved the box back under the fence post and stood up, patting her pocket for the reassurance of her cell phone. It wasn't there. She had left it on the hood of the jeep. Panic quickened her heartbeat and shaking legs nearly betrayed her as she stumbled back across the road.

She didn't want to look at the grave again. She tried to focus on the jeep. But something had changed. She clenched her jaw and turned her eyes to the grave. The dolls were sitting up, their arms outstretched toward her, eyes wide in the glare of the headlights.

Her heart pounded. This was a sick joke. Who would do this? Who could do this so quickly and silently? She slapped the hood of the jeep with both hands. No cell phone. She was so out of breath that she was getting dizzy. She searched the ground but could barely see anything now. Inside; she must have left it in the seat. She yanked open the jeep door. A small cry thrust from her throat and the heat drained from her body. A dirt-covered doll lay in the seat.

She stumbled back a step. She was losing her senses and felt like she was no longer completely there, as if in a dream. She spun around off balance, arms out, her breath jerking in and out in gasps. Something else had changed. She felt faint. A dark shape lay in the ditch by the fence post. She had just come from there. She stared until realization settled over her. She was looking at her own body, her own blond hair soaked in blood, draped over a rock.

Her heart stilled. The cold night air stole through her soul. She felt thin as a wisp of wind. A hand slipped inside hers. She looked down and the solemn girl looked up. Her mouth did not move but her words crawled into Aayla's mind. Don't ever leave me again.

Sweet Silence

By Amanda Alberson

© 2013 By Amanda Alberson

Aiden looked over at his friend again and rolled his eyes. Jared sat on the edge of his seat wrapped in childlike excitement.

This is so lame! Aiden thought as he looked around the outdated bar, aptly named, The Boondocks. They'd driven for what seemed like hours into the endless Louisiana swamps before finding the clap board shack.

He reached out and poked Jared in the shoulder to get his attention then signed, "She better be A-M-A-Z-I-N-G." He spelled the last word slowly with grand gestures to get his point across.

Jared laughed and replied, "Dude she will be, trust me."

Shaking his head Aiden took another drink of his beer. He'd known Jared his whole life and trusted him in almost every way. Although being dragged to the middle of nowhere to watch some hot chick sing, even though he couldn't hear her, had him doubting his own sanity as well as Jared's.

The crowd was small, filled mostly with college guys just like Aiden and Jared. The shack felt larger on the inside than it looked from the parking lot. The dimly lit tables were nestled up against the stage as if they too were eager fans. The only other person aside from the lusty eyed patrons was a tall, steel eyes bartender who hadn't spoken when Jared ordered their beers, only nodded gruffly and slid them across the bar.

The lights dimmed and Aiden's eyes fell on the stage as the red velvet curtain began to part. A long leg slid from the darkness. From the folds of the curtains stepped a tall womanly girl with deep burgundy red hair. An aqua sequenced dress clung to her curvy figure. She looked like a 50's pin up girl with her large innocent eyes and her thick, curvy body.

Aiden's stare slid down her, over her hips, to her milk white legs that found home in the long split in her dress. She stood on stage drinking them in, her bare feet and perfectly manicured aqua toe nails peeked from beneath the long hem. His eyes traveled back up, enjoying every inch of her sensuous body. Her round emerald eyes sat on a plain but pretty face. She wasn't a Hollywood bombshell but there was something alluring about her. Jared was practically clawing at the stage in a vain attempt to pull her closer.

Esilee scanned the small crowd. There was a collective sigh as she slowly slid her tongue across her crimson lips. She looked ravenously down at the young man gripping the stage and smiled. The young ones were always so eager, never any challenge with them. She took a slow, long breath and began to sing. The room fell deathly silent except for the soft murmuring of her voice.

Aiden looked over to give Jared a thumb up but his friend was too enthralled with the woman on stage to pay him any attention.

Finishing the last of his beer he grabbed his bottle as well as Jared's and headed towards the bar. The bartender eyed him suspiciously as Aiden set the empties down and motioned for two more.

"What's the matter don't like girls?" The man asked. In the dim lights it was hard for Aiden to follow his lips and he was afraid he'd read them wrong.

Speaking to strangers always embarrassed him. He knew the look and the million questions that followed every time he spoke to someone new, so instead he just shrugged.

Esilee watched him stand at the bar, his back arrogantly turned to her. Fire blazed in her emerald green eyes as she sang louder. No one had ever ignored her before, no man could have, would have ever ignored the sound of her voice. The room let out a moan as she crooned even louder, her throaty voice growling the words. As her smoky song filled the room the men at the tables swayed along.

Aiden felt a slight change in the air around him, a light rumble in the bar where his hand lay and then it was gone. He continued counting out ones for the beers.

Esilee lowered her voice again to a soft lullaby and smiled as she heard heads falling on tables. She stepped from the stage, moving fluidly through the sleeping crowd, when Aiden turned she was standing in his path glaring at him.

"You don't like my songs?" She asked. He could tell by her tense stance and the way she bit at the words she as angry.

He sighed; he had no choice but to answer her.

"If your voice is as beautiful as you are I'm sure no man on earth could resist it, but I can't hear it, I've been deaf since birth." He looked down at his feet, not wanting to see the pity or the surprise on her face.

Esilee felt the warm heat slide across her cheeks. He'd called her beautiful, without even hearing her voice. He wasn't entranced by her siren song, he wasn't waiting endlessly for the next notes to come from her, and yet he'd called her beautiful.

"Really?" She asked, not noticing he wasn't looking at her anymore. She slid a finger beneath his chin and tilted his head up so she could meet his eyes. They were such a deep blue; they almost looked like home to Esilee. She couldn't remember the last time she'd swam in the deep fathoms of the ocean. Certainly not since the giant storm had swirled her up and carried her to this wooded swamp. The waters were deep enough in places but too shallow in others. The creatures here were both familiar and different, but she found what she needed so she remained. Always lonely and often homesick, she craved something she did not understand until she saw Aiden. Something she'd never known in all her lifetimes nor in all the years she'd been here living off the locals and the college frat boys that came seeking the Siren of the Swamp. Esilee craved true love.

"Really?" She asked again, "You think I'm beautiful?"

Aiden smiled at her. Her features softened into those of a young girl, eager to be adored but too shy to seek the attention.

"Of course I do. I wish I could hear you sing, but there is something fairly close to it." It was his turn to blush, he couldn't believe what he was about to ask her.

"If I could put my hand here," he reached forward tentatively and places his hand just above her breasts.

"If I put my hand here while you sing, I can feel your voice." He smiled at her shyly.

She clasped her hand over his and began a low, deep ballad of lost ships and men buried in the sea. Her chest swelled and rumbled beneath his hand. He felt so much more than just the vibrations from her voice; he felt the emotions the song brought out of her. Sorrow and pain flowed from her and into his heart. They looked at each other, tears brimming in both their eyes.

It was then Aiden noticed the other men, dead eyed and swaying in their seats, awoken by her newest song.

"What are you?" He asked.

Esilee looked away, ashamed for the first time in her life for what she was.

"I'm a siren. I survive off the souls and flesh of men that are lured here and entranced by my voice." She dropped her hand from his, waiting for the shriek of terror, for the utter rejection.

"Well you caught me." Aiden replied.

She smiled at him through her tears.

"But I don't want you."

"Too small a catch?" He smiled back, winking at her.

Caught off guard by his innuendo she laughed out loud, causing the men in the room to laugh along with her.

"No, I could never destroy you, you found beauty in me without magic or tricks, and how could I ever destroy that?"

"Are you going to kill all of these men? Do you know them? One of them is my best friend; I'll beg you for his life if it would help." He slowly slides one finger across her collarbone then up to her chin, bringing her eyes to his.

"I only need one; I would never take your friend from you."

"How do you decide?" He looked out over the crowd. How did one choose which life was less valuable than another? Nothing about any of the men there stood out. None looked like bad men that would deserve a good soul eating.

"I don't think about it really. I sing and at the end of the night I call to one of them to stay, one that came alone, or looks like he's at the end of his rope. Sometimes old crab boat captains and alligator hunters wander in from the swamp. No one thinks anything of it if they go missing, it's a hazardous job fishing these swamps, and sometimes men disappear."

"That must be horrible for you. Surviving off the souls of others."

She smiled at his concern, and without thinking she leaned forward and covered his lips with her own. A shock ran through him. His entire body began to hum as her tongue tickled his.

"I must be drunk." He replied when she pulled away.

"How else could I explain being in a bar in the middle of a swamp being kissed by a soul eating siren? I'm drunk, maybe I passed out at the table and Jared is driving us home right now." He began looking around the bar, realization settled into his blue eyes bringing fear with it.

Her heartbeat tripled, stopped and then pounded inside of her chest. She felt like she was dying. Never in her long life had Esilee ever felt this way. She'd desired men before but only for their flesh and their soul. This one made her want things she didn't understand. Right then what she wanted most was for him to stop looking at her like she was a soul devouring monster, even though she was.

The panic began to build in Aiden's chest as he looked past her, searching the sea of glazed eyes for Jared. When he looked back at her tears welled in her green eyes threatening to drag her smoky eye liner down her cheeks.

"I am sorry, please do not cry." He signed at her without thinking. Esilee took his hands into hers.

"That was beautiful, what was it?"

"I said, I'm sorry and I don't want you to cry."

She was astonished there could be so much power and feeling in words that were not spoken aloud. All her life the power of her voice had been everything, now this man, this mortal man was breaking her heart with the wave of his hand.

Aiden couldn't look at her with tears in her eyes. Frightened and confused as he was, her vulnerability moved him. She couldn't possibly be a heartless monster, if that was true they would all be dead by now.

"Say something else, with your hands." She whispered.

Aiden smiled and signed to her, speaking softly as he did.

"Hi, my name is Aiden."

She watched intensely as his hands moved.

"Aiden," she said, tasting his name on her lips.

"I'm Esilee."

The bartender grumbled pulling their attention towards him; he nodded towards the stage, where the men were stirring from their stupor

"I have to eat Aiden." She paused, tears returning to her eyes as she kissed him softly.

"Get your friend and leave, go back towards town and don't ever come into the swamp again."

He watched as her beautiful face contorted as if in pain. Ruby red lips quivered as he read them. He shook his head desperately signing at her as quickly as he could.

"No. I will not leave you here alone. I want to stay. I want to hold you and talk to you. I want to get to know you. Dammit Esilee I want to love you." He plunged his hands into the red sea of hair framing her shocked face and kissed her. Their passion consumed them. Her body melted against his as he held her tighter. Aiden's soft lips moved from her mouth to her neck and back as he lifted her from the ground and set her on the barstool. Esilee wrapped her silky legs around his waist and sighed against his lips.

A hand pulled at Aiden's shoulder. One of the men stood behind him anger and alcohol burned in his eyes.

"Hey asshole, how about you share some of that action?" The man reached lazily towards Esilee. Aiden placed himself between them shoving the man's arm violently.

"Back off." Aiden growled. Esilee's heart swelled. No one ever tried to protect her, and even though Aiden had to know she could handle the guy on her own, he still stood protectively between them.

"What'd you say to me boy," the man sneered, "bach off? What are you? Slow?"

Before he could utter another ignorant word Jared was swinging on him. His powerful right fist collided with the man's already crooked nose. It reminded Aiden of when he first met Jared on the Kindergarten playground. Three bullies were pushing Aiden around between them calling him every name they could think of, when Jared rushed in swinging wildly at all of them. His tiny fists flailed endlessly until the boys ran away, all bleeding from either the nose or the mouth. Jared had turned and stuck his hand out to Aiden and shouted,

"My grandma don't hear either!"

They'd been inseparable ever since.

Aiden reached down and pulled Jared off the man who had long since stopped resisting.

"Take that guy Esilee, although I'm not sure how much soul he actually has." He whispered to her.

Esilee slid from the barstool and hummed softly in the man's ear. He stood and followed her through a door next to the stage.

"Everybody out." The bartender barked. Slowly the room emptied.

Aiden gripped Jared's shoulder, "Thanks man."

"Anytime, what the hell happened? One minute I'm drooling over that hot babe, the next I'm kicking some guys ass while you're making out with her."

Aiden blushed, "You know me man, I'm a lady killer."

Jared laughed and moved toward the door.

"Come on, I've had enough fun for one night."

"I'm gonna stay."

Jared's head whipped around.

"Stay?"

"Yeah, we're getting to know each other." Aiden smiled at him and wondered if his best friend would leave him alone in a swamp shack with a siren.

"Dude, I'm not leaving you in the middle of nowhere with some chick and Murder Magee over there." Jared nodded towards the bartender who was busy washing out glasses and tossing empty beer bottles.

"Come back tomorrow and get me, or I'll call you before then if I need a ride. I'm sure Esilee has a car she can bring me home." He was practically pleading. He couldn't leave, there's was just something magical about Esilee, she was like a drug and he needed more, so much more.

She stepped next to them as if conjured by Aiden's mere thought of her. Her snow white complexion glowed in the dim bar light and her eyes held a shine Aiden hadn't seen in them earlier. He wondered if it was the man's soul trapped inside of her.

Esilee looked at Jared, who was looking at his friend with such a pained concern it hurt her heart. Aiden must be an amazing man to have a friend who cared for him so very much. While the man eating siren in her enjoyed the rugged bravery Jared possessed, she was attracted more to the soft, passionate emotions that Aiden displayed with each move of his hands. She didn't care that when he wasn't speaking aloud she didn't know what the movement meant. It wasn't the actual words that moved her, it was the raw emotion she could feel coming from each gesture. She'd heard men speak for more lifetimes than she could account for. They spoke with anger and lust and mostly with lies, Aiden spoke with only his heart, and for that she instantly loved him.

Their eyes met and something stirred deep inside of her, she knew she couldn't lose him.

"I promise to bring him back safe and sound." She smiled at Jared, but he refused to budge.

"Sorry sister, no man left behind, he's coming with me." He reached for Aiden's arm, but Aiden stepped away.

"Not tonight Jared. I'm staying." Aiden wrapped his fingers between Esilee's.

"Then I stay too." Jared said as he sat down on the barstool next to him.

Esilee and Aiden looked at one another, unsure what to do next, both desperate to stay together, alone. She mouthed a word to Aiden and he nodded, looking away from his friend.

Softly, she began to sing a song about deep rivers and secrets beneath the rushing water. Jared swayed as if caught in the imaginary current, and drifted towards the door. Without looking back he left the shack, Aiden heard the truck start and pull away into the night.

"Will he make it home okay?" He asked.

"Yes, he'll be fine, I promise. In a few days he'll remember you were both here, but he won't remember leaving you here, or anything else about tonight."

Aiden looked towards the door one last time as she led him towards the stage, towards the same dark portal she'd taken the man earlier, the man she'd devoured.

"Goodnight Rocco." She called to the bartender. He only nodded and headed for the parking lot.

"Does he have any idea what goes on here?" Aiden asked.

"Not really, I keep him in a fog when he's here. He knows he works here, he knows not to let the men get out of hand and he knows to go home. Once he's home he's normal until I see him again. It's safer for him."

She pushed open the large wood door and Aiden couldn't help looking around anxiously. The room was large with natural wood walls and deep aqua marine decorations. A circular rug covered most of the floor. It was a deep blue with thin gold strands running through it. In the far corner sat a king sized canopy bed, a deep blue curtain hung all around it. In the corner across from the bed sat an antique chifforobe and a dressing curtain. Esilee stepped behind the curtain and Aiden waited patiently for her. With the curtain between them he couldn't tell if she was saying anything. Often people forgot when talking to him that he had to be looking at their face to understand them.

Her dress appeared suddenly as she slung it over the curtain, followed by a sheer lace bra. The idea of her naked behind the thin sheet made him ache. He wanted to gaze endlessly at her flawless skin, to watch her move, to taste her lips. He'd never wanted anything more in his whole life.

Esilee peered around the curtain watching with amusement as he shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. There was something so pure and kind about Aiden. She let the white T-shirt she wore every night to bed fall over her head just before she stepped out into the room. The tiny sound of Aiden sucking in air made her smile.

"Teach me to speak with my hands." She asked, walked seductively towards him.

The sight of her in just a shirt nearly floored him. He pulled her close, kissed her deeply before moving around behind her. He let his fingers traipse up her arms towards her hands. Slowly he moved her fingers, her hands, her arms fluidly, as if to music. Esilee lost herself in the rhythm of the unspoken words he guided her through. She could feel his heart beating against her, picking up pace as the gestures became more pronounced, as he added more flourish and feeling into them. She leaned back into him relishing the moment. Their bodies again melding together, he pulled their hands to her chest, held her against him, kissing the curve of her neck.

She turned wanting to see his eyes. They shined, as he continued to sign. A sweet silence enveloped the room around them.

"I want to try something." She said. He nodded his hands falling silent at his sides.

Esilee stepped forward and kissed the soft skin behind his right ear, sucking gently, her tongue pressing against his flesh. She did the same on the other side, before stepping back and opening her mouth wider than he thought possible.

"AIDEN!" The power of her voice shook the tiny shack almost knocking him down.

"Oh my god. I ... I think I actually heard you! Do it again." He begged.

She began to sing, quietly at first, her voice rising like the tide.

"Come to me, oh come to me

All ye lost men at sea.

Follow the sound til your feet reach ground

And know you're safe with me.

Oh come to me, oh come to me

All ye lost children at sea

Hold my hand and we'll play awhile

Follow me I'll set you free." The words burrowed into his ears and rang inside of his head. His face lit up as the sweet sound of her voice filled him.

"Come to me, oh come to me

All ye lasses who've jumped in the sea

I'll take you home in the briny foam

To become a witch of the sea."

His eyes filled with tears as he clung to each note. It was surreal watching her lips move and actually hearing the sound that came from them.

"Say my name." He asked.

"Aiden."

"Say your name."

"Esilee."

He cried at the sound of her name.

"Esilee." He repeated.

"I love you Aiden. Stay with me. Stay with me always."

He nodded at her, signing yes repeatedly, too overwhelmed to speak.

"It won't last Aiden, the hearing, I can't make it stay but you'll always hear me singing."

"That's all I'll ever need."

Aiden pulled her to him, kissing her roughly, his hands gripping her shirt tightly, threatening to never let go. She motioned towards the bed and he obliged by picking her up and carrying her there, his lips never leaving hers.

Aiden knew he would never leave the swamp.

Three days later Jared came through the door of the Boondock's bar looking for his childhood friend. The bartender eyed him suspiciously. Jared stepped towards the stage just as Esilee was stepping from her room. She closed the door quickly behind her.

"Where is he?" Jared demanded.

"Who?" She asked innocently.

"You know damn well who, where's Aiden? I'm not leaving here without him." He planted his feet defiantly. Esilee felt a strong connection with him that Jared would never understand. They loved the same man, they both longed to protect him and do what was right by him. He made them both better people by knowing them and neither wanted to ever lose him.

"Look you lousy swamp witch, tell me where he is or I'm calling the police."

Esilee looked at him sadly. Jared didn't know how right he was. Before he could speak again her arm shot out and her fingers locked around his neck in a vice like grip. He was shocked at how strong she was.

She dragged his kicking body into the parking lot and around the back of the shack. When they reached the water she began to sing, Jared's body became limp. She tossed him like a rag doll towards the water, where she watched him sink.

As she turned to go back inside Aiden turned the corner.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked.

"Where's Jared I saw his truck out front."

Esilee bit her lip, she never wanted to hurt Aiden; he was her one saving grace, her one good thing. So she did the only thing she knew, she sang, and her voice washed away his memories until all he knew was her.

And while it meant that he would belong to her forever, it also meant she would have to live never knowing if that's the life he would have chosen on his own.

That night she drowned her sorrow in the souls of eleven men while Aiden slept soundly in their bed.

Esilee kept him, loved him, and sang to him well into his 90's. When she could finally see death in his eyes she led him to the water and sang to him his favorite song. He followed her fire red hair down into the depths of the swamp. Her voice was the only sound he ever heard, and it was the last sound as well.

You Belong With Me

By: Kate Marie Robbins

© 2013 By Kate Marie Robbins

To Jimmy, for always helping me with my writer's block and giving me the best ideas for my stories. I couldn't have done it without you.

Today is my first day at my new school. My parents moved us halfway across the country for dad's new job. Not a big deal, right? It wouldn't have been, but it's my senior year of high school. My senior year and I have to start at a new school. As hard as it is going to be, I decide I'm going to make the best of it.

I pull into the parking lot. It is already getting full. Lovely. I'm going to be invisible here, I think to myself as I glance around the lot. I knew it was a big school, but I hadn't realized just how big until seeing it now. I get out of the car and walk slowly across the lot towards the school. No one says anything to me, but I can feel everyone's eyes on me. Talk about awkward.

I had no idea what it would feel like to be the new kid. I have always gone to the same school, with the same kids, since pre-school. This is all new to me. I pull one of the glass doors open and walk inside to find the office. The receptionist sends me to see the principal, Mr. Breymann, right away.

He looks up from his desk when I enter. "Ah, you must be Emaline Quan."

I nod, too nervous to say anything else in response.

"Good, good, I've asked one of your fellow classmates to show you around. Just one moment, and I'll pull her out of homeroom." He picks up the phone and dials a number. "Please send Victoria Barrowman to my office." There is a slight pause. Then he says, "Thank you."

A few minutes later, a tall, dark haired girl waltzes into the room. She looks at me and smiles. "You must be Emaline. I'm Victoria." She extends her hand to me.

I shake it gingerly, and say, "Thank you for offering to show me around."

"It's no problem at all. I know how overwhelming it can be. I was the new girl back in 10th grade. C'mon, I'll show you to homeroom." Then she turns to Mr. Breymann. "It's alright for us to go?"

"Oh, yes, of course. I hope your first day goes well, Emaline. If you need anything, my door is always open." He gives me a warm smile.

Victoria and I walk towards homeroom in silence. It is just so awkward for me. I don't know what to say to her. It isn't that I'm shy; I just really don't know what to say.

"This is where we have homeroom," Victoria says, pointing to a door. She pushes it open and we walk in.

An older lady looks up at us when we make our appearance. Her name is Mrs. Tsugane, at least that's what my class schedule states. "Class, this is Emaline Quan. She moved here from... Where is it you moved from?"

"Washington," I reply.

"Would you like to tell the class a little about yourself?" she asks.

"Um, there's really not much to say," I admit, "but sure, I guess I can say something." Everyone's eyes are on me. I take a deep breath, and start. "Well, I'm Emaline, like Mrs. Tsugane said. My parents and I just moved here from Washington. I like to write poetry, play tennis, oh, and I'm really big into indie rock music." I must sound like a complete nerd to them. There are a few snickers from the back of the room, but Victoria is grinning at me.

In the hall, walking to our next class, Victoria turns to me and says, "You and I, we're going to get along just fine!"

That strikes me as odd, but it is a good thing. It looks like I have already made a friend. Victoria and I have lunch together, along with a few of her other friends. I'm tongue-tied at first around all the new people, but they are super nice to me. In time, I start to open up. Victoria ends up inviting me over to her house after school to hang out, so after school, I drive us to her house. Once we are there, I realize that we only live a few blocks away from each other.

"I just live a few blocks down the road," I say to her, pointing in the direction of my house.

"Oh, that was you guys that bought the house?" she stares at me in disbelief. "Did the realtor tell you what happened to the family that owned it before you?" She looks down at the ground and kicks a rock that is lying in the driveway.

"No, not that I heard. Why, what happened?" I'm not sure that I want to know the answer to that question.

"Well, there was this boy in our grade, his name was Koah. He committed suicide, at the school, actually. Mr. Breymann found him lying on the bathroom floor in a pool of blood. After his death, his parents couldn't bear to live in the house anymore, so they moved away. I guess the memories were just too hard for them to deal with."

I stare at her wide-eyed, horrified. What if I have the same bedroom as he did? Could I even deal with that? I wish that Victoria hadn't told me what happened.

"I don't want to freak you out further, but the locker you have at school, it used to be his."

Oh, great, another connection to this dead boy. Why can't things just be normal?

Victoria sees how uncomfortable I am about these revelations. "I'm sorry. I guess I should have kept my big mouth shut. Don't worry about it. It's got nothing to do with you. It's not like he's haunting the house or the school. C'mon, let's go inside and get something to eat, then you can look through my music collection!"

I do my best to put the thoughts out of my head. It isn't so easy though. Those words end up echoing in my mind all night long. I have a hard time sleeping, when I finally do manage to fall asleep, my dreams are haunted by a beautiful boy; a boy I have never seen before.

As I pick Victoria up for school the next day, I ask her, "What did Koah look like?"

She eyes me suspiciously. "Why do you ask?"

I explain the dream to her with as much detail as I can remember. Her mouth hangs open once I am done.

"We need to go to the library as soon as we get to school," she declares. "I need to show you something."

After we get to school, we head immediately to the library. Once inside, Victoria heads for a shelf that houses all of the school yearbooks. She pulls one off the shelf and starts flipping through it. Once she has found the page she's looking for, she holds it up to me, her finger pointing to one of the photos. "Is this the boy you saw?"

I nod, my mouth hanging open. "Who is that?" I whisper.

"That's Koah," she replies, barely comprehending the fact that he had invaded my dreams.

I am horrified. "How could that even happen? I've never seen him before in my life. I didn't know who he was until you told me about him!"

"I... I don't know what to tell you. It's pretty freaky. Try not to think about it," she whispers.

Yeah, easy for her to say. Her dreams aren't being invaded by a dead boy. I sigh. "I'll do my best."

It does me no good though; all of my dreams are plagued by Koah. None of them are nightmares, but they aren't exactly happy either. Mostly, it feels like he is trying to protect me. From what, I don't know. I decide it is best not to say anything more about them to Victoria. If I don't know how to react to them, she sure as heck won't. She never brings them up again either.

"We need to go shopping for the Halloween dance," Victoria is insisting at lunch, "before all the good costumes are gone."

I roll my eyes. Maybe it will be good for me though? I can distract myself a bit. "Alright, alright, we'll go on Friday after school." Anything to get her to shut up.

"Yay! It's going to be so much fun! You'll see. We'll find amazing costumes. And you're going to love the dance. It's one of the best things about going to this school. You'll see." She grins at me.

While we are in the costume shop that Friday afternoon looking through racks and racks of costumes, a boy I sort of recognize approaches us. I don't notice at first, but Victoria does. She elbows me in the stomach. That gets my attention. "What was that for?" I demand to know. All she does is point at the boy walking towards us.

"Hi Victoria. Emaline. You guys shopping for your costumes for the dance?" the boy asks.

I just stare at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he says to me. "Where are my manners? You have no idea who I am." He extends his hand out to me. "I'm Quentin Mossmann, but everyone calls me Quinn. We have trigonometry together." He smiles at me.

I look at him and realize he is right. "Oh yeah, I remember you now." I say, trying to smile. He is kinda cute.

Still looking directly at me, he asks, "So, do you have a date for the dance yet?" He can barely meet my gaze.

"Umm, no, I don't. Victoria and I were just going to go together. If someone asked me though, I could obviously change my plans," I quickly add, hoping Victoria won't be too mad at me for it.

"Well, in that case, would you like to go with me?" He finally looks at me, his eyes beaming.

I turn my gaze from him to Victoria. She smiles at me. "Do it," she mouths to me.

I look back at him again. "I would love to."

"Great! Looking forward to it!" He hands me a slip of paper. "Here's my cell phone number, text me sometime and we can figure out the details." He waves at us both as he walks away.

I end up going as Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween. Victoria insists I look cute. I don't think so. "Oh, but I know Quinn will think so. I had no idea he even had a crush on you! I usually know these things. How is it that you ended up with a date and I didn't?" she says with a laugh.

I shrug. "Maybe it's your attitude?" I say, and stick my tongue out at her.

She just laughs and continues to get ready for the dance.

We meet Quinn and his friends at school, just outside the gymnasium doors. "You look beautiful," he says to me when he sees me.

"Thank you," is all I can manage in response.

He smiles at me. "You're welcome. Let's head inside. It's getting kind of chilly out here." He holds open the door for Victoria and me.

Inside, the gym is set up much like a scene out of a horror movie. I can't believe how much time and effort was put into it. Victoria was right, I do love it.

It ends up being so much better than I was hoping it would be. Quinn and I dance to almost every slow song they play, which isn't a lot. Thank goodness for that, because it is also so strange to me and the last thing I want is to seem even more awkward than I already feel.

Time seems to be flying by. The DJ announces that the next song will be the last slow dance of the night. Quinn takes me by the hand and leads me to the middle of the dance floor. It is perfect and magical. At this moment, everything feels right. I can feel his eyes on me and I know that he is going to try and kiss me. I am okay with this. In fact, I want him to kiss me.

He brushes the hair out of my face and looks deeply into my eyes. At this moment it is like the rest of the room doesn't exist. Our lips meet and sparks shoot through my body. When he pulls back from our kiss, it leaves me utterly speechless and breathless.

My senses come rushing back to me in an instant. The temperature in the gym suddenly drops drastically. While it is less than romantic, the first words out of my mouth are, "Why is it so cold in here?" My eyes flit around the room. No one is moving. The music has stopped. Okay, what is going on? "Um, Quinn, what's happening? Is this part of the Halloween festivities?" I don't understand.

He just shakes his head and looks around the room too. Panic fills his eyes.

"I need to find Victoria. Maybe she'll know what is going on. You can come with me if you want. Or maybe you should try to find your friends. Someone has to know what is going on here," I whisper, hoping I am right.

Quinn nods and walks towards where we had left his friends. I head out into the hallway to see if I can find Victoria. I call her name out, but get no response. Maybe she's in the bathroom? I head down the hallway and push the door open. No one is inside. I hurry back towards the gym.

I'm mere feet away from the door when I hear a loud crash and then people screaming. I full-out run the rest of the way back into the gym. There is a large crowd standing in the center of the gym. I push my way through and see Quinn laying there. One of the lights has fallen and crushed him.

"Has someone called 911?" I exclaim. "We need an ambulance right away!" No one is moving. As the tears stream down my face, I pull out my cell phone and make the call myself. Once the paramedics are on their way, I find somewhere to sit down and I cry. How could this have happened? Everything was going so perfectly.

I don't know how long I have been sitting here, but eventually Victoria finds me. She doesn't say anything, just puts her arm around me and holds me.

Once the gym starts clearing out, she tells me, "We should probably go. There's no need for you to sit here and relive the moment, over and over again."

I nod and get up. There is nothing else to say. As we are heading out the door, one of Quinn's friends, Xavier Hackett, comes sprinting after us. "Do you guys need a ride home? It's been a long night and it's getting cold outside. I wouldn't mind driving you home, if you want."

I force myself to speak. "Yes, please. I don't think I can make it home on my own."

The word is all over the school by Monday morning. Quinn died in the hospital soon after he was admitted. I try to pretend that it isn't real. None of this is real. It is just a nightmare, a horrible nightmare. Soon I am going to wake up and everything will go back to normal.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Xavier is really kind to me. It is weird for me, but it really helps. He is having a much harder time than I am. He was Quinn's best friend. He has no one else to turn to, though; no one that will understand what he is going through. While I didn't really know Quinn all that well, I still feel the pain.

For a while, I completely forget about the Koah dreams, but as normalcy has begun to set in again, they have started haunting me again. This time they have become more vivid, more intense. They scare me. He is very possessive of me in my dreams. I belong to him. That's what he says almost every night. Those words are permanently etched into my mind. I try to reassure myself that they mean nothing. They are just silly dreams. They can't mean anything. They just can't.

Every day, Xavier and I seem to grow closer and closer. Victoria, Xavier, and I spend every lunch hour together and hang out every day after school. I don't think that Xavier wants to be alone. I don't blame him for that. It does startle me a bit that he has latched onto me so tightly, but I don't let it get to me too much. He is a sweet guy and an extremely talented artist.

One day at lunch, he asks me if I will pose for a portrait for his art class. He is going to have it displayed at the art festival before Christmas break. Who am I to turn him down? It could be fun.

After school that day, he drags me to the art room so we can get started. He explains everything to me as he is setting up. Once he is done, he has me sit down and he puts me into the pose that he wants. It ends up being really awkward and boring having to sit still for such a long period of time. I am anxious though, to see how the painting turns out. I know it will be magnificent.

It takes days before the painting is completed, but once he shows it to me, I know it has been worth it. It is the most breathtaking painting I have ever seen. I have to admit, I am slightly jealous of Xavier's skills. He tells me he can't wait to show it to his art teacher after the weekend. With that, we head back to my house to hang out and watch movies. That is the typical thing we do on a Friday night.

The weekend seems to go by extremely fast, but they always do. The school days, those don't seem to go by nearly as fast, especially now that Christmas break is drawing nearer.

Xavier wants to go show his painting to his art teacher, Miss Wyrick right away. He says he'll be back before homeroom. I think nothing of it. I know how excited and proud he is of his painting. I would have been too.

He comes back a few minutes later, tears streaming down his face.

"What's wrong Xavier?" I ask, full of concern. "Did she not like your painting?"

He shakes his head. "No, that's not it. My painting... It's destroyed. Someone wrecked it," he chokes out between the tears.

"What!? How did that happen? I don't understand. We locked up when we left on Friday. There's no way anyone could have gotten in there." I am completely flabbergasted by what he is telling me. I put my arms around him. "It'll be okay. We can just do another one. I don't mind posing again," I assure him, still holding him close.

"Thank you," he whispers. "You're so good to me," as he hugs me tightly.

That afternoon we walk back towards the art room. I grab his hand and give it a squeeze. He is still upset about what happened. I am too. I still can't understand how his painting had been destroyed.

He shows it to me once we get to the art room. There is paint splattered all over it and it looks as if it has been slashed with an x-acto knife. After he shows it to me, he slides it into the trash can with a sigh.

"Let's just get this over with," he says flatly.

"Hey now, don't talk like that! This painting will be just as amazing as the first one. Maybe even better!" I exclaim. I have more faith in him than he does. I walk towards him and gave him a hug. "Don't give up. You have so much talent. Don't let what happened get you down."

"Thank you for believing in me. And thank you for being here for me. Everything has just been so hard lately. I don't think I would have made it through it without you and Victoria. You two are the best, but especially you. You are so sweet and so compassionate," he whispers to me, then plants a kiss on my cheek.

I must admit I am blushing a bit. I grin though, and say, "Knock 'em dead tiger!"

He laughs at me and rolls his eyes. But that is the effect I was going for.

It is like déjà vu. Every day after school we spend a few hours in the art room working on his new painting. It is turning out to be just as perfect as his first one. It goes by just as the week before. This time, he insists that I don't have to wait around for him while he cleans everything up. "You've spent far too many of your afternoons here, helping me out. Go to Victoria's. I'll meet you there in a little while," he tells me.

I don't want to, but there is no use in arguing with him. With a sigh, I pack up my stuff and head out the door. Calling after me, I say, "Try not to take too long."

I plop down on Victoria's bed and tell her about what happened with the painting. She really doesn't care, but I do, so she has to suck it up and listen. I don't think she is really listening to me though. After I am done rambling, she insists that we go to the kitchen for snacks. I can't disagree with that idea. I am getting pretty hungry.

We wrangle up food and head back to Victoria's room. I glance at the clock. A lot of time has passed since I left Xavier at the school. "He should be here by now. It was almost an hour ago that I left him to finish cleaning up. I think something's happened to him," I state.

Victoria rolls her eyes at me. "I'm sure it's nothing. Maybe he just started another painting or something. I wouldn't worry too much about it."

I don't like it, though. Something just feels wrong, but Victoria isn't having it. I pick up my cell phone and send him a text. He never responds to it. He never shows up that night, even for our usual movie and pizza night. I try calling him, but it goes straight to voicemail. That really isn't like him.

I decide that if I haven't heard from him by morning that I will stop over at his house. His parents are bound to know something.

Early Saturday morning, I find myself on his front porch talking to his mother. "No, he isn't here. He never came home last night. I'm extremely worried about him. He isn't answering his cell phone. I don't know where he could be. It's been so hard for him lately, after what happened to Quinn. If you hear from him, please let me know." She jots down her number for me.

I start walking home, plagued with fear. What could have happened to him? Where could he be? Maybe he just needed some space. He could be at a friend's house. Though, he hasn't really hung out with anyone other than Victoria and me since the Halloween dance.

Instead of going home, I go to Victoria's instead. Once there, I insist that we go looking for him. She makes a face at me, clearly not liking the idea of spending her Saturday on what she calls a 'wild goose chase.' I won't take no for an answer. Eventually she gives in.

Victoria knows of a few people that Xavier used to hang out with, so we start there. None of them have heard from him since Quinn's funeral.

"I think we should go to the school," I suggest.

"Why? I don't want to go to school on a Saturday," Victoria grumbles.

"Because that's the last place he was. Maybe there's a clue as to where he went or what happened to him." I put my foot down. "If you won't go with me, I'll go alone."

"Oh, fine. Let's get this over with. If he isn't there, can we do something fun?" she pleads.

"Yes, yes, we can go to the mall or something after this, I promise." That is good enough for her.

When we get there, the door to the art room is still open and the lights are on. That is weird. He would have locked up after he was done. A part of me doesn't even want to walk into the room. Victoria has to shove me in.

I stand horrified at the scene that is laid out before me. Scrawled on the wall in red paint are the words: 'SHE BELONGS TO ME.' That alone is enough to startle me, but lying crumpled on the floor below the words, is the body of Xavier. He is covered in blood and impaled by every single paint brush in the art room.

That's when I realize that it isn't paint that the words are written in... It is his blood.

I can't handle it. I break down, fall to the floor next to Xavier's body and cry and cry. Victoria has to call the police. I just can't bring myself to admit that he is gone. It terrifies me.

I know the words on the wall are about me. In the pit of my stomach, I know it. But who could have done this? Who can possibly want me that much that they will kill to get their hands on me? It doesn't make any sense. I don't belong to anyone. I've only been here a few months. Nothing makes sense anymore.

I do my best to explain everything that has happened lately to the police. That isn't an easy task for me. I have had enough of the police after what happened to Quinn. I never want to have to go through all that again. Once is enough for one lifetime, and here I am, having to do it twice within a few months.

Victoria drives me home afterwards. I can't stop the tears from falling. When she drops me off at my house, I insist that I need to be alone. She is reluctant to leave me by myself, but eventually gives up and leaves me here. I am grateful for that.

I run straight to my room, curl up in bed, and cry myself to sleep.

"You belong to me," a voice calls out to me over and over again.

I can't find where the voice is coming from. It feels like the voice is coming from right next to me, but when I turn to the side, no one is there. It feels like I am being watched though. I do everything I can to will myself awake. That's when I realize I am not asleep. That terrifies me.

"Who's there?" I whisper, not sure that I really want to know the answer to that question.

"You know who I am," the voice replies. It is deep and raspy, like the voice of someone who has been smoking for many, many years.

"Go away! Leave me alone! You shouldn't be here," I stammer, hoping whoever it is will leave.

"I'm not going anywhere," it hisses at me. "This is my room, my home. Everything here is mine. Even you."

"Who are you? I don't understand. This is my room! This is my house now!" I whimper.

"That isn't true and you know it," the voice insists. "You know who I am. I've been with you since the moment you stepped into this house."

"No... You can't be. This can't be happening. This isn't real," I sob.

"Yes, Emaline, it is." The voice starts to become softer. "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. In life and in death. There is no one more perfect than you. If I can't have you, then no one can."

What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to say to that? I must be crazy. This isn't happening. It can't be real.

"Would you feel better if I showed myself to you? Would you like to see me Emaline?" the voice says, even more gentle than before.

I can't bring myself to answer, so I just nod.

A figure slowly steps into the moonlight filtering through my bedroom window. I gasp. It is Koah... A transparent version of Koah, but it is him, nonetheless. He is gorgeous, even if he is a ghost. And even if he is a killer.

"What do you want from me?" I ask, significantly less afraid now than I was before. I already know what the answer will be. In my heart, I know.

"You... I want you. Spend eternity with me. I cannot bare to move on to the afterlife until you're here with me, by my side," Koah whispers. "Come be with me Emaline. All of this can end here. No more killing, no more sadness. Just you and I, together forever."

I shake with fear. Can I do this? Can I do what he is asking of me? It would save so many lives, but at the cost of my own.

"I... I don't know if I can do this," I tremble.

"You have no other choice Emaline. It's either them or you. What's more important to you, your friends or yourself? Make a decision and make it soon. I cannot control my urges. If you take too long, I cannot be held responsible for who might be harmed," he replies. "I'll leave you now. Don't take too long, my love. I'll be waiting for you with open arms." With that, Koah fades away.

I know what I need to do. After I calm my nerves as best as I can, I slip from my bed and silently walk downstairs. I rummage through the junk drawer in the kitchen until I find what I am looking for. Razor blade in hand, I walk back to my room, lay down on my bed, and do what has to be done.

The blade pierces my skin, filling my body with pain. In this pain, I find closure. No one will be harmed because of me again. As I drift off into that final sleep, I whisper, "I'm coming Koah. I'll be with you soon."

The Chosen One

By: Heather Kirchhoff

© 2013 by Heather Kirchhoff

A beam shoots across the darkened night sky with clouds light gray, blue, and black. The beam was white-golden, and extremely bright. It's nothing like I've ever seen before. Naturally, I get up and slowly open the door, stepping out into the cool night breeze. Wonder prickles at my flesh as I make my way towards the spot where it disappears. My necklace starts to glow brilliantly, and I flinch away from it when my hand just barely brushes it. The metal's extremely hot, almost as if it had been in flames a moment before.

I scan the area, watching the stars twinkle far above. The moon washes down on me, casting an eerie glow. I smile as I lift my face towards it, closing my eyes for a few moments.

"Ahh, there you are. The Chosen One. We've been waiting for you." A voice spoke from the thickness of the fog which was now surrounding me. I feel my heart pick up as my eyes rest upon red ones. I gasp when there's a cold caress against my warm flesh. My thoughts scatter as I find myself face-to-face with a monster. I freeze in my tracks, watching its every move. In the moonlight, I could just barely make out its face full of sparkling scales, hooves for feet, and its teeth are razor sharp as the creature smiles. I stifle a scream as it reaches for me with hands that's claws. I begin to back away slowly, my eyes never leaving the monster. "Come, Chosen One. We've been waiting for you."

Chosen One? There's no way.

I couldn't speak. When his claws grasp me, I flinch, trying my best to dance out of his way. Another beam darts across the sky with two more following. My eyes trail after them before they vanish with distance. Longing twists within me as realization sparks.

Its grasp was firm as the creature pulls me along. His red bead eyes stare into mine as his free claw slowly trails along my waist. I try to pull away, but he's too strong. Panic starts to bubble within me as the creature tightens his grasp on me, a hollow laugh escaping from him. His eyes flicker with joy, sensing my fear. I know my eyes are wide as I gaze at him, watching his red eyes peer around us.

I flinch again as a fierce stab of pain shoots through my veins, scorching like fire. I close my eyes tightly shut, wishing for it to stop. Wishing I could just disappear. Except I can't. My reality was becoming unrealistic the more I stand here, trying to pretend I was in my bed, cuddling with my dog. I imagine his whimper once he realizes I'm gone. Will I ever see him again? Will I even live?

"What do you want with me?" I ask, my voice shaking. "Please just leave me alone. Let go!"

I swallow as cool hands grasp me, flowing up my spine. I just want to be free.

"You're the one. You can save us."

His words didn't make sense to me. I try protesting, but it wasn't worth it. The monster won't listen to me.

"My family will come looking for me!" I exclaim in a final attempt to get free. "Then they'll kill you. All of you!"

The only answer I got was a bloodcurdling screech. Its claw sinks deep into my flesh, the creature's eyes peering into mine.

Then everything changes.

The wind grows harsher, whipping against my flesh as if it was angry about something. Tears sting my eyes, but they never come. Thankfully.

I feel a soft beam absorbing my body, carrying me upwards. I bask in its sense of calm. It's as if I was floating, light absorbing into me, and piercing my soul. A small smile curls my lips upward for a split second, and I suddenly had the urge to fling my arms out. Except when I try to move them, I can't. It's as if they're chained to my sides. When panic begins to take over, it's quickly shut out by the light. For a second, I thought that was weird, but didn't spend too much time on it.

My body jolts the second we stop. I open my eyes as a few more of the creatures join us, flanking on either side. Where my captor still has a hold of me starts to sting even worse than it did before. I attempt to glance around, only to find I can't. Everything's way too bright in here. I can hear all kinds of machines beeping softly, feeling the tension boiling from others we pass as I'm forced to walk.

We stop at a metal chair with cuffs, and all kinds of lights hooked up to it. I start to protest when two of them make me sit, beginning to strap me in the same minute.

"What is this? What's going on?" I demand, staring at the machine before me.

"I'm sorry," the one that brought me here said as it pushes a button. "But we need to be saved, we need to get rid of humanity once and for all. And you're the only thing that can help us." Then he taps the button, and I fall into a bizarre sleep as everything around me begins to beep, singling a changing human.

A new life's being born.

The torment in my body's too much, but I had a sense of peace, that everything is going to be okay. Screams echoes all around the longer the pain's being inflected. My flesh feels like it's being torn apart, like a million little teeth sinking into the soft tissue.

A high, screeching noise jolts me awake. My eyes snap open-only to be blinded by the white light that swirls around me.

"Ah-she's awake! Sir, sir she's woken!"

There was movement not far from me-the sound of hooves racing. I blink against the hot light, trying to see through it. All I can make out were three dark figures standing above me.

"So she is," I heard one of them say, his voice deep and screechy.

"Indeed, indeed!" another exclaims. "Finally, we can be saved!"

"So it seems. Yes, yes, we will be saved!"

"Speak no more, little ones."

I try focusing on them, but my vision was blurry. I blink a few times, squinting at the looming figure before me. "Where am I?" I ask slowly. My voice sounds different somehow. As if it's deeper in a way.

"There's time for that later."

I peer through the brightness, taking note of the green scales and claws. "Why am I here? Where am I?" I repeat, my voice beginning to shake.

"You will help us!" a voice squeals.

"No," I begin, only to be cut off by the leader.

"You will save us. You're the key to destroying humanity."

"What?" I exclaim. "No. I-I can't!"

"You can, and you will."

"But my family!"

"You're not one of them now, little one. You're one of us. You're the Chosen One."

"What does that even mean?" I demand. These creatures aren't making any sense to me.

"It means you can never go back. Your family will kill you once they see you-or you will kill them."

I can't even speak. I would never hurt my family like that. I don't care who they say I am. My family's important to me. But you're the Chosen One, a voice whispers to me, swirling around me like music. Your humanity will soon be gone-and you won't even think about it. You will only act.

No. I can't do that. I can't be anything but me.

You're still you, but in a different form, that same voice whispers again. You're much stronger than them. You're not human. Nor will you ever be again.

A tingling sensation sweeps through me, but no tears come. Only emptiness. I sit up, noticing their reactions. The closest one takes a small step closer, his eyes never leaving me. I glance around the dim room, taking notes of the machines. Silence fills the space, up until I can't take it anymore.

Just when I'm about to speak, the one farthest from me says in a metallic voice, "When can we show her?" His red eyes looks eager. My stomach churns, I quickly look away.

"What does he mean?"

"It should be time, Master."

"Indeed, it is," the Master agrees.

"What are they talking about?" I repeat my burning question. My eyes dart between them, my mouth growing dry. "What happened to me?"

"Isn't it obvious? You're one of us now."

"I don't understand."

The creature hisses, his red eyes glaring into mine. He takes a step closer to me. "Of course you don't. You don't understand our world."

"You will in time," another chimes.

"I don't want to wait. I want-no, need-to know now. What's going on?"

"Sir, sir, you're needed!" a girl's voice suddenly speaks. It's high pitched and jagged.

"I'm busy dealing with the Chosen One," the Master replies. "What is it?"

"Humans have captured one of us!" she wails.

All of my companions turn towards her, their eyes wide.

"What?"

"No!"

"Who?"

"Silence!" the Master snaps. He fixes his gaze back on to the girl. "You must tell me everything," he demands.

Then she notices me for the first time. "Who's that?" she asks. Curiosity creeps into her voice.

"The one that will save us."

I sigh. I wish they'd just tell me what they're talking about.

"She looks so young."

"The younger, the better." he says. "Now, who was taken?"

"I don't know. That's all I know. I was told to come get you."

"Lead me to who sent you." Before they leave, he turns to the others with us. "Make sure she's comfortable. Get her ready for what's to come, if you can. Don't overdue it."

"Yes, sir," they chime in unison.

"Excellent," he responds before following the little girl.

"What am I?" I ask slowly. Dread twists within me, grasping me with cool hands.

"What we are," a blue creature says.

"A monster?"

"No, no. We're nothing like that."

"Oh, really? You just kidnapped me."

"Because we need you."

"So that makes you a monster."

"No," he insists. "Not at all."

"I don't believe you."

"You don't have to," a light green one answers.

I narrow my eyes. "Where are we?"

"A spaceship."

"You've got to be kidding me," I groan.

"We don't kid," the blue one speaks up.

I roll my eyes. How did this happen? How can I be connected to these creatures?

"Why am I here?"

None of them responds. I glanced at each of them, my eyes seeking for answers.

"Well?" I prompt.

"You have to help us rule the world," the blue one says, stepping forward.

"Rule the world?" I echo. "Why me?"

"We don't know. You were in a prophecy."

"A prophecy?" I repeat unbelievingly.

"Yes, Chosen One."

"What does that even mean?"

"We don't know."

"What do you know? How is this supposed to go?"

"First, you must learn," he replies, inclining his head towards the doorway.

"Learn?" I ask, my heart beginning to race. "What if I don't want this?"

"There's no going back once you're one of us."

"But I didn't choose this!"

"Doesn't matter. Come, we must show you the rest of the ship."

"Your new home," the light green one adds.

This can't be happening. Except it is. I'm now a monster-and not of my choosing. I can never go back, no matter how much I want to. I have to go on. I have no choice.

The spaceship has all kinds of green lights flickering, soft beeping noises as stations are worked at. It looks...amazing. I gasp as I take it all in. I look up only to see the dark night sky and twinkling stars.

"Wow," I whisper.

A few of the creatures peer up at us as we pass. I advert my eyes quickly while my companions nod at them.

"Prisoner?" I heard a female voice murmur to the blue one.

"Far from it."

I then caught my reflection in a smooth glass surface. I gasp, my eyes widening. My blonde hair was much lighter, and a green hue covers my body. My eyes shone their unusual blue, but it was disappearing, leaving behind a glimmering red. This can't be me.

"No," I say softly, horrified. "No way."

"Something wrong?"

"What happened to me?" I can't get my voice above a whisper. "Why am I like this?"

My eyes stays glued to my appearance. My breathing goes shallow. I watch as my skin shimmers a ghastly green, and my eyes flares a harsh red. I touch my cheek; I notice my hand's shaking and I clench it into a fist. I swallow, fear boiling within me.

"You're one of us now," Blue answers my question, trailing his claw down my spine. I shiver, slightly pulling away.

"W-why do I look like this?"

"We don't know. I'd say since you were a human-and the Chosen One-this is how you're supposed to look."

"That doesn't help." I try to keep my voice calm, but I can feel my anger slipping. How could they do this to me? "I don't want to look like this."

"We can't help that."

"Damn it!" I exclaim. "Why me? Why do I have to be the one?" Why am I the one taken from my family? These questions ring in my ears, bouncing around my head. Why why why? I sigh, knowing there's no answers. It is what it is, I suppose. I'll just have to sadly except it. No.

You know you can't. No matter how much you try. Your family will always be on your mind. Be careful, you don't know what you're getting yourself in to. You make one mistake and your family could die.

That voice penetrates the silence, saying the very things I hoped to never hear. I can't let that happen. Not now, not ever. It doesn't matter what I look like or who I am, my family isn't going to be hurt because of me.

Then be careful.

"Chosen One, come. We still have a lot to show you."

I blink, focusing on Blue. "Please stop calling me that," I request, my eyes piercing his. "My name's Lily. If anything, call me that."

"Don't you want to be the Chosen One?" a female asks, her scaly skin a shimmering red.

No. I don't want any of this. But I knew I couldn't say that. I'd be risking everything. So I simply lied. "I don't know."

"Whether you do or not, it's out of your hands. You are the One. Live up to it."

"I'm sick of being called it," I snap. "Please go by my real name or nothing."

A long moment passes before the blue creature replies. "As you wish."

"Thank you," I mutter as I'm shuffled forward. "What next?"

None of them answers. I'm herded through a doorway, and I suddenly stop. My eyes widen as I survey my surroundings. We were standing on a platform encircled with glass running on both sides, ensuring no one falls off. There was a spiral staircase, circling from top to bottom. I glance down, my stomach flipping as I realize how far up I am. My breathing slows as I step back, now standing in the center.

"What is it?" the blue one asks me, turning his red eyes to what's beyond the railing.

"N-nothing," I stammer, my body beginning to shake.

"Come over here, then. It's okay, you won't fall off."

"You don't know that."

"It's been like this for forever. No one has yet."

No one has yet. But that doesn't mean someone won't. I tell them as much, sinking down onto my knees.

"It'll be okay," the green one speaks up. "We won't let you fall."

I'm still unsure, but I slowly make my way over there. I stop before I can look over the railing. "What is this place?"

"It's almost like a lab," the blue ones says, his crimson eyes sparkling.

"I'm amazed you know anything about a lab."

"We're not dumb," a new voice says.

I whirl around, my eyes finding a purple female. Her eyes were a pretty red, twirling from dark to light and back again. Her scales shines under the dim lighting. She almost looks like a diamond.

"I never said you were."

"You implied it."

"I'm sorry if I offended you."

"You would never understand what it takes to be this," she snaps.

"What?" Her words leaves me confused. I try to make sense of them, but find I can't.

"She'll learn," the green one says, shooting her a glare. "She only just turned."

"She won't know as much," the blue adds.

"I can tell."

"What do you mean? How was I turned?" I ask. Fear trembles within me, but I ignore it.

"It's complicated to explain," the blue ones says to me.

"Well, make it less complicated."

"We can't," the purple creature interjects.

"Try."

Silence fills the space around us. I bite my lip, waiting for them to object, to call me crazy or something. But they don't. Instead, neither one of the creatures speaks, but just stares at me. I begin to grow uncomfortable, my stomach flipping with nerves.

Finally the blue one says, "Okay. Well, I guess it freezes your nerves, killing and transferring them to the DNA we have. It takes a few days-sometimes more, depending on who it is."

"Who it is?" I cut in.

"Yes, some people's bodies don't understand what's happening and rejects it."

"Meaning?" I prompt.

"They'll die."

It bothers me how calmly he spoke those words. It's as if he doesn't care if they die or not. Like humans are just their pawns. It's sickening.

And, yet, I'm one of them.

I involuntarily shiver, goose bumps rising on my flesh. How can I be one of these creatures? I'm nothing like them-I don't want to be anything even remotely close to them. They're monsters. I didn't want to hear another word, but the blue creature goes on, unaware of the hatred that's sparking inside me.

"The subject is then turned into one of us, scales sometimes growing on their flesh immediately or developing slowly. Their bodies takes time to develop everything we can do and the same looks as us, but it's done."

"Humans are just you're subjects?"

"Usually, yes."

"That's not right!" I exclaim.

"We need to live, little one."

"Can't you live in a different way?"

"No," the purple one says, bringing the worst blow. "We can't nor won't."

"We have to survive," the green one adds.

"I got that part," I mutter.

"Come see our lab."

I start to object, but he grabs a hold of me, making me stumble forward. I gasp as I quickly grab the railing, afraid I'll fall off. I close my eyes briefly, only opening them when I feel a small jab in my rib cage.

"Watch it next time," I warn the green monster. "You promised I won't fall off. You better keep it."

"Just look."

I did as he said, but only because I know I don't have a choice. Small beeping machines line the walls, flashing all kinds of colors. A much bigger machine looms in the middle of the lab, with several of the monsters swarming around it, pushing buttons before moving off to a smaller one. I let my gaze roam upwards, taking in what's directly across from me. Metal doors line the walls; more of the monsters move around over there, coming in and out of the rooms.

"Can we move on?" I ask faintly.

"If we must."

"We must," I confirm.

"Fine," the blue one says. He pulls away from the railing and steps backward onto a black strip. He waits until we're all on before pushing a red button and the black strip moves us along, farther into the room. I got to see new parts of the lab like metal tubes, and cots full with patents. I sigh as I jerk my gaze away, gluing it on the black under my feet.

"Why are you showing me this?"

"Because you need to see everything," Blue replies.

"What if I don't want to see it all?"

"That's too bad. You have to in order to be able to save us."

"And if I don't want to save you?"

"You have no choice."

"Oh, I don't?" I snap, raising my eyebrows.

"Not at all. You're the only one who can do this."

"Do what?" I ask before answering my own question. "Oh, right. To destroy humanity."

I shiver as those words left my lips. The full realization hits me and I stagger a few steps back. They want me to destroy humanity. They want me to help them take over the world. But I can't. That'd mean killing my family and friends. I was already shaking my head as my breathing goes ragged. No, I don't think I could.

"Don't even go there," the blue one says, as if reading my thoughts. "This is really important."  
"So are those lives," I retort.

"So are we," the purple creature flings at me.

"Can't you live on a different planet?" I demand, my heart racing.

"No planet is safe anymore except the earth."

"What do you mean?"

Silence rings loud and clear, no one wanting to speak up. I glance at each of the monsters as the moment drags out.

"Well?" I say once the silence gets to me. "What do you mean no planet is safe?"

"I-"

"We can't tell her," Purple cuts the blue one off.

"Why not?" I interject.

"We just can't," she says, shooting me a glare. "At least, not until we know you're on our side."

"What would that have to do with anything?" I respond, rolling my eyes. "What's so bad that you can't tell me? It's not like I'm an outsider. I'm your only chance, right? So why not tell me?"

"She has a point," Green says. "She needs to know everything."

"I disagree."

"Our planet was destroyed," Blue tells me solemnly.

"Destroyed?" This was bizarre. How could that happen?

"Yes. Some of our weapons went off and we had to flee."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"What?"

"That's no reason to take over this planet," I inform them. "So what if yours is destroyed? Find a different planet then this one."

"Fires also broke out," Green adds, fueling my anger. "We couldn't stop it so we had to leave immediately."

I wait for them to go on, but when they don't, I sigh. "You can't be serious."

"We most certainly are," Purple answers me.

"You'd rather kill off everyone else then? You could destroy this world too, and then what? You'll have nowhere to go, right? I don't see the point."

"You're the only one that can do this," Blue replies.

"I don't get why me."

"I don't know. All I know is that it's true."

Wonderful. I'm expected to kill off everyone I know and love. Even those I don't know, I have to just heartlessly end their lives. Me. This is truly stupid.

"You don't have a choice."

The blue creature gazes into my eyes, his own red ones glimmering with hope. Anticipation. They're really counting on me.

"She's so stubborn." The purple one shakes her scaly head, clenching her claws on her hips. "We can't get nowhere like this. We have to make her."

"We can't make her do anything she doesn't want to," Green snaps, a growl threatening to explode. "You'll do nothing but make her want to even less and less."

"Oh please. That's the only way we'll get anything from her."

"I never said I wouldn't," I suddenly interject.

They jump in surprise, turning to stare at me. I shrug as if it's no big deal, even though it is. What's wrong with me?

"You wouldn't," Purple says at last. "You keep saying you won't."

"Yes, but I never ever said I wouldn't. I'm sorry, but I don't think it's right. But I guess if you're not leaving my planet then I'll help."

That's too far.

I bit the inside of my lip, forcing my hands to stay still. I make eye contact with each of them. My words rings in my ears, knowing full well they have some effect on the creatures. They had to have. But the monsters isn't showing me anything-they're as still as a statue, staring at me as if it was the first time they saw me. Their eyes are wide, mouths slightly open. It was comical, really, but I don't say anything. I don't move. If I do then the spell might break-this moment may be ruined.

The moment stretches on, longer and longer. The quietness was beginning to get to me, driving me insane, but I wait for them to speak. I wait for them to do something. But when they don't, I take a step back, my eyes never leaving them. Then the black belt jerks to a stop and I stumble, but the blue one reaches out to steady me. I nod at him slightly, shooting him a small smile.

"Well then," he says, his body language stiff. "That's that. You'll have to go to training right away."

"What?" I exclaim. "Right now?"

"We can't waste any more time, Chosen One."

"I haven't seen everything though," I protest.

"You will later on, I promise. But for right now, we need to get you ready to go to battle."

"Battle? You never told me any of this."

"Didn't we? Oh, my bad. Well, yes, of course. Though we've been working on a button that'll destroy everything that's connected to it in some way."

"What do you mean?" My throat begins to tighten and it gets hard for me to swallow or breathe.

"Every house will be connected to it either through TV, computer, or anything else like that. It'll be easy to wipe the world clean of them."

My mouth fell open at this. He has to be kidding me, right? Just one push of a button, and the entire world dies? At my expense? That's cruel. Really cruel.

"We don't have time for any more questions. We have to get you trained."

"Yes, sir," I whisper helplessly. All I could see were millions of people dying, screaming for each other, smoke choking them. Fire collapsing their houses, flames licking anything in its path. Everything ever known, gone. And all at a push of a button.

This is crazy. What could I do to stop it?

Nothing, a voice murmurs. There is nothing. The human race will be wiped off this planet, not to be seen again. And you're the cause. Yet, that's all you can do. You can't stop yourself.

Wasn't there?

Isn't there always a way to stop something like this from happening? I don't know how these creatures work, but I hope they can make a mistake. I hope I can reverse this.

We go down several long hallways, deeper and deeper into the massive lab, moving stealthily. I'm ushered past several doors, through large rooms, until finally the blue one grabs me and stops.

"Here we are," he tells me. "Now, let's make you unimaginable."

If all I'm going to do is push a button then I don't really understand why I have to learn anything, but I do as they say. Soon, it feels like a dance, growing more and more complicated as we continue. I imagine I'm in my room, my music cranked, singing at the top of my lungs as I move about, swaying, jumping, twirling while a smile splits my face. I imagine I'm a famous dancer, doing a complicated dance to keep the audience guessing, to keep them engrossed. I find myself enjoying our training session, and it doesn't matter when the minutes turn to hours. I'm still light on my feet, still able to keep going. I'm doing my dream.

I always wanted to become a professional dancer, but now it seems that isn't going to happen. Not with this latest development-or my change. I'm now a monster. My sickly green skin proves just that. I may not truly look like one, but I am.

"Done!" Blue exclaims, his eyes shining.

I stop what I was doing abruptly, the room spinning in circles and I close my eyes tightly shut. I'm breathless and dizzy from my training, but I don't want it any other way. I honestly had a blast.

"You did amazing!" Green calls to me, a smile turning his lips upwards.

"You really were perfect," Purple adds. "Now I see why you were picked."

Their praise makes pride swell up within me. I smile at them, my skin slick with sweat. It was a workout, but I don't want it any other way. For once, I was living my dream-despite it being in my head. But I was dancing. And, as the creatures says, perfect. I have a feeling I was glowing from this workout.

"I think you're ready," Blue says, coming over to me.

"Really?" My emotions bubbles out then, and I'm unable to catch and hold any of them. They are slowly slipping out of my reach.

"Yes," he informs me. "Let's get you to the spot. Follow me."

I do as he asks, hearing the other two follow us as well. I can't decipher my emotions. I can't grab on to one and keep it close to me. No matter how much I want to, I can't. I sigh as we come to a huge machine. It has buttons of all kinds on it, beeping and flashing.

"That red one," Blue says, nodding at a button that's separate from the others. "That should end it all."

"Great," I mutter.

"Indeed. Why don't you go ahead and push it?"

"Umm...can I do it by myself?" I ask hesitantly.

"Of course."

He gestures to the other two, who doesn't look too happy about this, and they leave without another word, which was shocking. Once I'm alone in the room, I begin to fiddle with the wires that hooks to the red button, removing and replacing, hoping I'm doing something good, that I'm not messing up big time. After several minutes, I stop and lean back, staring at my work. None of the cords are where they were before; they all have been moved to a new location. I smile to myself, glancing around, taking in the metal walls and floor.

I bit my lip as I watch the red light flash on and off. I sit there for a few moments, unable to do anything but stare. I don't know what I just did-or if it'll help anything. Though, I do know I have to find out before they come back, wondering what's taking me so long. So I shakily stand up and walk over to the machine. I then gently press a few of my fingers against the cool button, waiting for a split second before pressing it in.

For a minute nothing happens, but then the machine explodes. A small scream tears out of me as I'm engulfed in a warm glow. It becomes harder to breathe, and I claw at my throat, but nothing is there. Sparks rains down all around, fire trapping me. I let my eyes slide close and, just like that, I feel my soul begin to lift from my body, soaring through the air, leaving me. I feel myself begin to fade into nothingness, slipping into darkness.

The Tale of Brown Mist

By: S.Cu 'Anam Policar

© 2013 by S.Cu 'Anam Policar

Chapter One

My wings are tired. I feel as though I have been flying forever. Many moons have risen and fallen but I cannot allow myself to stop. Not while Master is missing. It was unlike him to be gone for any amount of time and already I miss the feel of the fabric of his robes beneath my talons.

As if instinctual, I feel my talons curl before relaxing. I falter, my wings miss a break in the current. I need to rest or I would die before finding him. Spying a field mouse trying in vain to outrun my wings, I quickly dive and pluck the morsel out of the grass, nearly killing myself as I roll and tumble into a tree. Yes, I need to rest, flying in this condition would do neither of us any good at all.

After fumbling to my foot, my other still clutching the field mouse, I hop a couple of times as I pump my weary wings. I barely catch the current and let it carry me as far as a high branch upon the tree I had fallen into. My left foot clutches the limb for dear life as my right raises the trembling snack to my beak.

"Wait. Please don't eat me!" The little grey mouse squeaks much to my astonishment. My snacks normally did not talk, Perhaps I was much more tired than I imagined I was.

"You are food. I am hungry. It makes perfect sense for me to eat you." Is my reply as I once again lift my leg to put the mouse in my beak.

"I'm scrawny. Not much of a meal here. Surely you want something with a bit more meat." The little mouse says. Truly I am growing even more tired, if that is even possible, while listening to this little mouse try to con me out of eating it.

"Be that as it may, I am hungry and far too tired to hunt for anything better. You will just have to do mouse." I point out.

"Squeaks!" The mouse squeaks.

I tilt my head. "Excuse me?"

"Squeaks. My name is Squeaks." The mouse says in what sounds like little more to me than one unintelligible word.

"So?" I ask perplexed as to why this mouse is trying to tell me its life story when all I want is to make it a midnight snack.

"Weren't you ever taught not to kill something that has a name? I'm Squeaks." The mouse points out the bane to all predatory creatures. I force my talons to uncurl from around the mouse's body and sigh.

"It would have been better for me if you had not told me your name you know. Run along now." I say as I gently push the mouse toward the trunk of the tree.

"I have nowhere to go. I was actually out looking for a place to nest for the night when you found me. What's your name?" The mouse rambles much to my disdain.

"Does it matter what my name is?" I ask.

The mouse nods. "Yes. I'd like us to be friends."

I look at the mouse as those a few extra heads had sprouted from its tiny shoulders. "A mouse..Friends with an owl? It is no wonder that you have no home. The other mice must think you are completely out of your mind. My name is Brown Mist." I do not know why I tell Squeaks my name. I must be a lot more tired than I had originally thought I was, but I had and so now he knew it.

"That's an interesting name. How did you get it?" Squeaks is the most talkative mouse I have ever met and is already grating on my nerves.

With a sigh I answer. "My Master gave it to me. He is a wizard named Merle, named for some famous wizard back in the days of Avalon."

"If you have a Master, what are you doing all the way out here? This forest isn't kind to anyone, I imagine it'll be harder on someone who's had a sheltered life." The mouse points out.

"I will be fine and I will find Merle and then I will never have to leave my roost again." I state matter of fact before tucking my head in my wing, ending the conversation with Squeaks, who then opts to wedge himself under my wing to sleep.

Chapter Two

Squeaks refuses to leave my side. I do not care enough to ask why he would rather travel with someone who by all means should be his enemy, then to remain with his own people. The thought, however, niggles in the recesses of my mind almost constantly in the following days.

By the fourth day of flight, I finally break my own resolve. "Why are you insisting on coming with me and not remaining with the other mice? I am certain you would be much safer back there than anywhere I will take you."

Squeaks sighs forlornly, as though he has known I would ask this very question sooner or later. "I'm an exile."

Even though he cannot see my face, I quirk a brow more than a little confused by his statement. "An exile?"

"Yeah. Not wanted. They threw me away like a rotten egg" Squeaks explains as if I, an owl, have no concept of what the word exile meant.

I bite my tongue against the retort that bubbles just behind my clenched beak. After letting a few moments pass for me to regain my composure, I clear my throat. "Why were you exiled?"

It is Squeaks' turn to fall silent. It seems I have erred in broaching this topic. "I am sorry. You do not have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable Squeaks."

"No no, it's okay Mist, really. It's just hard to find the words to explain." Squeaks starts.

I chuckle a bit in spite of myself. "Perhaps you should start at the beginning?" I suggest, a smile playing on my beak.

"I was never somebody." Squeaks begins. "I was called a rat because I'm not as refined as the other. It was the same everywhere I went. I had no friends, I didn't know my family. I don't know what happened to my family. My eyes were barely open when they vanished. Maybe they thought I was destined to be a loser and just ditched me. I don't know." He sighs sadly and I cannot help but feel sorry for the small being.

"You do not have to continue if it is too hard on you." I offer, my voice barely a whisper and I ponder if he has even heard my words over the rush of the wind.

I hear him take a deep breath. "It's okay. I can do this." He assures me, but even I know this possibly the hardest thing Squeaks has ever done in his life. Probably harder even than being alone for as long as he has been.

"I met this girl. Oh she was beautiful Mist, her fur was like moonlight and soft as silk. Her name was Bantam." His voice takes on an awed quality.

"Wait. The girl mouse was named small? Really?" I cannot help but interrupt. I mean I understand that everything is given a name. I had been named Brown Mist because I was the fastest owl in the owlery and I'm brown, so I literally look like a brown blur, or a mist when I zip by. I cannot fathom why anyone would promote the small stature of their child when naming them.

"Ya, her name was Bantam because she was the smallest, daintiest, prettiest mouse of any I'd ever seen! Anyway, the first time I saw her, I was done for. She was like poison. I had to be near her. I had to touch her!" I feel Squeaks shiver upon my back and cock my brow again.

"Go on." I prompt when it seems he has apparently drifted off into his own thoughts.

"Anyway, we spent all our time together. It was love at first sniff. I was head over heels for her and her with me..Or so I thought. One day I woke up and she was just gone. She wasn't in the nest or anywhere she'd normally go. She'd simply abandoned me like everyone else had. Rumors started spreading around and soon Bruno, he's the leader of my nest, he came and said they'd found a pile of bones and some tufts of silver fur. They were sure it was Bantam. I felt my heart crumble into nothing. She was my everything and now she was gone and I'd never see her again. "Squeaks said. The sorrow in his voice causes my heart to skip a beat. We lost altitude for a moment.

My own voice wavers as I say "I am sorry Squeaks. That must have been rough on you."

"That was just the beginning of my troubles. I had thought I'd heard all the bad there was to tell, but then Bruno said many had said they'd seen me lead Bantam out where they found the bones. They said because I was the last that saw her, that I had to be the one that killed her." His voice breaks then. I hear it plain as day. It was as though his very soul wailed over the accusation.

My heart breaks for my tiny new friend. "But you did not kill her did you?" I ask knowingly.

"Goddess no! I'd never hurt her Mist! She was my everything. My very breath! How I'm still alive to tell this is beyond me. Bruno cast me from the nest after he accused me. He said I was a danger to everyone there. I wasn't too torn up about it, they never liked me anyway. As I ran, I vowed I'd find a way to right this wrong. That I would find whoever killed her and 'd make them pay." Squeaks finishes. His voice holds an odd fire to it.

"And you will Squeaks. I promise I will help you any way I can once I find my wizard." I swear to the mouse. The fact that he should be digesting in my stomach, a thought that has fled long ago. This little mouse was my friend. Aside from my wizard, Squeaks was the only friend I have ever had.

Squeaks let out a small gasp. "You mean it Mist? You'll help me?"

The excitement that buzzes and weave through his words make me chuckle as I reply. "Of course I will help Squeaks. After all it is what friends do."

Chapter Three

A few days after my admission of friendship and vow to help, we are forced to land. I had hoped that we would be able to fly this day. We are so close to my destination that I can taste the necromancer on my tongue. It is not to be so. I will not reach the necromancer this day as thick clouds, dark as onyx cover the skies.

The storm is unnatural. I will swear as long as I breathe that the storm is designed to kill me. The lightening as it begins to crisscross the sky seems to come directly at me no matter where I fly. I maneuver rather gracefully around each pillar of electricity as it zeroes in on me. I feel as though someone has stuck a big target on my wings that only the lightening can see. I must have dodged twenty bolts of lightning before I see a bright flash of light appear before my eyes, followed by a burning sensation in my right wing. Then I am falling.

I flex my wings and flap erratically as I try in vain to regain my rhythm and composure. This action only aids my plummet to the pine needle littering ground below. I feel my body begin to spiral, hear Squeaks frantically squeak as he grips my neck feathers. Another bolt of lightning took advantage of my uncontrolled predicament and strikes me in the back. My nerves feel as though they are on fire. Stars burst before my eyes. I no longer hear Squeaks' petrified cries, nor do I hear the whoosh of the wind as I spiral out of control. As blackness envelopes me, my last conscious thought is Let Squeaks be all right.

Chapter Four

I have no idea how long I was unconscious. I just know every fiber of my being hurt when I regain my sense of self. I slowly gather my legs under me and stand up. I stumble for a few minutes as the world spins in and out of focus before my disoriented face.

When I feel steady enough to move, I turn my head scanning for any sign of Squeaks. Completing my three hundred and sixty degree head spin, I realize my friend was nowhere to be seen.

I wince as I try to stretch my right wing out. I understand, it is broken, in more than one place as well. I l try to fold it neatly to my side, but the appendage simply hangs uselessly, the tips of my once mocha feathers, now drag along the floor in a distasteful shade of black.

Lifting my good wing, I bring it to my beak and call out. "Squeaks? Squeaks where are you?" There is no answer. Panic and fear wrap themselves around my very core as every horrible scenario runs through my head. I begin to walk, hobble really, in search of him.

Having no concept of time, I have no idea how long I wander aimlessly through the forest. I heave a sigh and take in my surroundings. This span of the forest is dead. The trees bare no fruit, nor nut, not even leaves. They almost look sinister in their barrenness. My mind races. If Squeaks is out here somewhere, he must be terrified. I note the lack of sound. The normal sounds of a forest are absent. There are no birds singing some pointless song to the sun, no sounds of scurrying squirrels, not even the sound of larger animals. It is almost as if the forest is waiting in anticipation for something to happen.

"Squeaks!" My call is frantic. I know I must find him before nightfall. While there are no animals that thrive for the sun, I am positive there are owls and other predators of the night lurking, waiting, for the moon to rise so they can hunt.

As dusk begins to claim the world, I heard pitiful squeaks. The cries sound tired and pained. I hobble closer to the sound and I swear, everything ceased to be, as my amber gaze beholds the scene in front of me. I hear my heart pound in my ears. The pounding is so fierce it feels as though my heart will tear from my very chest at any second.

The hawk is massive, possibly the biggest one I have ever seen, and pinned beneath his foot is poor Squeaks! I let my eyes scan around to see if I will have anything else to contend with. My gaze returns to the scene, then get caught in Squeaks' frightened pools. I lift my paw to my beak signaling him to give no sign that I am here and quietly make my way behind the tawny feathered hawk.

I wince as a small twig snaps under my foot. I try to recover but have no time to as the hawk wheels on me with a malicious glint to his beady eyes.

"Well, well, well, wot 'ave we 'ere?" He asks in a strange accent I cannot place.

I round my shoulders, a vain attempt to show the bravado that does not exist. "Let him go hawk and I will not have to sharpen my talons on you!" I am impressed at how little my voice wavers as I speak those words.

The hawk grins and roughly uncoils his talons from around Squeaks. I watch as the small mouse bounces a few times before coming to rest, unmoving, beside a group of dead leaves and twigs.

"An' 'oo be you ta tell me wot ta do wit' me lunch li'l owl?" The hawk asks as he takes slow, deliberate steps toward me.

I am strangely unfazed by this show of dominance and stand up taller. "I am Brown Mist, Familiar of the Wizard Merle. You had best leave before he comes and turns you into a worm for the crows!" I pray beyond hope that the bluff is not an obvious one.

Luck. However, was never on my side as the hawk responds. "You mean tha po' ol' chad wot lock'd in the dak magician's tow'r? 'E ain' helpin' no one any time soon lil' owl. Why don' you be a right ol' chap an' leave me ta my snack now."

Anger boils under my feathers. There is no way I am going to leave Squeaks to die! My body seems to come alive and act without my brain's knowledge. Before I am aware of what is going on, I find myself hovering in the air above the hawk. My broken wing screams in protest, but if I never flew again, the knowledge that Squeaks would live to see another day has more than compensated for that. I raise my feet and extend my toes so all my talons point out. Then I do possibly the stupidest thing any owl has ever done... I adjust my wings and speed at the hawk, claws first.

The world tumbles head over tail feathers as I lock onto the hawk, and he onto me. We roll around on the ground clawing and pecking. My inner voice calls me every name it can think of as I feel his powerful beak hit home on my body over and over. He is not unscathed by no means, my own talons clawing, scratching, and ripping with each opening he leaves open.

Suddenly, the hawk is still. I know it was nothing I had done. I am half molted, like a plucked chicken ready for the pot, covered in blood both his and my own, and I am trapped under his bulk. I draw my feet up laying them on the hawk's gut and push up and to the left, knocking the bird off of me. That is when I see it, a small stick, skewered in the hawk's left eye.

Squeaks scrambles out from beneath the hawk. He is breathing heavy and seems just a little dazed. "Sorry it took so long for me to help you out Mist." He says sheepishly.

I cannot help but laugh before exhaustion and my injuries engulf me in the sweet embrace of unconsciousness once again.

Chapter Five

It takes us a few days to recuperate from the hawk incident. My wing is still not fully healed, I doubt I will ever fly properly again, but at least I can fly at all. Squeaks is as chipper as can be. I only wish he had some other mice he could tell the tale of his heroics to.

The moon rises full the night I get my first glimpse of the twisted black tower. I shiver, not from the cold, as I take in every inch of the tower locking it in my memory.

"We need a plan Mist. We can't just go storming in there. He's probably got traps set up everywhere." Squeaks pointed out.

I shake my head. "He's a necromancer. They are cocky and arrogant by nature. They do not believe anyone can best them in anything. But you are right. I do not intend to just fly in and demand Merle be released."

This seems to satisfy Squeaks and no more was said on the matter as we draw close enough to see every minute detail. Stone gargoyles flank the corners and balconies of the tower. They make no movement, their eyes hold a strange red glow.

I dip out of the currents and land behind a large charred tree. "We will need to split up. If I get too close to the gargoyles they will tear me to shreds."

"They're statues Mist. They can't hurt you." Squeaks states as if I have lost every ounce of sanity I have.

I shake my head. "No. Their eyes have an otherworldly light to them. They are puppets of the necromancer. I am almost certain they were once flesh and blood before the necromancer got to them."

"Gargoyles..Alive? Mist, I may just be a simple field mouse, but I think I'd know if gargoyles had ever really existed." Squeaks says with a small chuckle to his voice.

I sigh in exasperation. "Not as they are. Necromancers deal with the dead. They manipulate things to their will. I think each gargoyle was once many animals."

"Chimeras?! Are you sure?" Squeaks asks with pure fear in his voice.

I nod and extend my good wing. "I will show you."

Once Squeaks is securely on my back, I carefully take off, careful not to get close enough to wake the gargoyles, but close enough to prove my point. I let my body lilt to the right take the front corner slowly. I stop to hover in front of one of the gargoyles. It has the wings of a hawk, the body of a cat, and the head; the head is a mouse only made large enough to fit the cat's body. Its front feet are those of the cat, the back those of the hawk, its tail is a scorpion's.

"It almost looks like a manticore!" Squeaks says in fear. I turn my head to him to find his eyes are glued to the gargoyle. "Bantam..." I barely hear his whispered word.

I barely have time to land before Squeaks hops off my back and takes off at a run to the tower. "Squeaks no!" I call out, but it is too late.

Chapter Six

I see Squeaks begin to scale the tower corner where the manticore looking gargoyle stands guard. As I give out my warning, I watch it spring to life giving off a squawk that can shatter eardrums. The beast peers down at Squeaks and my breath catches in my throat.

Despite how small he is and the distance between us, I hear his words clearly as the beast starts to stalk down the corner of the tower.

"Bantam fight it! Fight whatever that necromancer did to you!" Squeaks pleads as he slowly skitters down the wall trying to get out of the reach of the gargoyle.

Oh Squeaks, that is not Bantam... I think to myself as he continues to back away from the snarling gargoyle.

Squeaks let out a loud squeak as the gargoyle snatches him into its paw. I watch in horror as the beast brings Squeaks to its mouth. I know now how every mouse I have ever eaten feels in the last moments of its life.

The gargoyle stops just before its mouth closes on Squeaks. I look on confused as I hear the beast begin to purr. Straining, I block out the purring and pick up just barely, the sound of Squeaks' voice creating a mournful melody.

Once on the gargoyle's head, Squeaks calls out to me. "Go Mist. Save your wizard! Bantam won't hurt me now, she remembers. We'll keep the others from bothering you!"

And just like that, the Bantam gargoyle, equipped with Squeaks, takes off gracefully, rousing every gargoyle they pass until they are all in hot pursuit of them. They head away from the tower, back toward the way we had come.

I spread my wings and dart from my hiding place, now that the coast is clear. As I zoom in on an open window, I chance a glance behind me wondering if I would ever see my little mouse friend again. For the second time in my life, I feel the cold embrace of loneness.

Chapter Seven

The interior of the tower is just as dismal as the outside, perhaps more so since there is very little light. What light does steal in through the window slits is grey and the air is stale. I ignore the dust that tickles my beak, as I maneuver the erratic twists and turns of the tower. I can smell him. My heart rate quickens and a feeling of joy over takes me. I can smell Merle. I let my sense of smell guide my course through the labyrinthine maze the necromancer calls home until it leads me to a moss covered staircase.

The light fades and then vanishes almost completely the further down the staircase spirals. I have lost track of which way is up and which way is down. This part of the tower is void of sound. It is so quiet I hear a dull buzzing in my ears.

Finally, the spiraled stairs end and I find myself in a large room lined on either side with cages big enough to hold five or six humans easily within them. I do not sense the necromancer, but Merle's scent is so strong here, that I give a small hoot.

There's a rattling sound to my left, and then I hear him. "Brown Mist? Is that you?"

The elation I feel at that moment is immense. I give another hoot and push my tired wings in the direction of his voice. Then I see him, and it is as though the entire world has stop turning. My poor Merle locked away in a cage like a wild animal. I hover in front of the bars taking in his appearance. He looks as those he has not slept in days. How I wish he understood my words so I could tell him what I had gone through to find him.

"Aw Mist you shouldn't be here. If Dante finds you here he'll do to you like he's done to the other animals around here. Go Brown Mist. Be free. "Merle says and I note clearly, even in the darkness, the shine of tears in his eyes.

I hoot and shake my head. He is a fool to think I would leave him. He is all I know and all I have. I look down at the large padlock on the cage door and try to pick it to no avail.

Just when I think all is lost, I hear a familiar squawk right before Bantam and Squeaks come into view. I watch as Merle shrinks from the bars of the cage, his features a mask of fear.

"He doesn't look like much Mist." Squeaks says as he hops off Bantam's head and sets himself in front of me.

"I think the necromancer used the gargoyles to torture him." I reply softly, to which Bantam nods her head causing her stone frame to rub against itself.

"What has you so down?" Squeaks asks as he sits down looking up to me.

I feel a hard lump in my throat, and find that speaking is nearly impossible. "I have looked all this time for Merle. And now that he is found, I can do nothing! I am useless!" The anger I feel toward myself, surprises even me.

I feel Squeaks' small paw on my leg. "You aren't useless Mist. No other animal no matter how big would have done the things you've done to find him. So you can't pick a lock? Who cares! That's what you have friends for Mist. So long as you have friends by your side, you can do anything." Squeaks offers me a wink before he scurries to the cage and examines the lock.

I watch most of his body disappear into the lock's opening and after a few seconds I hear a loud clang. Squeaks emerges and says victoriously "ta-da!"

I fly into Merle's arm and lightly peck his face all over as he hugs me. "You're such a brave girl Brown Mist!" He praises me and my heart swells. All I want now is to go home and forget this adventure.

Then I realize, we will never make it out of here undetected. As if hearing my thoughts Dante steps into the room looking every bit like one of the undead he so loves to play with. Bantam wastes no time and immediately tackles him. Squeaks snatches the old elder wands that belongs to Merle from his pocket and while tripping over it a few times, manages to get it to him.

Merle points the wand at Dante and everyone freezes their movements. The wizard and the necromancer stare at each other with pure hatred burning in their eyes.

"It's over Dante. Your puppets are gone. I'm going to lock you away like I should have when you killed our parents!" Merle waves the wand and begins an incantation, before it is complete Dante vanishes, his maniacal laughter lingering in the air.

Merle sighs and looks at Bantam. "I can't do much for you. I can't make you what you once were. I can however make you live." He waves his wand and speaks in a tongue I do not know. Bantam's stone exterior cracks and then begins chipped off in chunks leaving a living, breathing, chimera.

Bantam purrs loudly and nudges Merle's hand with her head. He chuckles as he climbs onto her back and directs her to the stairs. Squeaks takes his place on my back and we follow behind.

Although Dante has not been destroyed, I am happy to be returning home. At least now our turret will no longer seem so empty and lonely.

The End

Jacob's Awakening

A Living Outside the Box Short Story

By: Lisa Marie Pottgen

© 2013 by Lisa Marie Pottgen

A vibrant green meadow. This was the scene that filled Jacob's vision. A cluster of people he had never seen before huddled at the far corner. Yet, he felt as if he knew every one of them. Could it be possible? Was this another one of those times again? You know the feeling, right? Some call it déjà vu. The feeling you have experienced something before, though you have never been there, never met the people, never felt the things you are feeling at that exact moment? Yep, that's the one.

"There you are! What took you so long to get here, my boy?"

It was an older man who had spoken. He pulled away from the mass of human bodies huddled at the far end of the clearing when he saw Jacob standing there, a dazed look on his face. Something about this man seemed very familiar to Jacob; however he was sure he had never met him before.

"Or have I?" Jacob mused to himself.

Something about the older man tugged at a memory he just could not grasp.

"The eyes. Those electric blue eyes, where have I seen them before," Jacob thought to himself. Jacob himself has brilliant, emerald green eyes. He always thought they were a combination of his father's sapphire blue and his mother's honey.

"We have been waiting quite a long time for you to get here, Jake. I knew you would find your way to me eventually. You see, I can explain this all. Help it make more sense for you. Would you like that?"

Jacob stepped back. He was confused, didn't understand exactly what the man was talking about.

"Do not be afraid. You are dreaming and I know that everything must seem very frightening to you right now. But this is not the first dream like this you have had nor will it be the last."

"Wh-wh-what are you talking about?"

Jacob froze. His voice sounded small. He didn't recognize it. Jacob hadn't heard his own voice before. One of the more obvious effects of his autism came in the form of being nonverbal.

"My boy, you have to have wondered about the dreams. I know about the dreams you have."

"How is that possible?"

"Because when I was alive, I had them too. My name is Joseph Baxter. Does that sound familiar to you?"

Jacob hesitated. He had heard the name before. But it was impossible, what this man was saying to him. You see, Joseph Baxter was Jacob's grandfather. Jacob had never met the man. He knew him only through pictures which were always of a much younger man. The photos Jacob recalled depicted someone who looked strong, healthy, and full of life. This man before him looked like a man who was well past his prime.

"Seems hard to believe, yes? But it is true, Jacob. I have no idea how to make you believe that the words I speak are true but they are. I have been watching over you since the day you were born and I knew you were going to be special, that you would share the gift I spent my whole life trying to fight against and hide from everyone around me. "

Jacob listened, trying not to show the disbelief on his face.

"You see, son, my time was very different. People did not believe the impossible could really exist. People like us were marked as heretics. In an earlier time, they were branded as witches and burned on stakes."

"Witches?" Jacob asked, startled by the word.

"Don't misunderstand. We aren't witches, exactly. We are probably closer to...well, do they still show those Psychic Hotline commercials on TV late at night?"

"Y-yes."

"Okay, well we are closer to that than witches, although some bits from both descriptions are probably fitting. You have to wonder how you have always seemed to know things before they have happened. There is an explanation."

"O-okay. I d-don't understand."

"We are descended from a long line of men who have been able to see what was going to happen in the world around them. I'm sure you have noticed a sense of déjà vu in some situations, a feeling that you know what is happening and have to do something about it?"

"I-I, I th-think so."

"That is a part of it, Jakey."

Jacob went pale. The only person who ever called him Jakey was his grandmother. And she was gone. She had died when he was only 8 years old. As a matter of fact, now that he thought back, that was the first of the dreams.

*****

He had woken to his mother crying. He wandered out into the living room in his Scooby Doo pajamas, his untidy brown hair smashed to his head and sticking out in every direction. Rubbing his eyes, he saw his mother sitting by the phone with a look of shock on her face.

After a long moment, Leeanne looked up from the phone to see her quiet little boy standing staring at her.

"Oh, Jacob, honey!" She scooped him up in her arms and the boy stiffened in her grip.

"There's been an accident, sweetie, and Grammy is hurt really bad. We have to get dressed and get down to the hospital as soon as we can."

The morning was a blur. His mother got him dressed, his teeth brushed, and his unruly hair combed in such a rush that it almost seemed rote. It almost seemed like he was watching it all happen from the sidelines. A strange sense of ...familiarity tugged at him. He couldn't shake the strange feeling that he had been here before.

Jacob was always "different" from other children. His development followed its own path, never quite "in sync" with his peers.

But little did anyone know what was locked in Jacob's mind! Although being diagnosed at age 5 with autism explained some of his "uniqueness," nothing ever explained the "Dreams."

When they got to the hospital, Grammy lay in a bed with tubes and wires hooked everywhere. They saw her for a brief moment before the doctor took them into a small room with a table, some chairs, and a small box of toys in the corner.

"Here, Jake, look! There is a dinosaur. Why don't you play over here while Mommy talks with the Doctor, okay?"

Jacob picked up the green T-rex and tried to occupy himself. He couldn't help but hear the conversation occurring at the other side of the room.

"It's not good news, I am afraid, Mrs. Baxter. Your mother was hit head on and we are not seeing any signs of waking. She is not responding to anything at all, so far," the doctor said in a hushed whisper.

"But, I don't understand. Why was she on the old County Road at 5 in the morning to begin with?"

"I cannot answer that question, Ma'am. The only one who can may never be able to. That is what I am trying to tell you, Mrs. Baxter. It is not hopeful and I do not think your mother will be coming back to us."

By this time, Jacob had wandered back down to the room where his grandmother lay on a hospital bed, looking nothing but broken and frail. For the first time he could remember, she looked old and fragile.

A nagging memory tugged at him. Something felt odd, familiar, and frightening all at the same time.

In his mind, he saw his grandmother driving down the road, racing to reach ... something, he was not sure what. But she seemed driven, like she had a sense of purpose, something that she had to do before it was too late. But in a flash, an animal darted into the road and she swerved. Another car was barreling too fast down the road then with the squealing of brakes and the smell of burnt rubber, that car was not able to stop in time.

Loud noises boomed around Jacob bringing him back to the present. A lot of beeping noises from the machines that surrounded him, in rushed the doctor that had been in the room with he and his mother just moments before, followed by his mother.

Jacob had always been smaller than most boys his age, so it wasn't a surprise that he had snuck out of the family room unnoticed.

"Jacob, what happened? What are you doing in here?"

"Doctor, there is no pulse," said a nurse who was obviously trying to remain calm for the family standing by.

They started CPR but, soon, they gave up. Leeanne Baxter fell to her knees, cradling her small boy in her arms, and sobbing loudly.

"I am very sorry, Ma'am," the doctor placed his hand on her shoulder. "But there is nothing more we can do. She's gone."

Leanne wiped the tears from her eyes. She had to be strong for her son. She didn't want to scare him and knew he couldn't understand what was happening.

****

"You were remembering your grandmother, weren't you Jakey?" Joseph asked in a calm voice.

Jacob nodded, unable to speak, still so surprised that this man who was a complete stranger to him understood so well.

"How did you know?"

"Because I was, too. I saw her through your eyes. I could see what you saw, my boy, and feel the emotion you were never able to express. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like to not be able to tell those you care about how you feel, not understand the love in a mother's embrace, or not find yourself lost in the eyes of a ...well, never mind. Perhaps you can still have that moment. Amazing things can and do happen, Jakey, amazing things."

Jake just stared at the man. The words he was saying seemed so strange. Jake was not even sure if he knew what "emotion" was, other than seeing people cry at funerals and similar things but he never really understood it.

"I d-don't understand."

"I know, Jacob, I know this must all seem very strange and scary to you right now. I am going to try to explain it as best I can. I know that what I am telling you seems very odd, even to you, who has experienced some of what I am talking about. I imagine, though, that when you wake you really do not remember much of it at all, do you?"

"Only sometimes, sometimes I go through the day like I have been there before. Everything seems familiar."

Jacob stopped. He noticed that when he was talking about his dreams and his feelings about them, his stutter was completely gone. His voice was almost strong. All of this just seemed very strange to a boy who never spoke. Stranger still to hear confidence in his own voice when the whole world always seemed so at odds to him.

"Strange to you, isn't it? To be able to speak here when you cannot while you are awake?"

"Yeah. Why is that?"

"Because here, anything is possible! How else would I be here, talking to you right now? I passed on before you were ever born, kiddo. So even that by itself should seem strange to you and yet here I am! I am right in front of you, breathing, speaking, and being my usual charming self. And trying to impart to you some understanding about our family, about the legacy you will have to live up to. My only hope is that you do not make the same mistakes of those who have come before you. Because that would be a tragedy. You have a beautiful, wonderful soul and this world needs more people just like you."

"Um, "Jacob had no idea how to respond to that at all.

Inside his mind, Jacob was reeling. So much information had come at him in such a short amount of time and he still really hadn't gotten to the meat of it yet. He found himself wondering how long he had to find out more before he woke up.

"There is plenty of time yet Jakey. You won't wake up before you've gotten the whole story. I can assure you of that, even if nothing else I say to you tonight is any comfort at all."

How the heck does he keep doing that!

"Sorry, Jacob, I am sure this is very overwhelming for you. I wish there was an easier way to do this than bombard you with everything at once. But you are 15 years old. Things are liable to start happening soon, if they haven't already and I need you to understand. I need you to know that you are not crazy and this all has a purpose however strange it may all seem. "

"I still don't understand, "Jacob said

"Okay, let me start at the beginning. Have a seat. It is a long story, "Joseph began.

Jacob settled down in the grass tentatively, still cautious, still afraid that he was losing his grip on reality. Let's face it. Reality was not Jacob's strong suit, after all. The world he withdrew into was anything but ordinary. He imagined castles, knights, dragons, and faeries. In his universe all of these things were real. Fantasy and reality blurred. How strange that now, he was coming to find out the lines really were not as clear as the rest of the world thought they were.

*************

"It was not always like it is now, "Joseph began, "and it is a bit hard to pinpoint where it really started. However, I am pretty certain that my grandfather was the first, based on the stories he told me. You see, that is how it is supposed to be, passed down through the generations, explained when a boy is about to turn 15 so there are no surprises and it does not just happen leaving you all scared and confused."

"Sounds like the wolves in Twilight," Jacob mused.

"In a way, yes; but infinitely less complex and yet more all at the same time. You see, one night when he was a young man, maybe 14 or 15 years old, my grandfather, Jackson, had a very strange dream. In his dream a beautiful woman came to him and told him that it was time he fulfilled his purpose. That his ancestors had called in a lot of favors and now it was time to repay the debt."

"Wait, a wh-"

"Jacob, please, let me finish and I will try to answer all your questions when I am through but this is very complicated and hard for me to tell. I need to do it without interruption."

And so, Joseph launched on a monologue that left Jacob confused and awed, all at the same time.

"The beautiful woman was a faery. The reality is faeries are very different than the stories we read to our children would have us believe. They don't all have glowing skin and glistening wings. The reality is they look very much like the rest of us, with one notable exception. They are always, always exquisitely beautiful and inspiring. When you meet one, you will know because you will not be able to look away. You will feel drawn to her as though by a force of magnetism. There is an unending compulsion to follow wherever they lead, to get lost in their beauty, and do whatever it is they ask of you.

But sometimes, that is a dangerous thing and that is precisely where this story really begins. Apparently, long ago, our ancestors made a deal with a very powerful faery in order to assure their wealth and prosperity. Back then, these things were measured by how many children you had and how much land you owned. If your farm land was small and produced very little, if you had few children, or only girls you were judged to be unlucky and of poor standing.

So somewhere down the line, one of our ancestors crossed paths with a faery and bargained with her. I believe it was Jonas. Jonas had 4 children, however all were girls. He had no son to carry on the family name, help with the work in the fields, or pass on the skills and histories of the family to. You see, back then, these were things reserved exclusively for the young men of the family. A girl could not carry the family name as they would take the name of their husband when they married. And that was their responsibility. To marry and begin a new family, a new line.

But Jonas desperately ached for a son. So, not knowing the dangers of doing so, he bargained with the faery. He asked her to help him to have a son to carry on his line and be prosperous. The faery said she would do so but that there would be a favor that would be called in. . He would have to fulfill the request without question. Jonas agreed. He was nearing his later years and did not know how much more time he had. Knowing he was running out of options, he agreed to the terms the faery had set out. He really should not have done so but he was naïve, selfish, and greedy." Joseph's eyes held a fire Jacob had never seen before. You could almost feel the anger rolling off of him.

"That Spring, Jonas' wife delivered a strapping baby boy. And the following winter, a set of twin boys. The labor was difficult but she was beaming at her babies when she held them in her arms. When the boys were just old enough to start working the fields, I believe they were 9 and 10, Jonas passed on.

And you would think that was the end of the story. But the faery left out a crucial piece of information. When you are indebted to the fae, that obligation is carried down the line. There is no escaping it. But in the same regard, the benefits of the bargain carry down, as well, and for many, many generations now there have been no girls born to our line. Every Baxter has born only strong, healthy, strapping young men.

Anyway, so, this faery woman comes to Jackson in a dream and tells him all about the bargain. Apparently, the favor the faery had wanted in return was for our family to be gifted with the ability to See. Sight comes with great responsibility because, from time to time, what we see will need to be effected, altered. So we get visions in our dreams, of events and occurrences effecting those around us and sometimes that path needs to be changed to avoid disaster of some sort. That's the bulk of the story, anyway, as I have come to understand it."

"I think I understand but what does this have to do with Gram?"

"Well, evidently, ours was not the only family to make a similar misguided bargain. Your grams' ancestors had made a bargain as well, although I never got the full details from Gram before I passed. Your grandmother also had Sight. It was most likely what had drawn us together and bonded us for the lifetime that we shared.

But the night she died, she had had a vision. It was what had woken her up so early in the morning. Gram was never an early riser; she enjoyed her sleep far too much for that. But she had a very compelling vision and it was one that required a course to be altered. Gram had run into a young woman at work who was very depressed. She had been kind to the girl whenever possible although few others were. Gram had a vision that the young woman was going to kill herself. She was racing out to the woman's home that morning. The young woman had already set her plan into motion. She had consumed large quantities of alcohol and gotten into her car. It was she whose car struck your grandmother that fateful morning"

"So gram did not do what she needed to do."

"Oh, but she did. That young woman has completely turned her life around and found a purpose. That day saved her life. I hesitate to tell you this but you know her. She is one of your therapists. I will not say which, because that is your first vision to carry out. You have to figure out who she is and tell her she is forgiven. You will know her when you look at her. If you are really looking. And you must. So many lives depend on it. You will know when the time is right because your life is going to change. It is going to be considered a result of her work with you. It could be when you wake this morning. That is hard to say. I do not control these things. But I will be here to guide you for a time."

"The, the woman who killed my grandmother has been in my house, has been close to me? How dare–"

"Stop, Jacob," Joseph pleaded.

"This is as it should be. It is the way the Universe intended. Your grandmother knew what she was running off to but she did it for you. She could see what this woman would become if she had a second chance. If only she could see she could have a purpose. Your grandmother knew it could cost her life but she had to do it to help you."

Jacob put his head in his hands, trying to process everything his grandfather had told him. How could any of this be real? This was just a crazy dream, wasn't it? It had to be. When he woke in the morning, he would not remember any of this and it would not haunt him the way he felt it was at this moment.

He thought about the therapists he had over the years. He had gotten close to each of them, as much as a boy with autism could make connections, but over the last couple of years it had seemed different. He was really starting to feel like he could connect with people, like he understood. He felt like his life was changing. He felt, well...he felt almost normal, whatever that really meant.

But this was surely too much for him. Had he really just snapped, completely gone crazy? Was he going to wake up to find that he was in a padded room in a straightjacket? Or was there even the glimmer of the possibility that any of this could be real?

"No, I don't get it," came the words from Jacob's mouth and he stopped. He had only thought he had thought the words. They were not intended for anyone else to hear.

"Jacob, don't you think it is strange that you are able to speak and understand, when you have never spoken aloud before?" Joseph posed.

"I, I don't know, " Jacob stammered.

"And with each time you do speak, the stutter eases and the words flow more easily?"

Jacob's mouth popped open in an "o". He had been wondering all of this himself and he still did not understand it.

"Things are changing, Jakey. You are changing. When you wake in the morning, you will not be the same timid boy who went to sleep. You are going to find your voice. It will be almost as if you were never afflicted with the autism. Remember what I said earlier? That the Baxter family had nothing but strong, strapping young men who were the picture of health? You have been the one exception to that rule. And the error is going to be set to rights."

Jacob stared intently at his grandfather, a look of disbelief coloring his features.

"Oh, don't look at me so incredulously. Everyone will consider it a miracle. They will say that the therapies have worked, you have made a marvelous turn, and are finally improving after your parents have poured hundreds upon thousands of dollars into experimental therapies. I wish I could say it was coincidence but it was most probably by design. There needed to be a logical explanation. There needed to be a reason for this young woman to come into your life or everything that happened to your grandmother would have been for naught."

Jacob stood and started pacing the clearing. Joseph let him. He knew that his grandson needed time to process everything that was happening. If he tried to interrupt or intervene now, the situation could become volatile and everything would fail.

What he never explained to the boy was who all of these other people were in the clearing. And that would have to be an explanation for another time. The sky was darkening. In the dream world, things are the opposite. Night is day and day is night. The darkening of the sky meant that the boy would have to wake soon and their conversation would have to come to an end.

As Jacob paced, he picked at the seams on his pajamas, slowly unraveling the thin thread in his clothing. This was typical for Jacob, one of his coping mechanisms when he was overwhelmed. It was possibly more habit than anything else at this stage of the game but in his mind it helped him to focus, to think. And he needed to focus now. He needed to wrap his mind around all that was happening.

The bottom line is he could choose to accept what he was being told or he could choose to ignore it, blow it off as just a crazy dream. It would not change the outcome much but the latter option would ultimately drive him mad. Joseph knew this because he had tried to fight the gift he had been given for so many years, until it nearly destroyed him at 18, and he had no choice but to accept it. He could not make these decisions for his grandson, as much as it pained him to see him suffering through this right now.

**********

Jacob stopped pacing again directly before his grandfather.

"Say I believe you and go along with all of this. Then what?"

"For right now," Joseph began, "nothing really is going to change. You will remember this dream when you awake, vividly. But there is a caveat. You cannot tell anyone. Not even your mother. If you tell her, she will not understand and she may even be frightened. This has to be your secret, your burden to bear and yours alone. At least for now. When you meet the woman you are intended to, then you will be able to share this with her. But for now, if you speak of this dream and the things I have told you, you will find yourself tongue-tied and unable to continue."

"But that is metaphorical, right?" Jacob asked. "I don't speak to anyone. I have never heard my own voice other than in my head, outside of this ... Whatever this is, wherever I am. "

With a grin, Joseph looked at his grandson. "Things are going to change, Jakey, in ways you could never have imagined. It is hard to say when but they are going to change."

A thrumming began in the distance and Joseph looked to the sky. "It looks like we are running out of time, my boy. Your mother is on her way to your room to wake you for school. When you wake, you will feel rested, so do not be concerned with that."

"You mean, I have been here that long?"

"Only in spirit," said Joseph. "Your body is still back in your bed. In many ways, this is just a dream. But it is also very, very real and you cannot ignore it. The time will come, Jacob. And it may be sooner than you think."

His surroundings began to fade away.

*******

Bang, bang bang came the sound from the closed door.

"Jacob Allen, why in the world is this door locked! It is time to get up. You are going to be late for school if you do not get up and get dressed this instant. And if you wait much longer, you will be going on an empty stomach!"

Oh man, mom sounds really mad. I better get going, Jake thought.

But why was the door locked? Jacob never locks his door. Everything seems so very strange.

Jacob got dressed in a rush, trying not to incur the wrath of his mother.

He rushed down the stairs and nearly ran into his mother at the bottom.

"Where's the fire, Jake?" Leeanne asked, startled.

Jacob was never this abrupt and in a hurry. Jacob was a very laid back kid as long as you didn't mess with his routine. He thrived on routine, as most autistic children do, and Jacob's was very structured, very rigid. That is why the locked door and the difficulty waking up seemed so out of place to Leeanne.

"What's for breakfast?"

Leeanne's jaw popped open and in that instant Jacob knew why. He had just spoken to his mother for the first time in, well, ever.

"Jacob?" Leeanne mouthed, clearly very confused by what was happening.

"Hi, mom," Jacob smiled.

"Oh! Oh!" Leanne was shouting enough to wake the dead, and her husband came running out of his home office.

"What in the world is going on in here?" Jeremy Baxter asked his wife.

"It's happened! The miracle we have been hoping and praying for! All of the thousands of dollars we have spent and everyone telling us we were crazy, we needed to just accept things for what they were. It has happened. Jacob just asked me what was for breakfast, and then said 'hi mom!'"

Jeremy looked skeptically at his wife. "Is it possible?"

"Dad?" Jacob said hesitantly, as much trying out his new voice as to get his father's attention.

Jeremy and Leeanne converged on their once-silent child, reveling in this miraculous moment, and savoring it for all it was worth.

It was now that their lives would begin. And Jacob's too. Because he had a purpose, a destiny to fulfill. And he had a voice. He felt different, stronger somehow.

He really had no idea what life had in store for him or what the future held. But he did know that he would embrace it. He would live his life and finally be free.

Something

By: DL Kelly

© 2013 by DL Kelly

Chapter 1

It was the day before Halloween and Agnes expected something. She wasn't exactly sure what—just... something. Wasn't Halloween her favorite holiday? Didn't she decorate the whole house for Halloween, including the bathrooms? She had a Halloween shower curtain and black rugs, a paper cup holder with a graveyard scene on it, and her collection of witches on the shelf over the radiator. Didn't she wear Halloween clothing starting on October first, the first day of Halloween in her opinion? She had a sweater with pumpkins on it, a turtleneck with little black cats all over it and many sweatshirts. Even a pair of orange-painted tennies with black bats. She sent Halloween cards and played Halloween music. People might think she was obsessed, and truthfully, she was! She admitted it. It was the best time of the year.

Sure, she decorated for the other holidays, but not as much. Well, except for Christmas--she knocked herself out decorating for Christmas. The difference was the feeling of scary, mysterious events tied to Halloween. She loved ghost stories that sent chills down her spine. Agnes loved the delicious uneasy feeling a haunted house gave her. She didn't go to these "scare palaces" set up in October. Give her a real-live haunted house and she was a happy lady.

Chapter 2

"Just one little sign, a ghost, preferably. Something to reward me for believing in Halloween," she remarked to her husband one evening. But lately her husband didn't say much. She didn't know if he was becoming deaf, or depressed, or just didn't give a hoot about what she had to say. He had taken to feeding the dog, which surprised and delighted her. Maybe he was taking a liking to Gisella, a little Llaso Apso/ Golden Retriever mix. She wasn't much on looks but had a wonderful Golden Retriever personality. Her husband Frank never was interested in the pup, so it was a shock when he started to feed her.

Her sister Mabel was acting strange lately, too. When Agnes phoned her, Mabel would hang up on her.

"Did I do something to offend you?" Agnes hollered into the phone before the line went dead. So she paid Mabel a visit, with equally weird results. She pounded on the door until her sister answered. Then Mabel stared out into the yard. Agnes squeezed past her to get in the door. Her sister didn't say much, either. She cried a lot and didn't even offer her a cup of tea.

"Something odd is going on," she told Gisella when they sat in the park. "Why are they all acting so strange? Is it me? Did I do something to them?" She thought up all sorts of reasons.

Another of her favorite October pleasures was watching scary movies on TV. Sometimes Frank ignored her, falling asleep in his chair during the best part, but one evening he took the remote and channel-surfed without asking her if she minded, and not even during the commercial.

"Frank Malenfont, you ignorant jerk! I've put up with the silent treatment and your rude behaviors, but don't you DARE change the channel when I'm in the middle of a good movie! You ungrateful, egotistical...OOOHHHH!! You make me so angry I could just...spit nails!!" Frank never blinked an eye. He stared at the TV as the programs flipped past.

"I've had it with you!" she yelled as she stormed out the door. He did sit up and notice when she slammed the door. She peeked in the window and watched him look around. He got up to check the door, but it was too late. Agnes was leaving.

She stood in the driveway pondering her next course of action. Agnes realized she had painted herself into the proverbial corner. Here she was--no coat, no car keys, not even the dog. So she decided to take herself for a walk in the park.
Chapter 3

The evening had become blustery. Dark clouds scudded past the full moon. Agnes was surprised that she wasn't colder, but she did have her sweater with the pumpkin on it. She sauntered to the bench she usually sat on with her dog, her anger already fizzled out. She was left feeling puzzled. Why was her husband acting like this? Maybe his back was hurting again. Maybe he should see his doctor tomorrow. She sighed and buried her face in her hands, resting her elbows on her knees.

She didn't know what made her look up. She hadn't heard anything, but felt she wasn't alone. A man sat on the bench with her! She stifled a shriek and started to jump up when the man said, "I won't hurt you, Agnes. I'm here to help you."

"How do you know my name?"

"Oh, my dear, I know many things about you. I know you're having trouble at home."

"Huh! Anyone could figure that out. Why would I be sitting alone in the park?"

"Good point, my dear. But you didn't bring Gisella, now, did you?"

"How could you know that?" She narrowed her eyes. "Are you stalking me?" She looked him over, so she could give a good description to the police. He was about medium size--five ten at the most. Longish white hair tied in a ponytail, unusual for an older man. And the clothes! At what church basement rummage sale did he find them? Pants like that went out of style with powdered wigs. Wait a minute--was that a powdered wig on his head?

Suddenly Agnes laughed out loud! How could she be so stupid? The man was in a Halloween costume! He probably was on his way to a party. The man gave her an odd look.

"My dear madam, what is wrong?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I was taken by surprise with your costume. And I hope you win first prize."

"I haven't the least idea of what you're talking about. But no matter. I'm here to be assistance to you. "

"How can you help me? You don't know me."

"I know quite a bit about you. I know you have a husband, Frank, who doesn't seem as attentive anymore. I know you bring Gisella, the dog, here to the park."

"You could've overheard me."

"In addition, I know you have a sister Mabel who hasn't been herself, and you're wondering why. That's why I'm here."

"What's your name, sir?"

"Everyone calls me McGee."

"Okay, Mr. McGee, what is it that you plan to do for me?"

"I plan to help you discover some things about yourself. And it's just McGee. You don't have to call me Mister. Just McGee."

"Okay, McGee. That's better than calling you the Guy in Funny Clothes. So tell me, McGee, what do you plan to do for me?"

"As I said, I came to help you understand a few things about yourself. Take a deep breath."

Agnes did as she was told, with pleasure. She loved the pungent scent of fall, the leafy autumnal perfume. Strangely, the air wasn't as fragrant as it had been in past years.

"Tell me what you smell, Madam."

"Well, not too much. I probably have a sinus infection again." She tapped on her forehead and below her eyes but failed to produce the achy sinus pressure she knew so well. "It must not be bad yet. I'll call the doctor in the morning."

"I'm afraid it won't do you much good."

"You're right," she said. "He probably won't prescribe an antibiotic unless I have symptoms. I'll have to wait."

"Waiting won't make any difference, either. How is your appetite lately?"

She mulled over this one. "Not too good. Frank has been cooking lately--I don't know why. But food doesn't taste right. I'm probably too upset with him to eat."

"Now let's think about this: Nobody can see you. Food has lost its appeal. You can't smell this wonderfully scented air. Can you guess why?"

She sat beside him, staring at the moon. "No, can't say I do. Suppose you tell me."

"Should I be blunt?"

"Please do," she sighed. "I'm getting tired of this guessing game."

"This is your Halloween surprise. I'm a ghost. I died in 1785, right after your Revolutionary War. And as for you--you're a ghost, too!"

Agnes leaped off of the bench. "I am not! What do you mean by that?"

"It's true. Dead as a door nail. Dead as the Dead Sea. Do you remember the day you were climbing down out of the attic with your Halloween decorations? You slipped and fell, didn't you?"

"I remember...hitting my head. But I didn't think I was hurt."

"You weren't hurt, silly goose. You died. You had bleeding into your head and never woke up. You never felt any pain."

She sat back down beside McGee. "Dead. Now what do I do?"

"I'm here to take you into the light, as you've heard others speak of. But there's no reason we couldn't have a little fun first."

"What do you mean?"

He smiled and took her arm, pulling her from the bench. "We can visit your husband. Put him in the Halloween spirit."

"You mean haunt him?" she asked, surprised.

"I prefer to say, we send him greetings from the other side."

She grinned as they walked away. "I was hoping for a little Halloween surprise--and this is really Something!"

Howl at the Moon

By: Krystal George and Amber Streed

© 2013 by Krystal George and Amber Streed

It was a cold and eerie night. The kind of night you should stay inside and curl up under a blanket with a good book, except that I couldn't. As student body president, it was sort of expected that I attend the Homecoming dance even though I didn't have a date...but the burden of what I was becoming was a constant horror that was weighing heavily on my heart. I saw it more and more every day; every time I looked at my sad face in the steam fogged mirror.

What would people say? What would they think? What was I thinking? I couldn't tell anyone or they'd think I was crazy. This was something out of a horror movie... out of a novel or a play... not real life... As my dad called me from downstairs I straightened my hair and took one last look in the mirror. Tonight was the night that everything would change and no matter what, I had to face it alone.

My dress was simple; innocent. It was a pale blue slip dress, almost the same color as my eyes. At the time I had thought it complimented me. Now it didn't at all. There was no innocence left inside of me; almost nothing at all left of the girl I was a few days ago. I looked outside my window at the beautiful willow tree in my front yard; knowing that once tonight was over nothing would look the same. The moon would rule me. People wouldn't be anything to me but a means to an end. I would crave innocence and fear; I would feed on blood and life.

The moon had never meant anything to me before... now it was everything.

I took one last look at my room; my walls adorned with posters of the bands I love, my bed draped with my favorite old comforter. I loved everything in here and it was time to let it go. I snuck into Kaylee's room to kiss her one last time and to give her one last smell so I would remember her innocence forever.

"I hope you never have to feel this pain Kaylee. I will love you forever baby girl." I gave her one last look and took a breath to prepare to head downstairs.

When my dad called again, impatience coloring his voice, I closed my eyes briefly before walking out of her room. Each step down the stairs seemed to be cementing my doom... my fate. I wanted to cry for what I was being forced to leave behind, but there were no tears. I had already cried them. I would not be coming back here tonight. With Kaylee asleep in her bed, there was too much at stake to allow myself the luxury of a home.

"You look really pretty honey," my mom said from her perch on the couch. She had the same chestnut hair as mine and the same baby blue eyes. I used to think I would end up like her one day. Now I knew that I wouldn't; that I couldn't.

"Leave her alone Claire, we need to get going," my dad said looking down at his watch. "We're already late!" I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Sure he was annoying, but tonight would be the last night I'd see him. He'd never again get to be annoyed with me and that was hard to accept.

"Ok dad, fine let's go." I huffed. I kissed my mom on the head and walked out the door in front of my dad. I took one last look at her loving face and turned around before she could see the sadness in my eyes. She always had a way of knowing I was sad before I cried. The car ride was overwhelmingly sad; like he was driving me to my grave. In a sense he was, he just didn't know it yet.

"Everything okay sweetheart?" He asked.

"Um, yeah dad. Everything's fine," I replied.

He pulled into the parking lot and turned off the ignition before turning in his seat to face me. "Boys aren't everything you know." I stared at him blankly, having no idea what he was talking about. He smiled. "It's okay that you don't have a date Lucy."

I sighed and laughed softly, "I know." Like most problems, mine had started with a boy... but not having a date was the least of my worries.

This is the way I wanted to remember him; soft, loving and protective. If only he could have protected me that night...the night I was bitten. It had been only two weeks but I still felt it as if it happened yesterday. His beautiful lips on mine in the cold pale light of the moon; the stillness of the air lingered in our throats. And then it happened...

For a moment I let my mind remember it. Blood red fierce eyes, elongated teeth tearing into the flesh of my neck, his whimpered apologies...

"Have fun, and if you need a ride home... call me."

My dad's words pulled me from the confines of my own mind.

"Thanks Dad. I love you." I said quietly. I grabbed my purse and got out of the car. As I walked to the ballroom of my high school gymnasium, I took one last look at my aging father. I waived one last wave and he smiled one last smile and drove away. My heart will always be imprinted with the memory of him leaving. I walked into the packed room full of flashing lights and loud music, searching for my friends so I could attempt to have one last night of normalcy.

Paige was dancing with her boyfriend Zach, but Blake was standing alone by the entrance. Like me, she had not gotten asked on a date for the night... but unlike me she had chosen to come instead of being obligated. As I was walking toward her, the lights flashing from the dance floor illuminated her dress and I stopped, sickened by the sight. It was red... blood red, and it reminded me of what was sure to come. I ran to the bathroom, completely aware of the time I had left...ticking away to the beat of the music. I splashed some water on my cheeks and looked at the image staring back at me. All too soon my face would change and I would be a hideous beast. I would forget the friendships I've had since I was small. I would assume them my enemy, my dinner, my prey.

Talon, I thought, remembering. His name was Talon. I met him at a party. I wouldn't call it a one night stand because the only thing that happened was the bite; but maybe that's what made one night stands so memorable. They changed your life. I know this one changed mine. The first stupid, crazy, irresponsible thing I do and it changes me forever. I wanted to cry, but my eyes were still stubbornly dry. He changed so fast I didn't have time to react. One minute we were kissing and the other minute blood was pouring down my neck. I'm guessing I fainted because the last thing I remember was him screaming up at the moon, teeth barred and stained with my innocent blood. His once beautiful face was misshaped with muscle and hair stretched skin.

I lay there after it happened and focused on the moon. I was drawn to it in ways that I never had been before. When he lay down beside me and apologized, I reached out to touch my torn skin only to find that it was smooth again. It was... miraculous. With his back to the moon, his features had been hidden, shadowed... but I knew that he was once again human instead of beast because of the way his body had felt next to mine.

"What does this mean?" I asked solemnly. My whole life ran through my head like a scene from a movie. I wasn't prepared for it to end.

"It means, you are one of us now..." he had said in a soft raspy voice that had seemed so familiar and yet so foreign at the same time.

The door to the restroom slammed against the wall and a crowd of girls walked in. They were chatting and laughing, completely ignoring that I was even there. I wanted to scream at them, but I knew that in time I would miss even these awkward moments.

"Did you see that guy out there?" One of them asked the other. I recognized them, but I didn't know them. I was pretty sure that there were in a different grade than I was.

"Yeah," said another, "he was totally hot... and alone."

My heart started hammering. Was it him? Had he come for me? I left the sweet confines of the bathroom walls and headed out to the ballroom to search for him. I wanted to kill him for what he had done to me. I wanted to hurt him with the sharp teeth he had so generously damned me with. Still... there was a connection between us... how could there not be after what had happened? After running into several seriously love stricken couples I saw him. He was standing in the back of the room glaring at the warm bodies full of blood and life, anxiously waiting for the right moment to pounce on one that had wandered too far from the pack...

Chad, my best friend, was standing next to the dance floor alone. Seeing him, almost made me forget about Talon. Only things had been strained between us these past few weeks. A distance that had been creeping up on us all along had exploded with the wedge of my imminent future lurking. I had always loved Jake... I'd just been too scared to tell him and now it was too late. The thought of him being caught in this death web was too much to handle. Talon was eyeing him too closely because I was eyeing him closely. I tried to keep my composure as I walked towards him. He was too innocent to be taken, and I loved him too much to let that happen. When I reached him he was looking at the ground, obviously trying not to make eye contact with me.

"Hey Chad." I said quietly

"Oh hey Lucy." he mumbled. He gave a quick shy smile and went back to staring at the disco ball light patterns on the floor.

"How is everything? It feels like it's been forever since we really talked."

He looked up at me sadly, the reflection from the lights lit up his eyes in a way that made my heart momentarily stop beating. It looked like there were moons reflected in them. I was mesmerized by them and couldn't look away. I watched his lips open to answer my question, but I couldn't concentrate on the words. It wasn't until someone bumped into me and I was thrown against him that I was able to shake myself out of the trance like state I had been in. His arms were so big; I don't remember them being this way. I looked up at him and we got caught in a moment. I felt like we both realized we were supposed to be together; but neither of us spoke. We just lost ourselves in the magic of the moment. I was drawn to him even more so than I had been before.

Then it was over and he just pulled me up to my feet and asked "Geezus are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Thanks for breaking my fall." I said quietly, the anticipation of what might have been had left me shaky and breathless.

"Look Lucy I don't know what happened between us but I don't want to keep doing this...I love you." he said somberly. As if it was a bad thing or something to be ashamed of.

I couldn't move. My mind went blank and I forgot how to breathe. I hadn't been expecting this. It was too much... it is what I had always wanted; it was what I had always dreamed about. My life's happiness was within my grasp and all I had to do was reach out and grab hold of it... grab hold of him. His eyes promised me so much more than his mouth could ever say, and yet there was something there; something lurking just beyond the surface that looked almost... guilty... regretful.

A howl tore through the room and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. All around us people were frantically searching for the cause of the noise, but I already knew what had caused it; Talon.

I looked for him, but he was gone, and with him the dream that had been dangled before me was suddenly once again out of my reach as reality crashed down around me. Chad was human. I was... not; at least not anymore.

With a tear sliding down my cheek, I backed away from his beloved face and shook my head sadly, "I'm sorry Chad. I don't feel the same way," I lied. I had to keep him safe - even if that meant lying to him. I could see how much this hurt him. He didn't understand why. Even with the horrendous howl filling the space between us his eyes were focused on me. It was like he didn't even notice the chaos going on around him.

All of a sudden I see Talon running up behind Chad, he was transforming as he ran. At the same time I could feel something happening to me...

It was like my body was ripping apart and with it my soul was being destroyed. Flesh burned and crackled as my body transformed. Sleek black hair pushed through every pore of my skin. The effect was like needles being pushed through my body and I screamed in agony. I heard more howling and roaring around me and it wasn't until I had fully transformed, saliva dripping from my razor sharp teeth, and my breathing labored and hoarse that I realized the howling was coming from me. I heard screams come from every direction, and suddenly I realized I wasn't the only one who transformed. Chad was standing beside me; fangs displayed, hair bursting out of his smooth tan skin. His eyes were two huge black beads with yellow glowing irises, piercing through the crowds of terrified teenagers. We stood there, completely aware of our new bodies, and ready to attack anyone and everyone who came into our path.

Talon, facing us with his fur standing up and his lips curled back off of his teeth, growled and pawed the floor with his foot. His long claws dug grooves into the soft wood of the dance floor. Somewhere off in the distance the music stopped playing and soon the only sound was of screams and feet pounding on the ground as all around us people tried to flee, all of them afraid for their lives. Suddenly, two of the biggest football players in the senior class began to make a run towards Talon. It happened before I could even react; I had no time to process a thought or to stop them from basically committing suicide. Talon was humored by their small attempt to take him down, and reared his head back in hideous laughter as they plowed into his steal like body. They hit him like they would hit a brick wall and as they fell on their backs. He snatched each of them up in his enormous hands and lifted them up by their throats. Their bodies hit the ground hard when he threw them away from us. In those seconds, I wasn't sure if they were dead or alive, but when I saw them finally began to stir, hope began to bloom inside of me.

Close by, I saw Paige pointing towards us. Tears were streaming down her face and her body was shaking from the inability to process what she was seeing. Scenes from my childhood flashed through my brain. Scenes in which Paige and were playing with dolls, experimenting with makeup, and later... talking about boys. She alone had known how I had felt about Chad.

Looking at him now, heaving and panting beside me, I wondered how I had missed the signs. I was so busy worrying about what was happening to me that I had overlooked what had been happening to him. Still, I couldn't help wondering if there was more to the story...

You shouldn't have been a part of this Lucy... I'm sorry.

I jumped. Had I just heard that voice in my head? When my wolfish eyes stared into Chads, I knew that I had. How was that even possible? There was so much to this life that I didn't understand... so much that I wasn't sure I wanted to. It was just all so frightening and unexpected.

Chad? He nodded his canine head and I backed away a few steps. Is this really happening?

Before he could answer, Talon jumped between us. He was facing Chad and his tail smacked against the side of my face. Instinctively, the hair all over my body stood on end. There was an electric charge that sizzled in the air around us. It struck me as odd that while I had heard Chad inside of my very soul, the only sound coming from Talon was the ferocious growl as he faced off against Chad.

Why can't I hear him? Why is he doing this, Chad? My mind whispered to his.

It's because we are connected... it's my fault... I...

He was once again silenced when Talon pounced on him. The scream that tore through me was more howl than human. The animal that had taken over the physical aspect of me was beginning to take over the internal one as well. I would fight to death for the one I loved. I didn't care that Talon and I should have a connection. My whole focus, my whole devotion was centered on Chad and I would kill for him if I had to.

With only those thoughts in mind, I allowed the beast to consume me. My mouth opened and then closed with my lethal teeth latched onto the tail that had just before hit me. The sound that came out of Talon then was both satisfying and sickeningly frightening at the same time. I knew that not only was he stronger than I was, he was also more comfortable in his wolfy skin than I was, but I couldn't let that fact matter.

Lucy NO!

I heard Chad scream in my mind, but it was already too late. Talon had spun around and the velocity of it had knocked me back off of him. My body slid on the smooth wood of the floor until something wet and sticky slowed me down. It was blood.

The human part of me warred with the animal. On the one hand, I wanted to vomit knowing that I was lying in blood. On the other, my stomach clenched with a dark hunger that was just as fascinating as it was horrific. Then I saw whose blood it was.

Blake... sweet, innocent Blake was lying on the ground a few feet away from me. I was convinced as I looked at her that her eyes would never again open as the blood spilled from her throat and darkened her dress to an even more intense red than it had been to begin with. I didn't know when he had done it, but I knew in my heart that Talon was to blame and I would never stop fighting him until vengeance was served.

My body was shaking from the fall, but I was determined to make Talon pay for what he had done. So when he loomed over me, I shakily pulled myself up and faced him. I wanted to shout and scream and call him every fowl thing I could think of, but all that spewed forth from my lips were snarls and saliva.

His wolf form was massive compared to mine, but I had felt a surge of power and strength when I had clamped my teeth on his fur and it was an intoxicating feeling; one that I was eager to feel again. I would not back down.

Just as Talon stepped toward me, a sound like a gunshot rang through the building. It only took me about a second to realize it really was gunfire. It took a few more to realize that whoever was firing it wasn't just firing at Talon. I was a wolf too... and so was Chad.

Lucy, we have to get out of here!

I shook my head. No. He has to be punished. I want to hurt him.

A bullet grazed past my head and I circled around to see where it had come from. Uniformed policemen were standing guard by the main doorway and a few were starting to walk the perimeter of the room. The only other exit out was the door that led to the school and soon, they'd have it blocked too.

Come on! Chad yelled in my head. We have to go.

Stubbornly I shook my head no again.

He's gone, Lucy, you have to let it go. I'll explain everything later... I promise.

It was only then that I noticed he was right. Talon was gone... and so was Blake's body. The only proof that she had been there in the first place was the smear of blood that led out of the gym and into the hallway. I took off after it, knowing that Chad would be right behind me. We ran through the halls and toward the back of the school. There was a forest just behind the massive structure, thick with trees and boulders; plenty of places to hide.

Shots were still being fired at us. The sounds of screams were slowly starting to fade away, but the heavy footsteps of the police pounded on the floor behind us. Another shot sounded and this time I heard it ping as it ricocheted off of the lockers. Moments later and I heard the whimper and thud behind me. My heart stood still.

Just go, Lucy. Get to safety. Leave me.

His voice sounded weak, but his words didn't make sense to my heart. Leave him? Why would I leave him? That was before I saw the gash in his side where blood was already starting to gush out of. I shook my head and kneeled beside him, wishing that I was in my human form so that I could reach out and comfort him. In this new body, everything seemed awkward and disconnected. I just couldn't seem to get as close to him as I would have liked.

No. I won't leave you.

He looked at me then... really looked at me, and there was something in his eyes that I recognized. They showed the same blood red that I remembered from that night. Inside I frowned. Outside the muscles on my face didn't move the way I wanted them to... but I whimpered and cradled my head on his.

It was you.

My memory of that night had been skewed since it happened, but it was crystal clear now. Talon took my hand and led me from the party and out onto a hill that overlooked the house. There were trees around us, but from where we stood, the moon had loomed before us, proud and majestic in its simplicity. It was there that he had kissed me. It was there that he had begun to transform.

I backed away from him in horror, but then another wolf had jumped at him, seemingly coming from nowhere. His eyes had blazed red and hungry and when they had sunk into my throat, I had known that I was going to die. That was when I fainted. That was the part I hadn't remembered until now.

After that, when I finally came around, I had reached for him, afraid of what had happened. Questions loomed in my mind about what I had seen, but as soon as he put his arms around me, his features hidden in the shadow of the moon, I knew that my life was going to change. I had thought it was Talon... but remembering now, looking into the reddened eyes of my beloved, I knew that I had been wrong.

I'm so sorry Lucy. I didn't want this for you. Find Talon. Give me some time and I will heal. I will meet you outside as soon as I can get away from everyone.

I didn't question him. He had obviously been dealing with this affliction longer than I had and he knew what he was doing. I kissed him gently on the forehead and raised my head toward the ceiling, searching for the moon just beyond the walls. I let out a revenge filled howl and sprinted to the exit. I broke through the steel doors into the dark humid night. I could smell everything-the sweet blood from the injured humans inside, the sweat from the police officers trying desperately to hunt us down. I could smell the iron of Blake's blood mixed with dirt from the gravel he dragged her on. I had to think fast.

Chad where are you? We need to find her before he bleeds her dry.

I waited for a second with no response. I began to feel a dread pour over me. Maybe I was alone now. It was time to find Talon and destroy him.

Lucy I'm here.

I looked behind me only to see the love of my life healed and ready to hunt.

Let's find Blake, and rip Talon to shreds.

Sounds like a date.

We both lowered our heads and began to track Talon and Blake. Our noses lead us to the opening of the woods behind the school. We could still hear the madness and confusion of the students and police inside. We knew they would be coming for us and that our only hope was to stay together, find Blake, get her to safety and then flee. We were on our own now-just Chad and I.

A blood curdling scream ripped through the trees and a long deadly sounding howl shortly after filled our ears with terror. We tore through the trees at top speed, searching for any smell to track or sound to follow.

Lucy this way!

We started to take off to the right, Chad having some sort of clue that we were on the right track. Then we suddenly stopped. Blake's lifeless looking body was laying there among the leaves and dirt. I ran to her and knelt down by her side. She was still breathing to my surprise. "Blake!" I yelled. "Blake are you okay?" She opened her eyes slowly.

Lucy it's a trap! We need to leave now!

Chad we can't leave Blake here. She's hurt we need to get her to safety!

A low growl was emanating from behind us. We both froze, knowing it was him. We looked at each other and nodded-both aware of what was to come. Chad turned around, teeth barred and razor sharp claws poised to kill. Talon leaped toward him and knocked him to the ground. Fur and dirt flew everywhere around us. Growls and snarls filled the air around us.

Lucy you have to get Blake out of here! I can hold him off! GO now!

I never heard that tone of voice come out of Chad, he was serious and full of rage. I hesitated, not wanting to leave him behind because I knew with us both fighting we could finish Talon for good. But I knew I had to save Blake. I scooped her up in my unfamiliar arms and ran at full speed to the school. I peered through the trees to make sure it was clear, and I snuck around to lay her body next to the front door of the school and let out the loudest, most brutal howl I could conjure. Someone had to find her here.

Chad I'm coming for you. Blake is safe.

I rushed off back through the trees-breaking branches and kicking up rocks. I saw them in the distance wrestling back and forth, throwing each other around like ragdolls. I saw Chad's limp body hit a tree and slide down the sapped drenched bark.

"NO!" I shouted. "If you hurt him Talon, I swear you will be ripped apart in a thousand pieces."

"Oh Lucy don't be so dramatic. I changed him-he is my puppy to play with." He snarled at me with his teeth dripping saliva on the warm earth.

Chad you need to get up! If you jump on his back and pull his head back then I can attack him from the front and rip out his throat. We can defeat him Chad please get up.

"We could be together you know, we can get rid of this poor thing. You and I all alone with only the moon to rule us." He uttered in his raspy low voice.

Lucy keep him occupied, I can get up quietly and hopefully have enough strength to hold him back while you attack. I don't have much left in me. Are you ready?

Yes I'm ready.

"Where would we go? We would have to find a new town where no one knows us. We are going to be hunted down like...wolves." I said convincingly. I walked a little closer to him, trying to lure him in. Just as I got close enough to smell his blood soaked mouth, Chad jumped on his back. As he tried desperately to reach Chad's torn body to throw him off, I lunged toward him. My rage and anger and lust for blood controlled me. I attached my sharp fangs to his warm throbbing throat and pulled out a chunk to expose the flesh underneath. I became an uncontrollable monster, a fiend for the rich blood that ran through his veins. It was like drinking a cold glass of water on a hot humid day. It quenched my yearning for sustenance. He was still fighting, clawing and kicking, struggling with any ounce of energy he could muster. Chad let go and fell to the ground, completely exhausted and injured from their earlier fight. Just like I promised, I ripped him apart. Only when I was done he was Talon again, a lonely human boy strung out amongst the shrubs. Confusion ran through me as I try to make sense of that happened. I was sure what I had done was protect everyone- I killed a monster that wanted to feed on everyone I loved, including Chad. I knew we had to clean up this mess, before we could leave this place and find somewhere to start over.

Chad are you okay? What can I do to help you?

I am fine. I just need time to heal. You need to get rid of his body-let the werewolf take over. You have to eat him Lucy. If others in his pack find him like this, they will never stop seeking revenge. We will never be able to rest.

I shook my head in disbelief. As if it wasn't enough that I had actually become this beast, I was forced to realize it in the most gruesome way. I had to. Like Chad said, we would never be able to rest. Piece by piece I consumed him until all that was left was a few drops of his blood.

We need to get out of here. We are already lucky enough that no one has found us. I'm sure they are all completely shocked that Blake was returned safe. Let's hope they keep their focus on her.

Lucy I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want any of this for you.

I know. It's all behind us now. We can live together, forever. Just you and I like it has always been.

I picked up and he flung his arm around my still hairy blood soaked neck. We walked away into the woods. We had to begin our new journey together. We both looked up at this bright, round, powerful thing hung in the sky and howled a lonely, lamented song. As soon as the moon was gone we would be Chad and Lucy again-soul mates changed by one fateful night.

