Special Thanks to Kirsty Barlow and Abigayle Barnes who read it first and for the inspiration. xx <3

Yet again the miserable nightmares woke Crystal with a start... she thought she would have gotten use to them by now... nope.
She flicked her dark purple duvet over off her legs and swung out of bed. She walked to the mirror to look at what damage the tossing and turning had done to her hair. She starred into the mirror.
Her dark blue eyes sweeped her pale face and up to her hair. It looked like she had been dragged through a bush backwards in the night, she probably wouldn't have woken up anyway... so it was a possibility.
She went into the bathroom, washed her face with cold water to wake up properly and grabbed the brush from her mum's make up bad that was on the side of the sink. As she ragged the brush through her black, extremely tangled hair she herd her mum getting up from her bed along the corridor. Her house had always been to big. Just for her and her mum and when her friends came over to sleep, they slept in Crystal's large black bed.
'Crystal, hurry up in there i'm late for a meeting!' shouted Crystal's mum from outside the bathroom door.
'Okay mum. I'll be out in a minute.' Crystal called back.
Crystal didn't live her father, just mother, he died in a fire when she was a baby. Izzy (mum) said she would always love him and work for Crystal to be the best mum ever... and she was living up to it so far.
The green of the walls reflected off the mirror and made Crystal's pale blank face greenish, the same color as when she went to Camelot last year.
'CRYSTAL!!!'
'shit' she muffled. She finished brushing her teeth and went out of the bathroom and left it to her mum.
'Crystal, Kirsty and Abi rang, they'll be over in 10 minutes, ok?'
'K mum. Crystal walked back to her dark room and turned on the light, her room was a tip. Crystal picked up a rubbish bag she left on the floor yesterday to remind her she had to tidy up. She went around her room collecting rubbish and empty packets and scrunched up paper. She threw everything she wanted on to her heap of a bed.
5 minutes later her mother ran out of the house with her car keys and reminded her were Crystal's house keys were. another 5 minuets later and Crystal had finished tiding her room as the door bell went. 'COME IN!' she shouted from the top of the stairs. She still had her pajama bottoms on and a purple jumper. she made her bed then ran downstairs.
Kirsty and Abi were already in the living room watching something on telly.
'Hey, wow you look awful.' Kirsty gasped as Crystal walked past them to go into the kitchen, she stopped.
'ermm ok... thanks' she said weakly and walked into the kitchen.
She walked into the kitchen, it was cold, she looked at her reflection in the toaster as she dropped two pieces of bread into it, she thought she looked fine.
She turned the toaster on and walked back into the living room, she stopped at the door, she could here Kirsty and Abi arguing... again.
'.. i know but you don't say it, she won't see until Thursday will- Crystal?'
Crystal peeped in on them,' What are you two on about?'
Thursday was Crystal's 16th birthday.
She rolled her eyes, it was just another reason to argue for them to...
The rest of the day was a blur in music, TV and frozen dinners, Abi and Kirsty slept over at Crystal's house that night but instead of going to sleep Crystal wonder her house in the dark.
She wonder the long corridors for ages but then she saw a big black door at the back end of the house that she had never seen before. She frowned and clicked open the old door knob, the door slowly squeaked open.
The inside was small and round with old blue and white patterned wallpaper. Apart from that it was empty.
Then a whisper bounced off the walls 'crystal' the whisper was like a hiss. ' Crystal' the hiss was getting louder.
Crstals heart thudded louder and louder, she spun to see where it was coming from but all she saw was the same wallpaper and door, so she ran at the door but before she touched it, it locked itself and a mist came from under the door frame, she backed up into the opposite wall and yelled, she smelt the mist, like burning flowers, she closed her eyes and breathed in, then she blacked out.


Crystal woke with a start.Images of last night flashed before her eyes but now, she was in bed. She remembered some images of her running through a thick forest behind two other people after she had blacked out (probably Kirsty and Abi, Crystals best friends) she folded her arms and shivered, the duvet felt warm on her icy skin but didn't change her tempreture. She slowly sat up in bed, her black streaked hair all over the place, blinds drawn and the DVD player on pause...Kirsty and Abi where awake then.
She sat in silence for a minute or two trying to figure out what the dream meant she had that night. She had had it 48 times already, every birthday Kirsty, Abi and she had had. This was the most confusing part.The things she saw just didn't make sense or could possibly be real...

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!' Kirsty and Abi chimed at once on the floor of Crystals messy, black and red room.
Crystal couldn't speak for a minute so she just smiled and padded along into the bathroom.
The dark blue blinds were closed blocking the sun from the light blue bathroom and she realized the mirror had gone.. maybe mum smashed it? She started to brush her teeth.

She walked slowly to her room,stopped and turned down the right landing instead of her room. She could just say she was looking for her mother.The sun gleamed in through the landing window. She strolled past waiting for the warm glow if the sun upon her her skin but instead as the sun touched her skin she fell, screaming in pain. The pain was like the sun was right next to her burning her from the inside out.Thats when she fainted.

She shot her eyes open as her mother poured water down her back and the side of her face to cool the burns. 'ARRRGHHHH' the pain was unbelievable She could she Kirsty and Abigayle cringe as she fell to the floor in pain.
'NOO MUM, STOP, MUMMMMMMM!!!!' tears slide down her pale cheeks as she tore at the black carpet of the living room, they must have herd her screams and carried her down stairs.
Abigayle played with her long silver hair, not knnowing what to do or what to say. Kirsty was wearing one of Crystals jumpers again, the black and purple one this time.
'Abigayle, please will you call Vencaine?'
'NOO MUM JUST STOP. its ok. i swear' Crystal lied. Vencaine was the mayor of the small town they live in, he had always hated Crystal. From the day Kirsty, Abigayle and she had gone joyriding through the town and almost nocked him down.
'Please hun, we have to get help..' Her mother pleaded kneeling next to her on the floor.
'Mum.. how is_ ouch_ Vencaine ment to help. Shouldn't you call an ambulance?' Cryystal wondered why she had been burnt anyway but that can wait.
'I could go get dad, he has delt with this before, with mum..' Kirsty said from the chair near the door.
'NO, CALL AN AMBULANCE, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!!' Crystal screamed at the top of her lungs. she was confused and in terrible pain!
'Hun we can't do that. Kirsty, ok call your father.' Mum smiled and held up her pink mobile. Kirsty grabbed the phone, went out of the room staring at Crystal like she felt her pain.
Crystal lay on her side for about 30 minutes when there was a knock on door. Kirsty ran full speed at the door, swung it open and slammed the door shut. Making sure no light came in.
'Hun, you ok? and you don't have to do that I'm over 20 remember?' Kirsty's dad, Frank smiled lovingly.
'oh, yes. I forget... Its Crystal.' Kirsty sounded different. Quiet? Hurt? No, broken.
Frank ran over to Crystal's side with a large suit case in his hand. 'Ok, can you tell me what happened?'
He sounded so calm even though the room was silent in tension.
'ermm, I think she-' My mum whispered the rest to Frank. What was she hiding? I mean it was Crystal that had been mysteriously burnt.
Frank gasped which made Crystal even more scared of the mysteries going on.
Frank rolled Crystal fully on to her left side and clicked open the big black case and took something out then said.' Abi, hold Crystal's hand. Izzy, can you go and get the book. Kirsty sit facing Crystal so she doesn't turn around. Crystal. You trust me?'Frank turned Crystal's head towards his face. 'Yes.' Crystal smiled weakly and turned back Izzy ran up the stairs. Crystal waited. She didn't know what for but she did. The book? what book?
Izzy ran back down the stairs within minutes, Crystal tried to turn her head to see what she brought down.She only saw a glim's of an old, thick black book. She saw a something red on the front but Kirsty had turned her head so she couldn't see. Crystal look down at Kirsty's arm and saw a black, thick band around it with a red symbol on the front. Come to think of it, she had seen it before. On her mother, Frank and Kirsty's mother...
Abigayle squeezed Crystal's hand so she took a deep breathe but Frank hovered his hand over her burns and whispered a passage from the book mum was holding.. then it all went black....
*
Kirsty-
Crystal fell to the floor in a lifeless heap after dad began the energy transfer, he had to carry on so he left her on the floor as me and Abi went back upstairs. 'This is why he mother should have told her when she was little like our parents.' Abi moaned as they got to Crystal's room. I ignored like usual and took a look around. There was several shelves of books, DVD piles in all four corners of her 6ft room, the air bed was still on the floor with a messy heap of duvets on top left from when they had herd Crystal's screams.
The t.v was still on pause, they had been watching Jennifer's Body that morning.
A photo album lay open, at the foot of Crystal's bed. Kirsty picked it up as Abigayle moaned on, brushing her shoulder length silvery hair.Kirsty sat on the edge of Crystal's silver framed bed and opened the album.

*
Abigayle-
When all goes wrong three things never change, no matter what goes wrong. Kirsty pretends that nothing is wrong, Crystal's in the middle of it all and I'm always the one that can't help.
Crstal's screams echoed in my head as i brushed through my silver/black hair. I looked at Kirsty from the corner of my eye, she was looking at some book.

*
'What's that?' Abigayle stood up and lent her head on Kirsty's shoulder. 'It's Crystal's scrapbook from when we were little...'
Kirsty looked down at some pictures of her, Abigayle and Crystal messing around in a photo booth when they where 12.
Abigayle smiled, Kirsty haven't had a picture since they became 16. Hard to make excuses for that.They laughed as they saw a picture of Kirsty's 15th birthday, the three of them where in a photo booth the top picture was the three of them smiling then the other three messing around, there was an arrow going from the picture the the paper that said, Kirsty's 15th <3
They looked for a little while longer and remembered all the great times they had had together. They had known each other all there life and loved each other like family.. but that was then. Once Crystal woke up, everything would change, the way she was, the way they all were, i mean what do you expect when one of your best friend's is your worse enemy.

*
Abigayle had fallen asleep, she woke as she felt Kirsty's cold hands on her shoulder, she stood up fast, just in case. Gave her evils then walked gracefully down stairs. Kirsty stayed for a second, smiled to herself. She was getting better at controlling herself. First time she had touched her since being 16.
'ARRGGGGHHHHHH' the sound came from downstairs and undoubtedly from Crystal waking up.
Crystal took a breathe in again and screamed. Every breathe burnt her lungs from the inside, the pain was unbearable, she wanted to curl up and die. But she didn't. She couldn't she opened her eyes and gasped, she held in the screams of pain and looked around. She saw EVERYTHING, every piece of dust fling around, every little hair in her eyes, it was like the lights had been switched on after a black-out and she could see again.
'I? - don't? - what?' Crystal stammered.
'Don't breathe.' a sweet voice whispered from behind her.
'Don't? - what?'
'Please Crystal. Listen to him.' Izzy's sharp voice spiltted the silence.
So Crystal held her breathe. It was.. easy.. it felt more natural than breathing was.
I saw Kirsty smile from the side of me her hand was wrapped around mine tightly, then Abi ran down the stairs breathing deeply. 'How are you?' she asked weakly, not knowing what was going on.
'I don't know, i mean, i don't know what happened.' I looked at mum for an explanation, she looked at the floor so i looked at Frank.
He sat on the chair next to me and Kirsty, he smiled weakly and began to speak.
'Crystal, remember when you where little and your mother always said you, Kirsty and Abi where one of many but simply unique. You didn't understand and she always promised to tell you when you were 16...'
He waited for my approval but i just stared at him, so he carried on.
'Well, we are going to explain and remember when you read all those fantasy stories about vampires and wolves and demons and one day, at Kirsty's house, you said to me how amazing people's imaginations where and how they came up with that sort of stuff?'
'Yes'. I said weakly, because i don't know what this had to do with everything.. i mean unless. NO
'NO!' Crystal screamed, it burnt but she didn't care!
'I CAN'T BE.. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!! KIRSTY!! YOU DON'T BELIEVE THIS SHIT DO YOU? ABI?' Crystal was standing up now holding her hip that was bandaged up.
Everyone was silent.
'YOU FUCKING SICK, YOU KNOW THAT!!!! ALL OF YOU!!!'
She felt like she wanted to cry and die again, but she just couldn't believe what they were saying.
'Christ Crystal! shut the fuck and listen.' Kirsty was pissed off now, she could here it in her voice so she sat on the coach on top of her crumpled up duvet.
' You are half-vampire- no listen, please. Half-vampire means that someday you deflectate in the sun will were off and you will be able to control yourself around humans and not drink as mu-'
'WHAT?' Crystal screamed.
'CONTROL MYSELF!!! WHAT'S THE POINT??? ARGGHHHH NO I AM NOT DRINKING ANYTHING!!!' Crystal stormed into the kitchen, holding her side, the pain was unbearable, tears rolled down her face.
She stared out throw the window into the garden, 'The Garden Of Memories' mum called it.. she knew why now.
It all started to add up in her head then, all the times her mother had shown her vampire books, many times they had talked about the mysteries about them.. never would she had thought, even for a second, she was one.
She wiped her tears because she herd foot steps walking behind her, someone had opened the cupboard, took something out and walked behind her.
'Here, you need to eat.' Abi passed some crisps to her. 'I don't understand it. Your not-' Crystal stopped herself from even thinking about it. Her own mother had drank blood from another human...
'Hell no! Sorry, but. ew. I'm no blood sucker-' Abi stopped.
'Neither am i. I won't i swear, isn't it dangerous me being with you?' She took a couple of steps back but Abi just went forward and smiled.
'No its fine. I'm a Were-wolf'.
'Wha-' all in one day.. the world turned on its head, or tits, she didn't really know.
'I'm sorry i never told you, but my family promised they would help your ... family' she said grimly.
'Wait, leave the whole vampire, were-wolf thing out of this.. i'm still your best friend, so is Kirsty. THAT'S why you to are always bitching about each other.'
Abigayle breathed in. 'Yeah, i'm not even meant to be here, we only stayed because of the war...' Abigayle stopped herself there, she knew she had said to much and wondered into the living room.
Crystal looked back at the window, pictures ran threw her head, memories and the dream last night, maybe that was the future? Abi kills us?....
Crystal peeped around the corner on the door to see Abigayle sitting on the coach alone, Kirsty sitting with her father and Izzy pacing around
the living room. This meant she was worried about her, and thinking deeply, probably of what to say next.
'Mum? Are you ok?' Crystal's voice shook.
'Aren't I meant to be asking you that? i'm a horrible mum, and you know it. I lied to you all your life, I should have told you when you were little-'
'No, mum we all make mistakes.. this isn't one, you thought you were doing the best for me. I'm sorry i shouted. Frank am sorry, Abi,' Crystal turned to face Abigayle, 'I love you no matter what we are... i always will, ok?' Crystal lowered her head to look into her eyes.
'Crystal, please. Just love who you are meant to. I've got to go.' Abi stood up. Crystal stood in front of her and said, 'no, sit down.' Crystal nudged Abigayle into her seat.
'Crystal.. no.. leave her. If she loses control of her anger her were-wolf instincts will kill in and she will bite you.. hard.' Frank's mere voice came from across the room, Abi nudged past Crystal and went out the door.
Crystal sat on the couch dazed, just last night Abi, Kirsty and her were eating everything they could find out of the fridge and fighting over what film to watch first.. but know... it was like she had woke up into a different world, well thats exactly what she felt. Except her surroundings and memories where the same. But when she came to think about it she could hardly remember last night.
'Mum, what exactly happens when you become.. this?' she looked deeply into her mother's eyes.
'You can't eat, sleep, go out into the sun, you start to forget things from your past.. like last night.' She stood up slowly, 'look at me... what do see at first?'
'You standing in front of...' She looked at her mother, shaking her head then she knew what she meant.
'Palish face, tall, blonde hair, Black-blue shirt, Grey pants, one or two freckles, Deep blue eyes... why?'
'Look deeply, further.' Izzy sounded worried...
Then when she did, she knew why, now that she thought about it, she looked.. dead! belch blonde hair really red lips, black rings around her eyes like she hadn't slept for ages and.. Then she smiled... 'Fangs?!?' Crystal felt her teeth with her tongue. 'Ow.' Two teethe were really sharp.. 'No wayy. What. Crystal ran to the mirror. 'STOP CRYSTAL!!!' Kirsty's voice bellowed from across the room, but it was to late, she was at the mirror, looking into it and what she saw was freakier than anything she had seen or herd before. nothing. Absolulty nothing.
Then she ran. She ran so fast everything was a blur around her but she could still see what was in front of her, her reactions were so fast she didn't even have to think about it.
She ran out of the house in a black blur.
Her speed was unbelievable but it seemed natural and ordinary to her even though in school she was the worse runner ever. She knew Kirsty was running after her, she heard her almost, non-existante beats on the floor
Then she halted to a stop, Kirsty skided behind her, she was in the forest about 100 miles from where she lived. she wondered in silence with Kirsty by her side through the forest, deeper and deeper, every glint of light, she saw every branch twig and leaf she felt under her bare feet as she thought how her own family and friends could keep a secret about HER from her. she felt like she should just curl up and die again because her existence was a secret to almost the whole world and a fact was it disgusted some of her class mates (thats what she learnt from doing mythical beasts in class) miles into the dark forest of thick trees, she stopped, dirty and alone. One big tear slithered down her frozen cheeks. Kirsty wiped it away from her eyes and looked into her eyes. 'You mother didn't tell you for a good reason know, never think differently- Let me speak' she said as Crystal opened her mouth then she closed it and sat on a fallen tree. 'People have been told months, years before they turn, but gone mad, commit suicide because there whole existence is disgusting to them.. thats how you feel now? You were the one that said, I am who I am and shouldn't care what others think'. They were sitting face to face.
'We are not meant to exist.. even in a world full of mythical creatures, because Abigayle is our relative and she is a shape-shifter, she can be any animal she wants. But she has to have a reason to change into that animal. Her favorite the wolf thats why we said she was a were-wolf.'
'Me and you are one of a kind, never have existed and never should.. but we do. We can't die, we can control the elements like shape-shifters, run fast.. like you've found out.'
'Amazing eye site and extremely cold..' Crystal added, Kirsty smiled nodded.
'ARRRGGGHHH' a big black panther with gleaming red eyes leaped off a tree. She thought she even saw it smile...
'Abi?' Crystal's voice croaked, she knew that smile anywhere, obviously so did Kirsty as she stood up smiling widely, even on the panther Crystal walked slowly over to the panther they meet in the middle. Abi's head rose up but before Crystal could stroke her something else crept from the shadow of the trees. It was tall, womanly yet not, it had red scaly skin with pure black eyes, jet black hair and long pointed fingers. In the posture of a human but defiantly not.
'Crystal we've been waiting for you..' Her voice slithered out of her moth so annoying and bitter. Abigayle flicked around and hissed at it.
'A- Stop...'
'What do you want?' Crystal hissed. Abi's head bowed down and she sneaked behind Crystal. Kirsty slowly walked next to Crystal and stood in front of her side. 'Answer her.' She shouted sharply.
'I wanted to meet you, of course.' it hissed back, looking right at Crystal walking sheepishly towards her.
'Why me?' Crystal asked shocked.
'You, my dear child are very important.'
'Stop there and answer me properly.' Crystal said more confident.
then with a step it had flashed to Crystal's side.
It pushed up Crystal's head and stared into her eyes.
All of a sudden all the images from her dreams popped into her head simultaneously.
She gasped, flashes of the dark forest, the sun burning into her skin, along with the dream images popped up her memories of her human life, it made her head hurt and she felt weak and dizzy.
She herd the muffled protests of Kirsty but couldn't quiet make out what she was saying.
Thats when everything went black.

*

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 03.02.2011

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