I told Isabella everything. I started with when I was so sure I saw something watching me, two years ago, when my window opened mysteriously. Then I continued to the weird feeling I go on the rope swing at the lake, then finding Shawn shapeshifting the forest, telling Sakura, then three days later, shifting myself.
And throughout the entire confession, Isabella remained silent, only subtly nodding or shaking her head at some of my words. When I finished, I asked her if she was okay, and she only silently nodded.
Then, she finally said one word. "Wow."
"I know it's crazy, but can you please try to understand why I hid this from you?"
Isabella nodded. "I understand. I mean, it's crazy. Insane. Impossible. I get that you didn't want to scare me. But I think you could've tried harder to make me understand sooner."
"I'm sorry. I really tried. I just… really didn't want you to look at me differently, like you're doing right now.���
Isabella ducked her head. "I'm sorry. It's just a lot to take in."
"I understand." I got up and stepped out of the gazebo. "I'll give you some space. But I would really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone."
Isabella nodded mutely, then I turned on my heel and walked back down the street, towards my house just in time for dinner.
I pushed the grilled meat around my plate with my fork, my appetite lost. Finally, I skewered one with my fork and then popped it into my mouth.
The only noises heard in my house were the scraping of forks against plates, both my father and I eating in silence. Then, I saw my father from across the table, set his fork down with a metallic clatter.
"Look, if you feel that we need to talk, we should. I don't like secrets between us."
I paused, my fork hovering over my mouth. I swallowed my next bite and then set my fork down as well. "You can't deny that you still treat me like a little girl. You're always worrying about whether I'm home or not, or who I hang out with."
"I'm your father."
"Yes, but I'm seventeen. Can't you trust that I'm not a complete moron? Even without all your worrying, I still have enough common sense to be home before eleven, and wake up by myself. I don't need to be micromanaged every second of every day."
"I'm your father," my father repeated, louder. "I do not need to be lectured by my own daughter." His voice kept rising and rising until it was at shouting level. He stood up out of his chair, its' legs scraping against the wood floor. "This is my house. And in my house, you obey my rules. You have to treat me with respect and do as I say." He voice remained steady, looming over me.
I looked away and returned to my meal.
My father sat down as well, taking my silence as acquiescence. He cleared his throat and returned to his food.
I swallowed the meat on my fork and brought my plate up to the sink. I rinsed it off and placed my plate, fork, and glass in the dishwasher. I shut it with a hip-bump and walked off down the hall and up the stairs. I felt the carpet under my bare feet as I walked down the narrow upstairs hallway and into my room.
Then I decided to get ready for bed. I turned right and on the same wall was my walk-in closet. I opened and closed the door behind myself and stipped off my clothes, hung my jacket up, put my boots away, and threw the rest of it in my dirty laundry hamper. Then I put on a pale green shirt and cotton shorts.
I exited my closet and sat on my bed, pulling out my phone. I had a text from Sakura. How did your talks with Shawn and Isabella go???
Making a decision, I decided to call her. I tapped on the phone icon next to Sakura's name in my phone, and it started to ring. I held it up to my ear and waited for her to answer. She did around the fourth ring.
"Vera?" Sakura asked me through the phone.
"Yeah, it's me."
"So how did it go?"
"Well, Shawn said I could tell her, then he told me he had another shift last night, finally completing it. We talked for a bit, and I also told him about the rumors about us going around school."
"He was really cool with you telling another person?"
"Yeah, he was."
"Huh."
I laughed. "I can totally imagine your face right now."
She laughed too. "I bet you're right."
"And then," I sighed. "I spoke to Isabella after school."
"How'd that go?"
"Well, I laid it all out, and she was very silent. Then she asked if I could give her some space."
"What did you say to that?"
"In told her I understood, and I guess I do, but I really wanted us to talk about it more, but she didn't feel like it."
"I mean, you did pile it all on her, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did and I know it's not fair of me to keep a lot of things from her and expect her to be totally okay with it."
"Good."
I sighed. "Why did I do this to myself in the first place? I told myself that I hated the secrecy, and yet, I did it anyway." I groaned and flopped onto my bed on my back. I covered my face with my other hand. "It's like I set a trap and then stepped in it myself."
"Nice comparison."
I smiled. "Alright," I said, heaving myself up. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Okay. Hey, want to have a sleepover tomorrow?"
"Sure, but can I question why?"
"To talk. And to relax. You've been tense all week. We'll talk."
"Alright. Sure."
"Awesome."
"I'll see you tomorrow then?" I asked.
Sure. Around six?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah, sounds good."
"Alright, bye."
"Bye." I signed off, pressing an icon on my phone. I set it on my bedside table, next to my reading lamp, which was the only source of light in my room at this point. Pushing my covers back, I clicked off my reading lamp and slipped my feet under my smooth sheets. I rested back on my pillow and my eyes slowly drifted closed. I felt the tug of sleep and I obeyed.
I was in so much pain I couldn't keep the screams quiet. They ripped out of my throat, harsh, guttural, and unbearable to listen to, even to my ears. Writhing and shaking on the forest floor, I had tears staining my face, biting my lip, still trying to stop the screaming. To stop the shift. But it wasn't working, and it was much more painful than it ever had before. Then I realized I couldn't stop it.
I passed out cold. I felt the crunch of vegetation under my body as I crashed to the ground. My eyes fluttered shut. The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was the dark tree branches pressing in on all sides, the dark night sky above them shimmering with stars.
I woke up with my room filled with sunlight. I blinked, sitting up in my bed. My thoughts wandered back to my dream from the previous night. It had felt so real, I could've felt the forest ground under me, felt the excruciating pain of the transformation. I flipped my wavy hair out of my face, sighing out a huge breath.
I clumsily reached for my phone on my bedside table, checking the time. It was nearly nine o'clock. And since it was Saturday, I didn't need to be awake until ten, so I took my time getting ready that morning.
I dressed in a pair of dark gray leggings and a long, baby blue shirt, with a golden symbol on the front. Then I paired my outfit with my brown hiking boots. I slipped my denim jacket on over my shirt as I left my room.
I walked down the hall and down the stairs. Turning and walking down the main hallway, I came into the kitchen, and I saw my father sitting at the table, eating breakfast and reading the newspaper.
"Hey." I greeted as I walked past him and into the kitchen, getting my breakfast ready.
He greeted me back, taking a drink from his coffee cup.
I pulled out two pieces of bread out of the bread basket and popped them in the toaster. As I waited for them to toast, I got a plate, jelly and a knife out. I set my plate by the toaster and opened the jelly canister.
My father and I waited in silence. Then, the toaster popped. I gratefully diverted my attention and put my toast on my plate. Then I smeared strawberry jelly on both pieces and cautiously sat at the table to eat my breakfast.
The toast crunched under my teeth as I took a bite, the sweet jelly balancing out the crispy toast. I had finished off one piece and started in on my second when my father asked me, "Are you going somewhere today?"
I looked up, meeting my father's eyes. "To Sakura's for a sleepover around six. Why?"
My father shook his head. "No reason. Just--" he cut himself off, but I knew what he was about to say. Just make sure you're home at a reasonable time tomorrow. Yeah, because you're so concerned. Just like you ignore me half the time.
"Just," My father continued, "have fun, and I'll miss you."
Yeah, sure. But I just nodded. "Okay." I dove back to my toast and finished in a hurry. Once I was done, wiped my hands off on my napkin, took a long drink of water from my glass, and brought my plate up to the sink. Washing it and my cup off, I opened the dish washer and set them inside, closing it up again.
Then, before I went upstairs, I told my father, "I'll be upstairs until heading over to Sakura's. See you tomorrow."
My father nodded as I turned around, walked down the hall and up the stairs. I entered my room and shut the door behind me. I flopped down onto my desk chair and flipped open my laptop, my screen filling with light.
I surfed the internet, talked to online friends, and researched up more stuff about Lechuzas and owls. I even watched a little T.V. after I ate lunch before I headed out to Sakura's house.
I had packed a bag with a change of clothes a blanket, and then I set out of my house, the harsh and cold wind whipping past me. As I continued down the sidewalk I buttoned my jacket up all the way.
I knocked on Sakura's front door, the sky nearly dark. Sakura answered, pulling her heavy wooden door open. Smiling, I greeted her, "Hey."
She nodded. "Come on in."
I did, stepping through the threshold. Slipping my boots off, I left them by the door and followed Sakura to her family room, where she had a stack of blankets, a fresh bowl of popcorn, and a pile of movie options waiting for us.
I set my bag down and unbuttoned my jacket, setting it on top of my bag. "So what do you wanna do?"
"My mom and stepdad are out, but both my step brother and sister are home, so if we want to talk supernatural, we need to do that quietly."
I nodded. "Maybe we should just pick a movie. I"m just glad to be out of my house, to be honest."
"How is that?��
"Well, in one word, awkward."
Sakura laughed.
I pressed on. "I don't think my dad really wanted a kid."
"Don't say that!" Sakura exclaimed.
"What? I'm pretty sure it's true. But, he does try, which I guess is the important thing." I sighed.
"Yeah, I guess."
"And then when I do something wrong or come home late, he gets all 'over-protective'. Which I would let him do if he didn't act like I didn't exist half the time and forgets to make dinner for us sometimes."
"Sorry. That must suck."
"Yeah, it kinda does. And then I finally told him that he still treats me like a little girl, and he didn't say anything except yell at me about obeying his rules, so I stayed up in my room for the rest of the day, then I came to talk to you that night, and… you know the rest."
Sakura nodded.
"Anyway," I continued, trying to move past my father. "What about you? Your family?"
She laughed. "Good. Mostly. My biological dad keeps leaving voice messages for my mom, threatening to sue the court for not being able to see his daughter anymore."
"Really?"
She nodded. "He's lying. The children's court already ruled his living style and situation not safe for children, and even if it was, I wouldn't want to go visit him anyway."
"It's that bad?"
Sakura nodded. "He cheated on my mom, and he acts like it's my mom fault for ruining their marriage."
"No offense, but what a hypocrite."
She laughed. "Yeah, pretty much."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay, really. My stepdad's great, and my step brother and sister have been really trying to get to know me, which I think is really nice of them."
"What are they like?"
"Well, they're both seniors, twins, and my brother, Jack, is really funny, like my stepdad, although they look nothing alike. My stepdad has short, military-cut hair, with piercing black eyes that can either make you laugh with one look, or make you want to flee the country."
I laughed.
"Then my step brother has light brown hair, which is long enough to put in a ponytail, and amber eyes like his sister. He looks a lot like my step sister, Kari, except she has much longer hair, and it's a bit darker."
"What's she like?"
"She's very sarcastic. But in a good way. We also both love music. I play the guitar, but she loves the keyboard, and likes to sing. She sounds really good too."
"They sound great."
"I'm luckier than most. I've got a great dad, and two siblings who don't suck. At least I'm not in a Cinderella situation."
I laughed again. "That would be horrible."
"So," Sakura started, changing the subject. "Do we wanna watch a movie now?"
"Sure. What are the options?"
After debating for a little while, we ended up watching one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I think we chose the second one. We watched that and ate popcorn and told jokes and were really only half paying attention.
Then, around eleven o'clock, towards the end of the movie and all the popcorn was gone, we heard a loud rapping noise from Sakura's back door. I grabbed the remote and paused the movie, looking over from the couch. We both tilted our heads searching for another sound. After another moment, the noise started again.
We stood up simultaneously and walked over to her double back doors wrapped up in our individual blankets, paned with clouded glass. I reached out to the handle and twisted it, opening the door. Autumn stood there, her hands wrapped around her bare arms, shivering.
"Autumn?" I questioned, clutching my blanket around myself against the cold.
"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked.
"Can I come in?" she asked, in a soft, scared voice.
Nodding, we ushered her inside and sat her down on the couch.
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.
Autumn was silent.
"You can tell us," I urged, making eye contact with Sakura. "We can keep a secret."
Sakura nodded, first at me, then at Autumn.
Autumn sighed. "I think I'm being haunted."
Shock filled Sakura's face, as I'm sure my face did the same.
"Please don't laugh."
"We couldn't possibly," Sakura reassured.
"How do you think you're being haunted?" I asked.
"I was doing homework up in my room tonight when a couple of my books on my desk crashed down to the floor without cause. I thought maybe my cat did it, but she was sitting on my bed, far away from my books."
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
"I just assumed I'd done it by accident," Autumn continued. "So I started working again, but then, my desk lamp clicked off. I reached up and turned it back on, but it was turned off again. Then when I reached up to turn it on, it turned on by itself." She paused, letting her words sink in.
"Then what happened?" Sakura asked her.
"I finally got fed up and went to go to bed, but then…"
My pulse quickened. Then what?"
"Some…thing was lifting stands of my hair, and when I swatted it away, I swore I felt something in the air. Then my blanket was yanked off, and…" She looked down at her shirt and saw pieces of fabric pinched between invisible hands and plucking it away from her body.
Sakura and I backed away, our eyes locked on whatever was happening to Autumn. Then it started happening to her hair again, curly tendrils lifted by what appeared to be air.
Sakura shot me a sidelong glance.
I met her gaze. "It isn't me." Then I raised my eyebrows at Sakura.
"It isn't me either."
"We don't know that, remember? We don't know if you're supernatural or not."
Sakura rolled her eyes.
���Can you guys just help me please and stop talking nonsense?" Autumn's voice was full of distress as she spoke.
We both turned back to her and apologized, leading her over to the couch, sitting her in between us.
Then I asked, "Have you tried physically moving whatever is touching you?"
Autumn shook her head. "I'll try it."
The next time a strand of her hair was lifted on it's own, Autumn thrust her hand out and grabbed onto what appeared to be air. But she gasped and jerked her hand away. Her curly hair strand fell back down.
"What happened?" I asked her.
"I… felt something."
"Like what?" Sakura asked.
She shook her head. "Like a presence. It was solid, but cold, and really creepy."
"It's okay." I assured her, But I wasn't sure it was. What was this?
Then Sakura spoke out, interrupting my thoughts. "Have you thought of mentally rejecting this… presence or whatever?"
"What?" Autumn asked as her face fought over puzzlement and terror.
"We tried physically stopping it, so now give this, thing, a mental shove. Think about tossing it out the window, or locking it outside."
Autumn nodded, and took a deep breath, as if to calm herself down. I gave myself a mental calm down, trying not freak Autumn out more, but my head wouldn't stop spinning out theories. Was she supernatural too? Was I right? Maybe our entire class was. Maybe the entire town, and you just came into your powers around this time in your life.
Autumn closed her eyes, but her hair was still lifting and swinging, her shirt plucked by invisible fingers, a cold chill running through her, goose bumps visible on her arms. Her eyes flickered and moved under her eyelids, but her face was relatively calm, under the circumstances.
Then, her hair was no longer moving, the invisible fingers gone, and all was silent. Then the back doors banged open, letting in the cold air, and then were forcefully shut by an unknown force. I blinked a couple times, but I couldn't seem to wrap my head around everything.
And after the shock wore off, Autumn fainted. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed onto Sakura's lap.
I looked over from the doors and saw Autumn unconscious. "What happened?"
"I don't know. She just, fell."
I put two of my fingers to her neck. Her pulse was steady and strong. "She'll be fine. We should let her rest."
Sakura sat up and shifted Autumn's head to a pillow. Then she pulled a blanket up over her and let her sleep. We both got up and walked into the kitchen, bringing the popcorn bowl up and setting it in the dishwasher.
"Now we can talk." I spoke quietly, resting my arms on the island counter.
Sakura mimicked my position on the other side of the counter. "What was that? Was it supernatural?"
I shrugged. "Maybe."
"I thought you knew about this stuff?" Sakura questioned, her voice a mock-whisper.
"For like a week," I mock-whispered back. "I only know what I figured out on my own and what Shawn told me."
Sakura gave me a look, one that said, "Aaaaaaand?"
I sighed, looking down at the counter. "I'll look up what I can and ask Shawn if he has any ideas." I looked back up and met her gaze. "Satisfied?"
She nodded, half-smiling.
I gave a soft laugh.
Then, Autumn sat up from the couch, gasping,her blanket slipping off her shoulder. We ran back to the family room and sat down next to her.
"Are you okay?" Sakura asked, a hand on her shoulder, her voice soothing.
Autumn nodded. "I think so."
"Why did you faint?" I asked from her other side.
Autumn shook her head, her eyes vacant. "I felt so tired after I sent that… thing away, and I just collapsed."
"What about the doors?" Sakura asked.
Autumn nodded. "I think that was me."
I nodded. "I think so, too."
Autumn turned to me. "Doesn't that sound at all crazy to you?"
I shook my head. If she only knew.
Autumn turned back to Sakura. "And what were you guys talking about when I first got here?" She looked back at me. "You said something about supernaturals?"
I looked past her and at Sakura, asking a simple question, without any words. "Should we tell her?"
Sakura nodded, and I started my explanation for the third time. Hopefully, as the old saying goes, third time's a charm.
Autumn shook her head once I'd finished talking. "This is crazy. Absolutely, one hundred percent untrue."
"I know." Sakura responded. "But when you think about it, it's pretty cool."
I smiled. "Thanks."
"But, what does that make me?"
I shook my head. "As I told Sakura, I only know the basics- witch, vampire, werewolf, sorcerer, and about me and Shawn. But I can look into it."
Autumn nodded, her eyes wide and nervous. Then she sighed and leaned back onto the couch.
I looked at my wrist and checked my watch. It was almost twelve. I cleared my throat. "Maybe we get some sleep. It's nearly midnight."
Sakura nodded. "You can crash here, Autumn."
Her mouth formed a relieved smile. "Thanks."
So after that whole phyasco, we let Autumn have the couch, and Sakura and I rolled out our sleeping bags and stretched out on the floor at the base of the couch, on separate sides of the coffee table. Sakura and I took turns changing in the bathroom, and then we switched off the lights, settling into our sleeping bags.
As I tried to fall into the realm of sleep, my mind wouldn't let me. I had to tell Shawn about this. One, just to let him know I told someone else, and to prove I was right about my theory.
I smiled, and I finally relaxed enough to fall into a shallow sleep.