That night I had the same dream I'd been having for the past four months, ever since my eighteenth birthday. I ran through grass that was twice as tall as me on a hot summer day. The shade of the soft grass caressed me as I passed and gifted me with droplets of dew. I followed the scent of sandalwood and vanilla, it called to me like nothing had before. I needed to find the source of that scent.

"REEEEAAAKKK!"

I looked over and there was a strange crow with half its feathers missing, sitting high up on a dead tree branch. It turned its head to stare at me with one eye and let out the most shrill screech I'd ever heard. The noise became louder and louder. Its long nails repeatedly scraped against the dead wood it stood on. 

"REEEAAAK!" Its mouth became wider as the sound became louder until its jaw unhinged to the point that it wrapped around itself and swallowed itself whole. 

I opened my eyes while gasping as my heart felt like it was trying to gallop out of my chest. 

"REEEAAAK!" I quickly looked out my bedroom window to see that it was just a stupid tree branch scraping across the glass. The wind howled and large raindrops poured down. I felt thirsty, too hot, and irritable. I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to search for something and I couldn't stop thinking of that disturbing bird. 

"Stupid tree branch," I said while flinging my light green comforter back. I slipped on my fluffy white kitty slippers, and my fluffy white robe, over my soft light green pajama shorts and matching tank top. 

"Can't believe I dreamed about a nutbar bird with a freaky butterfly knife beak. What kind of beak does that? I must be losing my mind...and I'm talking to myself. Can't put the cray in crazy without talking to yourself."

I grabbed my phone and walked downstairs, making sure that I avoided the extra squeaky spot. I didn't need Mom coming out and giving me a two-hour lecture on the importance of a full eight hours of sleep, like that'd help me get enough sleep. I swear, she must have come out of the womb with a disapproving expression on her face and her nose stuck up. 

I quietly snuck into the kitchen, put some hot water in my favorite kitty mug, added a bag of chamomile tea, and put two slices of bread in the toaster. While I waited, I sent a text to my bestie.

Me: I had the dream again.

Carla: That's just weird.

Me: Except this time there was a bird and it ate itself.

Carla: …

Me: Seriously

Carla: You're gonna have to be more specific 'cause I'm picturing a bird pulling out feathers with its beak and eating them.

Me: Nope! Way worse, its jaw unhinged and spun around until it ate itself.

Carla: …I have no words.

Me: Right!

Carla: So on a less freaky deaky note, Bret asked me to prom.

Me: No way, are you kidding me? So you're going to get to come to my prom? I was almost tempted to ask you out myself.

Carla: You'd be so lucky and I am not kidding. I'm too awesome, he couldn't resist my charm. This is gonna be the best night evah! We're gonna be two serious hotties on a double date with our dream guys! Pamela is gonna be so jealous. I can't wait to rub my new hot date in her stupid boyfriend-stealing face!

Me: I don't blame you, she's trash and she picked up your trash. Plus Bret is a major hottie, he's a million times hotter than your ex. I'm going to take pictures when you show her who your new date is.

Carla: Really? Air kisses! You're the best!

Me: Air kisses

Carla: I'm starting to feel tired now, so I'll chat tomorrow. We should set a date to pick out our dresses soon. Before we're stuck ordering them online and end up with weirdly shaped monstrosities that make us look like we're misshapen, feel like a potato sack, and are roughly the shade of baby poo.

Me: That's disturbingly specific.

Carla: Don't laugh. Well, you can laugh, that's what happened to my cousin Rachel. She invited me over to see her try on her prom dress.

Me: She already got her dress?

Carla: Her school already had their prom. But listen to this, on the box, there was a picture of what the dress was supposed to look like. It looked like a monstrosity, had the texture of a potato sack, was baby poo green, and had strange stitches. She looked like she was stashing some different-sized melons under her dress 'cause she wanted extra curves or perhaps a snack for later. It was supposed to be this long elegant, emerald green, silky dress. When she tried to return the dress, they said that it was outside the return date and refused to send her the return box. She ended up doing that trash bag challenge instead. She preferred to wear a trash bag instead of the prom dress she ordered.

Me: OMG! Stop making me laugh, I'm downstairs.

Carla: I know! I tried to be sympathetic 'cause you know Rachel, but I ended up having to leave the room 'cause I started choking from holding back my laughter. Then I got violent hiccups and had a weird hiccup burp when I choked on my drink. Then some of it shot out my nose and landed on Rachel's new dress. It was kind of an improvement.

Me: Why did I miss this? It's a crime that I wasn't there.

Carla: It was, but I have pictures and I'm willing to share them with you. Just you though or Rachel will kill me.

Me: Yes! You have no idea how excited I am right now.

Carla: I bet. Alright, so I'm going to go to bed now. I'll show you the pictures on Monday afternoon when you come to tour my college. Rachel already told me that I could show you, but I can't send them over the phone.

Me: Sad face. You're killing me.

Carla: You'll live. Besides, you need to be somewhere where it's fine if you fall over laughing, so like not in a movie theater or the library.] 

Me: Or late at night in the kitchen while everyone else is sleeping.

Carla: Exactly. Night!

Me: Night!

I finished eating my toast and drinking my tea before taking care of my dishes. I was just sneaking past my parent's room when I saw a faint light leaking out from under their bedroom door and heard their muffled voices.

"Are you sure?" Said Mom.

"I wouldn't even mention this if I wasn't. I know how upsetting this must be for you," said Dad.

"But the time has long passed, hasn't it? You know that I'll accept her if it's true, but I won't be accepted by them. You know I'm right."

"It's too late to make other plans, they know about her," said Dad.

"How did they find out?"

"She connected to the clan, I was summoned earlier today," said Dad.

"How did she connect to the clan?"

"I was instinctual, she doesn't even know she did it. It's too late anyway. Even if she hadn't contacted them, she would still need to be around our kind; the transition is too dangerous otherwise," said Dad.

"I had hoped that she would be like me," said Mom.

"I know. You've been through a lot."

"What will you do if you meet your other fated?"

"You have absolutely nothing to worry about. I made my choice when I marked you and I haven't regretted my decision once."

"But won't you feel a pull? What should I do if you can't control yourself and decide to leave me? I know I'm expected to be tough, but I'm genuinely scared. You know it wasn't easy for me to give my heart away. I couldn't bear it."

"Any pull they had on me disappeared as soon as I marked you. I won't even be able to tell that they're one of my three fated mate choices and the pull can only come back if your mark is gone. The only way I might assume that someone was one is if they approached me and said that I was one of their three fated mate choices. Even if that were the case, there are some rare incidences when a fated mate choice isn't mutual."

"If anything like that does happen, do you promise that you'll ignore them? I know that that's not entirely fair for me to request and I do feel guilty, but I can't help myself,"

"You don't need to feel guilty, you have every right. We've already built a life together and you should feel secure in it. I promise that I will not get snagged by any other woman no matter what they say or how they act towards me. My mark on you hasn't faded in the least and it never will."

"No, you're right, it never has. If anything, it might be darker than it was when you first put it there. What will we do if her fate shows up? What if it's an Autumn or worse, a Winter?"

"It'll be a Summer, there's no way it would be anything else. She's such a warm and sweet girl, it doesn't make sense for it to be anything else."

"I hope you're right."

"I am surprised that you care about this though."

"It would be easier for her, given the rough family history. I honestly hope they don't show up though. She's so young and doesn't know anything about the culture."

"It's very unlikely given that the Tetran is quickly approaching."

"But why is the transition so late?"

"I don't know for sure, but I think it's because her blood isn't entirely compatible. There was a war going on and my side finally won. The smell is everywhere."

"Don't feel too proud of yourself," Mom said.

Dad chuckled and then there was a silent pause. "So it's that time already...goodnight my love," Dad said quietly.

I quietly backed away from my parent's door and went back to my room.

Questions swirled around in my head, but my exhaustion had finally caught up with me. Right after I closed my eyes, bright blue eyes flickered through my mind, blue like the sky, cold like ice, and infinitely mesmerizing.