Janus' Record: 5

(Kept by Phonograph)

“I know this will be the hardest thing I will ever have to speak in my life. When I think about it I cry. At my age, crying doesn’t shame me, I don’t care who sees, even my enemies the countless that I have.

“On the second occasion I met my wife, I did something very, very wrong. Using the rash judgment and frustration I held towards her. She wanted to kill her twin sister, and would have gone to any lengths to do this. This included killing innocents, and betraying everyone; Except Aurora.

“Aurora was Jesse’s conscience. Ever present and ever wise, when Aurora was there, Jesse calmed down, thought things out. However without Aurora in her life, she fell prey to her grandfather’s views of the world.

“Her grandfather is an old friend of mine, His name is Beast O’Ciardha. Jesse took his name like my daughter took her mother’s name. Considering that both Moonlit Sun (the title I have been given) and Delia are outdated.

-Laughter-

“Not that O’Ciardha is any better, much harder to pronounce. Forgive me whoever winds up chronicling these journals, I am just trying to prepare myself, and stall as long as I can. But her grandfather, views the world to be a place of constant warfare and no peace, that there is no greater virtue then your own survival even at the cost of everything around you.

“For Jesse, she translated that to mean, since she fell over a boat when she was younger, and thought her sister had pushed her, that her life’s goal was to destroy the person who she assumed tried to kill her when she younger.

“By the time she arrived in America and began to search for her sister, I had found her sister. She had met up with a Dhampir of my bloodline named Rapier d’Epee. Rapier’s goal in life, much like Jesse, was to kill one person, and that person was the one who trained Jesse, The Beast.

“However, Rapier found Page, granddaughter of the Beast, and he would have killed her. They fell in love, it was very beautiful, and that’s a long story, and I would love to recite it some other time. But when it comes down to it, I had much too much riding on Rapier and Page surviving as a couple, and I assisted them.

“This leads to where Jesse found my mansion, hidden away in the mountains. She hadn’t been eating well, he road to revenge left her very little time to eat, and when she did, she insisted that Aurora eat in her stead. I had to force feed her.

“I remember watching her sleep, clearly. She was so peaceful and serene when she slept. Her face mimicked that of an ivory statue of Glorious Rome, or an angel at rest. She fell asleep on the couch, and I moved her next to the woman whose name is known simply as The Dreamer.

“She stirred slightly. I don’t know if she remembers, she rolled in my arms, and she draped her arm over my shoulder, and she pulled herself up, and laid her head on my shoulder.

-Sniffle-

“I’m sorry…Give me a second.

-Pause-

“Okay, she whispered to me. ‘Janus, please don’t leave me alone.’ I didn’t know what it meant back then. I had my heart broken countless times. I had shut my heart off to the emotion she was trying to convey without knowing. I laid her down, and she tossed in her sleep, very uncomfortable.

“I tucked her in, pulling the blanket around her shoulders. At this very time, as soon as I tucked her in, Rapier and Page were in Greece, in Hades, on the other side of the River Styx. Rapier had just been decimated in combat by my sole living family member, Eglantine.

“She was the one who created Rapier, and she ripped him apart before Page’s very eyes. Page was broken, Rapier was as good as dead. I rushed to him, and let him drink of my wrist… And I’m getting sidetracked, regardless, I saved Rapier and Page from what would be their death.

“This leads me back to Jesse, in the day or two I was gone, she one night found herself in my garden. It was nighttime. I was watching her and Aurora from my wall. Aurora knew I was there. I don’t know how she knew, but she knew.

“Jesse had received an emotional letter from her grandfather, and she was crying, she hid her tears from me. I had plans to tell her where her sister was. I also told her that I helped her. Jesse went ballistic. To her, me helping her sister was a betrayal of her trust in me, and she leapt and knocked me to the ground.

“Needless to say, I laughed. It was the first time I was caught off guard for a very long time, and she got angry, and she growled. She was getting ready to change, and rip into me. Now, the conversation, which I cannot recall clearly, was around me saving Page. It ended with me letting it slip that I was told by a ‘being’ to save her, and me covering her in blood.

“My vampiric abilities, like those who share my bloodline, focus on the sacrifice of our own blood for a result, and I made the blood go into her throat I cut off her air. She challenged me. She didn’t react to the loss of her air, she shook her head. In response to something I had said.

“I released her. I took a fighting stance I used to put down young creatures, one who thought it would be easy to defeat me. One arm behind my back. Jesse knew something I didn’t, and she side stepped. Behind her, Aurora threw three bolts of lightning at me. I froze time.

“I had five seconds, and I used them to draw swords, and catch the bolts of lightning and use my body as a conductor to strike Aurora. Jesse and I spoke again. This time she was sure Page wouldn’t have killed her. I was sure Page would have, and I… I used my swords, and my wings, I struck her face with my wings, and I cut into her legs.

“She looked towards Aurora. She was so concerned for Aurora. It was a weakness I was going to exploit, and I grabbed her by her neck and I tossed her across my Garden.

-Pause-

“Sorry… I then sepearated into a thousand bats, and I screeched and I bit and I clawed at her. She screamed in pain… I reformed, and I stood in front of her. ‘Are you ready to submit?’ I asked. ‘Never.’

“I never saw it coming. Aurora embedded her tomahawks into me. Right into my heart. Jesse and Aurora fought while I was a pile of ash. They were fighting. Jesse screamed at Aurora, and that was enough to break Aurora. She cried. Jesse broke down too. I reformed.

“I remember Jesse’s look on her face, when she saw me sitting there. I remember saying, ‘Remember me telling you I can’t die? It’s true.’ I fought her with blood clones next. The fight was over in nearly two moves. The blood clones were a quarter as powerful as me, and they stomped her.

-Sobs-

“I was prepared to kill her. She looked up at me, total fear in her eyes. She had given up. But… I wasn’t done yet… I had a clone grab Aurora, and I was going to kill Aurora. ‘Don’t kill her!’ She cried, I heard it all in her voice, and she began to cry, ‘I’ll do anything, I submit, just, please, don’t kill her.’

“I still wasn’t done, I had the clone cut into Aurora’s throat, ‘Take me!’ she screamed, ‘Torture me, kill me, whatever you feel the best, just don’t hurt her…’ She was broken, her tears fell freely, and she laid there the moonlight reflecting off of her blood.

“Aurora tried to heal her, and I kicked her in her face, sending her to the ground. She leapt towards Jesse and healed her. She would have died for Jesse, and she almost did. I freaked on Jesse, I yelled and I screamed, I called her names, I cursed her.

-Heavy sobs-

“I’m terrible. She looked at me. I could see her broken heart in her eyes. I remember trying to leave, trying to get away, and then she said something about my cold heart. I don’t remember what happened next. I don’t know what I did to her… I don’t know what I said, I don’t know how I hurt her.

-Heavier sobs-

“I remember her telling me, she would die for me. I thought she was joking. I honestly did. I don’t.. I don’t remember anymore. I just remember finding a dried and pressed black rose, one I had given her so long ago, in my hotel, and I remember holding it in my hand, crying. I guess we both didn’t know we were in love.

“I had forgotten the pain of a broken heart, and when I held that rose in my hand, that’s what I was feeling.”

“Janus… Oh Janus, you’re crying.”

-Soft hushing sounds and soft kiss sounds-

“Please don’t cry, Janus… Calm down, talk to me.”

“I’m so sorry Jesse…”

“Janus please calm down.”

-Two sets of sobs.-

“Just come, Please don’t leave me alone, Janus. Come to bed… I can hold you there…”

-Click-

Summer's Journal: Thirty-First Entry

Every Christmas Eve my dad disappears. Christmas Eve is a time where I cuddle up next to my mother, we share a hot tea, and enjoy a warm fire. We don’t say anything. My mom puts her arm around me, and holds me close to her, and she strokes my hair until I fall asleep.

Before one can understand anything else that goes on, one must first know how my parents grew up as far as Christmas is concerned. For the first seven years of her life, my mother grew up with Christmas being something special, a time when Santa Claus left a bunch of Presents for her. For the next fourteen she lived with my Great-Grandfather.

She had, by the time she was eleven had forgotten about Christmas. All she knew was that on December 25, she received a luxury item. One year, she received a makeup kit, the next she got a new eyebrow ring (yes my mother loves to wear eyebrow rings.)

She often wears that ring still. I find the need to mention it within my journal because my mother is a werewolf, and it was a silver eyebrow ring. To her, the pain it caused her was a form of numbing her to pain, and at the same times giving a message to other werewolves.

My father’s Christmas tradition consists of this absence on Christmas Eve. He never says where he is going and even when my mother and he were a young couple, who given the severe difference in their ages, many people didn’t think they would work out, he left her Christmas Eve for whatever he had to do.

She told me one Christmas Eve that when he left her those first few Christmas’ she felt abandoned, and she began to shut herself off, thinking he was keeping secrets from her. When she woke Christmas morning, she found him laying next to her, with his arm around her as if he wasn’t even there.

My dad was raised over fifteen-hundred-years before presents were customary. He was modern enough to understand the value of a present. So my mother received, like she did from her Grandfather something special. Not a luxery item, but something special.

I grew up knowing Santa Claus’ secret. I figured out how he accomplished his magic when I was five. Even before that time, I didn’t receive anything for Christmas. Now, that may seem cold, cruel, maybe even heartless. But in fact it wasn’t. I was raised to respect everything that had been given to me, and I didn’t get everything I wanted.

My father is a millionaire. My mother is a wealthy land-owner. Together their bank is somewhere near 96.3 Million. Their lands worth together equals double that total. If I wanted something he would give it to me.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve needed more things. One thing my parents do is buy all my clothes and my makeup. They buy my food, and they let me live in their house. My only luxury items I require are books, and my father enjoys those as much as I do. I have an internet connection only because we need one sometimes.

I don’t often ask for things. It’s not my nature, there is nothing I really ever need. But when I ask for something it is music. My father gets it for me. I never abuse that. At Christmas time, we don’t have a Christmas tree, we don’t have presents. We have three plainly wrapped gifts; one from my mother to my father, one from my father to my mother, and one from my father and mother to me.

We wake in the morning, we drink tea and we open our gifts. This year my father received a rare book, an Original Print of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. My mother received new lingerie sent. I think my dad thought he was being cute. My mother looked deeper in the box and it revealed a single earring. It was Egyptian in make, and very, very old.

I turned for a moment while my parents frenched over their presents. I then slowly opened mine. The paper revealed a MP3 player. It was a compact little thing, and I was very happy. It had a Two Gigabyte hard drive and I have enough music to fill it.

I thanked them both with a kiss. I rushed upstairs and got on the computer, and uploaded all my songs onto it. By the time I was done it was around seven o’clock in the morning. We were due at my Aunt Page’s.

Aunt Page goes crazy over Christmas. She has a Christmas tree in every room, and she decorates her house, and she buys five presents for everyone. My father gets each person of their family a present. Brendan and I have made a habit of exchanging a gag gift every year.

He gets me some form of lingerie. Usually it is very revealing, and I blush and hide it, then he makes me show everyone. I however, am more cunning, I get him a necklace. Not a normal necklace an incrediably girly one, usually costume jewelry.

Lara my Aunt Page’s adopted daughter, is very old. But she is trapped in a young body, she says she was eight, but I think she was seven. She used to be called, ‘The Dagger’ she was an amazing vampiric assassin, she gets daggers. She also doesn’t understand Santa’s Magic, even after all these years. My Uncle Rapier gets swords. Aunt Page and Brendan both get a cornucopia of gifts from clothes to cds to movies to books.

Anything to help them blend better with modern day society that they so love.

By the end of present openings there is paper everywhere and Lara dives into it and throws it around. My aunt, mother, little Lara and myself all make a meal, while Brendan, Dad and Uncle Rapier all do clean up, and get to relax.

One year, I openly protested this sexist positioning. The next year, then men cooked and we got to relax. They tried, God bless them, but they failed and we all looked at each other and decided that never again would they be allowed in a kitchen. I think my father planned the ruined meal.

After Dinner we eat and we all sit around Aunt Page’s living room, and spend it together. That’s what Christmas is about to me.

But I will admit, I would miss the gag gift with Brendan if we every stopped doing Christmas like we do it.

It’s the Thursday After Christmas, and I am just now able t sit down and write, its been a nice week to sleep in. I haven’t heard from Chris.

Not even a Merry Christmas, which I think he would be into because of how much a sweet-heart he is. I wonder if he is okay.

-Dawn

Summer's Journal: Thirtieth Entry

Sometimes the answers we find are better left unfound.

I know what the girl is, I found out today. I was bored, and rather then thinking I caught up on my reading. I was two or three books behind because of the nights talking with Chris on the phone. I read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Then I read Ovid’s Metamorphosis.

It took me an hour or two, and I realized after reading both of them. What the girl was; at least where she came from. I took hold of the necklace that allowed me to appear at my Cousin’s house. I ran to the quad of the school. She wasn’t there. I had no idea where she could be.

I knew she would want to be somewhere where she could not be seen by a lot of people. I went to the woods nearby the Track Field and the Football Field. I walked slowly through them.

I heard her yelp and she tried to run away from me. I chased after her, my mind and body inflamed by the hatred and Jealousy I always felt around her. I leapt towards her and tripped her up, and she fell to the ground. I turned her over and brought my elbow towards her cheek.

She caught my elbow, and then I tried to strike her with the other, which she caught. She rolled me over and pinned me to the ground. I feel so ashamed of the things I called her when she had me pinned to the ground. I could see her wanting to cry.

I closed my eyes tightly, “You’re not human,” I said, “You’re not a vampire, a mage, or a werewolf. You’re no of the sylvan, angels or demons. Someone made you, out of stone or ivory.” She released my wrists.

“Ivory.” She responded, “I don’t know who made me, they brought me to life and left me to fend for myself.” I spoke softly, “Why do I hate you? Why do I want to be you?” She opened my eyes so I looked at her, there was a mask around her, when I looked past it I saw the ivory brought to life, she was beautiful, but not as pretty as whatever it was made her.

“You want to be me because of my beauty, I know I’m beautiful, but I would give up this unrealistic beauty if I could find someone to touch me, to hold me. To take me in their arms and tell me I’m their own.”

I spoke softly turning my head from her, “I don’t mean to be mean to you, I want to help you.” She responded, “I know you don’t, you’re the first person to be nice to me, ever. I don’t have a soul,” she said, “Even you vampires have a soul, I am lacking, and everyone hates me because I don’t have a soul. Maybe if I did, I could fall in love.”

“It’s Christmas tomorrow,” I said, “I can speak with spirits. Maybe?” She smiled I felt it, “I don’t understand.” I spoke softly, “If you are willing, I can talk to a spirit, one who is benign yet trapped on earth for some reason. It would give them a second chance and you some form of a soul in your body. It would almost be a possession, if you worked it out right, you both could be conscious and make decisions together.”

She hugged me tightly, I made sure not to look at her as I spoke, “I can also get you a kiss. Before I get you a soul. But you can’t be scared or upset by his reaction.” She hugged me even tighter and she squealed. I pulled away from her, knowing I couldn’t look at her without getting angry.

I picked up my cell phone and I called my cousin. I explained the situation to him. I explained everything and he ran over. Once he saw me and he saw her he immediately covered his eyes, and walked towards me, “You may not feel anything,” I said, “Do not look at her. She’s gorgeous Brendan, but you’ll get angry, okay?”

“Its cool,” he said smoothly, “I’d be more then happy to kiss anymore of your friends, even if they are made of Ivory.” I watched Brendan fumble towards her without looking. She caught him.

“Hi,” he said, “I’m Brendan.” She spoke gently shying away from him. I was making sure to look at them from behind Brendan’s head. “I-I don’t have a name,” she said, “But you can name me if you like.”

I could tell Brendan was thinking and then he spoke, “Contressa,” he said. “I like it, Brendan, I just want you to know,” she said, “This is my first kiss ever, and I know you won’t love me afterwards or anything like that, but I will always hold this special in my heart.”

Brendan spoke, “I will try and make it special then.” He met her lips. She was unsure of whether she should hug him. He wrapped his arms gently around her, and she responded in kind, and after many seconds they parted. Brendan got angry at her. I knew he would, and I rushed up and I grabbed him. I pulled him back and covered his eyes.

Contressa released a sigh of pure joy, “Please, can you give me a soul?” I nodded, and Brendan calmed down, “Summer,” he said, “What happened? I’m sorry,” he said to her. Brendan told me after it all had happened that she was cold to the touch, and that she was like a puppet, only bending to what he was doing. He said she felt like supple marble.

So I spoke into the wind, through a bloody mouth, seeking a lost soul. I waited for several moments and finally a spirit arrived. She was a young girl, probably anabaptized, who died a violent death, she was crying.

I knelt next to her, “Can you understand me?” I asked her. Brendan was trying to see the spirit but couldn’t and Contressa was on cloud nine and didn’t even notice. “Yes,” she spoke in spirit-tongue.

“What is your purpose?” Black tears streaked down her cheeks, “I want to go to heaven with mommy.” I reached out to touch her, “I know how that can happen if you are a good girl.” Her eyes brightened, she looked at me, “Do you see that pretty girl?” I asked.

The little girl nodded, “I know she is much older then you, but she needs you to be inside of her. See she doesn’t have a chance to go to heaven, but if you go into her, you have a chance to go to heaven and so does she, but you have to work together.”

“Like me and little brother did when I was still alive?” I nodded, “Sort of, sweet child, see she needs to you help her make the right decisions and help her live a good life.”

“Like Jiminy Cricket!” She exclaimed, “Yes. See if you go inside of her, you will start to grow up again. And then maybe you can have a husband and kids, with her as your partner. Then if you are good people together you can go to heaven together, you would look like her. But I’m sure your mommy would know who you are.”

The little girl smiled, “I like that idea. I will try.” I spoke, “I need to take your hand. It won’t hurt you until you get inside of her, okay?”

The little girl extended her hand to me, and I took it, and I walked over to Contressa. I grabbed one of her hands, and I pulled them together. I closed my eyes. Blood filled my mouth, and I bridged a connection, one between Contressa and the little girl. I ran my index finger over certain lines in Contressa’s body and bound the little girl’s spirit within Contressa.

I looked at Contressa, she was very beautiful still, but not as beautiful as before. She was very white, like soft ivory, I could swear I saw her blood moving in her arteries under her white skin. I smiled at her, “I don’t want to kill you.” She smiled back, “Thank you so much, how can I ever repay you?”

“Be a good human, take care of people who are weaker then you, and always listen to that voice inside your head telling you to do better things.”

Contressa nodded and she walked away. Brendan walked up beside me, “So you gave her a soul?” I smiled, “Sort of, she is barrowing one. And maybe one day they will be one.” Brendan spoke, “Everyone thinks we are damned, you’re whatever you are, I’m a werewolf, you’re dad’s a vampire, everyone thinks we are the cursed walking the earth. I think I got it figured out though Sums, I think we are only damned if we act like we are.”

“I often think the same thing, Brendan. I don’t think we are damned, I just think those who came before us were.” He looked at Contressa walking away, “Do you think there are more of her out there, without souls living in shells, trying to find something to call a soul?”

“I hope not Brendan, I hope not.”

-Dawn

(Merry Christmas, from this little Clan of Misfits to your little Clan of Misfits, may it snow there, it certainly hasn’t here.)

Summer's Journal: Twenty-Ninth Entry

No-one in my family knew about this girl, no-one had ever heard of the feelings I was feeling towards her. My father mused a Siren, but the problem is, a Siren would be liked by people, not despised. Anything that is pretty enough to evoke jealousy doesn’t invoke blind hatred.

I was getting angry with myself, especially this morning. Whenever I don’t know something, I get frustrated. I obsess on it until I find the answer. Unfortunately, the one got the brunt of this anger was Chris.

He saw me this morning and he hugged me, and I pushed him away. I just didn’t want to be affectionate with anyone, I wanted to know the answer. He was hurt, I could see it in his eyes.

“Summer, what’s wrong?” I released an angered sigh, “I don’t know what she is,” was my response, and that caused him to get angry, “Why is it so important to you? You can’t know everything.” I jumped at his tone, “Because I want to know!” “Summer, that’s very, very ignorant. Knowledge isn’t everything, its worthless to know everything because then what is there to discover!” He grabbed my wrist.

Normally, him grabbing my wrist wouldn’t have bothered me. From my point of view, at that very moment, he was trying to make me submit. I know it was silly, he was actually trying to get me to stay so we could resolve this fight.

My wolf side came out, and I spun my wrist and grabbed his. I held it tightly in my grip and I stood in his face. A low growl erupted from my mouth, and He took a step down. “I don’t like you like this,” he said softly, “Maybe you should call me when you find out what you need to know.”

I felt, at that moment dominate, and I was proud, but looking back on it, I had very few moments that were that low; That disturbing. I made the one person in the world who loved me and could be my true love submit to me because of my nature.

When he tried to pry away from me, I grabbed him tighter, and pulled him closer to me, I remember feeling he was mine, and I didn’t want him to go, and he had to do what I wanted. He then called me the name my cousin calls me because it’s the affectionate name my mother gave me, “Baby-Doll.” Instead of shocking me out of it like he wanted, it made me want to make him submit even more.

The low growl in my throat erupted from my mouth again and he realized he had done wrong. He turned his cheek to me, he revealed his neck. I pulled his arm so it was behind my body, it was an awkward movement, but it produced the desired result, my chin rested firmly over his neck.

Not having the fangs of the wolf I dug my chin into his neck. I felt him groan in pain. I should reinstate here, that Chris is a mage, not a werewolf. I am a mage, not a werewolf, but my mother is a werewolf, so I have primal urges like she does. Chris’ next action surprised me, looking back on it, but at the time, I felt good when he did it.

He whimpered. He knew what he was doing, and his whimpering meant I had won. He knew I wasn’t going to let him get away. I released my grip on his wrist, and he didn’t dare move.

He whimpered again, and I felt even more pride. Finally I lifted my chin and I looked at him. He looked at me through the corner of his eyes, “Summer; please… let me go.” I cast my eyes up to him, and he turned slowly to face me.

He took a step back, and I growled. So he stood still. He then reached into his pocket, and he grunted softly. My head turned in confusion. He brought his finger out, there was blood on it. My eyes shifted. I focused on the blood and a drop hit the ground. He held it out to me. I grabbed his wrist, so hard he dropped to his knees. I knelt with him, and I placed his finger in my mouth.

I felt the blood on my tongue, the sweet blood, Chris’ blood. It is important that I specifically state it was Chris’ blood because up into that point, in my brain he didn’t register as Chris, he registered as something I owned. I pulled his finger out of my mouth quickly.

“Summer?” he asked softly. I nodded. “Who am I?” “Chris,” I said softly. He spoke, “Do you know what you did?” I shook my head no. “You made me submit to you.” A salty tear formed in my eye and dropped down my cheek, it burnt me. “Summer Dawn,” he said, “Are you, yourself?” I nodded. I looked at his neck, there was a slowly forming bruise on it.

I kissed that spot softly, leaving a black lipstick mark on it. I looked at him and cast my eyes down. I pulled back, and I left, unable to face him. I skipped History Class so I wouldn’t have to be behind him. I knew I would probably try to lick his neck to help the wound clot better. Even though the wound wasn’t open and didn’t need to clot.

I didn’t see the girl. I couldn’t find my answer.

As I sit here, bathed in moonlight, absorbing her touch, I realized why I did that today. The first reason is, it’s a full moon. By nature on a full moon anyone who has any werewolf blood in their family, anywhere, get more active, does odd things, and becomes maybe angrier then they should.

The second reason is Chris. My body has lived sixteen years without the release of hormones that having someone you care about be close to you and hold you, and even hug you. With those hormones they throw my body out of balance.

Being as bright and full of common sense as my boyfriend is, he figured out the way to wake me from my lupinish side. He tried to awaken my vampire side. Knowing that its not as bestial or uncontrollable as my werewolf side.

I called him. I cried, I broke down on the phone. I pleaded and begged for his forgiveness. He accepted, and then to ease over the tension and sadness that was there moments before, he jested, “Remind me the night before a full moon, okay?”

-Dawn

(Sorry it has been so long, around the holidays is a hectic time, expect something Christmas eve, okay?)

Summer's Journal: Twenty-Eigth Entry

I saw that strange girl again today. All week I had been thinking about why I had been so mean to her. What made me do that? It wasn’t me being any part of me, was it?

When I saw her, it all came back, the Jealousy. The Hatred of how beautiful she was, and compared to her how ugly I was, I forced myself to walk up to her. When I met her I shook with hatred and I wanted to hit her.

“Please don’t hit me,” she pleaded, “I don’t know why everyone hates me…”

I turned from her, but I felt her still there, still more beautiful then I was, “I don’t know why I hate you.”

“You’re human…” I paused, I was human… Somewhere… “Why do humans hate you?” I asked. “I don’t know,” she sobbed.

I turned to her, I still wanted to hit her, I still wanted to be her, but I held back those primitive human urges, “I’m sorry.”

“You can’t help it,” she said softly, “Its not your fault… You saved me… I owe you my life, I had to come back to see you again. You’re the first person who was ever nice to me.”

I knelt down to her, and I went to touch her but I retracted scared I would hurt her. She was so like a child, something kicked inside of me, I had to protect her. But at the same time I had to hurt her, I had to be her. “Why do you invoke such feelings in me?” I asked.

A tear rolled down her cheek, “I don’t know… I don’t know what you are feeling.” I choked on my own words,“I want to be you.”

She scooted back as quickly as she could, “Don’t say that,” she growled. It was the most violent I had ever noticed her. She was always so passive, “You don’t know what its like to be me. You don’t want to be me!”

She stood, and I stood, but she had run away by the time I was able to begin my chase after her…

Maybe Chris will know something about this girl… Maybe anyone will know something about this girl. I am frustrated that I don’t.

-Summer Dawn

Summer's Journal: Twenty Seventh Entry

My father has traveled the world, he has lived many lives, and ended countless more. He has experienced and seen things that some of us can only hope to dream of seeing. I remember when I was a child and I asked him to describe what the phoenix he saw so long ago looked like.

Today I encountered something, something I could scarcely even comprehend meeting. I was walking through school and I felt death. I closed my eyes and I looked for it. I found it, it was a girl.

She was being hassled by a group of kids. They had her surrounded and yelling at her, and prodding her, and calling her stupid, and ugly. I ran up to them, and she didn’t seem all that ugly to me. I pulled her out of the group. She was so cold to the touch, yet so warm.

Once I had dragged her from the group, I took her to the edge of the quad. I felt odd being around her. She was so beautiful. I… I wanted to be her. Her chin was perfectly formed, her hair was a golden halo, and her eyes were a wonderful blue. She had a perfect body, she wore clothes that accentuated the perfection of her hips.

I wanted to be her, I don’t know what came over me, but I lashed out at her. I screamed and I leapt on top of her and I grasped her hair, and I began to beat it off the ground. She looked at me, I saw tears in her eyes.

I have no idea why I was so angry at her. Was it jealousy?

I backed off from her, and I turned around but I felt her there. I felt the subtle death on her. I felt the pain of her person, but I couldn’t face her. Whatever it was, I wanted her dead.

“You…” She said accusingly, “Why did you save me to hurt me?” I couldn’t answer. “You’re not human,” I said, “You’re not vampire. What are you?” She knelt down behind me, I felt her do it, I felt this itching feeling to hurt her. She was so beautiful. I couldn’t stand it, something about her irked me.

“I don’t know,” she pleaded, “You touched me…” I looked at her, and that feeling overwhelmed me again. “I did touch you,” I said, “Why wouldn’t I, you were in trouble.” She looked at me, She was so beautiful, I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to be her.

“I’ll never bother you again,” she said, “I’m sorry I did in the first place.” I looked at her. She looked at me. She rose from the ground and stumbled away from me. I couldn’t follow her, I would hurt her if I followed her.

But she intrigued me. She wasn’t a zombie, she wasn’t a human. What was she? She rushed off and I felt so bad. I didn’t understand everything. I couldn’t understand why I wanted to hurt her. Maybe I will meet her again someday.

-Dawn

Crossover 1: Captain Picard's Christmas Party

It was going to be a rough trip. The Starship Enterprise, a ship of the future sent me an invitation from the future, and somehow I received it. Time travel is a concept that is utterly ridiculous to me.

The last time I was invited to the enterprise I was getting ready for school, and I vanished, and arrived in the ‘Transporter room’ as they called it. It was an interesting party, and they returned me to the exact time in which I vanished.

School went by long and painful this time. They said they were going to transport me to the Enterprise Tomorrow Evening at six. Rather then question, I called and Invited my boyfriend, Chris.

I dressed to scare, like always, black fishnets, short black skirt, black tank top with a silken black over shirt, and I did my makeup in Egyptian style only using black and white however.

When Chris arrived he was dressed to match wearing all black, which was very unlike him; but he wore a crimson red tie. I smiled and kissed his cheek.

“Hey… This feels a little weird at first.” He looked confused. “Where are we going again?” He asked me. I responded with, “The future. It is very confusing.” He nodded, “Okay, I’ll play this game, Summer.” He said.

I grabbed my present for him. It was wrapped in black wrapping paper, and tied with a black silken bow. I held Chris’ hand tightly, “Any moment now,” I said softly to him.

That’s when a feeling welled up beneath my feet happened, and I held onto Chris’ hand tightly; When I opened my eyes we were onboard The Enterprise. Chris was in shock. I held his hand.

“It’s okay, we are here,” he was frightened. I was too the first time I was on the Enterprise. Not only were their aliens, there was so much technology I was taken back. He stared in awe.

“Summer,” he said submissively, “Summer you weren’t joking.” I spoke into his ear, “We’ve got to go see the Captain.” “Summer… This is the Enterprise. From… Star Trek. Which Captain, Picard or Krik?” I raised my eyebrow, “What are you going on about?” He shook his head, “Nothing. This is a dream.”

“Well, it’s Captain Picard. Be respectful,” I warned. He nodded, and I walked towards the door, and it opened. Inside there was a table of presents, and I set mine on it. It was a bottle of holy-water taken from Jerusalem and blessed by a priest and a shaman.

I held his hand as we walked forward, “Don’t look down to any beings on this ship. It’s a sign of disrespect on most of their planets. I learned that last time I was here. Once inside the bar area I looked around for the Captain.

Chris seemed amazed by the whole thing. So much so I was leading him, and he was keeping quiet. As we passed people he spoke their name under his breath, and when we finally arrived to Captain Picard; Chris stared.

“Hello Summer, I hope the trip through time went well,” Captain Picard said turning from a guest, “It did Captain. Thank you for inviting me.”

“And who is this handsome young man?” He spoke motioning towards Chris, “This is my boyfriend, Captain, Chris.” Chris held his hand forward and spoke, “I’m a big fan, Pat-Captain Picard.” Captain took his hand and shook it heavily.

He took my hand and kissed it, “As always, it’s a pleasure to see you.” I blushed, “Merry Christmas Captain.” “Merry Christmas you two! Enjoy the Party, if you need anything come and get me, okay?”

“Thank you, Sir,” Chris said. “I want to meet so many people!” Chris began to drag me around, talking to everyone he could see. He knew all of them by name. He kept running up like some fan boy from one of those Science Fictions shows or something.

Finally he settled down, incredibly tired from all the excitement. I sat him down on the couch, and I went to get us punch. When I returned Chris was dozing off.

“Chris… Wake up,” he nodded, “I am up. Thanks for bringing me Summer.” I handed him his punch and I drank my gently. That’s when a woman with pale skin walked up.

“I am Seven of Nine,” she spoke, “I noticed you and your life mate were alone.” I responded quickly, “He’s not my life mate; we are just dating.” “Dating?” she asked, “What is this dating?”

“It’s a courtship to find a life mate. Seven, are you borg?” I asked. “Yes,” she responded, “Locutus was sure to include us heavily this year.” That got me started, “How do you work? You are vampires right? Vampires that make other vampires through technology right? Try and explain it.”

“You’re very energetic,” she responded, “The Borg are supreme. Resistance of them is Futile. We assimilate other species and cultures into our own, take their strength and lose their weaknesses, we change assimilate through technology, and vats, which make you into a productive member of the Borg.”

“That’s interesting, is it a DNA reconfiguration or cyborg technology that make the brain a changeable hard drive?” She looked taken back, “Your intelligent for a human, it’s a little of both. The vats make you look and have the strength of those assimilated in the Borg, and the technology makes you part of the borg overmind, to be lead by a queen.”

“Are you dead or alive?” “Alive.” “Only females are made into Queens, or is their Borg Kings?” “Only women, There are Borg who act as emissaries between two peoples, such as Locutus.” “This is interesting. And how do you assimilate abilities?” “You’re a magician, are you not? That’s why I came to speak to you. You use Magic.”

“Not so much a Magician.” “See, if we were to assimilate you, we would all be able to use your magic.” These people were very interesting; scary; but interesting.

“I see, and you wanted me to become Borg?” “I could speak to the Queen to get you to become a high borg, no useless drone.” “I’m sorry Seven, I have to go home. I have school.” “If you ever wanted to…” “I will come to you. I promise.”

She stood, and walked away. Chris was very asleep. I kissed his cheek, “Chris. We have to go; You’re very tired.” He nodded and I had to guide him to the Transporter Room, “Thank Captain Picard for me. It was a wonderful party.” We arrived at home, and I made sure Chris got to Brendan’s.

-Dawn

Summer's Journal: Twenty-Sixth Entry

I will never fully understand boys. I somehow think when they are not normal boys they get even worse. For example, my cousin and my boyfriend; as it was mentioned countless times before, my cousin is wolf-blooded. That means he is a werewolf waiting to become a werewolf. During the night of a full moon he can’t sleep right. Another thing is he gets angrier faster than normal people, and he fights more than normal people. I personally feel he fights more than normal people because of his magnetic personality to the other sex, and their magnetic personality to their boyfriends.

But him being wolf-blooded means he is stronger than normal people, faster than normal people, and under certain situations of adrenaline and such, he takes on the characteristics of his race. I have seen his finger’s gain claws, and his eyes turn feral yellow several times, despite the fact he’s not a werewolf yet.

My boyfriend is a mage. We do not often discuss his magic; he doesn’t feel comfortable talking about. I scarcely know anything about his magic at all. Any knowledge I gained was from his aura, and I’m not good at reading auras to begin with. He’s elemental, although I do not know which one, or if he is all of them. He also can heal. I often wonder how good of a healer he is.

And I will have to say, my boyfriend is against using his abilities unless he has to in everyway. Which leads me to believe he was raised by normal people, but I am unsure because he never talks about his family; I gave up on trying to find out. Likewise, both my cousin and my boyfriend are on track. I am sure Chris could use his magic to make him go faster, as Brendan could use his ingrain abilities to do the same, and I asked Chris why he doesn’t.

He became very upset with me, and said It was cheating in the highest form, and that he could never live with himself or forgive himself for doing. I felt really bad, because I use my magic to do simple everyday things. It’s a lot easier to take out the trash when you are ordering a skeleton to do it, rather then doing it yourself.

Chris and Brendan sometimes go out at intervals usually once a month for guy time. I would have been more than happy to sit at home and read a book. But my cell phone rings, and it was Brendan. Brendan typically calls me for two things, The first because he just woke and wanted to tell me he was not going to be able to walk to school with me. The second is to trick me into doing something I don’t want to do. I wasn’t going to let him trick me this time.

“Hey Cuz,” he said. “Hello Brendan,” I responded. “Hey, we are going to be watching movies, and Chris wants you down here so you can cling to him at the scary parts.” I’m sure he felt the distaste in my voice on the phone. I create the scary parts of movies, “He said that?” Brendan spoke, “Yup, he said that, I tend to agree with him, you seem to scare easily.”

I grasped my necklace, while putting my phone into my side pouch, and I used to get to Brendan’s house. My father gave the necklace to me when I was younger. He gave one to Brendan too; it was so we could both go to each other’s houses without the hassle of travel. When I appeared there, two people grabbed me. I had little or no time to react, so my first reaction was to cast a spell. Blood filled my mouth, and my hands became black, and I reached towards their stomachs, and I took ahold. I felt their energy go into me, and then Brendan spoke up, “Summer its us!”

I released immediately and the blood vanished. “Do you know how irresponsible that way?!” I yelled at him. Chris fumbled forward, and I caught him, “You too! You’re supposed to be the voice of reason. Let’s just grab the girl who can steal years of our lives if she is startled!” I grabbed Chris’ head and Brendan’s head and hit them together. They both held their hands over their new bump, and looked down from me.

“I’m going home. If it was supposed to be a funny trick, guess what its not. I feel terrible now for hurting both of you.” I sat on Aunt Page’s stoop. I looked at the two boys, who sat next to me. They both put their arms around me.

“Please come bowling with us, someone has to be their to keep score who is good with math,” Brendan said. Chris countered, “I am good with math, but not as good as you. But I also don’t cheat to enhance my score.” Brendan countered, “I’m not the one who can guide the ball by looking at it!” Chris countered, “I’m not the one who can throw the ball hard enough to knock all the pins down anyway!”

“BOYS!” I yelled, and they stopped. “I will keep score. But I want to bowl too.” They both laughed. “What?” I asked. Brendan said, “Nothing at all.” “What?!” I asked more forcefully. “Nothing,” Brendan said, “Its nothing, babydoll.”

My cheeks had to become red even through my white makeup. I turned to him, I slapped his head five or six times. “Babydoll?” Chris asked. I sat down and looked down from him, and all my rage that was in me hitting Brendan calmed down, “What’s the big deal about Babydoll?” I didn’t respond. Brendan kept telling Chris to cut it through motions, and Chris finally realized that if it sent me into a blind rage at Brendan, that I was censoring myself now.

They stood, and Uncle Rapier pulled up in Aunt Page’s car, and we all filed in. I sat next to Chris and I rested my head on his shoulder for the trip across town. When we arrived at the bowling alley, the two boys ran in kicking and fighting. Uncle Rapier turned to me.

“Summer Dawn,” he said, “Be patient, and do not,” he said, “Do not raise anything from the dead to rend their flesh.”

“I’ll try not to.” I stood and left the car. I noticed Brendan and Chris were carrying large bags, I assume with their bowling balls in them. As I walked in, they dragged me to the counter, and told me to tell the lady my show size.

“Do you have anything in black?” I asked. She shook her head no. “Am I allowed to bowl in my socks?” She nodded. Brendan and Chris sighed. I on the other hand went searching for a bowling ball. I found a black one, and it had big finger holes and weighed far too much. I found another black one, and it was just right. I dragged it over to the alley where Brendan and Chris had made their niche.

I looked at the names, Brendan, Chris, and Babydoll. I set the ball down very calmly, and I laid my fist into both of their jaws. They cradled their jaws in their hands, and didn’t dare try to explain which one of them did it.

Once we started, Brendan threw one, and I could see his feral muscles move as he threw it. It landed and went with incredible accuracy and was a strike. Chris smiled at Brendan as he came back. When Chris walked up, I felt a pull of energy, and I noticed his hands glow, as he threw his ball, it was going terribly off course, and then it miraculously went back on course, and also got him a strike.

It was my turn, and I walked up with my ball. I had to wonder, how was necromancy going to help me when I was bowling? So I threw the ball. It went into the gutter. I sighed, and I began to think, what could little old me do to enhance her bowling game? As my ball came back up through the machine, I came up with an idea. I concentrated, and my focus cleared, and my body moved to my will. I threw the ball, and it went straight and it hit the pins. When I turned around, my eyes had to be red, and I blinked and forced it away. I daintily walked by them and kissed Chris’ cheek, and winked at Brendan, and I sat down.

Suddenly I went from Summer Dawn, to Summer Dawn the bowler. I don’t understand what me getting a spare had anything to do with them treating me like a bowler. I think maybe this was their game. Maybe their once a month thing was them going out and competing using their powers.

They didn’t count on me, more of a dhampir then Brendan coming and tapping into that small amount of blood I have in me. The game went with Brendan using all the abilities he could muster. His feral eyes, his feral muscles, feral concentration, and it made me proud to know he was comfortable enough with his heritage to be able to do that. Chris used his telekinesis most of the time, one time I felt a gust of wind when his ball was badly of course, and I also noticed that one time the ball was cool to the touch when I went to grab mine. When I threw my ball the next time, the alley was slippery, and my ball veered off course. I had to call the aid of a spirit to aid me.

Most of the time, I used my dhampiric concentration. I dare not try anything else, I don’t like to drink blood, and the only way to unlock those things would be to feed. The other thing I did was use spirits to help guide my ball, and likewise, push both of their balls off course, and Brendan blamed Chris, and Chris realized it was me.

It was a lot of fun. I have to say, I wouldn’t have rather been reading. I hope they invite me next time, but I know they have to their own time together too. I just want to do it again. It was a night of practical jokes and using magical ingrain abilities.

It lets me know that Chris is comfortable with who he is, so I know now he is comfortable with who I am.

-Dawn

Summer's Journal: Twenty-Fifth Entry

Chris asked me today when I learned to use magic. I don’t know what prompted him to, and I don’t know why he felt the need to know. I responded in kind. I didn’t want to tell him. I didn’t want to tell anyone.

He seemed upset with me for not sharing. I cast my eyes down from his. I wanted him to understand. I’m perhaps the last necromancer in the world. No-one has ever ran into them, unless they have ran into me.

Chris just couldn’t understand. He couldn’t. I wouldn’t even know how to begin to explain it to him. I was out with my father on a routine check of a magical nexus. He may not have known it was a magical nexus, but the whole place had an inky black aura.

I was so scared back then, so terrified. That I held onto my father as if he was the only thing that could save me. I wonder if I would have been better off not crossing that stream. I crossed it.

I don’t know what caused me to cross it, whether it was the fact that my father couldn’t, or the moans. The moans of those poor lost souls. I had to go see; I had to. When I crossed the stream I didn’t see much of anything. The fog had rolled in seconds before.

I walked forward having a hard time adjusting to the thickness of the fog. I hit a gate. It was metal and it caused me to the withdrawal. I followed along it, and I found a gate, and I opened it. Once inside, the fog seemed to life a little, and I could see vague figures, all of them the unmarked graves. I gently followed along, and from nowhere someone grabbed me.

I couldn’t see it, I tried to pull away. I shoved hard and it fell to the ground, I didn’t know what it was, but I ran for the large structure, and I threw open the mausoleum door, and I ran in and closed the door.

I felt a cold chilling in my spine and I turned. There was a man there, he had dark hair and he wore dark clothes. He smiled when he saw me, “I knew you would come.”

Then he disappeared. I ran to where he was and there was nothing there. I turned to run towards the door, and when I got there, the door formed skeletal hands they grabbed me. They held me down. I tried to fight but I wasn’t strong enough.

The man appeared before me again, and I began to scream, “Don’t fight,” he said, taking me by my wrists. He pulled and I was free of the skeletal hands. But now he held me. One of his hands were skeletal and he pulled me towards him. I shoved on him, and then I ran towards the door again, and I threw it open.

Whatever I had pushed down, was standing there. It grabbed me again, it was a man, not him, and he didn’t grab me in the same way as the man had. He came towards me. I saw his eyes, his face. Ragged from decay, and the smell was overpowering, but I couldn’t turn away from him.

His eyes; I still see them when I close my own, whenever I cast a spell his eyes come to me. They were vacant, dead, but they held all the answers. They spoke of everything that one needs to know about life. Death. In the end Death won out. It was hard to shake the sight of Love in those eyes. I saw it deep down in him still.

We stared at each other. I don’t know why this zombie wasn’t trying to eat me, but his eyes…

Those eyes. They told me everything. I could go on describing them but I would fail. I saw a power in death, I saw an answer in death. I saw Death. I felt blood fill my mouth. It had to be his blood, but I don’t know how it came from him into my mouth.

My mouth filled with blood, and the substance that cursed my dead, had to be my salvation because as the zombie came to bite my neck, I willed him to stop and he did. I held the blood in my mouth as it overflowed. Dripping onto the ground and causing a plant to grow.

I’m not crazy… I swear. I’m not crazy!

The plants grew up and covered my body and thorns and black roses engulfed me and pulled me down into the ground inside a coffin. I began to beat on the coffin lid and I screamed. I don’t remember what I was screaming. But then I saw the man’s face. He spoke, “I can save you…” He then grabbed my waist and pulled me towards the lid, and then I was there, and he was making me press against him.

Then he was the zombie. I willed the zombie to stop. Then a few others with those moans, those moans of understanding and knowledge, came towards me, and my mouth filled with blood again, and this time it tasted good, sweet…

I concentrated on the zombies and they all stood still. They were mine… For that sweet moment I controlled life and death. I could will them into eternal sleep, or I could keep them eternally awake.

I felt so strong, not the frail china-doll I was before, now I had control. They were mine. No-one could take them away from me. Not Death. Not God. I was a goddess in my own rights. I flung open the mausoleum door, and I entered. The man was standing there. He was watching me.

The zombies who were mine entered behind me. “Hello Summer Dawn,” he said, “I can save you.” I curled my lips in disgust, and I pointed. The zombies went towards him, and as they walked closer to him they became human again, and then he looked at me.

“Summer Dawn, kill them, and make them yours again,” He tossed me a sickle. I reached down and grabbed it. I shook my head no. “Summer,” he said as he appeared in front of me, and the skeletons pushed me to him, and he pulled me tightly against him. What was he doing to me?

I looked down, I was a skeleton and so was he. My bones rattled as I shook in fear. I still held the sickle in my hand. I brought it across where his throat was supposed to be, and his blood poured out and covered my body.

I closed my eyes as I felt the warm liquid engulf me. He grabbed onto me shoulder, and ran his skeletal hand down my entire body… He… He died, and I knelt to him, as the people became zombies again. He wheezed, and the blood bubbled on his neck.

I took the sickle and I stabbed it into his chest, and his body went limp. I closed my eyes, and I felt his blood fill my mouth, and he rose from me, and he was mine… I felt an electric feeling all about me. I had conquered him.

He was mine. I ordered him to put the others out of their misery, and he did that, and once he was done, I heard his voice inside my head, “Use me, Summer Dawn, Use me and you can rule the world.”

I reached my hand out, and I willed him to decay into nothingness and he became a pile of dust. Tears filled my eyes. I had never killed anyone before. I killed him for power… I killed him because he was trying to dominate me, and I dominated him.

I then saw what where I was, standing in middle of a small unmarked family plot, and there was no blood around me, and no zombies, no anything, just me.

I’m not crazy… I’m not… It all happened!

I just wish someone would believe me if I told them…

-Dawn

Janus' Record: 4

(Kept by Phonograph)

“This is another recording about my Daughter, because I am still feeling very upset that she hasn’t told me about Chris yet. It has been another day. She can’t trust me to tell me she has a boyfriend. Does she think I will hurt him?

“Thousand Faces, Aurora Dawnsfire was the one who gave my daughter her mage gene, but a mage doesn’t acquire magic through having the mage gene. Some people who have it will never be able to use their magic. My daughter was one of the fortunate ones who was able to unlock her abilities.

“When she was thirteen, I had to do a routine check of a place of local legends in Europe. It was something I often did, checked the place where the rift between the spiritual world and this one, and a place of supernatural interest.

“This one of interest is a cemetery of unmarked tombs, and a whole lot of them. The theory is that a whole family was slain, and the killer buried their bodies in unmarked tombs separating those who were closest furthest apart.

“The other theory was that all a rogue mage created a temporus fissure and it ripped the souls from the bodies, and the unmarked graves contain actually no corpses. Some people believe that it was where an angel fell from grace, and landed on a household, and killed all the people in it.

“The theories all stand to be proven, all I know is I have to go there once a year and make sure the restless, perhaps, dangerous spirits are not traveling about and killing people. I told Jesse what I was doing, and Summer who was sitting nearby wanted to spend time with me.

“’Daddy,’ she said, ‘Can I come too?’ I looked to Jesse, and Jesse nodded, and I said, ‘Sure Summer.’ She ran to her room. I knew this was going to take longer than it should. She returned wearing blue jeans, a baby blue t-shirt, and her flaming red hair pulled back.

-Laughter-

“She had done a quick job of her make-up, it was red lipstick, rose colored cheeks, soft blue eyeshadow.

-Laughter and more Laughter-

“Oh man,

-Laughter-

“I forgot how she used to dress. She was such a little princess. She wasn’t terrible, but she always had to look pretty, and she always wanted to be aesthetically pleasing to everyone. She used to wear bright colors…

-Heavy laughter-

“And Pink!

-Even heavier laughter-

“Oh God, Pink and Summer!

-Laughter-

“I wish I had pictures!

-Laughter starting to calm-

“She ran to me, and took my hand. I concentrated and we appeared in the nearest town. The first thing we had to do was we had to speak with the locals about activity. Summer, at this point in her life, only knew a couple of languages, other than English, of course. I think she knew… French and Spanish, I think she was just getting into German.

“But, we had to ask the locals if anything weird was going on. The fifteen people I asked didn’t hear anything. Summer’s had heard of a child going deep into the moor and disappearing and anyone who went to find him never came back.

“To me, this meant either stupid people, or something was killing them as they got out there. ‘As you value your life or your reason keep away from the moor,’ Summer recited. I smiled, ‘Perhaps.’

“We began our trek to the moor. It was a long walk, and along the way Summer kept trying to keep busy by looking at the wildlife around her. As we went further down the path into the moor, it became darker and darker, and Summer began to shrink in on herself.

“I didn’t know what to say to comfort her, as that we were getting towards the cemetery where this nexus was supposed to be. She kept walking closer and closer to me until finally every sound made her jump, and she squeezed me around my stomach.

“’Summer dear,’ I said, ‘I won’t let anything happen to you.’ She nodded into me. I wasn’t sure she was convinced. Finally we arrived at the cemetery. It had changed. More people had been added, there was even a mausoleum. Summer looked around.

“The first sign of anything the least bit dangerous was a moan of a person who had lost their life before its time. Summer closed her eyes, and she held me tightly. The fog rolled in at that very moment, and covered us.

“’Daddy, make it go away!’ She pleaded. I closed my eyes, and I pushed on the fog. It didn’t retreat which meant it was supernatural. ‘I can’t,’ Summer began to shake at this time.

“I asked her if she wanted me to take her home, and she said no. I don’t know what made her want to stay here so bad, was it pressure from me? She walked forward, and she took steps on her own. Whenever I went towards her, I hit a barrier, I looked down, someone had made a stream’s path encase the graveyard and I couldn’t cross it.

“I can only tell what I remember, she came back over that stream a changed person. I don’t honestly know what she saw over there, or what happened, but I remember the trickle of blood coming from her mouth and she looked at me and said, ‘Daddy,’ I thanked God she still held the sweet tones of love she had before, ‘There was a man over there. I killed him. I had to… He was going to kill me.’ I nodded, and hugged her, and she hugged me tightly back.

“’I want to go home now, I am very tired,’ she said with a yawn. I kissed the top of her head, and I took her home. I laid her in her bed, and she fell asleep. The next morning when she woke up she wore the only black clothes she owned, and she did her makeup in the gothic look.

“I wish I could recite more, but I wasn’t there, and she had never told anyone what went on over there, not me, or not her mother, but whatever it was, it allowed her to use her magic.

“I think I am going to go see if she asleep, and if she is, watch her for a couple of moments before I lay down myself.”