-----

Author's Note: Ok so don't expect the next chapter to be up so quickly. I was couldn't get to sleep last night so I ended up writing this. I'm usually not this fast with chapters nor do I have them done so quickly. So consider this a treat :) I'd like to thank djkauf and Indy for the magical editing and everyone for enjoying this universe :)

-----

FOURTEEN:

I snapped awake, panting heavily. Looking around, it took me a moment to realize I was in my room and not back on that road. I’d had a wild nightmare, reliving the events of yesterday. Except this time, the two goons actually got a hold of me and dragged me kicking and screaming back to the car. I tried to fight them but they were too strong. They held me down and tore off my clothes. When they did, instead of being a guy I was back to being a girl. I tried screaming but it was no use. They threw me in their trunk after that and then drove. It felt like I was in the trunk for days and when it finally opened, well that’s when I woke up.

My heart was pounding just thinking about it.

I sat up, allowing the covers to slowly slide off my very sticky frame. I was drenched in sweat. My long hair was matted to my head, my shirt was clinging to my breasts. I sighed heavily, prying the wet clinging fabric away. It wasn’t until I looked down did I realize what had just happened. Breasts, there were breasts on my chest. They weren’t very big---probably an A cup---but they were there nonetheless. A wave of panic swept over me but it slowly ebbed away, replaced by joy. I had breasts again, OK, so they weren’t the same as my previous ones but they were there and they were mine. I quickly pulled off my shirt and got a better look at them. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

I jumped out of bed and pulled off my boxers. Sadly, I was still a guy down there but up top was all that mattered. I ran over to the floor length mirror on the wall and took a good look. I looked like my female self again, save for a few small differences. The pendant my grandmother gave me still hung around my neck though. I reached up and touched it gently. This thing was supposed to keep me as a guy; it was supposed to contain the change. I couldn’t help but wonder what happened. I also couldn’t help but wonder why I was so happy. Sure, I confessed to my mother how much I liked being a girl but at the same time, I really wanted to be a boy.

Well, I thought I did, anyway.

It was strange now, like the flipping of a switch.

I stared at myself for a while before deciding I needed to get ready to face the day. I opened the door and slipped out into the hallway. I rushed to the bathroom, making sure no one saw me. When I peed, I sat down on the toilet not even thinking about it. In the shower, I lost myself to the water. I closed my eyes and let it wash over me, ridding me of all my fears and doubts. My biggest doubt being yesterday, of course. I’m not sure why I didn’t rush off to tell someone. When I got into class after the incident, it was the only thing I could think about. I wanted to rush right off to Melissa’s office and tell her everything, but as class progressed, I stopped thinking about it. Sure, it was scary but they never did anything dangerous. They wanted to kidnap me but they failed. The more I thought about it the rest of the day, the more I realized that they were only trying to scare me.

It just didn’t seem all that important by the end of the day.

Now though, I couldn’t realize how stupid I’d been. Why the hell didn’t I tell someone? Why didn’t I rush right to Melissa’s?

The shower stopped being relaxing. I cursed and shut off the water. I got out quickly, making sure to cover myself properly with a towel. I rushed back to my room and got dressed. I found myself using the ace bandage again. After all, I was supposed to be a guy. I was afraid that my grandmother might try something more drastic to make me that way permanently. I paused at the top of the stairs before going down. I got all my facts straight, even came up with a reason why I didn’t tell anyone yesterday. I took a deep breath and marched down the stairs.

When I got into the kitchen, Mary was at the table in her pajamas. It was Saturday morning after all.

“Hey” she said then grumbled a “happy birthday.”

I dropped into my chair. “Where’s Grams?”

I’m not sure, when I started to call her that, I guess Mary was rubbing off a bit.

Mary shrugged. “She left a note. Said she had somewhere to be this morning.”

Damn.

“Oh” said Mary “that came for you this morning.”

She was pointing to the counter. I looked where her finger led and I saw a brown package sitting there. I walked over and picked it up. It wasn’t a particularly large one but it was long and narrow. It had no stamp on it but my address was scrawled on there, the writing wasn’t familiar though. I excitedly opened it up, delicately making sure I didn’t break whatever was inside. What I found was a beaded necklace, the beads of varying colors. There was also a little silver pendant on the end of it.

“Cute” I said, a little too loud.

I turned around; Mary was giving me a strange look.

“I meant cool” I said, she rolled her eyes.

“Whatever. Just as long as your freakdom isn’t contagious.”

She stood up after that, bringing her now empty cereal bowl to the sink. She rinsed it a few times then left. I found myself instinctively taking the bowl out and putting it on the drying rack. Mary was a bit of a slob. Then I went and got myself some cereal. As I was pouring, the kitchen phone rang. When I answered, an excited Maggie blurted things out in a rush.

“Slow down Mags and repeat”

She took a breath. “I’ve been streaming phone calls all night and this morning. You’re going to have at least thirty people at your party today.” She giggled with excitement. “I’ve already called your grandmother. She said she’d have to make arrangements for a bigger place.”

I was floored. Thirty people. I don’t even know that many people.

“OK, so who’s coming?” I asked as I carried the phone, my cereal and my new necklace to the table.

Maggie started rattling off some names. I recognized a few---like Dana and Cindy---but there were a lot I didn’t. I’m not sure if I was scared or excited about that. I wasn’t used to this many people wanting to do anything with me. Hell, I wasn’t used to one person wanting to do anything with me. Tommy and I did nothing more than hang out in my room, play games together, read comics. Sure, we did other things but the last couple of years things had been pretty dull. It’s strange now that I think about it but it was pretty clear our friendship had been dying long before it actually did.

“You are by far the luckiest girl ever Kel.”

Girl, did she say girl?

“Umm did you just call me a girl?”

Maggie laughed. “I did. I guess I forgot about the whole necklace thing. Sorry.”

Necklace thing? So did that mean Maggie remembered what happened?

“I’m so fricken confused right now.”

“It’s just a party,” she said, laughing.

“Not that.”

I quickly told her everything, about the whole week. About how she and everyone else forgot about the female me, about how I kind of missed being that way. Then I told her about this morning, waking up with breasts. It was clear that whatever happened to me and whatever fix my grandmother tried had failed again. This time though it somehow overrode everything they tried to do including making everyone forget about a female me?

“That really sucks,” she said when I was done. “I can see why you might be confused.”

“It’s really weird.”

Maggie laughed. “If I remember does that mean Jack will too?”

I cursed. I’d forgotten all about Jack. Thinking about him now, I felt a little flutter. No stupid stomach, no flutters. I bit my lip to force that feeling away and it left but not without resistance. I would not think of Jack Pratchett in that way ever again.

“Jack has Misty to bug now.”

“Are you OK with that?”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

“I saw the way the two of you were flirting in the library the other day,” she said with a laugh.

I blushed but quickly added. “I do not flirt.”

Maggie started laughing. She didn’t stop until a minute or so later. “OK well I’m going to let you go. Your grandmother is supposed to call me back when she finds the perfect venue. I’ll see you later tonight?”

“OK, see ya later.”

I put the phone back on the hook and returned to the table. I couldn’t help but think how messed up my life was. First, I was a guy then I turned into a girl. I managed to get back to a guy---something I wanted and became a girl again. After being a girl for a few days and totally confused it was back to being a guy. This week had been the worst week ever for me as I was more confused than ever. Here I was before wanting nothing except to be a guy again and now that I was possibly one forever, all I could think about was being a girl. I looked down at my chest---at my concealed breasts---and smiled. OK, so I was still really confused but I think I finally knew what I wanted.

At least I hoped I did.

I sat in my chair and picked up this new necklace. It really was cute, there was no denying that. It was strange though that there was no return address though. If I were to guess, it looked almost like something from Africa. Was it possible that Mom sent this to me? I checked the package just to make sure, looking for a note but there was nothing there. I shrugged, trying to decide what to do. I reached up and touched the pendant on my neck---the pendant that didn’t seem to be working anymore. I’m not sure why it failed and frankly I didn’t care. All that I cared about is that I was finally starting to understand that maybe I wasn’t meant to be Kelly the Dud.

With that thought, I took my new necklace and dropped it around my neck.

I smiled then started to eat my cereal.

My grandmother ended up renting the local community hall for the party. It wasn’t the greatest venue but it was the best she could get on such short notice. It was fine by me though, in fact it was better than fine. Most of my parties consisted of my living room and dining room at home. The large space of the community hall was like a palace to me. As soon as I heard about it, I wanted to rush right over but Maggie would have none of that. She told me that the birthday “girl” wasn’t allowed anywhere near the party prep. It still felt a little weird being called a girl and thankfully she didn’t say it when others were around. Not that it made much of a difference though---I was back to being seen as a girl by everyone around. The only thing that was different about it was that I was no longer offended. In fact, I couldn’t help but smile.

It took Maggie about two hours to get everything done. She roped some of the Dud Club members into helping. She let slip that Jack was more than happy to help---in fact he did a lot of the work. I’m not sure how I felt about all of that. Sure it was nice that he was being so helpful but it was clear he had an ulterior motive in all of this. It was kind of cute in a way and that thought alone was scary. Sure I’d decided that I liked this whole girl thing but the idea of possibly liking Jack scared me. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for something like that.

Another hour later, I was finally allowed into the big room.

To say I was surprised was a bit of an understatement. I’m not sure how the room looked before but whatever Maggie and Jack did, It was amazing. It was completely transformed: there were birthday banners and balloons, a long table against the far wall laden with food and a pretty impressive DJ booth set up in front. There was also this little stage complete with a karaoke station and large speakers. Around the room were round tables decorated for the festivities and a dance floor in the center. It was better than I could have expected.

“What do you think?” asked Maggie as she slipped up behind me.

I turned to face her, beaming. “I think you out did yourself?”

She smiled. “You can thank Mary.”

“Mary?”

She nodded. “She pulled some strings; it pays to be friends with a Locke. I’m not sure how she did it but whatever it was, it worked. All this stuff was here when we got here, all we did was set it up.”

Mary, who knew.

“So” said Maggie, pulling me into the lobby. “Has the birthday girl decided what she’s going to wear?”

I hushed her. “Boy not girl.”

“What why?”

“My grandmother and the Coven think that this” I grabbed the silver pendant. “Is still working. I don’t want them to find out it’s not. I want to stay like this.”

She nodded. “So will you be able to fit into guy’s clothes?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea but I’m going to try.”

Maggie smiled. “C’mon, we’ve got another hour before your guests arrive; let’s see if we can’t find something that suits you.”

We hit the Teen Scene, not exactly my choice of shopping places but we were in a rush. The girl behind the counter didn’t bat an eyelash as she flew over to assist us. Maggie made her go away quickly. We rushed through shopping pretty quick. We found a pair of black unisex pants and a white dress shirt. Both of which fit me surprisingly well. It was clear though that as soon as I put them on that I had a girl’s body. I couldn’t help but feel a bit different as I looked at myself in the dressing room mirror. I’d been so caught up in this whole “I feel like a girl” that I never really stopped to think about why. It hit me so suddenly, practically overnight actually. Was it the spell or was it something else, something unseen and unknown. Looking at the girl in the mirror, I liked what I saw but was it really me thinking?

“You done?” asked Maggie from the other side of the door.

I opened the door and nodded. “You think it’s weird that I suddenly like all of this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well before I wanted nothing more than to go back and be myself but now being a girl is all I want. It’s kind of scary, like I was mind jacked or something.”

She gave me a long, hard look. “The way I see it is this,” she finally said. “You’ve been this very feminine guy all your life; everyone has mistaken you for a girl. Then fate throws a curve ball at you and poof you’re a girl for real. You want nothing more than to turn back into a guy and eventually you get your wish, you’re happy. Then you start to think, you have these little inklings. As a girl, you were treated no different than before, in fact you might have been treated a bit different. Why; because maybe you were used to it or maybe because you felt right. You didn’t have to pretend, you didn’t have to hide. People saw you as a girl and because you were one, you weren’t fighting it.”

“Yeah but that still doesn’t explain why I’m happy this way?”

“Maybe and don’t get offended by this but maybe you were always a girl you just had the wrong body.”

“That’s crazy.”

Maggie shrugged. “This is Ravencrest, we’re known for the crazy.”

We couldn’t help but laugh at that. We laughed a little louder than I would have liked because the sales girl came over.

“Is there something wrong girls?”

That only caused the two of us to laugh some more.

We left the store laughing actually. When we got outside, we had just enough time to run back to the community hall. Outside, Jack had taken it upon himself to stand at the door to greet people. When we approached, his face lit up in a big smile. I took a deep breath, trying hard not to think about that damn smile of his. I could deal with this girl thing; I definitely couldn’t deal with the hormones that came with it.

“Hey, Mags” he said, addressing my friend before turning to me. “Hey, Kelly, Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks.”

He stepped aside to let us in. In the lobby, Mary and Tracy were mingling. Both of them were dressed for a party---Mary in some black thing with fishnets, Tracy in a cute purple dress. I was a bit jealous of the way she looked in it. She was gorgeous, a Goddess in fact. I found it hard to believe that this girl could be related to Trevor at all. Sure they looked a lot alike but Tracy was so different. She had this class, this sophistication and Trevor; well, he was a bit of a geek. Not that there was anything wrong with that of course but it just went to show how different two siblings really were. Jessica and I were the same. She was a lot more outgoing, even played soccer in high school. It was hard to imagine that the two of us were siblings, hell we barely looked like one another.

“That dress is so killer Trace” said Maggie, approaching the two of them.

“Thanks, I like yours too,” she said, referring to the cute little baby blue dress Maggie was wearing.

Mary gave me the once over. “Going for androgyny again I see.”

“And you’re going for bitch.”

Tracy and Maggie laughed. Me, I couldn’t believe I’d just said that.

Mary cast me a nasty look.

“Tracy, let’s go” said Mary, not waiting for her friend to follow her as she stomped off.

Tracy gave her a long, strange look. “Umm…sure.” She looked at me. “I’ll see you inside.”

“Yeah, thanks for all of this.”

She smiled. “No prob.”

She turned and followed Mary into the main room.

Maggie and I followed right behind them. When we got into the main room, the lights were dimmed and someone had strobes going. There were only a handful of people there but Maggie forced me to make the rounds. She somehow took the host duty or whatever; introducing me to the people, I didn’t know. I was surprised to see my cousin Morgan though, mingling in the corner with his friends. My cousin Jason was over by the dessert table stuffing his face. I locked eyes with Morgan, giving him a long strange look. There was something about him, something off. He was giving me a strange look too. I couldn’t help but wonder if he saw through me. We stared at each for a good minute or so before Maggie pulled me over to Cindy Harper and two girls I didn’t know.

“Kel I think you know Cindy” she said, I nodded to the girl. “This is Dana Stiles and Clara Saunders.”

Dana was a really pretty red head. She was wearing this killer black dress, so tight that it showed all her curves. Clara was dressed in blue, a much darker shade than Maggie’s. We talked to them for a minute or two before Maggie dragged me on. As we made the rounds, more people filed in. So I had to make the rounds again. I talked to Takeshi and Wallace then Ashley and her friends. Ashley was really nice---dressed in pink---her friends Leslie and Jan were dressed in grey and green. I knew all of them from different classes. Ashley was a bit of a strange one. She was gorgeous and pretty popular yet she didn’t run in the popular circle. I kind of respected her for that.

As we talked, her friend Max materialized out of nowhere. From the moment he showed up, he lingered close to her elbow. The two of them weren’t an item but it was pretty obvious that they should have been. I couldn’t help but feel strange about that thought. When did I analyze people like that? Surely, I didn’t do it when I was guy so why was I doing it now.

We made another pass through the room as more people entered. Charlie and Will came in together; Will surprised me because he wasn’t alone. There was a pretty blonde on his arm, her dress sparkled. Will nodded, Charlie barely acknowledged me but he did smile at Maggie. I watched as the three of them made their way to the refreshment table.

After all the passes, nearly an hour and a half had gone by.

I left Maggie to talk with someone from Math class when I too made my way to refreshments.

I was putting food on a plate when I noticed a presence at my elbow.

“Aren’t you supposed to be a guy?”asked a familiar voice.

I turned to see my cousin Jason, shoving his face.

Jason was Morgan’s older brother, in college. Like a lot of the males of witch families, he was a Dud.

“Something like that” I said, trying to ignore the comment.

“Is this some kind of statement or a new lifestyle change that the rest of us don’t know about?”

I groaned. “I’m not sure what it is actually. It sorta happens.”

Jason laughed. “To you and every other guy in Ravencrest.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jason turned me around. He started to point. His first target was Tracy. “Her” he said then pointed at Cindy. “Her” He scanned the ground again, finding Misty looking awkward as she tried to dance. “And her. All dudes once.”

“Bull shit. I know those girls and trust me they’re not guys.”

“Not anymore but they were” he said with a laugh. “Ask Mary, she’ll tell you. In fact, she’ll take full responsibility for the jock.”

“Jock?”

Jason pointed to Misty. “Your friend, the awkward one. She was some asshole jock, did some bad shit to women. Mary got her turned into that. It boggles the mind. I hit on her a few times before I knew who she really was.”

I looked at Misty, I mean really looked at her. There was just no way she could have ever been a guy.

“And how is it that you have such knowledge?”

He smiled. “I have my ways.”

“Hey babe” said a tall, leggy brunette as she slid over to him, rubbing herself against him.

“Diane this is my cousin Kelly, Kelly this is Diane.”

“Oh you’re Jack’s friend. The one he’s been talking about. I’m his sister, I’m not sure if he mentioned me or not.”

She held out her hand and I shook it.

It was clear that this was supposed to be his “source”. Diane seemed like a nice enough girl but it was also pretty clear that Jason would believe anything she told him. I’m not saying she was a liar but there was no way in hell that Tracy, Cindy and Misty were once guys. I turned and looked into the crowd, finding all three. Cindy was on the dance floor, snuggling against a tall, muscular guy. Tracy was off in the corner with Mary, Greg and Dana laughing away and Misty was trying her hardest to not look so out of place. If they were guys once then whatever turned them into girls was the best thing in the world for them because they were so well adjusted that it was scary.

I shook my head. No definitely not guys.

“It was nice talking with you Jay,” I said, grabbing my food and slipping away.

I scanned the crowd again, this time looking for Maggie. It was hard to see her though because the place was starting to get packed. If I had to guess there was way, more than thirty people here. In fact a lot of the faces here, I didn’t even recognize. I suppose that happened, after all Maggie told practically everyone about the party. So there was bound to be people who just showed up. Sadly with all of the people, I couldn’t find my friend anywhere. I mingled into the crowd nonetheless, hoping to maybe bump into her. I didn’t but I did bump into someone I wasn’t sure if I was happy to run into or not.

“Hey” said Jack, the crowd pushed in at that moment.

I found myself awkwardly smushed against him.

“Hey” I said then apologized. “I wasn’t expecting all of this.”

He laughed. “I tried manning the door a bit after you guys came in but they kind of bum rushed me. I take it you didn’t invite all of them?”

“There were only supposed to be thirty.”

He laughed. “Welcome to Ravencrest. We’re a small town, not a lot of teenagers. When someone mentions party at the school, everyone flocks to it.”

“Good to know.”

“Hey you want to dance?”

Shit. I was hoping he wouldn’t say that.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

He took my hand gently in his. Wow, his hands were so much bigger than mine. When he touched me, there was this surge of excitement that went through me too. It was kind of invigorating. A lot of me really liked it.

“C’mon one dance isn’t going to hurt.”

I sighed and nodded. He smiled big and led me toward the dance floor. I passed my plate into the hands of someone standing nearby; I think it might have been Jason. I didn’t care. My eyes were fully on Jack as he led me into the dance. Thankfully, it wasn’t one of those slow ones. We started to thrive to the music. I’m not sure how I knew how to dance but somehow I found myself mimicking the girls around me. It was crazy. I got so caught up in it that I danced through two songs without even realizing it. When it got to the third song, the music stopped for a moment.

“Karaoke time folks” shouted the DJ “who’s the first victim?”

There was surprisingly, a lot of shouts for Ashley. The crowd parted as she walked up onto the little stage and then cheered. She blushed in embarrassment then she took the mike. As soon as she opened her mouth---belting out one of Taylor Swift’s songs---it was like the whole crowd was entranced. Especially the guys. I had to admit she had an absolutely gorgeous voice, it was no wonder everyone wanted to hear her sing. I was so caught up in it I didn’t even notice when Jack pulled me close to him and we started dancing again. This time though it was the way a couple should dance. I found myself putting my arms around his neck and his hands ended up on my waist.

I rested my head on his chest. It was kind of nice. Weird but nice.

“I wish you’d worn a dress,” he said after a moment or two.

“Me too” I found myself saying.

Ashley’s song ended but we didn’t stop dancing. She started singing again, I’m not sure what it was and I didn’t care. Jack and I got lost to the song. It was almost perfect. I say almost because he ruined it when he put his hand on my chin, tilted my head back and kissed me. He took me by complete surprise. For a moment, I was lost to it then it registered exactly what he just did. As soon as that happened, I felt a rush of anger. I pulled away quickly, my fingers tingling. I wanted to tear him from limb to limb; the anger that tore through me was so intense I felt like I was going to pop. Jack actually took a step back, staring dumbfounded at me. I nearly struck him but instead I pushed him away, scared of what I might do.

Tears stung my eyes and I stormed through the crowd. I pushed people out of my way as I went. I heard Jack shout my name but I ignored him. Why is it that he always tried to ruin the perfect moment? Why couldn’t he just let things go as they were. He was a fucking idiot and I hated him.

I found myself in the back of the room. I’m not sure how I got there but thankfully there was a fire exit nearby. Without thinking, I pushed the door open, an irritating buzz sounded and I was outside. It was some kind of alley behind the building. The first thing I noticed was the smell from the dumpster. The second thing I noticed was how damn cold it was. The only thing I didn’t notice was the fact that I wasn’t alone. There was a streetlight at the end of the alley, which cast a dim light down it. For a moment, I was alone to cry and catch my thoughts, cursing Jack for being such an ass then the light was blocked.

I looked down the alley, wondering who it could be.

“Look I’m sure you think it’s really cool to gawk at the miserable crying girl but trust me when I say this, I’m really not in the mood.”

The person didn’t say anything. Instead, he took a step further into the alley. I groaned. Clearly, this guy was either deaf as a doornail or the dumbest, stupidest fuck. Whatever it was, I definitely wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. I wiped my tears, straightened myself and spun to face him.

“Look I told you to fuck off. If you really want to start something, I’m willing to give you everything I have”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” said the guy, in a very familiar voice.

That voice sent a chill down my spine.

Shit, it was Scar Face.

He took a step closer and as he did, I saw the double flash of his blades.

“You’re quite the runner Sunshine,” he said as he walked further toward me. “But this time there’s no place to run anymore.”

I snapped around to the door, pulling on the handle but it was stuck. No, not stuck, locked. Who the hell designed an emergency door that locked from the inside? I cursed and decided to look for another way. I turned my back on Scar Face for a split second and found the alley had two ends. I smiled and started to run away from him. I got only about five feet before another figure stepped in my path. It was Baldy, Scar Face’s partner. Shit, I’d forgotten all about him. Baldy raised his hand, a ball of blue flame appeared in it. I’m not sure how these two could do magic like that and right now I didn’t care. Right now, all I cared about was finding a way to survive this.

“You’re done Princess,” said Baldy who was practically on top of me now. “Why don’t you save both of us the trouble and come quietly this time. We promise not to hurt you.”

I spit at him. “Like with my friend. You guys possessed him. What about trying to run me off the road yesterday, trying to kill me and my parents as well. Were you trying not to hurt me then as well?”

Scar Face scoffed. “I told you she wasn’t an idiot. The boss said this one wasn’t a moron.”

The Boss? So these guys were working for someone?

“Taggert, shut it,” said Baldy “or else this is going to find your face.”

“Fuck off Miles.”

Well at least I had names to go with their ugly faces now. Not that it mattered, I was pretty certain neither one of them was going to let me live to tell anyone. I closed my eyes, tearing up again even though I tried not to. I tried to think, tried to remember exactly how I brought forth my magic last time. It had something to do with anger. Jack got me angry, so did Troy. I tried to think about those two, hoping that it was enough to jumpstart whatever it was that I could do. I felt a slight tingle in my fingertips but nothing happened. I tried harder, putting everything I had into it but still nothing. I opened my eyes and cursed.

Baldy---Miles---was right behind me now.

“See that wasn’t so hard” he said, making the fireball go away. “You’re not going to run anymore, right?”

He put his hand on my shoulder, giving it a rough squeeze. It hurt like hell.

I felt an intense anger build up inside of me. The tingling in my body was overwhelming and yet nothing happened. Why didn’t anything happen. Before it always happened, why wasn’t it now. What was different this time? What was holding me back? It clicked the moment I realized it. I knew what was holding me back; I knew what was holding me in actually. I cursed then I smiled as I reached up and grabbed the pendant. It was supposed to suppress things, keep them from whatever. I’d completely forgotten about it.

“You fucks picked the wrong night” I said and pulled the pendant off my neck.

As soon as I did, I threw it at Taggert. He jumped back, expecting something more dangerous. As soon as he did, I felt an overwhelming surge of power. It must have been some kind of buildup because it came out like a blast. I’m not sure what happened but there was this giant flash of intense white light. I screamed out in pain. There was other screaming too, I think it was Miles. He was after all holding me when it happened. The flash only happened for a second and when it subsided, I managed to open my eyes. I snapped around, looking for Miles first. He was on the ground, about twenty feet down the alley. I could see smoke coming off his clothes, I could also smell ozone.

Miles was groaning so I knew I didn’t kill him.

“What the fuck was that?” gasped Taggert. “What the hell did you do you little bitch?”

I snapped back around to his direction.

He was on his knees, his arm covering his eyes.

“You guys couldn’t leave me alone,” I said, advancing on him. “I told you to fuck off and you just didn’t get the hint. Today is my birthday you know and you just made it one of my worst ones ever.”

Anger flared, my fist glowed and I slammed it into the back of his head.

The blow flattened him to the pavement, knocking him out cold.

I was numb after that. I found myself stepping over Taggert’s fallen form, blundering my way toward the end of the alley. Out in the street, I walked toward the front of the community hall. I’m not sure how far I got before I couldn’t take it anymore. I collapsed to my knees soon after, tears and pain overwhelming. I’m not sure who it was but I felt arms around me a second later, someone was talking soothing words to me then I was lifted off my feet. My rescuer was strong. I cried into his chest and the world seemed to melt away after that.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF