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September, 2011

"Oh, how sweet!" Jenny exclaimed. Chris and I both blushed while she and Tammy laughed. I could tell those two were going to get along all too well.

I really was tired, and still had homework to do, so I suggested we get something to eat before getting down to work. Bobby volunteered to get pizza. TJ went with him once we all agreed on what we wanted. The rest of us found a table and sat.

They were all talking while I leaned against Chris and rested. I must have dozed off since I was awoken by the smell of pepperoni.

"Time to eat sleepy-head!" Jenny exclaimed right next to my ear. I jumped with a squeal, my wings hitting something in the process. Jenny squealed and landed on the grass in front of me, Chris stumbling into view on my other side.

"Sorry!" I said, realizing I'd hit both of them.

Chris had managed not to hit the ground, "I'm fine, and she asked for it. Don't worry." he said.

Jenny stuck her tongue out at him and smiled apologetically at me, "Sorry. Guess I'll have to be more careful about startling you with those wings."

"You could just not do that stuff you know." TJ said with a laugh.

Jenny sniffed dramatically, "What fun would that be?"

Everyone laughed and settled down to eat. We talked about classes, family and whatever else came to mind as we got to know each other better. Bobby was still distant, though. I was sure there was some secret associated with his powers that he wasn't sharing.

Once we were done eating I decided I needed to get some homework done and call my parents. They'd be upset if I waited too long to call. They were expecting this to happen, after all.

Chris gave me a toe curling kiss before leaving. I was walking on air on my way back to the dorm with Jenny. Tammy and Em shared an apartment nearby, so they caught a ride with Bobby.

"Hey, earth to Liz!" Jenny whispered, bumping into me with her shoulder. When I glanced over I saw that she wasn't smiling. In fact, she looked worried.

"What is it Jenny?" I asked.

She glanced around furtively before saying, "I think your stalker is back."

I looked around as well but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Where?" I asked.

She shrugged, "I don't know. I just have a funny feeling."

"It's probably just your imagination. Come on, I need to call my parents before I get started on my homework." I said, wrapping an arm around her waist to reassure her.

Jenny smiled weakly, "Yeah, you're probably right."

We made it back to our dorm without incident. I said goodnight to Jenny and went to my room. I didn't say anything to her, but I was getting a bad feeling too. But I shook it off as my imagination and called my parents.

Mom answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Hi Mom, how are you?" I said.

"Liz, is that you? You sound different." she said.

"Yeah, I went Wyld last night." I said, smiling as I thought about what it had given me.

"Really?! You sound good, does that mean...?" she asked, trailing off.

"Yep!" I chirped, "I'm all better now!"

"That's wonderful!" she enthused, then obviously not towards the phone, "Dave, get in here! Elizabeth is on the phone!"

A moment later Mom switched the phone over to speaker so she and Dad could hear me. "So, will we recognize you when we see you next?" Dad asked.

I glanced at the mirror, "Uh, maybe not. I've got more delicate features now with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. And wings."

I held my breath during the silence that followed, despite my certainty they would handle it well. Finally, Mom said, "But you're 100% female now, right?"

I laughed, "Yes, 100%. I was checked by a doctor and everything."

"Why were you seeing a doctor? Going Wyld doesn't usually involve a doctor." Dad said worriedly.

"I passed out when I went Wyld, but I'm fine. I woke a few hours later and the doctor gave me a clean bill of health." I said, hoping he didn't go on one of his worrying kicks.

"Well, if the doctor said you're alright. But if you feel off at all I want you to get back to that doctor immediately!" Dad said.

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, Dad."

"And don't roll your eyes at your father." Mom added with laughter in her tone.

"Yes, Mother." I said, rolling my eyes again.

"So, how do you feel about the wings?" Dad asked hesitantly.

"I don't mind, really. They're awkward at times, but I already found out I can really fly! I'll need some practice before I want to try flying home or something like that, but I can fly!" I said, bubbling over. I was a little surprised at how happy I was about being able to fly. It's not like I'd ever given it much thought or anything.

"I'm glad you're so happy, dear. How about your friends? How are they handling it?" Mom said. She sounded a little teary. She'd consoled me more than once when the fact I could never have children was shoved in my face so she knew how important that was for me.

"They're great. Chris was apologetic at first because he thought he was responsible, though." I said, laughing a little at the memory.

"Why on Earth would he think he was responsible?" Mom asked.

"He calls me Angel a lot and, well, I look like an angel now! I think I've gotten him over his little guilt trip, though." I said.

Mom laughed, "Men can be so insecure sometimes!"

"Jess!" Dad whined.

"Oh, you know I'm kidding!" she replied, still laughing.

There was a pause while she composed herself before she asked, "What about your teachers? Are any of them giving you trouble?"

"Not really. I got stared at a lot in my first class and Mr. Greenwood kind of went ballistic when he found out I was in his class. He locked the door where the room is normally open, but he still opened it in time for class. All he did was glare at me after that." I said.

"Is he going to be a problem?" Dad asked worriedly.

"I don't think so. And I've got some friends in that class now." I said.

"Oh, new friends?" Mom asked with interest.

I laughed, "Yeah, it was because of Mr. Greenwood that we met, really. They came early like I did so they ended up sitting with me until Mr. Greenwood unlocked the door for class."

"Sounds like things are going well for my little angel." Mom said impishly. Dad groaned.

"Yeah, I thought it would be worse when I found out I had wings. But it's been pretty good so far." I said after rolling my eyes again.

"But...?" Mom said. Somehow she always picked up on it when I was holding something back.

"It's probably nothing." I said dismissively.

"Liz?" Dad asked.

I sighed, "Alright. I was walking with Em, one of my new friends that's an empath, and Chris when Em sensed someone following us. She said they were 'weird', which from her probably means unbalanced or something. She thought they were focused on one of us and I assumed it was me because of the wings."

"They? There's more than one stalker?!" Dad exclaimed, already jumping to the worst possible scenario as I knew he would.

"We don't know Dad. We never saw anybody, Em just sensed them. And Jenny and I thought we were being followed earlier, but that's probably just us being paranoid after what Em told us." I replied. I knew he'd freak out. I just hoped he didn't decide to come down and act as my bodyguard or something. He could get kind of overprotective that way.

"I want you to stay close to this empath friend whenever you can, along with your other friends." Mom said sternly. "Being an Angelic Wyld isn't as bad as some, but there are still plenty of people out there who would want to hurt you just because you're Wyld."

"Don't worry Mom, I'll be careful." I said.

"Maybe I should come down for a visit..." Dad started to say, before getting shushed by Mom.

"Following her around is just going to get you in trouble, dear." Mom told him. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, obviously talking to me now.

"Yeah, I am. I'm whole now, which is wonderful! The wings aren't that bad, really. And I have four new friends. Things are pretty good here." I said with a smile.

"And a boyfriend you love, right?" Mom added.

"Well, yeah." I admitted, blushing.

"Leave the poor girl alone, Jess." Dad chided. To me he said, "And you be careful, Angel, or I'll be coming down and acting as your shadow no matter what kind of trouble I might get in over it."

"Yes Dad." I said with a sigh, though I knew he meant every word. He wasn't the kind of Dad that cleaned his gun while the boy friend was visiting. He polished his Japanese sword collection instead. I think that was scarier for them.

"You probably have homework to get to, so we'll let you go now." Mom said. We said our 'I love you's and I hung up. As I knew they would, they took my going Wyld in stride like they did everything else. It's nice to have such cool parents. Even if they could be a little overprotective at times.

Concentrating on homework was a little easier after that, but I still worried about my stalker. Had he really been following Jenny and I earlier, or were we just being paranoid like I told Mom? I hoped it was the latter.

---

My life fell into a new routine after that. If Jenny wasn't bugging me first thing in the morning, it was Em. Even Tammy took a turn or two. They all seemed to be morning people; or acted the part well. It was really annoying at times but they always brought me a hot drink to help me wake up so I forgave them. Plus, I knew they were all worried about me over the stalker situation.

That was, unfortunately, part of the routine. Em sensed him almost everyday but none of us were ever able to spot him. Which was weird, especially after TJ went Wyld and got super fast reflexes. He would snap around whenever Em indicated she sensed him but even he couldn't spot the guy. And we knew it was a guy now, and only one. Em was able to narrow it down that much.

The guys always went out of there way to stay close to me. Especially Chris, but I didn't mind that! We were all getting a little on edge, though. After two weeks we still didn't know who this guy was or what he wanted.

On the plus side, even Mr. Greenwood had gotten used to me and there were far fewer dirty looks directed my way. Even some of the most hostile people seemed to calm down a lot after a while. It was weird, but I wasn't complaining.

Another bonus was flying. I practiced almost every day and after the first week I felt ready to try taking someone up with me. I gave Tammy the first shot because she's the smallest and lightest and I wasn't sure how much I could actually carry. That's when I realized I'm stronger than before because Tammy was light as a feather. Well, almost.

My wings had gotten stronger with all the practice and I was able to get off the ground pretty easily, even with Tammy. She screamed at first but settled down pretty quickly. And then she screamed because she was enjoying it.

The others all reacted pretty much the same way except Chris. As expected he held onto me really tightly for the first few minutes. But after a while he was able to relax enough to enjoy the view. Although, to be honest I think he was looking at me more than anything else.

We also discussed why Em said I 'felt good' and why people were reacting better around me than any of us thought they would. Em wasn't in on the discussion at first because she was at class but she cleared it up pretty fast when she did join us.

"You project good feelings. Didn't you know that?" she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So she overwhelms the negative people with positive feelings and they stop hating because of that?!" Jenny asked incredulously.

Em shrugged, "Something like that."

Bobby snorted, "Must be nice." Scott and Tammy looked at him like there was some special meaning in his words. Just one more thing that made me think there was some secret about Bobby they were keeping from us. Not that I held it against them; but I was curious.

"But, wait," Chris said, looking confused, "why isn't this stalker guy affected the same way?"

Em crinkled her nose, "He's weird."

Chris rolled his eyes, "Can't you give me a better answer than that?"

She kind of shrank back from him a bit so I sort of wrapped one of my wings part way around her. I'd noticed it seemed to make her feel safer when she was feeling overwhelmed. She smiled shyly at me and then turned back to Chris, "His emotions are crazy. They don't make sense."

Chris sighed and relaxed, "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I guess Liz' powers don't work on crazy."

"S'okay." Em murmured.

"I think this whole situation is getting to all of us." Tammy said. "We need to do something to relax."

"Like what?" Jenny asked.

"Dancing?" Tammy suggested. "There's a club near the college that's pretty cool with Wyld. What do you say?"

"I'm in!" Jenny said immediately. TJ and Scott nodded.

"Count me out." Bobby grunted.

"Aw, come on. It'll be fun!" Jenny exclaimed.

He just grunted again and walked off in a huff. "What did I say?" Jenny asked, bewildered.

"Don't worry about him." Scott said, "He's just not good with crowds."

"I'll skip, too." Em said, looking worried that we would be upset about it.

"I guess being an empath in a busy club would kind of suck." Jenny said thoughtfully. Em just nodded with obvious relief that we understood.

"Are you sure dancing is the best idea if it leaves Em and Bobby out?" I asked Tammy.

"Em likes to be alone sometimes. I don't think she'll mind, right?" she said, looking to Em.

Em shrugged, "Sure, I'll be fine. I wanted to get some reading done anyway."

"What about Bobby?" Chris asked.

"He gets like this sometimes. Even if we'd suggested something he would normally go for he'd probably react the same. It's just the way he is." Scott said, exchanging another one of those significant glances with Tammy.

"Well, I guess that settles it then. When shall we go?" Chris said.

Fortunately it was a Saturday so we could afford to be out late, since the club didn't even open until eight. Bobby let Scott take his van so we could all ride in it. That also meant I wouldn't have to fly home.

We had a little time, so Tammy, Jenny, Em and I went shopping. I didn't have anything to wear, after all!

The mall was a little overwhelming for Em, and me with all the attention I was getting, so we went somewhere a little quieter. My parents had sent me a little money for clothes and we spent most of it.

My wardrobe got a nice boost and I found a great short dress that I could wear without it bothering my wings. Em tried on a ton of stuff, too, but she only bought one skirt. Tammy and Jenny both picked up new dresses and shoes.

After that Jenny decided we needed to really go all out and got Tammy and Em to help with my hair. That was turning out to be the worst part about having wings; my hair got tangled up with my feathers all the time! It was so bad I ended up braiding my hair most of the time.

We ended up doing the works; hair, nails, makeup and everything. Em proved surprisingly adept with both hair and makeup considering she rarely did much with hers.

Finally, we were ready. And barely in time! The guys were already getting impatient waiting for us outside Tammy and Em's place (we had to get ready there since Em didn't have any transportation and the buses didn't go that late).

But all the work was worth it! Chris' jaw fell open when he saw. I'm pretty sure TJ and Scott were properly appreciative of Jenny and Tammy, but my eyes were on Chris. He always looks good but the guys had cleaned up for this trip, too, and he was looking better than ever.

"You really are an angel!" Chris breathed when he was finally able to speak.

"Chris!" I protested, slapping his arm. He winced; I'd forgotten my new strength again, "Sorry!"

He shrugged it off and kissed me. Em complained about him messing up my makeup but I didn't care. She insisted on fixing it anyway. She hadn't even bothered with any for Jenny since we all knew she and TJ would be lip locked the moment they saw each other.

Scott and Tammy looked awkward, though. They weren't really going out, though I suspected they both wanted to.

"Let's get this show on the road." Scott said, hurriedly turning to climb back in the van. Tammy sighed and got into the passengers seat while I crawled as far into the back as I could manage to leave room for the others. One of these days I was going to find a good way to ride in a car. Somehow.

It was a tight fit, but we all got in. Thankfully the drive was short.

The club was packed! It was like everybody had the same idea we had. Or maybe it was a regular thing for a lot of the other students. Either way I wasn't sure I'd even get in with my wings.

"Are you sure this was a good idea?" Scott asked Tammy, glancing meaningfully at me.

She shrugged, "We can try, at least."

After that it was too loud to hold a conversation as we entered the club and squeezed through the mass of people. I got a lot of dirty looks because of my wings, but I did manage to navigate the crowd.

I'd never really done the club thing before so it was all new to me. I was always shy about relationships before my surgery. I had some boyfriends but never for very long since I was scared of them finding out.

Chris seemed to know what he was doing, though, so I just followed his lead.

The night went by in a whirl. It seemed like only a moment before we were leaving. All of us were exhausted but smiling.

"We definitely need to do this more often!" Tammy said, smiling shyly at Scott.

"Uh, yeah, that would be good." he agreed awkwardly.

We were about halfway to the van when it happened.

One minute we were walking along arm in arm and the next I felt an arm go around my waist and yank me backwards. I looked down but couldn't see anything.

"Shit, he's invisible!" Chris yelled, running after me. The others were right on their heels, except for TJ. He was already beside me trying to get a hold of whoever was carrying me. But then he jerked back like he'd been hit and fell.

I was so stunned I didn't react at first. But seeing TJ fall got me moving. I struggled, clawed at the arm holding me and tried to move my wings but nothing seemed to faze him.

Soon we were around a corner of the building and out of sight of the others. Then I was slammed up against the wall, my wings painfully folded behind me. I finally got a look at my attacker then as he became visible. I didn't recognize him. Just an ordinary looking guy with brown hair and eyes. Thin, fairly tall. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"Why are you fighting my love?" he asked, looking confused. "I know you love me. You show me everyday!"

"What?!" I screamed, hoping the others would hear me and find me quickly. "I don't even know you!"

"You make me feel your love everyday!" he growled.

And here I'd thought the wings would get me in trouble. Instead it's the 'happy aura' as Jenny likes to call it. "I don't have any control over that! Everybody feels it!" I said.

"Don't bother trying to talk sense into this one." Bobby said, suddenly appearing next to him. He grabbed the guy's arm that was holding me up against the wall and wrenched it aside, releasing me. I fell to my knees and looked up in surprise at Bobby.

"No, you won't keep her away from me!" the stalker screamed, aiming a fist at Bobby's head. Bobby's head was snapped to the side by the force of the blow. When he turned his face back towards the stalker his eyes had turned blood red and he had fangs barely showing in his mouth!

"SHE..." Bobby snarled, slamming the guy up against the wall, "IS..." another slam, "NOT..." he pulled him back and bared his fangs like he was about to bite him, "YOURS!!!"

"Bobby!" Scott yelled as he and the others rounded the corner. "Control yourself, man! You remember what happened last time!"

Bobby was just a centimeter or two from his neck and seemed to be struggling with himself.

"Bobby, remember your mother." Tammy said softly.

Bobby's head snapped around at that, staring angrily at Tammy. But that seemed to do the trick. He shook himself and his fangs retreated, along with the red in his eyes. He dropped the now-unconscious stalker and fell to his knees.

Chris took a look at the stalker and shook his head, "I think I recognize this guy. He's in one of my classes. Never talks to anybody that I know of."

Scott stepped next to Bobby and put his hand on his shoulder, "You okay man?" Bobby nodded weakly, looking uncertainly at me.

It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on at that point. I crawled over to him and wrapped my arms around him. He winced at first but then started crying in my arms when I said, "It's okay, I don't care if you're a Dark. You're still my friend and my hero."

We didn't get a chance to talk any after that. Apparently somebody else heard my screaming and the police were called. We told them what happened, minus the vampirism, and the stalker was hauled away with his hands handcuffed together but also to a Minotaur policeman so he wouldn't get away by going invisible.

Most of the night was spent explaining everything that happened. Scott told them Bobby came with us but didn't care for the crowds and hung around outside. We were all so exhausted by the time we were finally finished that we just went our separate ways and went to sleep.

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To Be Continued...