Prologue
Life has always been a bit different for me. I've always seen and felt things differently than most people. My mind always seemed to process things differently. I've never come up with a rational excuse for everything I feel except because I'm different.
I've never been overly superstitious or anything strange like that. I've always tried to be as normal as possible. But really, nothing about me was normal.
I read books that most would call unholy and evil. I listened to music that was explicit and had deeper meanings. I wrote poetry that scared and moved people. But mostly, I had strange dreams. Dreams of being in another person's body, wrapped in a dark cloak, moving with the shadows. There was always another person –sometimes men, sometimes women- cowering in fear, begging for mercy. My shadow would over take them. Their eyes would grow wide with terror, fighting the urge to scream. I would swoop down to them, hearing their screams in my ear and I woke with a start. Sitting up right in my bed, cold sweat dripping down my face and neck. I would always catch my breath and lay back down.
I used to have this dream maybe once a month, always the same. But lately, I've been having them once or twice a week. They change now. Sometime I would recognize the person or place. They would be a family member, a teacher or a past friend. Sometimes I caught a glimpse of my reflection in a window, but only for a moment, then it was gone. Once I actually saw what I looked like. My naturally green eyes were shinning gold and blood shot. My hair, jet black and unruly against my face. My mouth was shaped awkwardly between a snarl and a smirk. Then the image faded, never to show itself again.
Usually my life is fine, if you don't count my nightmares. I'm just your adverage teenage girl, right? Wrong.