Just to let you know, it might be a bit rough, and it might take me a while to finish it, if at all, but i'll try hard! XD I have all summer, so i might get it done, no promises.

Okay, i hope you like it so far, give me reviews, alright?? I know, i know it's not very long . . .

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Speech Impairments

Chapter One

Whoever spells bologna like this is crazy! Kat thought as she looked over the meat section in the grocery store. Cub Foods, one of the biggest supermarkets in, well, Minnesota she supposed. At the very back, secluded almost, it was the worst place to be. No help – not that she could ask for it – and no one, well, practically no on, would hear her scream if she was attacked – not that she could scream . . . she'd love to scream her lungs out if someone attacked , she just – couldn't.

Bologna, she thought again, shaking her head, and feeling like she was about to laugh hysterically. Why not baloney? Looking around, she searched around . . .cheese . . . yogurt . . . butter . . .where's the Parmesan? Or was she supposed to get mozzarella? She waited, then shrugged. Parmesan she supposed. Looking around, she had no clue where to even start looking for that. Dang, I can't even ask someone to help me find this crap!

That's when everything happened too quickly for her to calculate. There was a crash, and a sound like wind. Someone caught a hold of Kat's arms, twisting one behind her. A sharp stick was pointed at her neck. If she could've, she would've laughed, saying, "A stick?! You've got to be kidding. That's, like, so Medieval!"

Whoever it was was strong. Not exactly strong like, "watch me lift this fifty pound weight!" but strong in "Look! I just uprooted a tree!" way. It was not humanly possible that he was . . . well, human. The grip on her arm, though, was painful enough. She only managed a cough to let him know it hurt, then wiggled a little. The blood seemed to have quit flowing to her wrist altogether.

"Stop, right there, Vic. You can't save every pitiful little human that you pathetically want to, now, can you? This one just might die." His voice was husky. It sounded mature, but not exactly like a full-grown man. So, a teenager then . . . maybe I can take him out myself. She was surprised at herself for not being scared to die. Maybe it's because of my curse . . .

Not bothering to look at whoever Vic was, Kat struck out, kicking the teen holding her in the shin. He faltered, swearing and slightly released his grip on her arm. Tearing away, she launched herself towards the fleeing crowds of people. Somehow, inside, Kat knew that he wasn't human, so that's how he did it instantly. He was standing in front of her, stick in hand, smiling beautifully, blocking her exit. Why her? Why was she the one that he was trying to get to? What's so special about me?

"Where you going, pretty?" Bright turquoise eyes bored into her violet ones. Dark brown, mussed up hair covered his forehead. High cheekbones and cold features looked at her. There was a sort of malice about the way he held himself. As if he was better than everyone. He wore a dark navy T-shirt and black pants with large pockets. Kat was glad she wore a long sleeve shirt with thumb holes today. His skin looked about as cold as his features. A shiver racked her body as she looked at him, but her fear was buried deep. She was just trying to find someway to get out of his way.

"Too scared to talk?" he prompted, stepping closer. Dumb ass, doesn't even know I can't talk! Kat took a step back, looking determined. She hoped that this Vic guy would grab her away, but that was too much to ask for. She saw him jerk a little right before he moved. She dodged as fast as she could, then took off again, right for the next aisle. He was in front of her again. Looking angrier.

"Look here, kid," he snapped. Kat stared at his large canine teeth, "Either we're going to do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Hard way, forever. Kat backed up, looking around for some kind of weapon. Why me? What am I to you? She ended up grabbing a chocolate squeeze bottle, opened it up, spraying him (or trying to) and then chucking the bottle at him. He was too fast for her, though. He caught her around the waist, and latched onto her arm.

"Okay, let's try . . . something else. I'll make you scream, instead! How about that, Vic?" the teen said. He walked a little ways away, then yanked her back. Kat's shoulder wrenched, gasping in pain, she stumbled.

"Vic, I'm going to make you watch her scream in pain. Then, I'm going to leave without anyone following me, or she dies. Then your little 'plan' to help the humans is going to plunder, quickly."

Kat could finally see who Vic was. He had the same amazingly beautiful features as the teen, but altered differently. He had dirty blond hair, green eyes, and a kind of worried arch about his eyebrows. He was worried about her, she realized. Every movement of his body expressed extreme caution.

"Damien, listen. You know that power shouldn't be used like this. Let the innocent girl go. What did she do to you? Nothing. That's right. Let her go, and then . . . I'll talk, okay? We can rationalize like adults – "

"Shut up!" the stick was back at her throat. She rolled her eyes, and Vic caught the movement. He gave her a funny look.

"Are you okay?" Vic asked her. Kat's eyebrows went up in surprise, but she quickly winced as Damien tightened his grip on her.

"Idiot, she's going to scream. She's scared silly. Just wait. Then you'll wish you had done anything to provoke me," Damien snarled. He wrenched on Kat's arm. Tears sprung instantly to her eyes, but she couldn't whimper a sound. Damien growled, not very happy with her reaction. Wrenching again, Kat heard a sickening snap, and pain lanced up her arm. She opened her mouth in a soundless scream, and let the tears overflow onto her cheeks. They fell off her face, splattering on the floor. Vic looked in amazement while Damien seemed furious.

The dark teen spun her around, growling at her face, "Why don't you scream?! Is it because I want you to?!You pitiful human, scream!" He wrenched on her broken arm again, and she gritted her teeth, because that was all she could do. Her knees went weak, and she fell. It wasn't like she was trying to look weak. She really wanted to stand there, and look like she was tough enough to out-wit him, but she just didn't have the strength anymore.

"Give it up, Damien. Not everyone is going to do what you want," Vic smirked, though his expression was trained on Kat, "She won't scream. In a few minutes, we'll have you. Give it up."

"Never!" he spit. Then Kat was pushed forward, right into Vic, as Damien ran. She didn't even get to see where he went he was so fast. On top of that, she'd landed on her arm, and the pain was enough to make her black out.

"You know what I love about you?" the voice was saying to her. She turned around and around, but couldn't find where it was coming from.

"What?" she asked. Kat smiled as she heard her voice for the first time in three years, "What is so special about me?"

"You don't know it yet, but we're a team," the voice responded.

"A team?" she smiled flirtatiously, "What kind of team?"

"A powerful team. You and I, forever. You and I, we can help the world or hinder it."

Kat smirked. Whoever this was, was an idiot. She didn't have any special powers. She was a human. "Why would I hinder the world?"

"We can rule it together. Forever."

"Rule?" shivers ran down her spine, "Why would I want to rule the world?"

"To have everyone at your mercy . . . who wouldn't want that? And if you don't help the winning side, you lose."

"You have to . . . try," she said, the shivers wracking her body. This was becoming a nightmare.

"You're going to. You can't escape destiny," the voice said, then laughed. The shivers continued, and she started breathing heavily. Then she stumbled as she turned, and fell.

Waking up with a jerk, Kat sat up, but to her dismay was overcome with nausea, and had to lie back down. Looking around, the room was just like a hospital room, except there was something about it . . . that was, she didn't know. Off maybe.

Where am I? she wondered. No one was here, though, to answer her unspoken question.

"The Hidden World's base." Vic came through the door, looking all golden and heroic. Normally, Kat's heart would've thumped at the beauty of him, and would've immediately gone into flirt-mode, but she stayed the same.

Something is different with me. What happened? Why am I here? How can you read my thoughts? she asked, shaking slightly.

"It's okay. You're safe," Vic said, coming over to stand by her bed, and put his hand on her shoulder. She winced, moving out from under him.

How can you hear my thoughts? Why am I here?

"Any human doctor would ask questions about what happened. Listen, I have to explain. You can't know about us. You can't know about the Hidden World. It's forbidden. I'm going to have to – "

I already know about the Hidden World. It's okay. How can you hear my thoughts?

"I'm, well. I'm a very powerful vampire. I can . . . just read thoughts. How do you know about the Hidden World?"

Powerful? She snorted, Hardly. And you aren't supposed to hear my thoughts. Morga made it so.

"Morga? Who's that?"

Nothing! I shouldn't have said . . . thought anything. You shouldn't be in my mind. GET OUT!! Kat put up a barrier, forcing him out. She hadn't realized that he had actually been invading her space.

"How can you do that?!" he asked, open mouthed. She pouted, looking towards the window. "Right, you can't answer any more. Here," he handed her a pad of paper and a pencil.

I just can.

"That's no answer."

Neither is 'I'm a powerful vampire'. *snorts* What a load of crap.

"How do you know that stuff? You know more than I do, and I'm from the Hidden World!" Vic asked, his voice rising in pitch.

Oh, don't get into a hissy fit. I just know, okay? There shouldn't have to be and explanation. Who is Damien, and what am I to him? I can help you guys! I know stuff!

"That's a bit of a problem," Vic scratched his head, then sat on the edge of the bed. He looked almost tired. "I don't know why you, and he is – was – my best friend. He got the Power, and I didn't, so he thinks he's better than the rest. The only thing, he doesn't know that he can save this city from impending doom. Or he does know, and wants all the humans to die, and the vampires to rule again."

Sounds . . . awful, Kat wrote. She was wondering about all this stuff, when someone else came in. Looking up, Kat recognized who it was. Pez, one of her best friends.

"I came to – oh, I didn't know it was you, Kat!" Pez ran over, hugging Kat enthusiastically, "Well, I was supposed to brain wipe you, but, hey. It's you! So I don't have to!" Kat just nodded into her shoulder.

"Why does she know so much about Hidden World?" Vic asked her, standing up tall and proud.

"Well . . ." Pez looked over at Kat, smiled, then looked at Vic, "I don't really know. She's never told me!"

Vic whirled on Kat, "How –?!"

"Look, it started after she lost her voice," Pez said, ruffling her blond hair, and flirting with him. Kat looked at her, and did the little sign-language that she knew.

I'll kill you! And quit flirting! Pez blushed, and Vic looked at her quizzically.

"What did she say? Besides the 'kill you' part, that's obvious."

"Uh, nothing," Pez said, looking at Kat with distaste, but love, "She's being mean to me, that's all."

"Okay, well what happened when she lost her voice? I mean, how did she lose it?" Vic turned to Pez, ignoring Kat.

Pez shrugged, "I, uh, don't really know. She just couldn't talk one day, and then she wrote on a piece of paper that she knew I was a vampire."

"And you agreed? Right away?" Vic asked, astonished.

"Well, no!" Pez pouted, "At first I laughed. Laughed my ass off. Well, I thought that was a good cover. I told her she'd watched 'Twilight' way to many times! Then, she told me she knew, well, because she's never seen me eat anything, which is true, and then she described all the rest." Pez paused, embarrassed, "I'm not going to describe the rest. That's just . . . insane!"

"Okay, but did she tell you how?!" Vic asked.

Pez sighed, exasperated, "I already told you, 'no!' What more do you need to know?"

"Well, you see . . . she's a human and so she can't know, so you have to brain wipe her," Vic argued.

You can't do that, Kat wrote, scribbling as fast she could, If I forget, I'll never get my voice back!

"The only way we can help you for you to tell us what happened," Vic sighed, looking at Pez as if for help.

"Uh, Kat . . ." Pez looked at her, giving her the "you'd better do as you're told" look, "Can't you just tell us what happened all those years ago?"

I can't!!!!! Kat wrote as big as she could, Get that into your thick little heads!!! I can't!! I was _______, so I can't!!! The . . . person . . . that did this made it so I couldn't tell you anything. I can't even write, obviously, because that's my only means of communication!

Vic sighed heavily and Pez looked as if she understood some. Kat looked between them, and wondered just exactly what was going to happen to her. Kat wasn't quite sure if Vic was going to dump her out on the street with her memory erased, or lock her up somewhere where she couldn't tell anyone anything. Pez would sure argue her case, but ultimately, she was against the whole Hidden World rules.

"Listen, we can't have you on the streets, able to tell anyone about—"

"Kat is not a criminal, and she has been on the streets for three years! Besides, she can't tell anyone! She can't talk!" Pez yelled at him, all of her previous flirtatiousness gone.

"I'm not saying that she's a—"

"Of course not," Pez snorted, giving him a look.

"Alright, she can go free, but I'm just warning you, if anyone catches her—"

"No one will. They haven't yet," Pez laughed. She gave Kat a hug, and then looked hard at Vic, "You did know that her parents are going to be worried about her."

"Uh . . ." he looked away, uncomfortably.

"You're an idiot," Pez shook her head, "C'mon, Kat. Let's go. We don't need anyone like him!" She turned to him, saying, "And to think I liked you for a minute!" Kat got up slowly, letting Pez support her. She was, luckily, still wearing her clothes from . . . earlier or yesterday?

Poking Pez, Kat tried her best to ask what day it was in sign language, which was hard considering that she didn't really know sign language at all. She just wasn't into doing that, specifically because the witch that had put the speaking curse on her said she would get her voice back. It was in a rhyme that Kat didn't really understand, but it went like this:

Two from different worlds

Meet in ways

unbelievable to man.

It may take a while

but when in love,

and serious trouble

will she talk again.

Now, whatever kind of guy she was going to fall in love with had better save her, because if she died, then she was going to come back as a ghost and kill him, not that she knew if there were ghosts, but she had been up for anything ever since she'd met a witch. And how they met? It had better not be anything embarrassing, because then she wasn't quite sure whether she'd be able to face him, much less love him.

"Yeah, yeah, it's still the same day," Pez sighed. Watching Pez walk in front of her, Kat wished her a normal life, at least as normal as a vampire's life could be.