Thanks again to fieryjunior35 for jolting me awake. xD

By the way, the contest in my other story, "Forever", is still up! I pushed back the deadline to early April. Please enter!

Here you will find out Ysa's real story. I think this should clear your minds up a bit. :)

Disclaimer: Title, plot, Ysa/Aaron Valdez = mine :)

"Can't turn back, now I'm haunted

Stood there and watched you walk away

From everything we had

But I still mean every word I said to you." –Haunted by Taylor Swift

"Aaron… how long do we have to stay here?"

All he could see was a girl's back turned to him. It was a cool summer night, and they were both dressed in silk pajamas. She was sitting beside him, letting the grass brush her fingers. "I don't know," he admitted, "but I don't think it will be long."

"You mean it?" Her voice showed a hint of doubt.

"Don't you trust me?"

"I'm just asking."

"And so am I." He tried to make her face him, but she seemed glued to that position; he couldn't budge her, not even nudge her.

He heard her sigh. "This place feels weird. Like we're outsiders. Different from the rest."

"Didn't you always like to be different?" he asked.

There was a pause before she answered. "Not in this way." She got up to leave, and he immediately lunged forward to grab her wrist. "You can't leave me," he insisted.

She pulled her wrist free, her back still turned to him. "I can." Then she ran, turned into a tiger, and dashed into the thick woods.

Aaron Valdez sat up with a jolt. He immediately turned on the lights and remembered that he was in his very comfortable bed enjoying a good night's sleep, and everything was just a dream.

That night was still fresh in his mind—her tone of doubt, her decision, everything. They were only ten at that time, accidentally stumbling into the Vesper camp and being accepted. But the officials didn't know about Ysa being a tiger, a Cahill Shapeshifter. For some reason, she had transformed first. Then before he could become a tiger, the Vespers stopped it and forced him to be a panther. Now every time he transformed, he experienced pain as his nails turned into claws, and as his teeth grew longer.

He sat up and ran a hand through his tousled black hair. How was his sister (who was younger than him by only a few seconds)? What was she doing? Was she okay? He desperately wanted to talk to her, but he would be in big trouble if anyone else in camp found out, especially the commander's daughter, who was his new stalker.

"You can't leave me," he had told her.

But she'd freed herself and said, "I can."

Since that fateful night six years ago, they never talked to each other again. He remembered feeling so angry the next day, so angry and hurt and frustrated that he skipped training for the whole day.

She was the one who made the decision, the decision that caused them all this trouble. It was all her fault.

A glance at her cell phone clock told Ysa that it was a little past midnight. She couldn't sleep anymore. Carefully tiptoeing over the other Representatives, she made her way out of the tent and into the breezy night.

The moon was still there, and so were the stars. She remembered trying to connect the dots and figure out the constellations, staying up late at night just to do so. Sometimes she'd even bring a book on constellations with her. Or her brother would sit beside her and help her.

She blinked away the tears. She only left him because he was already becoming too influenced by the Vespers, and she couldn't do anything about it except leave. And her choice still haunted her.

A rustle in the bushes made her turn. She started backing away slowly when she saw the pair of amber eyes staring at her. But these eyes showed some kindness, like it wanted to be friends.

Turned out that "it" was a "he". A boy a bit taller than Ysa stepped out, his dark yellow eyes glinting. "Hello," he said.

She pursed her lips. "I really don't know if I should hug you or punch you."

"You aren't strong anymore," he noticed, sounding sad, almost pitiful. "You wouldn't be able to take me."

He knew she was struggling to stay calm: the way she shifted her weight from her right foot to her left, the dimming spark in her eyes; it was all too obvious. He knew her too well.

"Why are you here?" she asked, changing the subject like she always did when she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I just left camp for a walk and ended up here."

Her eyes narrowed. "Uh-huh."

He raised his eyebrows. "Why don't you believe me? It's been six years and I wasn't the one who split us up."

She winced. "I only did that because of you," she defended. "You were already acting too much like them! That's not who we are! We're Cahills, members of the most influential family in the world—"

"Not just influential," he interrupted. "Most dysfunctional too. But Vespers aren't. We always act as one."

"Suit yourself," she said. "And I know you'll regret all of this someday." She turned and ran back to her tent, the same way she did when she left him in the Vesper camp.

Breakfast the next morning was quiet. It was two days till Ian, Amy, Sinead, Hamilton, Reagan, Jonah, Lois, and Ysa left for Corregidor: December 29.

"You went out last night," Lois guessed, taking one look at her cousin's face.

Ysa didn't even bother to defend herself. She simply nodded.

"He was there, wasn't he?"

"Watching through the bushes in partial mode," she agreed.

"Who was watching through the bushes in partial mode?" Dan asked, unintentionally hearing that bit.

Lois answered for her cousin: "A Vesper."

All eyes turned to look at them. "What about the Vespers?" Eisenhower Holt growled, holding a sandwich centimeters away from his mouth.

"I met a Vesper last night," Ysa whispered, suddenly taking interest in her Styrofoam cup of hot chocolate.

"What did he look like?" Ian asked.

Pain flashed in her eyes. "Wearing all black. Panther's eyes."

"Panthers are one of the Vesper animals," Fiske said, "along with falcons, eagles, lions, foxes, and ospreys."

"Their animals all sound… powerful," Amy murmured.

"They are," Ysa said. "Believe me. When they train, they destroy almost all of the training equipment. When they have tempers, they destroy everything in sight."

Natalie frowned. "How did you find that out?"

She avoided the Snake Princess' piercing gaze. "I… I've been inside their camp before," she stammered.

"Why?"

"Because my brother, Aaron Valdez, is a Vesper, and he was the one who destroyed the Grounds."

Shock, anger, and frustration washed over them. (Eisenhower Holt was bellowing the loudest.)

"Silence!" Fiske yelled, and everyone shut up, but still gave Ysa the occasional cold, angry, hate-filled glare.

The Phoenix King looked kindly at the poor Representative. "Why don't you tell us the full story, Ysa?"

She took a sip of her hot chocolate. "Okay."

Fiske looked everyone in the eye, his glance conveying the same message to all: No one will react until it's over. Let her speak.

"I'll start from the very start, in case some of you have forgotten some parts," she said. They nodded.

"I was your average eight-year-old with a twin brother older by a few seconds. I was the one who transformed first; he started when he was ten, two years later. Strange, I know.

"I got kicked out—or thrown out—of the house, actually. It was only me and not Aaron. But since he couldn't stand being with Lucille or our parents and he cared about me too much, he went with me."

She sighed. "We went up north. We went down south. We went east, west, and every other direction you could imagine. It was hard, as if you were a fugitive being hunted down. And everyone knows the Philippine streets aren't exactly the safest."

Those who had spent quite some time in the Philippines nodded their agreement. "Pickpockets, snatchers, hold-ups, and of course, murder," Ian muttered.

"All kinds of crimes," Ysa agreed, "and different styles. I won't go into the details, though."

Amy shuddered and locked eyes with Dan, who was turning a little pale.

"Anyway, we were on the run for two years—not consistently, though. Occasionally this nice fellow would stumble across our tent and offer to take us in, and we'd immediately agree. Always. Then a few days later, we'd leave. We don't like burdening others with our problems.

"While we were still looking for a new place to live, we came across this field, which was weird, since Manila didn't have any fields. Fields were only seen in provinces like those on the way to Baguio," she said. "So we decided to investigate. And we walked right into the Vesper camp.

"We caught glimpses of the training sessions: absolutely bloody, downright gruesome. Like the Hunger Games when Cato got devoured by the mutts," she mused. "Anyway, I was immediately disgusted, while Aaron seemed intrigued and interested. So I left him there.

"Then I crept over to the houses there. Yes, there are houses," she said, seeing Madison's mouth open. "They're for the Shapeshifters. There's this mark on their doors that tells the high officers what animals are in there." She frowned, thinking hard, trying to remember what the symbols were. "I can't really remember those symbols, but there's one for each Vesper animal. I'm sure of that.

"Not long after, we were caught."

"By who?" Ted asked.

"By the commander himself and his daughter, who's the same age as us," she answered. "But they didn't get mad at us. They invited us into their mansion, asked us the basic questions, and gave us something to eat and drink. They were very nice and friendly.

"Turns out the commander's daughter is a falcon. I've seen her transform, and I've gotta say, she has very sharp talons. Just a heads-up," she said. "Her name is Katarina."

"Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" Natalie asked. "We could've taken the Vespers down a long time ago and we wouldn't be worrying about them right now."

"No one asked, Princess," Ysa said quietly. "And it's hard for me."

"Continue your story, Ysa," Fiske prompted.

She nodded. "Katarina was nice to Aaron, but mean to me. She'd snap at me, comment on everything I do, give unsolicited advice—all that crap. So I ignored her.

"Of course, the only one I could really trust at that time was Aaron, so I talked to him. I told him about Katarina, and he understood how difficult it was for me. He knew I was already having a lot of problems.

"But he told me his thoughts and opinion. He wanted to stay." She stopped to drink the rest of her not-so-hot chocolate. "I was surprised with him, actually, but I gave in. Then I asked him how long we were going to stay. 'I don't know, but it won't be long,' he told me.

"I doubted him. I didn't bother to hide the doubt in my voice. He noticed it immediately and got mad at me. That was when I decided to leave him there. I left him there, then I made my way here." She was blinking back tears in her eyes. "I was the one who made us turn against each other. By 'us' I'm referring to me and Aaron."

The other Shapeshifters watched her wipe away her tears. "So on the night of the Christmas Ball, he came and talked to me and Lois," she said. "After that, he burned everything down. Now we just hate each other more and more."

She pulled her knees up to her chest and put her head on her knees. A gentle breeze blew, making a paper plate fly away, but Gabrielle caught it.

Then one by one, they all got up and headed back into their tents.

Okay, so here you found out Ysa's story. The other characters (both original Cahills and OCs included) will reveal their own tales in future chapters. And more Journal entries will be included. I hope this will clear things up.

I guess this is my longest update (as of now)… :) Please keep the reviews coming!

-TCDW