Crystal found herself wandering around aimlessly, unsure what do to. She needed to do something...something *normal*. But couldn't seem to think of what. Then an idea occurred. Maybe check out the town the university was in, a small town on the Canadian border called Cedar Falls. There were picturesque mountains in the background, complete with snow. A weak sun was glowing dull tan in the pale sky. Maybe Bonnie or perhaps Jenny would like to go too. As long as Jenny didn't bring Tom with her. Crystal made a face.
"Hey, feeling better?"
Crystal turned to see Bonnie behind her. "Uh, yeah. I think I must have hit my head or something," she said as an excuse for weird behaviour.
"Totally understandable," Bonnie said. "It's not every day you're....you know." She looked around the campus at the other students, and Crystal guessed Bonnie was unwilling to use the word "vampire" in front of them.
Crystal suddenly felt shy. She wasn't really used to being around people, preferring her own company more. Now she was here...she might as well make an effort to make friends. It seemed like if she did she wouldn't be disappointed. "Listen, I was thinking of maybe going and looking around town, and I - "
"That sounds like fun," Bonnie said cheerfully. "Meredith's engrossed in some books she borrowed for you, Stefan and Elena are...occupied..." Bonnie's eyebrows raised and she grinned mischievously.
Crystal smiled herself, knowing what Bonnie meant. "I hope they have some good shops," Bonnie said, starting in the direction towards town. Students were all over, learning their way around, getting to know one another. The town was about a half hour walk from the campus. It was such a nice day that
no one really minded the walk. Crystal just hoped someone she knew would have a car.
Crystal spotted lots of people from the party last night, all who waved and called out hi or hello. Including Jez and Morgead, Thea and Eric, and Jenny.
"Want to come into town with us?" Bonnie asked Jenny, seeing she was alone.
"Sure."
She had fun as she, Bonnie and Jenny, wandered around, looking in the shops. The nearest city was about an hour's drive away. They didn't have time to check it out today, they agreed on doing that tomorrow. For the first time in her life, Crystal felt she had finally found somewhere to belong.
She was in the dressing room of one of the small clothes stores, about to try on a new top she'd picked out, with a design of stars and moons and glitter on the front. She pulled off her own top, hearing footsteps in the room, she just ignored them.
And someone pulled her curtain open. Crystal gasped, holding the top she was about to try on over her chest. And found herself staring into a boy's face. A handsome boy, lanky and elegant, his eyes were widening in surprise, eyes that shifted colour from moment to moment.
"You're not Mary-Lynnette," Ash said, an eyebrow raised.
Crystal couldn't help herself. She kicked him in the shins. Again. He yelped and leapt back.
"Do you kick everyone you meet?" Ash asked, bending down to rub his sore shin.
"Ash what are you doing? Get out of here!" Mary-Lynnette's voice said. She smiled apologetically at Crystal. "Sorry, Ash can be an asshole when he wants to be."
"Which is most of the time," Crystal snapped, an embarrassed heat flushing up her face.
"Get out of here, Ash," Mary-Lynnette said again.
She yanked her curtain shut, and pulled her own top back on. She was just going to buy the damn thing and hope it fitted. She stalked out the dressing room, glaring at Ash, who held up his hands apologetically.
"Let it go," he said. "It was a mistake anyone could make."
"What the hell are you doing in a girl's dressing room anyway?" Crystal snapped, then as Ash opened his mouth she held up her hand. "On second thoughts, I don't think I want to know."
"I'm guessing we don't invite Ash to join us," Bonnie said with a snicker.
Ash put on a hurt expression. "You girls are hurting my feelings." Pouting he left the store.
"He's a jerk, how do you put up with him?" Crystal asked Mary-Lynnette, still angry and embarrassed. Maybe she should use her new witch powers to put a curse on Ash. Make him learn to have manners. He'd hate that.
Mary-Lynnette smiled. "You get used to him. He doesn't mean harm."
"You guys want to join us?" Jenny asked.
Mary-Lynnette sighed. "I'd better go make Ash feel better." She grinned.
"Have fun," Bonnie snickered.
Crystal shook her head. They both had dirty minds. They left the clothing store then and were about to head back to campus when Bonnie spotted a New Age shop on the edge of town. "We have to go in," she said. "I love New Age shops."
Crystal did too. She was always spending money there. Everyone back home thought she had been wasting her time with her interest in magic and the supernatural. Despite the fact she had never believed in it, the subject had always fascinated her. Was she going to show them when she went home with her new powers.
Jenny notably looked a little uncomfortable when Crystal picked up a book on runes. "You'd better be careful with that," she said cautiously. "Playing with runes can be dangerous." She shuddered a little.
Crystal picked up a long wooden staff-like object with strange markings engraved down the side. "What's this?" she asked, holding it up.
The sales assistant glanced at her. "That's a runestave. You get a set of wooden runes free if you buy it."
Crystal picked up a beautifully crafted silver knife lying beside it. An idea was beginning to form in her mind. She took the book on runes, the runestave and the knife to the counter. Bonnie was already there with several books on Celtic magic. Jenny was the only one who didn't buy anything.
Crystal couldn't imagine why.
***
Crystal pushed her way through the crowds the following morning, as she registered for her classes, looking for someone she knew. All the lines were long and everyone else seemed to be with people, making her feel small and insignificant. She looked around for the line for History, one of her
favourite subjects. Someone who wasn't paying attention to where he was going knocked into her, sending all her registration papers and her notepads flying.
"Oh, sorry," a familiar male voice said. Crystal looked up from picking up her papers into eyes that shifted colour from moment to moment.
"Not you again," she said, annoyed, as Ash just stood where he was, watching her.
"Don't just stand there Ash, help her out," another voice said. And then the someone was bending down, helping Crystal herself. Crystal glanced over, to see the someone was Rowan Redfern. Of course it would be. She was pretty sure Kestrel would have just stood and watched too. "I guess you and Ash
have already had a run in then."
"Yeah, he walked into a girls dressing room the other day. He really does have no manners." Crystal glared at Ash.
"What were you doing in a girl's dressing room?" Rowan asked as she stood up, handing Crystal the things she'd collected. Ash opened his mouth but Rowan cut in before he could speak. "On second thought, don't answer that. I don't want to know." She smiled at Crystal. "Hi, I'm Rowan Redfern."
"Crystal Harman."
"Ash is being a pain again?" Thea joined them then, grinning at Ash, who just looked innocently back at them all. "I never asked, Crystal are you Midnight or Twilight?" Thea said.
Crystal hadn't really thought about that. She would have liked to be Midnight, the powerful witches. But until she was sure of herself, of her own powers, she'd better play it safe. Twilight. I'm actually kind of new at all this. I'm a lost witch, and I only discovered my talents recently. It's a little overwhelming."
"Don't worry, we'll help you fit in," Thea said brightly. "There's a party for new...you know...tonight at the local Black Dahlia." It seemed Thea didn't want to mention the Night World amongst the rest of the student body either. Was it because she thought everyone would think she was crazy if they heard
her talking about something from a series of books, or just because of general Night World rule? Did Thea know about the books? Crystal was having enough trouble trying to explain this all to herself, let alone to anyone else. They all seemed to look to her for the answers. But she didn't have any.
Crystal was confused. "I thought The Black Iris were the Night World club chain."
"Black Iris is for the bad guys, Black Dahlia is new, for the good guys," Ash supplied. "If you need a date I'll be happy to escort you."
"Mary-Lynnette is going to end up killing you before the end of the freshman year," Rowan snorted.
"Is there anything particular you'd like to focus your magic on?" Thea asked Crystal.
Crystal paused for a minute, appearing to think this over carefully. She was well aware that every Night World witch had to have a speciality by the time they were eighteen. And she'd already picked hers. "Runes, I think."
* * *
Later that afternoon when Crystal was alone in her room, she pondered the idea of how she was going to get Kaitlyn and Gabriel back together. She'd spoken to them both briefly during the day, not mentioning what she was planning She couldn't believe they had broken up! They had been one of her favourite couples. She had to do something about it. . She wondered how she was going to get Kaitlyn to read her Dark Visions book. She wondered what Meredith and her friends thought of the Vampire Diaries ones.
She picked up the runestave she'd bought the other day, twirling it around, looking at the strange, fascinating symbols carved in. She picked up the knife, and began making patterns with it, not really paying attention to what she was doing. She put the stave down and actually started reading the
rune book she'd bought. As much as she'd liked the Forbidden Game trilogy she didn't think she fancied the idea of being forced to face her worst nightmares. And she realised she didn't want to know what the nightmares of the other characters were.
The knife in her hand was still unconsciously doodling, she found herself unaware that it was carving on the runestave itself.
Until a sudden flash of white light filled her vision.
She dropped the book, and the knife, as the flashes grew brighter and brighter, almost a strobe effect, colours mixing in, like being in the middle of a dance floor. A mist was beginning to fill the room.
And when the mist cleared, someone was standing in the centre of the room, a very surprised
expression on his face, blue eyes of an indescribable colour, gazing at Crystal in amazement.
Crystal's own eyes were wide, and her mouth had dropped open in surprise. This had *not* been expected. Jenny had warned her against playing with runes, and she hadn't listened.
And now, she'd brought the Shadow Man back to life.
* * *
Crystal stood there staring for several minutes, before she reached out, grabbed a very surprised Julian's arms, dragged him to her, and kissed him for all she was worth. She pulled back, slightly breathless.
He stared at her, completely stunned.
She smiled a little. "I've *always* wanted to do that."
Julian, for once, seemed at a loss for words. He looked around the dorm room, seeming disorientated and confused as to where he was and what was happening. Then his eyes fell on the runestave. "You carved me back in."
Crystal glanced at it. "Yeah, I guess I did." She tried, and failed, to keep the huge grin from her mouth. Oh, this was getting better and better.
Julian's head tilted. "You know who I am." It wasn't a question.
"Who doesn't? I can't believe they killed you off! You were one of my favourite villains."
Julian's eyes fell on her bookcase, and walked over. He picked up the first one of her Forbidden Game trilogy, flipping through the pages, seeming fascinated. "I...I don't know what to say." He shook his head. "This is incredible. Every word, every detail. Jenny is described so perfectly..."
Crystal debated on whether or not to mention Jenny's room was just down the hall. Then she remembered the party Thea had mentioned that afternoon. She'd love to see the looks on people's faces when she walked in with her gorgeous Shadow Man...
She couldn't decide what to do. She hadn't actually intended to bring Julian back. It had just sort of
happened. Now she found herself struggling to decide what to do.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, and Dee's dark head poked round, followed by Summer's blonde curls. "Hey Crystal, want to come into the city with us?" Dee said. Crystal hadn't even known Summer was at the university. She hadn't seen Summer before now.
Julian looked mildly surprised to Dee. Summer saw him and shrieked. "Miss me?" he said.
"You? Why are you here?" Dee demanded stepping into the room. She stood in front of Crystal, as if trying to protect her. "Keep back," she hissed. "He could be dangerous."
Julian was amused. "Your friend over there is the one who carved my name back on the runestave."
"Why did you do that?" Summer moaned, cowering behind Dee.
Crystal wasn't really surprised at their reactions. Julian hadn't been the nicest person in the world towards them. Dee turned to her. "Is it true? Did you bring him back?"
"Sort of. I just bought the runestave for fun. I didn't even think it would work. I was just messing around."
"Don't play with things you don't understand." Julian held the book he was flipping through up to Dee. "Have you seen these?"
Dee took the book, flipping through it as he had. "Well. I...I..." She seemed as speechless as everyone else. Crystal sighed. It was getting boring. So their life story was written down on paper. So what? They were just going to have to find ways of dealing with it.
Crystal looked over the small group. Summer had ventured into the room now, to see what was happening, as fascinated with the books as everyone else. "Can I borrow these?" Dee asked. Crystal had never assumed Dee as a reader before.
She shrugged. "I guess so." Dee took the books and left, as if she were going to read them that moment. Summer backed away, still seeming to be trying to hide from Julian. Finally, she left too.
"I guess she doesn't like me very much," Julian said cheerfully. He smiled at Crystal. "So, what do you plan to do now you've brought me back?"
Crystal's own eyebrows raised. "I can think of a few things," she said innocently. She hadn't been aware of planning on saying that, or what would happen afterwards, but she had a pretty good guess. And she was right too.
* * *
"Hey, feeling better?"
Crystal turned to see Bonnie behind her. "Uh, yeah. I think I must have hit my head or something," she said as an excuse for weird behaviour.
"Totally understandable," Bonnie said. "It's not every day you're....you know." She looked around the campus at the other students, and Crystal guessed Bonnie was unwilling to use the word "vampire" in front of them.
Crystal suddenly felt shy. She wasn't really used to being around people, preferring her own company more. Now she was here...she might as well make an effort to make friends. It seemed like if she did she wouldn't be disappointed. "Listen, I was thinking of maybe going and looking around town, and I - "
"That sounds like fun," Bonnie said cheerfully. "Meredith's engrossed in some books she borrowed for you, Stefan and Elena are...occupied..." Bonnie's eyebrows raised and she grinned mischievously.
Crystal smiled herself, knowing what Bonnie meant. "I hope they have some good shops," Bonnie said, starting in the direction towards town. Students were all over, learning their way around, getting to know one another. The town was about a half hour walk from the campus. It was such a nice day that
no one really minded the walk. Crystal just hoped someone she knew would have a car.
Crystal spotted lots of people from the party last night, all who waved and called out hi or hello. Including Jez and Morgead, Thea and Eric, and Jenny.
"Want to come into town with us?" Bonnie asked Jenny, seeing she was alone.
"Sure."
She had fun as she, Bonnie and Jenny, wandered around, looking in the shops. The nearest city was about an hour's drive away. They didn't have time to check it out today, they agreed on doing that tomorrow. For the first time in her life, Crystal felt she had finally found somewhere to belong.
She was in the dressing room of one of the small clothes stores, about to try on a new top she'd picked out, with a design of stars and moons and glitter on the front. She pulled off her own top, hearing footsteps in the room, she just ignored them.
And someone pulled her curtain open. Crystal gasped, holding the top she was about to try on over her chest. And found herself staring into a boy's face. A handsome boy, lanky and elegant, his eyes were widening in surprise, eyes that shifted colour from moment to moment.
"You're not Mary-Lynnette," Ash said, an eyebrow raised.
Crystal couldn't help herself. She kicked him in the shins. Again. He yelped and leapt back.
"Do you kick everyone you meet?" Ash asked, bending down to rub his sore shin.
"Ash what are you doing? Get out of here!" Mary-Lynnette's voice said. She smiled apologetically at Crystal. "Sorry, Ash can be an asshole when he wants to be."
"Which is most of the time," Crystal snapped, an embarrassed heat flushing up her face.
"Get out of here, Ash," Mary-Lynnette said again.
She yanked her curtain shut, and pulled her own top back on. She was just going to buy the damn thing and hope it fitted. She stalked out the dressing room, glaring at Ash, who held up his hands apologetically.
"Let it go," he said. "It was a mistake anyone could make."
"What the hell are you doing in a girl's dressing room anyway?" Crystal snapped, then as Ash opened his mouth she held up her hand. "On second thoughts, I don't think I want to know."
"I'm guessing we don't invite Ash to join us," Bonnie said with a snicker.
Ash put on a hurt expression. "You girls are hurting my feelings." Pouting he left the store.
"He's a jerk, how do you put up with him?" Crystal asked Mary-Lynnette, still angry and embarrassed. Maybe she should use her new witch powers to put a curse on Ash. Make him learn to have manners. He'd hate that.
Mary-Lynnette smiled. "You get used to him. He doesn't mean harm."
"You guys want to join us?" Jenny asked.
Mary-Lynnette sighed. "I'd better go make Ash feel better." She grinned.
"Have fun," Bonnie snickered.
Crystal shook her head. They both had dirty minds. They left the clothing store then and were about to head back to campus when Bonnie spotted a New Age shop on the edge of town. "We have to go in," she said. "I love New Age shops."
Crystal did too. She was always spending money there. Everyone back home thought she had been wasting her time with her interest in magic and the supernatural. Despite the fact she had never believed in it, the subject had always fascinated her. Was she going to show them when she went home with her new powers.
Jenny notably looked a little uncomfortable when Crystal picked up a book on runes. "You'd better be careful with that," she said cautiously. "Playing with runes can be dangerous." She shuddered a little.
Crystal picked up a long wooden staff-like object with strange markings engraved down the side. "What's this?" she asked, holding it up.
The sales assistant glanced at her. "That's a runestave. You get a set of wooden runes free if you buy it."
Crystal picked up a beautifully crafted silver knife lying beside it. An idea was beginning to form in her mind. She took the book on runes, the runestave and the knife to the counter. Bonnie was already there with several books on Celtic magic. Jenny was the only one who didn't buy anything.
Crystal couldn't imagine why.
***
Crystal pushed her way through the crowds the following morning, as she registered for her classes, looking for someone she knew. All the lines were long and everyone else seemed to be with people, making her feel small and insignificant. She looked around for the line for History, one of her
favourite subjects. Someone who wasn't paying attention to where he was going knocked into her, sending all her registration papers and her notepads flying.
"Oh, sorry," a familiar male voice said. Crystal looked up from picking up her papers into eyes that shifted colour from moment to moment.
"Not you again," she said, annoyed, as Ash just stood where he was, watching her.
"Don't just stand there Ash, help her out," another voice said. And then the someone was bending down, helping Crystal herself. Crystal glanced over, to see the someone was Rowan Redfern. Of course it would be. She was pretty sure Kestrel would have just stood and watched too. "I guess you and Ash
have already had a run in then."
"Yeah, he walked into a girls dressing room the other day. He really does have no manners." Crystal glared at Ash.
"What were you doing in a girl's dressing room?" Rowan asked as she stood up, handing Crystal the things she'd collected. Ash opened his mouth but Rowan cut in before he could speak. "On second thought, don't answer that. I don't want to know." She smiled at Crystal. "Hi, I'm Rowan Redfern."
"Crystal Harman."
"Ash is being a pain again?" Thea joined them then, grinning at Ash, who just looked innocently back at them all. "I never asked, Crystal are you Midnight or Twilight?" Thea said.
Crystal hadn't really thought about that. She would have liked to be Midnight, the powerful witches. But until she was sure of herself, of her own powers, she'd better play it safe. Twilight. I'm actually kind of new at all this. I'm a lost witch, and I only discovered my talents recently. It's a little overwhelming."
"Don't worry, we'll help you fit in," Thea said brightly. "There's a party for new...you know...tonight at the local Black Dahlia." It seemed Thea didn't want to mention the Night World amongst the rest of the student body either. Was it because she thought everyone would think she was crazy if they heard
her talking about something from a series of books, or just because of general Night World rule? Did Thea know about the books? Crystal was having enough trouble trying to explain this all to herself, let alone to anyone else. They all seemed to look to her for the answers. But she didn't have any.
Crystal was confused. "I thought The Black Iris were the Night World club chain."
"Black Iris is for the bad guys, Black Dahlia is new, for the good guys," Ash supplied. "If you need a date I'll be happy to escort you."
"Mary-Lynnette is going to end up killing you before the end of the freshman year," Rowan snorted.
"Is there anything particular you'd like to focus your magic on?" Thea asked Crystal.
Crystal paused for a minute, appearing to think this over carefully. She was well aware that every Night World witch had to have a speciality by the time they were eighteen. And she'd already picked hers. "Runes, I think."
* * *
Later that afternoon when Crystal was alone in her room, she pondered the idea of how she was going to get Kaitlyn and Gabriel back together. She'd spoken to them both briefly during the day, not mentioning what she was planning She couldn't believe they had broken up! They had been one of her favourite couples. She had to do something about it. . She wondered how she was going to get Kaitlyn to read her Dark Visions book. She wondered what Meredith and her friends thought of the Vampire Diaries ones.
She picked up the runestave she'd bought the other day, twirling it around, looking at the strange, fascinating symbols carved in. She picked up the knife, and began making patterns with it, not really paying attention to what she was doing. She put the stave down and actually started reading the
rune book she'd bought. As much as she'd liked the Forbidden Game trilogy she didn't think she fancied the idea of being forced to face her worst nightmares. And she realised she didn't want to know what the nightmares of the other characters were.
The knife in her hand was still unconsciously doodling, she found herself unaware that it was carving on the runestave itself.
Until a sudden flash of white light filled her vision.
She dropped the book, and the knife, as the flashes grew brighter and brighter, almost a strobe effect, colours mixing in, like being in the middle of a dance floor. A mist was beginning to fill the room.
And when the mist cleared, someone was standing in the centre of the room, a very surprised
expression on his face, blue eyes of an indescribable colour, gazing at Crystal in amazement.
Crystal's own eyes were wide, and her mouth had dropped open in surprise. This had *not* been expected. Jenny had warned her against playing with runes, and she hadn't listened.
And now, she'd brought the Shadow Man back to life.
* * *
Crystal stood there staring for several minutes, before she reached out, grabbed a very surprised Julian's arms, dragged him to her, and kissed him for all she was worth. She pulled back, slightly breathless.
He stared at her, completely stunned.
She smiled a little. "I've *always* wanted to do that."
Julian, for once, seemed at a loss for words. He looked around the dorm room, seeming disorientated and confused as to where he was and what was happening. Then his eyes fell on the runestave. "You carved me back in."
Crystal glanced at it. "Yeah, I guess I did." She tried, and failed, to keep the huge grin from her mouth. Oh, this was getting better and better.
Julian's head tilted. "You know who I am." It wasn't a question.
"Who doesn't? I can't believe they killed you off! You were one of my favourite villains."
Julian's eyes fell on her bookcase, and walked over. He picked up the first one of her Forbidden Game trilogy, flipping through the pages, seeming fascinated. "I...I don't know what to say." He shook his head. "This is incredible. Every word, every detail. Jenny is described so perfectly..."
Crystal debated on whether or not to mention Jenny's room was just down the hall. Then she remembered the party Thea had mentioned that afternoon. She'd love to see the looks on people's faces when she walked in with her gorgeous Shadow Man...
She couldn't decide what to do. She hadn't actually intended to bring Julian back. It had just sort of
happened. Now she found herself struggling to decide what to do.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, and Dee's dark head poked round, followed by Summer's blonde curls. "Hey Crystal, want to come into the city with us?" Dee said. Crystal hadn't even known Summer was at the university. She hadn't seen Summer before now.
Julian looked mildly surprised to Dee. Summer saw him and shrieked. "Miss me?" he said.
"You? Why are you here?" Dee demanded stepping into the room. She stood in front of Crystal, as if trying to protect her. "Keep back," she hissed. "He could be dangerous."
Julian was amused. "Your friend over there is the one who carved my name back on the runestave."
"Why did you do that?" Summer moaned, cowering behind Dee.
Crystal wasn't really surprised at their reactions. Julian hadn't been the nicest person in the world towards them. Dee turned to her. "Is it true? Did you bring him back?"
"Sort of. I just bought the runestave for fun. I didn't even think it would work. I was just messing around."
"Don't play with things you don't understand." Julian held the book he was flipping through up to Dee. "Have you seen these?"
Dee took the book, flipping through it as he had. "Well. I...I..." She seemed as speechless as everyone else. Crystal sighed. It was getting boring. So their life story was written down on paper. So what? They were just going to have to find ways of dealing with it.
Crystal looked over the small group. Summer had ventured into the room now, to see what was happening, as fascinated with the books as everyone else. "Can I borrow these?" Dee asked. Crystal had never assumed Dee as a reader before.
She shrugged. "I guess so." Dee took the books and left, as if she were going to read them that moment. Summer backed away, still seeming to be trying to hide from Julian. Finally, she left too.
"I guess she doesn't like me very much," Julian said cheerfully. He smiled at Crystal. "So, what do you plan to do now you've brought me back?"
Crystal's own eyebrows raised. "I can think of a few things," she said innocently. She hadn't been aware of planning on saying that, or what would happen afterwards, but she had a pretty good guess. And she was right too.
* * *