Thank you ShadowBlaze for reviewing my work so often. I hope you don't think that I was being sarcastic in my last author's note. I'll try to find and fix the problem, but I might not be able to. This is the fifth chapter. Duh. It's kind of short, and Songfire seems to be developing a dangerous habit of sleeping in trees. That doesn't mean anything. Anyway, you can draw conclusions for yourself after you read it. When you've finished you have to review, please!

Songfire was lying on the branch, surprisingly catlike. Her luminous green eyes pierced the night, watching for unexpected stalkers. What was she to do? Risika couldn't let her stay their forever. She would have to figure it out soon, before her position among the vampires was contested.

Still, she could wait to make her decision, couldn't she? Right now she was so tired, so tired. Besides, no one had noticed her yet, besides Eryk and Risika. She really shouldn't fall asleep here, though. But she was so tired...

~~~~~

She was seven years old and she was meditating with her mom on the shore of a little creek. She was trying to reach out, to sense her mom's core of power. That was the first step before she could try to heal any hate or grief in her. She just couldn't.

"No sweetie, you're trying too hard." Songfire jerked herself back to the material world.

"But, Mom, I can't do it!"

"You have to relax and just. feel the person. You usually have to care for that person in any way. Some of our line had enough empathy to do so even from a distance. I find that it usually helps to exchange words with the person. That's why I had you start on me. I'll talk to you as much as you want, and hopefully you care about me. Don't you?"

That made Songfire smile. Grinning, she hugged her mom. Lessons were over for the day.

~~~~~
Songfire was 14, a "normal" student of her Junior High. She still wasn't able to sense anyone's power, no matter how hard she tried. Her mom's work was picking up and she was home less often than usual. When she was home she was tired and stressed out and rarely talked to her daughter. A couple of witches had come by the house looking for her; angry with her for converting two Smoke witches. She never saw them again.

She wasn't friendless, but she was lonely. She had no close friends, due to the fact that she was so different than the other girls were. She never really felt relaxed and able to talk around those few that she had. She was interested in boys, but they never noticed her. At school she was the quiet, smart girl who sat in the back of the room and never talked to anyone. She didn't think she was depressed, but she knew when she cried herself to sleep that she wasn't normal either.

Then the new boy came. Bryan changed everything. When he walked into the room it was like a ray of light. But he was so dark. Right away she was able to sense him, a quiet crackling power that seemed to be waiting to strike. His intense dark eyes held the girls spellbound and Songfire knew that she'd have no chance with this boy, just like all the others.

But this time things were different. Not only did Bryan notice her, but he also paid her more attention than he paid any of the others. Before Songfire knew what was happening, they were going out. With him, she was happier than she had ever been. When school let out, it only meant that they got to see each other more during the day. She never wanted to break up with him, the one guy who made her life special.

~~~~~

It was on a Saturday in the middle of the summer when Songfire decided to meditate again. She was lying in the long grass with Bryan, and they were gazing at the clouds floating in the periwinkle sky, too content to talk.

Opening her mind, she let her power out, just waiting. Before she knew it, she was able to sense the core of his power. Diving deep she began to look around. The things she saw shocked her. His deepest feelings were powerful. There was a lot of pain. He felt anger and viscous joy. However these deep wounds seemed to be old, mostly healed even without her help. In their place was a warm sensation, one she could only describe as love.

Taking herself back to reality she noticed Bryan staring at her with a sarcastic expression in his black eyes. Black eyes. could he be a vampire? No, surely her mom would have said something. Besides, they had been going out for three months now, and she had seen no sign that he was.

Sighing, she reached out to him. "Life is beautiful, isn't it? Don't you wish you could just stay here forever?"

Bryan agreed, pulling her into a relaxed embrace. "Forever and ever, perhaps longer. Here we do not have to worry about our friends, what other people think. Here we can satisfy ourselves and not worry about what might or might not happen."

~~~~~

She was sinking, into a deep well of emotion. She knew this was a dream, but she knew she needed to wake up. How could she? The grief, the pain, the hatred they were all dragging on her. She needed to wake up. Slowly, consciously, she fought herself awake, but just barely.

Okay, please review. I don't care what you think, just review it.