My skin was burning! I screamed in agony, grabbing my right arm.

Then, I blade coming at me, ready to slice me in two!

"Run!" Someone screamed, stopping the blade in mid-air. I ran, but something else came at me! No, it was just Amanda. No need to...

"Come on!" She screamed in pure terror, grabbing my arm and tugging me along, making me stumble. She let go, still running.

"Ahh!" I slipped on the muddy ground, falling headfirst. I scrabbled up again, ready to run after her, but something grabbed my arm, squeezing so tightly it cut into my skin, making me bleed even more.

"You're not going anywhere" Said a voice, aiming its deadly weapon at me.

I screamed as it came down at me...

... and I bolted up in bed, biting back a scream in real life. I clamped a hand over my mouth, but I couldn't keep back a small whimper. When I realised where I was, I began to take deep breaths to calm myself.

I was in the hotel room, my dad on the double bed and my brother on the hotel's fold-out bed. Both were sound asleep, with my dad even snoring a little. Instinctively, I grabbed my arm, lifting up the sleeve to check my skin. No burn scars, no blood seeping through. Nothing. Then, I shook.

Oh my god...I hadn't had the nightmare in over a year. But this, I knew, was more than just a dream. And it used to haunt me, night after night, until...

A small scratching at the window brought me out of my thoughts. I carefully slipped out of bed and tiptoed over the window, pulling back a little on one of the shutters just a little to look out.

Aha!

It was the black bird, scratching with its little feet, then flying around in a circle before doing it again. In an instant, he dove, giving me a heart attack before coming back to the window. When he did it again, I finally understood what he meant. I nodded, and the bird disappeared.

Carefully, I slipped on my jeans and a thick baggy sweater over my night shirt, stuck my feet in my sneakers, and grabbed my room key, before quietly slipping out of the room, shutting the door softly behind me.

After that, I rode down the elevator, stepping out into the near-deserted lobby.

A desk clerk saw me, raising his eyebrows a little. Oh, god, my hair must've been a mess!

"What are you doing out here? It's almost three in the morning" he said, curiosity in his voice.

"Umm... just having a look around and outside. I couldn't sleep" I told him, realising at least half of it was true.

"Oh, well... don't stray too far. You don't want your family to worry" he went back to whatever he was doing, and I thanked him before heading out the double doors.

I saw the black bird, which I noticed was a common crow, circling around with what looked like a piece of paper in its mouth. I whistled softly, then tapped my arm with two fingers, before the bird landed on my arm, tapping my shoulder with the paper. I took it, beginning to open it. Immediately, the bird squawked.

"What, not now?" I asked, and he bobbed his head. I folded the paper back up and stuck it in my jeans pocket, finding my fingers were now numb.

"Okay then, why are you here? What's going on?" He turned one beady eye at me, looking guilty.

"I've seen you following me" The bird bowed his head, looking more guilty.

"Not talking huh? Well fine, come back when you've got something to actually say" I told him, and he squawked again.

"She'll have your head if she knows you're here" I added, and he squawked even more. I tapped his beak, smiling, then put all my force into my arm, throwing him up in the air. He squawked, flapped, and took off into the night, before I turned and headed back into the hotel. As I did though, I thought I caught a figure darting into the shadows behind the hotel, but told myself it was nothing and went in, removing the paper from my pocket to read it. It read,

Can't talk now. Be back in a few weeks. It's important.

"And he couldn't just tell me that, could he" I muttered, folding the paper back up and catching the clerk looking strangely at me. I shrugged, smiled, and went back to the hotel room, knowing I would never sleep now.

-Break-

I bet you're wondering by now what my big secret is, and what a black bird is doing following me around.

Well, let me take you back about......... four or five years. Back to when I ten-year old girl decided to go into the woods one day with her best friend and a dark-haired boy from her street. They had seen strange lights and heard something like thunder in the forest and all were curious to know what it was.

They went in, and what they found was certainly wasn't what they were expecting.

A war had been started on Earth involving two races; the Chanaibens and the Terinans. The three got caught in the cross-fire, with blades and claws and any thing else they could throw at each other, and were soon casualties on a violent battlefield.

But, by some miracle, they were found by a boy of one of these races. He was just one of the many numbers cut and bleeding, and dragged the three out of the way, doing all he could to save them. But while he was doing this, his blood mixed with theirs, and something happened that no-one could've expected. They survived, and inherited the powers of that race; the power to change shape.

After that, the two races left, continuing their fight in the sky, and finally, back into outer space in their high-powered ships, leaving one lone alien on our planet. That alien boy......... he was Chanaiben.

Chanaibens look a little like your stereotypical version of an alien. Slim figure, big, dark green eyes, only the head itself is a lot like a small lizards. Where fingers and toes would be, there are claws, four on the hands, three on the feet. The tail is extremely long and thick, and although it looks heavy and sluggish, they can knock you out in a second with that thing. The skin, however, is soft and almost rubbery, and an amazing whitish-blue colour.

The Terinans, however, look like a steroid-pumped version of them. Their skin is thick and a puke brown, and their face is more like a snakes than anything else. It has slit eyes, long (and poisonous) fangs, and a forked tongue that they lick their lips with when they want to scare you. Down their backs, are sharp spikes, and their tail is thin and ends in six spikes that look simular to a Stegosaurus tail. It hard not to be terrified when they're around.

In English, the word Chanaiben is actually translated into 'changeling'. Yep, that's right, we were given the power to be whatever we wanted to be. An animal, a table, even water if we wanted. Have you ever tried being a tree? No? Well, let me just say this; I'm never looking at dogs the same again.

Where was I? Oh yeah. Well, we thought he was the only one left. Until, we found another. A female, to be exact. She was older than any of us, and had some sort of communicating device we used to contact others like her.

Ever since then, we've done what we could in the war against the Terinans, who were actually on Earth to mine the planet. And I don't mean, for one thing, I mean they planned to suck us dry. We've mostly stayed on the planet, but there were times when they needed us elsewhere.

At least, until about a year a go. They both finally found a way to make peace, and trade agreements started between them and other races. Since then, we've been able to live our lives pretty peacefully. The female Chanaiben, who we found was named Rtaia, was seriously hurt in our last fight, and had to be taken back to her home. The boy is still here, and his name is Ithiell. Weird names huh? Well, we gave him another since he wanted to pass as a human. We named him Ian.

Robert, the boy that came with us that day, has turned Goth, and me and my best friend Amanda still have problems trying to figure him out. Amanda herself? Well, to me she's an open book, and I guess vice versa. We grew up together, and shared every little secret there was. Even when her and Ian decided they were 'together', I was one of the first ones to know.

A year later, so much has changed. We had almost returned to normal, at least until my dad told us about this trial job. That's when I decided to go with him. I wanted a change, a big one, something that would make me forget what had happened to us, as well as drown out the nightmares of burnt skin and blood-slicked floors and grass.

So far, it had been working to an extent, and I decided to find something else to fill my time. And since dad had given me some spending money, as well as having my own from home (changed into American dollars on the way over), I decided to explore the town around where the hotel was. I bough a map of the area, and took a bus to a place called the 'Gardens'. I looked at all the animals there, amazed even after all this time at how calm the big cats were, how beautiful the giraffes and deer were, as well as how aggressive the black rhinos were. It all helped my mind to escape from the nightmares, even just for a little while.

I went to a mall, bought some warm but light clothes, then headed over to the one place I knew would be good for me; the ice-skating rink. Massive compared to the one near my home, and I remembered how I used to want to be an Olympic ice-skater. I used to dream about winning the gold metal, then being congratulated by everyone I knew and even those I didn't know. Then again, what kid didn't dream about something like that?

I went in, surprised to find myself smiling for once in a long time. I took off my shoes, stuffed them in a rented locker, then replaced them with hired skates. Not my ones, but they'd do.

I made my way out onto the rink, surprised at how few people were actually skating. I caught the attention of a red-haired girl that looked a little older than me.

"Uh, hey, is something going on here soon? Like a hocky match?" I asked politely, and she smiled and shook her head.

"No. It's just too cold for some people to want to ice skate in here" she replied, then waved and headed off. I thanked her, waving back and smiling.

I moved further out into the rink, feeling good about being able to skate again. I started off with the easy circles, picking up speed as I did. Then, I did a back flip, landing backwards and continuing to skate, with a few people clapping as I did.

I bowed a little, then continued to skate faster as I moved along in the circle of people. When it was safe, I did another, tucking my legs in before I landed almost neatly, my foot sliding sideways a little from not having practiced in a long time. I continued for a long time, before I finally gave up and went back to the sidelines, feeling out of breath. There, I saw someone waiting. Two someone's, actually.

The blond girl, who I think was named Rachel, and Marco stood behind the glass near the rink's entrance, clapping as I reached them, sitting on the seats to take my skates off.

"That was amazing" Rachel stated as they sat on either side of me.

"Really? Thanks. I have to admit, it's been a few years since I last practiced" I told her as I tried to catch my breath.

"What's stopped you from practicing?"

"Uhh, mainly the birth of my little sister Phoebe about two years ago, but......... the rest is pretty personal" I admitted, looking out at the rink and wishing I could go back out and skate forever.

"Oh, ok" She didn't push it, and I was glad.

"So, have you had a look around the town?" Marco asked, looking like he'd just come out of a coma.

"Yeah. A little, but from what I have seen, it's all pretty cool. I hope we get to stay, I'd love to be able to explore this place a bit more" I replied as I got up and grabbing the skates I'd rented.

"Well, if you get lost or if you'd like someone to show you around town, just ask and me or Marco would be happy to give you a tour" Rachel offered, smiling and making me realise how much of a teen model she was.

"Oh, thankyou. I'll keep that in mind" I smiled back at her "But for now I have to get back to the hotel room before my dad panics and wonders where I am. I was supposed to be back by four"

I looked at my watch, and realised I only had half an hour to get back.

"Oh jeez! Sorry, but I have to get moving. Thanks again and I'll catch you both at school" I waved goodbye to both of them before running off to return my skates, then grabbing my stuff and bolting down the street to the bus stop.

Yet something still nagged at me. Why were they there in the first place? Was it just a coincidence, or something else?

Too bad I had a habit of being suspicious.