I'm gone for, like two days and there are already six more reviews! And advertisers! Awesome! You all must love me or something! (Or you just want me to get writing, but really, which is more realistic?) Except for you, ESP. If you say you feel sorry for Rose again, I might have to hunt you down with a baseball bat. Don't feel too sorry for her!

OMG! ANOTHER WICKED LOVER! Erisna, I wasn't trying to fool anyone, honest! XD I was going to put in that the song were from Wicked, really. But I figured that no one would know the difference anyone, so I didn't bother. Lazy, not shady.

Keep voting on the poll! XD So far, all of you voted the same thing. Anyone want to make a guess on what it is so far?

Oh yeah! I will be accepting 2-3 Eevees, I'll use them in a specific (just one, sorry) chapter. Submit, lazies!

Chapter 3

The Nightmares

"Life is a storm, my young friend. You'll bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a person is what you do when that storm comes."

I awoke at dawn, my stomach growling.

The sun scorched my eyes, dazzling me momentarily as I tried to wake myself up fully. Finally, with a groan I eased myself to my feet and looked around in the meadow around me. It was still so beautiful, and the burrow still…so uninviting. I shivered.

Beside the burrow was a small leaf note.

Valentina-

William and I are out for a walk with the Elders. Don't try anything funny while we're gone, we'll be back tonight. Meanwhile, just get yourself breakfast and such, because we're not helping you.

-Larissa

I sighed.

No doubt the hottest topic during my parent's walk would be, ah…me.

Tears fought themselves into my eyes. This would be the kind of thing Marc and I would talk about…but Marc was gone. Where was my best friend when you needed him? Not that he wouldn't be coming back, of course. He would. We needed each other-

My stomach reminded me of its needs, too.

After I had solved my hunger problem with berries, I decided to take a walk of my own.

Marc was going to come back to me; there was no doubt in my mind. That Marc I had seen yesterday was not Marc: that was a cruel person the Elders forced him to be. Marc was still there, under all of that coldness. He still needed me. I still wanted him.

Tomorrow, I decided. Tomorrow I was going to go talk to Marc.

I wandered down the forest paths, inhaling deeply as I went but not caring to memorize the way back. It would be easy enough, so for now, as they say, stop and smell the roses…er… wildflowers.

And flying…

Was it possible to have a flying evolution? I wondered, startled as I thought about it. That would solve my problem quickly, except…

There wasn't any such evolution. At least to my pack, there wasn't.

Maybe Marc and I could have the dream life we both wanted if I could find this evolution…or just gave in to the Elders and became a Leafeon.

How I hated how my life had come down to two choices!

Basically, the two halves of my heart.

If I chose my home, I lose my dream. If I chose my dream, I lose Marc.

"I didn't know the forest was hosting a freak show."

I stiffened, instinctively growling as I spun around.

It was that huge Eevee I had seen around Marc yesterday after graduation, flocked by his two underlings…who were still bigger than I was.

"No freak show here." I said coldly. "Just an Eevee enjoying the flowers."

"Oh, that's enough of one for me." The biggest Eevee leered at me. "So, abnormal girl, how does it feel to be hated? Dumped by your own mate?"

The words stung me. "Marc wasn't my mate…" I mumbled.

"Oh, that's right Iron, Isabella, remember?" The smallest one sneered at me.

My eyes stared at him, shocked. "What about Isabella…?"

The three all smirked. "Why don't you talk to your precious Marc and find out?" The medium one barked, straightening. "Can't we just start now, Iron? I'm itching to begin…" He snickered. Shivers raced down my spine as I backed away.

"What are you going to do with me?" I tried not to scream.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you permanently…physically at least." The biggest one's, Iron's, claws snapped out to gleam threateningly and he grinned. "Mentally…heh, I think I might just enjoy this. I think your parents will even thank us. Besides, what are you, a freak, going to do about it? No one is really going to believe you if you tell them, and even if they did, the Elders won't do anything about it. So…Twire, Point, boys," He became very businesslike. "Do I get the honors?"

"Go ahead." They both chimed, laughing silently.

Iron casually lurched forward to a crouch, sneering at me as he did so. His claws rustled impatiently, so sharp, so deadly…

I froze, blood pounding in my ears and mentally screamed at myself to move. Run, run away, you fool! I yelled in my head. You know where this is going, these bullies will inflict more pain on you, more pain you should have to deal with! MOVE!

It was like being trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares where something is coming for you and you have to outrun it, but you can't move your legs at all…So you wait in dread as you try desperately to escape, even though you know you will fail…

Iron suddenly smiled menacingly.

My heart stopped.

I knew I would fail.

With a wild growl he launched himself at me, scraping at the distance between us. As he reached me, his glinting claws raked across my fur, ripping through my weak skin.

This is nothing, I told myself, fighting the urge to cry out. Ignore the pain. This will all be worth it if Marc comes back to you. And, well, if he doesn't, it's going to get a lot worse than this, so ignore this pain. Don't cry out, it will only excite them. Breathe, stay calm.

These thoughts repeated in my head as I was wounded further.

Finally, Iron backed away, disbelief coloring his expression.

I fell back limply into the grass, the red grass, the bloodstained grass.

It was like the pain hadn't hit me yet, but it was looming closer, like the thing in the nightmare…

Iron's disbelieving look faded and was replaced with a death glare.

The other two stared at me in shock. "She hasn't even cried out once!" The smaller one whispered. "That's…never happened before!"

Iron bared his teeth with a snarl. "Save your breath! She hasn't even gotten a taste of my Bite yet!" He bolted toward me with fury in his eyes.

Somewhere nearby a bloodcurdling shriek of agony erupted, blasting my eardrums-an unforgettable sound, one that rocked me to the very core. I glanced around feebly to see where it was coming from.

Until I realized it was coming from my own mouth as Iron's teeth sank into my shoulder.

The pain grew until it was fire, an unbearable pain, and I knew I was going to die.

Then the pain stopped growing, although the agony remained at its level. Iron spat out my blood in the grass, and he stopped. I heard what made him halt. Light footsteps, headed in our direction. Footsteps that I instantly recognized.

Marc. Marc was walking toward us, toward me.

I felt a rush of gratitude as I struggled to my feet-he'd come to his senses…he'd saw what they'd done to me, he could do something…I managed a weak smile when he glanced in my direction.

But it wasn't my eyes he met.

"Hey, Iron. Twire. Point." He greeted each of them by name. Twire was the medium out of the three. Point was the smallest. "You three are late, you know. Emina's already made lunch, you lazy Eevees." He chuckled to himself. "You know what happens when my dad gets hungry-I thought you'd learned that lesson last time!"

Only Point glanced at me.

"What about the girl?" He hissed at Iron.

"She doesn't matter now." Iron narrowed his eyes. "Let's go, Twire, Point, Marc. I, personally, am hungry enough to eat an Eevee. Let's go before Emina decides to refuse us lunch. Or, as Marc puts it, Elder Marcus eats it all."

Marc and Twire nodded and followed their leader off into the distance.

I watched them go in shock, unable to speak.

"MARC!" I screamed shrilly as soon as I regained my voice. "MARC!"

Marc didn't care to glace back. I took a step back, tears rushing freely down my face now. He was friends with those bullies…those monsters…

Those nightmares.

I fell backwards and curled up into a small ball, drenching myself with my tears. I barely noticed when the sky darkened once more. No one would miss me anyway.

I knew I had stepped into this nightmare the moment I had looked down that cliff yesterday.

Now I was just begging to be woken up.

H/P