Hey!~ Sorry for the wait! I know I said I would write more and faster (yada yada) but writer's block is a very effective attack on me! CRITICAL HITS EVERY TIME. Well, this chapter is a little longer, and well the beginning is kind of for the laughs. Worry not, it does get serious though! Actually, parts are all over the place. I hope you'll accept my apology for that and do not find it that hard to read. Thank you!

Walking down the stairs felt like it took forever that night. I stopped at the doorway to the kitchen to see my parents already sitting down at the table. Father was smiling and mother was pushing her food around with her fork, not giving an expression. The tension felt like mist. Cold, daunting mist. I meandered up to my seat awkwardly and sat down. Pushing my chair from behind me to sit closer to the table sounded five times louder than usual, leaving an even more awkward feel in the air.

I took a piece of bread to butter it, trying to be nonchalant, telling myself not to rush things, when father spoke up.

"So, like I had promised, I suppose it's time to have the talk, right mother?"

She just closed her eyes and nodded. "I guess she should know this information."

I almost squirmed in my seat. "Um, so, is there certain things that I need to know first? Like, something unbelievable?" Like creatures that sit up in trees at night?

Mother was the first one to talk. "Well, it's very believable, it might take a little imagination for you to understand… but it's not always fun to learn about. It's pretty scary, actually."

"Would… Do I need experience to really understand it? Because…-"

I was interrupted by dad choking on his water. "NO! No experience is needed. None, nope. You absolutely do not need to do that."

I was stunned by his reaction. "Why is it so bad?"

Mother cleared her throat and straightened her posture. "Well, sweetie, considering your current situation, I'm positive you won't be getting any experience. Especially since I wouldn't be giving you my consent for such nonsense at the shy age of sixteen. You probably won't even need to know this stuff until you've moved out, which will be much farther into the future."

"Why can't I do it now?"

Dad, almost choking again, yelled, "WITH WHO?!"

Befuddlement washed over me. "Wait… what? Why would I need someone to do it with?"

"Sweetie, Lizzy, it has a lot to do with love. Doing such things without love can be very dangerous. And under any circumstances, no matter what they may be, you need to use protection. At all times."

"Protection? What kind of protection?" Like guns and armor?
"Contraceptives."

"….You mean like, condoms?"

Dad winced. Mother nodded. And suddenly, I felt more embarrassed than I had ever been.

"Father, by 'the talk,' you meant talking about… safe sex?!"

"Well, yea! What else did you have in mind? Silly girl."

I felt hot blood reach my face. And a wave of disappointed flew over me.
"Of course. It was silly of me to think you would actually answer me so easily. Instead you guys are just going to leave me in the dark. Like always."

Neither of them said anything. I waited a few moments, and then stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I would like to have to have some time to myself and find reasons as to why I'm not capable of knowing your secrets."

"Why would you say that?!" Mother shouted, a little angered.

"Well, what's the worst that's going to happen? You think I'm gonna tell anyone? Mom, I don't have any friends. I don't even have any acquaintances other than family and our neighbors."

"Liz, we've went through this before. You don't need friends. They're just bad influences."

"No, mom, not everyone out there is a criminal. A delinquent. And, do you not think I'm strong enough to make my own decisions?! I may do everything you say, but that doesn't mean I can't live without you."

"Darling, you don't know what you're saying. Just, go to your room and catch up on your studying."

"Why can't I go outside?"

She looked up from her food, finally settling her eyes on me. As I expected, she looked at me as if I had insulted her. I inhaled deeply and returned her gaze.

"Tell me. Why won't you let me outside."
"Honey, go to your room. I will not be discussing this with y-"
"WHY?!"

"GO TO YOUR ROOM." Mother slammed her hand down on the table, making the dishes clatter. Father jumped in his seat, keeping his face down. Father never was a fighter, but I was surprised that he wasn't at least taking Mother's side.

I felt my mind start to throb from anger. With my breath held and my fists clutched so tightly I was almost cutting the insides of my palms with my nails, I turned away from them and stomped up the stairs to retreat into my room. My cage. I couldn't feel the ground beneath me as I distanced myself from my parents. My hands became numb. Everything became numb. This was probably the best. I didn't want to feel anything. So many years of being curious and only now do I want the answer more than anything else.

As soon as I slammed the door behind me, locking it, I walked over to my nightstand and threw multiple objects across the room, letting my rage slip out of me. My eyes were closed, because I knew if I opened them everything would be fuzzy from tears. I felt so weak. Finally, I shoved my lamp off of my nightstand and listened to it thump on the carpet, the bulb broke against the frame of the shade. My knees gave out and I fell to the floor. The throbbing in my head wouldn't stop.

Then I just screamed. Out of pure frustration, I screamed as tears rolled down my face. This emotion was so built up, that when it happened, I just exploded. The years of isolation were crawling up on me. Father always told me never to feel like I was alone, because I wasn't. I had a family that loved me, and that's all anyone needs. I cried, not because I was so mad at not knowing the truth, but I cried because at that moment, I had let myself feel alone. Like that small room of broken things was all my world ever was, and I couldn't stop crying because I feared that, that very room was all my world was ever going to be. I let myself empty my tear ducts and I curled up on the floor, yanking a blanket from my bed to cover me.

…

Mother walked up to my door later. She attempted to open it, which woke me up. I looked at the door, confused for a moment, but quickly remembered I had locked it. I listened to see if she would try to open it again, but instead came a few seconds of silence, before she steadily spoke from behind the door.

"Elizabeth, honey… It's late and I just wanted to make sure you had the blinds down on your window."

"Yea, they're down." I tried to speak firmly, but it was so obvious from my dried voice that I had been crying. Even the way I breathed was evidence. I didn't even look at the window to see if the blinds were down. I barely had my blinds open anyway. My window was so small, and had a very thick screen on the outside, making it nearly impossible to see anything outside.

"Okay, well, I'm going to sleep…"
"Good night."
"You too."

I heard her footsteps walk away, and shortly after her door shut. She had left without saying 'I love you.' It wasn't like she said it every night and this was the only exception, but it still shot a pain in my chest. Once again, the word lonely creeped into the back of my mind. I shifted to lie on my back and stared at the ceiling. The tears had now dried and made my face feel flaky. So, I got up off the floor and walking out of my room, and down the stairs to go to the bathroom. Once in there, I looked in the mirror, to my pale face. I smiled, and yet still looked so terribly sad, it ironically made me chuckle. I leaned down, closer to the sink, and splashed some cold water on my face.

I grabbed a small face towel from the cabinet below the sink and patted my face dry, and felt a little better. Like I had splashed the sadness away. Or maybe cold water just numbs the sadness for the time being. I sighed and put the towel away, then walked out of the bathroom and into kitchen. I was careful not to turn any lights on, so mother's intruder –spidey senses didn't go off. Instead, I kept the bathroom lights on, and they faintly lit up the kitchen, making it to where I could see.

The table had already been cleaned up and the dishes were neatly put away. I walked up to the kitchen sink because something had caught my eye. In the smallest crack in the blinds of the window right above the sink, I saw light peeking through. From outside. I lifted a piece to look through, and the lights from inside the garage were on.

We have a separate garage, where my dad can park his SUV, but most of the time, I see the SUV outside of the garage, and the garage door closed. Like there's not enough room or something. I squinted and looked closer, at the small window, to where the light was coming from.

Whoosh!

A black figure walked in front of the window and stopped. It was a male, tall, average build. He was talking to someone else. Then, after lifting the blinds a little more and focusing once again, I realized...

That's… my dad? But… who is he talking to, at this hour?

I shifted the blinds a little more to get a better view, but then heard the sound of a light switch go off from the top of the stairs. Mother had turned the hall light on!

I let go of the blinds and shuffled back into the bathroom, hoping it wouldn't make that much noise.

"Honey?"
"Uh... Mom?"
"OH. Liz! What are you doing down there?"
"Ah, I just had to go to the bathroom. I had forgotten to go before I went to bed... so…"
"Oh, I see. Well, get back to bed quickly, okay?"
"Yea. Sorry."

I heard her turn to go back, but then she stopped. "Sweetie?"

"Yes Mother?"
"I love you."

A feeling of relief passed through me. I looked up at the mirror to see a small grin on my face.
"I love you too, Mom. A lot."

She continued her way back to her room, gently closing the door behind her.

I exhaled deeply and trudged back up to my room. It was dark, since my lamp was now on the floor, with the light broke. No light was coming in from the window, but that's nothing new. I walked up to my blinds and shut them tight, so mother couldn't walk into an 'open' window in the morning. She would probably print out some work for me to study early in the morning. Lying down on my bed gave a small feeling of comfort. I left the blanket on the floor though, since I wasn't too cold and easily fell asleep without one.

I faded into nostalgic scenery. I was in our back yard, sitting in the grass, making floral headdresses with clovers and wildflowers. I looked around to see my parents, laughing, sitting in two white lawn chairs. My grandmother and aunt were standing behind them, watching me carefully. I looked further to the left to see Elora and Alin, kneeling on one knee, looking at me with their hands exposed. A pose that easily shouts 'your highness'. Behind them was another figure, not bowing, but also watching me. In the bright day light, he looked like a shadow. He stood still, in his own place, giving off a strong feeling of protection towards me. I felt like the center of attention. Like they were all waiting for me to put on some sort of show for them.

So I stood, dropping the headdress at my feet. The higher I rose, the more grey everything else got. Suddenly, I looked at my family to see them float away. Tiny pieces of them were carried away by the wind. Like ash. After they were completely gone, I switched my attention to the Vestiels to see if they were doing the same. Elora and Alinor were already gone. But the boy still stood. Though, he seemed to keep getting darker, along with everything else.

Then the world started to spin around me. As if I was in the center of a tornado. I kept turning, looking to see what was happening, what all of this meant, and the weirdest part was that I was completely calm. Like I was waiting for something else to happen.

And it did. When the spinning stopping, the area sharpened, and I was now standing in front of our back door. Where I stood on my birthday. By instinct, I looked up into the tree, and almost chuckled to myself, upon seeing the creature still standing there. Still waiting for me.

But this time, I didn't run away. I ran towards him. I wasn't scared. Quite the contrary, to my surprise, I felt natural. Too natural. I stopped at the bottom of the tree, and reached down at my thigh. There was a strap that held a dagger, and I knew it was there. I yanked the dagger out and jumped up at creature, as he jumped down at me.

We met half way, and I sliced my dagger across its chest, feeling a deep contact with the blade. I then shifted and kicked him away, positioning myself to land properly. It was wounded badly, and doubled over, but didn't hesitate to charge at me once again, swinging its arms at me. I perfectly dodged its attacks, counterattacking him with my dagger. Then finally, I shoved the dagger into its shoulder and it let out a horrifying screech, pulling away from my bloodstained weapon.

It jumped and scurried away, leaving me alone in the dead of the night. Only I didn't feel alone. From out in the distance, I heard a deep voice tell me,

"Good work."

I flinched and sprung up, fully awake. "What?" I looked around, not aware of my surrounding yet. Then I felt my blanket on top of me, and the bed beneath. I saw my mother standing next to my nightstand, putting my lamp back up.

"I said I found you some good work to study on. This is about medieval literature. I'm sure you'll love it."

And surely enough, I looked to see a neatly stacked pile of papers sitting on my night stand. I sighed and sat up more comfortably, pushing the hair out of my face.

"What's wrong? You seem frazzled."

"Ah, I just had a weird dream."

"Oh? Would you like to share it?"

"No, I already forgot most of it." Not true. I still remember the tiniest details. "It was really weird." Very true.

She nodded and left the room after kissing my forward. I barely ever remember my dreams. What the hell was that? I slipped the blanket off of me and grabbed some clothes. I need a shower…

After I got out of the bathroom, I poured myself a glass of milk and grabbed a bagel. Father was sitting at the dinner table, having a cup of coffee. I looked up at the clock above the oven. 6:45.

I sat down across from Father and began eating my bagel. To get rid of the awkward silence, I spoke up after swallowing my food.

"Hey, do you ever have really weird dreams that you can't forget?"

"Too many to count," Father said with a smile. "Why? Did you have a weird dream last night? I don't blame you. A lot went on." He took a sip of hi coffee and kept reading his book.

"Yea, in my dream I was killing something. But, the weird thing is, I was actually good at it. Like, I dodged its attacks and everything. Like I was some sort of assassin. And you guys were in the dream as well. But you quickly faded away, like you weren't real. And the Vestiels were there two. And… there was a third person with them. But I couldn't see his face. Weird, right."

I looked to see Father wearing a very befuddled face. Or, maybe it was worried. I was planning to gather some courage and ask him what was in the garage, hoping he would shed some hints on what he was doing last night, but before I spoke up, he set his coffee down and turned his head away slowly to face Mother, who was now coming down the stairs holding a basket brimming full of laundry.

"You hear that, honey?"
She giggled, in a surprisingly good mood, she asked, "No, what did I miss?"

"Apparently Elizabeth has been having dreams of being a professional killer of some sorts. She said she it was weird how she just knew how to kill her enemy. And also, she saw the Vestiels in her dream, and they were with another person, but she couldn't see who it was. Weird, right, dear?"

It seemed to be in slow motion when Mother suddenly dropped the basket, letting the clothes fall everywhere. It was like a firework, watching all the colors fly about down the stair case. And she didn't seem to pay much attention. Instead, she looked at me in horror.

"Elizabeth, is this true?"

"Well, yea, but I only had one dream like thi-"

She held her hand up at me, to stop me from saying anything more. After, she turned and faced Father, looking more worried than he was. The color had almost left her face, leaving her pale. She spoke, softly, but it sounded like she had just received news that a relative died.

"This isn't good."