A/N: I thought I lost the document for awhile. Almost freaked out there. Well then, 3 in a row today! What. Up. Need I tell you I almost choked on a Rambutan Seed while watching NigaHiga's "Off the Pill - Christmas Spirit"? That's how bad it is. AND I need to buy the Vittorio the Vampire by Anne Rice soooo soooo bad. :((

DISCLAIMER: I'm a good person of the society. Why the bloody hell would I steal? (Even though they are really tempting). All rights go to CBS for CSI:Miami, YUMGirlAndMoltMan for her/his characters, and Coldplay for their meaningful lyrics. :) Ooh, and this time for the information on Werewolves from Wikipedia. Scared the heck out of me with the picture.

Chapter 10:

Anastasia's POV:

Was I in a dream?

If so, why does it felt like everything I see or touch is so real? I looked around me, only to realize that I am surrounded by pure darkness. I suddenly saw a light coming in from a distance in front of me, and I immediately went straight for it, not thinking twice about whether the light is actually leading me to danger. I don't really feel comfortable around the dark anyway.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, edging closer and closer into the light, feeling safer and safer, or so I thought. I noticed a familiar figure standing around the corner, and I walked closer to it, curiosity taking over me as usual. I stopped at least a few meters in between us when I opened my eyes and knew who it was: Ryan Wolfe, my new best friend and secret crush.

Suddenly, it is as if the floor gave way and I sunk, slowly, until my foot is buried just nicely. I tried moving my legs in all sorts of directions, hoping it would give way, but the floor was too strong. I felt like as if my legs were buried in concrete rather than sand. Ryan turned to look back at me, smiling in a way as if he himself felt sorry for what he was doing to me, "I'm sorry, Anne. I have a secret to tell you."

"What do you mean, Ryan? We share secrets all the time. How many more secrets do you have left for me?" I laughed at myself, totally clueless at what he was talking about, and the fact that I didn't want to raise his blood pressure. Ryan didn't laugh or smile at my remark, in fact, it's as if he doesn't have any expression at all. He began walking towards my direction.

As he did, his features began to change. His ears have certainly elongated, and the fact that his eyes change colour, something that amazes me ever since seeing the change in pupil of a cat. Fur began growing in all parts of his body, and his figure became two times bigger. His fingers turned into sharp, razor claws, hands turned to paws, and his teeth turned into jaws, those as sharp as a knife. I wouldn't want to imagine putting my limbs in there.

I stood there, frozen in shock, jaws wide open. I wanted to shout, but I wasn't brave enough to speak up, and there was no one nearby who could help me. I only silently begged for whatever reason he would suddenly not want to eat me up, alive. Once his transformation is complete, he stood in all fours, just like any four-legged animal. It was then when realization hit me:

He's a werewolf. Werewolves, from what I read, can be pretty vicious. Even though I love animals, I'm not really sure if a werewolf would like to befriend me, and in a short period of time.

Fear caused me to gag in my own mouth, "Nice… wolfie… I'm not juicy; I'm made of bones..." However, the werewolf was oblivious to my soft remarks and lunged for my throat.

I woke up, face full of sweat from the nightmare. I managed not to scream, just in case my parents woke up and come looking for me, again. I looked at my body from under the sheets, and I thanked the man above I didn't accidentally relieve myself. I looked up at my 'Winnie-The-Pooh' wall clock; it read 4:30 in the morning. Now that I can't sleep and the fact that I should be awake in about an hour or so anyway, I decided not to go back to sleep, but instead went to take a seat in my study desk and turned on my laptop.

Keying in my password, I was let into the main menu. I immediately clicked on the internet explorer and typed for the 'Google' address. As soon as it popped up, I typed in the key words, 'myth' and 'werewolf'. I felt subconscious from the lack of sleep as the pages loads with the answers to certain websites, my head kept on bobbing up and down, but I've managed not to bang my head on the table or the laptop and was wide awake again by the time it finished loading.

I clicked on the link to a common website and it instantly shows vital information and pictures. Boy was the picture scary. As I continued down the page, the first sentence on the first paragraph really caught my eye:

"A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope, is a mythological or folklore human with the ability to shape shift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf like creature..."

Well, that certainly made sense in the dream, I thought to myself, trying so hard not to bring the memory back. But why is that dream so distinct? What is it trying to tell me about Ryan?

"…by being bitten by another werewolf, or after being placed under a curse."

A curse? Now that's interesting. I continued scrolling down the page, taking in every chunk as I could, all the while making sense about the message being brought through. Ryan appears in my dreams lately, he's certainly the one talking to me in my thoughts, and the strength he has when shaking my hand, that is certainly not human. I took out a pen and paper and began to jot down notes on how to know when someone is a werewolf:

"One method of identifying a werewolf in its human form was to cut the flesh of the accused, under the pretense that fur would be seen within the wound."

Ugh. That's a little too extreme. And I don't think father would like it if he sees me carrying a knife, or worse still, cutting Ryan's flesh in the Crime Lab. I gave up immediately after seeing the second method:

"A Russian superstition recalls a werewolf can be recognized by the bristles under its tongue."

That was the only option left and I knew it's going to be hard looking from under his tongue. I doubt it would be easy going up to him today in the lab and asking, "Ryan, would you mind lifting your tongue up for a moment?"

I closed the program immediately as the door creaked open and mother stepped in, "Hey there, little one. It's funny how I can see you wake up so early today. I thought you love sleeping."

"Well, yeah, I guess. But I've had a nightmare today, so I woke up an hour earlier than the usual," I smiled weakly as she placed one hand on my cheek and another on my forehead.

"You've had a nightmare again? Why didn't you wake us up?"

I sighed, looking up towards my mother's eye, hoping that she wouldn't sense the fear and know what I was actually doing behind my parent's back, "Well, I don't want to bother you, because I know you need sleep," I paused for awhile, "You two do need sleep right?"

Mother looked around the room for a second, deep in utter silence, "Well, ugh, yeah, we do need sleep, honey."

"You hesitated. I thought people would say in an annoyed tone, 'yeah. I need my sleep, so don't try to bother me!'"I looked up at her, hurt for being lied to, and the thought of missing something, "You're not telling me anything, just 'in time'. Need I tell you that I took a sample from your tears left on the floor and brought it into the lab to be processed? It is blood. Not food coloring, or paint, or anywhere near those liquids."

I sighed, looking on the floor and mother's feet. I just want the answer to my big question so badly, "Just what are you two hiding from me anyway? Why aren't I let on it? Is this some kind of a grudge against me?"

There was a moment of silence between us. I didn't want to look at mother, to see the tears forming in her eyes. I didn't want to hurt her feelings; I just want to know why they are being like this to me all these years. I heard the door slammed open and my father stormed in, footsteps getting louder and louder, sensing great authority. The footsteps stopped as I heard the murmurs from my father trying to soothe mother and telling her everything is going to be all right, before two sets of footsteps left the room. Neither of them said a word to me.

My face went up to meet my face. My life is in such a mess, and there's nothing I could do to bring it back to the way it was, plain simple, and carefree.

A knock on the door pounded in my ears, as I looked up at the person who could be doing it. I was half expecting father and mother to come back, to explain things to me and take me to school, as if any of this didn't happen. Instead, there stood Uncle Eric, "Hey Anne, I heard that mother and father told me to send you to school instead. They said they're busy with things right now."

They must have hated me, I let out a snort and crossed my arms, rolling my eyes away from him. My uncle went inside the room and sat in front of me on my bed, what's wrong, Anne?

Nothing, I'm capable of doing things on my own. Thanks for caring for me Uncle Eric.

No, you are not capable of doing it, I could sense the 'you' deep down inside, Uncle Eric slid a few fingers below my chin and brought my head up slowly. Tell me everything. I'm here if you need me.

I tore my gaze away from him, I'm just finding out the truth about our family. The way you have been acting since my fifteenth birthday, it's all different from before. I let out a sob or two; I think they're planning on dumping me, or keeping me out from the big secret, because they don't love me anymore.

"Dumping you? No, no, no, silly. Your parents wouldn't stop loving you or even thought of dumping you. They love you too much! You're once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it's a waste if they lose you, for life," he wrapped his arms around me, placing his right hand on the back of my head, before pulling closer to him. "Hush now, please don't think that way. Think about the positives in life. You have me, and Aunt Calleigh," he gave out a groan as he clearly sounded annoyed about what he is telling me next, "… and Ryan Wolfe."

I managed a smile at him as we pulled away from the short embrace. It feels good to share the pain with my uncle, and it definitely eases some of the stresses in my life, "Listen, dear Anne. The time will come when we will tell you everything. We do want to, so, so badly, but there's a reason we can't tell you yet. Only when you're ready. Please don't harass your mother any longer, all right? I don't want her to hurt herself because of you."

That got me for a second, "What do you mean 'hurt herself'?"

"Well, ever since you've questioned her about us, she's stopped drinking the special red juice. It's important to the three of us, since its part of our special diet program. If it were not to be in your system, your organs may suffer a great deal of damage."

Questions began popping in my head again. Damn you, scientist instincts. Before I could open my mouth to speak, Uncle Eric placed a finger in between my lips, "No questions, yet. I'll tell you what: I'll ask your father to give you some time to be able to finally answer your questions, but you've to promise me not to bug any of us with the questions until then, understand?"

Well, it was not what I've wanted, but I have no choice, so I nodded my head in a silent agreement. That's my girl, his soothing voice surrounded in my head, while he wrapped around me like a blanket, cold but comfortable.