Elsie Mercy dragged the old cardboard box out from under her parent's bed. Opening it, she pulled out the old family photo albums. It was her nineteenth birthday and her parents were planning on taking plenty of pictures. She sat down on the bed and began to flip through the pages. She took out a picture of her mom and dad holding her when she was three. Her friends always loved to joke at how amazingly she looked nothing like them. Both her parents had light sandy hair straight as an arrow with light blue eyes to match. Elsie on the other hand had pitch black hair, with a streak of bleach blonde that fell in long thick wavy locks that framed her dark emerald eyes. Her parents had told her that her looks were recessive traits in their family.

Elsie looked at her younger self and easily made out the birthmarks on her arm and leg. Bright red marks on her arm and leg. They stung sometimes and were a bit sensitive to touch, she remembered how embarrassed she was of them when she was younger and so always wore knee high boots and finger-less gloves to cover them. She turned the page and nearly burst into a fit of laughter. A picture of her when she was six, and it was career day at school. Most of the other little girls had gone dressed as ballerinas and princesses, not her though, oh no. Instead she went to school dressed as a vampire.

(Flashback)

Marry walked little six year old Elsie to her kindergarten class. She keeled down to adjust the black cape she had tapered to look like bat wings. "Now honey are you sure you want to go to school like this?" She wanted to give her one last chance to go home and change.

Elsie nodded. "Yeah!" She was wearing a red and black dress, long black gloves, black stockings, shiny red flats, the black cape and a spider necklace. Her wavy jaw length hair was put up with a bat clip and a bit of black lipstick she'd begged her mother for that matched her false fangs.

Marry sighed in defeat, but smiled warmly at the sight of how happy her daughter was. "Alright honey, have fun. Me and your dad will be in the audience watching. I love you." She kissed her daughters forehead.

"I love you to mommy!" The little girl grabbed her little black backpack and skipped inside.

The classroom was filled with fireman, astronauts, ballerinas, doctors and princesses. Elsie went over to her best friend Lucy. Lucy had long beautiful red hair and freckles on her face. She was dressed as a doctor. "Hi Lucy, I love your doctor's suit."

Lucy smiled, showing off the gap where she'd lost her third baby tooth. "Thanks Ely. I really like your vampire outfit."

"Thanks!"

"Alright kids, it's time for your presentations." Mrs. Doe, their teacher, called.

The kids ran to the little makeshift stage of desks at the front of the class. Elsie got in line behind Missy, a rather snobbish girl with wealthy parents. She was
dressed in an over the top princess costume.

One by one the children gave their presentations and talked about what they wanted to be. There was applause as Missy climbed off the stage. Elsie stood up in front and center. There was an uproar of giggles from the adults in the audience.
Elsie smiled and waved to her parents, who waved back. "My names Elsie Mercy and when I grow up I wanna be a vampire bat!" She shouted, grabbing the edges of her cape and held them up like giant bat wings. She hissed at the audience and jumped off the stage and started after Missy, who in turn gave a squeal of fear and dashed away.
Parents and children alike could only laughed and laughed as Elsie chased Missy and Mrs. Doe chased Elsie around the classroom.
Charlie Mercy reached out and caught his daughter in his arms. He laughed and lifted her up. "Okay my vittle young blood." He said in a Transylvania accent. "I dink dat is enough hunting for one day."

"Okay daddy! Was I a good vampire?" She laughed.

"Ze best my vittle bat!"
(End Flashback)

Elsie smiled lovingly. Her parents had always supported her choices, most of which were either crazy and or dark. No, not evil or morbid, just dark. Like the dark blanketed night sky littered with shining stars, whose beauty could only be appreciated in the darkness. She just saw things differently. Like her personality was just that dark. Her favorite author was a tie between H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, the latter who inspired the first. She adored Vincent Van Gogh's 'Stary Night' and loved to draw and sketch herself. Even her wardrobe was dark, literately. All her clothes were black, dark blue, purple, dark red and green. She was just a naturally dark person, and loved the dark and the night. Elsie didn't know why but she always felt safe in the dark, she was always happy in the cool night's embrace.

She flipped another page. A picture of her family camping trip, when she first discovered her powers.

(Flashback)

The tents had been put up, dinner had been eaten and the sun was sinking down in the horizon on that hot August day. Her father put out the fire as her mother brought the sleeping bags into the tent. Eight year old Elsie was drawing images in the dirt with a stick.

"Alright my little demon slayer it's time for bed." Her father called.

"But I'm not tired." She complained. She never got tired at night, instead she preferred to do her sleeping in the morning.

Her mother came out and brushed her streak of blonde hair behind her ear.

"You will be honey. Now come on, we have to get up early to go fishing tomorrow." Marry said leading them inside.

(3 Hours Later)

Elsie lied awake in her sleeping bag listening to the sounds of the night. Crickets chirped a symphony, bullfrogs added their altos and an animal in the distance sang a beautiful soprano. She couldn't take it anymore. It was just to much, listening to the songs of night but not being able to join in.

Getting up she tiptoed over her sleeping parents. Putting on her knee high boots she unzipped the entrance as quietly as she could and snuck out into the night. Taking a moment to take a deep breathe of the sweet night air, she turned and ran out of the campsite as fast as she could. The cool air wiping through her black hair. She stumbled upon a trail and decided to follow it and came upon a moonlit pond filled with lily pads and the songs of frogs. The pond was surrounded by a field of tall grass where fireflies danced an intricate waltz, their blinking lights like distant stars.

Elsie sat and pulled off her boots, tossing them aside she ran down to the pond. Dipping her feet in she sighed as the cool water soothed the burning of her birth mark. Hiking up her pants she waded around in the pond, causing a frog to jump off a lily pad, splashing her. She giggled and sat again on the bank.

A gentle breeze made the nearby cattails dance. Elsie watched as the reeds danced with their shadows. Gently she began moving her arms along with them, mimicking their graceful movements. Most of the shadows continued to dance with their reeds, but some began to twitch and writhe and started moving in the opposite directions of their counterparts. She noticed this and stopped, the shadows stilled and refused to move even as their reeds continued to wave in the breeze. Curiously she waved her hand, the shadows followed her movements. Eyes wide she began waving her arms around wildly, the shadows followed her commands and danced to and fro. Elsie stared at her small gloved hands in amazement, she began giggling with the utmost joy. She stood and ran through the field, her arms outstretched. The shadows of the grass and near by trees abandoned their posts and followed Elsie, who could only laugh with mirth at her new found ability. The shadows continued to gather until she had enough to fill the pond. Stopping in the beaming moonlight, she Spun around and around. The shadows rising from the ground swirling around her in a dark vortex. Falling back into the soft grass, the shadows fell and returned to their owners. Elsie stared up at the moon. It was so bright and seemed to shine right down at her. Smirking, she relaxed, letting the night embrace her.

"Elsie!" Came a voice off in the distance.

Elsie sat up. All was silent for a moment.

"Elsie where are you!" A different voice sounding even closer.

"Elsie!"

Elsie recognized her mother's voice. "I'm over here!" She called back.

"Elsie!" Her mother and father burst out through the trees with their flashlights. Marry dropped her's and ran to embrace her daughter. Dropping onto her knees she wrapped her arms tightly around Elsie and began sobbing into her black locks.

She really didn't mean to make her mother cry, she just wanted to play out in the dark. "I'm sorry mommy I couldn't sleep so I came out to play." Elsie said.

Marry pulled away and looked her daughter straight in the eye, tears running down her face. "It's okay. Your safe, that's all that matters."

Her father came over with her boots. Kneeling down he took a gentle but firm grip on her shoulders so she would face him. "Elsie, you have to promise us you won't ever run off like that again."

For the first time that she had ever seen her father looked truly frightened. She had never seen him show fear before, she didn't like it. "I promise daddy. I'm sorry."

"I know. I know." He sighed helping her put her boots on. They started back to the campsite when Elsie remembered her discovery.

"Mommy daddy wait!"

"What?" They said in unison.

"Watch what I can do!" She raised her arms above her head.

"Elsie I don't think now would be-" Charlie stopped mid-sentence as he watched a shadow rise from the grass and curl around his daughter's hand like a black translucent snake.

Marry covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

"Isn't it cool?" Elsie asked oblivious to her parents shock.

After a moment Charlie found his voice. "How...how did you do that?"

Elsie shrugged. "I don't know, I just can."

He sighed, tired from the night's events. He picked her up and they continued back to the campsite.

"We'll figure this out tomorrow."
(End Flashback)

Elsie smiled gently, she still felt bad about making her parent worry so much. They were wonderful parents and wanted only the best for her and she loved them very much. A picture on the next page chased away her smile, replacing it with a strong sense of guilt. Her and Lucy standing side by side. They were smiling and everything seemed normal, except for a dark splotch on the side of Lucy's forehead.

(Flashback)
Lucy was the only person other than her parents that new about her powers. The red haired girl always thought they were just the most amazing thing in the world and would beg Elsie to use them. Lucy's favorite trick was having Elsie make shadows jump from the ground all over the place and the two of them would go running through them.

They were playing that game now. Both girls were running to and fro within a jungle gym of rushing shadows.

Nine year old Lucy began running faster and faster and started turning every which way on a dime, ten year old Elsie began having trouble keeping her shadows from hitting her.

"Slow down Lucy! Slow down!"

But Lucy couldn't hear her or wasn't listening. Without warning Lucy tripped over something.

"Lucy!" Elsie shouted, reaching out a hand trying to catch her. A shadow darted out and struck Lucy in the head. She fell to the ground rolling and unconscious. Elsie ran to her and cradled her head. "Lucy! Lucy wake up!" She sobbed. A large black splotch marked the spot where her shadow had hit. "Mom! Mom!"

Marry came running from inside the house. She gasped when she saw Unconscious form of Lucy and the large black mark on her head. "Elsie what happened?"

"It was an accident. I didn't mean to. An accident." Large tears rolled down the girls face.

They took Lucy to the hospital and called her parents. Needless to say her mother was furious and spent the better part of an hour arguing on 'how this could have happened'. Lucy was fine in the end, and she told her parents that she'd fallen and hit her head. The black mark had faded a little over the years, but never really went away.

That night her parents had a discussion about what to do about her powers. They were becoming stronger with age and practice. They worried that her powers would become a danger to herself and others. In the following days they researched shadow powers and other magic like it. In the end nothing really came up. From then on her parents begged her to not use her powers unless it was an absolute emergency, they hoped that with time her powers would fade away. Perhaps they hoped it was just a phase in her life and she eventually move on. Elsie agreed and for nearly two years she didn't use her powers.

Lucy had forgave her and promised not to tell anyone about what really happened. Things seemed to be becoming normal for the first time in the Mercy house.

But fate seemed to have other plans. it was on the two year anniversary of her halting her powers. Elsie was in her room brushing her hair. She was running the bristles through her blonde streak enjoying the soothing sensation, she began humming. As she sang Elsie noticed that the room was getting darker, and looking around she could not find what was causing it, the lamps were working just fine. She finally glanced into her mirror and was shocked to discover that the shadow of the brush had risen off the table and was standing straight up. She dropped the brush. The shadow fell and returned to it's original owner. She needed to tell her parents. Elsie quickly reached for her door, and as she wrapped her fingers around the wooden knob and shadow followed and curled around her hand. Her heart skipped a beat. Moving her arm back and forth her suspicions were confirmed. She wasn't sure if she was excited or horrified. Excited because she truly loved her powers, but horrified at what their return could mean. Elsie plopped herself onto her bed. Thinking about it, she knew she couldn't tell her parents, they'd be so disappointed. It was that night that she decided to keep her powers secret from everyone and began isolating herself from everyone.
(End Flashback)

The door swung open and her father came in. "There you are my little demon slayer. Your mom's waiting."

"Dad, I haven't been little for ages." Elsie complained.

He smiled. "No matter how old you get, you'll still be my little girl." He said lovingly.

She groaned in embarrassment.

"Hurry up you two." Came her mother's voice. "The ice cream's starting to melt."

Elsie grabbed the box of pictures and headed downstairs with her father. They entered the kitchen where her mother was setting bowls of ice cream on a table around a home made cake with nineteen candles.
Her mother smiled her famous warm cozy smile. "Happy birthday Elsie. Now make a wish before the candles melt all over your cake."

Elsie took a deep breath and blew out all the candles.

"Happy birthday demon slayer. What did you wish for?"

"If I tell you it won't come true."

"Oh Elsie just tell us, your so picky when it comes to gifts." Her mother said exasperated.

Elsie bit her lip in consideration. "Okay I'll tell you, but you really have to consider it."

"Alright." Her father smiled.

"No, you have to really promise."

Her mother sighed. "Okay we promise."

"Okay I'm nineteen so... so I want to go out and see the world."

Her father's eyes widened and her mother nearly chocked on her spoon of ice cream. Her mother opened her mouth but Elsie cut her off.

"I'm an adult and you promised you'd at least consider it."

Her parents looked at each other unsure. "Well-well-"

"I'll give you guys some time to think about it, I still have to feed Chirin." She dashed out the back door, not waiting for their response.

0o0o0o0o0o

Elsie entered the shed which she'd converted into a pen for Chirin.

Chirin stood up in his straw covered stall and snorted his indignation at her.

"I know, I know. I got caught up in some old photos. I'm sorry." She gently petted him on the head between his horns. He accepted her apology with a nuzzle to her hand.
Chirin was Elsie's pet ram. She'd found him as a half grown lamb on the mountain range.

She'd been hiking on one of the mountain's trails when she'd found him. His back hoof was caught in a bear trap. His coat was shaggy and matted, his horns were just coming in. He was half starved and so weak he could barely stand. When she tried to free his leg Chirin had tried to head butt her, but he'd fallen nearly unconscious from the effort. Elsie used that time to free his leg. It was cut rather deep and bleeding freely, she conjured a length of shadow and dressed the wound. She also noticed a bell around his neck and figured he must've been a farm animal at some point before becoming feral. As she reached for it, the young ram rammed her in the stomach and sent her rolling backwards. Once again he tried to stand and again he collapsed. Though he continued to glare at her with his bright yellow eyes.

Elsie smiled at his stubbornness and unwrapped a granola bar and tossed it to him. He sniffed at it but didn't break eye contact. She unwrapped another and took a bite making yummy noises as she chewed. Finally he looked at the bar and took a curious bite. Then without further hesitation gobbled up the entire thing. She quickly tossed over her remaining bars, which the lamb devoured quickly. She tried to pet him but he snorted angrily at her. Elsie stood and retreated.

"I'll be back with more food."

Over the next few days she brought him food and slowly began to gain his trust. When his leg healed enough for him to walk Elsie lured him down to her house with a box of freezer waffles. And after a few hours of begging, her parents finally agreed to let her keep him, on the condition that she would solely be responsible for him.

Chirin was thustly given a bath, his shaggy fur was given a haircut, his horns trimmed and sharpened and his hoofs cleaned. Chirin's leg was still weak so every evening Elsie took him up into the mountain trails to exercise and train him. In time they came to respect and trust each other.

Now Chirin, as she named him, was a fully grown ram as large as a small horse. His dark grey coat was well groomed and his horns were long and sharp, protruding in front of him like two deadly spears. Elsie heaved a fresh pile of hay into his food trough along with a few fresh vegetables. Grabbing his water bucket she placing it under the spigot, she turned the nozzle. "I asked them about leaving, today."

Chirin made a huffing noise in response.

"I know you've been feeling really coped up lately. I feel the same way, all anxious and tense and just waiting to let it out. I just... I don't know how much longer I can keep it hidden." She stared at her hands.

Chirin looked up from his food.

"Tonight we'll head up to the mountains." She dragged the water bucket to it's spot and sat down on a pile of alfalfa. Chirin took a long draught.

0o0o0o0o0o
(Back Inside)

"What are we going to do Charlie? We can't actually let her leave."

"I don't know Marry, she seems to have her heart set." Charlie scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe it would be good for her."

Marry's eyes widened. "Your not actually considering this are you?"

Charlie nodded.

"But she's too young! And what about college?"

"She's smart, she can always go to college later. She's an adult Marry, and a very independent one. We've sheltered her her entire life. A taste of the real world will be good for her. And if she ever needs us we'll be here for her."

Marry wiped the growing tears from her eyes. "I know, I'm the one whose not ready for this. Oh Charlie! We've loved and raised her. After seventeen years how can we just let her go?" She wrapped her arms around her husband, tears running down her face.

He gently wiped them away, smiling sadly. "I don't think she was ever ours to keep, not forever. But she knows she'll always have a home here."

0o0o0o0o0o
(Outside)

Elsie brushed Chirin's thick wool, gently dragging the metal bristles through it until each hair shone silver in the shed's light. Chirin was lying contently on fresh hay, nibbling lazily on a carrot. Placing the brush down and picking up a black slab of slate, Elsie began to sharpen his horns. What a funny thing to do. She thought. To clean Chirin before going out to where his coat would get matted and his horns would be dulled. She smiled and guessed she did this out of anxiety. She put the stone away and headed for the door. "I think they've had long enough to decide." Though she stopped in the threshold, hands shaking out of nervousness.

Chirin snorted and bucked his head, egging her to go.

"Your right, just get in there and get it over with." Inhaling deeply she marched to the house.

Her parents were sitting at the table obviously waiting for her. Her mother's eyes were red and puffy and looked like she'd been crying. Elsie felt a pang of guilt. She went to sit in the chair opposite them. She waited, and for a long time no one said anything. It was to quiet for her liking so finally she broke the silence.

"Well?"

Her father sighed looking her straight in the eye. "Well, we talked and we decided that you can go."

"YES!" Elsie shouted and stood so quickly that her chair fell over.

"But-" Her mother started and Elsie froze. "You have to wait and until your senior year ends next month. That way you can go to college when your ready.

Elsie nodded vigorously. "Yeah yeah sure."

"And we decided that for your birthday we're giving you your saving's account card."

"Your mother and I have been putting money away for you for a rainy day. But it's for emergencies only."

Elsie couldn't believe this was really happening. She dove over the table to hug her parents, nearly knocking the cake over in the process. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She ran for the back door swinging it open.

"Wait, where are you going?" Her mother called.

"Me and Chirin are going for a quick hike!"

Her mother made a terrified face. "No no no! I don't want you going out tonight."

"Mom I'm not going to run out on you."

Her mother scowled. "There's going to be a storm tonight and I don't want you out in it. And what about cake and ice cream?"

"Are you kidding!" Elsie smiled widely. "I'm so excited I couldn't sit down if I tried. Mom me and Chirin know these trails like the back of our hands. We'll be back in an hour or so, long before the storm get's here. Can I dad, please?" She begged her dad with puppy dog eyes.

"Go on ahead, just as long as you stay safe and get back before the storm hits."

"Promise. Love you bye!" She hugged her father and kissed her mother on the cheek and ran to the shed.

She burst through the door, making Chirin jump to his hooves.
"They said yes!" She shouted to her four legged friend. "We're leaving for good next month! Come on Chirin let's get some exercise."
She was so excited she almost forgot to make a cloak. Removing her gloves she reached down into a shady corner, the moment her fingertips touch the darkness the shadows became tangible. She manipulated the dark matter, stretching and pulling until it was the desired shape and size. Then she folded it over herself, making a cloak with a hood.
"Let's go!" Elsie climbed onto Chirin's back, took a firm grip on his collar and they were off. Chirin's galloping hooves clacked against the stone trail at full speed.

0o0o0o0o0o

They reach their favorite spot for training and immediately got to it. Elsie reached down and manifested the shadows to curl around her arms, forming enormous claws. They were as strong as she willed them to be and she began practicing her fighting routine. A mix of her own stylized forms street fighting and martial arts and what she learned from watching the mountain wolves. The mountains had at least two packs of wild wolves, though she didn't tell her parents, Elsie had watched them move and fight and incorporated their movements into her own.
Chirin charged and smashed boulders with his horns and crushed the smaller rocks under hoof. The two eventually faced off against each other, testing their strengths and weaknesses. They weren't warriors in nature, but both adored the feeling of adrenaline rushing through their veins and the trill of testing their metal, seeing what they were made of. It was more of a game really.

Well over two hours later both sat panting on the cool rocks looking over the small town. In the distant sky dark clouds were slowly approaching. In the midst of giant black cumulonimbus was a faint glowing gold that shone bright in the night.
Elsie pointed."Hey look."

The distant sparkle became a large cloud of gold dust that floated closer to the town. Slowly tendrils of gold dust began to reach down into people's houses. In the midst of the beautiful chaos Elsie could see a small figure on the mass of gold moving his hands to and fro like a mistro conducting a silent orchestra.

"The Sand Man." She'd never met him personally but had seen him perform his magic on late nights during her 'hikes'.

Yes, she could see them, the spirits. Even when she had thought she was to old to believe she still saw them. Once incident she had wished a leperchan a 'happy saint Patrick's day' as he walked past her, thinking she couldn't see him. It took him s second to realize what had just happened and when he did he turned to stare at her before running off.

The gold tendrils receded and the gold cloud headed off into the distance.
"Looks like everyone's asleep now. Let's head back." Climbing onto Chirin the duo trotted home, blissfully unaware of the danger that was fast approaching.