• Chapter 1 - Melody's Mistakes

    The gryphon lunges forward sinking its beak into my shoulder. I cry out in pain as I am slung into the ground. My leg audibly snaps. I can feel the tears stinging in my eyes, threatening to fall. I look into the eyes of the beast that attacked me. I put a death grip on my staff and swing, one last attempt to save my life, but the griffin was too fast.
    He spreads his wings, rearing up onto his hind legs, and brings himself to the ground with such a force, that it sends my staff meters away. I muffle a sob of defeat. He then stands aside to make way for his master, Erik, a raven haired b*****d with a goal of ruling all. His dark aura reflects his murderous intent, His red eyes are glazed over, going in for the kill. His mouth is spread into a stomach churning grin. The dark spirits around him cackle and chant:
    It's time for you to die right now
    You've lost all that you love
    We will steal your hope for life
    We want to hear you cry

    All these times we've spared your life
    have finally come to end
    Your life is now so meaningless
    You never had a chance

    We are going to kill you now
    No one's going to come
    Go ahead and beg for life
    We want to hear you scream

    Eight months ago, I was normal. I didn't know anything about this stuff. I couldn't see ghosts or faeries or auras or anything else like that. I was normal. Well as normal as any teenage chick could be. If you asked me what a gryphon was I don't think I could have told you. I had a wonderful boyfriend too. A completely normal one, or so I thought...
    “Drake? What's the matter?” I ask, noticing the way his eyes looked, so full of sadness. He sits down on a bench, his elbows on his legs looking down at the ground. “Drake, Tell me what's wrong.” He shakes his head. “Nothing's wrong, It's just...” I shake my head. “Just what Drake? I can't help if I don't know what's wrong.” He looks back at me and I take that as my cue to sit beside him. “Melody, There's something I need to tell you.”
    “Then tell me Drake, What's the problem?”
    “You have a right to know, I'm just not sure you're gonna like it.”
    “Just tell me, I promise I wont get mad.” I brace myself getting ready for the worst.
    “I can hear your mind, Melody.” This whirls me around and takes me like a landslide. “I'm breaking up with you, Melody.” “I'm dieing from cancer, Melody” “Melody, I'm moving.” That was what I was expecting. “What?” I ask, a little short of breath.
    “I can hear your thoughts, and everyone else's.” He shifts around uncomfortably awaiting my reaction. I just stare at him. What in the hell am a supposed to say to that? Oh I get it. Now where's that video camera? Mom has to have one somewhere... “This is not a reality show Mel. I'm very serious.” He looks at me with such focus. I swear he isn't blinking. “how did you-” He raises an eyebrow questioningly. “This is so-”
    “I'm not crazy Melody.”
    “ So what are you? Some kind of-”
    “I'm not some freak a** satan worshiper Mel. I'm not a freak either. I'm not the only person with abilities. There are others who-”
    “There are more of you?!!! So what are you going to tell me next? Huh? That the whole school can read my mind too?”
    “Oh please Mel, Be serious most of the school body is too immature to be a part of this. In the school there may be about four more. Five tops”
    No. No more. I am not hearing any more of this. No way. This is crazy. This is so crazy. I am just about to get up and leave and he says, “Melody I'm not crazy I swear to you I'm not. Don't leave yet. Just hear me out.” I am so mad. He's getting on my last nerve with that. “With what?” Oh no he didn't just do it again. “What?” “Oh my God! See? That! That right there is pissing me off. Don't play with-” “Do what?” I get up off that bench so fast I don't even think he, himself could have expected it.
    I'm heading for my car . I am so out of this. I slam my door and rev up the engine. He runs up to the car and puts his hand on the window. “Melody, Just hear me out.” “No Drake, I've heard enough. I'm sorry but I don't want to be involved with-” “Melody, Don't” “I don't want to hear it Drake. We're done.”
    As I put my car in reverse, I saw the saddest thing I have ever seen in my whole life. The second I said those words it was like all the hope he had in life vanished. With those two little words, I hurt the person I cared about most in this world. As I drove away, I did the stupidest thing I could have done.
    Oh how I wish I didn't. I took a glance back. It took less than half a second but I could swear I saw a tear run down the right side of his face. That one little image killed me. I didn't care at the time but now, that image haunts me. It's in my every dream. Its in my thoughts. It's everywhere. Every time I close my eyes, I see that face, broken and hopeless. I see that tear run down his normally laughing face. It haunts me and it will always haunt me until my dying day. Well, I can always hope I'll be that lucky.
    We were both at fault. He was trying to cram it down my throat and I wouldn't listen to him. I believe at some point he realized this, or at least that is what I was told. Unfortunately, My pigheaded self had yet to come down to earth.
    About two months after our break up, He asked me to meet him and his teacher at that same park. He asked me hoping that his teacher could help him clear this up so I wasn't so confused and freaked out. He practically begged me to meet her. I reluctantly accepted. Did I mention that I was pigheaded? I now wonder if that was too kind a statement.
    “Melody, I'm so glad you came.” His face looks guarded. What is his problem? “So, Where's that 'teacher' of yours? Don't tell me she couldn't make it.”, I say with cruel sarcasm. His eye twitches but his face stays the same. “She must be running late. Just bear with me for a little while longer.” I sigh and lean against a tree. “Fine, but she better hurry up!” He mutters something under his breath but I couldn't hear for the wind.
    The next thing I know, Drake is pulling me by the arm, behind him. “What the hell?” He ignores me. I try to get away but he holds me in place. “Drake-” My words are cut short by the look in his eyes. He pulls a sword out of his gym bag. “Melody, Stay here.” He looks off to the woods. I didn't notice before but there's some guy walking toward us. He has a smirk on his face. “Kris.” Drake practically hisses out.
    Kris, a tyrant, is hellbent on taking over the supernatural community. He wants to enslave us all. I have had visions of the havoc he will wreak should he succeed. It's terrible. He has terrible plans, plans that he will force some to put into action. Of course, then, I had no idea about this.
    At the mention of his name, Kris's smirk turns into a sickening grin. He closes the distance between us. I can feel my heart beating faster. He's terrifying. Drake moves his thumb on my arm, trying to comfort me. I hear a snicker. My head shoots up and I'm trapped in the gaze of evil. His eyes glow red. If I was calming before, then all progress was lost. I was terrified, straight up terrified.
    I look up at him. “Drake, What's going on?” My voice sounds like a squeak almost. Ugh. I hate that. “Mel, If I lose, I want you to get out of here and never come back.” He says this staring ahead, never looking at me. “do you understand?” I nod once and he steps toward Kris. “Don't move.” He says before taking his sword out of its sheath.
    I hide my face in my hands. 'This has to be a dream or some twisted nightmare. Wake up! Wake up, Melody! Wake up!' A loud clang snaps me out of my chanting. I peer through my fingers to see them fighting. 'Why are you fighting!!! Stop it!', my mind screams at them but I'm too shaken to open my mouth.
    Drake swings his sword at him. Kris easily knocks the sword out of his hand and thrusts his sword into Drake's stomach. I gasp. 'No no no no. that's not how it's supposed to happen. The good guys always win. Drake no you can't die. No. please, no.' I fall to my knees, my hands fall to my sides, tears running down my face. And then, Kris turns his attention to me.
    I could feel my face pale more with every step he took toward me. He took a knee in front of me and I could swear his breath was cold. “Are you afraid little girl?”, He taunts. “Oh I'm sorry, Was he a friend? Maybe more? That's not what it looked like to me. Don't you see, I did you a favor, getting rid of him for you.” My eyes widened. Was I really that mean to him? No s**t Sherlock. “I'm sorry dear, are you still afraid?”, he taunts again with a snicker. I start to shake.
    “What about you Kris? Are you afraid?” A voice says calmly behind me. His eyes dart up to look at the person. As they make eye contact, his eyes widen and he pushes away landing on his butt. I slowly tilt my head back to look at her. All I could see was her vibrant green eyes
    That was when I first met Drena. Her hair somewhat surprised me. I mean wouldn't you find pixie cut orange hair with green tips strange? I immediately liked her though. She has a very interesting presence. Most find her intimidating but I have found that she's a very kind and gentle person. You just have to look for it. As you've probably noticed, A lot of people are afraid of her. Why you ask?
    He stands to his feet looking terrified. She takes a step toward him and he immediately takes a step back. She smirks, “What's the matter Kris? This is fun right? We're having fun!” By now they'd moved back a good twelve paces. They are getting close to Drake and Kris is starting to look a bit more nervous. They stop beside his body.
    The girl takes a glance at him and tsks at Kris. “Looks like you've been having a little too much fun with my student” Her voice deepens and her face contorts into a feral glare at the end. If he looked scared before, he looked ready to piss himself now. “Didn't think I'd show up. DID YOU?” she spat. He jumped back, almost falling again. “Last time I CHECKED-” She takes a step toward him. “idiots like YOU-” another step “didn't MESS-” She's in his face. “with a level THIRTEEN.” She pushes him down. He glances away for just a second then looks at her. He looks like hes about to smirk but before it happens, he's gone.
    Level Thirteen is the highest level you can get to in the supernatural community,and Drena happens to be a part of it. There are eight levels someone could be classified as. Level One, the most highly regarded level, is the level for people with elemental abilities. They are normally called elementals instead of supernaturals like the rest of us. Level Two is for those with abilities that impact the physical world that don't have anything to do with an element. Level Two and Three are very close and sometimes called mirror Levels. The only difference between the two is the fact that the Level Three's physical abilities aren't that noticeable, like invisibility, or gravity manipulation..
    Level Four specializes in energy. Level Five specializes in the mind, ironically, Most are shrinks. Level Six, my level, is for those with spiritual powers, like my sight and visions. If someone's abilities don't classify into any of these categories then they are thrown into Level Seven. But, If someones abilities are too powerful, they are put into level thirteen. They are respected and feared but no one ever hesitates to try and manipulate them for their own personal gain.
    “Scurry little rat, scurry.” She sneers at the space where he had been. She steps over to Drake. “You did well, I only wish I could have been here sooner.” She moves into a crouch. And reaches over to close his eyes. She fishes a little bottle out of her pocket and squeezes a drop onto the center of his chest. When the solution made contact with him he started to combust. Flame danced over his dead body and I had to hold back a sob. 'I can't believe he's really gone' She walks over to me. I look up at her.“Who are you?” “Drena. Let's go.” “O-Okay.” I scramble to my feet and follow her to a dark blue mini van “Where are we going?” She slams the driver side door and clicked her seat belt. “To start your training, obviously.” She states in a matter-of-fact way. “U-uh...ok.” I say before grasping the passenger door handle.
    Sick red eyes stare at me. I grasp and strain. reaching for my staff. He cackles and kicks it further away from me. 's**t' He crouches down beside me. He holds his sword in his left hand, pressing the blade onto my chest. I can feel it going slowly through my shirt. “Are you afraid Melody?” He grins one more time as I feel the blade pierce into my chest. The last thing I hear is him chuckle before I fall into a sea of black.