the feeding of dreams .

I believe in the immortality of the soul because I have within me immortal longings1

-hellen keller (1880-1968)2

Chapter one3

I examined myself in the mirror, attempting to ignore everything that bothered me about myself, so I could think of myself as at least presentable. There was no use. I just didn’t feel myself today.4

Through the reflection of the mirror, I peeked at the rest of the room, distracted by the pale walls. There was nothing special about it, besides it being abnormally boring. Even the brown cardboard boxes looked out of place among the white walls and floor. It looked the same, if not worse, as it had when I had first arrived at the house with my aunt. I had only been here for three days; there was certainly room for improvement, I guess.5

"Looking in the mirror again?" my aunt Laura questioned me rhetorically, suddenly standing in the doorway.6

The circles under her eyes were plainly visible in the dim light of my bedroom. She had her share of hard times, ever since I began living with my aunt. We had lived together ever since I was seven, living in the same big city of Sunnyvale, California. I didn't exactly warm up to the idea of moving to a much colder state, no pun intended. Out of spite, I told my aunt that I refused to make any new friends.7

"Will you please go outside once in a while, at least?” She tried to change my mind “Please? Go make some friends. I'm worried about you..." My aunt unexpectedly began pleading before I stopped her. I understood her feelings; I had made her out to be a monster when she had told me that we were moving. She had no choice, she just couldn’t afford to pay the rent in California; it was much too expensive. That, of course, didn’t change the fact that I was still pretty angry.8

"Alright, alright! I’ll go outside" I exclaimed, exasperated. "But I'm not gonna make any friends!" I added as an afterthought.9

I thumped down the dark, wooden stairs and out the door. Aunt Lauren had placed tulips around the porch already, which I wrinkled my nose at in disgust. I hated tulips; they were too big and bulky for my taste. 10

I leaped down the porch steps, two at a time, and slowed down to a stroll. I turned towards the neighboring woods, not thinking at all.11

I figured that if my aunt wanted so badly for me to go outside, my intentions would not be to make friends in this small town. I was going to ignore human contact for as long for, well, humanly possible; I would be a lone wolf. A lone wolf who was surprisingly homesick. I decided to take a walk in the woods near my house.12

I followed a dirt trail in a long, winding pattern, almost cartoon-like, reminding myself sarcastically that I probably looked like an overgrown child, and I chuckled to myself. I remembered the urban legend about the background character in the Wizard of Oz who had hung himself while Dorothy skipped down the path, bringing a smile to my face.13

I had such a morbid sense of humor. 14

I slowed down to a walk, when I suddenly decided that I liked the silence of the woods, without a doubt, even if I didn't like the rest of this small town. It made me feel like I was the only person in the world, if only for a moment. Of course, many quiet and damp places had that effect.15

Looking around, I had realized that I had become involved in my gruesome Disney moment, and didn't recognize my surroundings anymore. It reminded me of the walks through the park that I went on with my parents, when they were alive.16

In the few seconds that I had let my mind run away, I walked right into the middle of a clearing. I didn't recognize the direction that I had come from, and because of the overgrowth of the trees, only slivers of sunlight escaped the translucent roof of leaves and branches. It seemed rather gloomy.17

Not realizing what I was doing, I ran back the way I thought I came from for about ten yards. Stopping, I looked for something I remembered. I didn't recognize a single thing, but then again, I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going. I was thinking about something completely different by then.18

I wandered aimlessly, trying to find my way out of this forest, but somehow, I would always end up in the clearing. I had no idea how long I had been in the woods. I could have been in there for a couple hours, to fifteen minutes. The fact that I could barely see the sun didn't help either. Finally, I sat down on a log, and put my head in my hands. I put my sweater down beside me.19

What if I never make it out?20

Would I really care?21

I questioned myself as I sat there, blinking back tears. I imagined my aunt, terror crossing her young, but aging face when I didn't ever return. I was the closest thing that my aunt still had to her sister. I was everything to her.22

I still remember everything that had happened when my parents died, even though I was only six at the time. My parents hadn't returned to pick me up one afternoon after leaving me at my aunt's house. I was lying in her bed when the phone rang.23

She was very anxious on her way to answering the phone, as I could hear her rushed footsteps lightly, but hastily thudding against the carpet. My mother and father had promised to pick me up at six in the afternoon, and it was now ten at night.24

I could not say that I was worried, as I was only six, and I loved being at my aunt's house. To me, it was just an extended visit.25

"Hello?" I could hear my aunt from the hallway. There was fear in her voice that she had tried to hide as she talked quietly for a couple of minutes. I picked up the other phone from my aunt's bedside table to listen. There was a man on the other line.26

"There was an accident," he told my aunt, "there were two unidentified bodies found in a car, both were severely destroyed when their car slammed into a building.27

"A purse was in the back seat, containing a phone and address book, this number was the only number that was in it. There were also wallets found in the purse, and on the person of the driver. Judging by the ID, the deceased are Mr. and Mrs. Blair."28

I didn't know what deceased meant, but judging by the wails that came from both the phone and the hallway, I could tell that it wasn't good. I hung up the phone when the man began to talk about something that I didn't understand.29

Fifteen minutes passed as I heard my aunt talk to the man, sobbing and crying. At that time, I suddenly realized what had happened; my parents were gone, and all I could do was sit there in my aunt's bed and come to terms with that fact.30

I didn't cry then though, I think I was in shock.31

I shook my head and came back to the present. It didn't help to think about those types of things. Usually, I would stop myself before I went too far, but now, it was too late. Tears began to stream down my face as I stood up, while wiping them away. Lauren was my family now.32

"Excuse me," the quiet, velvet voice of a man from behind me suddenly cut through the silence. "Are you lost?" he asked me. I was startled, and was about to turn around angrily and tell him how much he had scared me, when I saw his face.33

It was like staring into the face of an angel, a devilishly handsome angel. He was taller than I was, built muscular, but slim. His hair was jet black, and was gelled lightly into a small Mohawk. His dark features stood out against his pale skin.34

Sunglasses hung low on his elfish nose, allowing me to see quick glances of his clear, grey eyes. I almost felt as though I could see right through his eyes as he slowly looked into my plain brown eyes. It was as if this angel had appeared out of nowhere.35

His face, though it was so familiar, was so new to me, and was like nothing I had ever seen before. I tried to recover my anger with him for sneaking up on me, with no luck.36

"Yes," I answered after a moment of delay, temporarily distracted by the deep gaze into my eyes that he maintained without breaking. "I guess I am. Where am I?" I asked suddenly, remembering the panic that I had felt, not a moment ago.37

"In my backyard." He cracked a half smile. I felt my face turn bright red, something that rarely happened, but had happened in an instant because of him, and I didn't even know his name. "I'm sorry; I thought it was just a forest. I had no idea..." I tried to explain, but he stopped me. "What's your name?" he asked, a forgiving smile crossing his lips.38

"Amelia Blair" I answered, almost unsure of myself. His persistent stare was both intimidating and enchanting.39

I tried to find my voice again to ask the same question, but he answered before I could say anything. "My name is Oliver Steele." He frowned, as if realizing some strange truth. "Are you frightened?" he asked.40

I was taken off guard by the question; he seemed to read the shocked expression on my face that I still slightly wore, and saw my heart jumping out of my chest. "You just startled me." I lied. There was no reason for him to scare me, but he almost seemed so different to me, like a diamond amongst stones.41

He nodded once, and looked away. He was staring at something that I couldn't see, but he was only distracted for a second or two. "I suppose you won't be able to find your way out of here on your own. I can escort you, if you want." He offered in a cold, but gentlemanly tone. "That sounds good." I accepted. "Thank you."42

"How old are you?" Oliver asked suddenly, while we weaved around trees. "Sixteen." I told him warily, unsure of his intentions. "Hmm, strange." he mumbled, almost to himself. "Well, how old are you, then?" I asked him. "Sixteen" he responded, almost looking at me, expecting to see the shock that once again draped my face like a silk sheet.43

"Sixteen." I muttered to myself in disbelief. That was impossible, I thought, he looked something like twenty-five, or twenty, at least. He flashed a wide grin in my direction, his handsome features lighting up.44

"So where are you from?" he questioned lightly, not one to focus on one topic for long, I had noticed. "California. Sunnyvale, to be specific." I answered dully, suddenly realizing how much I longed bask in that California sun again, to feel at home again. I knew Oliver could see the longing in my eyes, I could see my expression mirrored on his face. "I guess it must be hard, moving from there, to a place like Pocton." he smiled, faking disgust at his last words. "That's an understatement." I laughed.45

We reached the edge of the forest, when we had heard a loud thump a couple yards behind us. I whirled around to see what it was, but Oliver stayed perfectly still, except for turning his head to half-smile coyly through me.46

The shape of a man with short brown hair and a strong jaw, extraordinarily handsome and much more muscular than Oliver was slowly striding towards us.47

He looked absolutely the opposite of Oliver, built almost . He was followed closely behind by a tall, thin young woman with bright red hair. "What are you doing with this girl?" the tall man demanded in a disgusted tone. He motioned to me, not completely visible in the shadows of the trees.48

Oliver's smile faded and he turned around slowly. He explained through his teeth, steadily glaring at him, looking almost as if he was going to pounce at the man. "She's new, she just got lost."49

"Whatever."50

With that, he whipped around angrily and stalked back into the woods followed by the redhead.51

"What was that all about?" I asked, slightly offended, thinking that what had just happened had something to do with me.52

"My cousins are just darlings, don't you think?" Oliver said sarcastically, ignoring my question.53

"They were your cousins? But they look nothing like you!" I reasoned. But then I thought about it for a minute. They actually looked very similar to each other. They all had small, elf-like features and were very attractive, in their own way.54

"Are you sure about that?" Oliver asked, suddenly frowning again. "No." I answered, looking into his eyes. "Not really." I was overwhelmed by just how beautiful his eyes really were. I stood there, unable to move, unable to think and unable to talk.55

"What are their names?" I asked, slightly curious.56

"Mylanta and Drake." he told me, still slightly fuming. Peering around as if realizing that he was someplace dangerous, he began to walk back57

"I'll see you at school." he said, breaking eye contact, and allowing me to speak again. "Yes, I guess I will." I said, confused by his sudden mood change. He disappeared back into the woods, while I watched him over my back. I didn’t understand this strange control over me, but I suddenly decided that I would make human contact after all.58

My aunt was sitting at the kitchen table, a bandana wrapped around her blonde hair. She was grinning widely, seeming unbothered by the fact that I had returned hours later.59

"I see you made a friend." she accused jokingly. "I see everything." she laughed talking like a circus gypsy, and motioned to the window that clearly displayed where I had just been standing about five minutes ago.60

"What's his name?" she demanded giddily. "Oliver Steele." I told her, my calm expression confusing her. A look of shock and excitement was vividly visible in her eyes. "Oliver Steele?" she cried. "From Steele and sons inc.?"61

"I guess so," I told her, bored. "What do they do?" I asked her, cracking a smile to humor her. "They own a huge branch of diamond stores all over the west coast." my aunt's eyes were wild now. "I heard something about the Steele family living here, but I had no idea that they had sons that young!" my aunt was grinning even wider, and I knew immediately what she had in mind for me. "Still a little bit old for you though" she murmured, almost to herself, but directed at me to me. Aunt Lauren had obviously been harboring the same assumptions about his age, as I had as well.62

"Actually," I began, proud of my knowledge of the rich Steele boy, "Oliver Steele is my age."63

"Well, then." a surprised and cheerful look on her face, "I guess that works out just great for you." the grin returning to her lips.64

"How did you know about them?" I asked her curiously.65

"Oh, I did a little grocery shopping while you were out, and I met some of the people here. They're awfully nice." she told me. "I met a nice girl named Kayla; she's about your age. I thought you two would be great friends. She called, not long after I got home. Her numbers' on your bed"66

My aunt bounced around the room, suddenly returning to the topic of Oliver. "Do you have any idea how much money that boy has? It's almost SILLY!" she cried again, stuttering with excitement. I soon became bored of listening to her repeat her words, and told her that I would be in my room. All she ever did care about was the money.67

I bounded up the stairs and turned to the first door on the right. Sitting on my newly familiar bed was a folded piece of paper. I opened it to see my aunt's messy handwriting scrawled across the paper.68

"Kayla called. Said she wanted to meet you, and welcome you to Pocton. Call her back." Lauren wanted so desperately for me to make friends, so she didn’t feel like a totally monster, making me move away from my old friends.69

A number was also scribbled across the bottom, barely readable. I walked out into the hallway and picked up the phone and was about to dial the number, when there was a knock on the door.70

Within a minute, the high pitched voice of a girl whose name I guessed was Kayla squeaked in the front room. "Hi!" she meowed, greeting my aunt. "I thought I would come and bring you a housewarming gift." I heard her say as I walked down the stairs to meet her eyes.71

She was short, with big, excited brown eyes, and matching short brown hair that flipped out at the ends. She had already invited herself inside and was sitting on the nearest couch to the door. “Oh, Amelia,” my aunt called out to me. “I was just about to call you out here.”72

The short girl sprung up from the couch in an instant, and held out a hand. “It’s nice to meet you! My name is Kayla.” She exclaimed all too excitedly. “Your aunt told me all about you, and I was so exited to hear that a new girl was moving into the neighborhood..." she talked on while I listened, and barely paid any attention. My aunt had let the room, probably continuing on with her chore of unloading boxes. We talked for fifteen minutes, and the topic had turned to boys, which was a big surprise for girls like Kayla. She began to tell me about all the "cute" boys that go to my school. I wasn’t that interested, since she hadn’t once mentioned something that would apply to me. "What about the Steeles’'?" I asked, unsure of Kayla's reaction. Chagrin swept over her face. "Oh, Them.” Kayla’s words were so flat, and her expression suddenly turned rather solemn. “What can I tell you? They have four sons and a daughter, and a cousin living with them. They’re super rich, and they all look too old to be in high school, especially the daughter. I don't talk to them though. To be honest, even though the guys are all super hot," I heard her gush, "They scare me. They scare everybody." she told me, sounding as though she was hiding something. "Why do you ask?" curiosity was very present in her voice.73

"Oh, no reason." I told her, wondering if I should tell her more. "I, well, just met Oliver Steele today, and he seemed nice." I murmured, smiling as I spoke. "To be honest," Kayla began again, "Oliver scares me the most. He’s too perfect, and he never dates, well, none of them do,” she muttered the last part to herself, and I understood her too well. “but he's just too good to be true, and I think he knows It." she added sourly. "So, he's stuck up?" I asked, disappointed. It was hard to tell from how little I had talked to him today. "That's an understatement." she answered. "He looks at everybody like they're dirt." She sighed. Something that she had said was obviously bothering her. "Anyways" she continued on, her voice quickly pepping up. "I was hoping that maybe we could hang out sometime, we could get to know each other. It must be hard moving to a new place, but I'm sure you'll fit in just fine in Pocton."74

"Thank you," I told her, appreciative of her encouragement. "I would totally love to now," Kayla assured, "but I have to go to a club meeting pretty soon, so I really should be going now.” She sounded remorseful, as if she was depriving me of friendship. “Yeah, maybe next time.” I tried to cheer her up. “Well, I’ll call you sometime, when I’m free. We can hang out then.” She explained, happiness suddenly entering her speech. “Sounds good,” I told her, hiding how uninterested, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. By the way she talked, it almost seemed as though they were too fragile. “I’d better go, then.”75

“It was nice meeting you.”76

“It was great to meet you, too!”77

“Maybe we can go school shopping together.”78

“Sure, I need to do that anyways.”79

I followed Kayla to the door as she put on her jacket.80

“Perfect! Bye, Amelia.” She grinned at me as she opened the door and stepped outside81

“See you later, Kayla.” I said as I shut the door.82

For the rest of the afternoon, I sat watching TV. My aunt was out somewhere, shopping, presumably. Nothing interesting was on TV, but I didn’t really care. I tried to immerse myself in the gardening channel, but I couldn’t get Oliver’s eyes out of my head. They were so inhumanly beautiful, I wondered if they were phony. I doubted it though; he didn’t seem like the type. I stood up, flinging my arms back to stretch. I staggered into the kitchen, affected by the couple of hours that I had spent watching TV. I looked at the clock; it was 2:30. I figured I should probably do something. I walked to the refrigerator, dodging boxes and garbage bags. The door was difficult to open, but I finally got it open; the cool air was making me shiver as I looked for something to eat. I finally settled for a leftover tuna sandwich. I shut the door and weaved among the boxes and found by way to the back door. The back porch was wooden, and its paint was peeling. A couple boxes were still sitting outside, mixed in with empty plant pots left by the previous owners. Wind blew through my hair as I found a thick patch of grass in the yard. I sat down in it, eating my sandwich. I was extremely tired, and within minutes, I was asleep.83

A loud noise woke me up, it echoed in the sky, it seemed. The sky was bright orange, and was speckled with clouds. I abruptly realized that it was very cold and windy, and I ran into the house, clutching my arms. The boxes that sat on the porch earlier were now inside. The front door opened and Lauren trudged in quickly, allowing more cool air to softly brush my face. The silence was broken, as she dropped her bags with a crash. “Where were you?” I asked curiously, no annoyance was visible in my voice. “I was shopping for the house. I just got some things. Her eyes drew quickly to the boxes that had been outside. “Thanks for bringing in those boxes. I forgot about those.” She smiled with relief as rain began to pour. “I’m so tired; I don’t think I’ll be doing any more seven hour shopping trips in the near future.”She laughed at her stupid little joke as she took off her jacket as she walked into the kitchen and washed her hands. “Lauren,”I called suspiciously. “I didn’t bring in those boxes. I thought you did.”84

“That’s weird. Maybe I did it and forgot about it. I haven’t really been thinking lately.”She didn’t think much of it. It didn’t make any sense. Unless she had come back to the house while I was sleeping. But it was seven in the afternoon and she hadn’t been back since one, according to her.85

I sat up in bed, and looked at my alarm clock. It was four in the morning. Whoever it was that was making these noises did not have any preference to sleep, so it seemed. It was the same noise, a high pitched growl, which, rather than scare me, was starting to get on my nerves. I wondered why nobody was doing anything about this, there had to be others who could hear the noise. Every time I started to nod off, it would happen again, louder than the first time. There was more than one of these creatures, it seemed, and it all seemed to be coming from the Steele’s forest. I wondered what Oliver was thinking about all these noises. I wondered what Mylanta and Drake thought of it. I wondered if maybe they were making the noises.86

I started to think about oliver every night for the next week. I dreamed about him shamelessly, unable to erase his eyes from the insides of my eyelids. 87

Kayla called me at 11:30 one morning. “Hey, how’s it going?” she asked me cheerily, not even sounding effected by the noises that sounded during the night. Maybe she was a deep sleeper. “I’m exhausted. I didn’t get any sleep last night.”88

“Oh, really? That’s too bad! Why?” she asked, sounding very concerned. I considered telling her about the strange screeching noises that I had heard, but she hadn’t seemed to hear it, so I figured I would spare myself from looking crazy. “It’s just a little hard adjusting to the new house and all.” I lied. “Oh, well, you’ll be fine in no time. I was wondering if you were free today. My mom just bought me a whole bunch of new arts and crafts equipment. I could show you them!”89

“Sounds great.” I lied again. I was horrible with arts and crafts. “Well, I’ll be right over then.” She sounded overly excited.90

Kayla showed up at my house, a large wicker basket on one arm, a scratchy-looking sweater on the other. She greeted me, and then walked right in before I could invite her. She dropped everything on the kitchen table, and whirled around.91

“Do you know how to knit?” she glared hard at me, wearing a dangerous smile. I had to laugh at her; she took crafts way too seriously.92

“What?” she demanded, her smile suddenly fading into pure curiosity. “Nothing.” I told her; it wasn’t worth it to make her angry.93

“So, are you going to show me how to knit, or what?” I asked.94

Later on, after Kayla had left, carrying her craft bag, there was a knock on the door.95

“Hello,” the same deep, velvety voice greeted me as I opened the door. “You forgot your sweater in my yard.” Oliver handed me my red sweater.96

“Thank you.” I looked at the red cashmere cardigan, remembering how I had set it down to mope about my past. I reached for it, but Oliver pulled it up above my grasp. “Come with me,” he suddenly whispered, smiling perfectly, his eyes sparkling. “Come outside and play.” He chimed in a child’s voice.97

“Why?” I demanded, fighting the urge to give in and fall into his arms. What was he doing to me? 98

I stepped outside without waiting for an answer, and he handed me my sweater, grinning because he had succeeded. We began to walk towards oliver’s back yard again casually.99

“I want to talk to you about that friend of yours, Kayla.” He said cautiously, the tone in his voice suddenly becoming very serious, as he uttered her name with disgust.100

“what about her?” I asked defensively. Sure, she was annoying, but at least she took the initiative to talk to me.101

“she-she’s not safe.” He admitted, a troubled expression in his eyes.102

“What are you talking about?” Kayla was the nicest person I had met so far in this town. Oliver, on the other hand, was completely different.103

“nobody in this town is safe.” He told me. “you and your aunt need to leave, immediately.”104

Taking offense of this, I glared at him. “so, what? You don’t want us in this town. Good for you. You don’t need to scare us out of the town.” I stalked away, not quite understanding why he wanted us to leave. He had been perfectly polite to me the last time I saw him, most of the time. However, his cousins were not exactly delighted to see me. Maybe they had convinced him of something.105

“wait, amy, wait!” he called after me. 106

“my name is not amy. It is a-meil-ia!” I spun around, grimacing angrily, and gritting my teeth, not wanting him to use the nickname that I only allowed my friends to use. I was extremely angry, and I couldn’t hide it, even if I had tried; I had a horrible temper, that was apparent. Without warning, he grabbed my shoulders, and stared into my eyes. 107

“believe me, it’s not that I don’t want you to be here. If I had it my way, I wouldn’t want you to leave, but you don’t understand. It’s dangerous here, more than you would know.” He whispered sincerely. I suddenly gasped for air, realizing that I had been holding my breath. “what?” he asked me, grinning.108

“i-I forgot to breathe.” I gasped, forgetting why I was so angry. “why is it so dangerous here?” I inquired, catching him off guard. 109

“if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.” He said quite seriously. 110

“try me.” I assured him, remembering my anger. “I think I can handle it.”111

“that’s what you think.” He laughed with no humor. “all right, if you really want to know. Just don’t get mad at me when you don’t believe me.” He stared to walk a little bit closer to me, our hands occasionally brushing as they swung by our sides. “this town was first founded in 1823, and there were four men who had bought the it. They brought friends and family to help build it, and soon, they had the basics established. They continued to build neighbourhoods and shops, businesses and a sheriff’s office. The four men began families and had many sons and daughters. Around 1889, one of the founder’s grandsons, ephriam carter, a wealthy doctor, built a house, your house. Rumors spread after carter’s death that he had hidden a large sum of the money that he had inherited from his grandfather, somewhere in the house. Carter’s family held on to the house, not wanting to sell it to anyone from this town. They tried to sell it to somebody that they thought deserved the vast riches hidden in the house.”112

I tried to remember the woman that had sold the house to us. She was short and plump, and wore her hair up in a beehive style. Her skin was worn with age, and there were large bags under her eyes. I remembered that she seemed very desperate to sell the house, and accepted the first offer that my aunt had asked for. She seemed over joyed when she moved her things out. I wondered if maybe there was something that oliver wasn’t telling me. He continued on. 113

“there was a reason that the carter family didn’t want to sell the house to anyone in the area. You see, everybody who lives here is, well, cursed, in a way.” 114

“cursed?” I asked, shocked. I had never heard of a curse over a whole town before.115

“yes, well, in a way.” He seemed reluctant to tell me about the curse, but he did anyways. “the people in this town were cursed a long time ago, by three sisters. They owned a house, in this forest.” He gestured to the trees. I had completely ignored everything else around me, becoming deeply involved in the story that he was telling me.116

“everyone in the town had the suspicion that they were witches, but they didn’t want to find out quite frankly. The disappearance of a little girl changed all that. The townspeople finally realized that they had had enough of the three sisters, and they showed up at her house with pitchforks, and torches-”117

“so cliché.” I interrupted, rolling my eyes.118

He ignored my comment. “one of the sisters, rather plump, from what I’ve heard, came out and tried to make peace with the angry mob. A pistol was shot, and the bullet was fired directly between the eyes, and through the back of her head. The other two sisters, hiding out inside the house, saw the bullet fall to the floor, covered with black blood, a common trait of witches, and became enraged. They ran outside, and began killing all the women in the crowd, the brave women who had decided to accompany their husbands. With just a touch, they would crumple to the ground, vomiting blood. They cackled as they killed them, showing no mercy. they disappeared into a large cloud of smoke before anyone could stop them. Over the next couple of weeks, the men began to grow fur all over their bodies. Their faces, their hands, their feet. The women who were left, had mated with their husbands before the transformation, and bore children who realized that they could control their abilities, believe it or not, to become ordinary housecats.” I laughed out loud at this fact; who would want to be a housecat? As I thought about it, I realized that his story was very well rehearsed, but at the same time, it seemed completely new to him. Either way, he was undoubtedly convinced of it.119

“are you sure this isn’t just some dream you had that you passed off as real?” I looked at him strangely and smiled. He frowned.120

“I wasn’t finished.” He said coldly. 121

“oh, sorry.” I told him remorsefully. He continued on.122

“the abilities were complex. People with this skill were able to control the percentage of which they would become cats, and the percentage of human that would remain. They were also able to… pass this …gift… along to others. These men were called bastets, and are legendary in places like Egypt.” 123

“and the witches brought it here?” I asked thoughtfully.124

“exactly.” He confirmed.125

“well, what does this have to do with Kayla, or the rest of the town?” I was confused, but I had an idea of where he was taking this conversation.126

“the people in this town have ancestors who have lived here for many, many years. Some, most of the people in this town are still… carrying the gene.” He found it difficult to continue.127

“so you mean that Kayla is a …a bastet?”128

“indeed. She carries the gene mentioned in the ancient Egyptian legends, as well as most of the people in this town.”129

“pocton is infested by…”130

“bastets.” He added.131

“what are you, then? Mortal? because Something tells me you’re not.” I said suspiciously.132

“I didn’t have to tell you any of this.” he said angrily, irritated by my question. “I could have to you that everybody hates you and that they would make your life a living hell if you stayed.”133

“but you didn’t. why not?”134

“because you wouldn’t have believed me. You would have stayed, and tried to find out why I told you this. That Kayla girl would have told you I was a horrible person. Worst of all, they would have made you one of them. A bastet.” He admitted. “I tried to tell you to leave, but I knew you probably wouldn’t have, so I knew I had no choice but to tell you everything about us. I would get into a lot of trouble if my family ever found out I had told you anything. You saw how drake reacted to me even talking to you. He attacked me that night, he didn’t understand…” He shook his head shamefully. 135

“understand what?” I asked, confused.136

“how I felt when I saw you here.” He admitted reluctantly. “I watched you in the woods, long before you saw me. I heard you crying, and I found you in pain. I wanted to wipe your tears away, but I couldn’t just do that. You would be scared off by me.” He whispered, trying to understand what I was thinking.”137

I sighed, finally giving into the feelings that I had felt since I had met oliver steele. “you haven’t left my mind since the day I met you. You’re everything I ever wanted, but I thought you were too good for me. Kayla told me…”I trailed off, seeing that he understood what I meant. 138

“how could I be too good for you? Have you looked in the mirror lately? I thought you were too good for me.” He explained, surprised at my opinion. 139

I blushed and looked at him, very confused. “yes, I have looked in the mirror lately. All I saw was a poor, silly girl who seems to have a crush on you.” I gazed into his eyes, smiling. 140

“you are perfect to me.” He said in his velvety, smooth voice that somehow reminded me of melting chocolate. His eyes gazed back at me, and shook his head. “you don’t even know me. This must be too weird for you.”141

“I don’t even care. I like you. You like me, right?”142

“yes, of course.”143

“do you really, really like me?” I asked again, suddenly dominating the conversation.144

“I love you.” He blurted out unexpectedly.145

“you-you love me?” I stuttered. “but it’s too soon!” we had just met about a week ago. I found this new logic to be unreasonable.146

“I’ve known you longer than you think. I watched you grow up. I was your friend several times before now. I am a golorth. I can morph into anything I want.” He explained, his grey eyes flaming wildly. “just watch!” he ordered. He backed away, and with a swift movement, his clothes left his human form, and crumpled to the floor, but he didn’t seem to be there anymore. In his place, a golden retriever stood, his tongue hanging out goofily. He suddenly spoke. “I know your favourite animal is a golden retriever, so here I am!” he laughed. With another swift movement, he was back to normal, except for his nose. It stood out further than normal. He pressed it back to it’s regular shape. “that always happens, you see. That’s the bad thing about this whole morphing thing.” His voice was suddenly rugged, and different from its usual formal nature. 147

“I’ve been your best friend, and your worst enemy. I’ve been sarah blanches, from English class, and Andrew Michelson, from kindergarten. Every year, I would leave, and come back again as another person.”148

“but why me?”149