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The Beginning.

I don't even know where to start, except for at the beginning. The beginning before my life changed, before it became what it is now, before I became who I am now. Little did I know then, that my life would forever change when I turned 23. I had my life all planned out for myself for as long as I could remember. Then something happened that tore my world apart, and forever changed my perspective on everyone and everything.

Firstly, I should start by telling you about myself. My name is Amina, before everything changed, I was only 22. I have dark brownish-auburn hair, green eyes, I am about 5"7 and weigh in at about 120. I used to work in the sporting goods department in our local store. I loved it there, I had been there for almost 3 years and was up for a promotion. I basically stayed to myself, with the exception of my best friend Odilia. I called her "O" for short. Odilia moved here to Lancaster about senior year high school. She worked in the housing goods department which was (ironically), right next to my department. We became fast friends. Odilia had moved from Russia, her dad was in the military. "O" was beautiful, she had long, wavy blonde hair with pink streaks in it that reached almost to her bum. She was super skinny, but fit and was about 5"9. She was very friendly also, which helped us become fast friends.

There's not much to say about the town I live in, except that it has an Academy for "gifted people" at the top of the hill. No one really knows anyone from the Academy, because they stay pretty much to themselves. All I personally knew about the academy, is that it looked like a renaissance castle and that everyone I had ever seen, coming or going was in between the ages of seventeen to thirty three. Not your typical Academy for sure. Everyone in town just assumed the people that went there were mentally disturbed or problematic. Back to the night that everything happened....

The night everything changed, was the same as any other night. I had no intuition, no strange premonitions or anything like that. It was fairly dead at work, so they sent Odilia and I home early. I dropped her off at home, and headed towards my favorite spot in town to wind down. It was located down a dirt road, and headed to a scenic view overlooking the town. The town was fairly small, but still looked beautiful from this view. I parked my car in its usual spot, got out, and went to go sit on the hood of my car. Suddenly, I felt a twinge of pain in my stomach & had ringing in my ears at the same time. It stopped after a few minutes, so I shrugged it off and proceeded to gaze out at the town. I would come up here to think, to contemplate how bad my life sucked and plan out ways to escape this town. I had dreams a plenty. Being a fashion designer, a writer, a photographer. Maybe I could do it all, my thoughts trailed off..... and then another, much harder stab of pain hit my stomach. This time, I cried out a little as the pain surprised me. I wasn't due for my period anytime soon, and I hadn't eaten anything bad, so really there was no reason for this pain. All of a sudden, a tall guy stepped out of the woods from behind a tree. I gasped, and jumped back startled. He held his hands up as if to say he meant no harm. Slowly, he started walking towards me. As the moonlight hit him, I noticed he was about 6 foot tall, had jet black hair, and very mesmerizing blue green eyes... very mesmerizing, I couldn't bring myself to look away. It's almost like he had me in a trance with his stare. I slowly slid off the hood of my car, and started inching towards my drivers side door. He was still at the trees edge, standing there as if to almost beckon me. I stopped dead in my tracks as a bigger wave of pain hit, doubling me over. I screamed out in pain this time, suddenly getting very dizzy. All of my surroundings started to blur, and I hit the ground with a loud thud. All I remembered was the searing pain, the sound of running footsteps, and feeling strong arms lift me into the passenger side of my car. After that, everything went black.

When I woke up, I realized I was no longer in my car. I had been laid down on a oversized queen pillow top bed. The covers were pulled up over me to keep me warm. There was a night stand next to the bed with a glass of water and two ibuprofen. Next to it was a note. I slowly sat up, grabbed the note and read it. It simply said: take these for your headache...Nothing else. I grabbed the pills and took them because my head felt like a jack hammer. What happened last night? The only thing that I could remember was a hot, searing pain ripping through my body. I couldn't remember anything else, it all went blank. Where was I? I looked around the room, trying to identify anything that might be mildly familiar. Nope, never been here before. I slowly pulled the covers off of me & put my feet on the floor. Under the bed, was a beautiful antique rug that took up half the room. There was a night stand next to the bed, and a beautiful antique armoire against the wall adjacent to the front of the bed. At the end of the bed, there was a beautiful scroll chaise bench. This definitely wasn't home. As I sat up, I noticed that luckily I was still in my clothes from last night. I breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming down the hall towards the room I was in. Panicking a little, I hurried back into the bed, and covered up. I quickly closed my eyes and pretended to still be asleep. I heard the bedroom door open, and the footsteps came into the room. They stopped next to the bed, where I then felt a soft hand gently touch my forehead. I then heard another set of footsteps come into the room. I heard a male voice ask how I was, and a female voice reply that I was ok but they were still going to keep an eye on me for a while. Then it got quiet for a while and one of them left the room. I lay there in silence for about five minutes before I finally decided to roll over and slowly open my eyes. When I opened them, the man that was in the room quickly stood up, looking at me with concern. " Amina" he said, "are you feeling ok?" he finished with uncertainty in his voice. I slowly sat up, pulled the covers up to my chest and nodded yes. I looked at him bewildered, wondering who he was. Then it hit me, it was the same guy I saw in the clearing last night!! What was he doing here!? Why was I in his home? What in the world was going on?! Suddenly, he gazed at me with those intense eyes again, and I swear I heard him say without saying a word "Amina, please don't be frightened. We will not hurt you. I'm here to help you. My name is Eyan, I brought you here because you were in grave danger last night." My mouth popped open involuntarily, and I stared at him in disbelief. "Did I just hear you... through my mind?!" I shrieked at him, " this IS NOT POSSIBLE!!! Is your name Eyan!??" I asked with more disbelief. How was this possible? How could I LITERALLY HEAR what he was saying to me inside my head!? Things like this weren't possible, this wasn't real. Eyan took a step toward me, and I recoiled back as if he'd slapped me. Just then, that familiar searing pain hit again. This time it was much, much worse. It started in my abdomen, then slowly started ripping it's way up to my chest. I tried to stay calm and breathe through it all, but by the time it hit my chest I was screaming in pain. As the pain made it's way into my throat, it felt like molten lava trying to burn me up from inside out. The room went blurry once more, and everything went black again as I lost consciousness.

The Rebirth.

When I awoke this time, I had the feeling I was being watched. I slowly opened my eyes, and verified that Eyan and the strange woman from earlier; were both staring at me. I began to slowly sit up; but the woman quickly stood up, and put her hands up to stop me. "Amina" she softly said, "I don't think you should move just yet my dear. My name is Ammelee and I'm here to help you through the process of your rebirth." I looked at her in astonishment and shock. Process of rebirth!? What in the hell was she even talking about? Rebirth of what!? She seemed to sense my shock and curiosity, so she started to explain. "My dear Amina, you are going through a process called the Rebirth. It is when a supernatural being changes from their human life into their supernatural life. Yours however, is unlike anything we've ever witnessed before" she finished excitedly. Eyan looked at her with care in his eyes, and stepped closer to me. He gave me a sympathetic smile before explaining "Amina, the pains you've been experiencing are from your body rejecting the parts of its humanity that it no longer needs. They will be replaced by whatever species of supernatural being you become" he momentarily paused. " I know that this must be very confusing for you, not to mention mind boggling I'm sure" he chuckled, " but let me assure you that under the care of Miss Ammelee and myself, you are perfectly safe" he finished. I looked up at him, still puzzled trying to figure out how any of this was even remotely possible. Supernatural being? Like a ghost? Eyan chuckled again, and I realized he must have heard my thoughts somehow. Uggh how was this even possible? Ghosts, goblins, vampires, shapeshifters, and werewolves were only make believe!!! This wasn't real, it couldn't be, it was impossible. Ammelee inched a tad closer, patting my hands as she calmly spoke, "Amina, I assure you, this is quite real and quite possible. And yes dear, I can also hear your thoughts. Supernatural beings are quite real in our world, and yours. We just have to keep a lower profile so we stay safe. The beings that exist in folklore and most fairytales are very real" she assured me. "Werewolves, vampires, fairies, shapeshifters, witches and warlock's, all exist. They each have their own trademark signs that they show when a human is going through the rebirthing process" she explained, "but yours has us questioning much thus far" she said, her eyebrows furrowing with concern and curiosity. She stood up abruptly and started pacing back and forth. "Your process is bewildering" she exclaimed, " it's unlike anything we have ever seen before!! You have symptoms of a vampiric change, with hints of fairie light and magic in it. But then, there's also some werewolf tendencies and signs of witchcraft and shape shifting. It's quite exciting, but also terrifying at the same time" she finished out of breath. She glanced at me, almost as if to make sure I was still there. She sympathetically smiled at me, walked over to the bed, sat down, and patted my hand again. "I know this must be a ton for you to process right now, all the while your human body is going through the wringer" she exclaimed, "but that's why Eyan and I are here. We have been watching you for some time now, to make sure you were safe. Well, and to bring you here at the right time. When you went to the clearing last night my dear girl, you were in grave danger. When humans undergo the rebirthing process, they are at their literally weakest point in life. Any attacks sustained during that time lead to imminent death. As it already stands, the rebirth is a test of it's own for each who undergo it. Not everyone makes it out alive " she finished solemnly. I looked at her with wide eyes, now slightly understanding my current predicament. Something WAS definitely happening to me, and it hurt something fierce. It felt like liquid fire ripping through my whole body, slowly tearing it apart little by little. I sank into the bed under the covers a little further. Now they were telling me that whatever the hell I was going through, could literally kill me if I wasn't strong enough to adapt. Wowzers, what a ton of crap to process. Here's what's happening to you, you may or may not live, good luck. Wow! I took a deep breath, and slid even further under the covers. Suddenly, I was very overwhelmed and extremely exhausted. Ammelee must have sensed this, as she swiped a stray hair away from my forehead as she told me goodnight and to get some rest. She assured me that Iian and herself were never far away. I lay in bed for what only felt like a few minutes, before I dozed off into a black abyss of sleep.

When I awoke this time, no one was in the room. I sat up, pulled the covers off of me slowly, and took a good look around the room. There was light shining through one of the windows, but very faintly. This house,wherever it was; was actually very beautiful. There were antique Persian floor rugs, a gorgeous antique cherry wood armoire, and the bed was covered in a beautifully hand sewn lightweight quilt. Everything in this room screamed elegance and money. Whoever lived here, was definitely well off. I however, came from a lower middle class family. Sure we always had a roof over our head, but sometimes we were fighting to pay bills or even eat. I slowly placed my feet on the rug below me, it felt like soft silk. Under the rug, there was a beautiful dark wood floor. This place literally took my breath away. I still couldn't place whether or not this was all real, or just another dream. Or nightmare. Was I even really awake at all? What was I supposed to do now with the information I had been given? I obviously couldn't go home. What if I changed there and accidentally hurt someone? Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized that I would have to leave everyone, and everything I had ever known. Another wave of tears hit as I also realized that I truly had nowhere to go. Just then, I heard a gentle knock at the door, and Ammelee entered. She looked at me concerned, and walked to the bed to sit next to me. At first, I recoiled. Then I decided since I had no one left, to grasp onto her, and let it all out. She rubbed my back and said soothing words to me until I calmed. When I looked up,I looked straight into her eyes.. All I saw was love. How could this woman who barely know me- love me I wondered.