Be what you will to her but know she will never belong to you. For when the time of her Turning is near, humanity will fall away and the coming darkness will be revealed. She is higher than all in both power and pain; her path chosen long ago. Hide her well and keep her. For in loving her you save your soul.

~ Note fragment, hidden away but never forgotten

~ 

Something is definitely watching me.

I keep running until I feel like I've gotten a safe distance away from the oak tree, then look back to make sure nothing is following.

I'm such an idiot. No sane person wanders L.A. this time of night--unless they're bums or skeazy junkies. Neither of which I want to meet.

There's nobody behind me, not as far as I can see, anyway. Just empty cars parked along the street and some creaky trees. So why am I freaking out? Spaz. No wonder my dad wants to dump me. I need to pull myself together.

Tomorrow it'll be off on a plane and hello "Mom's" family. What am I even going to say to them? "Oh, hello. So, why is it that I suddenly exist to you? And what in God's name have you done to my dad?" How can they even pretend to care after they've ignored me all this time? With my luck they just need my eyeballs for their voodoo stew or something.

A giggle escapes as I revel in the morbid funny of it all. At least I don't have to--

The sound of footsteps makes my brain freeze. I turn to face the alley behind my house as a figure moves along the fence, hidden in shadow. I can see him just out of the corner of my eye and try to avoid watching full on. Maybe if I don't look he won't see me. Dumb, but it makes a crazy sort of sense as the tremors of adrenalin start.

I walk past and speed up, keeping my head down. Just a few more steps to my house. Safe, with big locks.

"Been wake long. Got no worries...no worries," mumbles the figure in shadow, behind me now. My heart thuds at my ribs, begging me to move quicker. I try to walk faster and not look. Don't look. Don't look. He'll notice me and then...crap, I don't want to think about then. I just need to move.

But something steps in front of me.

My nightmare is there, green eyes floating a few feet away.

I lurch back and stumble, falling on my butt, no longer able to find enough air to fill my lungs. The eyes grow a face and then a body as they emerge from the darkness. It's shaped like a guy, but I couldn't really tell for sure; the alley is too gloomy.

"I think it's best for you go sleep it off," the green eyes say. "Wait for tomorrow. The moon, she lies. Let the sun show you better what is true."

Huh?

There's rattling breath behind me. "So soft."

I jerk around and the figure I've been trying to avoid is looking down at me.

Apparently this is who the green-eyed shadow was talking to. A bum. He's so close I can feel the way he smells. It thickens the air around him: smog and vomit, with a dash of liquor.

A whimper escapes my chest.

He flashes his teeth at me with a yellow smile as our eyes meet. "So sweet to touch." And his gray fingers come at me, grabbing for my shirt. "She calls to me, she does. Look at those eyes. Look at the way she turns. She must have me."

I screech and try to scramble away. But I can't react fast enough, like I'm in a dream where every movement is heavy and impossible.

He gets his hand on me and yanks me forward. Something in his other hand waves at my face. It catches my cheek, burning my skin. Warmth trickles down my jaw.

Before I can get out my ear-splintering scream, something knocks the guy off his feet, sending him reeling into a row of trashcans. Cracking plastic and clanging metal echoes through the alley.

The bum releases a grunt and lies still at the feet of his attacker. My savior?

The green-eyed shadow turns to me. "You shouldn't be out." It sounds angry. It sounds like my dad. It may as well add, of your cage to the end of the sentence.

I release a nervous laugh and try to catch my breath. The alley is spinning. I plead with myself not to throw up. "Um, thanks," I manage to get out. All the energy seems to be sucked from my muscles. I can't work out how to get back on my feet.

The shadow hesitates then walks forward into the light. It's obviously just a guy. His eyes aren't shimmering anymore--did I imagine that? They are green, though. Bright green, like the color of sunlit leaves. His features are kind of blurry. I blink, but still can't get a good look. His clothes are pretty clear. Clearly ridiculous. Like Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, cravat and all. Not your normal California attire. Maybe he just came from a costume party or something.

Yah, that makes perfect sense: floaty-green-eyed guy goes to a costume party as Mr. Darcy, then saves a life--my life--on his way back to Pemberley.

I laugh again and it comes out sounding scary even to my own ears. I need to go to bed before I find myself in a straight jacket.

He moves a little closer and I can see his face better, features strong and full of dignity. He isn't more than nineteen, maybe twenty. A frown creases his regal brow, but I can't seem to make myself care. My eyes move to the hair falling forward as he looks down at me. It's the color of cinnamon and sugar in the moonlight.

Damn, he's pretty.

I blink and look away, heat filling my skin.

I'm losing it. I feel a little drunk. It's more than the alley spinning around me. Almost like the world is tipping, turning on its head. My insides buzz, kind of like when I'm about to grow something. But stronger, deeper.

"Are you going to sit here all night?"

I try to focus and shake my head. Why is he acting so irritated? Have I made him late by getting myself mugged? How inconsiderate of me. "Help might be nice." I offer my hand up for assistance. I should probably try to be coy or something more feminine, but I couldn't care less what this guy--okay, very hot guy--thinks of me. He's kind of being an ass. It isn't like I asked him to save me. "Then you can get back to your Delta-Beta-Kappa party, or whatever."

He stands there, just staring at my upraised hand, not moving to take it.

Seriously? Do I look that horrid?

Fine. Who needs a stupid guy?

I drop my plea for help and try to get up again. I make it half way, but the second my head goes up, my butt goes back down. The asphalt scratches at my thigh and palm on the way, and I wince at the pain.

Tears climb my throat but I swallow them. What an awesome day. It sure is ending on an amazingly perfect note.

Suddenly there's a hand in mine and I'm being pulled to my feet. He stands over me for a second, making sure I'm steady. His face looks strained, like he's in pain. The smell of green is so strong it makes my eyes water. "You're all right," he says. It's almost a question.

I decide to take it as one. "Yes, I'm fine, thanks."

He starts to move away again and pulls his hand from mine.

He freezes and gapes at his palm. It's tinged pink. Is that my blood?

I look down at my own palm. Sure enough, it's mince meat. There isn't a lot of bleeding, but enough that it got on him when he helped me up. "Oh, I'm sorry." I pick up the edge of my tattered skirt and grab his hand to wipe off the smudges.

His eyes grow wide as he watches me and his jaw goes slack.

Maybe he's a germ freak. Either that or I'm really that much of a weirdo to every guy on the planet. Including ones who think it's cool to dress like something out of a Victorian romance novel. Very sad.

"I--it's...it's all right." He pulls back his hand, still staring at it like he just grew a huge wart from my touch. "I...I should..." He looks up at me and seems to notice something on my face. "You're hurt?"

I look back at my hands. Didn’t we cover that?

"No," he says, reaching out to my jaw. "Your cheek is cut." His finger grazes my skin, leaving a trail of warmth behind.

Something surges through me, tingling all the way to my toes.

He looks at his finger, now coated with my blood too, and then back at me like he's trying to decide something.

My insides shake so strong now it makes my skin burn. My chest vibrates from my thundering heartbeat.

The sudden urge to touch him back overwhelms me; run my finger along his jaw like he did to me, let his hair tickle my palm. My hand aches from the effort to hold it at my side.

I try to step back but he merely swallows the space between us with his own step toward me.

I gape up at him. What is he doing?

"I...I should..." He said that already. Whatever he should do, I have the feeling he isn't doing it. Not from the pained expression on his face, or the way he's shaking right along with me, as if trying to hold something back too.

He leans in and the smell of honeysuckle encircles me, tickling my nose and making it really difficult to think straight. "Very soon," he whispers, his breath like a caress against my lips.

I close my eyes and his heat envelopes me. So close, so very close. The smallest of movements and we'll touch, skin to skin, his lips to mine, a kiss.

A snort cracks through the spell, and my first kiss jerks away. The homeless guy moans and rolls over into a bed of trash, then goes still again.

My kiss's green eyes are wide with fear as he recedes further and further, now sinking once more into shadow.

I hold up a hand to stop him, urgent for him not to go. "Wait."

But he lurches away and then is gone. Returning to his world. No more smells of green, no more warmth.

I'm left in the alley to wonder what happened and why I feel like my heart got ripped out.