So far my day was going by as slowly as a bus with an over-cautious driver, and believe me, I know what I'm talking about. It was six thirty right now and I was sitting in my room, doing absolutely nothing.

My copy of Jane Eyre lay open on my bed because I had just finished reading the chapter I had started a week ago. My closet was wide open and I could see all my clothes from where I was sitting on my bed.

I had debated on whether I wanted to go to the bowling alley tonight and had decided against it in the end. I would normally go there every Friday either with my friends from the dance team or with Alyssa and Dylan. I was supposed to go with Cassie, Gwen and Tiffany today but had not gone, partly because Alyssa had warned me about not letting my guard down and being in a crowded place while practicing cation was just impossible for me, and partly because being there now would remind me of all the times I had gone there with Dylan. I sighed. Back then, life had been far less complicated.

I flashed back to all the Friday evenings Dylan, Alyssa I had spent there. We would always bowl first and I would always claim that Dylan cheated a lot. He had been really good at bowling and could beat me anytime. Then we would go to the Burger King in the next block. After that we always came back for smoothies at the warm smoothie shack next to the bowling alley. Just thinking about those good times brought tears to my eyes.

Homework was not an option because getting started on school assignments on a Friday was definitely not one of my favourite things to do. I thought about getting my iPod out and listening to some music in order to kill time, and reached for it on my bedside table. I had just plugged in my earphones when my mom popped her head in.

"Elllie, sweetie, would you please go to the pharmacist's and get me some things?"

"Sure, mom." I said."What do you need?"

"I need you to get me some migraine pills for Betty. She's in a terrible state. And some toilet paper and cough drops," she said, handing me Mrs Grace's prescription.

"Okay, I'll get them right now," I replied, feeling elated to be getting out of the house. It would probably do me good to get some fresh air.

"Thanks, honey. And oh, bring some pepperoni too, okay? I'll make you a sandwich,"

I reached for my keys in the hallway but my mom stopped me,"Oh no, you'll have to walk to the pharmacy dear. Your father's car is at the garage so he asked me to tell you that he'll be using yours for a week. "

That caused me to feel slightly disappointed. It was starting to get really cold in the evening, and I yearned to drive my car with the heat on full blast. Besides, next month, when the snow started to fall, I wouldn't be allowed to take my car out much because my father tended to be very cautious and protective in winter. He said that there was a high chance that the car would end up skidding on the slippery ice and I might not be able to stop it. So I could only take my car out in broad daylight. In other words I couldn't take it out much after I came home from school.

I walked out of my house and felt the cold blast of the wind as it hit me square in the face. For early winter, this weather was extremely cold, and I didn't even want to think about how cold it would get next month. The sidewalks were blanketed in crunchy brown leaves and the tall Oaks that bordered most of the streets looked incomplete and bare without the green leaves. Our lawn was covered in dry brown leaves that were waiting to be raked, and I could not see a single bird in the sky.

I heard a soft crunching noise as I rounded the corner of my street but at the time I didn't think much of it. Probably the leaves and the wind, I had thought, but I didn't realise just how wrong I had been.

Living in a small town like Crescent had it's perks and drawbacks. Everybody knew everybody. You couldn't walk past an old lady without saying Hi because she might just know your mom and then would think how ill-mannered her kids were. You had to be careful not to do anything that looked suspicious because someone your parents knew could be watching.

So when I saw a middle-aged woman walking down the street towards me in a grey top and blue jeans, I had just thought she was someone my mom knew. Long blonde hair framed her face and her dark green eyes twinkled.

"Hello, dear," she said, extending her hand."You must be Eleanor Sanders. I've heard so much about you."

"Hi," I replied."You must be......"

"Mrs Brenton," the woman said with a smile.

"Oh," I said. I was surprised that I had never seen this woman before, and she was Ashley's mom so she must have been there in school on special occasions. I couldn't recall anything Ashley had said about her mom. I had always assumed her mom had died a long time ago. Ashley had not been in the same school as me before High School started so I had just guessed she had lived alone with her dad all this time. But now this woman had claimed to be her mother.

"I haven't seen you around much." I finally said.

"Oh, that's because I wasn't in town for two years. I went to Brazil to research wildlife in the Amazon, you see."

"Oh, that sounds really interesting," I smiled, trying to cover up my shock."I bet you'll join the Crescent Committee now. Every mom is a member."

Personally, I found the Crescent Committee a very shallow group of women, excluding my mom of course. Those women only discussed new gossip at their monthly get-togethers: who had married whom? Who had gotten a divorce recently? Who was trying relentlessly to get thin and who had been caught doing some unforgivable act? It just made me sick how these women pried into other people's lives and spread rumours.

Lisa Thompson's mother was a member and the most disgusting and low rumours were traced back to her.

My mom was a member for the sole purpose of letting people see who she was, which also irritated me a little, but in Crescent, if you were not on the Committee, it meant you were one of those women who only cared about themselves and were not at all social.People labeled you as a "good woman" if you were on the committee, and with my parents' reputation and their jobs, it was crucial for them to remain high in everybody's hearts.

"The Crescent Committee?" Ashley's mom asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I don't know much about it, but I can give you my mom's number if you like. That way you can get in touch with her."

"That sounds great!" she said, her eyes glinting in the sunlight and her lips curved into a smile.

"It was nice meeting you, Mrs Brenton," I said, giving her my mom's phone number.

"You too, dear,"

I continued on my long walk towards the pharmacist's. The store was on 5th Avenue along-with some other shops like the grocer's, a fruit shop, a book store and some diners and cafes. I pulled up the zip of my jacket in order to lessen the shivers that ran down my body due to the cold. Once again, I heard a crunching noise behind me but I walked on, oblivious to whoever was following me.

The pharmacy was empty except for one elderly couple who was looking at some perfumes on display and trying to decide which one to send their daughter for her birthday. I asked the person behind the counter
for the migraine pills and handed him the prescription. Walking down the aisle in search of cough drops and toilet paper, I heard a soft jingle, indicating a new customer's arrival.

It was only when I was paying for my purchases and was getting ready to leave the shop, that I realised who the new customer was. It was the new kid in school: Taylor Lysander. His curly brown hair was hiding his eyes and forehead. He wore a long-sleeved blue shirt with a pair of black pants. I noticed that he kept pulling down his right sleeve, almost like he was afraid someone might see something on his arm.

"Hi, Taylor," I said."What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I uhh came to get some stuff ,but I guess I'll leave now cuz they don't have it."

"Uh, okay," I said."What did you come to get?"

"Just some things my mom asked me to get. I sort of wanted to talk to you about something," he said shyly.

"Sure," I smiled."What do you want to talk about?"

"Some guys in school were saying how a guy called Dylan Grace was a great soccer player but that he died mysteriously and they said he hung out with you a lot. Do you know how he died?"

As much as his tone sounded sincere, I could not tell him I knew about Dylan's death. I was not supposed to trust anyone.

"I... Are you sure about that?" I asked in what I hoped was a low feeble voice. I had not seen Taylor at Dylan's funeral so I was he wouldn't think much about what I said next.

"Sure about what?" Taylor asked, raising his brow.

"That Dylan's dead? I mean, he went to visit his grandmother and..." I was cut short by the sound of Taylor's phone ringing. He picked it up and listened for a minute before saying, "Okay," and hanging up.

"He turned to me and said,"I better go now. But I'll see you in school sometime!"

Wow, was that weird or what? I thought, as I saw him leave, and as if that wasn't strange enough, when I came out of the pharmacy, he was still standing there, examining the evening specials of the diner across the road.

I went to the grocer's next to get the pepperoni my mom asked me to bring, and then made my way back home. However, as I was turning onto my street, I heard the same crunching sound I had heard earlier and this time, I was sure someone was following me.

I turned around, but all I saw were the bare trees behind me and the scattered leaves. But suddenly, I caught a glimpse of a black trouser leg darting around the corner and then there was nothing there.

I had a strange feeling it had been Taylor Lysander who had been following me all this time.

********************************************

That night, after dinner, I was sitting on my bed and calling Alyssa. It was eight and I really wanted some answers. Finally, she picked up on the last ring.

"Hi," she said, in a sleepy voice."I was taking a nap."

"Oh seriously!!?" I asked, incredulously.

"What? I was sleepy!" she justified.

"Okay, so you were supposed to tell me...stuff," I giggled for some very odd reason.

"Yeah, okay," she started."So this might sound crazy to you but it's true. You know how in movies and stories, vampires and werewolves exist?"

"Umm yeah," I said slowly not knowing where this conversation was going.

"Well, they exist in the real world too. I'm a vampire and Dylan........"

"Wait, YOU ARE A VAMPIRE!!?" This had to be a joke.

"YES!" Alyssa yelled from the other end."And Dylan was a werewolf."

"Oh and let me guess, you roam the streets at night and drink the blood of innocent humans?" I was finding it a little hard to talk now, due to the lump that had formed in my throat.

"Well, the roaming the streets every night part isn't at all true. We only go out at night when we're on a mission " she insisted."And I only drink blood when it's absolutely necessary."

"Wait just one minute!" The full meaning of what she was saying finally hit me. I was supposed to believe that my two best friends weren't wholly human. That they were something that wasn't even supposed to exist. Surprisingly, I believed her."So you guys were hiding this from me because.......?"

"Because we didn't want to put you in danger. As soon as you realise who you truly are, you'll be more vulnerable. There's a war going on these days between some vampires and werewolves and maybe some other.....people."

"But what are they fighting over?" I asked. I had to admit, I was taking all this information in pretty well. I mean, if any other girl just found out that her best friend was a vampire and that her other best friend had been a werewolf, she would totally flip out. But I don't know why I just found myself calmly taking this information in. It was as if my mind had registered all this way earlier.

"They want dominance. Power over everything. The vampires ruled for fifty years after a battle with the werewolves. The werewolves want to take over now, but they need power to do that. They need a source. But we don't know what that source is yet. They will most likely find the source and then start riots. Their army is growing everyday. They take recruits from ordinary places, manipulate them and turn them into werewolves"

"But," I interjected."If the vampires are powerful, why can't they just crush them?"

"Because, unlike the vampires, werewolves use vile means to gain power and that is the vampires' weakness. They don't use "souls" for power. And these days, more and more are leaving our side and joining the werewolves."

"And why are they going over to their side?" I pressed.

"Ellie, It is an ancient law not to take human blood for diet. It's tempting but it's against the ancient rules. We're only allowed to drink it unless it's a matter of life and death or an emergency. But the werewolves have promised anyone who joins them the complete freedom to take blood, souls and anything else they desire."

"When you say souls do you mean.....?"

"Yes," she replied simply.

"Okay, so where do I come in in all of this?" I asked.

"You're a Silverlight," she started. I tried to interject but she stopped me, "Silverlights are people, mostly girls, who have some powers beyond any vampire or werewolf. When they master those powers they can put them to any use. The powers are not the same for everyone but some people can tell a Silverlight just by looking at them. There's a certain aura they have. I realised you were one the first time I met you, and then when Dylan and I began trusting each other, he told me what I already knew."

"And let me guess, the werewolves want me on their side so I can help them overthrow the vampires. But aren't there any other Silverlights they can go after?" I was shocked that Dylan had always known that I was a Silverlight. But then again, maybe he hadn't know when we were kids. Maybe he found out later.

"Nope," said Alyssa. A Silverlight is born every fifty years. Your grandmother is a Silverlight by the way, so you might want to meet up with her."

"My grandmother that lives in Glasserville?" I didn't ask how she knew about my grandmother being a silverlight, because clearly she had ways of finding out whatever she wanted to know.

"Yeah, she can tell you how to master your powers. I would, but I'm a vampire, not a Silverlight."

"Okay,"

"And now that you know who you are, we need to make out what Dylan was trying to tell us in that voicemail." Alyssa said.

"Okay, so he said that everything you guys thought is true?" I asked.

"Yeah. We thought that the werewolves are actually all over Crescent. They want human blood. They are starting to raise an army and they are gathering people from school. They also know about you now. They want you in their army and they will do anything to get you. Also he said AB was one of them? That means Ashley Brenton is a werewolf. Lisa is a werewolf too. Dylan saw her transform a month ago. TL would be....."

"Taylor Lysander!" I burst out. "I think he was following me today."

Everything had begun to make sense now. Why else would Taylor ask me about Dylan and then leave in a hurry? I then told Alyssa about everything that had happened today, starting from when I had entered the pharmacy. I also told her how Ashley had asked me questions about her in History that day .

"You really need to be careful, Ellie." she said, grimly when I had finished.

"I know. So who do you think EL is?

"I dunno," she said."Dylan said it's someone in the other school. He meant Oakland High because he discussed this with me earlier too. You could ask Elizabeth."

"Yeah, I'll ask her."

"Okay, so apart from you being in incredible danger, that's about it," she said. "Listen, I better go now."

"See you tomorrow then,"

"See you too. And Ellie? Please be safe."

********************************************

A/N

THANK YOU ALL SOOO MUCH FOR READING MY STORY GUYS AND FOR ALL THE VOTES AND COMMENTS. IT REALLY MEANS A LOT TO ME!!!!

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