Chapter 19

It was dark. I couldn't see anything. It was so dark that when I tried to hold my hand up in front of my face, I couldn't see it. Then all of a sudden, I saw a light. It was faint, but I could see it. I ran toward it with all my might and it soon grew in size. I was soon close enough to see what the light was shining on. It was a lush green forest with beautiful flowers scattered everywhere. There was a big boulder right next to a small stream that lead out into a small pond. It was the place Percy and I met. The light illuminated my body and I could now see my feet and hands. I felt compelled to step into the beautiful scene in front of me. I was about to step onto the green grass when I voice hissed my name.

"Crystal. I wouldn't do that if I were you."

I spun around and saw myself. Well, she was sort of me. It was like I was looking at my reflection, but all of the colors were drained out of it. She looked like she stepped out of an old black and white 50's tv show. The only color she had were her glowing purple eyes.

"I'm sorry, but are you supposed to be my reflection?" I asked.

She laughed like I was so young and naive. "Well, sort of, I'm another side of you." She spoke with my voice and it creeped me out.

"What do mean 'another side of you'?"

"Oh, Crystal. I'm what you would call your dark side. I have the powers that you don't yet have control of, like the other natural elements." She slowly started walk around me like she was inspecting her prey.

I held my chin up. "Oh yeah, sure. I bet this is all just a bad dream. You're not real."

She came to a stop in front of me. "You don't believe me? Fine then. You want proof." I nodded my head. "Very well," she said as she stretched her arms out in front of her. The water from the lake started to rise up and form a ball in the air. She moved her arms back toward her, and the ball of water obeyed. It shot out of the forest and into the dark and swirled around her. She looked she wasn't even exerting a single amount of energy. She even yawned at me and thrust her arms up in the air. The ball of water shot into the air and the water rained down on me until I was completely soaked.

The gray version of me smiled triumphantly at me and crossed her arms. "You see? You can have the ability to do that if you just give in to your dark side."

I looked up at her after having tried to ring the water out of my shirt. "You mean the power I already wield isn't dark magic?" Wasn't my fire the dark witch magic?

"Yes, I know what you're thinking and the answer is no. Your ability to bend fire isn't part of the dark magic that a witch possesses. It's actually the opposite. Fire may burn and destroy, but it's also important for life. It gives off heat and light. Every living creature needs light to survive and you could obviously need the heat since you're shivering from my water demonstration."

"Yeah, thanks for that." I wrapped the bottom of my shirt with my hands and tried to wring out the water.

She smiled before her face turned serious. "Crystal, in order to fight your way out of becoming one of those idiots' mate, you need to tap into your dark magic. Every witch, at one point or another, uses her dark magic and once she gets a taste of it, she never goes back. It's amazing feeling like nothing can hold you back. You feel like you have all the power in the world and can destroy anyone who stands against you."

"Yeah, I may become powerful, but I'm not going to turn evil like you."

Her eyes turned menacing. "Who said that you'll turn evil? I just said that you'll get a taste of what powerful magic feels like."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not going to turn into what everyone thinks I'm going to become. I'm going to prove them wrong by not becoming the dark witch they expect I'm going to be."

"Yes, but if you have the power, then all the people, who have judged you, can be judged. You can make them no longer exist for doubting you."

"That's exactly what I just said, not even a minute ago, that that's who I don't want to be." I turned on my heel and took a step into the lush forest. I was immediately filled with peace. I was about to take another step into the grass and leave the darkness with my other self when she called out, "If you don't fully learn to control your powers, you'll never be able to go back home." I stopped. I didn't want her to see how much that affected me but since she was me, she could tell and she used it against me.

"Yes, Crystal. You'll never be able to go home. Right now, you have no idea what you are doing. Your brain and body can't handle being torn between a witch's magic and a werewolf's instincts. So right now you have to make a choice. You can step into the forest and become a werewolf forever and lose the ability to control fire or any kind of magic. Or you can step back and have full access to the powers you need in order to be free."

I turned back to face her but kept one foot in the forest and another out. "Oh yeah? Terrell said hat I couldn't conjure spells and here you are telling me that I can. Yeah, I find that very hard to believe."

"Alright first of all, who put you in this dang sleep for three days in the first place? Terrell! He betrayed us! How can you even still trust him?"

"I can trust him because-"

She cut me off. "He helped you with your powers? Oh, come on, Crystal! Open your eyes! He only showed you defensive stances with your fire! He didn't even try to show you any offensive attacks with any of your other abilities. Want to know why? Because he knows that you are stronger than him! You have the magic that could bring him down. He never learned ways to fight the natural elements because no one but witches can wield them. Since everyone thought that the witches were dead, they never thought it was useful to learn them. Look who was wrong now?

"He was right, however, when he said that you can't cast spells. Your wolf doesn't allow you to cast spells. It goes against her nature. That doesn't mean that you can't manipulate spells that are already placed." She must've seen the disbelief on my face because she nodded her head. "Remeber when you woke up here and you unlocked the door 'with your mind'?" I nodded my head. "You didn't open the door by casting a spell Crystal. A spell was already placed on the door. The door was fireproof and locked so that if you were to shoot flames at it, it would stay in place and wouldn't burn down. You already just know when there is a spell in your surroundings and know how to bend it. Yet again, your wolf doesn't like that you can cast magic so it's rare for you to actually bend a spell unless it's life or death."

"Wait," I had to say something because she said something that truly caught my attention. "If what you say is true and I do have the ability to bend spells, then couldn't I bend the sleeping spell placed on me?"

She smiled. "Now you're thinking like a true witch!"

I could wake up. I could get out of this sleep before I'm mated to one of the crazy Alphas, but there has to be some kind of catch doesn't there?

"What's the catch?" I asked. 

Her face turned expressionless as she said the words that I was afraid of. "You won't be able to phase and become a  wolf. You'll be a true witch with the ability to bend the elements to your will and break away spells placed on you."

I almost fell. I wobbled a bit, but I caught my balance. I could only be one or the other, not both. I looked out into the forest and knew that if I were to fully step into the forest, I would lose my ability to control the elements. However, I would be a werewolf. I would be welcomed in Percy's world. A true Alpha female where people would accept me because I was one of them if I could even escape from becoming Edmund's or Blondie's mate. If I were to step back into the darkness, I would become a true witch just like my other self had said. I would use dark magic. I had a definite chance of escaping and saving Riley, but where would I go? I couldn't go back to Percy because his world would reject me, especially if I wielded dark magic. I didn't know what to do.

"Crystal," my dark self said as she walked closer to me.  "If you would just give in to your witch side, you could go home. Yes, you can go home. You can use your powers to kill, er I mean bring the Alphas to justice, save Riley, and can then use the money that the Alphas obviously have to afford to live here and buy two plane tickets all the way back to California. All you would need is to use your powers to escape and then never again when you go home. You'll be the girl you once were. You'll be popular, have a real future and be the girl who thinks that werewolves and witches only exist in books."

I looked up into her glowing purple eyes. "What about Percy? I can't just leave him. I mean, he's my mate."

"Well, I don't know about you but he sure seemed eager to move on with that other girl, now didn't he?" she replied.

"He was tricked and you know it. He thought that the girl was me!"

"Still, that can't take back what he said. He doesn't want you as his mate, and with Terrell's spell in place, you don't feel any hurt from being separated. It's like you two never even met. In the world where you truly belong, Percy doesn't exist. If he truly wanted you, he would've found you and saved you already. Hew hasn't come to your rescue Crystal, so you know what? You have to be your own hero. We don't need a guy to fight for us. We can protect and save ourselves. With the power that you can access, you won't need anyone ever to rescue you. You're a big girl and like the song, 'big girls don't cry over werewolves who aren't here to save them.'"

"I think you tweaked the line. That's not what it actually says," I said.

She waved her hand in the air. "Oh, whatever. You know what I mean. Now if you don't make a decision soon, you'll be the bride of Edmund or Blondie before you know it." She took a step back, crossed her arms and waited for me to choose.

I looked down at my feet. Half of me was a werewolf and the other a witch. I couldn't be both because there isn't a world where both exist. I looked over into the lush forest and could see glowing purple eyes on the other side of the lake. It was my wolf, wondering which side of me I would choose. With a deep breath, I made my decision. I took a step and was encompassed with the choice I made. 

I forced my eyes open and sat up on the bed. I rubbed my head. It was throbbing like crazy. "Man what a crazy dream," I muttered to myself. I saw that I was lying on top of the covers and could see the clothes I was wearing. I was in the dark purple dress from the picture that I had found in the library. "It was just a dream, right?" I asked. I swung my feet over to the side bed and felt the cold hardwood floor under my bare feet. I walked around the bed and to the full-length mirror in the room. I gasped at my reflection and realized the full meaning of my decision. My skin had changed somewhat. I had pale but flawless skin. My dark blonde hair now had purple and dark streaks mixed in. My eyes were no longer a dark blue, but now a dark purple. I walked over  to the door and knew it was locked before I even tried opening it. I thought about it unlocking and heard the click. The door swung open before me. 

My hands became encompassed with fire as I set off to get Riley and escape before the Alphas and Terrell even knew that I was gone.