(CURRENTLY EDITING!) Right Before My Eyes

Chapter 6

   I'm 4 years old again, playing in the grass in my backyard. That's where I first see the strange gold-like eyes watching me through the woods. They watch me for a long time, until my adoptive mother takes me back inside. After that he comes to see me once a week, the same way, for the next month. Then one day, I decide to stare back. We stare into each others eyes for minutes, and an understanding seems to pass through him as he nods, like he now has the information he needs, and with no warning he stands up on all fours and pads away. I never see him again, until now...

    I wake up on the couch to see Skyler standing near me.

  "I just had the strangest nightmare, about all of you... and... a talking cat?" I begin to say as I sit up. When I do, I get a painful feeling in my head and bring my hand up to it, feeling a small bump. As I do, I feel more pain flare up in my arm and find that it is wrapped up in a thin bandage. Confused, I look up at Skyler.

 "Ice?" He asks, handing over an ice pack with a napkin wrapped around it. I take it, bringing it up to the bruise. I glance around wondering where everyone else is, only to find a gray cat strolling up to us. It jumps onto the couch next to me. When did they get a cat?

 "You alright? Don't worry, we out ran them. This time..."

 I scream, dropping the ice pack and jumping up from my seat. "Did she just talk?" I shout. Skyler only gives me a confused look.

 "Do you not remember the last couple hours?" He asks, "I didn't think you hit your head that hard."

I think back to the fair, then the car ride, then... No. "That was real? I thought I dreamed all of that!"

Skyler shakes his head, "How do you think you got that bump on your head? And those scratches on you, from the wolf." I think back harder, remembering the feeling that went through me. The sense that someone with magic was near, as the cat had explained. So this is real..? I look back over at the cat.

 "You- you helped us. You made that mist. How'd you do that?" I ask.

 "It is one of my abilities."

"Abilities." It's more of a statement than a question. First she can communicate with humans, now she has... abilities?

"I know this is hard to believe but it's real. Not just me. There are many creatures similar to me. Even some humans have special abilities."

"So you're telling me that wolf isn't just a wolf?"

"He's a werewolf, yes."

"That's insane! And what's even more insane is I'm talking to a cat!" At this, the cat falls silent.

"Amberlyn!" Skyler shouts. "After seeing it and feeling it, how can you stand here and deny everything?"

"Because things like that are only in books and movies. They are fairytales, that's all!"

"You only think that because you grew up being taught that it's all they are." Skyler says.

"Skyler, don't-" The cat begins.

"No. She needs to know." he turns back toward me, "If you had your real parents, I guarantee you would have grown up learning about the world differently."

"For one, that's not my fault. How would you know anyway?"  He becomes silent, like he doesn't want to say. I shake my head. There was no getting anywhere with them, it seemed. I decide to just humor them and go with it for now.

"Okay. Fine, lets just say all of this is real." I turn to the cat again. As hard as it is to think she can talk to me, I can't help but wonder about her. Out of curiosity and as a change of subject, I ask, "How old are you?"