• Prologue: The Dream
    Chapter 1:
    Ch. 2


    Chapter III


    THAT EVENING after stopping by my aunt's house for dinner and finishing my homework, I lay in bed thinking about what was happening to my hair earlier on the way to Charlie's. Jeff and Julie had pointed out the drastic change of color in my hair, and since then it's only gotten worse. This rich black color now covered nearly four inches of hair from my roots. And that wasn't all. While I was brushing my teeth, I noticed that my eye color seemed a slightly lighter shade from the deep brown.

    Sighing helplessly, I smothered my face with the pillow and screamed with as much frustration and as loud as I could.

    Afterward, my room was filled with a depressing silence, which only reminded me how alone I was. However, in the midst of all my “depression”, I suddenly remembered the CD Vincent gave me and dug around in my bag until I found the case. Placing the CD in my stereo, I turned off my lamp and wrapped myself comfortably in my blanket.

    It was silent for a few seconds before the music finally began to play. The percussions mixed playfully with the tune of the brass instruments, and for a moment, I felt like I was actually back in the twenties. It was an exciting but relaxing melody, and I felt my lids fluttering to a close.

    So this is what Vincent listens to.
    I tried to imagine him sitting in his room, alone, eyes closed, snapping his fingers to the same song that I was listening to. I'm not sure why, but after hearing this music, I felt that I knew Vincent a little better...like I was somehow able to connect with him. Slowly, my mind began to drift away to the beat of the jazz music until I was completely unconscious.



    THAT NIGHT I had a dream that I was inside what appeared to be a hotel lobby, and I was wearing a short, twenties flapper outfit. My eyes were shadowed a deep blue, and my lips were painted a bright, ruby red. The same song that was playing on my stereo was now being played live by the band that I saw on the cover. Before I knew it my body began to move to the music in ways that I'd never imagined I was capable. From the corner of my eye, I noticed a boy leaned casually against the bar looking in my direction. I turned my head toward him and saw that it was Vincent. Looking exactly the same as he does at school with his button up shirt, suspenders, and slacks. Except there was one difference.

    His face didn't have the same sad, cold expression, but he was smiling warmly. And he was walking over toward me.

    He casually placed his hands on my waist and gently traced his fingers down my thigh to the bottom hem of my dress. A shiver ran down my spine whenever he moved his lips playfully to my ear. “Kida,” he whispered softly. “You shouldn't be here.”

    My eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “What?”
    His smile reached all the way to his eyes, and he touched his forehead to my own, looking me straight in the eyes. That's when I noticed how bright his eyes really were. Not dark like they were at school.

    “You shouldn't be here...with me.” Before I could ask questions, a girl and a boy came dancing in between us, separating me from Vincent. I started looking all over the dance floor but couldn't find him anywhere. The room began to spin, and the music started to fade out into silence. Everyone was staring at me now as I shouted for Vincent...but he was nowhere. A loud bell began ringing throughout the club, and I started to think that maybe I was going crazy.

    That is until I jumped up in my bed and saw my alarm clock going off.
    Running my fingers through my sweat drenched hair, I noticed something abnormal. Perhaps I was still out of it from that dream, but my hair looked black. A frightened gasp released from my lips, and jumping quickly out of bed, I ran over to my vanity table. My hair looked black because it was black. All of it! And not only that, but my eyes were red. Not bright red, but a dark shade of maroon. Then as I leaned a little closer toward the mirror to get a better look, I noticed the lustrous tent to my skin.

    I was almost as shiny as metal! My skin was actually glowing, and all of my acne had miraculously disappeared! I wiped my cheek, feeling for any lotion that perhaps I forgot I'd applied, but it was completely dry. Absolutely flawless. I looked like some sort of demon princess jumped out of one of those anime that I sometimes watch.

    What has happened to me?

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