Crowned [Sequel to Turned]

Chapter 1: The Grade

Whittaker sat at her laptop, tapping her finger and waiting for the e-mail. This meant everything to her. She was consumed with waiting for this e-mail. At the age of eighteen she had just finished her last day of high school merely a week ago and was waiting for her grades. Calculos had been harder than expected and she struggled to keep an "A" in that class. The final test would either make it or break it. Her thoughts roamed over the possiblilities. What if she had marked the wrong answer by mistake? What if her test was lost and put in as a zero? What if she had made some silly mistake when she really knew the answer? Whittaker shook her head and sighed. There was more to her worries than wanting to gradute with a 4.0 GPA and straight "A's", but college also concerned her. An in-state college was offering a full ride scholar ship for any students in the state with a 3.5 GPA or above. Her family wasn't poor, she could have afforded to go somewhere else, but that would put more pressure on her parents and Cole.

Little Cole was only eight years old, and currently playing with an old teddy bear nearby Whittaker. He was extremely shy. He would cling to his mother's hand on leg where ever they went. If Whittaker went to a college that required more money, or farther away, there would be less family at home with him. Whittaker wanted to get into the in-state college because it was close enough Whittaker could live at home a bit longer to help care for Cole, without her parents having to work more to help pay for her schooling.

"Grahh!" Cole said as he threw his teddy bear into the air. It landed with a soft thump in Whittaker's lap.

Whittaker couldn't help but smile as she lifted the teddy bear up and looked at Cole. "Can you be a bear cub for me Cole?"

Cole giggled and nodded, concentrating a moment before his form became indistiguishable and changed entirely. Soon, where the little boy had stood there was a small panda bear cub. The panda bear waddled his way over to Whittaker.

"Who's the best shape-shifting brother in the world!" Whittaker smiled and picked up Cole, handing him his teddy bear.

The panda bear appeared to ripple a moment as its form changed, soon becoming the little boy Cole once more, who giggled. "Me!" He shouted excitedly. He looked at Whittaker's screen and pointed at it. "Hey! It's blinking!"

Whittaker looked at the screen to see what Cole meant and smiled. It was the e-mail she had been waiting for. Clicking the e-mail it opened to reveal her report card. She scrolled down slowly to see. English: "A-"; Science "A"; History: "A+"; Dance: "A+". And fianlly, the page revealed her math grade. Math: "A-"; GPA: 3.84. She screamed out happily and hugged Cole.

"I did it Cole!" She said enthusiasticly. "I'm going to college!" Cole just smiled and hugged Whittaker.

Their parents rushed into the room. "You made it?" Her mother's voice was joyful, matching the smile on her face. Whittaker's father looked equally as happy and proud. Whittaker was only able to nod before she was pulled into a hug.

"We're so proud of you Whittaker!" Her father said loudly with joy. "Let's celebrate! Wait- I know what we're going to do! Whittaker, you stay here and watch Cole, you're mother and I will be back with a treat for dessert to celebrate!" He smiles, grabbing her mother's hand and leading her towards the front door. "We better go now to be in time for dinner!"

Whittaker laughed and nodded, Cole now hugging onto her leg and smiling. It was just like her father to be sporadic and come up with random ideas. Her mother would laugh and usually go along. They always had fun in the end. Her parents vanished outside the door. Whittaker her the sound of car doors opening and closing then the car starting and driving away. She listened to the car engine and crunch of the tires as the vehicle drove away. She frowned slightly. Something seemed off. Maybe it was the sound of the engine, or one of the tires squeaked in the wrong way, but she waved it off.

Cole was tugging on her pant leg and asking her to help him with a puzzle. She smiled, and went over to help with the puzzle.

●○●○●

Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...

The familiar sound of Whittaker's phone buzzing on the coffee made her sigh. She got up from the couch where she had been watching TV with Cole and grabbed her phone, walking into the kitchen before answering the phone.

Glancing at her phone she saw a picture of her mother smiling at her, it was the picture Whittaker had taken for her mother's contact photo. "Hey mom" Whittaker said, watching where Cole sat on the couch, entranced by a Teenage Mutant Ninja cartoon.

"Do you know the owner of this phone?" A strange, unfamiliar voice of a man asked. His voiced sounded heavy, almost as if every word was an internal struggle.

"Yes?.. Why do you have my mother's phone?" Panic suddenly began to swell in Whittaker. "I want to talk to my mom! Give her back her phone!"

"I-...I'm terribly sorry miss..." The man nearly choking on his words now. "You're mother is dead..."

Whittaker was just shocked, unable to proccess the information. Everything to a dream-like state to her. Nothing was real, but nothing was fake. "What do you mean, d-dead?.."

"I'm so sorry.. There was an accident.. She and a man that was with her died in a car crash. They were both dead by the time responders arrived."

Cole now had his eyes trained on Whittaker. His eyes were huge when compared to his tiny form poking around the couch. He knew something was wrong, but wasn't sure what.

Whittaker just slowly sat down on the floor and dropped her phone. This can't be real. Cole suddenly ran over, crying now as he hugged onto Whittaker. "Sissy? W-what's wrong?.. What did mommy say to make you so upset."

With dread, Whittaker realized she had to tell Cole what she had just learned. Everything suddenly came rushing back with new focus. Reality returned to normal for her as she slowly cried and hugged her little brother, the only family she had left. "Mommy and daddy aren't coming home..."