Shimmer |✓|

//Poison// Part 3

School resumed the following Monday. Returning to my life was like returning to a dream--everything I considered important before my magic now seemed hazy, and less vibrant. In class, I was a hostile mute, sketching ugly, demon-like caricatures of my teachers, dancing in flames along the edges of my notebook. I was tired of burning alone. 

At lunch in the campus courtyard, I revealed to Addy that I had acquired my magic, conveniently leaving out the part where I died. I gave her a demonstration, concentrating on a girl's flat wedge boots that I happened to envy. She shrieked, hopscotching her way to the nearest trash can to dispose of them, the soles still smoking.

"Ho-o-o-o-ly..." Addy couldn't finish the sentence, or look at me the same. But it wasn't my powers alone that shook her, nor the Rogue-like strip of white in my hair-it was the flashback of me dancing at cotillion with a Vampire-son of the Vampire. 

The pack was beginning to whisper, the Leadership included. With the Elder absent, and his granddaughter acting out in disturbing ways, it was only the dual presence of Alpha Ethan and Lucas Blacklock that kept the Garou from descending into absolute chaos. But the ataxia caught up with me again later that afternoon, when Addy and I met in the campus lot after classes.

"What's this?" She plucked a hot pink flyer from my car's windshield, and smirked. "'Party at Castle Teped, bitches'. Hm, the color's kinda loud, isn't it?"

"That's the point." I marched around the car, pushing my shades to the top of my head and squinting at the flyer. "Well, that's interesting." I glanced at the sea of cars, spying flyers on each one. The culprit was probably long gone, giggling at their handy work. "What a shame we missed the host. I need something to sharpen my claws on."

"You know, you've been talking like a creepy stepford wife all day. I'm assuming your friend didn't do this?"

"We made plans to have sex and plot against Catherine. Ti wouldn't break our date without a heads up. Someone's screwing with him. Or me. I am popular these days..." As Addy rolled her eyes in disgust, I concentrated on the flyer... The edges singed and smoked. "But, I dunno, could be fun. Maybe this person wants to play hide-and-seek..." I nipped at my bottom lip, enticed by the chance to utilize my power. So what if I didn't know how to wield it? Claudia knew nothing.

"Jesus, Mimi!" I hadn't realized--the flyer was up in flames. Addy grabbed it from my hands, sacrificing her baby blue Docs to stamp out the fire. "Are you trying to draw attention to yourself? I don't know what's going on with you right now, or what the hell you're doing with the Prince of Vampires, but you ask me, this party's a bad idea. Whoever did this is asking for trouble--or they wanna cause it. You're on every hit list in town, dude. You need to be careful."

I scoffed at her concern, dismissing it at once. "I'm five-by-five on a Sunday morning. I don't need back-up, all I need is anger: Catherine won't fix the rabid, she's out to steal my magic, the Alpha has a death wish, and Tidus doesn't take me seriously." I slipped my shades back in place. "As you can see, I have plenty of material."

"Should I be upset I'm not on the list?"

"Get in the car, sweety."

Surprisingly enough, it isn't difficult convincing a Vampire to open his doors to an all-human buffet. Tidus beheld the utmost respect for Human lives, but he revered his appetite more. He wasn't one of those cliché Vampires, feeding piteously on rabbits in the woods. Tidus was too busy embracing his dark side to pine for humanity--while each minute that passed my own became less and less apparent. I was as heedless of the Humans' safety tonight as I was my own. The castle would draw the flyer's culprit like a fly to honey. Little else mattered to me.