As always, it's days later. There is one change, though: we had lost someone.

Dylan vanished. My ex-boyfriend left in the middle of the night. He always said I was one of his only friends, but I knew that he wanted to die. This was his chance to vanish from the lives of everyone he knew, even his supposed girlfriend who had lived on the opposite side of the country from us. When he had broken up with me, he stated that he couldn't love anymore, yet a couple of months later he started loving a girl who would give anything to make my life a living hell.

I shouldn't care, I shouldn't cry, I shouldn't make it seem like I had still loved him. I cried, I cared, and I loved him as a close friend. Sure, he broke my heart and played cruel games with my emotions. Sure, my boyfriend wanted to beat the shit out of him. But he was still one of my friends, and I can't stand losing friends.

Sitting in the bed of the truck, curled up in a tight ball, I cry. I let everything out until I can't feel anything. Landon gets everyone ready to go, he takes charge like I usually do, and we're off on the road once again, driving until the day ends and we find a new place to spend the night. I just sit here, staring in the direction that we came from, tears still falling down my cheeks, and yet I feel almost hollow. Nearly empty. Why do I feel this way? Could there be something . . . severely wrong with me? I didn't love him as more than a friend. I love Landon with all my heart. Whenever I lose someone, this happens. I cry until I can't anymore, I fall asleep, then I'm emotionless for a while, although sometimes I don't fall asleep.

I take out my earbuds and MP3 Player, find a playlist, and listen to music. Dollhouse by Melanie Martinez starts playing. I lean back, close my eyes, and start singing along. Absentmindedly, my fingers tap along with the beat on my chest, then my leg, and finally next to me on the floor. I'm not sure why, but I smile and go to the next song: Twisted by MISSIO. I laugh slightly, singing along to this song as well.

"Everybody knows I'm a little twisted. Twisted." I mutter, possibly missing some words. It helps my mood, singing that is.

Singing can make you vulnerable. It is your own voice that you are making music with, and even the smallest negative thing said about your voice can bring you down. When my first real boyfriend up with me, I nearly snapped at the start of treble choir but didn't. I am weak and vulnerable when I sing, I let my emotions out when I sing certain songs that reflect how I feel. In this case, I'm using music to improve my mood and help me keep going. I need to be strong for everyone else, to be there for them.

I open my eyes and see that we've arrived at a new motel. We all unload and go into our rooms with our roommates, the couples in their own rooms and the singles in a room. I walk into my and landon's room and hook my MP3 Player up to the speaker system, choose The Greatest Showman soundtrack that I downloaded, and smile as I stomp the the beat.

I see Landon from the corner of my eye walk into the bathroom and I faintly hear the sound of water running from the closed door. I sing along with Hugh Jackman in my own low voice, a huge smile on my lips as I slowly crescendo. If you don't know what crescendo means, it means to grow louder, band and choir people should know this. I laugh and dance along to the beat of the song, not noticing Landon watching me through the now open, bathroom door. The next thing that happens while I'm lost in the music makes me go silent immediately: my boyfriend starts singing to the song. My eyes widen and I look at him, not believing that it is coming from him, but then the song changes and he goes back to the bathroom while taking off his shirt. I feel my face heat up big time. My flannel had fallen off my shoulders, leaving me in a black tank top that, on the sides, shows my pure white sports bra. I run my fingers through the front part of my hair, messing it up but also getting it out of my face.

He always refuses to sing, even if I ask him to sing only for me. I sit down on the only bed in the room and tie my tank top up so it's more like a crop top, and change from my jeans to a pair of dark blue booty shorts. Tears spring to my eyes once again as This Is Me starts playing. This song helps in a way, with what it can mean and all that, however, I turn it off.

I don't want to cry right now, I want to be strong for everyone around me. I turn on Shameless by . I like the song, and right as I start singing along to the song, Landon comes out of the bathroom with wet hair and only with a pair of basketball shorts on. He walks up to me, a smirk on his face.

"Want me to make you happy?" He asked, his voice a bit lower than usual.

I nod slightly, unsure where this could lead, but the dirty portion of my mind goes out of control. I blush slightly as he backs me up against a wall. I can feel his breath on my lips as he leans in close, my heartbeat going a little faster.

Then the door is slammed open. We both look over and see Damien and his arm is bleeding. The mood drops and a growl comes from deep in my chest, shocking both boys. I push Landon away and walk towards Damien and look past him, everyone was getting into the vehicles and packing everything up. I glare at them all and look farther out, where a horde is coming, but someone is different about them and I don't like it. Something seems majorly off by it, like the energy or something. I lift my hand and do a motion that basically means to get moving fast, to finish packing up even faster, and to get going. I glance over my shoulder at Landon and see that he is already completely dressed and has a leather jacket on. I feel non-existent tears form and my throat slowly closes up. My chest grows tight and I clench my teeth, looking back outside to the horde that is rushing at us.

I get dressed when Landon leaves the room and finish packing up our things. Once everything is in the truck and car, we leave. I still feel the tight feeling in my throat, the want to cry, but it also affects my breathing. It slowly gets harder and harder to breathe. I do have asthma, it doesn't usually get very bad and I don't remember the last night I had an asthma attack.

Sitting between Rae and Carlie in the mustang while Landon drives with Aine in the front passenger seat. Damien is driving with others and all of our stuff in the truck. I suddenly gasp for breath, and I start wheezing. Of course, I start to freak out slightly, and I become lightheaded. I lean forward, my head resting on my knees like I was told to do back in sixth grade in concert band. I feel someone put their hand on my back, I know it is Carlie's and not Rae's because of how thin his fingers are compared to Rae's not-so-thin fingers. I look up and see Landon looking at me through the rearview mirror, worry is the most prominent emotion in his eyes. I give him a small smile and gasp for air once again, but I don't feel like I am getting any into my lungs. I pull at the neck of my shirt to see if I can get it away from my throat, but it doesn't really help. For some reason, I start to laugh. Two loud growls come from both sides of me, but I don't stop. I keep laughing, all the air escaping my lungs, but more air also fills it. My breathing evens out as I slowly stop laughing, but I grow tired and lean back. I close my eyes and rest my head on the shoulder of one of their shoulders. A yawn comes from me and I fall asleep.

Surrounded by fire and ice, two swords in my hands with intricate designs on the blades. Words form in the designs. On the right sword's blade, it reads, "Fire shall bring warmth into the world of the living." On the left blade, it reads, "Ice shall bring cold into the world of the dead." I glance at both blades and see that there is a white wolf next to me. Then I look up and see everyone else. Landon is surrounded by shadow and skeletons, a black katana in hand. I look to my right and see Aine is surrounded by water, Rae has a large brown wolf next to him. To my left, I see Carlie and Alex. Carlie has a scythe and Alex has a black and white katana. I glance behind me and see Damien with a bow and a quiver of arrows, vines growing around him. I turn more, look further out, and see more people.

Grayson, one of my friends from the start of high school, and he's surrounded by a circle of multiple types of magic with a wolf, a dragon, and a sorcerer around him. Next to him, there is Zara, his fiance, and she is surrounded by vines and other magics as well. She has a white tiger and a nature mage next to her.

I look at my hands. The swords are gone, in their sheathes at my hips, and there is a locket. It is heart-shaped, flames climbing the bottom of the heart and icicles growing down from the top. Everyone then looks at me, their eyes not being their normal colors. Then it all slowly fades.

I sit up, Landon's arm in my lap, and I feel both warmth and coldness. Something had changed, but I don't know what. I lay back down and curl up against Landon, his arms wrap tighter around me and pull me closer. I breathe in his scent and relax, slowly falling back asleep. Sadly, I am woken up moments later when Carlie barges in and starts yelling something. My head is slightly foggy, so I can't make out what she is saying exactly. I hold up a hand to tell her to quiet and it does.

It takes me a moment to clear the fog and once I'm able to focus, I nod for her to continue.

"Something's wrong with Damien! His eyes are a dark green and there are vines growing around him! And Alex isn't waking up right now, and the same goes for Aine and Rae!" She says, out of breath. I nudge Landon to wake up him, and all he does is pull me closer and tighten his grip on my waist.

A smile forms on my lips for a second, but Carlie screams out at us to get up and I cover my ears. A thick shadow appears and wraps around her throat and mouth, silencing her. I glance down at Landon and see that his eyes are almost black and that he is looking directly at Carlie. I smack his arm and he snaps out of it, the shadow vanishing and his eyes return to their normal blue color as he looks up at me. I give him a kiss on the lips and slip out of his grip.

I nod to Carlie and follow her to the others. She was right, Damien had vines growing around him. I try to call out to him but, for some reason, I can't make any sound right now other than a low and powerful growl. It catches the attention of Carlie, Aimee, and Damien. He snaps out of it, his eyes going back to normal and the vines vanishing. I manage to clear my throat and speak.

"What the fuck is going on here?" My voice is lower than normal, but still there now.

They all looked at me. Damien looks around at us all like he doesn't know what happened, and the look Aimee and Carlie give me doesn't help.

"The magic is returning." I hear someone say from behind me, and when I turn to see who, it was Grayson. He had told me about the supernatural and paranormal world. A world where magic, shifters, and the likes existed and thrived. A secret part of our world that only those who are part of it can see and experience it.

"It has been returning, but it has returned in some of you completely," Zara says, standing next to Gray and looking at me. I've known of all this magic stuff, been told that I am a wolf shifter, a very powerful one at that and that there was a war coming.

"Gray, Z, let's go talk somewhere else," I state, leading them into a room that seemed to be a den of sorts.