Katie~

I jolted upright when my older sister banged on my door, "Hey, brat, come make breakfast!"

I sighed, it was my thirteenth birthday and I probably won't even get a 'happy birthday!' from anyone in this house. I crawled out of my brown sheeted bed and onto the hardwood floor of my bedroom. At least, I thought to myself, I still get my privacy. My room was a simple rectangle, if you walked in from the door then on the wall in front of you would be my book shelves, on the wall to the right of the door would be my desk and dresser, and on the left of the door was my bed, two nightstands, chest, and a tall dresser sat next to the book shelves. I sighed again, shuffling to the nearest dresser and picking out my favorite baggy jeans, a pair of socks, a small bra, and my favorite white shirt that I had drawn symbols and designs on with a black sharpy.

Once I finished getting dressed I folded my pajamas and set them on my bed neatly. Then I threw on my black-and-white sneakers and headed down the dull brown hallway, down the stairs, and to the even duller brown kitchen. Both of my parents were up and sitting at the table with my older sister, Kelly. They were waiting for me to make breakfast. I swear I'm a slave! I thought bitterly but hid my disgust as I went to the fridge and picked out some eggs.

"What took you so long?" Mom demanded as she watched me set a pan on the stove and turn it on. She had a menacing look on her face, as if daring me to lie.

"Getting dressed," I replied dryly as I cracked four eggs in the pan, I grabbed a spatula and waited for them to cook.

"It takes you that long to get dressed? Haha! Even I don't take that long!" Snarled Kelly, she slapped my back when I passed her to get the orange juice, causing it to sting painfully.

"Katie." Dad said sternly, "Look at me when I'm speaking to you!"

I turned to face him and refrained from saying 'what' to him because he would take that as a challenge.

"Better. Your grandmother wants to stop by later, I want you to stay in your room while she's here and pretend your not."

I bit my lip before I could say something rash and just nodded at him. I turned back to the eggs and flipped them, after they were done I placed one on everyone's plate, including mine.

I sat down across from mom and looked down at my plate, it was empty! My eyes shot up to Kelly as she baisically inhaled both her egg and mine. My shoulders slumped, well, I'm not very hungry anyway...

I stood up and began clearing the table when everyone left. Then the doorbell rang and mom ran to the door. "It's your grandmother! Hurry, Katie, into your room!" She whispered loudly, shoving me into my bedroom.

I heard mom open the door and greet grandma, then the door closed and I heard their footsteps enter the kitchen. There was the squeak of wood against wood as they pulled out the chairs to sit. I strained my ears to listen to their conversation but I only got parts of it.

"...Katie... Give... Old tradition..." Grandma rambled on about something.

"But... Kelly... Better... Katie... Out... What... It?" I heard mom say and I guess she was trying to say that I was gone and that Kelly should get all the attention.

"Let me... In... Room... For now..." I heard the creak again as someone stood and I heard footsteps approach the stairs. I stood up just in time as grandma opened the door.

"Katie! Give your grandma a hug, deary!" She smiled cheerfully but there was something in her gaze that told me mom was in trouble. But, nonetheless, I hugged her happily. Grandma had her gray hair in a bun and she wore a bright pink dress and heels. She was holding a glass box with something inside.

"What's that?" I asked her carefully, pulling away to look at it.

"Ah, child," she closed the door, "This has been passed down from my grandma to me and now to you." Grandma handed me the box, inside was a round, silver ring with a circular emerald in it and there were strange runes and symbols on it.

"What is it?" I repeated as I opened the box to look closer at it.

"It's a ring of great value, guard it with your life, child. For there are many who would take that from you without a second thought." She explained, she placed her hand on mine.

"Why? What's so special about it?" I asked her, I was confused on what it was supposed to do and why was it so important?

"All your questions shall be answered within time, Katie. Soon, I promise you, that it shall show you." Grandma stood up, the sudden seriousness gone from her face, instead it was replaced with an old, wrinkly smile. "Now I must go, child, heed my words." Then she left and closed the door behind her.

I could hear her lecturing and warning mom before she went out the door. Then there were footsteps on the stairs and I knew that they'd take the ring from me so I took out the ring and slid it under my bed before sitting on it. I still held the glass box though, I was going to use it as part of the lie already curving on my tongue.

Mom entered my bedroom with an angry look on her face, which was red. "What did she give you?"

"This box, why?" I played it cool even though my heart was pounding like crazy.

"A glass box?! Haha! Thank God! I though she gave you a ring and not Kelly. Well, keep your box, Katie." Mom left my room with an evil smirk on her face.

*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°

Soon it was night but while everyone else was asleep I stayed up. For some reason I couldn't sleep, there was something about the ring that made me think about it but I couldn't place it.

Then my room was lit up in a eerie green light that came from... From... The ring?