Unedited.

I haven't updated in ages but school assignments seem never ending. I finish one and then another comes from out of no where.

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Rebecca made it to the car park before she let it all sink in. Heavily falling against a pole, she shut her eyes. Somewhere her sanity was there, ready to convince her that this was all a dream. However, it didn't seem to offering any solutions at this moment. There was no way — no way — that it had been real. Surely if she kept repeating the words they'd be true.

               When had her life become such a mess? She thought helplessly, tugging on the ends of her hair. For whatever reason it was the habit she'd never been able to break. It calmed her when she needed to force away her panic. As a child, it had helped her deal with life in an orphanage; all the savageness, selfishness and self-preservation that had gone down when she'd lived there.

               Staring up at the two-storey hospital from the exterior all she could see were the eyes on her. The eyes of a person who'd been dead. He'd sat up after she'd laid her hand over his chest. Then she'd felt it. Again. The necklace had started to burn against her chest, beating like it had a heart of its own. Or maybe it had just been her own heart beating out of her chest. That she could use to rationalise. It made perfect sense in her mind and she kept with it.

               She couldn't make sense of anything else. If Mikael was right then she was supposed to believe that she was a faerie — but nothing like Tinkerbell because she wasn't real, yet faeries were. She was also supposed to believe that she had the power to bring people back from the dead. Now, because she'd supposedly brought someone back, someone was indebted to her.

               Throwing her head back, and forgetting there was a metal pole at her back, she fought a wince of pain. Her head throbbed and she revelled in the pain. Anything to distract herself from the mess she was in. Faeries didn't exist, just like werewolves and vampires didn't. Humans existed and aliens too if she was going to stretch her imagination. Magic didn't exist either. Magic would never exist.

               Moving slowly, cautiously, she grabbed the chain around her neck. Pulling it up cautiously, she stared at the pendant. It looked normal. It felt normal. It certainly didn't feel like it had just made her hallucinate. Or that it had burned her — more than once.

               Slowly, she became aware of a tear on her cheek. Then the rest of them. Glaring up at the sky, she tried to will away the tears before she fell into hysterics. All she wanted to do was cry. Cry and forget about the last few days. There's be no accusations of being a mythical creature. No miracle reviving. She'd be just Rebecca Morley, the orphan no once cased about. She'd rather face Skye's torment than fact the accusation of being someone she wasn't.

               Something wet dripped onto her hand and she glanced down at the pendant. Her tears were wetting the necklace and she watched it changed colour before her eyes. The emerald turned a deep shade of blue. Shutting her eyes, she blocked everything out. Otherwise she was going to have a meltdown in front random strangers.

               As much as she tried to deny it, she couldn't. Rebecca wanted to pretend that none of this was real — that it was some parallel universe. She was driving herself insane with self-denial. It was adding up — everything Mikael had said — but she still wasn't sure what to make of any of this. Maybe there was a chance that she wasn't normal. But the idea of being a faerie? That was way too farfetched. She wasn't ruling out the fact — being a faerie would make her life so much more exciting than it already was. It just wasn't possible.

               How it was possible that she'd revived someone, she didn't know. There was no real explanation, not one that made any sense anyway. So she'd settle on . . . Rebecca didn't know anymore. She didn't know anything anymore.

               Other than the fact that she was going insane.

               Rebecca rolled her eyes, the tears falling out of sheer frustration. Everything in her life was so . . . wrong. Nothing was going right. She wanted to blame it on Mikael, pretend that everything was his fault. That he was the reason for her sudden train wreck of a life. But, she knew she couldn't. Her life had never gone right, not since she'd been born. Getting abandoned as a child had been the first crash, her life in and out of orphanages the next one to follow. From then one, it had only gotten worse, amounting to one huge crash that was changing the course of her life.

               Now was that moment. All the heartbreak, torment and abuse she'd faced in her life had amounted to . . . this. Being told she was a faerie, that she wasn't human. Suddenly, she had the power to bring back to dead.

               Train wreck. Plain and simple. And she wanted off the train, away from it all.

               Everything was weighing so heavily on her mind. The texts . . . now they were starting to make sense. Pulling the phone out her pocket — and wondering why she even had it with her — she opened the texts.

               Guess who.

               That wasn't anything to worry about, considering she'd given up on trying to figure out who. Mikael had told her he hadn't been the one to send the texts and Rebecca believed him, though she wasn't even sure why. Forcing her attention back, she scrolled through the messages.

               Your name is Rebecca Anna Morley and you're adopted because nobody wanted to keep you. Your parents are dead and everyone hates you.

               Apparently, the wound hadn't healed yet. Flinching, she purposely ignored how true the words were. She didn't need to dwell on it. What she didn't need to do was add depressed to crazy.

               And you're not who you think you are.

               Had they been warning her in advance? If it wasn't Mikael then that meant someone else was convinced she wasn't human. Either that or she was reading too far into it. The words didn't necessarily mean that she was a faerie. They could mean anything. But surely it wasn't a coincidence. After she'd received the texts, everything had fallen into place. The sudden attention at school from people who'd tried their best to avoid her. Mikael giving her the necklace. Skye's lack of torment — something that was still surprising to Rebecca. Then being told she was a faerie before the necklace had decided to bring someone back to life.

               Shoving her phone back into the pocket of her jeans, she blinked away tears. She didn't even want to begin contemplating what the next few days would be like. More stalking? Another day of torment? Rebecca's hands clenched into fists, just as—

               "Becca!"

               Grateful for the distraction, she watched on as her dad raced towards her purposefully. Rebecca leant forward, hastily wiping away any tears before he could see them. The last thing she wanted to do was worry her dad with them. She'd just been in hospital; no doubt he'd already gone out of his mind with worry.

               "Dad," she whispered, her voice stronger than she'd have guessed. It didn't even sound-like she was feeling a whirlwind of emotions. "Hey."

               His determined eyes just stared at her, as he walked closer. The concern in them made guilt pit heavy in her stomach. As much as Rebecca wanted to blurt everything out, she knew she couldn't. He was nothing if not sensible. Telling him that someone thought she was a mythical creature that didn't exist, would only get either two reaction. He'd laugh or he'd just stare at her like she was crazy.

               The second one would be warranted, considering she felt like she was crazy.

               "Becca, what's wrong?"

               Forcing a smile, Rebecca hoped her cheeks weren't tear-stained. "Nothing dad. Really."

               The lie hurt but there was nothing else she could have said. Telling her dad that she'd just brought someone back from the dead and the necklace she had around her neck glowed wasn't an option. In her head she could entertain the thoughts as if they were real but aloud they would only sent her to an insane asylum. Well, her parents would probably laugh it off, instead of institutionalising her, but regardless she'd still sound crazy.

               Now that she thought of it, it could have all been a well-orchestrated joke played on her. She knew that her eyes hadn't been deceiving her when the ambulance had taken the body away. But that didn't mean that she'd been in his hospital room. It could have been anyone and they'd woken up when she'd been there because it had all been planned in advance.

               Why Mikael would go to all that effort though was puzzling. He had nothing to get out of this, unless his end game was her utter humiliation.

               The necklace was a different story though. Maybe there was a remote under the stone, changing the colour every time a hand made contact. The fact that she hadn't touched it and it had glowed didn't help her theory so she purposefully ignored that information. She was tempted to test it now, but staring at her dad out of the corner of her eye, she knew she'd have to wait.

               Though she didn't want to admit, a small part of her wished it were true. Rebecca was just the boring, orphan, with too many issues to name. Having magic and being able to fly would finally be some good news.

               "I'm self-diagnosing myself as bipolar," she muttered, finding sick irony in the words. She didn't even know why but it had to make sense. After her childhood, she knew that if she ever went to a psychologist, her list of diagnoses would be extensive and long.

               "Becca, talk to me. I'm getting worried."

               Rebecca sighed heavily. She'd forgotten her dad was there. Looking up at him, she stared into his eyes, hoping sincerity shone through. "Dad, I'm fine. Hospitals just scare me." The excuse wasn't a lie because Rebecca did hate hospitals.

               Arms wrapped around her shoulders and she didn't fight her dad. She just melted into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. The comfort of a hug from her dad never ceased to amaze her. It almost distracted her from her inner turmoil. Almost.

               "It was the boy, wasn't it?" Her dad's voice was unwavering and cold. Rebecca had to admit it was slightly terrifying, though she knew the anger wasn't directed at her.

               Rebecca's eyes closed and focused on breathing. "No dad, it wasn't him."

               She was glad she wasn't making eye contact with her dad. Otherwise he'd see straight through the lie. Despite the fact that she wanted to blame all of this on Mikael, she couldn't. He hadn't been outside the school with them. But the rest of it could be blamed on him. He'd given her the necklace, tried to convince her that she wasn't human and asked her to revive someone.

               "Becca," he warned.

               Rebecca let his heartbeat reverberate in her ears, calming her. Maybe if she could forget everything, it would no longer bother her.

               A bitter laugh escaped her. That would not work, not matter how hard she tried to convince herself of it.

               "Can we just go?" she whispered against her dad's chest.

               Surprisingly, he didn't question her. All she got in return was a solemn nod. It was all she needed.

               *

               Rebecca sat in the front seat, wringing her hands. She itched to grab the necklace and . . . she didn't know what. Just something. All of sudden she was hyperaware of its presence against her chest.

               It was one of the only presents she'd ever received and she hated how pretty it was. What she didn't like was how it could burn her and play tricks on her mind—

               Something flashed in the corner of her eye, and she sat forward quickly. Speaking quickly, so her dad didn't drive past it, she said, "Dad! Stop!"

               Luckily for them, they weren't on a busy main road, so the time her dad took to stare at her, didn't cause any collisions. "Huh? I'm in the middle of the road, I can't stop."

               "Dad, stop, please," she whispered desperately. "I'm going to puke."

               That spurred him into action, the car turning roughly onto the side of the road. Rebecca opened her car door, unbuckling her seatbelt at the same time. The last thing she needed was to get caught in the seat.

               "Becca," her dad said, the question clear in his voice. "What are you doing? Here, I'll help you." He made a move to get out of the car, but Rebecca was already gone.

               Staring around her, Rebecca looked for the best stop. Along the road next to them sat a long river, filled to the brink with water. The water was a dirty brown and Rebecca felt for the animals living in it. Trees blocked her way, taking away any direct path. She couldn't throw any more than two metres, so the ten metres was a stretch she wouldn't be able to make.

               Before her dad could see her reaching into her shirt and grabbing the necklace she walked ahead, bending as if she really was throwing up.

               "Becca!"

               She closed her eyes, shouting back, "I'm fine! You don't want to see this!"

               "Rebecca!"

               "Dad, I'm fine!"

               The grass was soft under her feet, most of it brown. Whether it was from lack sun or water, she didn't care. Staring ahead, she tried to judge the trajectory, wondering if she could throw as far as the water. Knowing her luck, she'd miss and someone would find it.

               Tossing up the odds, she decided it wasn't that bad either way. She wanted it out of her hands. As long as that happened it was okay.

               In the back of her mind, there was a niggling feeling of guilt. Mikael had given it to her — he'd been the first person to be kind to her and mean it in forever. Would he care if she just tossed it in a lake? Probably. Rebecca didn't dwell on the thought, otherwise she'd never get rid of it.

               It hadn't done her any good since she'd been given it. If anything, it had only made her bad luck worse.

               With that thought in mind, she walked closer to the trees and shut her eyes.

               Then she threw the necklace as far as she could. Where it landed, she wasn't sure. Frankly, she didn't care. 

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~ Littlemissflawed