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I awoke with a start, immediately hissing before I realize where I am. I look around and find Mark awake, setting out Christmas presents for everyone. “Merry Christmas” I whisper, sneakily removing myself from Adam’s arms. Adam just rolls over and doesn’t even notice, allowing me some alone time to talk to Mark. He didn’t seem too happy about the fact that we were the only ones awake, but he would get over it. I wanted to know what had changed between us so badly that he couldn’t even stand being alone with me. “So what’s up?” I asked, grabbing a gift to set under the tree. He yanks it out of my hands and glares at me. Ok, so maybe this would be a little harder than I first thought. “What did I ever do to you?” I ask, shrinking back when he whirls around. “You didn’t DO anything; it’s what you didn’t do that bugs me. I needed someone to help me, to give the younger girls a maternal role model. That’s what I sent Rachel out for. And then the girl that I thought would be with me, turns out not to want to be with me at all. We differ on everything, from hunting styles to even parenting styles. You try and get the girls to do things by choice where I have always used force and it is just hard realizing that maybe I have been wrong about everything all these years.” I felt bad realizing that Adam and I caused more than just Rachel some discomfort. No wonder Rachel didn’t like our relationship; it meant she had failed her task as well as made Mark uneasy and upset. I decided that I wanted to do a small amount of Christmas shopping of my own, if only to clear my head. I knew I had a stash of money in my backpack from small jobs I had done around town. Never enough to help out mom, but it should be enough to get some gifts for at least the girls. I check the time and see that the mall should be opening soon, and the sky is cloudy enough Mark says it’s ok for me to go out, but to go a few towns over, avoid anyplace I may be recognized. I run through the woods all the way to the state line and find a neat little second hand store. Inside I see the most beautiful scarf I’d ever seen. It was a rainbow of colors and so soft I was sure Rachel would love it. I continue to walk the store and find a hat for Mark. It is kind of plain looking, but it would shade his eyes so he could go out on cloudy days again. He told me that the one thing he missed was the city. There wasn’t really much else in this store so I checked out and was surprised to find it was a lot cheaper than I expected. I asked for directions to the nearest mall and the kind elderly lady at the counter gave me a map of the city and directions to another little flea market. The town I was in was so tiny it didn’t even have an actual mall, just various flea markets and supercenters scattered around. I stepped out into the cold air and saw snowflakes just starting to fall. I realized I didn’t have a coat on so I ran to the next shop and was surprised to find a lot more selection. I found me a nice winter coat for cheap and found a cute pair of fuzzy hiking boots for Lizzie. Jade was a little harder to shop for because she wasn’t really into clothes or being girly. She was really smart and wanted something that would stimulate her mind, even though she wasn’t able to go to school anymore. I found some books in French and remembered that I had taken French lessons and done well at them, so I bought them and decided the best thing I could do was teach her. Now I only had one more person to shop for: Adam. I wanted to make it special; something that he would never see coming, but that was hard seeing as I knew so little about him. I had about a zillion thoughts running through my mind of what this guy meant to me, yet I couldn’t find one single thing to buy for him. Suddenly, an idea came to me. There was a little journal in the shop that had a Halloween theme to it, complete with a smiley face with vampire fangs. It was very cheesy but it would make him laugh right up until he opened it up. I decided to write everything that had went through my mind in the last few days, starting with my last day as a human and ending with all my feelings towards him. Before I knew it the notebook was completely full and all my thoughts had been documented. I paid for everything, apologized for using the journal before buying it when the clerk gave me a dirty look, and left. The snow was starting to blanket the ground as I headed back to the little cave that I now called home and the coven that I now called my family.
***Anna’s POV***
I woke early and rushed to Matt’s, anxious to assure he was okay. The boy had noticed me the night before and asked if I was connected to Shay. He was definitely smarter than any human I had encountered before and I felt like Shay was making a mistake cutting him out of her life. I told him that I was and that it was important for her sake that he not tell anyone he had seen her that night. He had agreed and went to bed. Now he would be finding his father’s dead body and everything would come crashing back. I stopped briefly when I saw Shay and she asked me to give Matt a gift for her. I looked inside and found a shiny iPod. She had bought if before this whole thing had happened and hadn’t wanted to return it. I assured her I would and hurried off to Matt’s. When I got there he was outside; watching the woods and looking distressed. “Merry Christmas” I said with a smile, extending the bag to him. He took it looking slightly confused and once he opened it his face split into a grin. “Shay” he whispered, hugging the bag tightly to his chest. I looked away, thinking for sure there was something here I was missing. How could someone know who a gift is from just by seeing the gift? It made no sense to me, but I couldn’t find it in me to contradict him. “Can you give me some answers?” he asked, looking at me with the distressed face again. I grimaced, knowing this wasn’t going to be a fun conversation. “What would you like to know?” I asked, giving him the chance to avoid anything that led him to the realization his best friend was now a murderous monster. “Did Shay lie to me last night? Is she really alive but just too scared to talk to me?” Of course he would start with a question I can’t answer. Well, Mark could hate me later; I am going to be honest with this kid. “Yes, she is alive. But she is not in a good position to be seeing you daily right now. She is adjusting to things and really just needs some time to figure things out. And you can’t tell people you know anything. Not a thing, Matt.” He looked relieved to know she was alive then he took a deep breath and asked the next question. “Did she kill my father? If so, what am I supposed to tell the police?” Now it was my turn to take a breath. “You tell them what you know right now. You were half asleep and wandered up to your room in the middle of the night. You didn’t see or hear anything and as far as you know he died in his sleep. You don’t remember if Shay was really here or not or if she left before or after he passed. Don’t worry about anything. The police will find what they need in order for everything to be just fine” I say, smiling a little. He seemed to relax a little and was about to walk away when he remembered something. “Can you give Shay a gift for me? I know she can’t see me today, so I’d just appreciate it if you’d deliver it” he asked, starting to fade off when he sees my smile. “Of course! I delivered for her, didn’t I? You two should still be able to talk and hang out, it just may be more at night” I told him, happy to see that he was taking the news so well. I took the small gift bag he handed me from inside and set off for the cave.
***Anna’s POV***
I woke early and rushed to Matt’s, anxious to assure he was okay. The boy had noticed me the night before and asked if I was connected to Shay. He was definitely smarter than any human I had encountered before and I felt like Shay was making a mistake cutting him out of her life. I told him that I was and that it was important for her sake that he not tell anyone he had seen her that night. He had agreed and went to bed. Now he would be finding his father’s dead body and everything would come crashing back. I stopped briefly when I saw Shay and she asked me to give Matt a gift for her. I looked inside and found a shiny iPod. She had bought if before this whole thing had happened and hadn’t wanted to return it. I assured her I would and hurried off to Matt’s. When I got there he was outside; watching the woods and looking distressed. “Merry Christmas” I said with a smile, extending the bag to him. He took it looking slightly confused and once he opened it his face split into a grin. “Shay” he whispered, hugging the bag tightly to his chest. I looked away, thinking for sure there was something here I was missing. How could someone know who a gift is from just by seeing the gift? It made no sense to me, but I couldn’t find it in me to contradict him. “Can you give me some answers?” he asked, looking at me with the distressed face again. I grimaced, knowing this wasn’t going to be a fun conversation. “What would you like to know?” I asked, giving him the chance to avoid anything that led him to the realization his best friend was now a murderous monster. “Did Shay lie to me last night? Is she really alive but just too scared to talk to me?” Of course he would start with a question I can’t answer. Well, Mark could hate me later; I am going to be honest with this kid. “Yes, she is alive. But she is not in a good position to be seeing you daily right now. She is adjusting to things and really just needs some time to figure things out. And you can’t tell people you know anything. Not a thing, Matt.” He looked relieved to know she was alive then he took a deep breath and asked the next question. “Did she kill my father? If so, what am I supposed to tell the police?” Now it was my turn to take a breath. “You tell them what you know right now. You were half asleep and wandered up to your room in the middle of the night. You didn’t see or hear anything and as far as you know he died in his sleep. You don’t remember if Shay was really here or not or if she left before or after he passed. Don’t worry about anything. The police will find what they need in order for everything to be just fine” I say, smiling a little. He seemed to relax a little and was about to walk away when he remembered something. “Can you give Shay a gift for me? I know she can’t see me today, so I’d just appreciate it if you’d deliver it” he asked, starting to fade off when he sees my smile. “Of course! I delivered for her, didn’t I? You two should still be able to talk and hang out, it just may be more at night” I told him, happy to see that he was taking the news so well. I took the small gift bag he handed me from inside and set off for the cave.
***Shayla’s POV***
I arrived to the cave to find everyone finally awake and waiting impatiently to open gifts. I put all the beautifully wrapped presents I had bought under the tree. Lizzie attacked the box I had put and quickly unwrapped it, in awe of the beautiful boots. “I love them SOOOO much!” she exclaimed, quickly throwing them on. I smiled, glad to know I had done well. Jade opened hers next and the look of surprise on her face is quickly replaced by a smile. “I figured I could teach you how to read them. One of those is a basic grammar book, one is alphabet and numbers, and the last is a book of fairytales.” She ran at me and hugged me so fast it took me by surprise. It didn’t take me long though to hug her back and when she finally pulled away she didn’t go far. I knew that I had made a connection and that felt better than even the excitement on Lizzie’s face. Next, Mark opened his. He looked kind of confused by the gift until he tried it on. It shaded his eyes and immediately he smiled. “You gave me back my freedom” he whispered, trying to hide the fact that I had done good. He deserved it, with all the time he had put into the girls and Adam. Rachel grabbed hers next and was pleased by the scarf. She immediately put it on and handed Adam the last of the presents from me. When he ripped the paper off of it, he laughed and rolled his eyes. He went to set it aside when I whispered “open it.” He opened the cover and was shocked. He flipped through each page, mesmerized. We were all so engrossed in watching him that we almost missed the knock on the cave wall. We all jerked back to reality, and turned to see Anna standing there smiling. “I come bearing a gift for Shayla. Her brilliant human buddy sent it. He is really amazing you know. He knows somewhat what is going on and…” everyone was staring blankly at her, so she stopped talking and just handed me the gift bag. I opened it and inside was a beautiful bracelet. It was diamond and had a heart dangling on it. “Adam, will you help me put this on?” I asked, amazed at the beautiful jewels my best friend had found a way to afford. Adam put the bracelet on me then handed me another bag. “I’m sorry it’s not as good as that bracelet” he muttered, looking at the ground. I opened it and inside was a beautiful journal. Inside was blank sheet music and it had a pen with it. “I saw how much you loved playing music and so I figured this way you could write some of your own. The library is open to us at night and there is a music room there that is really epic. All kinds of instruments are kept there, so you could really practice anything you wanted.” “I love it” I told him, hugging him tightly. After that we all started opening the gifts from Mark. I felt bad that he didn’t get any other presents until the girls all pulled out handmade gifts from their sleeping bags. It was cute to see how much he loved the crocheted scarf and gloves from Jade, the handmade card from Lizzie, and the song that Rachel wrote him. Overall, it was an amazing Christmas.