My book! Book 1 of 5 from the series D.R.E.A.M. Read, enjoy and then email me with comments!

1

Betsy Moon

I was walking slowly through a green and lush forest. There were birds

nesting in trees above me, and as I looked down I saw leaves, twigs

and soil. It smelled fresh - freshly grown leaves and soil. The twigs

beneath my feet cracked as I walked forward. I noticed a small tree

from the corner of my eye. The leaves were brown and crumpled and

it slouched like an old man. I smiled and clicked my fingers. I felt a

warm, tingling sensation run all through my body as I saw something

bright and colorful form into a ball in my palm. I flicked my palm out

and the ball flew across the clearing and smacked against the dead

tree. Instantly the tree began to change. The leaves were turning a

fresh, bright green and the tree was standing straight again. I smiled

even wider and walked on.

“Hey Betsy, good to see you again.” I heard a voice from the other side

of the clearing. I squinted and saw my best friend, Renning.

“Hey, it’s good to see you too, how’ve you been?” I replied just as he

appeared out of nowhere in front of me.

“I’m cool, you know, it’s all the same, nothing ever happens here.”

His jet black hair, which was sticking up in every direction, swayed

slightly from the wind. His aqua blue eyes sparkled with excitement. I

laughed.

“Yeah I know, so have you been doing magic lately?” I asked grinning.

“Oh yes, I can now cast a water ball!” He said and gave me a wink.

Then he closed his eyes in concentration, clicked his fingers and flicked

his palm out. A small ball of water hit the tree opposite us and my eyes

widened.

“Whoa,” I muttered. “That’s amazing, you have to teach me that!”

“All in good time Betsy, for now we will just stick to basic magic.” He

said laughing softly. I scowled but agreed ruefully anyway.

“So have you been practicing?” he asked me.

“Yep, look,” and then I clicked my fingers and I brought back to life a

small dead tree like I did a few minutes ago.

“Well done, you’re getting better at that.” He said with a grin as he

checked over the tree to see if it was all alive and well again. But

suddenly deep in the background I heard someone yelling my name.

“Damn it Renning, I have to go, I can hear someone shouting, I’ll see

you later.” I said, just in time before I was shaken back into reality.

“Hello! Earth to Betsy! Are you getting this? C’mon, wake up will you!”

My older sister, Dusty was saying impatiently.

“W…what?” I said, a little shaken. Why couldn’t people just leave me

alone to get on with their lives rather than butting into mine?

“Mum wants you, she says dinner’s ready.” Dusty said before dancing

out of the door and down the stairs. I sighed and stood up. I went

downstairs and into the kitchen. Mum and Dusty were both sitting at

the table. I sniffed, it was shepherd’s pie. I sat down and picked up my

fork and began shoveling spoonfuls of pie into my mouth. I wanted to

get back inside my head again and learn how to cast a water ball.

“Careful Betsy, you’ll give yourself indigestion eating that fast, slow

down will you.” Said mum rolling her eyes.

“Yeah pig! You eat too much!” said Dusty smirking.

“Shut up! You’re the one who ate a whole packet of biscuits at lunch!”

I said glaring at her. She narrowed her eyes at me and I smirked and

went back to shoveling food in my mouth. After I had finished my plate

I cleared the table and washed the plates. I turned to leave when

mum suddenly stopped me.

“Betsy, wait I need to talk to you for a minute.” She said.

Dusty left the kitchen and went to her room, to listen to a load of boy

bands and talk to her friends on msn probably.

“Betsy, I’m very worried about you.” mum said looking into my eyes.

“Something goes on in your head all day, all week, all month, and I

don’t know what it is.”

“I’m fine” I said trying to reassure her. “I just daydream, that’s all, it’s

perfectly normal, and most kids my age daydream anyway.”

“Yes but, you seem to daydream all the time, and when you do it’s

extremely hard to get you out of that daydream.” Mum said, her

eyebrows furrowing.

“I’m fine really, stop worrying, can I go please!” I said becoming

frustrated.

“Alright, but promise me your ok, you can talk to me you know if

something’s wrong.”

“I know, and I promise, please don’t worry.” And then I turned and

went up to my room and lay on my bed. I shut my eyes and let myself

drift.

“Ah, your back then?” I looked up to find Renning standing next to me,

and for some reason I was lying on the floor.

“Yes, help me up would you?” I asked and he leaned down, took my

hand and pulled me up.

“Thanks.”

“No worries, so do you want to learn something new?” he asked tilting

his head slightly to the side

“Yes! Can I learn how to cast a water ball?” I responded excitedly.

“I already said, that’s too complex for you, but you might be able to

cast fire balls.” He said pondering this thought.

“Oh yes please!” I replied. Fire balls sounded exciting.

“Alright then, take my hand.” He said as he held his hand out. I took it

and clung on tight. I knew what was coming and sure enough

suddenly we were floating and spinning. I shut my eyes tightly because

I started to become rather dizzy. A few seconds later our feet touched

the floor, well Renning’s did. I just sort of fell on the floor. I collapsed into

a heap and groaned.

“Are you alright? Asked Renning leaning over me, looking concerned.

“I’m fine, jeez how do you get used to that?” I asked frowning. He

laughed loudly and I tried to stand up resulting with me falling into

Renning’s arms with dizziness.

“I’m fine.” I said huffily and pulled myself free. He laughed, his eyes

sparkled with excitement. “Come on, the targeting range is over here.”

And then he led me to a huge field with rather large scarecrows with

targets on their fronts.

“Right, now concentrate really hard on fire, nothing else but fire, it

helps to click your fingers and then when you feel your body go warm

thrust your palm forward but try to imagine hitting the target on the

scarecrow.” He said pointing to the scarecrow opposite me.

“But…what if I set the field on fire?” I asked shakily.

“Don’t worry you won’t, and anyway remember, I have water on my

side.” He said winking at me. “Go on, give it a try.”

So I imagined fire. I shut my eyes tight and suddenly I remembered that

night, it was so hot and bright, and as the fire drew nearer it became

hotter and brighter. The fire crackled loudly and then everything went

fuzzy. I collapsed with a gasp. I realized, I didn’t want to remember fire.

I didn’t like fire. I was terrified to death by it, since that night. But

Renning didn’t know that. I started hyperventilating and I heard my

raspy breath being drawn in and out in my attempt to try and breathe

and to stay awake. I heard Renning in the background, shouting -

yelling at me to wake up. I tried to reply but I couldn’t. I could only see

fire, too much of it. I felt something wrap around my middle, and pick

me up. I was being moved and I had just enough strength to open my

heavy eye lids and too see Renning looking straight ahead, concern

showing very clearly on his pale ghostly face.

“Renning,” I said quietly, my voice cracking. He looked down.

“It’s alright you’ll wake soon and then you’ll be ok.” He said keeping his

voice low and un-alarming. “Then when your better you can come

back and tell me your ok and what happened, ok?”

“Yes,” I said. And I managed a weak and small smile before the

darkness finally overpowered me and stole me from this magical land I

was in.

2

Real or Imaginary?

When I woke up I was in a large white room. There were lots of wire and

as my hearing returned I heard a loud and rather annoying beeping

noise. My sight returned and I opened my eyes groggily.

“Oh my god! Your awake, I didn’t think you were going to wake up. I

thought I’d lost my beautiful youngest daughter forever!” Mum sobbed

as she threw herself on me and pulled me into a tight hug.

“Ow, mum lemme go!” I gasped struggling to breath.

“Oops, sorry.” She said pulling back and wiping tears from her eyes.

“W…what happened?” I asked trying to remember but then a pain

shot through my head and as I gasped I decided not to try and

remember, but to listen to mum.

“Well, you went upstairs and after about half an hour Dusty came

rushing down the stairs screaming her head off, apparently she had

gone into your room and she saw you…differently than normal, she

tried to wake you up but then you started screaming and dropped on

the floor.” She said and as she talked she started shaking. “I called an

ambulance and you’ve been in here since for three days.”

Three days!!!!????

“Oh my god, that must have been…hard.” I said and then I drew in a

sharp intake of breath as a bunch of painful memories came flying

back at me. Punching me in the face and bruising me mentally.

“Are you alright love?” mum asked watching me carefully.

“Yes…I’m…just remembering what happened.” I said slowly.

“Oh, sweetheart.” And then she pulled me into a careful hug.

“It’ll be ok, everything will be ok.” She murmured into my dark hair. She

used to tell me that after dad had died. I don’t know what happened

after that but I lost control of my body and mind and I burst into

uncontrollable tears. Mum pulled me tighter and then suddenly we

were both sobbing in each other’s arms.

“Look at us,” mum said pulling back and wiping her eyes again. “We’re

a couple of Muppets.”

I laughed weakly.

After a few more days, the hospital was sure that I was ok. It was quite

nice to be in a hospital bed, it was so much more peaceful then at

home. The down side was that there was always someone watching

me so I couldn’t return to my mind and find Renning, so I was quite

glad when I was let out. As soon as I got home I went upstairs and

unpacked my bag quickly. Then I went over to my mirror and peered

in. The reflection was pale and sickly looking, as if just awakened from

the dead, I shuddered. She had deep black hair which hung round her

face like a huge, dark curtain. The reflection also had bright green eyes

which at the moment looked dead and empty. I sighed, of course I

knew the reflection was me but for a moment I wasn’t sure. I went over

to the bed and lay down. I took a deep breath and then closed my

eyes and once again let myself drift away from reality and into my

mind.

I woke to find myself lying in the forest. I sat up and looked around.

Empty, I was all alone. Where was Renning? I stood up, leaning on to a

tree for support.

“Renning?” I called out stupidly. I stumbled around for a while calling

for him. I was about to give up searching and just wander alone when

suddenly a voice from behind me made me jump right out of my skin.

“Ah, you’re here at last then, you have no idea how long I’ve been

waiting for you!” I spun around and stared. It was Renning. I let out a

sigh of relief and then threw myself into Renning’s arms.

“Oh, Renning, I’ve missed you so much. I…what happened?” I said my

voice muffled against his chest. He laughed and his arms tightened

around me.

“I was about to ask you the same thing, are you going to tell me what

happened?”

I took a deep breath and nodded.

“Well…Ok. I did what you told me to do, I thought of fire…only it was

painful to think of.” I said slowly.

“How come? I don’t understand.” He asked sounding very confused. I

pulled myself very gently out of his arms and sat down on a large tree

trunk which was lying on the floor. He sat next to me and looked at me

expectedly.

“Well…2 years ago…you know when I first met you?” he nodded. “Well

a few weeks before that my father was killed…” As I said this I tried my

very best not to cry. I hadn’t ever thought of this since that night and

here I was just pouring it all out. Renning looked shocked and he pulled

me into his arms and I carried on speaking.

“He was killed in a…a bad house fire, my mother, sister and I barely

escaped alive. I was most injured out of all of them, my lungs were

damaged by all the soot I had breathed in whilst trying to help my

father, I was in hospital for…for weeks, my lungs still haven’t repaired

properly, and that’s why I can’t breathe properly sometimes.” As I said

this, my voice started cracking in funny places and silent tears started

to pour down my cheeks making Renning’s shirt wet.

“Oh, Betsy, I’m so sorry, you should have told me, then I would have

found something different for you to cast, I’m so sorry.” He said into the

top of my head. He reached down and wiped the tears away from my

cheeks very softly and carefully. Then I suddenly felt myself fading

away. I sighed sadly, and wished that I could stay in this magical and

peaceful world of mine forever without being disturbed by people in

reality every ten to fifteen minutes.

“I have to go Renning, I can feel myself waking. I will see you soon”

“Alright, I’ll see you on your return.” Then he smiled a large grin which

made me giggle let go of me just as I disappeared and the darkness

claimed me once again.

I woke up gasping and struggling for breath. What had just happened?

I wasn’t quite sure. I looked at the clock. It was past ten. I pulled on an

old t-shirt and some old pajama bottoms. Then I padded downstairs

barefoot and kissed mum goodnight. I shut my door behind me and

climbed into bed. In less than a minute I had fallen into an uneasy

sleep full of nightmares.

The next morning I woke up achy and sore. I groaned as I slid out of

bed.

“Ouch,” I whimpered as I pulled on my school uniform and brushed my

hair. I trudged downstairs in my clumpy school shoes and made myself

a piece of toast. I ate it and then gave my teeth a good brush before I

kissed mum goodbye, said bye to Dusty and then ran out the door and

all the way to school.

When I arrived, I was a few minutes late but no-one seemed to notice

me slip in because the teacher wasn’t there yet. It was only when the

teacher arrived, sat down and took the register did everyone notice I

was here. My name was called and I said good morning. Mrs. Clover

looked up and smiled.

“It’s good to see you back Betsy, are you feeling better now?” She

asked politely. I could feel my face burning up with embarrassment

and so I kept my head down letting my hair fall around me like a long

curtain and only nodded. I heard people sniggering and whispering

and I kept my head down even lower. I wanted to see Renning but I

knew it was impossible to see him in school time. So I tried to pay

attention, but somehow my mind just slipped away and I found myself

in my own special world all over again.

I awoke on the floor once again. Why do I always seem to wake on the

floor? I stood up and looked around. It was deadly quiet. It was also

rather misty today. I couldn’t see a thing. I stumbled around in the mist

trying to find my way, I gasped as something wrapped around my arms

and pulled me back. I was about to cry out when I heard Renning’s

voice. Soothing and quiet.

“Shh, don’t worry, it’s only me.”

“Oh,” I said as I struggled to take control of my breathing. He obviously

heard because he held me only by the tops of my arms and helped

me to breathe.

“In and out, slowly. Try not to worry, your very safe.” He said as he

watched me trying to breathe slowly. As soon as I could breathe

normally again I spoke.

“I’m ok, I was just, you know, freaking out.”

“Don’t worry your ok.” He said softly.

“Damn it, I’m meant to be in class.” I said with a sigh. “Oh well, this is

much more fun than math.” I added hastily.

“Ok, if you’re totally sure.” He said. I nodded and then we began

walking through the forest and he took my hand in case I still couldn’t

breathe properly.

“You know, I was thinking, While I’m here could we maybe practice a

bit of magic?” I asked slowly.

“Sure thing.” He said grinning. I hesitated then took a deep breath and

spoke.

“Actually, I’d like to try casting fire again.” Renning stopped in his tracks

and I was pulled backwards, our hands falling apart.

“Are you sure? I mean isn’t it a bit soon to be trying that kind of magic

again?” He asked giving me a searching look.

“Nope, I want to be able to do this, I have to overcome my fear.”

He nodded slowly.

“Well… ok but if you collapse again I’m not trying it again for a long

time!” And then he took my hand and led me to the targeting field.

When we arrived he studied my face carefully. I smiled widely to show

his I wasn’t afraid, I think I fooled him…Hopefully.

“Ok, you remember what I told before, right?” he asked after a

moment. I clasped my hands behind my back so that he didn’t see

that I was shivering.

“Yes,” I said trying to stop my voice from trembling. I took a few deep

breaths to calm myself because I knew that magic never worked if you

couldn’t control your fright. Then I closed my eyes, and thought of fire.

But this time instead of my thoughts automatically switching to

memories of that night, I forced them to stay away. I imagined the

brightness and the flashing colors, I imagined the heat, so hot I would

melt, and that’s when I felt it. The warmth run through my body, it

calmed me, it was peaceful and it felt good. That was the sign. I

clicked my fingers and that’s when I lost it. My head felt light and I had

to open my eyes, the field swayed and I toppled over. I felt Renning

catch me and I groaned. I felt torn by my emotions. I was excited and

thrilled with myself because I almost cast a fire ball but then also

annoyed and angry that I lost it. The enjoyment overpowered and a

mad laugh burst from my mouth. I gasped in deep breaths of air as

Renning held me and rubbed the tops of my arms trying to calm me.

When I could just about breathe normally I turned my head to face

him.

“I did it!” I gasped, “Well almost,”

“You did, well done.” Then he smiled a dazzling smile but then I felt

myself slipping away again. I groaned.

“I have to go Renning, jeez why can’t anyone leave me be?” I snarled.

I hate it when other people stick their noses where it’s not wanted. Then

I heard my name being called and I jerked wake.

“Ah, Betsy, you’ve decided to join us again have you?” Mrs. Clover

said with narrowed eyes. I blushed deeply and I murmured my

apology. She gave a sharp nod and then stalked away. I tried to

remember my daydream as I evened out my breathing. I had cast a

fire ball! Yes! I whispered to myself. Suddenly something round hit the

back of my head and I turned to see what it was. On the floor behind

me was a piece of paper, I picked it up and opened it.

Hey, Betsy (Cool name by the way!)

Are you OK? You’re seriously very distant. Want to hang out with us

from now on, you look a bit lonely by yourself.

From,

Sky, Renesmee, Maizie and Ophelia.

That’s cool…I guess, did they really think that my name was cool?

Nearly everybody teased me about my name. I mean I’ve never really

had many friends before. I glanced over at them just to check whether

they were fooling around. They weren’t. They were looking over at me

smiling supportingly. I guess it couldn’t hurt to have a few friends…

right? I grabbed a pen out of my pencil case and began writing on the

back of the note they had sent.

Hi Renesmee, Sky, Maizie and Ophelia.

I love all your names as well. Their all so elegant and

Beautiful. Thanks. I guess I do get a little lonely at times. I

Would love to hang out with you all. I mean that’s if you’re not messing

me around.

From Betsy.

I put the lid on my pen and then screwed up the paper into a little ball.

I glanced at Mrs. Clover who had her back to me. Then I aimed at their

desk and threw the note over. Ophelia caught it perfectly. She threw

me a dazzling smile and then opened the note. The rest of them

leaned over and read. The exchanged a few words and then found a

new piece of paper and began writing. I waited until a piece of paper

landed on my desk. I grabbed it up and read it.

Hey Betsy.

Cool. We can’t wait to get to know you. We will talk at break. See you

then!

Love, Ophelia, Sky, Renesmee and Maizie.

I folded the note back up and grinned. I had found some friends. At

last! Then I picked up my pen and began answering boring and hard

math questions.

When the bell went I jumped up and waited outside the classroom for

my newly formed friends. They all walked out together laughing. They

turned to me and smiled.

“Hey!” They all said together. I took this moment to take a look at them

all properly.

Sky had multicolored, neon, rainbow hair. It was long and very puffy at

the top. She was wearing hot pink skinny jeans and a black t-shirt that

was covered with splodges of different colored paint, to go with it she

had pink sparkly shoes. Renesmee had light blue hair. This was cropped

extremely short and spiked at the top to give it a rough effect. She had

purple skinny jeans and blue converses. She wore a blue short-sleeved

t-shirt with a cartoon panda on the front. Maizie wore a grey t-shirt with

braces which were covered with different types of badges, red skinny

jeans and neon yellow doctor martens and her hair was short and also

spiking in every direction. It was strawberry blond with turquoise streaks

and had a plain pink bow nestled in the side. And lastly Ophelia had

long black hair which ran down past her waist. It had red streaks and a

long side fringe. She wore black skinny flares with a skull on the back

pocket and a My Chemical Romance t-shirt which I thought was really

cool! She had black converses, but the part of her which really threw

me away was her face! She was as white as a ghost and had black

eye shadow surrounding the whole of her eyes and a black spider’s

web tattoo on the side of her cheek. I gazed at all of them, lost for

words. They understood. They just stood there waiting for me to regain

my thought. I felt ridiculously plain standing next to them.

Eventually I forced myself back into reality and I apologized for being

distant for a moment there. They smiled comfortingly.

“Don’t worry,” Said Ophelia “So what do you want to do now?”

I shrugged.

“Why don’t we go up to the library?” suggested Renesmee quietly. We

all nodded and then turned and went up to the library.

Up at the library there were too many of us too fit onto one table so we

had to spread onto two tables. On one table me, Renesmee and

Ophelia sat and on the other Maizie and sky sat. Maizie and Sky were

sitting giggling at a joke book and quietly whispering to each other,

while me, Renesmee and Ophelia pretended to read books but were

actually talking softly.

I didn’t want this break to ever end and so when the bell went I

groaned quietly. I didn’t think anybody heard but Ophelia caught me

behind on the way to class.

“Don’t worry, we have all the time in the world now to do stuff.” She

said with a grin. She winked at me and then we walked into the

classroom ready to face the rest of the school day.

After the bell went and school was dismissed I walked to the corner

with my friends but then we all had to go opposite ways. We had

arranged to meet up tomorrow at my house. We hugged and said our

goodbyes and then I went my way and they went theirs. As I was

walking home I couldn’t have been happier. But then something

happened on the way home and my whole life changed forever.

I turned the corner and was walking, humming to myself when

suddenly someone came around the corner in front of me. I

recognized him instantly, but it was impossible. He was in my head. My

imagination. He can’t be walking towards me now. No, he’s probably

just someone who looks like him. But then he got up close and stopped

right in front of me.

“Oh my god, that was so weird, I was practicing my magic in the

woods and now I’m out here. What’s going on Betsy?” He asked,

looking quite confused. I just stood there feeling very dazed and very

confused. I was right. It was Renning!

3

A Bit of Death And Magic

Renning was looking at me expectantly. As if he assumed I knew what

was going on. But actually I seriously had no clue. One minute I was the

happiest person on the planet and the next I was the most confused.

When my voice had returned I spoke shakily.

“Um… I actually have no idea, I…I thought you were in my mind.”

“Ok, obviously I’m not at the moment.” He said smiling. I smiled back

weakly, my head spinning.

“Hey, you look like you’re about to faint.” He said looking at me closely.

“Well, I’m not actually sure but I think you might be right.” I replied.

“If you do, do you want me to catch you or…”

“If you wouldn’t mind.”

“Ok no problem,”

“Thanks.” I said. Then I smiled one last time before the darkness claimed

me and the last thing I saw was Renning darting towards me to catch

me as my legs gave in.

When I woke, I was lying on my bed in my room. I looked around

groggily. Renning was sitting on my old wooden chair at my desk,

watching me carefully. As soon as he saw that I was awake he jumped

out of the chair and was at my side before I could say a word. I gulped

in air as I tried to remember what had happened.

“Oh…my….god!” I gasped.

“Don’t worry, I think I know what’s actually going on here.” Said

Renning in a low voice. I tilted my head to the right.

“What?”

“Well, I think you have something different.” He said slowly. “An extra

kind of power so to speak,”

“What do you mean?” I asked my brow furrowing.

“I think that you have a power somehow, I think that the things you see

in your imagination become real.” He said. I stared at him, lost for

words. I looked closely into his face to see if he was joking, but no. He

was being totally serious.

“So like, I could do magic then, in real life I mean.” I asked slowly. He

nodded, grinning. I pondered this and after a while a wide smile

formed on my face and I leapt up. I concentrated and clicked my

fingers. A pen from my desk flew into my hand and my eyes snapped

open and I jumped up and laughed with glee. Renning laughed and

jumped up and grabbed my hands and we danced around like crazy

people.

When our sanity had returned we sat down on the bed and got our

breath back.

“So, you’re real now?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“But, what would happen if I daydreamed of you now?” I asked tilting

my head.

“I’m not sure, but I’m guessing that I would somehow return back into

the dream, but when you return into reality I guess I will too.”

“Wow, that’s so cool.” I didn’t feel tired but apparently my body was

because I stifled a huge yawn. Renning laughed loudly. I grinned

sheepishly.

“You, get some sleep!” Renning said smirking. “Don’t worry, I’ll still be

here tomorrow!” Then he gave me a wink and left the room. I stood

there for a few minutes and not until after I heard the front door slam

shut did I move. I undressed and pulled on my old football shirt and a

pair of old pajama trousers. Then I climbed into bed and before I could

even start to think about my day I was asleep.

The next morning I woke to the fresh smell of cooking bacon. I

breathed in deeply and jumped up. I had a feeling something was

happening today but I wasn’t sure what. It was as I was getting dressed

though that I remembered what, of course! Renesmee, Ophelia, Maizie

and Sky were coming over today. I grinned with excitement and I

pulled on my black skinny flares and my black t-shirt with a black cat

on. I brushed my hair and skipped downstairs. I pushed open the

kitchen door and stepped inside. Dusty was at the table eating bacon

and mum was at the cooker frying bacon and eggs.

“Morning sweetheart.” She said looking up and smiling. I smiled back

and thanked mum when she placed a plate of eggs and bacon in

front of me.

“Mum, a few of my friends from school are coming over today, is that

alright?” I asked carefully. Dusty looked up from her food surprised. She

swallowed her mouthful of egg.

“I didn’t think you had any friend’s softie.” She said acting confused.

“Oh shut up you pig.” I replied glaring. Dusty shrugged and went back

to her eggs.

“Stop arguing you two for once in your lives!” Mum said sighing. Then

she turned to me. “Of course you can have friends over, what time are

they coming?” I checked the clock.

“In about half an hour.”

“Half an hour?” mum shrieked. Then she hurried upstairs to shower and

get dressed. After my food I went upstairs and decided to practice my

magic. I didn’t think fire was very…appropriate, so I decided to give

water a try. I sat on the floor, shut my eyes and concentrated very hard

on water. The flow of it, the color and the peacefulness. I felt my whole

body become peaceful and tingly. I opened my eyes and clicked my

fingers but nothing happened. I cursed and tried again.

Until the doorbell rang I hadn’t realized that I had been practicing for

half an hour. I raced downstairs and pulled the door open. There on

the doorstep stood Ophelia and Renesmee.

“Hey Betsy.” Said Ophelia

“Good to see you again buddy.” Agreed Renesmee. We grinned and I

stood aside to let them in. They pulled their coats off and I slung them

over the banister. Suddenly mum flew down the stairs.

“Hello!” she squealed. “ It’s so nice to meet you, I’m so glad my Betsy

has finally found some nice friends, most people she knew would tease

her, about her daydreams and such, well, I can tell that you girls

wouldn’t do that.”

“Of course not Mrs. Rae-Moon, Betsy is part of the group now.” Ophelia

said and Renesmee nodded.

“Um…mum, we’re going to go upstairs now and there are two more to

come,” I told her.

“Ok, that’s fine, you girls have fun.” Then she turned and went into the

kitchen to wash up. I signaled to Renesmee and Ophelia to come

upstairs. When we got into my room we sat on my bed and talked

about random stuff for a while.

Ten minutes later Maizie and Sky arrived and we were all sitting in my

room chatting. I noticed that Renesmee was rather quiet.

“Are you ok?” I asked her. She said nothing but instead nodded. I

wasn’t convinced.

“Don’t be silly, I know there’s something wrong, tell me!” I said fiercely. I

saw that they are glanced round at each other. They all knew.

“I’m meant to be your friend now! Tell me. Or do you not trust me?” I

asked.

“Of course we trust you, but it’s not really up to us to tell you. It’s up to

Renesmee.” Said Ophelia, coming over and putting her arm round me.

“Ok.” Whispered Renesmee. “I’ll tell you.” I leaned in closer. I could tell

that this wasn’t going to be a very good piece of news.

“Well, I’ve got this condition, see, it’s quite a rare one and not many

people have it at all but see, I’ve got this heart disease. It means that

my heart works slower than anybody else’s so the blood in my body

travels a lot slower, which also means I’m not very good at sports,” she

gave a small grin “So at any time my heart could just suddenly give

way and stop, that’s what’s so scary.” A small teardrop rolled down

Renesmee’s cheek and I scrambled across the floor towards her, I put

my arms round her and rocked her as she sobbed her heart out into my

t-shirt.

“It’s all right, we’re all here for you.” I said trying to calm her. For a few

minutes we all sat there hugging Renesmee then we pulled back and

she wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve.

“Thanks guys.” She snuffled. Then we all smiled.

“Hey, I’ve got something I want to show as well.” I said after a bit of

thought I had decided to show them my magic. They all looked up at

me.

“Watch this.” Then I closed my eyes and concentrated hard on the

book in front of me. I felt my body tingle and go warm and peaceful,

and then I clicked my fingers. Next to me I heard four loud gasps. I

opened my eyes to find that in front of the book I was concentrating

on was floating in mid-air. I pushed my palms out and the book flew

across the room and hit against the wall and dropped. I turned to find

Renesmee, Ophelia, Sky and Maizie’s mouths wide open.

“Whoa…” Sky murmured.

“Totally,” agreed Maizie. Ophelia stared at me in astonishment and

Renesmee shook her head in amazement.

“What do you think?” I asked grinning. They didn’t say anything, they

just shook their heads.

“That was amazing!” They suddenly all said together.

“How can you do that?” asked Renesmee.

“Magic.” I simply replied grinning. They all turned and ginned at me.

“What?” asked Sky.

“Magic,” I repeated.

“Whoa…”

“Sorry, what was it again?” I asked sarcastically grinning. We all

laughed.

“Magic!” we all yelled! And then we fell about laughing our heads off.

4

I can’t even cast a simple Fire ball!

It was the best day I had had in a very long time. We turned Renesmee

into a total gothic person by loading her eyes with black makeup and

after lunch we went downtown and did some window shopping. We

tried on hundreds of clothes and we got kicked out of a shop once or

twice. I was sad to say goodbye at the end of the day. I went into my

room and gasped, it was dark but I could tell that someone was in

there with me. I slowly switched on the light as the figure moved

towards me. I flicked the light on and let out a sigh of relief. It was only

Renning.

“Hey there.” He said grinning with delight. “Scare you did I?”

I laughed

“Sure you did.”

“So what you been up to today?”

I shrugged

“Nothing much, just hung out with mates, you know.”

Renning didn’t say anything. He just sat there looking baffled.

“Oh, shut up!” I said giving him light shove. He laughed and shoved me

back. After a long shoving competition we sat down on the bed to

calm down. It was then that I suddenly thought of something.

“Renning, now that I can do magic in reality…can we practice now?” I

asked looking at him. He thought about it for a while and then nodded.

“Sure, but we have to find somewhere quiet.”

“I know somewhere, come on.” I said jumping up and grabbing his

hand and then yanking him up. He laughed at my eagerness and

allowed himself to be pulled up. After I had finally pulled him up I

grabbed my coat, yelled to mum that I was going to for a walk and

then we set out to find the quiet place I had told him about. As we

walked, I linked arms with him. I knew that we were going to be mates

forever… I hoped.

“Renning…” I looked up and he and he looked down at me. “Well, you

wouldn’t just leave me would you?” He looked me with a confused

look on his face.

“Of course not, whatever gave you that thought?”

“I was just wondering…”

He nodded and raised his eyebrows but said nothing. “But, you do

know that I’m just a part of your imagination.”

“You used to be, I brought you into reality.” I reminded him smiling. He

sighed.

“Yes but, the thing is Betsy, when you stop believing in me, then I will go

away just as quickly as I arrived.” I gasped and clung onto him.

“You won’t, because I will never stop believing in you!” I said looking

into his eyes desperately.

“You’ll have to stop believing in me some time in your life, it’s like a

child and an imaginary friend, when the child grows up then they grow

out of the imaginary friend.” He replied. I knew he was right but I didn’t

want to admit that. I had friends at the moment and I was happy, but I

wasn’t sure that I was happy enough for his to just go away yet. It was

nice having him around.

“Don’t think about those kinds of things!” I told him fiercely. He sighed

again and shook his head despairingly.

“Whatever you say.” I thought he was angry with me but when he lifted

his head I saw that he was grinning his usual goofy grin. I returned his

grin and slapped his arm lightly. I led him to a large, deserted meadow,

which was surrounded by a forest of trees. We stood at the edge of the

meadow and faced a rather tall tree.

“Ok, so do you want to try fire again, or a different kind of spell?”

Renning asked. I thought about the question for a minute and then

answered.

“Fire.”

Renning nodded and then waved his hand in the air to signal me to

go ahead and start. I gulped in fresh air and then closed my eyes and

imagined fire. I imagined it bright and colorful. All those reds and

oranges and yellows blinded me by the brightness and this time I kept

imagining too long and my head became heavy and I opened my

eyes in surprise as I gasped, and then the floor was swallowing me as I

fell onto the soft and damp grass. I heard Renning curse and appear at

my side helping me up. I regained my balance and scowled. I pulled

my arm from his grip, embarrassed.

“I’m all right.” I snapped. He laughed and nodded as I closed my eyes

and carried on trying.

It was sunset when I finally got fed up with lying on the floor every

minute. I stood up for about the hundredth time and cursed myself for

being too weak.

“Whatever, I give up for today!” I said angrily. “But I’m going to carry

on trying and I will learn how to cast a fire ball!” I saw Renning struggle

to keep a grin of amusement off his face, and that’s when I snapped. I

spun on my heels and stalked off towards the beginning of the forest so

I could get home. I heard Renning right beside me, having no trouble

at all at keeping up with me. This only made me angrier that I couldn’t

get rid of him. I clenched my fists and kept walking. He grabbed hold

of me and pushed me back against a tree. I breathed through my

nose loudly with anger as I waited for him to speak.

“What’s wrong, why are you mad?” He asked, I saw that he had

crease lines on his forehead with worry. I sighed and tried to calm

myself enough to reply. After a few breaths of air I spoke.

“I’m just annoyed that I’m so weak that I can’t even cast a simple fire

ball!”

“I have two replies to that Betsy.” He told me, his worry creases

disappearing. “Firstly, you are not weak, you are very strong and I’m

proud of you for that. And secondly casting a fire ball is not simple, it is

a very difficult spell for someone your age to cast.”

I sighed and nodded. I knew he was right but I couldn’t help being

angry and annoyed with myself.

“I guess.” I admitted.

“Good,” Renning smiled and then freed me from the tree. He took my

hand to comfort me and then we walked back to my house both of us

tired but at last happy.

5

The moment we all dreaded

When I arrived home mum gave me a huge lecture about staying out

too late and that she didn’t know where I was. Renning hadn’t used

the front door like most normal people. He climbs through my bedroom

window. He says that doors are for boring people, whereas he is a very

exciting person. I grinned when he had declared this.

After mum had finished her lecture we hugged and I apologized for

worrying her. Then I made my way upstairs to find Renning going

through my books.

“You’ve organized your books in alphabetical order.” He said without

looking up.

“Yes, why? What’s wrong with that?”

He looked up and smiled.

“Nothing, I’m just surprised I mean, you’re not exactly a tidy person.”

He said looking round my bedroom pointedly. It was true. I had books

on the floor, clothes, and random bits and bobs. I blushed as I kicked a

piece of underwear under the bed.

“Well, I’m going to bed.” I said with a huge yawn. It had been a busy

day and tomorrow I wanted to carry on practicing magic. Renning left

and then I slipped under the duvet covers and sunk into the darkness

of sleep.

The next few weeks passed quite quickly. Life was better than it had

ever been. Renesmee, Ophelia, Maizie and Sky treated me now like I

had been with them for years, I had no idea how fun it was to actually

have a lot of friends. I had been practicing my magic everyday in the

meadow with Renning no matter what. Once or twice we had to

sneak out after I had told mum I was going to bed so I could practice

magic. I had learnt how to cast gusts of wind. And by the end of my

lessons of learning how to cast wind, I was sure that the trees were

rather sick of it. But most of all Renning was still here. He was still with

me. I hoped I was always going to believe in him, It seems unbearable

to just let him go. Anyway, my life was amazing and I couldn’t get

enough of it. Until today. The thing we had all been dreading

happened.

As I waited for Renesmee, Ophelia, Sky and Maizie to arrive I quickly

did a bit of last minute tidying. I gathered up all my dirty clothing and

dumped them in the washing basket. I picked up all my books and

stacked them neatly. I now had so many that they wouldn’t all fit on

my book shelf so I had huge stacks of books all over my bedroom.

I had just dumped my last stack of books onto the chest of drawers

when the doorbell rang. I skipped downstairs to answer it. After we had

exchanged greetings we all bundled upstairs to my room where we sat

on my floor gossiping about boys and recommending books to each

other. As we talked I noticed that Renesmee was looking rather sickly

looking today. Very tired, pale, and much quieter than usual. Of course

I knew she had been on medication lately but she had never looked

this bad. I kept a very close eye on her.

“I’ve got an idea.” I announced after a while, and they all looked at

me curiously. “Why don’t we all make friendship bracelets and when

we wear them it represents our friendship and that nothing will take our

friendship away?”

They looked at each other and then they all looked at me grinning.

“Yeah!”

“Totally!”

“Let’s do it!”

And so we set about making friendship bracelets with my friendship

bracelet making kit. We sat in a circle and talked softly as we all

concentrated on our pieces of multicolored string which would soon

be a friendship bracelet. I sat between Ophelia and Renesmee. When

we were all around about halfway done with our bracelets I heard

Renesmee’s breathing change completely. She started breathing quite

heavily and quickly. As if she was struggling. I leaned over an inch.

“Are you ok?” I whispered. Beside me I saw her give a sharp nod. But it

was when a few of us started to finish that things changed.

“Finished!” cried Ophelia.

“Oh my god, seriously?” asked Sky looking at Ophelia with a

dumbfounded expression forming on her face. I burst out laughing and

Sky blushed.

“I have got to stop say that word.” She muttered. I giggled.

“Yeah, hey Sky check this out…Seriously!” I imitated her and she gave

me a shove and pretended to be hurt but instead we both ended up

in fits of laughter. On the opposite side of the circle I heard Maizie

mutter that she would be done in a second. I grinned to myself and

went back to mine.

“Yeah, I’m done too!” Maizie suddenly cried out jumping up and

waving her bracelet in the air.

“Seriously?” exclaimed Sky. We all looked around at each other and

then burst into laughter. We didn’t notice when Renesmee collapsed,

struggling to breathe. I was the first to notice. We calmed down and

sat back again. I looked beside me to find that Renesmee was lying on

her back hyperventilating and her whole body twitching

uncontrollably. I gasped and practically flew down to her side.

“RENESMEES COLAPSED!” I screamed in terror. “GO AND GET MY

MUM!” They all flew into action. Ophelia sprinted downstairs and I

heard her yelling for my mum. I checked Renesmee’s pulse and then

pulled her into the recovery position. Maizie was already on the phone

for an ambulance and Sky was by Renesmee’s side. Murmuring words

of comfort to her. I checked that her mouth was clear and then I tried

to calm her by talking to her like Sky. I heard mum rush through the

door and I leapt out of her way as she checked Renesmee over.

The ambulance arrived in about five minutes and then Renesmee was

taken away from me and I knew that this could be the last time I ever

see her.

6

Dangerous?

I sat in a long pastel colored hallway, with my head in my hands. I had

been here all night and my hair was messy and I felt extremely tired.

Round the corner I heard my mum and a doctor talking. All last night

they had wanted me to go home and calm down and sleep but I

didn’t. I am going to stay here until I see Renesmee and know that

she’s ok…or if she’s not but I don’t want to think about that. I have to

stay positive.

“I’m so worried about her.” I heard mum tell a doctor. “All last night she

just sat there, she wouldn’t speak or eat or even sleep, it was like she

wasn’t there, and she looked just like a ghost.” I heard the doctor

murmur something back about being patient but my brain didn’t take

it all in, I was just too tired. I sighed and stood up, I paced up and

down the hallway listening to the beeping sound coming from

Renesmee’s room. It brought back painful memories about the last

time I was in this kind of place. I heard faint footsteps behind me and I

looked round to find mum walking slowly towards me. When she saw I

had seen her she smiled like the way an adult smiles at a toddler.

“Hi sweetheart, how are you doing?” she asked, her smiling face

turning suddenly to concern. I shrugged and said nothing then I walked

towards the chairs and sat down again, taking a particular interest in

the floor. I heard mum sigh softly and then joined me.

“You know you’re not alone in this?” She told me. “You’ve got lots of

people supporting you.” I still said nothing and only nodded swiftly.

Mum put her arm around me and pulled me close. I sat stiffly and

didn’t go to snuggle up close to her. I kept my feelings a secret and

didn’t show any expression at all in my face.

“It’ll all be fine.” She whispered softly into my ear.

“No! No! It might not be fine” I cried, as I jumped to my feet in anger

and mum looked at me shocked. “It could all turn out to be just awful!”

And then I spun on my heels and marched down the hallway, out the

doors and into the main part of the hospital. I darted to the front doors

and I speed walked round the corner and down an alley. I didn’t care

that it was dark, dirty and smelly I just wanted to get away from that

clean, bleached smell of the hospital. I covered my face with my

grubby hands and slid down onto the floor and cried- cried like I had

never cried in my whole entire life. These were loud, gurgling cries for

help but there was no-one to hear them. No-one to help or even care.

I was breaking down, if Renesmee died then I don’t think I could take it.

Suddenly I felt an arm wrap around my waist and pull me up. I looked

at who it was but I couldn’t see properly because my sight was blurred

from all the tears. I wiped my eyes on the sleeve of my dirty hoodie and

saw that it was in fact Renning, a look of concern and horror on his

face.

“Are you alright, wait stupid question!” He said, his voice tingling with

worry. “The real question is what the hell has happened to you?” He

looked at me and I shrugged and said nothing. He shook his head and

then took my arm, supporting me and then helped me walk back to

the hospital. But halfway there he figured that it was easier to just carry

me. So he bent down and swept me up into his arms, I gasped and

clung onto him. He cracked a smile and then carried me to the

hospital.

I must have fallen asleep on the way back because when I opened my

eyes again I was in the bright, pastel colored, clean smelling hallway

once again. But this time I was not sitting upright uncomfortably. I was

lying down, taking up three chairs and on top of me was a thick,

woolen blanket and my head was resting on two soft, feather-filled

pillows. I blinked and sat up. I saw that Renning and mum were sitting

on the other set of chairs next to me. They saw I was awake and both

their faces automatically turned bright and happy.

“Good morning.” Mum said

“Good sleep?” Asked Renning grinning goofily as usual. I saw mum

beam at him. What had he told her?

“This boy is wonderful!” she said poking him. “He saw you sitting all by

yourself asleep and so he brought you inside, you’re so lucky to have

him as a friend.” I nodded but still didn’t say anything. I saw mum smile

sadly. I felt bad for putting her through all this. I was about to apologize

when Renning pulled a rather large rucksack out from underneath the

chairs.

“You mother and I collected a few of your things when we went back

to your house.” He said dumping the bag on my lap. I smiled at them

and they both thought I wasn’t going to speak again when I croaked a

rather hoarse,

“Thanks”

They both looked at me, surprised and then they both cracked wide

smiles. I was surprised to hear myself sound so weak and quiet. I

sounded zombie-like and scary. Then I stood up and made my way to

the bathroom. I went into a cubicle and locked the door. I was alone,

with no-one in there but me. I unzipped my bag and pulled out a

handful of clothes – My black pinafore and stripy black and white

tights. I pulled my dirty, scratchy clothes off and pulled on the sweet-

smelling clean ones. Then I dug around in my bag for my hairbrush and

started the losing battle of brushing my hair. Sometime in that I heard

the door creak open and a muffled voice from outside. There was a

slight tap on my cubicle and I froze. Who was it? I considered just sitting

in the cubicle until the person from outside had left but that seemed

cowardly and so I took a deep breath and unlocked the door. I

stepped out and gasped. It was only Renning. I fell into his arms in relief.

“Oh my god Renning, you scared me to death!” I said. He chuckled

and I freed myself and grabbed my bag and continued the battle with

my hair.

Five minutes later I had stuffed my brush in my bag and I followed

Renning out of the bathroom.

I had just dumped my bag onto the floor underneath my chair with a
slight thud when distant footsteps made me look up. I straightened up
to see a tall man with Grey hair and rather large glasses walking to-
wards me, he stopped.

“You are Betsy Moon?” He asked and I nodded. “Renesmee Greene
says that she would like to see you now.” I took a sharp intake of breath
and glanced behind me. Mum was nodding and smiling but Renning's
face was totally unreadable. I took a deep breath and nodded again,
and then I followed him through the corridor and outside a white door
where he nodded and smiled encouragingly, then left. I counted to
ten slowly and pushed open the door. The whole room was either
cream, white of pale blue. There were machines either side of Renes-
mee's bed and lots of wires which were running from the machine to
Renesmee. The baby blue curtains were pulled back and bright light
was escaping into the room, trying to invade every crack and corner.

I gasped and clutched my head as painful memories entered my mind
and hurt me like knives piercing me all over my body. I felt myself sway
slightly and start to hyperventilate. I heard a distant voice calling to

me, asking if I was okay. Pull yourself together! I thought angrily. I felt
tears roll down my cheeks and I shut my eyes tightly.

Suddenly I felt something cold grip hold of my shoulders firmly and
shake me gently.

“Betsy! Betsy, can you hear me? Wake up, it's okay.” I opened my eyes
and saw a pale, worn-out face looking back at me. Renesmee sighed
with relief.

“Betsy? Are you alright?” she asked.

“Renesmee....Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.”I replied hastily, hoping to cover up
my dramatic yet embarrassing entrance.

After I had assured her I was fine, I guided her back to her bed where
she fell back against the pillows and breathed hard, as if she had just
been running a long-run race. I also pulled up a chair and dropped
into it. Renesmee gave me a small smile which I just about managed to
return.

“So, you okay now?” I asked her.

“Yeah, I'm...stronger then I was, shall we say.” She replied still smiling.
We sat silently for a few minutes. Both of us not knowing really what to
say. Then Renesmee grimaced in pain as she leaned forward. She
looked at me seriously.

“Betsy. You know this magic thing? Well, you have to be careful. I've
been researching it and it could be quite dangerous.” She said. My
eyes narrowed.

“Research?” I asked and she blushed slightly.

“I've been bored...” she mumbled and I grinned.

“Anyway, Betsy can I ask you about your daydreams?” she asked and I
nodded silently. “Their different aren't they?”

I looked down at my hands which were tightly clenched up into a ball.

“Yes.” I whispered. “Their real, whatever I dream of becomes real.” Re-
nesmee nodded.

“That's how you found Renning isn't it?”

I nodded again.

“Yes.” I said, my voice catching slightly in my throat.

“I thought so. But please remember to be careful, something really bad
could happen because of this.”

“You’re blaming me!” I asked my head snapping up in outrage.

“No, that's not what I'm saying at all, what I mean is that one day you
could dream of something bad happening, not necessarily on purpose
and then it could become reality.” she said, I nodded and realized that
my hands were shaking.

“Just be careful, you don't belong in that world Betsy, you belong in this
world, the normal one.” She said before sighing and closing her eyes
once again. I started nodding to myself as I stood and left the room
and down the bleach-smelling corridor to where Renning and Mum
were sitting. They looked up as I approached and smiled. But as I came
closer their smiles turned to worry and Renning's brow furrowed as I
stopped in front of them and looked from one to the other. I shook my

head and closed my eyes as I grabbed my rucksack, hurried down the
corridor and ran out of the Hospital. I slowed as I turned out of the hos-
pital gates and my speed reduced to walking rate. What had Renes-
mee meant? Was there really danger to this? Of course now! That was
like saying I was dangerous. But I wasn't...was I?

“Where are we going?” said a voice in my ear. I jumped and glared at
Renning who was now grinning widely.

“What do you want?” I snapped.

“I came to see if you were alright actually, you seemed pretty upset
back then in the corridor.”

“Well, thank you but I'm fine.”

“I know what happened when you saw Renesmee.” He said softly. I
pulled up sharply but Renning carried walking until he noticed I wasn't
there and turned and walked back to me, his face controlled and not
showing any sort of emotion.

“H...how do you know?” I stuttered, feeling utterly astounded.

“I'm in your mind remember? As well as reality.” He said and I shrugged.

“Whatever.” Then I turned and carried on walking.

“So, back to the original question, where are we going?”

“I'm going home.”

“We're going home!” I looked towards him confused.

“Wha-” But I was cut off short. With a startled gasp I felt my feet leave
the ground and I gripped tighter onto Renning – frightened to let go in
case I end up somewhere I don't know. Everything was bright – too
bright. It was too neon and colorful for me. I saw a flash of lime green
and then everything was black as I felt my body smack the cold, hard
ground.

7

Gone

I opened my eyes groggily and looked around. I was on the floor. I
rubbed my eyes and used a rough wall to support myself as I pulled
myself up. I wobbled dangerously for a moment then shook my head
and took in my surroundings. It took me a minute to realize where I was.
I was down the alleyway next to my house. But how did I get here in
the first place so quickly? And where was Renning? I slowly walked to-
ward the entrance of the alleyway and frowned. I wasn't near my
house at all. I had just stepped into a huge forest. It was peaceful and
happy. But it wasn't just any peaceful forest. It was my forest! The one in
my daydreams.

Okay, so now I knew where I was I just had to find Renning and find out
how I got here. I scanned the distance for Renning but I couldn't find
him. Damn it, I just want to go home, have a shower, something to eat
and then have a rest. I'm tired, I have a headache and-

“Ta da!” said a voice behind me. I sighed and didn't bother turning as I
spoke.

“Renning can you just take me home please? I'm tired and my head
feels like it's going to explode any minute now.”

Renning chuckled and this infuriated me further.

“You are home.” He said and I frowned and said in exasperation,

“I mean my real home Renning, not the one in my head.”

“But this home is so much nicer then-”

“NO! Renning, take me home, NOW!” I shouted, my patience disap-
pearing rapidly. Renning held his hands up and his eyes widened inno-
cently.

“All right, all right, calm down and come here then.”

I took his arm once again and then we were spinning like we were a
few minutes ago.

When I opened my eyes again I found myself standing in my kitchen in
my house. I let out a long deep breath and went into the living room
where I found Renning sitting comfortably on the maroon colored sofa.
He smiled at me sheepishly and I glared at him.

“Would saying sorry help...much...?”

“It might.”

“Sorry...”

“Whatever Renning.” I said as I stalked out of the room. He followed me
and grabbed my shoulders and spun me around, shaking me gently as
he did.

“You have to listen to me. You don't belong here, you belong in your
world. Where there’s magic and fun and-” I pushed him away angrily.

“I wish people would just shut up about where I belong! First I don't be-
long in my world I belong in this world and now I don't belong in this
world I belong in my world! You’re all confusing the hell out of me.”
And then I shoved him again and ran upstairs. I slammed my bedroom

door shut and locked it. I covered my face in my hands and my hands
became damp from tears. I took long deep breaths to try and control
my breathing, which was rapidly becoming faster. Renning thumped
on my door.

“Come on Betsy! Let me in, I said I was sorry.” He said franticly.

“No.” I choked out through the tears.

“But you know I'm right! You don't belong in this world.” He replied. I
stopped trying to make myself breathe normally and jumped up. I
wrenched the door open, pulling the lock off and grazing my fingers as
I did. I was suddenly so close to Renning that we were practically
touching noses. In his eyes I could see a pale girl with long black tan-
gled hair and eyes which seemed to glint with anger. Renning gasped
and stumbled backwards in shock.

“Betsy...” He whispered.

“Shut up!” I said my voice low and threatening. “Shut up and just leave
me alone!” I was thrown backwards with such force I swear I had left
my insides behind. I hit the wall and slid down it, my head thudded
dizzily. At first I thought it was Renning who had pushed me but as I
stood and leaned against the wall I remembered Renning's shocked
cry of terror as I was thrown backwards. I looked up to find he was
gone, leaving only a large amount of mess to clean up. My heart thud-
ded anxiously as I unsteadily made my way downstairs to see if he had
retreated down there.

I searched through every single place in the whole house that was big
enough for a person to hide in, I found no-one. I gave up searching
and crumpled into a dark corner, covering my face in my hands. He
was gone. He'd left me and wasn't coming back. I felt tears run down
my tired face as the realization hit. I let the grief overwhelm me and I
cut out the whole of the outside world. I had concluded that if Renning
didn't want to see me in reality then he wouldn't want to see me in my
dreams either. I rolled onto my back and groaned. I was alone. Com-
pletely and utterly alone – again.

I seemed to be sitting in a tree I thought as I drowsily opened my eyes.
The familiar smell of soil, plants and wildlife hit me. I steadied myself as I
sat upright. Okay, I was used to waking on the floor but waking in a
tree I was definitely not used too! I stared at the ground and wondered
whether it was low enough for me to jump down or if I would break
both my legs trying. I decided not to risk it and so carefully and slowly
pulled myself to the edge of the branch and climbed down the tree.

My feet hit the ground with a small thud and as I straightened I noticed
something slightly different about my forest. It was too quiet. There were
no birds chirping, no twigs crunching, nothing. Sure it was a little
strange but I thought nothing of it. I looked around, no Renning. To hide
me disappointment I decided to try a bit of magic. I hadn't practiced
in ages. I turned to a small dead tree, closed my eyes and cleared my
mind of all thoughts and stress, held my hands up in front of me and
thought of burning, heat and bright colors. I imagined it was so bright it
was blinding me. I felt my hands heat up and a tingle of hotness and

power ran through my body. Suddenly I felt a force so hard it startled
me, shoot out of my hand and I was flung backwards. I slammed
against a rough tree and the breath rushed out of me. I opened my
eyes dizzily and in front of me was a burnt and very dead. I held up my
hands. The skin had been torn and blood was spilling out of the cuts.
They were covered in grime and blood. I grimaced and dropped my
hands, they had started to sting. My head was starting to thump rather
painfully as I pulled myself up despite the pain in my hands.

“Betsy, Betsy!”

I looked around, trying to find who was calling me but it was quiet and
empty. Suddenly my world started to rock and shake. I gasped and
clung onto the tree. Tears were pouring down my cheeks as the pain
stung my hands again. However the pain that was slowly growing in-
side me was far more intense. My heart was aching, lonely.

My eyelids snapped open and I stared at the ceiling. It was rough and
textured. And was pearly white. A funny thing, confusion and disorien-
tation. You tend to look at things and focus on things that are really
stupid and random – like the ceiling for instance. Though it was very de-
tailed and stunning. I ginned sheepishly, and realized that someone
was holding a wet flannel on my forehead. I reached to pull it off and
instead a hand felt my forehead.

“Oh sweetheart, you’re awake.” I looked up to see my mother stand-
ing next to me. Her forehead was creased with worry.

“Your sister will be back in a minute, she went up to shop for some milk.
That was quite a tumble you had back there.” I frowned and tried to
remember whether at any point of today I had fallen over.

“Um, when?” I mumbled.

“I'm not sure exactly. I found you lying on the living room floor, with your
hands grazed and your head dripping slightly with blood and-” She
looked at me. “You don't remember any of this do you?” I shook my
head slightly. My head ached. I felt the back of my head and felt it
was slightly damp and when I pulled my fingers back they were red
and sticky. My hands were bandaged up and I probably had stitches
in my head. I wiped my fingers on my duvet and immediately wished I
hadn't, now my duvet had red smears all up it. I sighed and from down-
stairs the door slammed closed.

“That'll be your sister.” She wiped my forehead one last time with the
flannel and then left the room. I sunk back further into the pillows and
closed my eyes.

All at once it came back to me. Renning was gone. I had told him to
leave me alone, and so he had. I had fallen over in my daydream and
injured myself in the dream and reality. This was all my fault, not just that
I had hurt myself but because I had made Renning leave too. I closed
my eyes and wished I could disappear forever.

8

Nightmare

The sky was a mixture or pinks, reds and purples. The shadows of the
trees stretched out, long and menacing and leaves rustled and twigs
snapped. The wind howled as I made my way through the darkness. I
had never been here before at night and it seemed scary, different
and eerie. I looked up at the star filled sky and saw the moon, which
glowed in the darkness brightly. My hair whipped around my face as
the wind blew strongly. From somewhere high up in a tree, an owl hoot-
ed and I wrapped my dressing gown tighter around me as I shivered vi-
olently. The darkness wrapped around me, tighter then my dressing
gown, suffocating me. Towards the opposite direction I heard a loud,
rumbling and very frightening roar, Followed after by an ear piercing,
high pitched scream which made my bones rattle and a shiver run up
my spine. I ran. I didn't know where I was running too or why I was run-
ning, all I knew was that I had to get away from here. Now.

I didn't know how long I was running for. But I felt my muscles burning
and my lungs screaming for air so I guessed it was a long time. When I
finally slowed and came to a halt I found that I was on the other side of
the forest. I inhaled slowly and deeply and then exhaled even more
slowly so as to try and calm myself down. As I bent over and tried to
control my breathing I heard another rumbling roar. I felt my breath
catch in my throat as I looked up into the sky. It was black. Pitch black.

My teeth chattered as I made my way towards the roar. Half of me is
telling me to run, to run and never look back. But the other half of me is
screaming at me to keep on going, to do the right thing. I'm so con-
fused and I'm all on my own. Cold tears ran down my ice cold face as I
pushed forward.

“Keep going, you can do it!”

What? Who is that?

“It's your inner-self, well, you’re good side anyway.”

but, that just means I'm talking to myself.

“Yes, I suppose that is right.”

So, I'm mad. Great, what a life I have! First I get freaky dreams which
turn out to be real. Then my best friend leaves me and now I'm going
mad! Fantastic! I thought to myself sarcastically.

“You’re not going mad, and by the way, Renning hasn't left you.”

Um, yes he has!

“No-”

Look! Listen to me and stop butting into all my thoughts, I can't see Ren-
ning around here so obviously, he's not here!

“No, he's just not here right now. But he'll be back.”

“You’re just saying that....Or I'm telling myself that? Well, whatever,
leave me alone!”

“But I'm here to guide you!”

“Well I have news for you, I don't need guiding!” I screamed the last
four words in my head as loud as I could. I paused. I couldn't hear any-
thing, only the sound of the wind blowing around my ears. I was alone
again. Fantastic. I leaned against a tree and held my face in my
hands. Soon enough, my hands became very wet from my tears. I was-
n't too sure but I had a feeling that something quite serious was going
to happen which could possibly change my whole life, and to be hon-
est I didn't like the sound of that very much. Suddenly I had a very un-
easy feeling that I was being watched. I stood up and looked around
carefully. I couldn't see anyone, but that didn't mean that I wasn't be-
ing spied on. I decided it was probably safer to move, so I started
sprinting again in no specific direction.

“Whatever you do, do not stop running!” The small voice in my head
had obviously woken up.

Eurgh, not you again!

“Yes it's me again. Now shut the hell up and listen to me. Do not stop
running,”

Why?

“Just don't! And don't worry. Help is on its way. Just hold tight and stay
safe.”

What? What does that mean? I didn't get an answer. I was on my own.
With some danger that I had absolutely no idea about. And what did it
mean about, 'Help was coming'? Well, I am officially and massively

confused. I realized that I was still running and was about to stop to
catch my breath when I remembered what I had told myself just now.
And so I just sped up.

After about ten very long minutes of solid running I gave up and decid-
ed that I had to stop for a few minutes or I would collapse of exhaus-
tion. I slowed down and came to a halt. I bent over and gasped, trying
to get my breath back. And that was when I heard it. From behind me I
heard leaves crackling and very faint breathing. Something very wet
and gooey dropped onto my back and I leaped away in terror. I
looked up and stopped breathing. Standing in front of me was a mon-
ster. And I don't mean those kind of monsters you get out of fairy tale –
Oh no, I meant a proper massive monster!

It was a sickly green and yellow color and had bumps all over it which
looked suspiciously like warts and boils. Scars and cuts covered most of
its body and it had claws that looked so sharp they could cut a tree
trunk in half with one swipe. Its head was rather small and it looked like
it had no neck. He only had one eye and it was a bright piercing yel-
low. At a guess, I would say it was about 15 feet high and when it
looked down and saw me it mouth stretched into a small, evil smile with
miniature fangs jutting out.

I struggled to make myself breathe again. I had to seriously move oth-
erwise I would be a very yummy snack for this.....thing, but my feet
wouldn’t move. It was as if they were super glued to the floor. I gasped
as the monster bent down and sniffed me. It straightened back up
again and judging by the look on its face I would say that it had gone

into deep thought about whether I was good enough to eat. Some-
thing suddenly grabbed me from behind and I opened my mouth to
scream when it covered my mouth and pulled me slowly backwards
into the forest. The monster was so in deeply in thought that it didn't
even notice me disappear.

I was pushed up against a tree and I hadn't even noticed that I had
shut my eyes when I opened them.

No. I'm imagining this! This is all another dream. It's not real!

“Hello Betsy.” Renning said quietly. No, I wasn't dreaming! My eyes
widened and my face formed the biggest grin I think I have ever smiled
in my life.

“RENNING! Oh my god, your back!” I cried and I threw myself at him
with such force that he stumbled backwards into a tree. He grunted in
pain as his head hit the tree but wrapped his arms around me and did-
n't let go.

“Oh my god, Renning I'm so sorry! I thought you had left. I didn't think
you were ever going to come back.” I whispered onto his shoulder
bone as I soaked his shirt with my tears once again but he didn't seem
to care.

“Of course I wouldn't leave you on purpose.” He told me gently. “I
would never leave you. I only left because you were so angry at me for
a minute that you stopped believing in me. But as soon as I had left
and you realized what had happened you believed in me again. This is
why I am here.”

I sighed.

“And by the way, what happened to your hands and your head?” He
asked as he pulled back and studied me carefully. I paused for a sec-
ond.

“After you left, I came back here and tried to do magic. I tried a fire-
ball again,” I ignored his look of terror as I said this and carried on talk-
ing. “ I managed to cast one....sort of, but it sort of threw me back
against a tree and well, yeah.”

Renning shook his head.

“Whoa, that sounded nasty. Are you alright?” He asked. I nodded. I
looked at Renning.

“What was that? Back there, that....that thing, what was it?” I asked
him. He looked away.

“I'm not entirely sure. What I do know however is that, it came from
your imagination.”

“What!” I asked him baffled.

“Well, you made it up. All your anger and sadness and every other
negative emotion is probably in that monster because that's probably
what it is.”

“What is it?” I asked completely blown away.

“It is all your negative emotions. You've been feeling angry, sad and
very confused and so you poured them all together and made this
monster.”

“Oh.” I looked at the sky. It was filled of bright stars. It looked so pretty.
And then a horrible and ghastly thought occurred to me.

“Renning, my dreams become real.” I whispered in horror. He looked at
me confused.

“Yes?”

“I dreamed that monster! It'll be in reality!” I gasped. Renning's eyes
widened so much they scared me and his face turned from confusion
to pure terror.

“Oh my god!” He said jumping back. “We have to go back and fix
this.”

“How?” I asked him dumbstruck.

“I have no idea at all, but there's always a way. You'll wake up in the
minute and I will be at your side. Don't worry. I'll see you in a minute.”
He pulled me tight for a second and then let me go. I stared at him for
a minute as I watched him slowly fade away.

“Good bye.” I whispered. I reached out to touch him but then he was
gone. But before I could even think about being lonely I felt myself
starting to fade away as well. I closed my eyes and let the darkness
take me.

9

Bad Dream

I woke gasping for breath. I was vaguely aware of someone being by
my bedside but I didn't really take it in properly. When I was able to
breathe more easily I glanced up and saw that it was Renning sitting by
my bed. My breath caught in my throat. His expression was cold and
hard. Something was bad – very bad. I sat up straight. Then I remem-
bered my dream and bit my lip.

“How bad is this?” I asked Renning, worried. He looked at me for a sec-
ond and then sighed.

“Very bad!” He admitted gravely. I nodded, taking this in. We sat in si-
lence for a minute and I glanced out the window to find that it was
pitch black outside. Renning suddenly jumped up.

“We have to go.” He simply said.

“Go? Go where?” I asked as I began to pull myself put of bed.

“We need to find that....monster...thing, and figure out how to destroy
it.” He replied and then went to the window and started unlocking it. I
clutched my head as I stood up. The room spun and I clutched onto
the bedpost for balance.

“Are you ok?” I heard Renning ask.

“Yes.” I gasped. Slowly the room started to stand still, I blinked for a few
seconds and then pulled off my dressing gown and grabbed a jacket
before joining Renning at the window which was now wide open with
cold air blowing freely into the room. I shivered as I zipped up my jack-

et. Luckily I had only shoved on a dressing gown earlier and hadn't
changed into my pajamas. I nodded to Renning and he pulled me
onto his back and the climbed out onto the window sill. I held my
breath as he dropped off the edge. But instead of falling heavily onto
the floor, he glided gracefully down and on to the grass. I slid off his
back and followed Renning out of the back gate quietly so as not to
wake any neighbors, or my family at that!

“Where are we going?” I asked Renning as soon as we were out in the
main street. It seemed a lot more beautiful at night. It was a lot nicer
than daytime.

“We're going to that meadow where we practiced magic that one
time. You remember?” He asked, glancing at me.

“Yeah, yeah I remember. But, why there?” I replied feeling thoroughly
confused.

“Oh, I just have a hunch.”

“Oh great. What happens if you’re wrong?”

“Nothing.”

I looked at him in disbelief.

“Nothing! But, then how will we find the monster?” I asked.

“Well, let’s face it, It's about 15 feet high. It is not going to be that hard
to find!” Renning told me, rolling his eyes. He chuckled quietly as I
grinned to myself. We walked in silence after that until we arrived at
the meadow. Once we were at the edge of the meadow we stopped
and looked up into the sky as if waiting for something to happen. Noth-
ing happened. I laughed nervously and Renning squeezed my hand
comfortingly. I smiled gratefully and took a deep breath. Then slowly

we both walked into the midst of the dark and eerie meadow, and
possibly straight towards our deaths.

10

The Macabre

We stopped when we reached the meadow. We dropped hands and
Renning looked around cautiously. I stood, frozen to the spot. I wished I
had grabbed my scarf and maybe my gloves. I had pulled my hair up
into a scraggly pony tail and the wind blew against my revealed ears
making them turn numb. It seemed awfully quiet. Maybe we had both
gotten this wrong and there was no disgusting, horrible monster at all! I
swallowed and turned to Renning.

“Um, Renning...Maybe, just maybe there is no monster...” I whispered.
My teeth chattered. He shook his head.

“No, there is something here. I can feel it!” Then started walking slowly
away. He sounded so sure. I nodded silently but I wasn't convinced – or
at least, I didn't want to believe it. Either way I didn't want to be left
standing on my own in the darkness so I followed Renning into the mid-
dle of the meadow. He froze and stood very still. The wind blew through
his dark hair, making it blow around wildly. He held his head up to the
sky and breathed in deeply and then let out a long sigh. Renning had
his back to me and he was looking towards the tree's opposite, as if
something were about to emerge from the darkness. I prepared myself
just in case.

I didn't really hear it. I just kind of sensed it. But as soon as I was certain, I
very slowly and warily turned on the spot, my trainers squelching slightly
in the damp grass. Then I was looking at it, whatever it was called. It
was crouched down so that it could look right into my face and I was

staring into its single very yellow and very bright eye. My lungs were
robbed of breath as I felt my eyes open wide in horror. I gasped quietly.
Without turning my back on the monster I tugged at Renning's arm.

“Renning....Renning....Turn around!” I whispered softly trying not to
move my lips.

“What is it?” He asked turning quickly and I heard his take in sharp
breath of shock as he faced the monster. The monster....I think I will call
it the macabre.

“Okay, Betsy, very carefully start backing away.” I felt Renning's hot
breath in my ear, it felt good. I nodded and with Renning gripping onto
my arm tightly I started moving backwards, still facing The Macabre, its
eye was on me. Boring deeply into my skin like fire. My breath came
out shaking and unsettled.

It seemed like a million years but eventually I saw a tree pass me and I
knew we had made it too the street. We had made it out alive.....just
about. We stopped and I closed my eyes and breathed in and out
heavily.

“You okay?” I felt a hand place on my shoulder. I didn't say anything, I
just stood there, trying not to collapse. I felt myself being shaken ever so
gently but I could slowly feel myself going to pieces. There could be a
world mass destruction and it would be all my fault. I took a deep
breath, and wiped my eyes dry and then turned to Renning.

“What are we going to do?” I asked, my voice shaking slightly. He
looked at his feet and didn't say anything. Then he looked at me, his
eyes were black and suddenly I felt myself freeze. For once since I had
known him, I suddenly felt a bit scared of him. His face had turned a

ghostly white and he had dark purple rings under his eyes. His lips had
turned pale blue. Only slightly, I shrank back against the tree and then
scolded myself. Renning wouldn’t hurt me, he was my friend. Renning
took a deep breath.

“We have to send the monster back to your mind,” He said.

“How?”

There was a pause, only a short one, but a pause all the same.

“I don't know.” He admitted. I held my face in my hands and groaned.

“Its fine, we'll find a way.”

“What if we can't stop it?” I whispered, and Renning turned away and
looked up into the sky where a bright and very large full moon sat in
the middle of a group on stars.

“Anything can be stopped, it's just a matter of finding out how.”

11

The plan

We were back in my bedroom. Renning had said that we were per-
fectly safe from the Macabre because as it was thought up in the
meadow (also known as a forest in my dreams) it could not leave the
meadow.

“So why can't we just leave it in the meadow?” I joked, although it did-
n't really work, and all that happened was that Renning gave me a
look as if to say 'don't be so childish'. At this moment Renning was sitting
at my desk and I was curled up in a tight ball on my bed. I had to be
careful to listen out for my parents because due to me tearing the lock
off the door the other day, the door now has no lock and so my par-
ents could walk in at any moment, which would definitely not be a
good idea! As Renning worked on an idea to 'save the world from mass
destruction' I thought back on everything that had happened during
the past few days and suddenly felt very guilty. One of my friends was
lying in hospital terribly ill and I hadn't given her a second thought. But
then again, I suppose I have a good excuse, and anyway I am thinking
about her now aren’t I? I closed my eyes and sighed. Just as I was be-
ginning to feel a bit drowsy Renning cried out in delight.

“That's it!”

“Hrm...?” I grunted, as I tried my hardest to wake up as fast as was pos-
sible for me, which was going to take quite some time.

“I've got it! I know how to send the Macabre away.” He said, glee ring-
ing in every word he said.

“How?” I said in a voice thick with sleep and my eyes blurry.

“Well, it’s so simple really!” He smiled. “You have to imagine it disap-
pearing from the earth and going into your mind or back to wherever it
was before it turned up here”

“Oh....It's always me!” I yawned as I gave him a weak smile. “Okay, so
is that it?”

Renning frowned.

“I suppose it is, although things are not necessarily what they seem.” He
replied.

“Great.”

“Yeah...”

I sat up and reached down to grab my shoes.

“We better be off then.” I said as I tied my laces slower then usual and I
heard Renning grunt quietly and he pushed the window open and
climbed out onto the window sill. I jumped up and zipped up my jacket
before joining Renning on the window sill. He jumped off and I pushed
the window closed, leaving a little gap for me to be able to open it
when I get back. If I get back that is.

12

The better plan then before

My nose was red raw by the time we reached the meadow and I was
shivering slightly, although that might not have been from the cold.
Renning placed a hand on my shoulder and although he didn't say
anything I knew that he was saying don't worry. I gave him a small smile
back.

“W-when should I think it back to my mind?” I asked, not quite sure if I
had asked it right but to be honest I didn't care too much.

“Now.”He replied. I nodded and closed my eyes. I wasn't too sure what
to think but I thought of the Macabre and then made it vanish. I imag-
ined it locked up in my mind, unable to get out, trapped in there forev-
er.

I finally opened my eyes, and I had presumed that after getting rid of
the Macacbre I would feel happier, perhaps like a weight had been
lifted. But I didn't. In fact I felt like nothing at all had happened. I bit my
lip.

“Do you think it worked?” I asked quietly. Renning shook his head.

“I'm not sure.”

I groaned.

“How will we know?” I asked, but sadly, I already knew the answer.

“We will have to go and have a poke around.” He said and I smiled
sadly.

“Yeah, I was afraid of that.”

But as we neared the middle of the meadow our worst fears were con-
firmed. The Macabre was still here and perfectly fine. We hid in the
trees we watched the Macabre roam around in the long grass and
looking quite curious. Renning's eyebrows furrowed with confusion and I
couldn't understand either. Why hadn't it worked? I leaned against a
tree and looked up into the sky. I looked so peaceful up there.

“Perhaps....”

I turned to look at Renning.

“What?” I asked but he shook his head.

“It's stupid, I don’t know why I thought of it.”

“Tell me!” I pressed “I'm sure it's not stupid.”

Renning considered it for a minute and then obviously decided there
was no use saying no as I would get it out of him anyway.

“Perhaps, it's too strong at the moment. It won’t go into your mind be-
cause it's too strong.”

I caught on quickly.

“So, if we weaken it and are very quick we could get it back into my
mind!” I said excitedly.

“Yes!” Renning cried “I'm sure of it!”

Despite everything, I grinned.

“We're so clever.” I smiled

“Oh yes, we most certainly are.” Renning said and patted me on the
shoulder.

“So, to weaken it, I'm guessing we have to use magic?” I asked, raising
one eyebrow as Renning nodded.

“Yes, do you think you'll be okay?” He asked.

“I'll be fine, now let’s go kick some monster butt!” My face broke into a
wide smile as we emerged from the trees to face the Macabre.

13

Pain

I ducked just as the Macabre swung a huge fist in my direction. I wasn't
very experienced in the kind of thing but I had to admit, I was good!
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Renning throw a fireball which was
spitting sparks as it flew through the air and wacked the side of the
Macabre and it stumbled back with a bewildered expression which
would have been quite funny if it wasn't a world killing monster. It let
out a mind- blowing roar of pain and I clasped my ears. But it was obvi-
ous that the fire had weakened it as on the Macabres hip the skin was
starting to peel away and blacken as if it had been melted like wax. I
turned to the trees and held out my hands, palms facing the trees and
pulled at the air. One of the trees tore away from its roots and hung
there in mid air. I just stood there in surprise for a minute, I didn't think I
would actually be able to do that. Then I pulled the tree around and
pushed at the air. The tree flew through the air and collided with the
Macabres face, which howled out in terror. While at the same time
Renning had just thrown another fireball into in its eye and The
Macabre clutched it's face in pain. I grinned. It was all going so well, I
didn't even see it coming. But Renning could dodge put of the way The
Macabre shot out a hand and swiped it at him and Renning cried out
in pain and I noticed blood starting to seep through his shirt. I cried out
in terror but before I could get to him The Macabre threw an arm back
and knocked me backwards into the trees. I sat up just in time to see a
boil on the Macabre bursting and a deep purple liquid spurting out
and covering Renning from top to bottom. He screamed out in pain
and I saw him collapse in a heap into the grass.

“No!” I yelled. I got to my feet shakily. I didn't feel much up to defeating
a monster at the moment but I know that if I didn't do anything soon it
would just regain its strength. So, I held my head up high and stormed
back out into the meadow. The Macabre had its back to me.

“Oi!” I shouted. My voice trembled slightly. “Yes you, turn round you
great ugly thing!” The Macabre slowly turned and stared at me, al-
though I knew he couldn't see as Renning had burnt his eye and blind-
ed him.

“So, It's just us two now, huh?” I called, and when he showed no signs
that he had heard I nodded. “Right. Well, you deserve everything you
get!”

I stepped back slowly and thought for a minute. Water wasn't going to
do anything to hurt it as it would only help heal the burns. I could try
throwing some trees at him again but the last one I threw didn't really
do anything. Then I realized. I had to use fire to hurt it. I groaned softly,
the one bit on magic I couldn't particularly do or like and I had to use it.
I swallowed down bile that had rose in my throat and stepped for-
wards.

“Come on then.” I called and then grinned. “If you think you can han-
dle me!” Then I closed my eyes quickly and thought of the hotness, and
the bright colors but for some reason I found myself thinking about all
the times I'd been upset or depressed, I thought of Renesmee in hospi-
tal, I thought about when Renning had disappeared and I remem-
bered Renning collapsing in a heap in the grass. A sharp pain ran
through my stomach and I gasped in pain. My legs buckled as my hair
whipped around my face and wind that hadn't been there a minute
ago bit at my face, making me cry. But I held on and I could feel a hot
feeling building up inside of me. My eyes screwed shut as I cried out
and cold tears ran down my sweaty face. Grass around my shook and

flew around violently and leaves were being carried through the air.
My brain started to thump and my fingers tingled. My whole body was
burning, like it was on fire. I grunted and suddenly I felt it. I felt myself
break. My eyes flew opened as I screamed and snapped my hands
out without thinking. Flames shot out of my hands like I had never seen
before. This wasn't a fireball I had conjured. It was just.....fire! It hit the
Macabre all over and it screamed. It didn't roar like before, it was a
proper high pitched scream that rang through my head like bells and
made me grimace. The Macabre collapsed and I knew it was time. I
closed my eyes again and relaxed slightly. I imagined the Macabre go-
ing into my mind again, being locked up there and never being able
to get out again. Freezing cold tears ran down my burning face as I
imagined everything going back to normal, wishing everything to go
back to normal again.

14

The Final Chapter

I just sat there, on the cold, damp grass shivering and crying. Vaguely I
felt the odd spot of rain drop on the back of my neck and roll down my
back making me shiver even harder. I finally came to my senses and
opened my eyes. It was perfectly quiet now. Slowly I got to my feet
and I looked around cautiously, it was deserted. The wind blew fero-
ciously at the plants and trees so hard I began to feel rather sorry for
them. Then something caught my eye on the other side of the mead-
ow. I ran over, breath catching in my throat as I felt the rain grown
stronger. I dropped to my knees and rolled Renning over onto his back.
Blood had soaked his shirt and the pus from the Macabre seemed to
have burnt him all over as if it were fire and he were a piece of paper.
But his eyes were half open and although a little ragged he was
breathing. He was alive, just about.

“Renning...” I choked out and he tried to open his eyes a bit more. He
smiled a little.

“Betsy, you have to let go now.” He said so quietly I had to lean in to
hear him “You have to let go of me. I've done my time and now.” He
smiled sadly and sighed. “Well, now my time is up. But I can only go if
you let go of me.”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I refused to believe to what I was
hearing.

“No! No!” I said, my voice sounding desperate. “No, I am not going to
let go of you. I'm going to help you a-and you'll get better and...” My
voice trailed off towards the end just as it starting breaking in funny

places. But although I knew he was right I couldn't do it. I just couldn't
let him go, I didn't know how to.

“Please Betsy. It hurts.” He whimpered. I let out all the breath that had
been caught in my throat and took Renning into my arms. I didn't care
that he was covered in green pus and blood, I held him tight and I
cried my heart out. I felt him go limp in my arms and I knew I had let
him go.

“No...” I whispered. I laid him gently on the grass. He looked so peace-
ful. The wind became stronger and my hair was dripping wet from the
rain.

“NO!” I screamed. I felt a piece of me fall away as I held Renning so
tightly, as if he may disappear. I screamed and cried and I didn't care
what I looked like or if anyone looked at me. All I cared about was that
I had just lost my best friend and there was nothing I could do to help
him. As of then I was not Betsy Moon. I was no-one. Betsy Moon had
died along with Renning and I couldn't save her either. My old life was
over and a new one was beginning. But now that my dreams were re-
ality, who could I trust?

THE END!

My book! Book 1 of 5 from the series D.R.E.A.M. Read, enjoy and then email me with comments!

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Similaire à My book! Book 1 of 5 from the series D.R.E.A.M. Read, enjoy and then email me with comments!

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My book! Book 1 of 5 from the series D.R.E.A.M. Read, enjoy and then email me with comments!