SCHOOL IS UNBEARABLE

Bethany moaned and slammed her locker shut. Any minute now the school bell will ring to announce the start of the first class of the day. She rubbed her eyes, everything seemed a bit fuzzy probably because of her lack of sleep these past few nights and many nights before. She had tried unlocking her powers many times for the past week unsuccessfully and worst of all she couldn't sleep at night anymore because every time she closed her eyes, she found herself in the sea of the dead. Though she knew it was her imagination, it didn't stop her from getting scared. She had begun to walk to school in order to avoid riding with her dad and she had also become too tired to pay attention to how she looked. Today she hadn't bothered brushing her hair, she just put it up in a ponytail and threw on a T-shirt, shorts and a pair of sneakers. No make-up and no jewelries, just her plain self.

Her schoolmates still made fun of her occasionally and she was still at the bottom of the social ladder so that also meant that she got bullied once in a while but at least it wasn't as bad as when this all started. She had stood there for a while when she noticed Paige and Joey walking towards.

"Hi." Waved Paige awkwardly. "How've you been?"

"Well, as you should already know, I'M NOT FINE." Bethany hissed. "I've been getting bullied these past few days and I really needed my best friend by my side but you were nowhere to be found. The only people who would talk to me are Louise and Shannon. And YOU!" Bethany turned her attention to Joey. "You were supposed to be my boyfriend, my knight in shining armor but suddenly you're a wizard and you vanish with no way of being found. You two abandoned me, some boyfriend and best friend you are."

Paige let out a whimper at the intensity of her voice and Joey wrapped a calming hand around her shoulder. "Don't listen to her Paige, you're not a bad person." He soothed. Paige nodded slowly as Joey wiped a tear that had escaped from her eye and pulled her into a hug. Bethany blinked twice unable to believe what was playing out in front of her. "Okay... what is going on?" Said Bethany. Paige sniffed and walked up to Bethany. She gently took hold of both of her hands and smiled sweetly to her.

"Bethany, I've been keeping this a secret from you for a while now and this may not be the best time to tell you this but I just can't keep this a secret from you anymore." Paige dropped her hands and walked over to Joey, taking his hand instead. "Joey and I really like each other, we have a lot in common and we enjoy spending time with each other. So Last night, Joey asked me to be his girlfriend and I said, yes."

SILENCE

Bethany stared at her best friend and boyfriend her eyes wide with shock, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. The room was spinning and it took all her willpower not to fall on the floor and pass out. Were these two for real?

"You can't seriously be telling me this." She glared at Joey. "You seriously ask another girl, not just another girl, MY BESTFRIEND, to be your girlfriend while you're still dating me and you expect me to be okay."

She was speaking so loudly that everyone else in the hallway had paused their own conversations and were now listening to theirs. Joey stepped protectively in front of Paige who huddled behind him. "That's actually why we came to talk to you this morning." He said. "I've wanted to dump you for a long time now but didn't because you were the most popular girl in school and I didn't want to ruin my social status. But since you're no longer popular, this makes this a lot easier."

Bethany felt like she had been stabbed with a hot knife. Were Joey and Paige really doing this to her? Tears welled up in her eyes. "So...are you breaking up with me because you love Paige more or because I'm no longer popular?" She could barely choke out the words because she was on the verge of a breakdown. Joey shrugged. "Both. Come on Paige, let's go."

Paige gave Bethany a look of sympathy as she asked. "I guess this means we aren't friends anymore, huh?"

Bethany didn't reply. She just scowled at her and marched off to the female toilet to have a good cry. By the time the lunch bell rang the news about her getting dumped had spread round the school like wildfire and she was once again the center of attention and bullying.

By the end of the day, Bethany was the most miserable she had ever been in her entire life. She had never really been bullied before and didn't really know how to deal with the pain, plus she had no one to talk to so she was all alone. When she arrived home and crashed into her bed it was only to cry some more. Serenity, Harp and Flare felt bad as they watched the poor teenager wail for one whole hour before dozing off out of exhaustion. She was awoken by the maid who came to announce that it was time for dinner. Bethany requested that her food be brought up, and she ate in complete silence.

Crunch! Munch! Chew!

Flare rubbed her hand uncomfortably. "Who else feels a bit awkward with the aura in this room?" She asked. Her co-workers raised their hands. "We need to cheer her up." Added Harp. "I'd rather see a bossy Bethany than a depressed Bethany. It's unsettling."

Serenity nodded in agreement. "And I know just what will cheer her up." She flew over to Bethany and sat by her side. "Beth dear. I know school these past few days have been a bit difficult and there's probably nothing I can do to cheer you up but... I want to show you something cool."

Bethany's head perked up. "What is it?" She asked curiously. Serenity stretched out her hand in the direction of Bethany's dressing table and they all watched as Bethany's hairbrush elevated into the air and flew left and right following the gestures Serenity made with her hands. After a few seconds the brush slowly descended back on the dressing table as Serenity lowered her hands. She turned to Bethany with a smile. "Do you know you can do that too?"

Bethany blinked. "I can!?"

"Hmmm-mmm" Nodded Serenity. "Another power the stone of spirits possesses is the ability to transfer the magical abilities of any spirit to the bearer of the stone. So all I have to do is touch the stone and you'll have telekinesis as well."

Serenity reached out to touch the stone which Bethany had turned into a necklace that was now hanging on her neck. The minute she placed her hand on it, the stone began to glow. "Go ahead. Focus on the object you want to move and try moving it with your mind." She instructed. Bethany took one quick glance around her room and chose one of her pillows. She focused her attention on it and gasped as it rose into the air. She stretched out her arm and watched in awe as it flew slowly into her open hand. A grin spread across all three guides faces as they watched her float object after object all over the room. "Good. That should get her mind off things for a while." Smiled Flare.

🌚🌚🌚🌚

Bethany spent most of her time in school avoiding as many bullies as she could and lunch breaks crying as much as she could. Her after school hours were spent trying to unlock her powers to no avail and her nights were long and sleepless traumatized by the things she saw in the sea of the dead. Drake called once in a while to ask about her training but never really asked her about anything else making her doubt if he really cared about her. She was alone and she hated it. Her parents were too busy with work and didn't really notice her emotional turmoil but it didn't matter because she didn't really feel like she could talk to them about anything.

One of those days she happened to be in the bathroom when she overheard some of the girls from her class whispering from outside her stall.

"I can't believe that bitch used to be queen of the school."

"I can't believe I used to try so hard to be friends with her."

"I can't believe that I used to think she was better than me."

"Euw! Gross!"

"Girls you really shouldn't compare yourself to someone like Bethany she's a fake and a cheat." She didn't need to see the face to tell that it was Paige speaking. She could recognize that girl's voice anywhere. "Do you know that when she was dating Joey she flirted with Drake?" Paige gossiped.

"What!"

"No way!"

"When poor Joey found out he was so heartbroken he came to me and that's how we got to know each other and fall in love." Paige went on.

"Awn!"

"Bethany didn't know Joey had found out and she probably wouldn't have cared if she had known. She's been looking for a reason to break up with him for a long time." Paige lied. "So she could focus on flirting with Drake. Worst part was, Drake seemed to be falling for her charms."

"What!" Bethany mouthed at the exact same time the girls outside her stall chorused. "What?!"

"I think they even slept with each other but don't tell anyone else this. She doesn't want anyone finding out."

It took all of Bethany's willpower to restrain herself from jumping out of her stall and beating the heck out of Paige. She couldn't believe the girl she had once called her best friend was ruining the little reputation she had left in this school.

"I can't believe this."

"How disgusting."

Bethany waited till the girls had all left before stepping out of her stall. The following day when she arrived in school she noticed the dirty looks everyone was giving her and when she arrived at her locker she realized why. Written on her locker in pink what looked like lip-gloss were the words, Cheater and Slut boldly. Everyone was whispering and some even eyed her with disgust as they walked past. She didn't bother grabbing her textbook but ducked towards class instead.

In class Miss Green quirked an eyebrow as she noticed that everyone except Bethany had avoided sitting in the front row. "Is there a new sitting arrangement that I wasn't made aware of." She asked. Margo raised her hand. "Yes Margo." Miss Green permitted her. Margo stood up proudly. "Miss Green the rest of the class and I are just worried about our safety since even though Bethany is exhibiting signs of mental instability she's still allowed to attend classes. We all watch movies. First she's talking to herself, the next she's carrying a chainsaw. We just want to be safe that's all."

Miss Green frowned with suspicion. "I can assure you Margo that Bethany is just fine and we have the medical reports to prove it." She said but Margo argued further. "With all due respect Miss Green, we all saw her loose it in class that day and we all know that medical reports can sometimes be inaccurate. We'd rather not take our chances."

Miss Green scanned the class with her eyes and seeing that her students were adamant, sighed and shook her head. "Fine then. Let's begin today's lesson." She said turning to the board. Bethany felt like crying but there was no way she was giving Margo that satisfaction. Instead she'd play it tough until she got home and could cry to hearts content without feeling embarrassed. She really hoped that Sheriff Cole was having a much easier time than she was.

🌚🌚🌚🌚

Cole stared at his watch, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one. All officers took their stances with their tranquilizers aimed at the house but there was nothing. Just Silence. Cole's eyebrows pulled into a frown of confusion. They waited and waited yet nothing. That's strange, they should be out by now.

There was a loud shriek, only it didn't come from the cabin, it came from somewhere within the woods. Officers whirled around trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from but everything had gone silent again. A black shadow zipped through the trees and Cole jumped around but saw nothing. There were several other shrieks from within the woods surrounding them. "Sheriff what's going on?" Asked Charlie. Cole peered intently into the darkness trying to see if he could distinguish anything but it was too dark. "I don't know." He replied. "But I don't like it."

"Aaarrghh" One of the officers yelled as he was suddenly dragged into the darkness. It had happened so fast that none of them had the time to react. "What was that?" Came a panicked voice. "Something just pulled Peterson away." Reported another voice. Another officer disappeared and so did another. "It's an AMBUSH!" Yelled Jim as all the officers immediately began firing their tranquilizers into the darkness. Another officer was dragged into the darkness.

"They got Mitchens." Reported Jim. "Get out your guns and fire." Ordered Cole. The officers switched to their shotguns and the sound of gunshots rang into the night sky. They fired recklessly into the woods as they could not see the creatures and aim properly. The Nightprowlers rose into the sky with bloodcurdling shrieks with the officers still firing at them. A few dropped to the ground while the rest fled into the cabin.

Cole panted and sweat poured down his face. His officers ran from place to place checking on each other and going in search for those who had gone missing. Drake threw his shotgun to the ground and walked up to Cole. "You know what this means right?" He asked calmly handing the older man a handkerchief. Cole stared up at him and nodded slowly. "They know we're unto them, by tomorrow we'll probably have a full-scale attack."

🌚🌚🌚🌚

Bethany could feel herself being forcefully pulled into darkness once again. Cold hands grappled at her legs, waist, arm, neck and face... "Stop!"

In a split second, she found herself on her bathroom floor shivering from cold and fear. She broke into tears and hugged her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth. "I can't do this anymore. I can't, I just can't." She sobbed.

A few minutes later, she had washed up, refreshed and was ready for school although she was dreading attending. "Why not just pretend to be ill. I'm sure your dad will let you stay home." Suggested Flare. Bethany scoffed. "My dad wouldn't risk getting my mom upset and my mom would be super mad if she found out that I stayed home from school because I was sick. My mom only considers an illness serious if you're bedridden. She says a small cold shouldn't come in the way of a good education."

"Your mom hasn't even been home these past few weeks." Noted Harp. "Business trip or whatever." Said Bethany. "It doesn't matter. My dad still calls her to get her permission before doing some things."

"I think you should go to school, walk up to those bullies and give them a piece of your mind." Said Serenity. "It's not that easy, trust me." Laughed Bethany. She was thankful she still had these spirits guides. Even though no one could see them but her, they still made great company and did a good job getting her mind off her troubles in school. There was a flash of light causing her to jump and Cole and Drake stood in her bedroom.

"Aarrghh!" She squealed frightened at first but hissed when she saw it was just Cole and Drake. "Oh! It's you two. Ever heard of a door and knocking? You can't just teleport into a girl's room like that. What if I was naked?"

"We both wouldn't be interested so don't worry." Drake stated in such a plain way that Bethany would have pounced on him if the spirit guides hadn't used telekinesis to hold her back. "We have a problem." Said Cole catching her attention. "Last night we got ambushed by those things and my men had to shoot at them. You know what this means don't you?"

Bethany nodded. "They know we're now a threat and they'll try to attack us." She replied. "By tonight we might be looking at a full-scale invasion." Said Cole. "So please tell me you know how to do that raising thingy now kid."

Bethany bit her lip nervously and fiddled with her hair. "Well..?" Cole enquired further. Bethany shook her head and Cole looked aghast. "No! No?! Kid you had two whole weeks and a couple of more days." His voice had raised a pitch and he was obviously angry. "How could you not know how to raise the dead? My men and I go out into the woods, every night, risking our lives to give you more time to learn and you still don't know how to use your powers. Then what were you busy doing because you sure don't have anything else to do. All you do is go to school, come home, eat and study. You don't even have any chores to do, you have servants to do it for you. All I asked is that you learn to raise the dead, is that too much work for you?"

He was now so close and yelling so loudly that tears had gathered in her eyelids. "Do you even hear yourself? You say it like anyone can raise the dead?!" She fired at him. "They can when they have your powers." He fired back even louder than before. Drake stepped between them. "That's enough!" He said firmly. "Cole if one of the staff in the house hears us, they'll come and check on Bethany and then we'll have to explain how we got into the room without being seen. Both of you keep your voices down."

Bethany sucked in a deep breath. "Of course because I'm a teenager I have nothing to worry about. That's what all adults think." Her lips trembled as she spoke. "Well I'll have you know that in the past three weeks, my best friend went missing, I got labelled the school's resident psycho because I was talking to three ghosts that no one else but me can see, found out that I was a key to ending some supernatural war and I couldn't walk out of it without something really bad happening, got dumped by my boyfriend who is now dating my backstabbing ex-best friend and I'm getting bullied by everyone, including people who a couple of weeks ago, wouldn't have dared walk next to me. Then I get home and instead of relaxing and forgetting how shitty my entire day was, I'm busy trying to unlock my powers and the only way I can do that is by swimming in a sea full of human body parts and dead people who keep trying to kill me. So I ask you Sheriff Bobby Cole, Is that too much work for me?"

Cole didn't know what to say. He hadn't expected that the seventeen year old had been going through so much in the past few weeks, he felt sorry for her but didn't know how to comfort her. "I haven't slept at all for the past week because I keep getting nightmares." By now Bethany was sobbing. "I'm tired, I'm depressed and I just wish someone would put me out of my misery."

She fell to the floor crying and hiccupping uncontrollably. Cole opened his mouth but not knowing what to say shut it again. He had clearly overreacted and thoughtlessly assumed she was lazying about. He hadn't taken into consideration the fact that she probably had other things to worry about other than normal day to day activities. Drake let out an exasperated sigh. "What now?" He asked Cole. Cole massaged his forehead as he spoke. "Well I already have my men evacuating the town, everyone has to be out before sunset. We'll fight off as many of those things as we can, Drake you're going to have to rescue those girls and seal the rip all by yourself. Think you can manage that?" He asked and Drake nodded. "Sure, it's not like we have a better option." He sighed. Cole turned to Bethany. "I'm sorry Beth. I didn't know you were going through so much, I shouldn't have been so hard on you." He apologized.

Bethany stared away without any reply. Cole let out a heavy breath and took hold of Drake's hand. "Let's go." In a flash of light they were both gone and she was once again, alone with the spirit guides. She breathed out and collapsed on her bed.

🌚🌚🌚🌚

The entire town had fallen into chaos people scampered here and there trying to gather as much as they could carry out of town with, sirens blew loudly down the streets from the police vehicles and a huge traffic jam was now blocking out the streets caused by two impatient drivers running into each other. The female figure ran up the woods as fast as she could and hurried into the cabin. As if he already knew she was coming, Darka was already on the mirror.

"Tell me it's not true. You're not really attacking this town are you?" She asked. Darka didn't reply. "You and my dad had a deal. You weren't supposed to wipe out this town, your Nightprowlers were supposed to feed on some here and satisfy themselves somewhere else." She yelled. "And we were honoring that agreement till your Sheriff started tranquilizing my Nightprowlers every night. They haven't eaten and they're starving." Said Darka angrily. "Last night, he actually dared kill not one, not two but four of them and this made them very mad. Now they want to avenge the deaths of their brothers and also feed."

The female gasped. "But sir if they come out with that intent then they'll just feed off every human being that is out there, THE DESCENDENTS INCLUDED?!"

"Then I suggest you find a way to protect them because if even one of them are harmed by my Nightprowlers, you and your father will be severely punished." There was a crack of thunder in the sky as he uttered the last word. The female let out a moan and stomped out of the cabin.

🌚🌚🌚🌚

HONK! HONK!

Bethany rolled her eyes and placed her hands over her ear as her dad began yelling at a certain driver. People were doing a lot of yelling right now because their reckless driving had led to them hitting each other's vehicles and blocking each other's way. One of the men got down from his car and walked up to a woman's car yelling at her through her half-open window. Bethany shook her head. At this rate, no one was going to be out of this place before sunset.

An officer soon appeared and began addressing the situation. "Finally." Bethany muttered. "Don't worry, you'll be fine sweetie." Her dad cooed from the driver's seat. "I'm thankful that your mom is in New York and not here. At least I don't have to worry about her too."

Bethany rested her head on the windowpane and looked outside then her head pulled back with shock. The car next to her's was Mrs. Holfman's and in the passenger's seat talking into her phone and laughing was Paige. Bethany glowered at her, her aunt who sat in the front seat looked pale and seriously frightened, she on the other hand did not seem bothered.

Molly is so different from Paige. Molly wouldn't have agreed to date Joey as long as he was still dating her, Molly wouldn't spread fake rumors about her, Molly would have stuck by her even though she was no longer popular, between she and Paige, Molly was the real friend. Molly was the girl who had knelt and pleaded with her parents to not punish her when she had snuck out to Billy King's party and had gotten caught. Molly was the girl who when she had fallen terribly sick when they had a slumber party in her family's old cabin had run under the pouring rain to go get help since they couldn't get any cell service to call for help. And even though she had fallen sick the very next day she still stayed by Bethany's bedside till she recovered. And that same Molly, who had done so much for her, was trapped somewhere in another realm in need of her help and she was fleeing... from town!?

Bethany clenched her hands into fists. What am I doing? She unlocked the car door startling her father. "Bethany, what are you..." She wasn't listening, she slammed the door shut and made a dash down the road. Malcolm's eyes widened and he immediately jumped down from the car. "Bethany! Come back it's not safe?!" He yelled. She ignored him. Paige had betrayed her and showed that she wasn't someone she could count on. She wasn't going to do the same to Molly.

It took a while for her to reach the tall iron gates that led into the grounds of her home. Luckily they were half open and she entered easily, running up the driveway. The front doors were also unlocked so she was soon up the stairs to her bedroom. The house echoed as her footsteps hit the ground and there didn't seem to be anyone left in the building. Safely in her bedroom, she shut the door and called out. "Serenity, Flare, Harp, come to me."

The spirit guides appeared in front of her. "How can we be of service?" Asked Harp. "I want to try the unlocking again." Said Bethany. All three spirit guides beamed to each other and swiftly flew into her bathroom. Once everything was set up, Bethany began hurriedly taking off her clothes. "We don't have much time, the sun is beginning to set." Flare informed her with a worried look on her face. "The Nightprowlers are going to be out earlier than usual tonight."

Bethany lips quirked into a smile. "Don't worry, I won't take long." She got into the bathtub and sunk into the water. The spirit guides began their usual chant and once again, she felt like she was descending. The minute she felt the usual hardness underneath, her eyes flew open and she jumped to her feet. She raced through the trees and arrived at the sea of the dead. She dived straight in.

As she swam she thought of all the things she had been through in the past two weeks, the bullying, the mockery, the betrayal, the hurt, the depression, the fear, she was so over it. She was done with all the crying, all the feeling weak, all the fear, she put herself there. She wasn't crazy and yet she let some nobody called Margo bully her with something that wasn't true, Joey was the jerk who cheated on her and broke up with her because she was no longer popular. And PAIGE! She was nothing but a horrible person inside and out. Her heart burned first with pain but was quickly replaced by anger. Never again would she be so weak and so scared that she would not only let other people walk over her but abandon those who really cared about her, never again.

The zombie lady and a few of her companions began swimming towards her and she shot them such a dirty look that they immediately backed off. As she swam more and more of them kept coming and immediately swimming away when they saw how angry she was. Once in a while an intestine or a kidney would slap into her face but she would fling it out of her way furiously. Finally she saw it, the bright ball of light that she had tried so hard these past few days to get to. It just sat there in the center of the water glowing, with a swarm of zombies surrounding it. She frowned. Surprisingly, as she swam towards the light the zombies cleared a path for her, seemed like as long as she didn't exhibit any signs of fear, they were harmless. This actually appeared to be the easiest part of the whole unlocking process. She reached the ball of light no problem and thinking of her friend, she touched it.