Amanda ran. Her feet pounded on the dirt in rhythm with the furious beating of her heart. Her chest burned like a thousand brush fires raging in her lungs. Branches and leaves whipped past her face, some coming close enough to slash at her face like thin knives. Her leg muscles seized up and wailed in protest at every step. Boy, she was out of shape. Less than a month after Volleyball season and she couldn’t run a quarter of a mile without choking.

Still, she had to keep running. She felt him behind her, gaining speed. How could he be so fast?

Amanda changed directions as quickly as her mortal feet would allow. But still, she felt him behind her. No, now he was almost right beside her…and to the left. Running wasn’t going to work. Amanda stopped and turned to face the direction that she sensed him coming from…

Only to realize that she’d been tricked.

Almost as soon as she’d stopped, Kaine’s glimmering essence seemed to come from everywhere at once. Amanda didn’t have enough time to turn around, so instead she dropped to one knee. Sure enough, Kaine’s foot came sailing through the space where her head had been a second before. Amanda didn’t even pause to consider; she rolled to her feet and bolted through the trees again.

She felt Kaine’s frustration, like the simmering of water over fire. To hell with him…Amanda thought. She didn’t care how frustrated he got with her for avoiding using the Crystal Sword. He was in no position to criticize her; he had no idea what it was like.

At this point, Amanda wasn’t exactly sure what it was like. She didn’t feel good, that was for sure. She had a very bad feeling about trying to fight with the sword. How could you fight if a thousand voices screamed at you all at once? And the most disturbing thing wasn’t the voices that she could hear, but rather the one that remained silent…until Amanda let her guard down. That one came to her even while she slept.

It would have been easy to say it was all a dream. Amanda could have written it off as nerves and bullshit and gone back to sleep under the effects of Tylenol and Nyquil that she didn’t really need…. But even in a drugged sleep, she could feel a cold, long-fingered hand brush at her face very now and then. But when Amanda opened her eyes, nothing was there. Nothing she could see, anyway.

All while she had been musing about this, she forgot to pay attention to where she had been going on ran right into the think trunk of a tree. Before she even had time to curse, much less fall down, Kaine was behind her. He seized her hair by the scalp and rammed her head back into the tree’s trunk. Amanda grunted with pain and felt blood well up on her forehead where the skin had been scraped. Mercifully, her nose had avoided damage, but it still hurt!

She used her leg to kick backwards at where Kaine’s crotch should have been, and it would’ve been there, if he hadn’t jumped up at the last second. Amanda stepped back from the tree trunk, which proved to be a mistake, as Kaine came down from his jump and planted his foot right in her chest. Amanda hit the ground hard and had just a second to marvel at how heavy Kaine was before the air was knocked from her lungs as Kaine spun around, digging his heel into her chest farther and coming down to crouch entirely on her rib cage. Kaine glared down at her, his face like living thunder. Pissed living thunder.

“Pathetic,” he snarled.

Amanda grunted with pain and frustration. It wasn’t fair! He had been doing this for how long? He was the supernatural being, not her. Why did he expect so much?

Amanda hiked her legs up in the air and as fast as she could. She slammed her knees back towards her chin, catching Kaine in the lower back. The blow was just powerful enough to knock him off balance for a second, and that was all she needed. Amanda continued to bring her legs back, somersaulting backwards over Kaine, pushing him completely off of her torso. She slammed her knee into his groin as she completed her flip and landed on her stomach. Amanda gained her feet, and prepared to bolt again.

“Run,” Kaine said. It was only a strained whisper, but Amanda caught the unspoken mocking in his voice.

She stopped dead in her tracks. Kaine gained his feet. Amanda faced him. She was uncertain, but Kaine was unrelenting. Amanda brought her hands out in front of her; Kaine raised one hand to the sky. As soon as the sword’s cool weight and solid grip was in her hand and the voices filled her head again, Amanda lunged at Kaine. Kaine brought down his newly acquired staff to meet the onslaught. The force of the impact sent a jolt into Amanda’s bones. She whipped the long blade around, going for his shoulder. Left right, up and down.

“Keep swinging like that, and you’ll wear out before you even get a hit in,” Kaine said, without a hint of effort in his voice.

Amanda swung high in response. Kaine ducked and swept his staff across Amanda’s back, laying her flat on her face. Amanda pushed her elbows beneath her and began to get up. She caught sight of her black sleeves.

“No,” she growled. “No, no, no, no! I don’t want this!”

“What?” Kaine asked, getting annoyed.

“I don’t want this,” Amanda said, plucking at the black vest. “I don’t want to change clothes.”

“Why is it such an issue?” Kaine asked. “It’s not like anyone watches you change. It happens too quickly. All you see is a flash of light and viola, now you see her, now you do, all dressed in black, like a little neo-Goth.”

Amanda just shook her head. If felt wrong. She couldn’t explain why, it just did.

“Listen,” Kaine said, shifting his weight onto his staff. Amanda suddenly thought that he looked much older than she thought of him. “I know you’re going through some difficult changes. No, it’s not as simple as changing clothes and swinging a sword. You are…”

“Becoming something else,” Amanda finished for him. She scowled and dropped the sword to the ground.

“Nothing can change who you are, Amanda,” Kaine said, patiently, though he had just about had it with her mood swings. “You know that. But when you pick up that sword, you’re taking on a responsibility. No, you don’t have to be anything that you’re not, but you must do what you can do when you can. That is the responsibility of having a talent like this.”

“A talent?” Amanda asked, incredulous. “Kaine, I’ve got the ability to kill people with this thing. And I don’t know what kind of a person this Astrea was, but I’m not cool with the idea of being able suck the souls out of the people around me like some kind of leech. I’m not exactly enthusiastic about being able to read minds, either. I mean do you know what some of the freaks I hang out with are thinking? It’s enough to make your hair turn white.

“No pun intended,” Amanda added, looking at Kaine’s hair.

“I knew Astrea, and believe me, you are not Astrea,” Kaine said, firmly.

Amanda squeezed her eyes shut. She really hated confiding in Kaine, but she had to tell someone what was happening to her. Otherwise, she might go mad. “I can feel her, Kaine. She’s inside me, now. Behind my eyes, in my head….”

“What does she want,” Kaine asked, taking Amanda very seriously.

“I don’t know,” Amanda answered, relieved that he didn’t think she was crazy. Not that opinion of an immortal mattered. “I don’t even think she knows, but she’s decided the only way to settle it is killing. She’s cursed and she cursed me, and now I can’t rest until she does.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Kaine advised simply.

“She doesn’t talk,” Amanda lied. She didn’t want Kaine or anybody to know the exact truth. She didn’t want them to know what was going on inside the deepest recesses of her mind, in the places she never dared visit even in the dark of the night. But Astrea knew, somehow.

Amanda glanced at the sword on the ground. There was more to this than just her sanity. Her internal conflict had more to do with her safety and the safety of those around her. “I don’t see how I can fight with her stuff and…use her and not still be who I am. I don’t even know who I am yet; I’m only fifteen!”

“Think of it as a trainer personality,” Kaine said, shifting his weight back off of his staff. The pain in his groin had eased somewhat and he was now ready to make Amanda pay for that insult. Amanda looked at him curiously.

“Until you find out who you are, you can use Astrea’s personality to show you what not to do,” Kaine said. “Like a compass.”

“Like a training bra…restrictive and pointless,” Amanda muttered. But he had a point. She could only as far as she allowed herself and no long-dead immortal could change that, just make it hell along the way. And as soon as Lord Robert was dead, Amanda could seal this nonsense away inside her heart forever and never have to think about Astrea again. But until that day, Amanda would just have to be a little stronger and have a little less sleep at night.

So, with a great resolve born of those resigned to duty and nothing else, she bent over and hefted the sword once more. “Ready to try this again?”

“How about this one?”

“Nah…I think this is better.”

“You want to fight in that thing?”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing, unless you want to blind the enemy with the size of your butt.”

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“I resent that comment!”

“I second it,” Kaine said, in his calm, monotones way.

“Who asked you?” Crystal yelled, throwing the green fabric to the ground in a complete state of rage. By then, everybody in the store was looking at them. Even a few people passing by the shop’s open doors in the mall were able to hear Crystal shout.

A nervous-looking sales clerk materialized from behind a rack of clothing. “May I help you with anything?”

“Yes,” Amanda said, turning to him, “If you had to combat the forces of evil, super hero-style, would you want to do it in some hideously bourgeois tunic?”

“Slip dress,” Crystal growled, defensively.

“Or in a perfectly stylish baby Tee with bell bottoms?” Amanda finished.

“Huh,” Kaine mussed, “And I though the sixties were over.”

The sales clerk blinked at them, which was difficult considering the multiple piercing in his eyebrows, before saying very slowly, “Usually when I have that dream, I’m wearing turquoise leopard print.”

“Ah! Good idea,” Amanda cheered.

“No,” Crystal said, flatly, but Amanda was already heading toward the vintage section of the store. Crystal charged after her to drag her back into the Princess paraphernalia section.

“Ah, you have that dream too?” Kaine asked the clerk while Crystal yanked Amanda’s hair to get her to cooperate.

“Maybe we should find some matching lingerie,” Amanda said, easing out of Crystal’s grip.

“All the time,” said the clerk to Kaine.

“Hey, what about Batman look? I’ve always been partial to body suits,” Crystal suggested, trying to get Amanda to forget about the leopard print.

“Nah, I think the Rainbow Brite look is the way to go,” Amanda said, tossing a Strawberry Shortcake baby tee over her shoulder.

“Can’t you two think of anything original?” Kaine asked, picking up a gag T-shirt that listed all of the things you shouldn’t do after the excessive consumption of Tequila.

“Kaine, this isn’t art, its…its…Well its something very different from that, so there,” Amanda said, matter-of-factly.

“Yes, what exactly is it, Amanda?” Kaine said, “Why are we standing around a mall on the most crowded day of the week picking clothes that only a four year old would want to wear and only a toothpick can fit in?”

“Come on, man. If I have to wear those scratchy black pants, then everybody should have to suffer,” Amanda said, shoving a pair of Rhinestone jeans into his arms.

“I said I would teach you to control that so only you could decide when to…” Kaine trailed off, not really sure what to call the strange transition and certainly not wanting to say it in front of the clerk.

“Change clothes?” Crystal asked, coming out of the dressing room that she had ducked in to change at the speed of light. Kaine and Amanda turned to look at her, then shielded their eyes from the blinding radiance of faux diamond.

“Please do,” Kaine said. He wandered off to find a hemp necklace to go with the Tequila shirt.

The sales clerk glanced at them one more time, then faded out of existence and went to haunt another aisle of modern teenage clothing. Crystal pouted, but retreated back into the dressing room.

Amanda turned her head away, blinking a few times to restore her retinas to full strength. As her vision cleared, she saw something on the far wall of the import section, “Hey! That’s perfect….”

“Oh, no,” Troy was saying a few hours later at Daniel’s house. “There is no way in hell that you’re going to get me dressed up in some costume. I’m not Superman, for Christ’s sake.”

“Yes, we’ve already discussed that,” Amanda said, “But what if something attacks you while you’re in the shower? You want to fight evil in your birthday suit?”

“Why not? They’ll only be blinded by the divine radiance,” Austin said.

“Speaking of which…” Kaine said, looking at Crystal, who turned her nose up.

“I don’t care how beautiful I look, I’m not fighting stark naked,” Crystal pouted, “Besides, if Daniel saw me nude I’d have to kill myself.”

“Are you sure? You never know until you try….”

“DANIEL!!!!” The group cried in unison.

“That was an odd sentence coming from you, Kaine. I mean, I expect Daniel to be thinking of her nude, but you?” Troy raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, I’m a priest, not dead,” Kaine shrugged.

“Besides, if I’m stuck pulling a Clark Kent move, then everyone should have to suffer,” Amanda said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Yes, and we all know that if princess doesn’t get her way…” Sam began.

“Yes, then we all have to--HEY! --You can’t make fun of me!” Amanda shouted.

“Besides, I’m the princess, damn it,” Crystal said.

“Why not? Why can’t I make fun of you?” Sam asked.

“Because that’s my job,” Troy and Austin said simultaneously, then glared at each other.

“Because you’re my--” Amanda broke off, abruptly. Immediately, Crystal realized that they’d hit uncharted territory. No one had addressed the relationship between Sam and Amanda since before the ball, almost a month ago. And obviously, there was some confusion as to where everyone stood on the subject. Amanda looked at Sam; Sam looked away; Austin coughed, and Troy looked at the floor; Daniel tried unsuccessfully to hide an erection that he had developed (Drama Queen).

“God damn you teenagers,” Kaine muttered, “Always so fatalistic.”

“Whatever, Mr. We Must Save the Universe,” Troy countered with just as much venom.

“Look, if you don’t find a good costume then you can stick to fighting with your pants down,” Kaine said. “But I hardly think any of you have the self-confidence to fight with no clothes on.”

“You think we’re lacking in confidence?” Troy scoffed, “I knew you were nuts.”

“And what are we supposed to do for a ‘costume’? We’re a little old for Halloween, Kaine, and I don’t think Target has our size in Spider Man costumes,” Austin said.

“Speak for yourself,” Troy muttered. He and Sam had been planning for Halloween since August. And Troy wasn’t about to think that he had been storing all that toothpaste and ether for nothing….

“Oh, oh! Let me pick the costumes,” Daniel begged.

The boys looked as though they were just told that they’d need to undergo castration.

“Sure,” said Amanda cheerfully.

“Go right ahead,” Crystal said with a wicked smile.

“Hey, I already come pre-dressed,” Kaine said, proudly.

“Oh, no; no way, forget it,” Austin, Troy, and Sam all said at once.

“We don’t need costumes,” Sam said, forcefully.

“Well, there is more to this than clothing,” Kaine began.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Amanda muttered.

“I don’t know if you children are ready for this or not, but it would help you a great deal to have them,” Kaine said, musing.

“Yeah that’s what my dad said when he bought me my truck,” Troy said.

“Its not a truck,” Amanda said. “It’s a Tahoe, a stupid, freaking Tahoe. Get it right.”

Kaine cut in before the two could get an argument going; “Far be it for me to call you people irresponsible,” he aimed that comment at Troy, “But this would not be like a set of car keys. It would be an object that you can consolidate you power into.”

“Sounds like car keys to me,” Austin said.

“It’s a bit more important,” Kaine said. “Once you invest a part of yourself into an object, you in effect become the object. Or rather, it becomes a part of you.”

“…. Okay,” Crystal said slowly.

“Why?” said Amanda.

“Why what,” said Kaine.

“Why do we have to do that?” Amanda asked.

“It will make you stronger, for one thing,” Kaine said.

“How?” asked Austin.

“Lets not get into it,” Kaine said. “Just understand that this is only temporary. The object will only function as your center point of power as long as you need it. Like training wheels.”

“We need to do what, now?” Sam asked.

“I’m really not following you, Kaine,” Amanda said.

Kaine took a deep breath and launched into a long explanation. Somewhere between the mention of quantum physics and molecular decomposition, Amanda had to excuse herself for a snack. Crystal left to use the restroom when he started talking about galvanic cells. By the time Kaine dipped into the heavy calculus, five hours had already passed and it was dark outside.

“…So you need to sublimate your---”

“Big words! Big words! I can’t take it anymore!” Sam screamed, slapping his hands over his ears.

“It’s okay, Sam,” Troy said soothingly, patting Sam’s head. “I think he’s pretty much done.”

“Are you?” Austin asked fearfully.

“Yes….” Kaine said, hesitantly. “Do you understand?”

There was a long silence.

“No,” the boys said in unison.

Kaine collapsed. While Crystal was trying to bring him around, Amanda said to the boys, “I think I understand a little of what he was saying.”

“All hail the mighty one,” Austin said, touching his forehead to the floor in a bow.

“The Queen of Vocabulary…We’re not worthy,” Troy murmured, kissing the hem of Amanda’s newly purchased jeans.

“Stop that,” Amanda said harshly, giving Troy a kick with her foot. “I mean, I think I understand what he wants, fundamentally.”

The all blinked at her.

“Oh, come on, you guys know what fundamental is,” Amanda said, staring at all of them in disbelief.

“I think the majority of their brain power has been used up,” Crystal said, propping Kaine up against a coffee table.

“Huh?” said Austin.

“Talk stupid,” said Crystal.

“Oh, okay,” Amanda said. She turned to the boys, “Pick something that you like a whole lot.”

“Porno?” asked Troy.

“Something you can carry,” said Amanda.

“Porno,” Austin repeated.

“Something you could take with you anywhere and no one would care. You going to need this thing so you can kill stuff.”

“Why?” asked Sam.

“Porno,” Troy and Austin said together.

“If I told you, your brains would break,” Amanda said.

“She doesn’t know,” Troy said to Austin.

“I do know,” Amanda said.

“We believe you,” Troy said.

“She doesn’t know,” Austin agreed.

“Look, just pick something like a hat and give it to Kaine,” Amanda said, getting irritated.

“Why a hat?” Austin said.

“Because a hat is easy to carry, and I know you’ve got a favorite hat, Troy,” Amanda said, looking at the tall boy.

“That I do,” he said, proudly. “It’s in my truck, I’ll go get it.”

“YOU MEAN IT’S IN YOUR TAHOE, STUPID!” Amanda shouted after him.

“Can I use my jacket?” Austin asked.

“Sure,” Amanda yelled. “Why not?”

“The Fonz jacket for me, baby,” Austin said, also heading out the door to his car.

“The what?” Crystal asked Amanda.

“It’s a leather jacket he has. He thinks it can protect him from anything,” Amanda said, shaking her head. “Let me guess,” she said, turning to Sam, “You’re going to use your lap top.”

“No,” Sam said, somewhat offended.

Amanda blinked. Crystal pinched her elbow in discreet rebuke for judging Sam so harshly. So he was a computer geek, so what? Amanda seemed to understand and retreated to the kitchen.

Troy raced back in with a backward cap on his head. It was a New York Yankees cap, with the initials NYY combined in such a way on the back of the cap that it looked like some Japanese, or Chinese symbol. The navy blue of the cap contrasted sharply to the lock of Troy’s blond hair that poked out of the cap between the fitting strap and the symbol. He preened, and played with the hair a little, making it fluff off to one side in a very hip-hop style.

Austin came back in wearing a pitch-black leather jacket that had obviously required the deaths of many cows for the outstanding quality of the material. The jacket was a little large for Austin, making the heavy-set boy appear slightly smaller and slimmer, but no less imposing. He flexed his muscles beneath the jacket and strutted into the house. Amanda came back from the kitchen holding a glass of water and rolled her eyes. For crying out loud, it was 87° in October where they lived and he wanted a leather jacket?

“Let me guess,” Troy said to Sam, “You want to use your laptop?”

“No!” Sam fairly shouted.

Amanda hid a smile behind her cup.

“Huh? Why not,” Austin asked.

“It’s impractical,” Sam said.

Troy counted the syllables up on his fingers, then slapped Sam upside the head. “You went over your three-syllable limit,” he said.

“Impractical is three syllables; he didn’t go over it,” Austin said.

“No it’s not, its four,” Troy argued.

“Yes it is, it’s three,” Austin said. He held out his fingers and ticked of the syllables, “Imp-ractic-al. Three.”

“No.” Troy said, also holding out his hand, “Im-prac-tic-al. Four.”

“No….” Austin said.

“WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP!” Sam shouted. “I’m not going to use my lap top. It’s too heavy, it’s too expensive, and I just don’t feel like it, okay?”

“Okay, okay,” Austin said.

“It was four,” muttered Troy.

“Three,” Austin hissed.

“So what are you going to use, Sam,” Crystal said, changing the subject.

“I don’t know, my watch, I guess,” he said, looking at the dark gray band around his wrist. “If I’m stuck having to keep track of something it might as well be this. Besides, one wrong move with my laptop and….” He stopped, fearing he’d said too much. But whatever Sam was trying to hide would stay hidden because Crystal had lost interest and Amanda was showing Troy and Austin how to look up the word impractical in the dictionary.

Kaine’s head lolled around on his shoulders. He groaned.

“It’s okay, Kaine,” Amanda said. “Problem solved.”

“Did they at least get the galvanic cell stuff?” Kaine whimpered.

“Hey,” Crystal asked, suddenly looking around, “Where did Daniel go?”

Just then, Daniel raced down the stairs completely naked. “Ta-Da! I got my costume,” he shouted, striking a noble pose on the third step up from the landing.

“OH MY SWEET JESUS, I’VE GONE BLIND!”

“Yeah,” Amanda answered Kaine. “They got, it all right.”