I'll Be Your Light: Re-Write

Chapter One: A Not-So-Normal Day

"C'mon, Iva! You can do it! Just a little farther!"

I pushed my legs to their limits. My breath came in ragged gasps, my arms pumped at my sides powerfully, and after what seemed like an eternity, I dashed through the white tape. Cheers erupted from around me, but they seemed strangely muffled to my ears thanks to the blood rushing through my head. I nearly ran into Dylan as I slowed down; he put his hands on my shoulders to steady me. My chest heaved as I tried to catch my breath, and I could feel my heart pounding quickly. Running races always did that to me – the adrenaline pushed me to my limits, and I loved it (so did the track team coach).

"Iva, you did it! You won!" Dylan said eagerly. I smiled weakly; I was still too exhausted to say much. Dylan seemed to understand my silence, as he started pushing me gently away from the crowd. Other girls from my team congratulated me, and I could see the coach accepting a trophy for me with a grin on her face. Slowly, the sound of the blood rushing in my ears quieted down, and my heartbeat went back to normal. I took deeper breaths as I stopped and sat on a bench; I noticed that we were now in the Sandlot, and there was no one else in sight. Dylan sat beside me.

"You were great out there. How do you do it?" He asked.

"You know the answer to that. Practice, practice, and more practice." He had asked this question after every race that I had won – which was most of them. I found it slightly amusing, and he knew it, which was why he still asked it. My ego liked this question, too – it made me feel like I was better than I really was.

Dylan laughed lightly and patted my sweaty shoulder. "Eew, you're all sweaty!" he joked, wiping his hand on his jeans. I gave him a fake glare and flipped him off. "When and where, sweet heart?"

I hit his arm lightly, a small smile playing across my lips. "Don't call me that."

Dylan grinned. "You know you like it."

"Not really." I stood and stretched, bending down to touch my toes. I could feel the pull on my muscles and sighed; it always felt good to stretch after a long race. Dylan swatted at my ponytail.

"If I were gay, I would totally be jealous of your hair, Iva. It's such a pretty golden blonde."

"Dylan, YOU have blond hair – even if your hairline DOES recede like the tides."

"It does not!" he cried indignantly, tickling my side. I squealed and jumped away, swatting at his hand.

"Don't do that! You know I hate being tickled!"

"Then don't say that my hairline recedes like the tides!"

"But it does -" Dylan cut me off by pouncing on me and tickling me. I burst into a fit of giggles, trying to squirm my way away from him. "Dylan, ahaha, st-stop it!" He didn't relent until I was completely breathless; I thought perhaps that I had just gotten more of a workout than I had while running the race. I lay on the ground, panting and still laughing.

Dylan rolled onto his back beside me, staring up at the clear blue sky. "You know, one of these days, Twilight Town is going to declare you some sort of superhero. I mean, how many people have won as many races as you have?"

"People have probably won more than me. Just not here and now. Oh, look! That cloud looks like a rose." I pointed to the small puff that had appeared over one of the buildings around us. Dylan chuckled softly beside me.

"Man… school starts tomorrow," he muttered. I groaned.

"Don't remind me."

"You have to wear a skirt."

"Trust me, I know that, Dylan. And you know how much I hate it."

"Which is why I find it so funny."

"Yes, yes, I know. You just enjoy laughing at my misfortune, don't you?"

"But of course. What are best friends for?"

I sighed. He had a point. Dylan grinned at me triumphantly and jumped up, offering me a hand. I took it and he pulled me to my feet, and didn't let go as he led the way back to my house. I was used to this; since we were best friends, we were practically married anyway. People used to make jokes about it at school, but now they didn't even notice it. It was just something we did.

We came to my front door too quickly for my taste. Dylan pulled me into a tight hug; he knew how bad things were at home.

"Try not to blow anything up today, okay, Iva?"

I gave a false laugh. "I'll try. See you tomorrow."

I watched Dylan walk off sadly before steeling myself to walk into the house.

Kara greeted me as I walked in; she was the only thing that I really like about this place. She ran up to me, her pink pigtails bobbing, and hugged me tightly.

"Welcome home, sissy! Did you win again?"

I knelt down to her level once she released me and smiled. "I sure did! The coach was really proud of me, and so was the rest of the team!"

"I'm proud of you, too!" she said brightly in her adorable eight-year-old voice. I stood and took her hand, walking with her into the living room. My mom sat at a desk in the corner, her light brown hair pulled up in a messy bun. Her green eyes – the only thing we shared – didn't leave her computer as I entered.

"Hey, Mom. I won the race."

"That's nice, dear," she said absently. I sighed; I never got a good reaction out of it. Kara suddenly squeezed my hand. Then again, and again. Three squeezes: I love you. I beamed down at her and squeezed her hand back four times: I love you, too.

"Oh, Iva! Daddy's making fish tonight!"

"Oh, really? What kind?"

"Salmon! I'm excited – I've never had salmon before!"

I laughed lightly – of course she had never had salmon before. The orphanage didn't exactly pamper their kids, and Kara had been adopted. "Well, you'll really like it. It's really good." She smiled up at me. "Hey, Kara. Why don't you go draw? I've got to get a few things together for school tomorrow; I'll help you once I'm done, okay?" She nodded excitedly and dashed off to her room, her pigtails swinging lightly. I passed the kitchen on the way to my room; sure enough, there was Dad, cooking salmon on a pan. From the way it smelled, I thought it was lemon pepper seasoning.

"Hi, Dad. I won that race today."

"That's wonderful, dear," he said absently, much like Mom. I could only see the back of his blond head, and he didn't turn around to greet me. I sighed again and continued to my room, shutting the door quietly behind me. I turned and faced the tan walls, plain blue bed sheets, and simple wood furniture. Granted, we had the same furniture throughout the house, but I could have done with a little more color.

I grabbed my messenger bag from the floor and set it on my bed, checking to see what I still needed. I lacked pencils, pens, and a pack of paper; these things I withdrew from my nightstand drawer, shoved them inside, and then set the bag back on the floor. I took a school uniform out from my closet (a simple white button-up blouse and a light blue plaid skirt) and hung it at the foot of my bed, placing my knee socks and loafers underneath it. Dad's voice drifted through the door; dinner must have been ready. I made my way out of my room and took a right through the hallway, passing the kitchen again and instead taking the next right into the dining room. Mom was already seated, her shoulders set perfectly straight. Kara bounced excitedly in her seat. Dad walked in as I sat down and set the food on the table.

As usual, I waited until everyone else had served themselves before grabbing some food for myself – being too hasty for food in this house was a bad idea, at least in my case. We ate in near-silence, save for Kara's occasional exclamations about how good the food was, how excited she was for school to start, and how she was proud of me for winning another race. I stared down at my plate when she said that last one; the silence that it was met with was nearly tangible.

Once dinner was over, I took up all the dishes and rinsed them before placing them carefully in the dish washer. I had to be careful when handling dishes, especially when I was feeling awkward around my parents – things tended to break around me, and I didn't want Mom yelling at me; I never knew what could happen if I got upset.

I thought back to when I first made something strange happen. I was only eight, and Mom had yelled at me for walking to a friend's house before coming home and not telling her. I got so upset, and as I was crying, a vase near Mom's head shattered. Nothing had hit it; it just exploded. Then, a few weeks later, I was upset at Mom for not letting me watch a TV show, and the remote had literally vanished from her hands and into mine. The older I got, the more frequent these strange happenings became. Dishes broke, candles and combs flew across the room, and once the sink started spurting water everywhere because the faucet came shooting off.

Of course, all these things only happened when I was around, so Mom and Dad had started to blame me.

That's why they adopted Kara. They wanted a normal child in the family, not some strange fifteen-year-old who made things blow up without meaning to.

I sighed. 'Calm down, Iva. You're gonna get all worked up again, and something's gonna happen, and that will just make tomorrow that much worse.' I shook my head to clear my thoughts and exited the kitchen, quickly crossing into my room before Kara could catch me. I just wanted to take a shower and go to sleep; all the sweat from earlier had dried, and I felt disgusting. Kara did catch me as I walked to the bathroom, but seeing my towel and clothes, she just smiled and bounced into her room. I smiled faintly after her for a second before continuing on to take my shower and get ready for bed.

I took a bit longer than usual in the shower, letting the hot water relax my muscles. The smell of my floral soap and green tea shampoo filled the bathroom, and I felt like I was in a spa. I finally mustered up the courage to turn off the water and step out onto the cooler tile, quickly towel drying my hair. Then I dressed in my tank top and shorts for bed, turned on the fan to get rid of all the steam, brushed my damp hair out, and left the bathroom. I walked down the hall to the laundry room to drop off my track clothes and the used towel, and then headed to Kara's room.

Kara sat on her bed as if she was waiting for me. Her hair was down now, reaching almost to her waist, and it looked slightly ruffled. She looked tired, but she beamed at me.

"I came to say goodnight, Kara," I said quietly as I sat on the edge of her bed. She leaned against me, and I hugged her tightly with one arm.

"Will you tell me a story, sissy?"

I laughed. "You're too old for stories, Kara. You're eight years old now."

"I know." She pouted. "But…"

I looked at her for a few seconds before giving in with a sigh, smiling. "Well, all right. I guess one story can't hurt." She gasped excitedly. "BUT, you have to lay down first. I have to tell it properly."

Kara hastened to crawl under her bed sheets. I tucked in the corners of her comforter and handed her Otis, her stuffed fish. She clutched him close to her chest as I pulled up a small chair set aside just for occasions such as these.

"Well, now. What kind of story do you want to hear, Kara?"

She pondered it seriously for a moment, her small brow furrowing in concentration. Then her violet eyes lit up, and she held her hand in the air as if she had just had an epiphany. "Tell me a story about a princess who gets taken from her castle but meets her Prince Charming!"

I smiled softly. "You always ask for that one, silly."

"But you always tell it differently! Come on, please, Iva?"

"Okay, okay!" I laughed. "Just don't interrupt me, okay?" Kara nodded feverently, pretending to lock her lips and throw away the key.

"Well. Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess. She was quite happy with her mother, father, and younger sister in their large castle. Their kingdom was large and peaceful, and all the people in it got along with one another like everyone should.

"One day, a strange old woman showed up on the castle doorstep. She knocked on the doors, and the beautiful princess opened it up to see the old woman in a raggedy robe. Her skin had a green tint to it, and her voice was raspy. She was the ugliest woman the princess had ever seen; but the princess had her duty to be nice, so she let the old woman in and fed her and then sent her on her way.

"That night, the old woman came back – but she was no longer old. She was young, and pretty, but her skin was still green, and she gave off a menacing air. When she knocked on the door, no one answered because everyone was asleep – except for the princess. The princess could sense that the woman was evil, and tried to hide – but the woman used magic to get into the castle. The witch, furious at being ignored, kidnapped the beautiful princess and took her far away to lock her in a tower. The princess fought with all her might, but she wasn't strong enough to fight a witch – after all, she couldn't use magic, so what could she do?

"Inside the tower there was a boy about her age. He was tall, and very handsome, and he told the princess that he, too, had been kidnapped from his kingdom for showing caution towards the evil witch. The prince and princess decided to work together to escape their prison. For almost a year, they worked together day and night, learning how to fight from each other, studying the green witch from afar, and even trying some of the magic that they found in a book in the tower. The princess found that she could use magic – and so, while they trained, she tried to learn more and more about it.

"Finally the day came when the prince and princess decided that they would escape. When the witch brought up their food for the day, the prince surprised her by jumping on her back. Furious, the witch smote him with a spell –"

"Sissy, what does 'smote' mean?" Kara asked.

"It means to strike down, Kara. Now don't interrupt me again, silly, I was on a roll." She smiled sheepishly. "Anyway, the witch smote him with a spell, and he fell against the wall, unconscious. The princess was greatly upset at this, for in their year together, they had grown to love each other. Using her emotions, the princess unlocked a vast amount of power that she didn't know she had and banished the evil witch to another world, where she could never harm anyone again.

"The princess ran over to her prince, who was now slowly waking up. She worried over him, but he seemed to be alright, if a little dazed. They helped each other get out of the tower, and returned to the princess's kingdom. Her family was so overjoyed to see her, they didn't even notice her prince until he introduced himself. The princess told her tale, and the prince told his; they visited his kingdom, and it was soon decided that the prince and princess were to be married.

"And they lived happily ever after. The end."

Kara's eyes drooped. "That was a good story, sissy…" she said sleepily. I smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Good night, Kara. Sweet dreams."

"Nighty night…" and she drifted off to sleep. I smiled softly and stood, then walked out quietly and shut her door. Then I made my way to my room, shut off the light, and collapsed onto my bed.

It was always tiring telling these wonderful stories with happy endings when I just knew that I would never get the same.

~O~

My alarm beeped annoyingly until I slammed my hand on the 'Snooze' button. I glanced at it and groaned – 6:30 already. I sighed and rolled over – once again forgetting that my bed was rather small, and therefore falling off the side and landing with a heavy thump on the floor. I grumbled and got up, grabbed my uniform, and trudged over to the bathroom – I was definitely NOT a morning person.

Once I dressed, I stared at myself in the mirror. Long blonde hair, plain green eyes, eyelashes coated in mascara. My arms were soft, but my legs were strong – they were the only thing that I liked about myself. Of course, Dylan would say otherwise, but he wasn't here right now. I sighed again and brushed through my hair once more, brushed my teeth, and stepped out of the bathroom.

Kara sat in the living room, her pink hair in a ponytail. She looked like a little doll in her school uniform, sitting on the couch. She grinned at me when I walked in with my bag. Her small blue backpack sat on the floor next to her feet.

"Are you ready to go, Kara?" I asked, smiling back at her. She nodded and jumped to the floor enthusiastically. I held my hand out to her, which she took once she had her backpack on. "Well, time to walk to school!"

The walk was uneventful. Kara practically skipped the whole way there, her little skirt poofing out as she jumped. We came in sight of the school fairly quickly, as we didn't live very far away. I dropped Kara off at the playground and made my way over to the high school building.

Dylan surprised me at the door by running up behind me and hugging me. When he let go, he kept his arms around my shoulders and walked with me through the door. He began to steer me towards a wall of papers covered with lists of names.

"So, do you think that we'll be in the same class this year?" Dylan asked, scanning the papers.

"I hope so. It's been years since we've been in the same class," I muttered. I spotted my name under Mrs. Redd's class. I looked up hopefully, and sure enough, there he was - Dylan Bigerstaph. "Dylan! We're in the same class!" I exclaimed, pointing to the sheet. "Room 102. Come on, let's go!" I ducked from under his arm and took his hand, dragging him behind me. I pulled him through the crowd of people and slipped into the empty room that was conveniently the first one on the hallway. I set my bag down on a desk next to the windows and flattened out my skirt - I hated this thing.

"I know you hate it, Iva, but you look adorable in that."

I scoffed and crossed my arms. "Shut up, Dylan."

After about fifteen minutes, the room filled up with people. Hayner ran up to us as soon as he entered the room. His tie was loose and off-center.

"Dylan, Iva, what's up? We haven't seen you guys in a while."

I sighed and fixed his tie. "I've been busy with Track, Hayner, you know that."

"Well, Dylan, explain yourself!"

"I had a job. Where are Pence and Olette?"

Hayner looked slightly downcast. "They're in a different class. But at least I have you guys!"

Just then, a plump woman with spiky blond hair walked in and called order to the class. "Alright, calm down everyone! Take a seat." There was a rush to move bags and sit down next to friends while the woman walked to the front of the class. Dylan sat behind me, and Hayner sat to his right. I now saw everyone in the classroom, and realized that I knew just a few people, like Christine from Track.

"Now, I'm going to call roll, and then your math teacher will be here to start class!"

There was a collective groan.

~O~

"Alright! It's time for lunch!" the teacher called as the bell chimed. She dashed out of the room with her lunchbox in hand, followed by a flood of people. I hung back, my stomach growling.

"We gonna stay in here?" Dylan asked. I nodded and sat on my desk. Hayner scowled.

"I'm gonna go see if Pence and Olette are eating in the cafeteria. Later!" He dashed out of the room.

"Do you have any lunch?" Dylan asked me once Hayner was gone.

"No... I didn't pack one, and I forgot to ask for some money. It's not like they'd be too happy to give me some, anyway."

"Well, that's just fine because - " he reached down and pulled two carefully wrapped boxes out of his bag and placed one on my lap. "I totally thought ahead. Here's your lunch."

I gasped and opened it quickly, grabbing the sandwich inside. "Thank you so much! You're the best."

"I know, I know."

Just as I was about to take a bite, the floor rumbled violently, causing me to nearly fall off the desk. The lunch box fell off my lap, spilling out a bag of carrots and two cookies.

"What the hell?" Dylan yelped, standing up quickly. I scrambled to stand up as the shaking increased, causing the blackboard at the front of the room to fall off the wall. It hit the floor with a loud crash, muffling the sounds of people screaming. I spread my feet apart for more support and grabbed my bag to hold over my head to protect from falling debris - which was good, as the lamps started falling from the ceiling and shattering on the floor.

"Iva! We have to get out of here!" Dylan grabbed my arm and began pulling me towards the door.

"No! Not that way! Too many people - we'll never make it out. Get the window open, but be careful!"

Dylan nodded and shoved me under the door frame, then darted across the room to the windows. He tried pushing one up to open it, but the shaking just shifted it closed again. Desperate, he grabbed a chair next to him and hurled it at the window with all his might. The window shattered loudly, and Dylan shoved the rest of the glass out of the way of our escape, slicing his hand open in the process.

"Are you okay?" I exclaimed, running over to him.

"I'm fine. It's not important. Go!" He grabbed my arm with his good hand and practically shoved me through the window, jumping out after me. We fell in a tangled heap in the grass as the shaking grew ever more violent.

Dylan jumped up first and helped me to my feet.

My heart suddenly sank as I caught sight of the playground, which was falling to pieces. "Dylan!" I choked. "Kara!"

He understood immediately and accidentally grabbed my hand with his wounded one, covering mine with blood. He didn't seem to notice as he began sprinting towards the playground, causing me to drop my bag. I began to overtake Dylan as we ran, but I refused to let go of his hand - I didn't want to lose him in all this confusion.

I saw a splash of pink under a bench near the playground. "Kara!" I shrieked. I let go of Dylan's hand and fought my way through the tide of people running away from the school, dropping down to the ground next to the bench. Kara looked up at me with tears in her eyes, but otherwise seemed unhurt. I pulled her into a protective hug in my lap - and suddenly, the earthquake stopped as quickly as it had come.

Kara kept on sobbing. "Shh, shh... It's gonna be okay," I murmured, smoothing down her messy hair. A low rumble, like thunder, rolled through the air.

Footsteps crunched behind me. "Iva..." Dylan said, sounding worried as he put a hand on my shoulder, "Maybe we should get out of here."

I looked up in confusion. "Why do you -"

What looked to be a large, four-legged ant with glowing yellow eyes stood in front of us. I froze and stared at it - its antennae twitched madly. Suddenly and silently, like a shadow, another one appeared - and then another, and another. I stood slowly, picking up Kara and clutching her to my chest as well as I could. I could hear her whimpering in fear and held her tighter.

"Iva... Get her out of here," Dylan whispered.

"I won't leave you alone!" I hissed. One of the creatures took a tentative step forward.

"Just go!" he yelled, yanking me back just a creature leapt forward. Dylan threw himself in front of us and tried to hit it away with a long metal pipe that he seemed to have acquired from the broken playground. He missed, and the creature scratched at his arm, leaving a few long bloody furrows. "GO!"

After regaining my balance from his sudden movement, I whirled and ran, carrying Kara with me. I held her protectively in my arms as I dashed away from the school and towards downtown, towards home. A strange creature that looked like a small red hourglass with a hat suddenly flew up in front of me, blocking the path to my house. It glowed orange, and sensing something bad, I dashed around it to a nearby alley. A large ball of fire flew past me and landed right in front of my leg, exploding in a flurry of flames. I screamed as they burned into my legs and socks, but kept running - if Kara was in danger, I had to keep going.

I ran all around Twilight Town, trying to find a safe place to hide Kara; no matter where I went, creatures blocked my way. Once, a pink-orange dragon swooped over my head, its claws missing me by inches.

While running through Tram Common, I noticed a large hole in the wall - the one that led to the abandoned mansion. I thought that the forest around it would be a good place to hide Kara- plenty of cover, and she might be able to climb a tree. I dashed over, trying to ignore peoples' screams, and slipped into the forest, hopefully unnoticed.

It was eerily silent in the forest. I practically dropped Kara, shaking violently. My legs burned from running so furiously, my arms hurt from carrying Kara, and I was panting heavily. I was afraid to look down at my burned leg - it hurt terribly, even though I had a high tolerance for pain. I took a few moments to catch my breath a bit; Kara sat on the ground, curled up in a ball. I tried to kneel next to her and hissed when my leg practically screamed in protest.

"Kara," I said softly. She looked up at me with fear in her eyes. "I need you to hide in here. Get under some bushes, climb a tree, whatever, but stay hidden. And don't come out until someone you know comes to get you." I would have told her to wait for me - but with the way that my leg was hurting, I didn't think that a paramedic would let me return.

"You can't leave me!" Kara cried with panic in her voice. I shushed her and hugged her tightly, and then painfully stood. Kara stared at my leg in shock before bursting into tears.

I glanced down at it and suddenly regretted my decision. Stretching along most of my left leg and a little bit of my right was a large black burn. Bits of raw flesh hung from my leg; even now, I could see water, blood, and other liquids oozing out of it. My stomach churned, and I swallowed hard and turned away.

"Stay safe, Kara," I said quietly. I then painfully set off towards Tram Common again, cringing when I heard the screams. I edged carefully around a dumpster; a long plumbing pipe lay on the ground, and I grabbed it to use in my defense - which was obviously a good idea, as one of the ant things popped out of the ground in front of me. Without thinking, I brought the pipe down as hard as I could on its head. I was met with typical resistance, but was surprised when i suddenly disappeared. The ant exploded in a burst of black, wispy smoke, which dissipated quickly. Shaken, I stepped out from behind the dumpster and began to make my way back to the school.

The town looked horrible. The little red hourglass things flew this way and that, setting fire to various buildings. A child-like figure in shiny armour ran by me noisily, but didn't seem to notice my presence. I kept heading to the school, sagging against the wall as my leg threatened to give out.

A flurry of activity met my eyes as the school came into view. Teachers ran around, throwing themselves in front of children to protect them. My throat constricted as I saw Christine being mobbed by the creatures; she screamed as they piled on top of her, and then was suddenly silent. I doubled over and almost threw up - I had just seen a friend die.

Someone placed a hand on my shoulder, causing me to yelp in surprise. I shot upright, holding my pipe at the ready.

"Iva, it's okay! It's me!"

I shook for a moment before falling into Dylan's arms. "Oh, God, Dylan! You're alright," I sobbed. "I don't know what I'd do if - if you weren't - okay - I just saw Christine - she's dead, Dylan - I saw them get her - and I couldn't help -"

"Shh..." Dylan hugged me tightly while I cried. "It's gonna be okay -" he was cut off as a fireball crashed into the building across from us. I looked up quickly, tears still streaming down my face. "Iva, we have to get out of here. Where's Kara?"

"S-she's hidden in the forest. I made sure she was hidden well before I left. She'll be okay." I struggled to keep my voice even. Dylan held me tightly as he pulled me into an alleyway, away from the chaos. He must have noticed my limping because he gave me a look of great worry.

"Iva, why are you limping?" He tried to pull away far enough to see what was wrong, but I hugged him tightly to keep him from seeing my legs. At this, he grabbed my shoulders and practically forced me against the wall behind me. I sagged against it, defeated, while he looked at the blood on my shirt - stains that were acquired when I had wiped my hands clean of Dylan's blood -, the tears in my skirt, and finally the burns on my legs. He was silent for a long moment.

Finally, he sighed. "Iva... how the HELL can you run with your legs like that?!"

I winced as I heaved myself off the wall, gripping my pipe tightly. "I have a high tolerance for pain, and honestly... I think I'm going into shock. It doesn't hurt like it used to."

"Dammit, Iva, that's bad! Come on, we have to get you out of here!" He grabbed my hand - his currently had his school tie wrapped around it to stop the bleeding - and began to pull me away. I took a few steps and collapsed - my legs had finally given up on me. I hit the ground heavily, letting go of Dylan's hand.

"Iva! Are you -" his voice cut off with a strangled sort of sound. I looked up in shock -

- to see a clawed steel glove breaking through Dylan's chest, covered in blood, with a small pink crystal in its grip.

I screamed, and the world went black.