Kara was huddled in the corner of the guest room, her blankets encircled around her.
It was close to midnight now, the room enclosed in shadow. She would've been asleep by now, but..she couldn't rest. She had tried. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the poisoned arrow jutting out of Foster's chest, and glimpsed his pain as he closed his eyes one last time. Kara trembled, and took out the spell book she had taken from the queen's castle. She had been able to hide it away for a while beneath her jacket. Despite being underwater for some time, the book was still in fairly good condition, the glittering depiction of a dragon on its cover lacking any significant water damage. There had to be a spell that could send her home. She needed to tell Foster's mom, or she would put up flyers for him, and call the police... Rapidly and with increased distress, Kara turned the pages and searched through the old tome for anything useful, anything that might be a transportation spell. I have to fulfill Foster's last request, she thought. I have to! Not finding anything that was worth her time, she closed the book forcefully and threw it across the room, not caring about its good condition anymore. She buried her face in her pillow and just lay there for a few moments, her misery draining her of any remaining strength. No tears would come from her eyes now. All of them had been used up.
All she could do was close her eyes, and try to sleep again.
No, no, the arrow! She could see it again, as clearly as if she were there once more. Yes, she was there again with Peony in the woods, watching as her childhood friend's life life left him. "No," she gasped, sitting up.
She could still see Foster dying. His last words repeated themselves over and over, like a broken record would repeat a line of music.
"No! Stop, stop!"
Her hands were tingling, like they had when she had cast the fire spell. All of a sudden, they began to hurt, as if little needles were tearing off the skin from her palms.
Foster and Lily were gone, gone forever, and there was nothing she could do about it. Her two friends, her two closest, dearest friends were gone because of this stupid world.
She wanted to go home, but she couldn't even do that. She had to stay here, and regret the choices she had made.
Oh, why did I ever come here? Why, why?
A dull whimper escaped her lips.
This abruptly became a yell.
She screamed and let her voice vibrate throughout her small room.
She didn't care if anyone heard her.
She didn't care about any of that.
If you wake everyone up, they'll want you to explain why you're doing this, she reminded herself. You need to calm down.
That didn't matter. No amount of rational thought would make the pain she felt deep in her heart go away. This god awful pain..
Kara's hands were hurting more.
She itched at them, hoping that would soothe them, but the sensations didn't stop.
They didn't stop, only increasing in the level of agony. There was blistering heat in the undersides of her hands, as if she had stuck her arms in boiling water. She bit her lip to avoid crying out. What was this?
Suddenly a darting pinpoint of light shot out from one of her hands. It vanished as it came close to her bed, but it wasn't long before it returned again, flickering upon the sheets. Kara looked down at her hands cautiously. Her skin was ruddy where the little lights had emerged from.
Not lights. Sparks.
But if there were sparks, then the flickering light was-oh no. Fire!
Kara shrieked and jumped out of harm's way, just as the flames before her quickly grew.
The magically created embers had grown in size in a matter of seconds. Thinking fast, she took off one of her shoes and skittishly patted out the flames until no remnant of them remained. She staggered backwards, breathing hard, then dropped her shoe as she examined the damage. Scorch marks lined the bed, black spots that had to be permanent.
Kara looked down at her palms, expecting to see charred, burnt skin. She saw the opposite. Her fingers and hands were the same as they always were. The red of her skin had faded back to her regular skin tone, though her palms and edges of her fingers still had a much darker coloring than usual.
Kara remembered her father telling her about her mom. She had been a fairy.
Had her powers been related to fire?
Kara looked down at the hands again and released an uneasy sigh. Yeah, that had to be the case. It would be stupid to think otherwise. These powers..she had inherited them, but why was she getting them now?
What had caused this?
Kara shook her head and chose to lay back down. This was crazy, but really cool, too. Shooting fire out of your hands wasn't just something you could keep to yourself.
In the morning, she decided she would tell the others about her new abilities. Surely Peony would know what to do, or at the very least Sylvan. She closed her eyes, avoiding the black burn marks upon the mattress and her sheets.
Kara also had to hope the Gifted fairies didn't like this particular bed very much. After all, there was no fixing the scorches she had left behind.

Lily woke to the smell of eggs cooking somewhere. She was awake immediately, breathing in the smell. Even on her worst days, Food always seemed to be energize and motivate her. Trying to get up, however, proved to be a new and painful challenge.
Her neck protested to her sudden movements. As carefully and slowly as she could, Lily sat up and tried to ignore any pain she felt.
She opened her room's door and staggered out into the hallway, where a sweet, quaint little kitchen happened to be.
A blonde woman was in it, one with a white apron tied over a blue shirt and jeans.
The woman to look at her with surprise.
She was a fairy, but her face was gentle, and her demeanor even more so.
"Oh, good morning, Lily."
She smiled in a way that emanated friendliness.
"Your food is here.
You do like omelets, don't you?"
Lily fixed her nightgown. It was torn all across the back due to Everett's assault.
Suddenly self conscious, she turned so that the torn fabric would not be noticed by this new person. "I guess so. Are you Toby's mom?"
The woman smiled again. "I am.
There's no need for formalities here, so you're free to call me by my first name, Felicia."
Lily smiled, trying to be as polite as she could. "Okay, um...thank you, Felicia."
The girl saw her plate on the countertop.
The omelet Toby's mother had prepared for her looked amazing. Though she didn't usually care for eggs, nothing sounded better right now than an omelet. This was a strange and abrupt change of preference for Lily since she was was by nature a picky eater, but she assumed that her ordeal was enough to make her hungry for anything. She took the plate and sat herself down at the closest table. The utensils were wooden, so they felt weird to eat with.
She remembered why fairies used them though, and decided she'd just have to get used to it. Gazing at the eggs made Lily's mouth water. Suddenly ravenous, she scarfed down the food in record time, then licked her lips afterwards. She suppressed a burp, then put a hand to her mouth. That was weird.
Usually she tended to take her time when she ate, especially with something as big as an omelet. Felicia was startled. She took the plate from Lily with a half hearted smile.
"Oh, dear. I didn't realize the changes would start happening so soon."
Lily was frightened by this. "Changes?"
"Well, yes. Toby did explain to me where the bite on your neck had come from. It's from a shapeshifter, so..that's what you're becoming. Immense hunger is a sign that the changes are beginning."
"Oh." Lily's head hurt a little now.
Maybe thinking about it made it worse.
"Are they...serious changes?"
Felicia shrugged, starting to clean the plate she was holding. "Well, each shifter has one animal they become to start out with, and that animal will show itself to you little by little each day.
The final stages are always hard to endure.
You'll just have to stay strong for it."
The woman suddenly looked thoughtful. "Hmm...maybe sending you to the Tribe would be a good idea. They know more about this then I do."
At this, Lily was skeptical.
"The Tribe? What do you mean by that?"
Felicia's voice grew somewhat softer.
"There's a band of shapeshifters that live in the Vineheart woods.
You know, the forest around here. I could bring you to them so they could tell you what you'll experience. Would you like me to do that?"
Lily swallowed hard. She pictured wild, cannibalistic creatures and became wary.
"Uh, I don't know...what are they like?"
"Well, they're descendants of the natives that once lived around these parts, so some of them dress like that and live out their lives the way the old ones did. However, most of them are as modern as you and me."
Felicia looked as if she were far away.
"Their second in command is named Tuck. He's the friendliest person you could ever meet. I don't know much about their leader, but talking to Tuck could give you a good idea about what to expect in the days to come."
Lily rubbed her sweaty palms off on her gown. Her nervousness was making her jumpy, and her neck wound pulsed with fresh pain. "Oh...when should I meet with him?"
"He's free today. I suggest that you go as soon as possible. Some of the changes might be harder to bear than others."