As time went on, I regretted my decision to come back. The pond was still there, keeping its secret hidden. When we reached the waters edge, I shifted us to frogs, and Barry leapt into the water. I followed reluctantly.

Barry waited for me, and as I went to the plants, he followed. When I brushed aside the plants, his eyes widened as he saw the residents' bodies. Our clothes and hair drifted slowly through the water, and our eyes were open wide. Not blinking, unfazed.

He swam into the cave as I did, and observed the surrounding people, spotting himself, me, Lizzie, and Nicole. When he had spotted himself, he was stunned. He didn't seem to react, and just hung in the water. I swam up to him, and nudged him, and he seemed to wake up. He swam out of the hall of horrors, and surfaced out of the water.

I followed, and when I surfaced Barry began to get out of the water, and I shifted him back. I did the same. I held Barry, who seemed to need some support.

We both slowly walked back in silence. Barry went to his room, and I followed, and shifted to the fluffiest and softest dog I could imagine for comforting him. He held me, and lightly passed his fingers through my fur, and we both drifted off to sleep.

I dreamed of something strange, I don't know where it came from, but I couldn't remember what it was.

When I woke, Barry was still asleep. I made sure we were visible again, before turning to Barry. I licked his cheek softly, and he turned his head. Apparently he still wasn't waking up. I shifted to a fox. I don't know why I liked doing it so much, it just felt good to be one.

I nibbled Barry's hand softly, and his eyes eventually slowly opened.

His hand ran down my back, "Hi."

I licked his face and his eyes opened fully as he smiled. Barry sat up, and I put my paws on his shoulders. He stared at me for a time, until he lifted me up from underneath my front legs. He held me in front of him as his voice quivered.

"I will help you get out if you want to, but it probably will be for nothing. I always thought of this place as dream, but I know it's a prison."

Tears ran down his cheeks, and he pulled me close to him. His presence calmed me, and I think I did the same for him.

When Barry was focused, he started, "What time is it?!"

He glanced at a clock on his desk, and bolted upright. I looked too, and my reaction was the same. It was nearly 5:30.

"They probably think I'm dead by now."

I got out of bed, and changed into a waxing bird, and landed on Barry. As he got up, I opened my wings for balance, and he nearly ran out the door. I decided to fly beside him as he sprinted to a house in the distance.

It was strange to call it a house. There was a hill that had a small wooden shape inside it. As we approached, I was able to see more detail. There was a large expanse of windows, and some had light inside. From what I could see, it was a lovely wooden house set inside a hill.

When we had reached the doorstep, the door immediately opened, and a glowing Lizzie answered.

"There you are, I was getting worried." She smiled warmly. I landed back on Barry's shoulder, and sung a greeting. She stretched forth her hand, and I flew to it. Now I felt like a trained pet.

She raised her hand to her shoulder, and I jumped to it. We walked inside, and at the table was a large meal, but something else. There was another person.

"Chloe, this is Liam. Liam, Chloe." Barry introduced.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm gonna guess that's your Gift." Liam spoke in a soft tone. I chirped as a response, and he nodded.

I chose a chair at the circular table, sitting close to Liam, but not next to him. I shifted back and better situated myself as I felt Liam's eyes burn into my scull.

Barry came up to Liam in a bear hug before sitting down beside me.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your Gift?" I inquired. Liam put on a condescending smirk as he lifted up his hand. Flames erupted from it before he put it back down.

"Not trying to compete with your bird or anything." I tried to remain calm as I grew to dislike Barry's friend.

"Liam, don't be so hard on my girlfriend. We all know you nearly burned down the forest at a point." Barry scolded. Barry called me his girlfriend. I knew that he liked me as well, but now it was official. This put a growing smile on my face.

Liam shamefully looked at the ground, but Lizzie was able to save Liam's skin.

"Don't worry, he's like that with everyone at first. I've told him to be nice for tonight though."

"But why did you invite him?" I responded.

Lizzie began to get up and head to the other room, "Barry wanted you to meet some of his guy friends. Well, one of his guy friends. Could you come help me bring some food in from the kitchen?"

I got up, "How much did you make?"

She made a lot.

There was a large array of platters, with an wide assortment of foods.

"How much time did you have? This is a dinner meant for twenty people, not four." I said in awe. Lizzie giggled, but didn't give a response.

I grabbed two dishes, potatoes and ham, and walked back out to the table where Barry was laughing his head off. Liam was laughing with him.

I set the food on the table, before heading back for the remaining food. I stopped in my tracks when I saw Lizzie balancing about five trays of food while walking towards the doorway. I went back to the countertop to find only three trays remaining.

I easily balanced the remaining food and walked out to the table. There was barely even room for everyone's plates. Everyone was beginning to serve themselves some food, and when I sat down I did the same.

Liam wasn't that bad actually. I think he just thought me a sort of showoff at first, which I kind of was. But, it is really amazing to be an animal. Liam had an awesome sense of humor, and I nearly choked more than once.

Surprisingly, most of the food Lizzie made was gone by the end of the night, including the desserts she made.

It was only seven, so we decided to go on an evening stroll. But, it was getting dark, so Liam lit up his hand, and threw the flame into the air to be a following beacon, causing him to smirk all the way.

"So, what are the capabilities of your Gift?" Liam asked kindly. This was going to be interesting.

I whispered softly to Barry, "What will you let me do to him?"

"Whatever you want, but don't worry, I will take the blame..."

I brought my voice back to hearing level as we stopped walking, "Well, not much," I rambled while shifting him into an ostritch, not breaking my conversation just for him, "What sort of animal should I shift to?"

He apparently didn't realize what I had done, "Can't you only shift to that small bird?"

I shook my head.

Liam looked surprised, "Well, how about...a tiger." He was clearly done with this. How did he still not notice that he was a huge bird? So instead, I shifted us both to tigers.

"Cool, but what can you even do as a tiger?" Liam was skeptical. How was he so unobservant?

"How about you try?" I replied smugly. Liam looked at me skeptically, and Barry stroked my back softly and I purred deeply.

Liam curiously looked down, and collapsed as he looked at his paws. He stood back up as he curled around himself, trying to observe his new form.

"Can they understand me?" He whispered.

"No," I growled, "What would you like to do?"

"I know that you don't know me that well, but do you want to wrestle?"

"Um, well ok..." He was a different kind of weird. Liam leapt at me, and I dodged his attack. Barry stumbled backwards, and I stood defensively in front of him before jumping at Liam. We rolled as we tried to pin the other. I had never actually wrestled in a way that was not playful, but I was stronger than I looked.

Eventually I pinned Liam, and Barry spoke, "Let him go, Chloe." I did as he said, and released him soon enough, for him to unexpectedly pin me. He didn't understand Barry.

"This is awesome. I'm sorry for being such a jerk. Barry deserves the best, and I think you are the best for him. Also, what did Barry say? I couldnt hear him well."

A sense of pride overwhelmed me, and a huge smile overcame me, "Thank you. You can't understand others in this form. It just sounds like gibberish."

He nodded, then sat down as he released me, "Now, can you change me back?"

I shifted him back, and he reached out to touch my fur. I let him stroke my back, and he stopped soon enough.

"She has my approval. Both in personality and in physical strength. When does she usually change back?" He must not know that I have learned to understand him.

Barry nodded towards me, "Thanks, she usually does whatever she likes, really. She likes to perch on my shoulders, or wrap around my neck." I leapt at Liam, much to his horror, and shifted to a kitten in midair, landing on his shoulder, despite the fact that he took a step back while flinching.

I stabilized myself, and let out a small meow. Liam stared at me quizzically. I draped myself over his shoulder, and I looked at Barry.

He was staring at me in disbelief, but a smile tugged at his lips at my action. I curled my tail around Liam's neck, and Barry's face dropped. He reached out to grab me, and I quietly hissed. He grabbed me anyway, and after a playful swipe, I began purring. He held me in his arms, and I looked up at him with a snarl.

We continued the stroll quietly. Liam continually stole glances of me, trying to be discreet, but it wasn't working. Eventually, it was too dark to continue, even with Liam's fireball. We separated, and I cuddled up to Barry as there was a cold wind that blew past. Barry wrapped me deeper into his arms, and I felt warmer as he heated me up.

We came back into the house, and Barry fell onto the couch, and I curled up in his lap.

He stroked me for a while, and I purred until we slowly fell asleep.