Ever wake up from a nap, and before you even open your eyes, you can tell someone is watching you? Or something? This was one of those times.

My head hanging off the edge of the couch, I sat up, wiping slobber from the corners of my mouth. A strange, tingling feeling was rolling down my arms, and I tensed, rubbing my eyes cautiously. I was slightly afraid to open them, unsure what I would find behind the darkness enveloping my vision. Eh, it couldn't be that bad.

"AHHHH, FRICKING HECK, OH MY GOSH, I HATE YOU!" I yelped, scrambling backwards on the balls of my feet. Needle was seated literally 2 inches away from my face, his mouth conjured into one of his stupid doggy smiles. For a second, I was slightly confused as to why a dog was in my house, until the events from this morning flooded back to me.

I scowled with hatred at him, clenching my fists. "Really? I just woke up, in a good FREAKING MOOD, AND YOU HAVE TO GO AHEAD AND RUIN IT BY SITTING THERE STALKER STYLE!" I didn't even realize I was raising my voice until Needle cocked his head, an ear falling into his brown eyes.
"Oh, Mel's awake! Hey sleepyhead, have a nice power nap?" Dad strolled in, patting Needle on the head before sitting next to me.

Struggling to conceal the lines of anger on my forehead, I shrugged. "Yeah. What time is it?"

Checking his watch, Dad grinned. "You were only out for a couple hours. It's 8:00 now. Just in time for Christmas breakfast!"

Forcefully mastering a bright smile, I whooped, pumping a fist in the air. Needle barked, and Dad laughed jovially.

"Someone else is hungry! I'll go get him some food. We'll have to go to the store later for some more supplies, so after breakfast, get dressed." After he had clumped down the stairs, I stretched, gazing at Needle. The dog was currently licking his no-no area, but when he felt me looking at him, he slowly turned his head to meet my eyes.

With a shudder, I remembered the voice from earlier. You don't know a thing about me, Melody Sue Riller. And what else had it said? Something about helping each other out. I was just sleep deprived. That was it. The only reason.

Biting my lip, I stood up and sidestepped around the mutt, running my fingers through my hair absently. Looking around, it suddenly hit me how empty the whole house was. No pictures of us as tiny, annoying toddlers were hung up on the walls anymore. No little panda figurines were sitting on tables on either side of the couches. The dilapidated mug I had made in 1st grade was gone, and in its place was a blank, white wall. Our house is relatively large, at least big enough for our family of 5. And Obsidian. The only reason we were moving was because Mom had gotten a better job offer. Which was fine by me. I didn't have any friends here. No one wants to hang out with the girl with her dry sense of humor and crazy blonde hair and cat hair all over her. Sure, it may have stunk, but whatever. Whatever.

A rush of emotions were triggered inside of me, and I felt like I could be toppled over with just a brush from a butterfly's wing. Frustration. And pain. Hurt. Missing... I groaned inwardly, rubbing my eyes with my fists, trying to bottle up the excess feelings.

A nudge followed by a sharp nip to my hand got me to jump two feet and spin around to face Needle. He was whining, and pushed a tennis ball closer to my feet. I waved my uninjured hand, sucking the slight cut on the one he had lightly bit.

"Not now, dummy. Don't you see I'm going to go eat? Dad is getting you some... food... and..." I stumbled, suddenly feeling as if I was going to pass out. Waves of dizziness hit me full blast, and I fell backwards, clunking my head against the wall. Pain mixed into the swirls of darkness in my eyes, and I gasped for breath. Not again. Oh shoot, oh shoot!

Attempting to call out for my siblings turned out to be useless, and I fought to keep my eyelids open. Was I dying? Was this the end? Reaching out desperately, I grabbed onto that stupid dog's bandana, who was still standing there like an idiot, and pulled him closer to me.

To my disbelief and disappointment, he pulled away from my grasping fingers, and ran off. I couldn't keep my blue eyes open any longer. Oh dear Lord, please help me. As the blackness threatened to close in on me, I heard a sharp bark assault my eardrums. Whattttt?

"Mel! Are you okay?! MELODY!" Rachel screamed, falling to her knees beside me. She grasped my shoulders, and I could just barely make out her brown hair framing her pale face.

Simon joined her, sitting beside me and holding my hand, his face an expression of terror. Rachel jumped up, running out of my line of vision. Then, a long, pink tongue licked my face, and there he was. Needle. Had he..? I didn't have time to register what was going before I completely passed out, losing consciousness. Guess what I last saw? The ceiling. It's always there for me, that emotional plaster whiteness.

~~~~

Blinking from the bright lights, I slowly came to in a matter of minutes.

"Oh my god, Thomas. Do you think she'll be ok? Rae, Simon, what was she doing before she passed out? What was going on?"

"She's going to be fine, Lily. Just let her rest."

"No, no, no! She could have a concussion, or some serious issue in her brain. We need to take her to the emergency room-"

"On Christmas? Come on, she's FINE."

"PEOPLE DON'T JUST PASS OUT, THOMAS!"

"Mom, she's awake!"

I smiled wearily at them, sitting up. My head was POUNDING, and it felt like someone was stabbing a knife into the crevices of my skull whenever I moved. I winced, feeling the back of my head. A bump. Go figure.

"How do you feel, honey?" Mom asked, bending down to look me dead on in the eye.

Frowning, I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Just a headache. But otherwise, I'm fine."

Rachel peeked down at me, looking terrified. "What happened? Are you ok? You scared the crap out of me. Needle came to get us, barking like a psycho, so we knew something had to be wrong. When we ran out here..." She shuddered, breathing shakily.

"Needle got you? Pfft." I giggled, realizing how delirious I sounded, but not caring for once. Needle couldn't care less. He was a stupid dog, for heaven's sake!

"Yeah, he saved you! He's such a good boy." Simon bent down to hug the dog, who I hadn't noticed sitting at my feet on the couch. He gazed at me, and I swallowed.

Dad put his hands on Mom's shoulders, smiling. "See? I told you she would be completely fine."

Ignoring him, Mom raised her eyebrows. "What happened, Mel?"

I hesitated. What had happened? One moment, I was walking into the kitchen, the second, I had felt like my mind was blacking out. But hadn't I also been telling the dog I couldn't play...? I looked down at my hand, to the tiny indent of broken skin, then up at Needle. My eyes widened, and he opened his mouth slightly, thumping his tail. His eyes. They were gray.

I had a flashback to two hours earlier, when I had heard the voice. And his eyes... They had been gray.

No. No. I blinked rapidly, but nothing changed. I was frozen in my position, staring into the dog- No, creature's eyes. This couldn't be happening. I must be insane. Or something.

"Melody. Hey. Hey!" Dad snapped his fingers in front of my eyes, pulling my attention away from Needle.

"Oh, uh... I was playing with the dog. And I guess he jumped up onto me, trying to get the ball, and I fell against the wall, and passed out. It wasn't his fault though. I just- was playing." My hands were shaking so bad that I couldn't talk straight.

No one seemed to notice, and I avoided looking at the dog.
Mom sighed, standing up. "Just rest here. I'll go get you some ice and food, but you'll be okay, apparently. Be more careful, would you?"

My heart pounding loudly in my ears, I tried to tell her I was fine, but everyone insisted that I stay where I was.

Needle didn't move from his spot, and I clasped my hands together, too scared to look anywhere near him. This was too surreal. What in the world was put into my food to make me see things like this? Puzzle pieces were floating around, trying to connect, but the big picture was still missing. I tried to recount everything that had happened in the past few hours.
-I felt dizzy downstairs in the spare bedroom, where Needle was.
-His eyes turned gray and I heard a voice before I took a nap.
-I just passed out after declining his rude bite to my hand as an invitation to play.
-Needle's eyes turned gray AGAIN.

Things like this didn't just happen, though. You don't just look at your new puppy and almost pass out, unless it's from joy. (Which was obviously not one of my top 10 emotions.) Or hear voices telling you that they can help you, or that you don't know anything about them.

Again, my thoughts turned to depression, and I started to shake even more. Was I depressed? All of my heart ache from missing Obsidian was definitely genuine, and yes, I was upset. But I didn't think that it was that bad.

Pulling my knees up to my chest, I buried my face into my hands. Ugh, I was so confused. My mind might just be making up things to spur on my self pity and pain. What the heck would it mean, anyway, if Needle really did do all those things? That he was some kind of supernatural dog?!

I snorted to myself, the image of Needle in a red superman suit appearing in my brain. I really wish all of this never happened. If Obsidian had never gotten out and ran away, then Needle wouldn't be here right now. Then I wouldn't be considering the thought that I'm crazy, and then we would be in our new house, celebrating Christmas like a happy family. Right...?

After a while of contemplating, I finally decided to tell Mom and Dad about everything. Maybe we could get a therapist or something. I slipped off the couch, giving Needle a wide berth, who was just sitting there watching me with his back-to-normal, brown eyes. I kind of felt bad about avoiding him like the plague, but I was still scared. There he goes, poking his way into my heart. And it's only been 2 hours!

Breathing a sigh of relief, I started to walk into the kitchen when a familiar, warm voice flooded my head.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you. Telling Lily and Thomas Riller won't be a very good idea. You see, I'm not some conjured up character from a children's tale. I'm the real deal. And I'm sort of what you would call the villain. Now be a good girl, Melody Sue, and act like everything is normal. I won't hurt you if you cooperate. We both need a bit of help, now, don't we?"

I sucked in my breath, rigid from head to toe.

"And one more thing," the voice added, "I'm not part of your imagination. And I can prove it. Boom, bam, snap!"

A sudden yelp erupted in the kitchen, and I heard Mom curse to herself. "How the heck did that fall on my foot? I set it all the way across the table, bleep bleep bleep!" (I'll block out the rest.)

"Pretty cool, huh?" It bragged, pausing, as if waiting for applause. "Tough crowd? Anyway. Do as I say, and act as if nothing at all is wrong. Got it? You're not crazy; Let's just say you're... Specially chosen."

It was gone. I released my breath, trembling. Ok. Alright. Oh shoot.

"I won't hurt you. I promise. Why else would I have gotten your obnoxious siblings recent moments ago?"