• Chapter 2

    "What the..." Razsha gasped as she stared into the mirror. Everything was the same; teardrop shaped eyes, medium length dark brown straight hair, chin-length bangs that framed her face, except her eyes were no longer hazel. As she stared into the mirror, two emerald green eyes stared back at her. She closed her eyes and wished they would return to their normal color. They slowly returned to hazel. "Whew..."

    Without wasting anymore time, Razsha grabbed her keys and ran out the door. She arrived at the front desk. "Alise McCullok's room number please?"
    "Sure thing, 352, third floor."
    "Thank you!"
    Razsha jogged over to the nearest elevator and pressed the button to call the elevator down. "Room 352..." she repeated as she boarded the elevator and pressed '3'. She entered her mom's room and found her asleep on the bed. "Great, I finally get here and she's asleep," Razsha muttered.
    "She wanted you to wake her up when you got here."
    Razsha jumped at the random voice, only to find it was a doctor. Her heart was racing and the doctor tilted his head looking confused and a bit shocked. She confronted him, "What are you staring at?"
    "Oh nothing...It's just..." He paused and seemed to be thinking hard, "you look a lot like your mother."
    "Oh..." For some reason I felt strongly like he was lying. He left and Razsha searched the room for any more surprises. She calmed herself down and walked over to my mom's bed and laid my hand on her shoulder. "Mom? Wake up." Alise rolled over and opened her eyes. "Razsha? Good, you're finally here. How was school?"
    "Mom, can I ask you something important?"
    "Ok."
    "How did you end up in the woods?" Her eyes widened in shock. She described what happened..it was the same as in my dream. "Ahk!" A stabbing pain tore through her head, causing her to fall to her knees in agony. "Razsha!? What's wrong?! Talk to me!!" I looked up still gripping my head in pain. Her only response was a gasp with a look of shock and sympathy. "The leopard...in the woods..." I didn't want her to think, or know, that I was the leopard. I tried to play it off. "No, I just got a massive migraine," I said through gritted teeth.
    "Your eyes..." she stared at me intently. "W-what?!" I ran over to the mirror over the sink. My eyes had turned bright green. "Oh crap!" Razsha tried to run from the room but her muscles seized up on her and she slammed head-first into the floor.

    Suddenly I wasn't in the hospital. I rubbed my aching forehead and walked along the path I was on. It was a narrow deer path cloaked in trees on both sides. It was..nighttime?? "I must be dead..." I mumbled, surprised at how calm I sounded. I emerged into a clearing--it was the most beautiful place I had ever seen. It was a serene place, with a feral feeling to it. I was standing on a 15 foot tall cliff covered in 2 inches of soft moss. To my right was a separate cliff with a river leading to a waterfall. The waterfall sparkled like silver glitter as it emptied into a glistening pool of silver water. Everywhere around the pool and scattered on the cliffs were multicolored patches of wildflowers stained blue and white by the moonlight. Spread throughout the trees were smaller trees with branches that rose like a spiral staircase. It was so stunning I had trouble talking. "It's so..."
    "Beautiful?"
    "Yea--WHOA!!" I spun around. My eyes widened and I screamed!