Ashlin fell back on her bed and covered her head with a pillow. Then she screamed.... Loudly. So loudly that she had to choke off her frustrated cry so that Mother and Father wouldn't bust down the door with two barrel chested guards at their sides. Throwing the pillow to the ground, she sighed heavily. Being a teenage... Sucked. It blowed. It sucked [/i]and<span style="font-style: italic"> blowed! She had five tests tomorrow which included a physical exam ('cause she was so super duper fantastic at sports) and a magical evaluation after school. And wouldn't that last bit be the best of all? She hated that stupid crone of a teacher. She hated classical literature and word history. She hated the fact that she couldn't complain to her parents about it all since she </span>chose[i] to go to a normal school. And don't even get her started about her period.<br/><br/>She picked up the black tome she had been reading before her little tirade. She needed to memorize three encantations in the next five minutes or there was no way she'd have enough time to study for music history. As she touched the book, her fingers lovingly caressed the aged, black leather. She traced the symbol printed on the book, a triangle with a circle in the center, over and over until she was in something of a trance. She would do this to calm herself down, find her center. The shadows that ensconced her in this state did not terrify her, but gave her solace, gave her a home.<br/><br/>She completed her homework in this state, calmly and peacefully reading over her notes. She did not absorb anything, but she knew that in the morning all the information would be available to her. Suddenly, a large disturbance disrupted her trance and violently threw her back to the waking world's reality. She dropped her book, hands shaking. She struggled to calm her body's trembling and her erratic heartbeat. Her veins had begun to look black, but as she regained control, they receded and she was calm again. Upset at the shock wave that had nearly done her some serious damage, she got up to her window, a large one that spanned an entire wall. She threw open the curtains and looked out at the city from her tenth story window. She searched for whatever the hell caused that magical surge, but the night offered no answers.<br/><br/>"What the hell happened?"