It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Crymson walked home with a smile on her face. Every person she walked past also seemed to be happy, but she knew that none of them could be as happy as she was. Today was her birthday. Crymson had always loved birthdays, she loved receiving presents and having people compliment her and wish her well. She loved having parties planned just to celebrate the day she was born. Crymson was selfish and materialistic and she knew it, but she didn't care. She still managed to have lots of friends and lots of boyfriends so she figured people must just like those qualities.

Crymson was anxious to arrive home. She knew her parents would probably organize a big party for her, bigger than any of the parties in previous years. This year was special, because this year she turned 16. For several years she had awaited this day. She couldn't wait to find out what everyone had gotten her. She especially couldn't wait to see what Maeken had bought for her. Maeken had been her best friend since she was 3, she told him everything. She couldn't wait to see him at the party. He had been away from school for the past couple of days, but she knew he would be there tonight.

******

Crymson could feel her heart beating faster. She was so excited about the party she could barely contain herself. She wore a red sparkly dress that was short, but not too short. It had thin spaghetti straps and she was wearing a pearl necklace that had exactly 16 pearls. It was a gift from her parents and she loved it. She combed her thin dark red hair and tied it back with a ribbon. She applied her makeup and then twirled in front of the mirror to make sure she looked perfect. And she did. Not one hair was out of place. She sprayed perfume in the air and walked under it to capture the scent. It smelled like vanilla, her favourite scent. She could hear the guests arriving but decided to wait in her room for a while to plan her entrance. She imagined herself walking down their long staircase into a room filled with people. They would all turn to face her, smiles on their faces, and clap when they saw her. A smile crept onto her face at the thought of how much they all must love her. Her daydream was interrupted when she heard Maeken's voice. She could hear him talking to her mother. She couldn't hear what they were saying and she didn't really care. Crymson was about to leave the room when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Crymson, you up here?"

"Ya, I'm in my room."

She stood in the centre of her room and watched as Maeken turned the corner and stood in her doorway.

"Hey, your mom said you were probably up here primping."

"Shut up."

"I didn't say it, she did. But you look good Crymson."

"Thanks."

"So listen, I wanted to give you your present before the party. It just gets so crazy once things get started and I was kind of hoping you would wear it at the party."

"Wear?"

"Just open it."

Crymson took the small silver box from Maeken's hand. The box was held together by a small red ribbon. She looked up at Maeken and he motioned for her to open it. She pulled on one end of the ribbon and let it fall to the floor. She gently opened the box and put the lid on her dresser. White tissue paper lined the box and she saw something sparkle underneath it. She moved the paper aside to reveal the silver charm bracelet. Crymson pulled the bracelet out and let the box fall to floor where the ribbon lay. She noticed that Maeken had already put charms on the bracelet. There were 16 of them. Each one was the same silver colour of the bracelet and had a unique shape. Some looked like people, others like monsters from story books; she didn't know why Maeken had chosen those shapes but she did notice that each one had a different coloured stone in the centre.

"Maeken, it's beautiful."

"Really? I'm glad you like it. I wanted to get you something special. I got it from this little store downtown. The owner said that these charms are supposed to be guardians that will watch over the wearer of the bracelet and protect them. At least that's the legend."

"Well I don't know about all that legend stuff but it's really pretty. Thank you. Can you put it on me?"

Maeken took the bracelet from her hand and clasped it around her wrist. Crymson felt a sudden flash of energy course through her body. She glanced at her wrist and thought she saw the white stone sparkle. She assumed it had caught the light and thought that this was the best present yet. She looked back up at Maeken and smiled.

"Let's get this party started."

******

Several hours passed and Crymson was having the time of her life. Suddenly the lights went out. Crymson knew what that meant, it was time for the cake. Her mother carried it out on a silver platter. It was a vanilla cake with strawberries, her favourite. On the top it read 'Happy Birthday Crymson' and sixteen white candles lined the perimeter. Everyone in the room began singing and moved closer to form a circle around her. Her mother set the platter down on the table.

"Make a wish honey."

Crymson didn't know what to wish for. Everything had been so perfect she couldn't imagine it could get any better. She looked around the room and saw everyone's smiling faces. She also noticed the mountain of gifts in the corner of the room. She looked at her bracelet and remembered the moment she shared with Maeken earlier in the day. She couldn't imagine life could get any better, and when she looked back at the cake she knew exactly what she wanted.

"I wish this day would never end."

Crymson felt a strange pulsing coming from her wrist. She looked down but quickly had to shield her eyes from the bright flash of light. She felt energy coursing through her body in the same way as when she first put the braclet on. She didn't understand what was happening and began to feel scared. She crouched down on the floor and put her arms across her face to shield herself from the light. She was like that for several minutes before she heard a familiar voice. It was her mother.

"Silly girl. What are you doing on the floor? Come stand up and blow out your candles."

Crymson didn't understand what had just happened, but everyone seemed to be acting normal.

"Did anyone else see that flash of light?" Crymson asked.

Everyone looked at her with confused expressions on their faces. Her mother stepped toward her.

"I didn't see anything. Maybe you're just overtired from all the excitement. Why don't you sit down for a couple of minutes."

Crymson took a seat on a chair against the wall. She watched as everyone continued on laughing and talking as though nothing had happened. She thought maybe she was just seeing things and really was overtired after all. She was about to get up to go find Maeken when she put her hand on her wrist to feel the bracelet. When she touched the bracelet she realized something was wrong. She looked down and to her horror Crymson saw that all the charms were gone.

******

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ok this is a very different type of story for me, I think I've been watching too much anime lately. This story probably doesn't make a lot of sense right now, but hopefully it will in later chapters.