Author’s Note: Here is the second edit of The Awakening, now appropriately called Savior of the Supernatural. I uploaded it because I think I will still need assistance from my readers here. This time, it won’t take me three years to write the story, and there shouldn’t be half as many inconsistencies or grammatical errors. I’m working harder on planning and improvement as I type this. I hope you enjoy. Readers who’ve read this before should re-read this, as it will be significantly different from the first draft.

Preface: The Curse of Curiosity

I walked through the forest, too eager to look back. I was safe – from getting lost, at least – as long as I stuck to the middle path, though I hadn’t seen a wild animal or human in these woods yet.

Not to say danger would have stopped me anyway.

The path abruptly ended at a faulty bridge. And this bridge, likely to fall apart at any moment, led to the broken gate on the other side. There were words above the gate, hardly decipherable. One could see a black S, maybe an ivy covered R, if they looked close enough. I knew it used to read ‘Shadow Grove.’ I also knew that it was supposedly haunted.

Sometimes I would enter without hesitation; other times, I would wonder what about Shadow Grove kept me coming back. It was a creepy place, lonely and deserted. Everything about it screamed of death. Perhaps I liked the idea that I was the only one brave enough (or stupid enough) to come to Shadow Grove, alone, on a regular basis.

The truth of the matter, though, was that I came to see him.

I made sure to avoid all the breaks in the bridge when I crossed. Falling in the marsh below would be an unnecessary issue.

Benches unoccupied for years sat to the right. On the left was a smaller gate similar to the entrance – black, rusty, and covered with vines. It surrounded the legendary Shadow Grove playground.

Rusty slides, swings that moved of their own accord, laughter like whispers from those I could not see....none of that grabbed my attention, not like the boy sitting on a bench in the middle.

It was as if he had no idea I existed. I would take a quick glimpse and see him there, his brownish-blond hair matted to his head. No matter what, whether the day was rainy or hot, he would always be there with his head buried atop his knees.

At first I thought he was depressed; than I thought he was angry. In the end, I decided that he was exhausted...but of what?

I told myself that today I would find out. Today would be different. I would gather the guts to walk into the playground and talk to him; I would figure out why he just sits there. I was way too infatuated with him.

I walked closer to the gate, cleared my throat, and proceeded to stare. What would I say to this guy I’ve been watching for two months? I was being stupid. Maybe it was best I—

“Alecia,” he said. “When are you going to talk to me?”

I nearly screamed. It wasn’t just hearing his voice that terrified me; it was watching him move, and seeing his silver eyes, somehow too grey to even be human. He wasn’t a figment of my imagination. He saw me just as well as I saw him. At that point in time, that was the cause of me turning back around and running away in fear.

Later I would see his first acknowledgement of me as the curse that trapped me in the supernatural world for life.