Dance in the Dark.

"The Voice of the Dead is an extrodinary Power that's so rare, you know, like the lady on the Ghost Whisperer? There are people like that, some fakes, a few real, but still.."

"Daddy, what is it?"

Daddy sighed. "The Voice of the Dead is when a person can hear people who have passed on speak to them. Sometimes the spirits are vengful, some are helpful."

"Did you know a woman named Annalissa?"

Daddy shook his head. "Why?"

"Because I saw her. We talked. She told me about vampires...you and Uncle Stefan are vampires...mama's a...dhampir? Yeah, dhampir. And I'm a hybrid. She said her family was the same way. She has a daughter in Maine that's really sick, though."

"She was a dhampir?"

"Killed by some guy's family."

"What guy?"

"Ashton?"

Daddy's eyes were wide.

"She was killed because she was a dhampir. She gave mama the dhampir's Power, too. And her daughter's name is...Roza!"

"How long ago was she killed?"

"Eighteen years ago I think? I know that's how long she's been mama's protector. She told me about vervain and hybrids and vampires and everything. She also told me I'd get my memory back but it'd take a few steps? But still, what exactly is the Voice of the Dead?"

"If you saw Annalissa than you were in the Spirit Realm which is connected to the Voice of the Dead. The Voice of the Dead, in your case, is when you can hear well, the voices of the dead. They can warn you about things if they're on your side, or torture you terribly if they hate you. Most spirits would hate any vampire with this Power because they're vampires. But by the sounds of it, you're on their good side."

"Why do I have this Power?"

"Most vampires have some sort of Power. Like compulsion, basically all vampires can do that. Others, such as myself, can turn into animals. I can turn into a wolf and a crow."

"What about Uncle Stefan?"

Daddy chuckled at that. "You're uncle is an odd story that I'll tell you later."

"What about mama?"

"You would know your mom was in her dhampir state when her eyes were multi-coloured and her attitude completely changed. But still."

"So the Voice of the Dead is hearing dead people?"

"Pretty much. It can be very deadly, sometimes fatal, if some entities are hostile and they get too much control. If you let the Power control you, you can become taken over by spirits. Sometimes just one in general."

I sighed and kept walking, that conversation still swirling in my mind. It had been about two days since then, but I still couldn't get over it. Both days Daddy refused to let me to go to school to make sure I would be okay. Today I'm going back and I'm going to feel so bad for not remembering any of my friends...

"Behind you, Alice! Quickly!" Annalissa?

I spun quickly on my heel and managed to duck as sometime sharp and pointy came my way. "What the hell?!" I yelled. Before I could be turned into a Swiss Cheese Alice, I booked it as fast as I possibly could, still sensing someone right behind me.

As I ran, my backdrop of Mystic Falls seemed to change into a misty forest in the middle of the night.

"What the fricken hell!" I yelled again, jumping through trees.

"In a Naruto type reference your mom would be using, you're in the middle of a genjutsu."

"What the hell is that?!"

"When your surroundings seem to change but it's really just the other person creating an illusion."

"Why me?!"

"Because you're a hybrid with extrodinary Powers. Hide somewhere and try to feel the presence."

"How? They're right on my ass and I can't even see them!"

"But you can sense them. So close your eyes and focus on where you're running and who's around you."

I did what she said. I closed my eyes, kept running, hoped I wouldn't smack into a tree, and focused on sensing who and what was around me.

Annalissa's ghostly aura was white and on my right, I could sense the trees of the illusion, and some black and crimson aura behind me.

"Black and crimson? That's the signature aura of the Shaddix family."

"Aster, this is Alice. Alice, Aster Shaddix." Lucky said, still smiling like the big bowl of sunshine she is.

"Aster!" I yelled, remembering a piece of something. "Aster Shaddix! I remember him and Lucky vaguely!"

"Yes, your friends."

"But Aster is a Shaddix, so why is he or someone in his family trying to turn me into swiss cheese ala Alice?!"

"Not everyone in the Shaddix bloodline is good. I can give you a piece of my Power to see deeper into who it is at a price."

"What price?" I was starting to get tired.

"In exchange to be able to see full auras and detect the people the auras belong to, I have to become half of you."

"What?!"

"I'd sort of be like another personna."

"You mean like in Yu-Gi-Oh how Bakura and Yugi have the millenium items and have those spirits in them?" I'd been watching that on my days off.

"Yes, much like that."

"So would you actually be part of me like Bess and Tess in One Life To Live or more like the Theif King Bakura and Atem in the objects?" One Life To Live too. Hey, I got bored!

"Either really."

"Which one's quicker and less dangerous?"

"Fusing souls is quicker but not less dangerous. I'd definetly be like Tess and Bess, showing up randomly until you can control the power."

"I'll work with it. Just..do whatever you have to do now before I pass out!"

In an instant, I could feel her aura inside my soul and suddenly was aware of everything around me and fell completely off the tree landing on someone.

"ASTER?!" I yelled, seeing who I had landed on.

"ALICE?!" He yelled back at the same time I yelled his name.

Than who was trying to turn me into Swiss Cheese...?