Bethany turns away from The Crone, towards the dark waters of the lake. The surface is completely still, creating a mirror like reflection of of the full moon above. Only in one area, where the bubbles rise in loud bursts is the illusion disrupted.

The Crone continues speaking, as Bethany watches the bubbles spread over a larger and larger area of the water's surface. "But know this little one", she says, stepping closer to Bethany, "you will never be like your friends, no matter how hard you try. You will never be one of them!"

The water's surface breaks as a human form bursts up into the sky. As the figure spins through the air, Bethany can almost swear that she recognizes the person. Somersaulting, the limbs of the body flailing limply, passes overhead, and lands with a crunch on the grass behind the Crone.

Bethany takes a step towards the body, when she recognizes the battered face of Jean Vanderbilt, in the pile of twisted limbs. In the real world, Jean is one of Bethany's friends. She was the first of the group to find Bethany, alone and afraid and confused. Jean had always gone out of her way to protect Bethany; when the others had doubted her story, or didn't want her moving in with them. Of the three girls: Jean, Alexis, and Hannah, it had been Jean that Bethany had come to love the most.

Her straw blond hair was stained red above one ear, and clung in a wet mess around her narrow green eyes. The girl's neck bent at a hard angle so that her nose was almost fully under one armpit. Jean was still breathing, in sharp rasping sighs.

"You must learn to accept that you will never be one of them. They will never accept you for who you are, and so you must decide whether they are worth risking everything to you!"

The damage that Jean had taken in her incredible fall looked irreparable, but Bethany knew she had to try to help her.