"Alicianna, wouldn't you please hurry?" I had called out to her. My little sister, who was only five years younger than myself, seventeen to be exact, was busy making herself beautiful for our little picnic in the park with all of the socialites. She knew mother would want to impress the neighbors and prissy folk with her two lovely daughters.

"Be right down!" her cheery, bell like voice replied. Everything about her was graceful and dainty. Everything a woman wanted to be.

Of course, Alicianna was naturally beautiful. I, on the other hand, had to shape shift into a beautiful blonde woman mother had seen in a magazine. Mother and father had spent a pretty penny on our dresses, and I knew to swallow my pride and to just put the damn thing on.

I checked myself out in the mirror, turning to fully take in the beautiful, blue sunday dress my mother had found. I wasn't in any form but Aaralyn at the moment. The dress didn't suit my lanky frame. I couldn't fill it out. I shifted into the pretty blonde woman my mother had picked out, and I watched as my long, black hair receded slightly and changed to a pale, bleached blonde. My eyes shifting from the eery white to a gorgeous shade of blue. My body filled out the dress wonderfully now. But, I wasn't me. Not really. I was staring at a stranger.

I hated changing shapes. I just wanted to be myself. But, mother wouldn't have me embarrassing her. Not in front of all those families. I was 25 and not married. I was a shame to my family, and today would be, no doubt, a matchmaking day for me. And, I had no real say in the matter.

At the picnic, mother, father, Alicianna, my two brothers, and I made our way towards some friends, whom we hugged and gushed over. I looked around for anyone my age. Not many that looked as bored as me. I sighed to myself and stood in place beside my sister.

Throughout the day, I got a lot of attention from potential suitors while my sister had to sit and watch. My mother had picked a woman for me to transform into that far outweighed my sister's natural beauty. Towards the end of the day, my sister and I were alone, sipping water from the plastic cups they'd handed us.

"Isn't this boorish?" I chided. "Don't they have anything better to do?"

Alicianna huffed. "You like the attention. For once, it isn't focused on me," she replied a bit resentfully.

"I'd gladly hand these suitors over to you," I told her. "Not like I want them."

"No, you just cheated."

I frowned. "How did I cheat?"

"By using your pretty little power to make yourself gorgeous. If you were yourself, you'd be sitting all alone with Frank." She pointed to a chair where a lonely, fat, nerdy looking older man sat staring at everything around him, bored.

"Brattiness doesn't become of you, Alicianna," I retorted. "You just can't stand the fact that the attention is on me and not on you for once in your life. You aren't as beautiful as I am today."

I could see the tears brim to the surface as she ran off, away from me. Rolling my eyes, I hurried after her. I saw her not too far ahead, going to head over the road, running in a daze. "Alicianna!" I called after her, hoping she'd stop so I could apologize.

I saw a car turning the bend, going a little faster than it should have. Alicianna wasn't paying attention and would be hit at this rate. Hurrying after her, I transformed into an angel I had touched once and used the iron strength in the wings to shield the both of us from getting hurt.

"ARe you ok?" I asked her. She nodded, realizing what could have happened if I hadn't been there.

Folding my wings, I looked at the driver, who had hit his head on the steering wheel and had been knocked unconscious. There were spectators swarming us, having heard the horn and the crash. My brothers and father, upon seeing that we could have been hurt, hurried to our side, checking for injuries. My wings hurt a bit, but they'd be fine soon.

"Monster," someone said, shaking their head, backing away slowly.

I turned, looking at them, how could they be scared of me? I transformed back into the blonde woman in the catalog. A gasp rippled through the crowd. My father stepped forward, and my brothers pushed me behind them. "My daughter, Aaralyn would never hurt any of you. She is not a monster, I assure you."

"We must destroy the monster before it kills us!" another shouted.

"If you aren't fighting with us, you're as good as that monster!" a third member of the audience shouted.

My father and brothers were at a loss for words. Only my father was a shifter. But, he never used his ability any more. I was the only real monster in this family. Suddenly, someone took out a gun and aimed it at my head. Some reached up, grabbed my hand and there was a gunshot as my brother lunged forward to grab the gun.

Screams could be heard as people started running about. Who was shot? Mama? Daddy? Alicianna? Roy? Damon? I scurried along, trying to fight the few people that grabbed my hands and held me down. There was too much going on, and I reverted back to my normal, weak, black haired self.

The shock was evident, and I used the opportunity to slip out of their grasp and disappear into the crowd, looking for my scattered family. I found them all huddled together. Running to them, I broke the huddle and found my sister lying dead in the middle. The blood pooling out of the hole in her chest.

My mother turned to me then. "You did this. You did this!" she screamed at me, slapping me in the face. "Because of you, your sister is dead."

"She would have been hit if I hadn't done something!" I cried, tears flowing down my face. Better than this. Now, our family name is tarnished. How can we continue to live here? You, shameful girl. Don't come home."

"Mama, no!" I cried, clinging to her arm. "You can't mean that, Mama!" She got up, shook me off and headed away from me.

I looked over to Roy and Damon, their heads down. Father picked up Alicianna and followed my mother. The boys were quiet, their eyes full of sadness, pain, and worst of all, I could see they all blamed me, too.