Illeanna shot up in bed, eyes wide open.
She had just had the most vivid dream ever. She was in a forest, stalking something with two other girls. Somehow, even though she couldn't see what she was stalking, she could still sense where they were. Soon their subject came into view, three vampires. How Illeanna knew they were vampires, she didn't know. One of those dream things, she supposed. In any case, she and the two other girls took a moment to co-oridinate their attack, and then they rantowards them, brandishing weapons.
The fight was over in minutes. Two were staked in the heart and turned into dust, and the third has his head cut off by Illeanna's own blade. And it was at that moment that she awoke.
Illeanna turned her head towards the clock. 5:37. It was her birthday just two hours ago. She was now thirteen.
A little too restless now to go back to sleep, Illeanna got out of bed and opened her curtains. It was still dark out. She walked to her light switch and turned it on, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light.
While she had been excited about turning thirteen, her head had told her that her birthday would still feel like any other day - she never felt like she had grown older on her birthday, never felt anything different about herself.
But it appeared that this time her head was wrong. Illeanna had never felt so full of energy. She felt stronger, more alive. It was exhilarating. So this was what being thirteen felt like! No wonder everyone looked forward to it.