Dark Days


By: Di-Di Lewis

Prologue
It was a dark day; the blackened storm clouds covered the morning sun. I rose slowly from my bed when my light was turned on. Slowly I changed and went downstairs for a bowl of cereal. I grabbed my backpack and went outside to wait for the bus. I hadn’t sat outside but for ten minutes in the cold wet rain before the bus finally arrived. The bus was noisy, as usual, and I grudgingly climbed aboard. The bus ride seemed to last a century or two before, and when the bus finally stopped at the dreaded destination, there was a layer of fog covering the stone-hard ground.
Lightning struck the ground behind the stone-cold building. I was shoved off the bus, and slowly I walked up the dreaded concrete steps into a building like a prison; serving crappy food during lunch, trapping you within its brick-hard walls for eight hours a day. Dreaded by kids across the nation, adults call it school, but I call it my death. And thus, this dreadful day began.


Chapter 1
“Morning Mom,” I called down the hall to my sleeping mother, “I’m off to school, I love you!” I walked out in the morning dawn and I sat down and waited for the school bus to arrive.
The bus came after a few minutes, and I climbed onto the usual noisy bus. I had to force my way to my assigned seat at the back of the bus, and I sat down, all alone. I reached into my dark red bag and grabbed the book I was supposed to be reading for my English 1 class, and I started to read. By the time we reached the next stop, there were storm clouds already covering the sky, but I was happy. Something strange happened though, we stopped a little before the next stop, there was a boy standing there, in the rain, and then, when he came onto the bus, he sat down next to me.
I looked up from my book and said, “Hi, I haven’t seen you around before, are you new here?” This boy just nodded his head and kept staring out the window with a pained expression on his face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him, there was no reply; he just kept looking out that window, watching as the leafless trees flew by. I reached up and touched his shoulder, he looked at me then, and I smiled, he smiled back, but it looked as if it pained him to do so.
“Are you OK?” I asked him in a gentle tone. He looked up at me with sad eyes and just shook his head. I decided not to push matters further.
He quickly pulled his gaze away from mine and pulled out a schedule. I looked over his shoulder and saw his schedule.
Class Room #
Teacher
1. Band Band Hall
Mrs. McGrammins
2. Geometry PAP 107
Mr. Manor
3. English 1 PAP 124
Ms. Allison
4. Lunch Off Campus
Off Campus
5. World Geography PAP 217
Mr. Alibillone
6. Biology PAP 304
Mrs. Allimony
7. Spanish 1 227
Mrs. Henry

“Do you want to see my schedule?” he asked me, I nodded. He handed it to me and I took it from his hands. I have so many classes with him, the only one I didn’t have with him was Spanish, I was taking French.
“We have so many classes together,” I told him, “I can show you where to go, if you want me to.” He nodded, and then he smiled.
The bus finally stopped at the school, lightning struck behind the building. We got off the bus together, and there was a layer of fog covering the ground. Together we walked into the building, he told me that he needed to talk to the band director so he could get music and a cubby for his instrument, and then he walked off. I went into the band hall to get my mellophone, then, I went outside to the field where we practice marching.
Fifteen minutes later, the boy on the bus came out with a silver mellophone in his left hand. Mrs. McGrammins came up to me and said that the boy would be my shadow, if that was OK with me, I told her that it was perfectly fine with me.
When the boy had made his way to me, I asked him his name. “James,” he replied.
“That’s a cool name, James, I like it. Are you ready for band?” I asked.
“Yeah,” was his one word reply. We walked off to my spot; I showed him all the sets, he caught on really quickly.
“Next off, geometry,” I said with fake enthusiasm.
“Do you not like geometry?” he asked inquisitively.
“I love geometry,” I replied as we were putting up our instruments.
“I know this may seem random,” he said, “but, what’s your name? I already told you mine, so I want to know yours now.
At the moment it seemed harmless enough, so I told him, “My names Violeen,” I smiled. The bell rang to go to the next class, we started heading down the hall. As we were walking, I asked him a question that I normally wouldn’t ask someone, “Where are you from?”
 “I’m from Texas, why?” he asked.
“Oh, just wondering. Are you ready for geometry?” I asked as we turned the corner. He stopped, but I didn’t, then I noticed that he wasn’t walking beside me anymore, so I turned around. I really wish I hadn’t done that, I saw this hideous beast, it had huge scaly wings, a long tale with spikes on the end, then it looked at me, I nearly dropped at that moment, but James had silently appeared behind me and caught me before I could hit the ground. Slowly things started turning black, then everything was black, then I fainted.
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Next thing I know I’m lying on a bed with a bright light shining over my head. “What was that?” I asked.
“That was an Algremendoza,” came a familiar voice. Then a blurry figure came into the light, then it slowly came into focus, it was James.
“What’s an Algaremendoza?” I asked.
“It’s pronounced Algremendoza, and it was a beast from the Past World,” he told me.
“The what world?” I questioned.
“The Past World, something that comes after the first world, but before the one you’re on right now, only special people can see it because it technically doesn’t exist,” he answered.
“Am I one of those special people?” I looked up at him.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out, we aren’t quite sure yet, but right now, you seem like a likely candidate.”
“That’s cool, are you one of those special people?”
 “Yes.”
“OK, so, how did I get here?”
“I brought you here after you fainted after seeing the Algremendoza. You’re safe here, and you will be as long as you don’t go off the grounds.” I was warned.
“I promise I won’t leave. I’m just wondering, but, where are we?”
“We’re in a place that I doubt you’ve ever heard of before…”
“Where?” I interrupted.
“We are on a planet called Kimieneras.”
“We’re on a different planet?!?” I almost yelled.
“Yes.”
“But how can we be on a different planet?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t quite figured that out just yet, but all you need to do is lay back down and get some sleep. I’ll see you later, I promise.” Then he just left; shortly after, I fell asleep, and I didn’t wake up for a while.
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I don’t know how long I was asleep, but when I woke up, everything was dark, there was no bright light shining over my head, I only heard voices, I didn’t bother to pay any attention to them. The voices grew louder, as if they were approaching me; I heard the pitter patter of feet hitting the ground.
The feet stopped, and I looked up; I almost screamed, but I held my tongue. The creatures looked at me, they were somewhat like that thing in the school hall, but they didn’t have wings; it seemed as if they were trying to smile at me, but it only creeped me out even more.
Then, one of them did something absolutely strange, it reached out and picked me up, but it never touched me. I was lifted up, I don’t know how far, then I was taken somewhere; I tried to get away, but it seemed as if the thing that was holding me up had also immobilized me. I couldn’t move, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t. Then, something apparently strange to the creatures, I yelled one word, “STOP!!!!” The moment I said this, I was dropped onto the ground. Apparently the ground changed, because when I landed it was soft, and when I stood up, it was hard again.
I looked up at the creatures; they backed away from me, as if I was some horrible monster. Then I turned my head, just to see if it really was me they were backing away from, there was nothing there, just dull grey walls. I sighed, relieved that there was nothing there. I realized then that they must be scared of me, but why would they be approaching me with hostile grins on their faces? They kept coming in my direction, they were hissing, spitting, growling, but they walked right on past me, they didn’t stop, they just kept going.
What were they looking at, what were they scared of? I asked myself. I turned around again, this time there was something else there, it was horrible; it had wings of fire, teeth like daggers, black pits for it’s eyes. It seemed empty, as if there was nothing inside it. The creatures that had brought me here kept approaching it, then they attacked, claws out, wings spread. This was truly a glorious fight, there was golden blood seeping from the Algremendoza’s body, black from the other. I kept staring, not wanting to interrupt them, then something grabbed me from behind. I screamed, everything stopped, the creatures looked back at me, but the distance between us was growing, they seemed to get farther and farther away, smaller and smaller.
The walls seemed to pass by rather quickly, there were pictures, they just whizzed by before I could get a good look at them. I looked up, and I saw who had grabbed me, it wasn’t James, it was something else.
“Who are you? What are you?” I screamed at it.
“I’m James, and I’m not human, if that’s what you’re wondering,” he told me.
“Well, that answers that, now I know that the one who sat next to me on the bus was some creature from the unknown.”
“Are you OK?” he asked, as if he really cared.
“Oh no, I’m perfectly fine, I mean, I did just find out that you aren’t human, there were these creatures that are fighting over me right now…” I stopped because James changed back into a human; he leaned over and whispered in my ear.
“It’s OK, I’m here to help you, my kind doesn’t just leave one of its own to die, or to be tortured by one of those kind of creatures.” I leaned away from him.
“I’m human, why wouldn’t I be?” I asked.
“Please don’t get mad at me, but you are the one sent to Earth as a baby, the one everyone’s been looking for, the one anyone will do anything to do to get their hands on. Thing is, you’re my baby sister.” I stood up, I looked at him, I had no clue as to how I could be related to him, but apparently I was.
“How can I be related to you? I’ve never seen you before, I don’t even know what you are,” I told him, “I don’t even know where we are.”
“We are on a different planet, I already told you that, don’t you listen? Gheese, and I thought you’d be a better listener,” he sighed exasperated.
“Well I’m sorry that I’m not like what you want me to be, I never have been, and I certainly do not plan on being so any time soon,” I said stubbornly.
“You certainly sound like someone who would be my little sister. Do you want to know what mom named you?” He asked me.
“Uhh, sure, I guess so,” I answered.
“Arianna, your name’s Arianna,” he told me matter of factly.
“OK, well, can we go now, can we leave and get out of this dreadful place?” I wondered.
“As soon as we find a way out of this dreadful place, then we can get out…” he said sadly.
“WHAT?!? You mean to say that you don’t know how to get out? So we’re trapped here until something comes and destroys us? We’re doomed.” I said, completely upset and scared.
“Calm down Arianna, it’s going to be OK,” he said calmly.
“Are you really telling me to CALM DOWN?!? Since when did you have a right to tell me to calm down, you’re the one who got us into this mess, you’re the one to blame for all that happened, all that is happening. You know this right?”
“Yes, but…”James said sadly.
“You agree don’t you, that you’re the one to blame for this mess?” I questioned.
“I guess so.” He looked down.
“Aha! You admit that you’re responsible!!” I smiled.
“Pipe down Arianna, do want one of those creatures to find us?” James questioned in a hushed voice.
“No, I don’t want one of those creatures to find us,” I said in a voice a lot quieter than I had been speaking in before, “Why in the world would I want one of those creatures to find us?”
“I don’t know, maybe because you’re roaring as loud as a lion!!” he almost screeched at me.
“Stop yelling James, you’re making my head hurt, I don’t like it, just stop it!!” I pulled my hands to cover my ears, my head throbbing, my vision going blurry; I didn’t like this, not one bit. I felt this pain growing in my gut, and it was horrible. I looked up at my brother, the pain was evident in my eyes. “James,” I whispered. He put a finger to my lip and grabbed my arm. I was dragged away from where we were, down the hall and around the corner into another, dark, hall.
“What’s wrong?” he asked me, but by then, there was nothing wrong, actually, I felt nothing at all, I couldn’t even feel my own legs.
I tried to speak, but no words escaped my lips, it was as if something was restraining my ability to do anything. I looked up at him, but it seemed as if he couldn’t see me. Then I heard footsteps.
“Who’s there?” I wanted to scream, but instead, it was my brother who called it out. There came no reply, everything went silent, there was virtually no sound, then all the light disappeared. There was nothing left to do, all we could do was sit and wait for our doom. I was scared, real scared, and all I did was hug my brother, just because he was the only thing I could feel.
Then I saw a small dot of white appear far off in the distance, it was coming closer, and closer, and yet even closer, it was scaring me. I hugged my brother, clinging onto him for dear life. This was the most I’d ever been scared in my whole life. I know that this moment right now will not be the worst I have yet to face, that the worst is yet to come, but I still have to deal with this right now, and I couldn’t do anything about it.
The light came straight for me, it touched me, and then I was sucked into it, my brother left behind. I screamed, I couldn’t leave behind the one thing that I knew in this new and dreadful world. I had to get out of here, but the question was how to get out of here. Then something happened, a personage came and approached me, it spoke in a monotone voice, “Hello Princess Arianna, glad to finally get to see you at last, after waiting all those long years in complete darkness, there is light at last. We are so glad to see that you are here.”
“What in the world are you?” I asked, but my voice seemed not to change its tone.
“We are something that you do not need to know about just yet, all you need to know is that we are here to help you, Princess Arianna.”
 “Since when am I a princess?” I asked inquisitively.
“Since you were born to the King and Queen. Darling, you must hurry up and get out of here, stay away from those horrible creatures outside, and you will be safe.”
“How can I be sure that I can trust you?” I asked.
“You just can.”
“What creatures are you talking about anyway?” I questioned, “Why should I trust you?”
“The creatures that fought over you; and you can trust us because we know who you are, where you came from, why you are here, and all that other nonsense.”
“You’re lying, why should I trust you?” I asked, “There’s no reason that I should trust you.”
“But we know who you are, isn’t that good enough? We thought that you would be fine with us knowing who you are, not that that matters anyway, but still, you should trust us.”
 “ There is no way that I will ever trust you, I know when someone’s lying to me, and you are lying right now.” I stated matter-of-factly.
“We don’t care; you should trust us because we are telling the truth!”
 “You are not telling the truth, I know it, you are lying,” I nearly screamed, “There is no way I could ever trust this strange creature that just trapped me in a glowing ball of light!”
“You must trust us, we know things, we always speak the truth, you must trust us!” Near the end of what they said, they were screeching.
“Why are you yelling?” I yelled back at them, then they came forward and seized me by the arms, “Let me go! I want to leave, I don’t want to stay here any longer, and just let me go!”
At that moment, there was a sudden darkness that overcame the both of us, it was pitch black, but I the thing that had grabbed me screeched and let go. “I promise I won’t do it ever again, you can have her back, we don’t need her after all,” the creature said, “You can have her.”
Then the darkness left, and with it, the creature that I have yet to see. Now I am back with my brother, I don’t know why I left, or what that thing wanted with me, but now I am back with my brother, and now I’m safe.


Chapter 2
“What just happened?” A very tired James asked.
“I have no clue; I don’t even understand what happened. Did you see that globe of light?” I questioned. There was a light like that of the morning sun in the room, but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
“What globe of light, Arianna, there was no globe of light, I’m sorry.”
“I remember being pulled into it, and then I was told that I was a princess, but I know that they were lying to me. I’m just wondering, but what were those things that were fighting over me in the hall back there?” I really wanted to know what they were so I could identify them later, or find things out about them.
“I don’t know, I’m sorry, but all I know is that those creatures are very dangerous, and that there is something that wants you, but I don’t know what it is,” James whispered unknowingly. His eyebrows creased, lost in thought. I shook his arm, trying to bring him back to whatever this planet was called, but he just kept staring ahead of him. “Get behind me,” he said, his voice urgent and troubled, “NOW!”
I did as he told me to, right as I got behind him, one of the creatures that had been fighting in the hall, the one that had fought by itself, came towards us. Its approach didn’t slow until it drew very near to where we were. It moved my brother aside with a swipe of its powerful claws, luckily James did not get hurt. The creature looked down, and smiled a horrible smile, a smile that showed all of its dagger-like teeth. Whatever it was reached forward, its claws outstretched, and grabbed me, I screamed as loud as I could, but there was no one that would help me out there, so the cry was useless, the only thing that it did do was wake my brother up. He stood up, staggering, with an outstretched hand, calling out my name, he ran after me, but the creature that had me was going too fast for him, and he quickly grew out of breath.
I called for him, I screamed out his name, I pounded on the creatures large arms, and yet, I failed to break free from this horrible creature’s firm grasp. Then I cried, tears streamed down my face, I couldn’t help myself. I wanted my life to be how it used to be, normal, without any strange creatures picking me up and taking me away from my family. I wanted things to be normal again. Strange things were happening here, things that I didn’t like, there was nothing good here, today was truly a dark day.
The creature carried me for quite some time, I don’t know how much time, but it was a long time. When it finally set me down, we were in a dark cave, a place where no light could enter, and I was scared. I felt rope being pulled tightly around me, but I didn’t know why. Soon I was immobilized, it scared me. I was in complete darkness, tied up, and there was this strange unknown creature holding me prisoner in its cave.
“What do you want from me?” I screamed, losing my breath.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” came a quiet voice from somewhere in the shadows, “the ropes get tighter each time you breathe out, so it’s a very slow and painful death.”
I moved my arms slightly, that was more that earlier. I then pushed my arms outward, “You’re lying!” I screeched, “I don’t know who you are, but you’re lying. Where are you?” My voice echoed in the darkness.
Then came a voice quieter than a whisper, “I am over here, please help me,” the voice sounded pained, as if it had struggled to force those words out. I started then to try and find light, so I could see whatever it was that had called out for help. Then, as if from thin air, came a small globe of blue light, I blew on it, hoping it would go away, but it didn’t, it just sat put in the air. I then wished for a brighter light so I could see more than what was in the small area in which the globe of light penetrated. The light grew, it was so bright that there was temporary blindness. I looked around, and what I saw was not what I had expected, instead of being like a cave that you would have normally seen back on earth, this cave was like a box, the opening was sealed off, so there was no chance of any kind of escape, so I was pretty much doomed, there was no way out. The walls were silver, instead of a brown that would be expected, the ceiling was flat, there were no stalagmites hanging from the top.
The scariest thing of all there was that there was no one else in the cave, or whatever this thing was. I was truly scared, I didn’t know what to do in this kind of situation, this was completely unexpected, it was as if I was in a metal box, so that there was no chance of escape. Then I noticed something, a small movement, but it was something, it was over in the corner farthest from me. “Who’s there?” I called out. There was no reply, so I walked over to where I had seen the motion, and I saw a small figure, clothed in rags, thick rope twisted around it. I reached over and gently touched its shoulder, it jolted and sat up so suddenly that I stood back, afraid, I had never seen it before. Then I noticed that it was like me, a human, but wait, I wasn’t a human, so it was probably something else. “Are you OK?” I questioned it.
“I’m perfectly fine,” it replied rudely, “I don’t need any help from such an insolent child such as yourself, so just back off.”
“Were you the one that said that when I breathed out, that the rope would get tighter?” I inquired.
“Yes, but only because that’s what’s been happening to me, I just didn’t want you to get hurt, and then you go and call me a liar, such an insolent creature you are!” it replied with utmost arrogance.
“How am I insolent, I am not, it’s just that you did lie to me, you said that the bonds that had held me down would not be loosed, but look at me now, they came off. As a matter of fact, they came more loose each time I breathed in. I really don’t understand why people lie to others, it’s just wrong, so stop doing it,” I bellowed. I can’t stand it when people lie to me, it’s just wrong, I hate it. A slim smile grew on the creatures face, and I so wanted to smack it off of her, but I held my temper and said, “Do you want me to untie your bonds?”
The creature nodded, “I would like that, thank you,” it’s voice was sweet, like the song of a bird dancing on the wind, calm, quiet, peaceful, sweet, and nice. I liked it, so I smiled. “What are you smiling at?” her voice changed from sweet to rude in an instant.
“Oh, nothing, nothing that you would be all that concerned about, I’m just smiling.” I knelt down and started working on untying the ropes around her wrists and ankles. It took up quite a bit of time, but eventually I got the creature free. It stood up and said, “Thank you for untying me, no one else would have had the guts to untie such a dangerous girl as I, but thanks, now I know someone that I will not destroy when the world comes to an end. “I know someone that I know someone that might even help me take over and bring the world to an end. Child, you truly are something special, will you help me, or will you just leave me here to rot in this horrible dungeon? I trust you know what you are doing, that you know what is right, and that you will help this poor old woman out.”
“I will never help you,” I said spitefully, “Why would I help you take over a world that is probably as innocent as Earth?”
She laughed, “You fool, you have already helped me, you have set me free, for now I can breathe freely, and it is your fault, you do know that right? There is no one quite as foolish as you, child, especially in the dealings of this planet.”
I glared at this woman, she was something quite different than what I had expected from a person tied up, nearing death. I sat down, I didn’t know what else to do, I didn’t know where my brother was, let alone where I was, this really was a bad day. The woman looked over at me, “Exhausted, I presume?”
I stood up, shaking my head, “I’m not tired, how can I be? I know that a lot has happened today, but I am not tired.”
“How can I trust you? How do I know that you won’t kill me when your use of me is done?” I scorned.”
“You’ll just have to trust me, I mean really, you can trust me,” she exaggerated, “Young girl, you saved my life, now I am in your debt, I owe you my life. That’s how you can trust me.”
“I’m still not sure,” I hesitated, “I don’t know you.”
“It’s OK,” she stretched out her hand, long ugly nails protruding from her dry, wrinkled skin, “Take my hand and everything will be OK, I promise.” I walked towards her, and, hesitantly, I stretched out my hand towards her own and wrapped my fingers around her twisted ones. I pulled back almost as soon as I had touched her rough, slimy skin, it was something unpleasant to the touch, but my hand would not come, it stayed there, attached to hers, and I was to. I yelled, I was not fine with this. The woman laughed, it was pretty much a scream. I tried to get away from her, but she wouldn’t let go.
Her fingers curled around my own, and she had me. I was dragged down, pulled to my knees, she let go, but I could not get up, I couldn’t even raise my head. “Let me go!” I screamed, “I don’t belong here, I want to go home.” It was then that I started crying. The tears streamed down my face, staining my cheeks red and the floor blue. I screamed, but I knew that there was no point in it, that there was no one to hear me.
Then I felt something on the back of my neck, it was soft, warm, comforting, I wanted to know what that thing was, I wanted to know where it came from. I was out, just like that, out, I could see no more for there was only blackness, and I was all alone. I fainted.
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Slowly I opened my eyes, I was somewhere else, I was no longer in the stone hard, on the stone cold ground, but now I was on a big, soft bed, with huge drapes hanging from post to post ten feet up. I stared at them; they were the most beautiful colors of blue, green, black, dark purple, yellow, and white. I sat up, and I noticed that I was no longer wearing my school clothes, but now I was wearing a silk dress on underneath a thin, see-through robe.
I did not like what I was wearing, it was very uncomfortable. Then the thing from the bright light came forward. “I told you were a princess, young child, I would not lie to you.”
“Of course you would,” I retorted, “I know that I will never be a Princess, and that I could never be a Princess.”
“Stand up,” it ordered, and for some reason, I did, “You do seem like the type, the perfect type. You are a perfect specimen, you are the best, there is none better for this than you are.”
“What thing, what am I the best for?” I questioned.
“You’ll soon find out my dear, you will soon find out,” it said in an annoying calm voice.
“Why don’t you just tell me NOW!” I yelled, “There is NO reason for you not to tell me what I am best for, so tell me NOW!!”
“Why would I tell such a stupid girl what she is best for?” it questioned.
“Because I will not help you with whatever it is that you want unless you tell me,” I sat down stubbornly, arms folded across my chest.
“Fine,” it said exasperatingly, “I’ll tell you.”
“Well?” I leaned forward, “You gonna tell me or what?”
“I will,” it replied very rudely, “We need you to help us stop the evil one, the one who plans on destroying the world.”
“I know her, she’s the one that I freed, I untied her, and now she says that she owes me a great debt, and that I will be her right hand, that I will help her to take this planet, and I shall rule with her!” At the end, I kinda started scaring myself, I was starting to get excited about something that I would never have gotten excited about ever in my life. “What am I doing?” I yelled.
“She’s taken over you, that’s what’s happened, do you want any help? Do you want her to leave you, do want that right?”
“Of course I do, but I don’t want you to do it, I don’t need your help, I’m perfectly capable of doing this myself,” I stated, even though I knew that I was not capable of that by any means.
“Sure you are young child, that’s why you asked why you were doing that.” It stated questioningly.
“I didn’t know then, but I know now, so you don’t have to help me in any way, I can fix things by myself,” I said stubbornly, but I knew that that was not true at all. Then I stood up, unwillingly, and stalked off.
“Wait, where are you going?” the creature called out to me, “We need you.”
“I’m leaving,” I called out, “and I’m never coming back!”
“Fine!” the thing shrieked after me, “We don’t care if you leave, we don’t care if you don’t need our help, just go you ungrateful beast!”
“Fine!” I screamed back. I stormed out, I didn’t need something that I didn’t know telling me what to do, especially if it was trying to use me.
“You need me!” it screamed, “You won’t survive without us!” I rushed out of the room, I didn’t want to stay in there, not with those things in there. I kept running, I didn’t look back, I hardly even look up, I didn’t care what I ran into. Then I hit something soft, it wrapped its arms around me, then a familiar voice spoke, “It’s all right, I got you, it’s OK.”
“James, you’re here,” I said excitedly, “I can’t believe it!” I wrapped his arms around him and looked up. I smiled, he was here, my big brother, he saved me.
“I’m so sorry,” he sobbed, then something was stuck into the back of my neck.
“What are you doing?” I cried, “You’re my brother, aren’t you?”
“You’re brother’s not the only one who can change his form,” a familiar voice said, but it was not my brothers, it was someone else’s, “remember me?”
“How could I forget such an awful creature? The one who lied to me, the one who wants to take over the planet?” I yelled, “The one who I hate, and the one who is trying to take control…” I trailed on, I couldn’t keep talking, then I was out, again, and this time, it wasn’t peacefully, I had a dream.
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“Mom, mom, I can’t see you, where are you? Where’d you go, I can’t find you,” I screamed, I was in my old living room, at the house that we lived in before we moved to Vancouver, Washington. My mother didn’t reply. I went into the kitchen, where my mother usually was in the morning, she wasn’t there. I looked out the window, there was nothing but storm clouds and rain. I sat down, my elbows on the windowsill, chin in hands, watching the raindrops race across the window. It was very depressing, it was awful. I started crying, I didn’t know why, but I started crying. I felt a hand on my shoulder, “Arianna, I’m here, you don’t have to cry, it’s OK.”
“My name’s not Arianna, it’s Violeen,” gheese, this person must be stupid, since when was my name Arianna? I looked up, and I saw the beautiful face of my mother. She was smiling, I stood up, turned around, and hugged the old woman. I cried into her shoulder, “Where are you mom?” I asked.
“I’m right here darling, can’t you see me?” She asked, a hint of concern in her voice, I knew she didn’t mean it because she didn’t use my real name, she called me Arianna, but my name was really Violeen. She wasn’t my mom, she was someone else, I don’t care if she looks like my mom, she isn’t. “You’re not my mom,” I stated, “You’re someone else.”
“Of course I’m your mother, why would you say such a foolish thing, there is no way that I could be someone other than your mother.”
“There is one way, you’re a figment of my imagination, I know this because we aren’t back at the house in Vancouver, we’re here, in our old house,” I stated, “What other proof do you need, mom?”
Then everything started blurring together, and it all turned into a shapeless blob, now I know that I’m dreaming. Then it was all gone, and I was back where I had been before the crazy creature from the light, trapped me to the stone cold floor in the big metal box.
“Glad to see that you’ve finally decided to join our reality, Arianna,” cackled the evil creature.
“How do you know my name?” I snarled, “What do you want from me?”
“All I want is your cooperation, I want you to help me out of a sticky situation,” she chose her words carefully, “I think it would be best if you just do as I say, I’m sure that you want your precious brother James to be OK, right?”
“Let him go,” I exasperated, “you can’t do this.”
“Are you sure, cause I’m pretty sure that I’m doing it right now, and there’s nothing you can do about it child,” she stated smoothly, “All that you have to do is do whatever I say and your precious brother will be OK.”
“No Arianna, don’t do it, she’s tricking you, she’s trying to get to you!” James exclaimed, “She won’t let me go, even if you do what she says, don’t listen do her!”
I looked away from him, “Do you really promise, even that you will die if you break this promise?” I asked.
“I do,” with an evil glare in her eyes she said, “and do you promise to do anything and everything that I tell you to do, and if you don’t you and your brother will die?”
“Only for a few months,” I said, “and if you keep me any longer, you will surely die, along with anyone that actually wants to do anything that you say willingly as of this moment?”
“All right, so it’s settled girl, you work for me now, and you will never leave my service otherwise you will die,” she laughed a laugh like an evil sorceress, I looked longingly towards my brother, he was the only person left in the world that I actually cared about, and now he was being ripped from my life, not to be seen for the next few months. This was terrible, something that I truly dreaded. I nodded my head, I might as well get this dull life underway, this dull and terrible life.


Chapter 3
I sat in my room, my knees folded up against my chest, this was the worst decision 
I had made in my entire life, I was so stupid, but it was the only way that I could save my brother. I know that he is safe now, especially after what had happened a week ago. I couldn’t stand to bear the thought of losing anyone ever again. There were tears running down my cheeks, then I heard a knock on my door, “Can I come in?” called a familiar quiet, shy voice, it was Kandy, she was the sweetest person that anyone could ever meet.
She was thye first person that I met in this horrible place, at least, the first person that was kind to me. She became my best friend, she cared for me. She was about fifteen years olc, and she would never lie to me, unlike those creatures of the light, and she 2would always tell me that my brother was OK, I don’t know how she knew that, but she just did, and she wouldn’t tell me how. She was like an older sister to me, we’ve had our arguments, but it always turned out OK. She was my best friend, and I loved her for that.
“You can come in,” I replied, “What’s wrong?”
“Oh nothing, it’s just that the sorceress wants you, for heaven knows what, but she’s never summoned you like this before, her voice was urgent, and it seemed as if something important was about to happen,” she told me, “and you will never guess what it is.”
“What is it, does it involve my brother, I think it does, and it could be something terrible?” I guessed, that was always my guess when she said that something had made the sorceress worry, so I didn’t know if it was or not.
“No, you’re wrong, again, it does not include your brother, just the planet Earth.”
I gasped, it couldn’t be, but it was, I can’t believe that she would destroy the planet that I was raised, such an evil woman, but didn’t everyone know that? It’s quite obvious, really, I mean, she was the worst person to people that she had jurisdiction over, she treated us like crap, and I’m serious, she really did. She would tell us what to do, we’d do it, and then she’d go on and complain about something else, I thought it was pretty stupid, “All right, I’m going to go to her now, I’m sorry, but I’m going.” Kandy had always hated it when I left, she was always scared, she thought that something was going to happen to me, that that evil woman would do something horrible to me, or to someone else. I stood up and walked away, I knew just where to go, and I know just how to get there, unlike on my first day, it was absolutely terrible. I couldn’t stand it, I hated it, it was not like anything that I had ever experienced before. But now, I do it every day, and I’ve kinda gotten used to the idea, it’s normal for me. I stepped out of my room, it was blazing hot, unlike usual.
Outside it was usually really cold, but not today, it was strange. Normally I sat in my room, doing nothing but think about my brother, I risked my life for him. I wasn’t thinking then, all I remember from that terrible day is that I left my brother, and that I was put into the service of this horrible creature. I can’t remember anything for some reason, I don’t even remember how long I’ve been with her. It was scaring me, I can’t remember anything about my past, I just know that I’m special, and that thing needs me for something, and there is no way that I was going to help her.
Slowly I walked towards her dungeon like room, then something spoke very loud, “Arianna, hurry up, you have to be fast, if you want to live, you will have to be fast.” I started walking even faster, then I started running. I ran as fast as I could to her dungeon like room, and then I stopped there, I couldn’t move anymore, I was stuck to the ground, not able to move; it seemed as if something like this had happened before, but I couldn’t quite remember where.
Then the ground moved, pulling me with it, into the horrible building. It was terrible, I hated it, along with many other things, but I had to deal with it. For some reason, as soon as I entered the building this time, a bunch of memories came flooding back into my head, it caused my head to hurt. I remembered a planet called Earth, how I had a mother there, but she wasn’t really my mom, how I had found out that I have a brother from a different planet, how I made a deal with this evil creature to save my brother, and how I’ve been kept here for a day longer than what was made in the deal, and now the woman had to die, and I knew that it had to be by my hand.
It was a terrible thought, I couldn’t stand to think it, but I knew it had to be, and that she was the one that had caused all my troubles during my life, and it had to come to an end. I know it seems wrong, but it has to be, I have to be the one who kills this evil witch, we made a deal, and now it has to come to pass. I never thought that I would be the one who kills her, but now, it has come.
“Arianna, I am so glad that you have come here today, thank you for joining me, I get awfully lonesome here all by myself,” she said with mock sorrow, “Could you come closer?”
“Never,” I said spitefully, “I know what you did, witch, and I remember the deal, it is time, you have to die, I’ve been here longer than my time. You have to let me go now, or you will surely die, and it will be sooner than you have expected.”
“You’re lying child, I never made any sort of deal with you, or anyone else.”
“Lies, you are lying to me, like you always do, you know something, nobody likes you, except for the ones who have completely lost their minds,” I stated, “You are absolutely insane to think that you can lie to me, especially after all that lying that you’ve already done, you evil person.”
“Child, I only called you in here so you could see how your brother’s doing, is there any harm in that?”
“Yes, actually, there is. It goes against the deal, now there is something else that you need to die for, another part of the deal made, broken. No-one can trust you, I don’t even see how you have gone this long without someone telling you that you are lying, but you really need to know that. You really need to know that you are unwanted by anyone in their right mind.”
“You insult me child,” she retorted, “Why would anyone hate me?”
“Because you treat people like crap, and you never listen to them,” I answered, “You never do anything for anyone else, what other reason do you want?”
“I guess that no one really likes me then,” she said sadly, “I’m sorry for how I’ve been treating everyone, it’s just that I don’t know how else to treat other people, I guess it just started when I was a child, and how my father always treated me like crap.”
“You have a father?” I said sarcastically, “I had no idea, do you have a mother as well?”
“Haha, very funny, not really, but I do have a mother,” the evil woman replied sadly, “do you want to see a picture of her?”
“No, actually, I don’t want to see a picture of your mother.”
“But you always want to see a picture of her,” she said, somewhat pulling me into some kind of vortex, spinning out of control, but yet, I stood still, “Don’t you want to see my mother?”
“Yes, I want to see your mother,” I said unwillingly, as if she was controlling my tongue.
“Good, now I will go and get my dear and wonderful mother so that you may see a picture of her beautiful face,” and with that she walked off.
I stood there, unable to move, standing there, somewhat in a trance, just staring off into space at nothing in particular. Then she came back, she came with a picture, but it was not of a woman as I had expected, but it was of a terrible creature, it had horrible teeth, it had three blood red eyes, horrible matted green and orange hair, dark green scales covering its body. I felt sorry for her, she had to deal with how she looked for her whole life, and then her daughter, for having to look at her.
“I feel so sorry for you,” I stated sympathetically, “you had to deal with that for your whole life.”
“You feel sorry for me having a beautiful mother?” she asked.
“That’s beautiful?” I asked, disgusted, “What’s ugly for you?”
“What’s ugly for me id myself, I was nothing like anyone else on my planet, I was considered to be the ugly duckling, and now, since they had always called me ugly, I’m going to take over this planet and make everyone like me. You are already there, child. I’m pretty sure that you are pretty on your planet, so you won’t have to worry about being ugly, unless you want to look like my mother?”
“No thank you, I’m fine how I look right now; I would never want to be as ugly as your mother.”
“My mother is not ugly,” she said defensively, “she is the most beautiful person in the whole universe.”
“OK,” I said, taking back what I had said, “I guess your mom is the most beautiful creature in the whole universe.”
“You guess? No, it is a fact that she is the most beautiful person in the whole universe.”
“What about the multiverse?” I questioned, “do you even know what the multiverse is?”
“Of course I do, it’s probably somewhere in one of my multiple books,” she said and I’m pretty sure that she doesn’t know what the multiverse is.
As if she had read my mind, “I do to know what the multiverse is.”
“All right then, tell me what you think the multiverse is.” I tested.
“The multiverse is something that involves science, I know that much, and that it is huge,” she said unknowingly.
“Wow, that is extremely sad, I know what the multiverse is, it’s a whole bunch of universes liked together, each similar, but also slightly different in their own way, no two universes are alike.” I said knowingly.
“How do you know so much?” she asked.
“I pay attention in class, and I watch documentaries on this sort of stuff,” I replied, “it’s really fascinating. I am transfixed each time I watch anything about it.”
“Wow, now that is sad. Why would you watch documentaries on things like that, why not about your own planet?”
“I do watch things like that, but they aren’t quite as interesting because I already know a lot about it, but the multiverse is huge and mysterious,” I answered, “Why else would I be captivated by the secrets hidden by the ages? Hidden by the stars?”
“I really don’t know why, so I’m not going to guess.”
“OK, it’s not my problem that you aren’t interested in the stars…” I was cut off by this loud whirling noise, so I wasn’t able to finish the sentence.
“What have you done, child?” the woman shrieked over the noise of the wind, it picked her up and carried her away. I knew that she was going to die, and somehow I had caused this. I started laughing, I mean, it was kind of funny to see the woman that you hate be tossed in the air like a rag doll, and still be stuck to the ground. What a wonder science is, it truly is amazing.
I sat down, and the winds started to slow down, then I stood up and the winds picked up, stronger than before, I sat down because I was tired of standing. I just watched her twirl around in the air, watching her doing nothing to stop herself from spinning out of control. The winds started to slow down, I laid back, and the wind stopped blowing altogether, and the woman just fell to the ground, I’m actually surprised that she didn’t splatter on the ground like any normal thing would have, it was insane. The weirdest thing was that she stood up again, and cam towards me, “If you try that one more time I so swear that you won’t be able to see the light of day again, let alone your precious brother.”
“I didn’t do that, I swear, at least I didn’t try to do it.”
“You little brat, you are going to die,” she said, totally ignoring what I had just said, “I swear, you are going to die.”
“I am not going to die, especially by your hand,” by then I was angry, and I was pretty sure I looked angry too.
The woman looked at me with pure terror, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you angry, I swear, I didn’t mean to.” Her eyes were wide, her skin pale.
She kept her eyes away from mine, and I turned around, why was she so scared of me, shouldn’t it be the other way around? Then I saw a mirror, and my reflection in it. I looked really mad, my hair was standing on ends, little bolts of energy zapping other strands, making them join the rest, I was pale, and I had red eyes. You have to admit, I did look pretty scary.
I turned back around, the beast was no longer there. I called out for her, but she was not there, she wouldn’t respond. I almost decided to go and look for her, but I decided against it because her body was speeding towards me. “STOP!” I yelled, and her body froze in midair, her eyes staring blankly at me.
“What do you want?” I hissed, I really wanted to know what she wanted of me because she had kept me here for a reason, and I wanted to know why.
“I’ll tell you when you let me go.”
I slowly let her down to the ground, and when she was a couple feet off the ground, I let go, she just slipped, and she hit the ground with a thud.
“Ow, that hurts you know?” she complained.
“Tell me, now, or you go back up into the air, and I drop you from even higher.” I threatened.
“Fine, I wanted you here so that I could harness you energy and use it as my own so that it would be easier to take control of this planet.” She whimpered.
“Not good enough,” I said, “There has to be another reason, why would you have treated me like this? I know that you’re not a good person and all, but why treat your energy source like crap if you wanted it to help you?”
“It’s easier to get you to work for me if I treated you like crap, and then if you forgot what had happened.”
“Are you trying to harness my energy right now?” I questioned, feeling my energy slowly fading away.
“No,” she lied, “how can I steal your energy away right now?”
“You have somehow gotten a hold of me on the inside and you are draining it from the inside. Stop it now, OK? And if you don’t stop, you’re going to have to go more than a thousand feet up in the air and have a fast trip back down.
“You wouldn’t do that to me, would you?” she asked.
“Yes, I would do that,” I said heartlessly, her eyes widened in fear, “and I bet you don’t believe me.”
“I believe you, please don’t kill me. I’ll stop it, I promise.” She swore.
I still didn’t trust her, but I was going to have to. “OK, you are safe, for now, at least. You’d better not try anything, and if you do, you’re dead.”
“Can you go now?” she asked politely, her voice choking.
“Fine, but only because you asked and didn’t demand it of me,” I said, walking out the door. I jumped, and didn’t go back down. I traveled back to my room, Kandy waiting there like the wonderful friend that she is.
I ran up an hugged her, I didn’t let her go, she wrapped her tender arms around me and started crying. Then I pulled back, my hands on her shoulders, “What’s wrong? You’re crying.”
“You’re leaving, that’s why I’m crying,” she weeped, wiping the tears from her face.
“Why would I be leaving?” I asked her.
“She let you go, didn’t she?” she asked me, “I mean, that’s why she called you down there right?”
“No, she just called me down there supposedly to use up my energy. Why would she release me?”
“She told me that when she called you on your fourteenth week that you would be released, that you would be let go, that she would let you…” I cut her off.
“How would you know that? Why would you know that?” I accused her.
“I just know things, OK, it’s not my fault that that witch tells me everything,” she quickly covered her mouth, “oops, I shouldn’t have said that, should I?”
“Wait a second, if she tells you everything, then you should know where my brother is, do you? I’m not asking you, tell me if you know where my brother is.” I demanded.
“I-I’m sorry, but I don’t know where your brother is, I don’t know where James is, I’m sorry.”
“You don’t mean it, I know you’re lying, you’ve been lying to me this whole time!” her eyes widened, she was scared, as she will always be, as she always has been, she knew something like this was going to happen.
“What’s happening to you? Why are you doing this?” she asked, voice shaking. Her face grew pale, along with the rest of her, her hair fell straight down, her eyes widened, her lips thinned, she started changing, shrinking, growing wrinkly. I started backing away from her, she was creeping me out, what else had she been keeping from me? What else has she been hiding? Most importantly, why? Why has she been hiding these things from me?
She looked at me, “I’m sorry, I really am… I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” Her eyes, her deep, blue, sad eyes, just looking at me, sorry, saying sorry, there was no way that I couldn’t forgive her for what she had done.
I slowly shook my head, how could she do that to me, she was wrong to do such a thing. I backed away from her. “I have to go, I’m sorry, but I have to go, I’m going to find my brother. Stay here, and don’t follow me. I mean it Kandy, don’t follow me.”
She sat down, her eyes filling with tears, “Don’t do this to me, please, why are you making me stay here when you get to go on an exciting adventure? You promised me, you promised that you would get us both out, don’t leave me here Arianna.” She called out as I closed the red hot door behind me. The tears were already coming, I had to leave her, she lied to me. She wasn’t as good a friend as I had hoped she’d be, she was a lot worse. I had promised her that I would take her with me when I had found a way out of this horrid place, and I was not one to break my promises. Shakily I sat down, it was worthless, I couldn’t stop anything, and I couldn’t take anything back, I couldn’t do anything. The tears had started, they were streaming down my face, I couldn’t hold them in any longer. Everything that I know has been taken away, it started with the planet on which I was born, then my brother, then the only one person that I had trusted, life sucks, and there’s no doubt about it.
I sat there for quite some time, crying, I couldn’t stand the thought of what had happened, but I had to. I stood up, slowly, and started walking back, back to where I had left Kandy, and when I got there, she was gone. “Kandy!” I called out, where could she have gone. I looked around, the room was completely destroyed, the furniture was burned and thrown askew, there were piles of ashes everywhere. The bookshelves were thrown down, the pages of the books shredded. The place that Kandy was before I left was the only place that was as before, the rug was still a vibrant red, there were no ashes there, and, for some reason, there was white there as well. I knelt down, touched the rug with the middle and pointer fingers of my right hand, and the red substance was on my fingers as well as the carpet. Then I realized that what was on my fingers and on the floor was the blood and bones of my dead friend Kandy. I cried, there was nothing else to do, my friend was dead, and it was my fault.
“Arianna?” I heard, I looked over to where the voice had come from, it was at the top of the stairs, “Arianna, you’re here! I can’t believe you came back for me.”
I ran up the rickety steps, and gave my friend a hug, “I promised I wouldn’t leave you. Umm, if you’re here, then who’s blood is that sitting in the middle of the floor downstairs?”
She shook her head, her dark brown curls bouncing, “That’s no-one, I just put fake blood there so that when the witch came by she would think that you had died. Well, it worked, it seems as if she’s worked her horrible magic.”
“Let’s go, we need to hurry and get out of this wretched place,” I stated, “Let’s go.”
We hurried down the steps and out the door, we ran and ran, Kandy started to slow down, then she stopped, “Wait, do you even know where you’re going?” I shook my head, all I knew is that if we kept heading in one direction without stopping we would eventually find our way to the border of this horrible place. When we got to the border we would just continue following it till we found the exit, then we would leave and find my brother.
“How about we go and get your brother first?” she asked, I nodded my head, then she said, “I know where the creep is keeping him.”
“You do?” I asked in complete shock, where was she keeping all this knowledge, her brain must be absolutely loaded by now, “Let’s go get him.”
“How about we take a break for a few minutes before we go and rescue your brother?” she whined.
“OK, we can rest for a few minutes,” I said sympathetically, “but only for a few minutes.”
She smiled at me, a smile of relief, and plumped herself down on what looked like a rock. I smiled and sat down next to her, I couldn’t let her sit there alone, so I decided then, that I wouldn’t let her out of my sight until we were both safe, away from that horrible woman. We sat there, silent, it was really strange, then I stood up, “Let’s go, I think we’ve wasted enough time already, my brother’s suffered enough, and we don’t need to make him suffer any longer.”
I started walking back the way that we’d come, but I was stopped, something was rising up out of the ground, something solid and blood red. I kept walking, but when I got there I stopped, I reached out my hand, and it passed through real easily, but when I pulled it back I couldn’t. I looked up, there was a hand sticking out of this thing, I pushed my arm farther in, until it was at my elbow, the hand came that much farther out. Then I was sucked into the wall of a blood red substance. I heard a loud thump as something outside hit the ground. It was dark, and there was no way of knowing where I had come from, so I didn’t know where the sound was coming from, just that it was all around me, and I couldn’t see anything. I reached toward my feet, I couldn’t feel them, but yet, I knew that they were there. Why couldn’t I feel anything, why did I have to be so stupid and put my hand in an unknown substance? Whoever said that curiosity killed the cat is absolutely right, curiosity killed the cat, and in this case, I was the cat. I was curious, and now I’m somewhere that was not pleasant at all. It was horrible, there was darkness, and no light whatsoever.
What’s wrong with me? Why do I have to be such an idiot? I looked in what direction that I though was up and I saw a very small, very bright light. I started heading in that direction, the light was growing bigger as I grew nearer. Then the light was huge. I looked out of the light, I saw the ground where I had stood just moments before. My brother was lying across the ground, unconscious. I reached my hand out, but it stopped just before my hand could leave the darkness. A single tear rolled down my cheek. “James!” I screamed. He looked up, feeling around the ground, he looked in the direction where I was, he was squinting, as if he’d been in a dark place for a long time. He reached forward and into the darkness, I grabbed his hand, and I was back in the light, out of the darkness, back with my brother and my friend.
He wrapped his arms around me, we sat there, then Kandy came, “Arianna, are you OK? You just passed out.”
I nodded my head, suddenly having a major migraine. I reached up and put my head in my hands, and I slowly stood up. “W-w-what just happened?” I asked, baffled.
“You just fainted, you reached into a wall, and you fell, you were pulled into the wall and someone fell from the sky, a boy. The boy’s gone now, you would have liked him, he was really cute. Well, you’re here now, and we have to go get your brother now.” I shook my head, I pointed behind me, there was something there, well, at least there was something there, but when I turned around, he was gone, there was nothing there anymore. “What’s there?” she asked me. I just shook my head, I didn’t want to say anything, there was no point in speaking now. We continued walking, Kandy in the lead, we didn’t stop, we just kept walking.
“Hey Arianna,” she whispered.
“What,” I said stubbornly, “what do you want?”
“You want to know what my mother called me? Before the witch took me? Do you want to know my real name?” she asked me. I nodded my head. “My real name is Violaira.”
“That’s a really pretty name Kandy,” a voice said, it was the voice of a young man, I looked up, there was a dark silhouette standing up on a high, orange-brown rock, standing in front of the bright yellow sun. He jumped down, landing right in front of me, “I’ve heard about you,” he said, “but I’ve never seen you before. You are a lot prettier than what I expected.” He slowly walked around me, looking me up and down. I frowned, why was he doing this? I don’t even know his name. He stopped back in front of me, and he spoke, “You really are somethin’, you sure are special.” The corner of his lip rose into a smile.
I took a step back, he was crazy, he knew nothing about me, so he was definitely crazy. He gave me a confused look, and then took a step towards me. “I don’t even know who you are, how do you know me?” I asked him, “I don’t even know your name.”
“My name, well, about that,” he sighed, “no-one calls me anything, so I kind of forgot it.”
“Oh, well then, that’s not weird at all, how about we call you something then, come up with something, I mean.”
“OK, but you don’t think that I will stay with you, do you?” he asked seriously.
“I don’t know, it really seems like it,” I replied, “well, I don’t know.”
“OK, well I guess I’m staying then,” he smiled, “So, what have you come up with?”
“Yeah, I have,” I replied, “Kokaob.”
“OK, that’s good enough,” he sighed, “well, let’s go, I don’t know what y’all are looking for, but let’s get going."
“We’re looking for my brother,” my expression turned serious, “his name is James.”
“OK, well, let’s get moving, we don’t want to waste any more time,” he said, a note of seriousness in his voice. Then came a sweet smile. We started walking, Violaira in the lead, since she knew the way. Kokaob stayed right behind me, saying that there are things that like to sneak up on people and kill them, so he said that he would stay behind us so he could protect us from the horrible monsters.
After a while I started to slow down, my legs were burning, and I couldn’t walk any further. I stopped walking, then I fell, the next thing I know I’m being lifted up and carried, then I’m out, unable to stand the pain, and I faint.
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There was shade, a fan being blown on me, I sat up, then I looked to my right, Kokaob was sitting there, smiling, then to my left, Violaira, she was walking over, “Oh, you’re up, glad to see it.”
Then another person entered, someone dressed like a doctor at home on Earth. This person was a woman, her hair was pulled tight in a bun on the top of her head, and she had glasses a couple sizes too big for her narrow face. She was holding a clipboard, shaking her head and clicking her tongue, never a good sign, ever, it meant there was some bad news about to come. The woman came towards us, she looked down, a sad expression on her face. “Are you Arianna?” I nodded my head, “Good, at least you remember your name, most people with this condition normally forget things like this.” I looked at Kokaob, maybe he was going through the same thing that I was, or maybe he had told us the truth, I don’t know.
“What’s wrong with me?” I asked the woman. How can I trust her, I don’t even know her, but this seemed to be happening a lot lately, so, oh well, I guess I was going to have to trust this stranger.
She looked down her long nose at me, “You have just suffered something terrible, especially on this planet, maybe not on the one you grew up on, but here it is serious, it is called Measilonterana. It is a disease in which you start forgetting things, you experience extreme pains, and you remember things that are not so. According to my charts, you have been experiencing this a lot lately. What’s been going on?”
“An evil witch has been trying to take my energy and use it to take over the world, and she’s been erasing my memory so that I don’t remember any of this happening, that’s what’s been going on,” I said quickly, “Why would you want to know anyway?”
She looked at me in disbelief, “I don’t believe you, that’s not possible.” She shook her head. Oh great, now she thinks that that is something that I am remembering falsely, that it’s not true.
Violaira spoke up then, “She’s speaking the truth, this really did happen, I was there with her. This dumbo might not have been there, but I was. You’ve got to believe her, she’s telling the truth.” The doctor sighed and shook her head, she probably doesn’t like believing people all that much, does she.
I looked at Kokaob again, he reached out, but he was touching nothing, he was just reaching out into nothing, reaching for something. His eyes were glazed over, he was creeping me out, “Kokaob? Are you OK?” he didn’t respond. I grabbed his left arm, he looked down at me, fire burning in his eyes, then he was back to normal, everything was OK, at least, I hope that everything was OK.
The doctor person had left during that moment, and she came back, but she came with a huge needle, she poked it into my skin, and it hurt a ton, she pushed the serum into my body, and I was knocked out, put into a deep sleep that lasted who knows how long.


Chapter 4
I woke up to a soft scratching at a door, my eyes slowly opened, I looked around. There were only grey walls, nothing but grey walls. I sat up, I brought my hands to my face, but I couldn’t lift them higher than my knees. I sighed, what was the point in all this, what was there for me to do? The only thing I could do right now was sit there all alone and do nothing.
It was boring, there was nothing to do there, all I could do was sit there. Then I noticed something, the reason I could only pull my hands up to my knees is that there were chains on my wrists, and they were attached to chains that went to the wall across the room. I scooted towards that wall, then I stood up, I could move my arms freely, it was amazing. Then I heard the scratching noise again, what was that, where is it coming from? I really had no clue, so I followed the sound, I went around the room, then I saw it, it was small, it was covered in light brown fur, and it had floppy ears. I reached over and picked up the soft rabbit. I looked at where it had been scratching, there was a whole there, a small one at that, but, as quickly as I noticed it, it was gone and there was a solid wall there.
I pulled the bunny closer to me, I didn’t want to let it go, it was the only other living thing here, and I wasn’t about to let it go. The rabbit looked up at me, it seemed as if it smiled, then it went poof and disappeared.
I heard something off in the distance, something like laughter, I turned and looked in the direction that the noise was coming from, and I saw Violaira, she was sitting there, laughing at me, but why would she, of all people, be laughing at me?
I glared at her, then I started in her direction, she didn’t even flinch, it was as if she wasn’t even there, as if she was being projected here, but was someplace else. It was crazy, I know, but it was most likely true.
The closer I got to her, the farther away she fell. It was really weird, not the normal weird, but weird. Finally I just gave up, and Violaira shot towards me, I jumped out of the way, but she stopped right in front of me. I sighed, it was crazy, I know, but she might be there, and she might not be there. This world truly is a crazy world, and I have no idea of how to cope here, it is absolutely crazy.
I called out, there was no reply, it was insane, I was all alone in this unknown and crazy world, and there was nothing I could do about it.
“Arianna, are you there? I can’t see you,” my dear friend called out, she was reaching out, trying to grab at something, “Arianna, I can hear you, but I can’t see you!”
“I’m here,” I replied, now I know that I’m not alone in this crazy, unknown world. Now I know that Violaira is out there, somewhere, but I don’t quite know where she is. That’s the problem, I need to know where she is, so I can find her, then I can find Kokaob, then we can all find my brother, together.
“Where, I can’t see you, remember?” She answered.
“Yes, but I can see you, just look right in front of you, you should see me,” she tried turning her head in my direction, but something kept her from doing so, she couldn’t see me, she couldn’t turn her head this way, “What’s keeping you from looking this way?”
“I-I don’t know, I’m sorry, but I don‘t know, I-I’m sorry. This is something that I cannot control, I’m sorry Arianna, I really am,” tears were coming down her face now, her cheeks turning a bright red. Her eyes were clouding up, they were really watery, she could hardly keep her eyes open now.
“Violaira!” I called out, she was starting to go away from me, starting to go back to the wall, “Please, stop moving away! Please, don’t leave me, please!”
The tears started, she can’t leave me, she just can’t leave me, not now. “Calm down Arianna, it is OK, I promise,” a quiet voice from behind whispered to me. There was a soft hand on my shoulder; I turned slowly around, who was this person. I saw her, she had long wavy, dark brown hair, very deep blue eyes, fair skin, and a sly smile on her thin face.
“Who are you?” I asked. I was really curious, I really wanted to know who she was.
“My name is Dr. Stephanarie, why do you ask, child?” She sounded like she really wanted to know, “Why would you want to know who I am, there really is no reason.”
“Yes, there is, you’re telling me things like everything is going to be OK? Why would you lie to me, why would you lock me up here? I really want to know who you are, so I can know what I’m going to have to deal with.” I answered.
“Well then, if you really want to know why you’re in here, why don’t you just follow me young lady,” she replied rather shrewdly. She walked off, her high heels clicking loudly at each step, her black dress waving gently. I followed the woman, I really don’t give a crap about her, all I know is that if I follow her, I might be able to find a way out of this dungeon, this horrible place that I have no idea of why I am in, so I am just following this stranger.
“Hurry along,” she said in a melancholy tone of voice, “we must hurry, we don’t want to miss our whole of opportunity, now do we?”
“No,” I replied grudgingly, I really wanted to get out of here, I didn’t know how, so I was just going to have to trust this crazy woman, “let’s get this over with, I don’t want to be trapped in here any longer.” That was absolutely true, I really didn’t want to stay in here with this crazy woman. Then, as if something had read my thoughts, an arch appeared right in front of me, but behind Dr. Stephanarie, which was extremely cool, at least, I thought it was extremely cool. I stepped forward, and I was sucked into this whirlpool of colors, black, red, green, blue, yellow, orange, white, and any other color you could think of.
I was whirled around, I couldn’t stop, I was thrown from here to there, it was uncontrollable, it was crazy, something that I’d never experienced before, it was absolutely crazy, I really don’t know what it was about, but somehow I got pulled into something strange again. Curiosity always gets the best of me, that’s my main weak point, isn’t it? I’m curious, and some day that’s going to get me killed, I just know it, I’m going to die because something looked cool, and that thing will be extremely dangerous, and it will get me or somebody else killed, I just know it.
The whirling stopped, I was hanging upside down, or was I standing right side up? Any way, it was hard to tell because I was just whirled around for quite some time, so my sense of gravity has been thrown off temporarily.
There was a blurry figure off in the distance, it looked as if it were approaching very cautiously. I watched its slow approach, it finally stopped in about three feet in front of me. It was another arch, and there was no way that I was going to step into one of those things again, although it seems as if I really don’t have a choice, seeing as I am being pushed towards it. I started grabbing for something, anything really, I didn’t want to be sucked into another one of those crazy things again. It sucked me in, as if it were some kind of black whole, just not black. An unearthly sound escaped the arch, now I was real scared. I don’t know what’s on the other side of that arch, and I don’t plan on finding out any time soon. The pushing stopped, just inches away from the arch, it was kind of creepy. I gasped, this was something really strange, I had looked into the arch, what I expected on the other side of the arch was not there, there was something entirely different.
This was what I had always dreamed of experiencing, there was darkness, complete and utter darkness, then there was light. I stepped forward into the arch, not knowing what was going to happen next, not really caring what happened next. There was a sudden burst of light and energy, as if something was being created. Things started to spread out rather quickly, uncontrollably, it was fascinating, it was wonderful. The light that had created this phenomenon was still there, extremely bright, and extremely small, it was about the size of my pinky nail. It was as if I was experiencing the creation of another universe, it was amazing. The light continued spreading, things kept popping up randomly, little tiny particles. I just realized something, there was only one way that I could survive something like this, the smaller particles had bigger forces of gravity, but I know that that is not scientifically possible, I knew that I had to get out of there, and fast. I was the largest thing in that room, and since any person would know, bigger things attract smaller things, and since I am the largest object in this universe, I have the strongest gravitational pull, so everything is going to come to me, and I will be trapped in here forever, the center of a planet, a planet that I don’t even know about, all that I will know, if I live, is that without me, this planet would not exist.
I felt something pulling me towards it, I looked up towards the source of the pull, it was another arch, my ticket out of here. First I had to do something. I reached into my pocket and tossed out some crumbs from a roll that I had left there, and other particles instantly started collecting on them, quickly creating small planets. I spat at each one, giving them each a source of water, gross, I know, but it’s better than nothing. Then I remembered, I have a water bottle, I reached for it and squirted water on each planet, now they had real water. I left them, going into the arch, oh how much I would like to stay there, in that room, taking care of those planets.
I was sucked into a tube inside that arch. I could see through it, and it was rather disturbing, I saw a huge man with white hair and big glasses. Though I can’t see where I’m going, I have a feeling that I’m not going to like it. I was spun about for quite a while, then I felt a liquid riding up my pants, then into my face, it was a purple substance, shortly after that purple substance appeared, I fell asleep.
The next thing I know is I’m in a huge pot with some kind of liquid in it, what really sucks is that I barely know how to swim, but what is awesome is I was lying on some kind of raft, something like a carrot, but I have a feeling that it was not a carrot that I am lying on. Something came in from above, it was something wooden, it reached into the greenish brownish liquid and stirred it up. I was thrown from my little raft. There I somewhat paddled, gasping for air, with nothing to grab hold of, while the man kept stirring in his cauldron, I was being pulled under, just like everything else, except that I wouldn’t just float back up to the top when he was done stirring. I was sinking down to the bottom, and there was nothing that I could do about it, I would just have to deal with it.
Something in the liquid was changing, it was starting to get a little hot, and I know that soon it will be unbearable, that I won’t be able to stand the heat. I kept sinking, even though I tried to swim back up, I couldn’t, I just get sinking, and the harder I tried to get back up to the top, the faster I sank. I tried desperately to reach the top again, but I couldn’t, and I hit the bottom of the cauldron, it was burning hot.
I saw the very bottom of the spoon thing again, but it was just too far away, I couldn’t reach it, and it was traveling to fast for me to grab it anyway, it was stirring the liquid, probably trying to keep it fresh. Then it was gone, just like it had before. The cauldron was even hotter than before, and I was forced to sit at the bottom, an endless torture for me, it was absolutely terrible. I reached up, but I know that there is absolutely no point in doing that anyway.
Suddenly there was less pressure, as if the man had scooped some of the substance out. It relieved me of a great amount of pressure, but I know that it won’t last very long.
Scoop after scoop the pressure left, and eventually there was hardly any substance left, then it was my turn, I was the next to be scooped up, I filled the entire spoon, I kept getting larger, and larger, and larger, and eventually, I was as big as the man’s hand. He looked down at me, I looked up at him, with my big and innocent eyes, “Please don’t eat me giant man,” I pleaded in a childish tone of voice, “I don’t want to die here.”
He looked down at me with sad eyes, and he set me down and pressed a button. Bars rose up out of the table on which he had placed me, fear entered my eyes and the giant laughed, it was loud, and it hurt to listen to him. The cage he placed me in looked similar to a bird cage, and I sat down, I started crying. This man was a mean man, and I just know that he isn’t going to let me go any time soon, I just know it. The giant was still laughing, I don’t understand why he would laugh at me though, it had really seemed as if he would care about me, as if he would let me go, let me be free, but I had a feeling that that wouldn’t happen any time soon.
A handle appeared at the top of the cage, and the giant grabbed a hold of it and picked me up. Suddenly, a fowl stench entered the air, I scrunched my nose in disgust, and I was carried off into a dark room. Then the giant spoke, “Don’t think you’re the only one of your kind that’s found their way here, now do ya?” It bellowed, I shook my head, there was bound to be more of me somewhere in here, “Answer me girly, you really don’t think that you can get away without talkin’, now do ya?”
“No sir,” I squeaked, my voice seemed rather high compared to his, “I’m sorry sir, I-I didn’t , mean to offend you or anything.”
“Good, but you didn’t offend me. Anyway, I have a rather special home for you, there is only one male of your kind in here that does not have a female with him, so, since you are a girl, you are going to be put into a cage with him, and you two will both entertain me, or you both will be put into the boiler, either that or you’ll become an experiment.” My eyes widened in fear, he can’t do this, it’s just flat out inhumane, but then again, I doubt he’s even human. I felt him set the cage down rather clumsily, then I heard a creek as a cage door was opened, he grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, but how he saw me was the question. Then he opened another cage, and he threw me in, I landed with an oomph on something soft.
“What do you think you’re doing, landing on me in the middle of the night?” came a muffled yell from somewhere below me.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to land on anyone, the giant just threw me in here. I’m sorry, I really am.” I apologized, rolling off of the boy.
“You’d better be, hey, wait a minute, you’re a girl, and I’m not alone anymore.” It sounded as if he was smiling. I felt hands on my arms, he was grabbing my arms rather tightly, so I reached up and grabbed his hands and pulled them off of mine. I walked away from him, I walked until I hit something solid, like a metal bar, and I sat down, I closed my eyes and went to sleep, there had been enough adventures for one day, I was done, and not looking forward to the next day. Soon I was passed out, there was definitely enough excitement for one day.
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I awoke the next morning when extremely bright lights were turned on, and two very firm hands were on my shoulders roughly shaking me awake. My eyes shot open, but they did not register anything for a few minutes, seeing as they had to adjust to the bright light. I looked up at the boy shaking me awake, he had blond hair, and black eyes, his skin was kind of dark, and it was bruised in several places, and in some were scars. His clothes were torn in several places, as if he had gone through something rough recently.
“So… What are you in for?” he asked, trying to make conversation.
“What do you mean, what am I in for,” I laughed, as far as I know, I have done nothing wrong at all.
“You must be here for a reason, nobody ends up here by chance, unless they’re like me, who just happened to come here when the giant was eating, and didn’t have enough time to find another arch. That’s the only way that you could have made it here by accident, other than that, you would have had to do something serious,” he replied, I guess I really am not the only one in my situation. I smiled at him, I finally had someone that I could somewhat relate to, since I am no longer the only one who got here by chance. I am so glad that I’m not stuck in here with some kind of criminal. “Why are you smiling at me?” he questioned.
“Because now I know that I’m not the only one stuck in this crazy predicament.” I smiled, I wonder how many arch’s he had to go through before he got here, and if he had gone through the beginning of the universe.
“Are you serious, I’m not the only one anymore?” he sounded really excited, and his eyes lit up like fireworks in the sky on the Fourth of July and like the lights in New York City on New Year’s Eve.
I reached my hand out, “My name’s Arianna, what’s yours?” I asked, “seeing as we’re floating in the same boat here.”
“Jak, spelled J A K, don’t get it wrong, don’t spell it how people normally spell it like J A C K, that’s the wrong spelling, it’s J A K, don’t forget it,” He said defensively.
“Now why would I spell your name wrong Jak? How can I do that, it’s an odd spelling I’ll say that much, but it’s different, so I can’t spell it wrong, and I promise that I’ll never, ever do that to you,” I said honestly, “I promise.”
“You’d better not be, I hate it when people lie to me, I just hate it,” he whined, I can so tell that he’s going to be one to complain a lot.
“I would never lie to you, or anyone else, I’m not that kind of a person, I promise, you can trust me,” I said sweetly, he looked at me with innocent eyes as if he was saying that he trusted me, “I’m gonna get us outta here, I promise, and I never go back on a promise. I can even tell you about an example of me not going back on a promise about getting two people out of a horrible place, worse than this, if you want me to.”
He nodded his head really fast, fast enough that I thought he might get whiplash just by nodding his head, “I would most definitely like to hear a story about how you didn’t go back on your word, so that way I can know if you really will keep your promise to me.” He smiled and I began my story.
“It happened when I had traded myself for my big brother, James, there was this evil woman that was going to kill him, so I said ‘Take me instead of my brother, and I promise that I won’t hurt you.’ The woman laughed at me, but she traded me with my brother. When I got to the horrid place, I met someone, a girl named Kandy, but her real name turned out to be Violaira, anyway, she was crying when I first saw her, I had gone over and sat by her. ‘What’s your name?’ I asked innocently, and she replied, ‘My name is Kandy, spelled K A N D Y, not the kind of candy that you eat though, I think it’s awfully rude how people say that my name is something that you eat. So, just call me Kandy, and not the kind that you eat.’ ‘OK’ I promised her, ‘I won’t ever call you the candy that you eat.’
“’Umm, what’s your name?’ Kandy asked. ‘My name’s Arianna, I think it’s spelled weird, but I don’t know, it’s spelled A R I A N N A. Why are you crying?’ I had asked, noticing that she was still crying. She shook her head and waved her hand, trying to dismiss the idea, but I wouldn’t let her just wave it away, I persisted on hearing her story, why she was crying and all. Finally she gave in to my persistence, ‘Fine, I’ll tell you why I’m crying, but only because you keep on pestering me about it, I’m crying because I’m stuck in this old crap whole without anyone to talk to, I’ve been separated from my family, and this evil old witch is taking control of my life, I just want to get out of this dump.’ I grabbed her shoulder, ‘Hey Kandy, I promise you that I’ll get us both out of here alive, even if it’s the last thing I do. I promise that I won’t leave you behind, that no matter what, I will be with you, and if I find a way out of here, I’ll take you with me, I won’t leave alone, I’ll be with a friend.’
“’Really?’ she asked me, ‘you’re too kind, you wouldn’t really do that to someone you hardly know, would you?’ ‘I never go back on my word.’ I promised her. From that moment on, I never stopped looking for a way out of that place, and one day, several months later, I found one. I had almost left without her because that day she had decided that we were going to stop being friends for a little while, but I had gone back to her, I didn’t leave her behind. When I got back to where we were staying, the place was completely destroyed, but Kandy was still there, she ran to me and gave me a hug, ‘I thought you were going to leave without me.’ She cried, but I replied, ‘Kandy, you of all people should know that I would never go back on a promise, you should really know this.’
“’You’re right, I should have known, anyway, let’s get out of this dump, lead the way Arianna, since you were the one who found the way out, you can definitely find it again.’ She smiled a big smile at me. I know that she knew that I would never ever go back on a promise. We got out together, but she got lost when we got to a hospital, then I we were separated, then I happened to come across an arch and I went through it, then another and another, and another, then I ended up here. But, that’s the story of how I didn’t go back on a promise, even though at the time I would have really wanted to, I didn’t. See, I can be trusted, so you can trust me, I promise, there is no reason for you not to trust me Jak, I promise.”
“I now know that I can most definitely trust you Arianna, I really can trust you. I now know that even if you get really mad at me, you’ll still come and help me escape with you, I can most definitely trust you.” Then there was very loud clapping, very slow and on beat. The clapping was extremely loud, it was the clapping of the horrible giant.
“Such a wonderful story, could you please tell it again,” he said sarcastically in his deep, deep voice, “Hey Jak, she tells better stories than you do, and it’s only her first day, such a pathetic weakling. If only I could kill you, but I can’t since you are a prince and all. I can’t kill a prince unless I get permission from the King or Queen. Oh wait, wasn’t that one of your stories Jak? About a prince named Jak? Oh well, it is absolutely worthless anyway. I will see you weaklings later.”
I looked at him, he looked down, “Did you really tell him a story about a prince named Jak?”
“What?” he asked, “It’s best to be honest to people when you tell a story, right? I mean, it’s wrong to lie, and I don’t lie, and I have a feeling that you don’t either.”
“You are right Prince Jak, I don’t lie, and I would never do so any time soon,” I reassured him, “As a matter of fact, if I lie, that lie somehow becomes a reality.”
“How?” was his one worded question.
“I really don’t know, all I know is that I can turn things in my imagination into a reality.” I answered as best I could.
“Wow,” he replied, “do you think that you could show me something?”
“Sure,” I answered, I started looking at one of the metal bars in the cage holding us in, and I thought of it becoming a grape vine with some grapes blossoming along its vine. Two seconds after I had thought of that, the metal bar turned into the grape vine. I walked over and plucked a few grapes off the vine and plopped them into my mouth. I looked back at Jak, his mouth agape.
“Th-that’s not humanly possible, it can’t be,” he looked at me, eyes filled with fear, “What are you?”
“That’s what I want to know,” I answered, “For the first fourteen years of my life, I thought that I was human, but it turned out that I was from a different planet, and that I have these special abilities, and that a lot of things want me for that. I really don’t get it, why would they want a crazy person like me. The only people that have not been trying to use me are my brother, Kokaob, and Kandy.”
“Wow, that must be a really small circle of friend’s that you can actually trust,” he said meekly, “I feel sorry for you.”
“You don’t have to feel sorry for me, there really is no reason for you to feel sorry for me, I’m serious, you don’t have to feel sorry for me,” I said quietly, “I’m serious, you don’t. I’m doing pretty good with just the amount of friends that I have right now.”
“Oh,” he looked down, “I’m sorry about that, I didn’t know that you were perfectly fine with the amount of friends that you have, I didn’t mean to insult you or anything.” He looked up at me with his deep, sad, black, almost blue, eyes and smiled.
“Your eyes look a little more blue than when I first saw them, do they change color or something?” I asked him.
“Well, yeah, my eyes change color according to my mood, see right now they should be either a bright blue or a blood red.” He continued looking at me, he was right, his eyes were bright blue and blood red, the bright blue on the right of each eye, and the blood red on the left side of each eye.
“I love your eyes, just saying, but I really like them, they are really cool,” I smiled at him, I think I was starting to like this kid, “How did you do that? I mean, make your eyes change color?”
“It’s simple really, all that I need to do is change the genes for eye color and I’m good, and since I can use about seventy eight percent of my brain at one time, I can control what my eyes look like.” My eyes widened, he was starting to be a lot cooler than anyone that I have ever seen before. He truly is starting to seem like a really cool guy.
“Can you somehow find out how other people feel about things?” I asked him, “Or how much of their brain they are using?”
“Sure, but only if I know them really well, and I mean like fourteen years well.” He replied.
Great, now I have to wait to see how much of my brain is being used whenever I create something out of my mind, out of thin air. Oh the joy in waiting fourteen years to find out why everyone wants me to help them, oh how fun that long wait will be. I’ll be twenty eight by that time, and that will not be pleasant. I will not take any joy in having to wait so long just for this.
“Hey, wait a second, you are sending out very high amounts of energy from your being, maybe that’s what’s making this all possible, maybe that’s why a lot of people want to use you, so that they can somehow harness your energy and use it to their own advantage.” He said real intelligently, “Hey, wait a minute, maybe you can think the bars gone, and we can escape, that would be cool right, then we could leave this horrid place and go back home, back to our families, we can continue on with our lives.”
He was right, but I really didn’t want to let him go just yet, I wanted him to help me find my brother, I mean, he would be a great advantage to who there is to help me find my brother. He would be a great help, he would really help us out, we need him. Now it’s time to bust our buts outta here.
Then a light appeared, a bright one, in the shape of an arch, and it was another arch. I reached out and touched the light, I pulled my hand back, I didn’t want to get sucked in there without Jak, even though it did feel amazing, I couldn’t leave him, even though I have only known him for twenty minutes, a promise is a promise. I grabbed his hand and dragged him through the archway, and we were thrown into a bright, warm light. It seemed as if we were the only people there, the only ones in this dimension.


Chapter 5
We were floating around in space, in a warm light, the only source of energy for miles and miles around, we were alone in this unknown place, this crazy place, and I really don’t like it. This light was all around us, the only thing I saw was my hand when I put it up in front of my face. I looked to my right, all I saw was a blurry shape, it was making my head hurt. Then things started clearing up, the bright, warm light was soon replaced with something like a cemetery on a cold winter night, it was nice, but creepy at the same time. I looked to my right again, and I saw Jak, he was there, instead of the blur of colors that was there before.
I decided that we might as well start walking somewhere, and since none of us knew anything about this place, I just picked a direction and started walking. “Hold up,” came Jak’s voice in a warning tone, “We don’t know anything about this place, are you really going to just walk off in some random direction and keep walking till you find something?”
I nodded my head, might as well, there really is no harm in doing this, so I just kept walking, I don’t really care if he follows me or not, it really doesn’t matter.
“Arianna,” he shouted, I turned my head back towards him and stopped, “don’t go that way.”
“Why not?” I asked innocently, “Why should I stop right now, I see no danger in walking this way.”
“Well, maybe that’s because you don’t see things like I do, I can sense something very powerful in that direction, somewhat near you, and I don’t want you to get hurt,” it sounded as if he really cares about me, he sounded really concerned, but he’s only known me for a day or so, “I really don’t want you to get hurt, that would really suck.”
“Why would it suck, Jak?” I inquired of him, “Why should you care if I get hurt or not?”
“It would suck because this thing could kill you, and the reason why I would care if you get hurt or not is because I don’t like seeing people I know get hurt,” he replied, “especially if I know that I could have somehow prevented it.” He looked down, as if he was either embarrassed or sad. I really don’t know how to react to that, so I just walked over to him and said, “OK, I will not go in that direction, now, how much more powerful was it than me?”
“It was about as powerful as you are, maybe just a tiny bit stronger. I really don’t want you to get hurt, and I’m serious, I really do care about you, and I don’t want you to get hurt.” I smiled at this, I guess he can be really nice at times, and he can say just the right things at just the right time. He’s a nice guy, and I really don’t know how anyone could let him out of their sight, I really don’t know how any one person cannot like him, he really is a great guy.
There was a sudden drop in the temperature, it dropped below freezing, and I started shivering. It looked as if Jak was not cold at all, it seemed as if he was perfectly at home. I stood up and started walking away from him, and strangely, the farther away from him, the warmer the air became. Then I decided to keep walking away from him, there is something wrong with that child, and I wasn’t about to find out, and I had a feeling that I really don’t want to know what he is. Soon the air grew really hot, and really heavy, so I turned back and started heading back towards Jak, creepy as he is starting to be, I was getting too hot. Then the temperature started rising faster, it was rising higher and higher, and higher. I looked behind me and I saw a huge red beast, it was extremely bright, and it was extremely hot, and it was racing towards me. I started running away from it, and I didn’t stop running, even though the temperature was starting to drop, and it dropped rapidly. Then I stopped, I looked behind me and I saw a small creature, it had big, innocent eyes, light red fur, tiny horns on the top of its head, it had a small mane of light brown fur on its small head. It just sat there, watching me, then it yawned, a big and adorable sounding yawn. I walked towards it and knelt down in front of it. “Where’s your mommy little guy. Who would leave such an adorable little creature as you?”
I just yawned again and scratched its head with its hind leg. “Awe, you’re just too precious.” That was when it started to grow very hot, I nearly dropped it, its tail started wagging, and I couldn’t help but look at it. Jak came running up to me from behind, I could tell he was coming because I heard his thundering footsteps as he came crashing towards me, “Stop that Annabel, not OK, you do not burn our guests. I am serious about that, now, calm down Annabel.”
I looked at him, apparently he lives here, and apparently this thing is his pet. I really wouldn’t have guessed that he owned something like this, whatever it was. He looked at me, “Are you OK Arianna, she didn’t burn you or anything, did she?”
I shook my head, she didn’t burn me, all she left was scorch marks on my hand, what an idiot, I guess you really do have to be stupid not to know that something on fire doesn’t burn you. My hands were black, but surprisingly, I could still feel them. “Let me see your hands,” he demanded, so I held out both my hands, wishing that he doesn’t see anything on them. Annabel disappeared, and so did my hands, which turned out to be extremely creepy, and I really didn’t like it. I looked at Jak’s face, it was filled with terror, probably at the sudden disappearance of his poor, poor cat thing or whatever it is. Then he looked at me, “W-what are you? What happened to your hands?”
“I thought you might be more concerned of your pet,” I replied shrewdly, “not me, you hardly even know me, and I just made them turn invisible, that’s all, it really isn’t much.”
“Oh really, turning one of the most obvious things invisible is completely possible now is it?” he asked, “I would have thought that the one thing that has been proven time after time that this cat cannot be turned invisible, can’t be turned invisible simply by wishing it not to be seen.”
“I can make everything visible again if you want me to,” I said with a sly smile on my face, he nodded his head really fast, so I just willed him to see all that was in my hands, and Annabel reappeared, along with my coal black hands. He looked at me, then he reached out his hands and touched mine, they instantly went back to how they had been not that long ago. “How did you do that?” I asked him, in complete shock, that thing that he just did is completely impossible, he can’t do that, it’s just not possible.
“It’s simple really, all I have to do is channel my energy into someone else to accelerate the healing process and presto, whatever was hurt is now healed, just like magic, but it’s not.”
“OK then, that’s not strange at all, but, I guess I’m just going to have to deal with your energy as well as mine, unless I can somehow make your energy go back into your body so neither of us get hurt. Hey wait a second, I can do that, it’s really simple, all I have to do is touch your arm and send your energy back to you, but if only things are that simple, too bad they aren’t. Oh well, let’s give it a try and see if it works.” I reached out for his arm, and he let me grab it. Then, in my head Let his energy flow back into his body, the body in which the energy had first come from, it may be a small amount, but it is still his energy, and without this small amount of energy, he might not be able to function properly, so let his energy flow back inside of him. Let his energy be free enough to flow from my body to his, so that he might live that much longer. I saw the color in his cheeks return a little, which truly was amazing.
He just stared at me, with his mouth agape, as if he didn’t know what to do, then he closed his mouth and smiled, he opened his arms and gave me a hug. I stared at him, all I did was give him his energy back, and maybe a little more than what he had had before, but that’s all that I did, why would he hug me for that. I took a step back, he was starting to get a little creepy, and I really didn’t like it.
“Thank you Arianna, thank you for helping me, for giving me my energy back, but it seems as if you have given up some of your own energy for someone as fool hearted as me. I truly am a foolish child, but I do thank you for doing such a great deed, and to one person that you have barely known for even a day, and maybe not even that long. I really don’t understand you, Arianna, you really are a strange girl, and I really think you are someone special, someone important. You have helped me home, and now it is time for me to return the favor, somehow I going to get you back to your home, and I don’t care how long it takes, it may not take long, and it may take a while, I don’t know quite yet, but I promise you, I will get you home, no exceptions.” Jak said quite valiantly. I smiled at him, I had a feeling that he was going to keep to that promise no matter what, but I thought that was kind of strange because all I did was pull him through an arch and give him his energy back, and now he’s promising me something that I’m sure he won’t be able to go through with.
Jak truly is a noble man, he truly is kind, and he is valiant, but I know that there must be some reason for him talking so strange all of a sudden, maybe it’s because he is back at his home, far from the crazy world with the giant. All I know for sure is that I really need to get out of there, but I don’t know how I’m going to do that, and according to him, he is going to help me, and I have a feeling that I’m going to need all the help that I can get. I know for sure that something is going to happen, and that I will need all the help that I can get just to find a way out of here and back to Violaira an Kokaob, wherever they are.

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 16.06.2012

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