At first glance
In a dark cool room, two shadowy figures stood in front of a doorway gazing into a small rectangular slot. They whispered softly to themselves. Purple light glowed from inside the room they gazed into.
"How long has he been in there now?” the taller figure asked quietly.
“Two weeks now,” the smaller figure answered as she glanced up at the taller one and smiled mischievously. Her jet-black eyes held a sense of forlorn as if her eyes were an abyss. She moved her short black hair back behind her ear. The taller figure leaned forward and glanced inside the slot to the giant stone door and seemed to smile.
“Has he told you anything at all?” The taller figure asked.
“He’s said nothing thus far, save for screams of pain,” She said and seemed to lick her lips with satisfaction. The male with bright white hair turned towards the smaller figure and his completely white eyes glanced fondly down at her. She seemed to smile more and then clenched her fists, as a black and blue aura emanated from her hands. At this, the slot went completely dark and a tortured scream could be heard within the room.
“You do love your job, don’t you Kiara?” He asked while still smiling.
“Hmmph,” She replied in noise, then let her fists relax again and the screams seemed to die down.
“Well, let’s not keep Lera waiting, shall we?” He said and turned and started to walk out of the room. Kiara followed closely behind him pulling a dark velvet hood up as she exited the room.
Angel awoke suddenly screaming in the middle of the night. She glanced around quickly fearing that the darkness around her held something sinister, akin to her dream. Her heart rate pumping quickly through her veins. Her hands shaking. She felt like she was the person in that room, but she knew who it was. Jason. Quickly, her dream started to fade. Like sand through her fingers. She tried to keep it there, to hold on to it, but it was no use. Most of what she saw was starting to become a faded memory. As if it had never happened. It had been two weeks since they were in Etheria and had lost Jason in the mix. She was being plagued by the same dream; of Jason being tortured in some way or another. Over and over again, only she always felt like she was the one being tortured instead of him. She sighed and tossed the covers off of her.
I don’t know what is going on, but I know several things are for certain. I need to get Jason out of there, one way or another. I don’t care what it takes. It seems most things have calmed down here. I’m not being hunted anymore. That’s always good. My mother and father are back together. Long story, don't ask. They seem really happy as if they were never apart. But I have noticed that Katt isn’t happy, and seems to be bothered by the whole situation, involving her father and involving Jason being held in Etheria against his will. There's something else she's not telling us. She is quiet most of the time and doesn’t respond much. But I will figure it out like I always do. I just don’t know what to say to her half the time, but at least Mordan and the Goddess are dead.
Angel rose slowly out of bed, she didn't want to get up yet. Sleep deprivation was taking a toll on her body. She felt like her entire body was aching as if she didn't sleep at all. She groaned as her back muscles pulled in a not-so-savory way. She was sore and stressed about so many things she couldn't just pick one thing to try and fix. She stood up, clad in a pale blue nightgown. She walked toward the door to her room. She reached out, grabbed the door handle, and opened the door to find; much to her surprise, Katt standing there. Her heart jumped into her throat for a moment.
"Oh, Gods! Don't scare me like that, Katt!" Angel said startled.
"Still having the dreams?" Katt asked sleepily. She yawned, almost leisurely. Angel's stomach twisted with envy.
"Yeah, you could say that," Angel muttered, then she turned and walked towards the bathroom. For some reason, she felt wide awake no matter what she did. She opened the bathroom door and clicked on the bathroom light. She glanced in the bathroom mirror over the sink and gasped as she swore she saw Jason standing right behind her. She quickly turned around to find that no one was there. She glanced back at the mirror only to find her tired face looking back at her. She quickly glanced back over at Katt who was staring at her in a sleepy daze.
"Did you just--?" She tried to ask but it was hard to put the occurrence into words.
"What?" Katt asked. Angel shifted her weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably and then shook her head.
"Nevermind, don't worry about it," She finally said and then quickly exited the bathroom, brushing by Katt. She walked to her bedroom and picked up the hairbrush. She brushed her hair and then got dressed for school.
As she walked down the stairs, she noticed that Katt was slowly following her. She signed, stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and put her jacket on. Michael, her father, walked into the living room from the kitchen and looked at her. Her mother, Dahlila, slowly walking in after him. They both were drinking coffee and looking way too happy for the morning.
"Good morning, Angel," Michael said after taking another sip of coffee, Dahilia came beside him almost like a lost puppy. Angel could only manage a grunt and then she turned to walk towards the door to the house. "What's wrong, sweet--" Michael started to ask but Dahlila elbowed him lightly in the ribs. He glanced at her and Dahlila shook her head back and forth subtly.
"Have a good day," Katt whispered so low she almost couldn't be heard. She also walked towards the door and put her jacket on and followed Angel out of the house. She glanced back for a moment as Angel was closing the door to look at their smiling faces as she left. The door shut behind them and Angel sighed audibly, it was obvious that being away from her parents was her immediate relief. They both started walking towards the school together, side by side. Silence stewed between them as they walked.
"So, was it the same dream?" Katt curiously asked. Angel only seemed to answer in a grunt. Katt fell silent again, unsure of what to say next. She watched Angel out of the corner of her eye. Angel started to get annoyed with the glances and stares everyone kept giving her. Why is she always looking at me like that? Angel thought to herself. Katt seemed to keep staring at her.
"What do you want?" Angel growled lightly.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Katt looked away surprised that she was caught staring again. "It's just," she started to explain. "It's just.....That I'm worried about you,"
"Why?" Angel nearly laughed out the word.
"Because I can tell you are going through some hard stuff right now and--" Katt said but was cut off.
"Story of my entire life, Katt" Angel spat out with distain. "It's just something you get used to," She said as she flipped up the hood of her jacket and covered her head, Katt watched as her face disappeared behind her purple hood. Katt sighed audibly while she got her headphones out of her jacket pocket and put the earbuds in her ears. She scrolled through her phone playlist and came to a pop/techno song about being psycho. Angel continued to walk towards the school with her hands in her pockets to keep warm.
She'll never understand what it's like being hunted. How could she? She's never had to deal with the things I have had to deal with. I feel so lost right now without Jason. He has always been there since I can remember. Angel also sighed. "I miss you," Angel whispered to herself as a small tear fell down her cheek. She opened her blue-gray eyes and watched the sky for a moment. How am I ever going to get to Etheria?
Before Angel could answer that thought, she saw the schoolyard and people gathering at the entrance as usual. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the group of guys that play hackysack in the morning. For a split second, she could have sworn she saw Jason sitting on the wall staring right at her. His bright green eyes measuring her every movement. She gasped and looked over fully only to find that the boy she saw was not Jason. Nor was this person even looking at her. This filled her with several emotions; anger, frustration, and disappointment. She felt like her blood was boiling as an effect of the emotions. For a moment, she felt the familiar liquid fire surge through her and it made her stop walking for a second as it quickly died down and slowly disappeared. What was that? Angel thought to herself. Katt glanced over her shoulder as she noticed that Angel slowed down.
"You alright?" She called over her own music in her ears.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Angel lied. She clenched her fists and continued to walk towards the school doors. Katt watched as Angel opened the door and walked through, then she quickly followed in right as the door was going to close. They both walked to their first class together. Katt took her earbuds out of her ears and then rolled them up and stuffed them in her pocket before one of the teachers saw it. Angel walked to the stairs and started up them and Katt soon followed behind her. She walked as Angel seemed to be hiding still.
As they both entered the room, they noticed that kids were all talking while sitting in their desks and there was no teacher at the front of the classroom. Angel continued walking as if this was nothing new to her. She sat down at her desk, second from the back, and saw that Katt was just standing there. What is she doing? Angel thought to herself as Katt glanced at the empty teacher's desk and then back at Angel again. Katt slowly walked to her desk. "Where's the teacher?" She whispered to Angel as she passed by. Angel's only response was shrugging her shoulders. Angel sighed internally and started picking at her fingernails nervously. Why does she always ask me about everything? Do I have to teach her everything?
Then, at that moment the homeroom teacher walked into the room and at his side was a student she had never seen before. She had jet black hair and a blue ribbon in her hair. She wore a uniform in the class, plaid blue and black skirt with a black shawl pulled over the shoulders and a white shirt underneath. "Sorry, I'm late everyone," the teacher said and walked up to his desk and sat down. The girl walked up beside him and waited patiently behind his desk with her eyes closed. It seemed very eerie to her and that sensation made Angel feel on edge. She could feel the hairs starting to stand up on her arms, her neck, and her scalp. Who is that? Angel thought to herself as she continued to stare at her.
"Class, this is Elizabeth Luna," The teacher introduced her and right at that second she opened her eyes and looked right into Angel's blue-gray eyes with piercing almost glowing blue eyes. Angel felt like she couldn't breathe for a moment. She was mesmerized by this and then suddenly she felt a sneeze coming on. She tried with all her might to stop herself from sneezing while someone was watching her. Oh, Gods. How embarrassing. she thought to herself.
Then, suddenly, unable to hold it back anymore, Angel sneezed. Several things happened simultaneously; the liquid fire surged through her body quite hot, a stream of pure fire blew out with Angel's sneeze, she noticed that flames caught fire to the girl's blonde hair in front of her, and she heard a gasp from behind her.
