"And stay there!" A loud voice growled at a small, shivering figure huddled in the corner of a basement. "And don't even think of escaping." He slammed the door, not caring that tears were falling from the girl's eyes. She wiped them away as she looked for a way out. Days passed and she still hadn't found a way. Her voice was hoarse from yelling and she was getting weaker and weaker from pounding on the walls. Finally, she found it, a gap that lead to the sewers. It was gross, but at this point she would take anything. As she crawled through it, she heard the door open and her father wandered in, his eyes full of anger as he saw what she was doing.

"No!" She called, crawling faster and stumbling as she tried to run away. Her father grabbed his shotgun and shot her in the back of the head and she fell for what felt like forever before everything went dark...


"Wake up!" Sephyr's eyes snapped open as she felt someone shaking her. About to leap up and attack the person, she saw large green eyes and a worried face come into view. It took her a moment tle="Click to Continue > by Text-Enhance">to register where she was, but  eventually she calmed down. The woman who had been shaking her, smoothed Sephyr's black hair with a gentle hand and kissed her forehead lightly. "Bad dream again, Sep?" Sephyr nodded, unable to sleep and still sweating from the downright horror she faced in her dream.

"It's always the same. I start in the basement and I find the sewer, but something different happens everytime and I always die." She whimpered, on the verge of tears.

"Sh... sh... It's okay. I'm here. You're safe and mom's got eggs ready downstairs." The other girl said, her voice gentle and full of love. Sephyr nodded, attempting to fully calm down as she got out of bed and the other girl left so she could get dressed. "Thanks Alex." Sephyr said to the brown-haired girl's behind as she left the room. Sephyr let out a huge breath of air and looked around the room. She had been living here for two years and already it felt like more of a home than she'd ever had. The room was dim, but thanks to Alex's mom, it always had a nightlight on. Sephyr couldn't stand the dark after her experiences with the basement.

Sephyr shuddered and opened the dresser doors with pale, shaky hands. A large amount of clothes, courtesy Alex's mother, were piled into the closet-like dresser. Alex wasn't rich, by any means, but her family did well for themselves. Sephyr twisted the tle="Click to Continue > by Text-Enhance">class ring on her ring finger, a gift from Alex, and located the clothes she wanted to wear. A simple black t-shirt with blue patterns coupled with a pair of denim jeans. Slipping the outfit on, she examined herself in the mirror atop a vanity table. Her hair was a mess. Fighting the urge to cut it all off, she brushed it down with a comb and it lay flat on her head. Taking two hair ties, she made a long fishtail braid down her back and tied it up with quick hands.

Racing downstairs, she ate a quick meal of eggs, bacon, and toast. She kissed Alex's mother on the cheek and the woman smiled warmly, hugging her. "Thanks Mrs. Mori."

"I've told you 100 times to call me Lily." Alex's mother laughed and watched as Sephyr walked out the door.

"Mrs. Mori, can you tell Alex that I'm going to the forest if she wants to find me?" The older woman nodded and turned back to her reading. Sephyr closed the door behind her and ran to the entrance of a large forest. It had once been a large park, but it had become overgrown and people just ended up leaving it there. In fact, the place they lived only had about 5 houses, everybody else moved away. As she walked through the trees and ferns, she thought about Alex and her mother. They were so nice to her and Alex's mother didn't even know the entire reason why she was staying there. She still didn't want to tell them. She knew she needed to so they could call social services, but she wanted to wait until after her 18th birthday so that she was an adult, but maybe they couldn't be convicted then. She growled to herself and kicked a rock in her path, but then she looked closer at it, forgetting her worries.

The small rock seemed to be glowing a soft glow that made Sephyr feel happy. She wanted to feel like that more often, so she went to pick up the rock. There was a flash of bright light and warmth flooded her. Her palm seared with pain, as if it had been burned and when she turned it over, there was a yellow marking in the shape of a sunburst. Her eyes brimming with tears, she raced down to the creek to stick her hand in the water. Once she had done that, her hand still throbbed, but the mark remained. The question was, why was it there?

"At least the forest has one thing to give."Rocky said, seeing a shimmer in the distance. Running toward the shimmer, Rocky tripped over a tree limb but caught herself under her weight. Rocky brushed herself off and picked up the thing that was shimmering. She sighed in disbelieve to see it was only a stone, but with a odd color.

It was a greenish-yellow color, with a hint of white. She looked at the stone carefully until suddenly the stone sank into her palm leaving a lightning like marking. Shrieking with terror, Rocky ran back to the house, went upstairs to the bathroom and tried to wash it off. Calming down, Rocky gave up and went downstairs to slump on the couch. Feeling mad, she grunted, making a tiny spark of lightning come out of her. Gasping with surprise, she looked around wondering what it was.

  Auden never liked the rain.  Sure, it could be refreshing for a few minutes after a hot summer day, but it severely limited the possibilities for the day.  She had been hoping for the opportunity to go to the beach.  It was her first morning strong enough after a nasty cold, and now the moody clouds had to go and ruin that chance.  The water splashed from the skies and all over her hair.  At this rate, she'd just get sick all over again.

  "There are lots of things to do without going outside," Maxie remarked, seeing his friend glare angrily through the raindrops.

  She huffed. "What an introverted response."

    "Do you want to go outside then?"

   Auden frowned, contemplating this.  After a moment, she replied, "Okay.  Let's do it."

    Without waiting for her friend, she promptly walked off the porch, bare feet and all.  The soil squishing under her toes dirtied her feet, but she didn't care.  Maxie was left shouting about the various dangers of coming into direct contact of the ground.  

  He grumbled something about being dragged into life threatening situations before taking off after her.  If he didn't go, she'd probably try and play unannounced hide and seek then die of pneumonia before anyone found her.  Maxie scrambled in the mud, thinking about how caked his pants were going to be, and yelled at Auden about her lack of decisiveness.

  "Fine, say you hate the rain, and then run off in it!" 

   The Calinao estate was a woodsy one.  Compared to the other properties in the area, it was more wilderness than anything.  It was probably why Maxie's parents bought it; it was the perfect place to raise a sense of curiosity.  Auden herself had come to appreciate it.  She darted in a specific path, knowing the way to her favorite tree by heart.  It had been a few months since she'd been here.  Up until a week ago, the removal of a large tree in danger of falling had rendered access to the woods impossible.  Although the trail was a bit more overgrown without the constant trampling of growth, Auden didn't find it hard to navigate at all.  

  As she began to climb the great tree, her foot against one of the roots that arched above the soil, she noticed a glint out of the corner of her eye.  She tightened her grip on one of the upper branches, arching her body to peer at the red spark she had spied nestled among the ferns.  Failing to see through the darkness, she let go, crouching closer to it.  The air felt warmer, almost alive.

  "Auden, there you are."  Maxie put a hand on her shoulder. "What are you lookin' at?"

  She squinted, the glint not visible at her angle.  "I saw something shiny."  Not caring if it got wet, Auden whipped out her phone and shone it into the shadows.  A bright red stone sat in the dirt, its glossy surface almost alluring.  

  "Wow!" Maxie leaned in. "Auden-"

  She cut him off. "I know, you want it for your collection, just like every other cool rock I find. I'll get it."  With a grin, she added, "Sometimes I wonder if your love for rocks is more than your love for our friendship."

  "Of course, Auden."

   Her hand closed around the stone, and as soon as she did, a flash of heat crashed through it.  Unexpected, she immediately let go, but by then the stone was sinking into her flesh.  It burned, actually.

  "What the-" She immediately tried to cool her hand off in a puddle, but doing so seemed to make it disappear even faster.  

  In a few seconds, it was gone.  She stared at the dark red mark on her palm, and Maxie, who had witnessed the whole thing, stood still with a stick, ready to pry it off.  

  "Well, that wasn't supposed to happen," she said.  

  Maxie glanced at her hand. "Let's go back."  As he helped her up, he thought her skin felt warmer than normal.