Shadows of Destiny
Author: Cross Stinger/ Winyu

Note: This Fan Fiction is a bit *violent and can contain some subjective materials.* Please be advised of this as you are reading. Also, this will be broke up into chapters as seperate posts. There will be a guide to give you an idea of what each chapter is about.

Characters:

Each character will have a profile later on as I get more time to construct one. This will give you a better idea of each of their purpose. Mind you, these will only include the main characters and none of the side ones.

Suggestions/Comments: They are welcomed and can be sent to me over PM or messengers. If you find any errors/spelling mistakes, please let me know as well. Thanks.

The Introduction

The year is 1913. Brutal murders have just begun to rock the city of Rouen, France. A well-known priest was viciously murdered while traveling with his daughter. His body was ripped to shreds. Now his young daughter has gone missing. It’s rumored that the killer took her a trophy or in the off chance, she was also killed. This was the first string in a rash of brutal murders that will be known all over the world. There was no pattern to those who were murdered. Just as soon as it began, the killings suddenly stopped. People say that this is just the beginning. Little did they know that they were right.

Exactly one year has passed since that day. No one knows exactly what had happened. Rumor has it that a harmonixer* murdered the priest as well as the other victims. It is also believed that priests’ daughter was also murdered. Her body has never been found. As if on cue, the killings begin again. Random people die in a brutal fashion. Another young woman is abducted and supposedly murdered. Like the others before, her body was never found. This seemed to be a vicious cycle. People ran in fear, avoiding any contact with each other. They lived their lives out in fear. Afraid if they turn the corner, death will be waiting with open arms. Police are stumped on the murders. There seems to be no connection just like before. So far only one thing that is constant with them is the time they take place. One week out of every year some sort of vicious creature decides to go and murder people. These murders are never set in the same city. First time they were committed, the murderer was in Rouen, France now it seems to have shifted to Moscow, Russia. No one knows where the murderer will decide to strike next. Once more, another young woman has been taken. Only this time, she is still alive. But the real question is: For how long?

The woman that was kidnapped is named Caitlin Marie Moss. She is known to most just as Catie as well as her status as the daughter of a high priest, who was the latest murder victim. Her current whereabouts are unknown at this time. People say that she is apart of the past murders and is believed to have made an irresistible deal with the killer. It is said that the killer is from the Dark Element Clan and Catie is part of the Light Element Clan. When two elements that contradict with each other are brought together, death and destruction is close behind.

Based off of this information, a group of specialized people from various elemental clans was hand picked by the voices of destiny to figure out the woman’s real intent. Along the way, the group will have to figure out their purpose as well. Each member was picked for a certain reason. Not only must the figure out the woman but they must figure out themselves as well. Every member has a potential they can unlock. The potential that can be unlocked could range from being skilled in the ways of magic or something even greater. Time is running short. Peoples’ lives are in their hands. In the chance that they fail, all will be lost.

*Harmonixer – a Human who is able to fuse him or her self with monsters to form a new being.

Chapter Content

Chapter 1 - Introduction to Renae, Neil and Morgan
Chapter 2- Introduction to Ethan, Tyler, Alex
Chapter 3 - Introduction to Dillon, Kalinda, Jennifer, Lauren
Chapter 4 - Voice that Call their Names to the Library - Renae and Neil
Chapter 5 - Voice that Call their Names to the Library - Morgan, Ethan, Tyler, Alex
Chapter 6 - Voice that Call their Names to the Library - Dillon, Jennifer, Lauren, Kalinda
Chapter 7 - Haromnixer in Control
Chapter 8 - New Beginning and Confusion
Chapter 9 - What will become
Chapter 10 - Fight or Flight
Chapter 11 - Fate is sealed
Chapter 12 - No More Tears
Chapter 13 - All or Nothing
Chapter 14 - Fate Wins Anyway

Chapter 1 -Introduction to Renae, Neil and Morgan

Two Days Later

A scream rang out in the dead of the night. There in front of her was a beast of sorts. Low growls came from its throat. The monster looked like something that was spawned from Hell itself. Looking at the thing in front of her, the woman tried to run but her legs were frozen. It was as if they weren’t obeying her commands. Slowly, it inched closer as the woman could begin to see its eyes. Blood red with a hint of black mixed in. Salvia and blood dripped from its fangs. The smell of death reeked on its breath. It lunged. Another scream. The beast ripped through muscles and skin. Tears of pain and sorrow streaked down the woman’s face. She could feel the flesh being ripped right from her body. She opened her mouth to scream again but nothing came out. Slash. Another scream. The cycle would go on until the beast had her organs on display. Then he would slowly scoop them out, licking the blood that dripped from them. One by one, as her organs started to leave her body, the woman’s eyes went wide with pain and fear. Death was close and finally came. Finally was the woman was in peace. On the other hand, the monstrous beast was just beginning. With all the organs cleaned from blood, it slowly began to rip them into pieces. Pieces of the flesh were just large enough to be placed in his mouth. As the organs were tore up, splatters of blood rained on it. This seemed to not bother whatever was eating this woman. You could hear the pieces of tissue be chewed then swallowed. Carefully, the pieces of the organs slid down its throat. Only a few times did it gag as they went down.

Once its meal was finished, it took one last glance at the body. The woman was now unrecognizable. Muscles and tissue hang out of her lifeless body. Even her eyes didn’t seem to be in place anymore. They hung from their sockets, once were full of life, now reflecting the image of her killer. It seemed to smirk at the corpse. Just as soon as it came, it left. This time, it wasn’t the monster that killed her. It changed into a human form. From there, the man that was once a monster, walked away. For him, the hunt for his prey was just beginning. From the looks of it, this was going to be one hell of a night.

A day later

Sunshine rained down through the open window. A low grumble and complaint about it being morning came from a nearby source. The woman tried to block out the light by shielding herself from it with a blanket. It proved to be futile. Sunlight still shined down onto the blanket only to find its way into the depths of it. Renae tossed the blanket off. Clad in only a silk nightgown, she stood up from the bed. So far the sun had already warmed up room up to a fairly warm temperature. She walked over to the window to glance at the day. Just from the start of it, it was going to be long. After spending a few minutes gazing into the outside world, Renae finally turned away. Quietly, she stripped off the nightgown that she had worn the night before. Now fully exposed, she stepped over towards the mirror. There, Renae would gaze at herself, trying to figure out who she was. Silently, the young woman let her hands slowly caress her body, only stopping to trace a few scars. Sighs escaped her lips and then Renae proceeded to get dressed. Closing her eyes and letting herself drift in her thoughts, Renae buttoned up the blouse and put on a pair of pants. Gently brushed the pants to make sure that nothing was out of place. Satisfied that it was perfect, she begin to liter herself in the normal array of jewelry.

Once she decided that she looked beautiful, Renae walked out of the room. The place she was in was fairly quiet. She didn’t think twice about it. Instead of going for breakfast, she walked outside. Going out caused the sun to entering her eyes, thus causing her to squint. Only a bit of the sun seemed to reflect off her glasses. Placing a hand up to her eyes, Renae began to walk down the street. By doing so, heard the normal whispers of people but only one of them caught her attention. Quickly she learned that a woman was murdered last night in Russia. It seemed as if the killer is on the run again. A chill ran down Renae’s spine. Thinking about it, only could she imagine herself being killed in such fashion. Knowing of that new information, Renae became a bit paranoid. For all that she knew, killer could be anywhere now, even right behind her. Biting her lip, the woman glanced around, looking suspicious of everyone. For Renae, the nightmare was just about to begin, as she knew what she needed to do.

--

Neil awoke from his dream, drenched in a cold sweat and breathless. A terrible nightmare about another victim took the place of his normal dreams. This nightmare seemed to be reoccurring but each time with a different victim for the last three months. It first began shortly after hearing, and seeing with his own two eyes, a victim that was brutally murdered. All he knew was that this gentleman wanted to take a picture but instead policemen held back the crowds. Even without the picture, the memory of the woman torn to shreds lay fresh within the depths of his mind. Quickly Neil threw back the covers only to move to the edge of the bed. His palms ran up to his face only to begin rubbing his eyes. Nightmares aside, sleep had never truly come easy to Neil.

All that haunted Neil’s dreams then was nothing but the darkness. Shortly after that, the dreams began to take shape of someone being eaten alive by some creature. In the beginning, they had no faces and the being was always surrounded in the darkness. Only thing that Neil knew for sure is that it was fairly large in size and was never the same shape twice. As for the setting, the scene was always different. Majority of the time it seemed to be in some town. The exactly location was uncertain. Every time in this particular nightmare, someone was being killed by this…this…thing. Like before, their bodies were ripped into pieces then swallowed whole. Just thinking of this caused Neil to gag. How can anything eat a human being like that? Naturally, there were other objects in the scene but the body and the creature were the most prominent. The creature would stalk his prey, careful not to make any noises that would alert it to danger. Once the prey was alone and vulnerable, it’d strike. A claw to the back of the head, causing almost instant death was the first time. Rarely would the creature strike the back, only to knock the victim down. There, pieces of flesh would begin to tear from the bone and be placed into the awaiting mouth of the beast. Blood ran down the person’s body and split onto the ground. After the flesh was consumed, the thing could lick the blood from the ground as if it were a specialty drink. Soon after that, Neil would wake up from the dream. Now all that he wanted now was to just lay down and drift back into a hopeful dreamless sleep. Sleep would never come back for him now. Instead, he might as well just wake up.

Russia has been his new home for four months now. The man came here on a trip hoping to catch more information on a rumor that spread like wildfire in Paris, France. Being here, caused him to miss the novelties of his home. There his wife stayed, waiting for his glorious return. Everyday, she’d wait by the window, hoping to see Neil pull up. Missing also was his smell of his wife and the fresh morning air as he woke up to a beautiful sunrise. After being here so long, it seems as if that part of his life is nonexistent. Sighs of sadness came from his lips as he stared out the window. It was a rainy night; with lightning lighting the night sky. Brilliant flashes of light came into the window, surrounding the place in a pale, purple light. Resting his head on the window, Neil listened to the rain beat down upon it. This research of his never seemed like it was going to end. Cursing, Neil wished that he never came across that rumor and took interest in it. Look where it got him. He was away from home, his wife, everything. Anger was slowly rising within as tears gently fell to the floor. Longing for his wife and for this damn monster just to leave, Neil started to regain himself. Like before, he made his choice and there was nothing that he could do about it. Turning back wasn’t an option anymore, especially after he was this far into the research. Sighing, Neil ran a hand through his hair. Tonight seemed like it was never ending. Quietly, he walked to the bedroom door and closed it. Once more, he sat on the edge of the back, slowly falling back onto the bed. Images from his dream flooded his mind as he tried to make sense of it.

Ten minutes passed and nothing seemed to be helping Neil. Storming or not, he decided that a warm shower would do the trick. Walking into the bathroom, the light shined with a bright glow making Neil squint his eyes from it. His hand reached out to the handle to turn the water on. A splash as well as droplets of water came out from the faucet. It was cold to the touch at first until he adjusted the temperature. Soon enough, the bathroom was filled with steam. Stripping off the sweaty boxers and t-shirt, Neil jumped into the shower. Instantly he felt his muscles relax under the warmth of the water. Just being in here seemed to wash all the fears away. Water cascaded down his body, removing any trace of pain that once consumed him. Neil ran his hands over himself in a slow yet sensual massage. This shower would have been better if Christy was here but that was something that couldn’t be avoided. Splashing water on his face, Neil gracefully shut the water off. Steam slowly filtered out of the small, blue bathroom and into the bedroom. Not bothering with a towel, Neil instead walked naked into the bedroom, still dripping wet. Cool air rushed his body to dry him off and carry away the heat from the soothing shower. The man fell onto the bed, staring out the window. He had to be to work tomorrow so once more, Neil drifted off into a dream filled sleep.

Morning came with the sun peaking through the window. Storms from the night before finally passed had left the city soaking in its aftermath as Neil finally came to. It wasn’t uncommon for a storm such as last nights to spring from nowhere. Slowly, Neil stood up from the bed. Doing so it was then he realized that he had nothing on. He looked down at his manhood then walked to the window. The man didn’t care if anyone at all saw him and all of his glory. A stretch over came him as he then moved to the closet. From there, he pulled out an outfit, a business suit, and began to shove various body parts into different holes of the suit. Within minutes, he was fully dressed, thinking of the nightmare once more.

Begin Nightmare Recall

A young woman was found dead on the street this morning. Her body was ripped to shreds. Within minutes, news crews began to flood the scene. Everything that was there Neil could see with crystal clear clarity. It felt as if Neil was starting to live her life up until she died. What he had seen was more then enough to drive someone insane.

The girl, Victoria, had just woken up. Next to her, a sleeping man, presumably her husband, shifted in his spot. A small smile came across her lips as she placed them on his forehead. They had what seemed to be a perfect marriage. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any children either. For months now, the couple had been trying to conceive a small child. So far, nothing came from it. Gently, a hand ran through her bed head as she slowly stood up. Her body was clad in nothing as from the activities from the night before. Breasts that hung almost perfectly on her body were one of her most outstanding features. As light hit her body, it looked as if an angel had descended from Heaven. Gentle black curls framed her pale skin. Hands went to her eyes to rub any sleep that still lingered there. Victoria stood there for a moment then proceeded into the closet for a change of attire. Her choice of an outfit was a tight pair of jeans and a white blouse. This particular outfit itself managed to show off her slim figure as well as all of her curves. Smiles were all that could be seen on her face. Carefully, she stopped by a mirror to make sure her hair wasn’t that bad for her morning errands. Touch of makeup here and there was all that she needed to make herself beautiful this morning. Shoving her feet into a pair of sandals, Victoria ran out the door.

Outside, the sun was just peaking over the horizon. Birds were now just coming out of their sleep to wake others up with the song. Dew fell off the flowers as well as sparkling in the ever-rising sunlight. The air was crisp and cool and easy on the lungs. Trees swayed back and forth in the wind that was flowing through the morning air. It was turning out to be a beautiful morning. Victoria stepped out and began to walk to the nearest store. Lurking in the shadows was the monster. Carefully, it waited until she left the house to begin feeding. As soon as she was at least four blocks away from any sign of civilization, it would attack. For now, breakfast was about to be served.

Victoria walked down the street. Her mind was filled with thoughts from the night before. Smiles can be seen stretching across her face. That all changed when sounds of muscles ripping in her neck came around. Eyes began to go wide then slowly back into her head. Slowly, she realized what was happening. Something or someone just cut her throat open. Blood and air began to pour out from the wound. Bubbles began to form within the blood as it trailed down her neck. Only then would she realize in a few seconds, she would be dead. Screaming was useless, as she had no more voice. Blackness began to close in on her as Victoria began to fall to the ground. Her body hit the ground with a loud thump. Within seconds, the beast was on her, ripping flesh from the bone. It came off in chucks with blood spattering on the ground. The monster shoved the pieces into its throat as it swallowed the pieces. Minutes passed and nothing was left of the woman except bones. Trails of blood now stained the once white concert where she laid. At the end of her life, she caught a glimpse of her killer. Beautiful green eyes hung from the sockets that were held on by only bits of flesh. As if they could still see, the monster stabbed each of them with a long nail. When the nail entered, a loud squishing noise could be heard as well as the flow of clear liquids came from the wound. Slowly, the hideous creature put the nail in his own mouth to suck off the juice that came from the eyes. After careful licking of the nails, the creature went on its merry way.

End Nightmare Recall

--

Morgan shifted her feet. She had been long awake from the sun even decided to cross into the sky. Also unlike most, the sun didn’t seem to bother her. The woman’s features were hidden is a shroud of darkness. This was mainly done to keep others, mainly the males, away from her. Carefully, Morgan stepped out into the morning air. Everyone else was silent as it was still moments before the sun would peak over the horizon. Houses were dark and no movement could be seen in the town. A sigh was all that escaped the lips of Morgan. For many years now, she longed to escape the grasp of this tiny town. Tonight, Morgan decided was the right time to make her escape. Silently, she slipped into her robes that contained many hidden secrets, opened the door, and then stepped out. As she did, the door offered only a slight protest for being opened. Breath caught her throat. What if someone woke up? Morgan didn’t want to stick around. After all, the punishment for leaving was banishment if not death itself. Stepping ever so lightly, Morgan made her way from the town. Only sounds that guided her way were the sounds of crickets. Their song was the only sound that rang in the night. Using their song Morgan began to make her way from the town she has lived in all of her life. That night, a piece of Morgan died. Escaping the village was a crime and she knew in the end, she’d pay for it. For now, Morgan only prayed that she would live to see the day everything changed in the world.

Snap. A twig was crushed into pieces. Morgan had been running all night. Every so often would she have to stop to untangle her robe from the trees that tried to keep her there. Now dawn was breaking over the sky. Bright colors of orange, yellow and red spilled off and chased the shadows away. The warmth from the sun could be felt through the black folds of her robe as she silently walked. In the distance, a town could be seen. It was slightly bigger then her own but it would have to make do. Straightening her robe, Morgan proceeded to the town. As was expected, everyone woke up at the first ray of light that hit the sky. Carefully, Morgan hid herself even deeper into the robe as she came into the peaceful town. No one seemed to question her as she slowly walked through. A few times did people stop and stare but no one said anything to her directly. Taking a deep breath, Morgan walked over to the nearest tavern. Not that it was a surprise but people were in there, drinking their life away. Only offering them a shake of the head, the woman carefully took a seat at the table. Drunks began to hoot and holler when she removed her hood from her face to speak with the owner about directions. Fear began to fill her soul and mind. Never in her life had she been around so many drunks. All Morgan wanted to do was run away from this. That happened when some of the drunks tried to grab her. Screaming was all that was heard as she left the bar. Her heart raced from that experience. Without saying anything more, Morgan quickly found a form of transportation to get out of Japan.

Wind whipped through her robe and onto to her face as Morgan raced through the air in a plane. The wind itself was cold. Morgan wrapped her robe even tighter around her. A man sat with her, as he was the one that offered a trip to get out of the country. Cautiously, Morgan accepted the offer. Within minutes, they were air born. Being so high in the air drove excitement into her veins. It felt as if she was on top of the world. Higher they went, the more cold air began to fill her lungs as she deeply breathed in. Slowly, she exhaled the air through her mouth. Morgan closed her dark eyes. Images of what the world below her must look like filled her restless mind. Sleep came to her as she was flying. Her mind was filled with the images of flying as well as those from the war. Dead bodies riddled with bullets floated in and out of her head. Mixed in there were the screams of the dead and some of the lives. They carried a message… a message that she was needed in Russia. Just those thoughts alone were enough to strike fear in Morgan’s heart causing her to jerk awake. Chills were sent down her spin. Pounding and pain was felt in her heart as she came to. After much thinking, Morgan came to the conclusion that it was all just a dream. What puzzled her were the voices that called her to Russia. Morgan wondered what it meant. She had asked the pilot if he could spare a detour and just take her to Russia. He shrugged. As long as he was getting paid for taking her to wherever she desired, the man didn’t seem to care.

Chapter 2 - Introduction to Ethan, Tyler, Alex

Silence. A bright white room in a small house was silent. Sound asleep in a near by bed was Tyler. The only sounds that broke the silence were his snores as well as the sound of waves crashing on the beach. Tyler rolled over to lie on his stomach. Living alone was the life of this gentleman. Asleep in only boxers, a blanket was carefully draped over him to provide some form of warmth. Around him, various books about everything were scattered on the floor. Mixed in with that were hand-written notes. It is quite obvious that Tyler was one into gaining knowledge of the world around him. Once more, he shifted into a more comfortable position on the bed. As if it was protesting, the bed creaked from under him. Night went on as Tyler slept. People would be murdered, as a new day would begin. News of these killings would stretch across the world. Panic would fill the hearts of young children as well as their parents. Everyone would lock their doors and stay inside where they were safe. Whereas people would shut themselves up in their homes, Tyler would do anything to gain knowledge of how these killings occurred. News clippings were littered on the floor with pictures of the victims. Pieces of a puzzle would slowly come together.

A rooster outside would break in the dawn as Tyler slowly dragged himself from the warmth of his bed. His blonde hair was shaggy as well as covering his bright, hazel eyes. Small yawns escape his mouth as he stood up from the bed. Careful not to step on anything, Tyler made his way to the bathroom. The room itself was bright and colored with various shades of blue. Tiles beneath his bare feet were cold to the touch. Water began to run from the nozzle. Cold at first then slowly it turned into a warm trickle. Grabbing the nearest washcloth, Tyler threw it into the sink. Splash. Drops of warm water struck his face as he tossed the cloth into the sink. Bubbles began to form around the cloth as it lay there swaying back and forth. Just the sight of it was almost mesmerizing. Tyler stared at the object for a few moments lost in his own thoughts. He shook he head and began to wash his face.

With his face now clean, Tyler ran through his inventory of clothes. Most of his outfits would consist of baggy shirts with equally baggy pants. Not sure of what to put on, Tyler grabbed a dark blue shirt with khaki pants. This particular outfit was a bit tighter then his normal attire but it’d have to do for now. After putting on clothes, Tyler returned to the bathroom to do something with his wild hair. He spent a good fifteen minutes just trying to make it perfect. Once he was satisfied that it was, he left by turning off the light to the bathroom and flipping on the TV. The gentleman spent another fifteen minutes just channel surfing when he came across something disturbing. It was on the news… another murder. Tyler could feel his heart racing. This could be another chance to crack the mystery of what was really going on! A surge of hope ran through Tyler’s body. Quickly, he jumped from his chair to gather a few news clippings that were scattered on the ground. All of the clippings he gathered were from the recent string of murders. Each piece of the clippings held a clue. Eyes scanned over each article in search of what might be different. So far, everything seemed the same. Just some weird killer is going around killing random people. Nothing would be left of their bodies except a few traces of skin and bones. Frustration was taking place of the hope that once ran through Tyler. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair. What was missing from this picture here? Absolutely nothing came to his mind. The man sighed. This was almost pointless.

The news and the murder almost forgotten, Tyler closed his eyes as he leaned back in the chair. Clippings were still scattered over his lap but the thought of messing with them wasn’t on his mind. In all honesty, Tyler felt confused. Solving these murders was the number one thing that he wanted to do. If he could he do that, he could be veered as a god. That offer alone was more then enough to entice him. Becoming a god of sorts was one of Tyler’s dreams. Being one would ensure power and control – something that Tyler always wanted. Smiles of happiness and joy crossed his lips. His smile quickly faded when voices called out his name.

The pain lasted only a few mere seconds. He decided not to this too much of this voice that called to him. It would just be best to assume that it meant nothing. For now, he’d have to run to his shop to attend to the daily business. Quickly shoving his feet into a pair of tennis shoes, Tyler ran out the door. Luck was with him as the shop was only a few blocks from his current location. This young man bolted out the heavy oak door, slamming it shut behind him. Only a few minutes later did the man arrive at a building. Before him the structure itself was large and had a welcoming feel to it. A quick jog up the stairs leads him into the building itself. Inside were massive walls that contained various art works. Most of it has never been seen before. Art works dotted the walls and added some much needed color to the place. Few people were looking at the various pieces. After a few more minutes of talking, the young couple bought one of the more expensive pieces of art that Tyler had to offer at his shop. All around him people smiled at the sale of such an item. Praise went out to the man who managed to make the sale. In this business, the more you sold, the better your profits were. Tyler shifted his attention out the window only to see another gentleman walking up the steps.

--

Ethan walked out of his small apartment. Just across the street from him a pair of railroad tracks laid. Every so often, you’d see as well as hear the train come rumbling by. Its noise was almost deafening. Morning dew sprinkled plants as Ethan left his apartment. The apartment itself was small, only containing the bare essentials to live. Outside was like that as well. Only a few plants managed to decorate this apartment. None of it really mattered to him anyway. As long as he had enough money to take pictures of various objects, Ethan considered life good. His life was always being consumed with taking new pictures of the various areas in the world that he was lucky enough to travel to. Places with such exquisite beauty were scattered around the globe. It was Ethan’s intention to find every place of such caliber to photograph. Brisk morning air rushed passed him as he gripped his coat tighter and pulled it close to his small body. Mornings were generally a bit on the chilly side in California so one did what they could to keep themselves warm in it.

Moments passed as Ethan kept walking. Along his travel, he was able to photograph a beautiful rainbow that had graced the sky. Only could one imagine the brilliant colors of each strand as it stood out on paper. Colors so bright they almost seemed to be real. Another picture was of dew falling off of a near by rose. A rose that was deep pink in color was spotted with patches of dew. If one was careful, they could get a picture of dew falling off of it while the sun shined through the water itself. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Roughly ten minutes have passed since he was able to take a picture. He had heard that there was an art shop of sorts near by. Deciding that he had nothing else really to do, he figured he’d drop in to see what they had to offer. Maybe if Ethan were lucky, he would be able to pawn off some of his own artwork to the gallery to get paid for it. Shrugging his shoulders, Ethan carefully glanced across the street before making his was to the gallery itself.

--

Tyler moved quickly to open the giant doors for the gentleman outside. He obviously could see that it was a bit chilly outside, as the man seemed to hurry across to street. Doors swung open to reveal a large reception area. Floors were covered in a tan carpet or graced with pale pieces of marble. Warm air greeted the man as it turned his face into a flush pink. Placed within his hands were a bag and what seemed to be a camera. Instantly, Tyler’s eyes went to the camera. A few moments passed as he glanced at it, trying to figure out what could be on the film. As if sensing what he knew, Ethan spoke up.

“What is on that film is pictures that I took of my travels as well as nature it self. I’m sorry. My name is Ethan Thomas. And who might you be, if I may ask?”

Ethan Thomas. Where had Tyler heard that name before? He spent a few moments trying to rack a thought about where he remembered that name but it quickly escaped him. Shaking his head, Tyler stuck out his hand in order to give Ethan a proper greeting.

“Tyler. Tyler Arnold. I open this shop here, if you wish to call it a shop. I much prefer the term gallery if I do say so myself.” Tyler flashed him a dazzling smile. A row of perfect white teeth could be seen under the smile. He shook Ethan’s hand then gestured to welcome him in more. Quietly, he watched Ethan remove his coat to place it on the rack. The camera and bag, however, still remained with him. For some reason, that annoyed Tyler. He wanted to know what was in it and what pictures this man had.

--

Ethan shook Tyler’s hand then sensed that he was interested in the camera. Slowly, he narrowed his eyes into what appeared to be just slits. Always had he been so protective of his camera. After all, it was his life. Without it, Ethan wasn’t sure what he’d really do.

“You seem to be interested in my camera. Is there anything in particular you wish to know or see?” Ethan asked, careful not to put any edge in his voice. His goal wasn’t to sound hostile. In fact, it was almost the complete opposite He wanted to be friendly and hopefully be able to get to know this gentleman. When Tyler replied, all Ethan could do was nod a bit. The more Tyler seemed to talk, the more Ethan became annoyed. To Ethan, Tyler seemed to have a superiority complex. That alone was more then enough to bother Ethan. It was almost getting to the point where Ethan would just tell him to either shut up or leave. Grinding his teeth to ignore the comment, Ethan opened the bag to pull out a few pieces of his photography. Pieces of paper slowly were pulled out. Each of them was wrapped in some sort of protective plastic, as it was safe to assume that it was to prevent damage. Three images came out from the bag. First one was taken a few years ago, in China. On that paper was a picture of a family with smiles spread wide across their faces. In the picture, it looked as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Image number two was of a stunning sunset on one of the local beaches here. Sunlight streaked through a blue sky, giving it the feel as if the sky itself was on fire. Oranges, reds and yellows were shining from the sun as they reflected their colors on the glittering water and sandy beaches. Finally onto image three. A daisy stood there, alone in a field. Its colors shone brightly into the green field and small petals gently fell from its stem. Dead center of that flower was a bright button of yellow. Color of yellow that reminded Tyler of the morning sun as it was just peaking over the horizon. Just as soon as they came out, the pictures went back into the bag. This gentleman smiled then looked at Tyler.

“So, if I may ask, what did you think of them?” Ethan carefully picked his words. It was his goal to not make himself sound too cocky or anything. He assumed that Tyler wouldn’t exactly appreciate it if he did. While Tyler was busy going over the pictures in his mind, Ethan decided to have a look around. Each wall was covered in art. From that, he wasn’t sure where to really begin. Quietly he excused himself from Tyler to look at a near by piece. Some local artist named Anastasia did the piece itself. In the image, a young woman with stunning red hair stood against a giant tree. She was photographed in what looked to be a German Empire’s uniform. Also in the picture was a sword. The sword was long and slender as well seemed sharp enough to cut through just about anything. A small shiver ran through Ethan’s body. He honestly would have hated to meet that woman on the streets. Images flowed through Ethan. Just seeing this woman sent chills down his spine. Looking at the image seemed to be as if the woman, who’s name (or so he thought) was Karin, was someone who would kill for no reason. To others, she may seem sweet and innocent but to Ethan she seemed like she was Satan himself.

Tyler finished looking at this man’s art or at least going over it in his mind. He would admit that this fellow had some wonderful talent. Each image itself was unique and stunning. A lot of people would pay some serious money to have these blown up and hanging in their own home. The images contained so many colors as well as had many depths to them. Rubbing his hands together, he walked over to Ethan. There Ethan was just standing there, caught up in one of the images. Quickly he glanced to see what caught the young man’s attention. In front of him was the picture of Karin. Slowly, the story behind that picture came to Tyler’s mind.

“They say that she would one day become a great hero. Her and six others would travel the world, stopping a group known as the Sapientes Gladio. Of course, this is just a story to tell others as they come in. As you know, each picture here has a story. And I would be honored if I could sell your pictures here and add them to the history of this fine place.” Tyler replied, his voice dripping with excitement. He truly did hope that Ethan would agree. Having this man on his team for pictures would surely bring in more business. A hand came out to shake the hand of the wondrous photographer as well as seal the deal.

Ethan stood there in shock. Was this man just asking him to be apart of his team? Words seemed to get caught in his throat. This couldn’t true. Tyler must be pulling some sort of trick on him! Now Ethan would spend a few moments catching his breath and thinking everything over. The more he thought about it, the more it sounded true. Nearly jumping up and down, Ethan shook Tyler’s hand.

“I’d love to be of service to you!” Ethan shouted. Others looked at him like he had just lost his mind. His heart was pounding inside of his chest. It felt as if at any moment, it would literally jump out of his chest to flop on the ground. Ethan was now full of smiles. Today seemed to be one of the best days of his life. But little did he know that it was actually about to change. Without warning, voices screeched inside of his head. Instantly, he fell to his knees. Voices called out to him but the words they spoke seemed to be not understandable. Within seconds, Tyler as on his knees as well. They both placed their hands on their ears as if trying to shut out whatever was calling their names. Just as quickly as it came, both men stood back up. The voices were all but gone. A few lingering voices still stuck around. The voices would serve as a guide, to help them kill the evil that will begin to threaten the land.

--

Darkness was all Alex woke up to. In the background, he could hear an alarm of sorts sounding. Its buzz echoing in the room, bouncing off everything it could. A tiny grumble came from the man as he stuck out a hand to turn the blasted thing off. As he rolled over, he caught a glimpse of the time. It was only one in the morning. Confusion racked his brain as he tried to figure out why the damn thing would be going off at this time. Smash. His hand finally connected with the alarm. Doing so also caused pain to shoot up his arm. Alex made a mental note not to smash the alarm again. Honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised if he had managed to break his hand after hitting the alarm. Now the alarm was on the floor, in pieces. If he decided to actually get out of bed, he might step on the pieces, causing them to find their way into his feet. Swearing took the place of the confusion that was once in his mind. How he could have been so stupid and careless? More grumbling escaped his mouth. Almost did it seem as if the world was against Alex today. Climbing out of bed, Alex carefully moved his body around the pieces of the clock. He struggled in the dark to find something to put on. After all, Alex did sleep in the nude. Ten minutes of searching reveled that Alex found a tight pair of pants and a baggy shirt. Putting them on, he decided that now wasn’t the time to care if they matched or not. Piece by piece, Alex began to pick up the shattered clock.

Alex finally finished with the clock. The clock was now lying at the bottom of the trash bin. Also at the bottom of that bin was something that caught Alex’s eye. A newspaper was just sitting there. On the front page was the story of the woman that had just been recently murdered. The paper showed pictures of the body. Her body was torn into pieces. Looking at it nearly caused Alex to lose whatever he had in his stomach. How could anyone do such a thing? He clenched the paper that he picked up in his hands. Slowly, it started to crinkle at his tight grip. Anger quickly overcame him. It wasn’t fair that she had to die! What did she do to deserve such a horrible death? Tears began to form in his tear ducts. Soon enough they would overflow and steam down his pale face. This man had the tendency to get very emotional when something horrible happens to someone as it didn’t matter if he knew him or her or not. Everything in this life seemed so unfair to everyone else except Alex. Perfect life is what he seemed to live. Nothing ever seemed to go wrong. His family was rich as could be. Mix that in with the fact he was a spoiled child. With that kind of life, how could anything ever go wrong? Sobs slowly took over his body. Death was something he never wished on anyone yet whenever he seemed to get angry, someone was always dead. Whether he knew them or not, someone would die. Pieces of last night began to take shape in his head.

Begin Image Recall

Now this was the life. Beautiful woman were all around him, pampering him. Everything was perfect… that is until Alex’s parents came back. His parents were to be out of town for a few days, leaving the place to Alex alone. Sure, Alex was usually a good kid but tonight, he wanted to be a rebellious child for once. Knowing if he was caught, Alex would face dire consequences. Trying not to even think of that, Alex decided to have a little fun. First off, he would invite all the women that he could. It didn’t matter if they were just random people; Alex wanted to have one hell of a party. Walking on the streets, he would give people information about this bash. Some of the people seemed to be a bit reluctant to go but that was their problem, not Alex’s. Humming and moving along, Alex went about his way to get everyone to come.

That night, the house was swarming with people. Most of these people Alex had never met in his life. All that matters was that tonight he was going to have fun. Emotionally, he was flying sky high. Not a single care in the world passed through his head. Instead, women were too busy massaging him. Slowly, the massages change into kissing and were about to go further when his parents came home. Everyone panicked and fled the scene. It was then that Alex just wanted to shoot himself right in the head. Everything was perfect then his emotional high came crashing down when his parents started to lie into him. They threatened to kick him out to sending him to serve in the aid of the country. Just hearing this caused anger to rise in Alex. He truly hated his parents right now. His parents had no right to do what they were doing. Narrowing his eyes, he began to wish that they weren’t here and none of this ever happened. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. Parents were still yelling at him. Instead of having a fight over any of this, Alex just walked away. Silently, he made his way up to his room where he wrote in a journal everything he felt. A few hours passed and all of his feelings were in this little book. Alex talked about how much he hated his parents and that he wished them dead. Needless to say, he didn’t much think about what would happen after he said those words. As they say, be careful in what you wish for... it might come true. In this case, Alex felt someone else lost their life for no reason due to his emotional issues.

End Image Recall

Alex quickly shut the thoughts from his mind. It was his fault for being so stupid. Silently, he cursed himself for being who he was. The only problem that lingered in his mind was how was he ever going to make it up to his parents? His only answer was a sigh. Everything seemed impossible. He was about to just go back to bed to forget all of this when someone or something entered his mind. Voices swirled in his head. Thoughts of those that were hand picked by destiny as well as other words churned in his mind. None of this made any sense to him. Darkness started to overcome him. As he struggled to keep his eyes open, the voices began to get stronger. Soon enough, he lost his mind to the darkness.

Chapter 3 - Introduction to Dillon, Kalinda, Jennifer, Lauren

Silence was all that was in Dillon’s room. In the far corner stood a lonely bed. On that bed was a man snuggled tightly in his messy sheets. It was as if he was sleeping like a baby. Not one sound escaped his mouth as he slept in the bed. His body was only captive in a plain gray t-shirt as well as a pair of red boxers. Small beads of sweat were on his face as he lay there. To a normal person, it would look as if he was just warm from the night air. Little did anyone else know that he was actually in the middle of a terrible nightmare. The nightmare was caused by the voices that were touching his mind. For you see, the voices only picked those who followed a certain path to change the fate of the world. Dare someone who was wrongfully picked choose the fate of the world, would all hope would be lost. This reason and more was the reason only those with their destiny sealed were allowed to change the fate that was stowed upon this world. As his nightmare went on, his body shifted more with each passing second.

Finally morning was upon Dillon. Several hours passed since he had that dream. Just remembering it sent chills down his spine. To Dillon, it made no sense why he would have such a dream. In fact, Dillon hasn’t had a nightmare or even a dream that he remembered in many years. All of this just seemed really weird to him. Even with the voices that called to him in his sleep, Dillon couldn’t understand it. Why would someone want him to go out of the country just to stop some freak accident from happening? Sure, Dillon heard about the recent string of murders in Russia. Frankly, he didn’t care. Those who were killed had no relationship to Dillon, thus resulting in him not caring. Rubbing his arms, Dillon decided to roll out of bed and actually make the bed for once. Small whistling noises came from him as he worked on making his bed. He figured that once he full woke up, the dream would be nothing but a memory. Now that the bed was finally made, Dillon strode down the tan carpeted stairs for some breakfast. Opening the door, he found a batch of eggs that should be made up. Within minutes, eggs were frying over a low heat on a near by wooden stove. The smell of eggs was now drifting through the house. Roughly ten minutes later, Dillon was able to eat the meal that he had cooked. On the table was a bit of butter, a glass of milk as well as some toast that he had made. He bit into his eggs, letting some of the yoke run down his chin. Inside of his mouth, the eggs swished around as they were chewed then swallowed. This would repeat until the eggs were gone. From there, Dillon washed the eggs as well as the bit of toast he did eat with the glass of cold milk. A belch quickly followed the meal. Dillon patted his stomach slightly as he was now full from the delicious meal.

With his meal now finished, Dillon rushed back up the stairs. He was stopped half way by the voices from his dream. They were punishing him for not heeding their warning. Dillon clutched his ears, trying to drive the sound from his head. Foul words also escaped his mouth in the attempt to chase the voices away. Oh how Dillon longed for one of his swords. A sword should be able to chase the voices from mind. Sadly, his swords were upstairs in the spare room. In his current state, there was no way to reach them. Blood trickled out of Dillon’s ear. Voices told him that he was due in Russia in less then two days. Failure to show up for this appointment would result in death. Just as quickly as they came, the voices were gone. The voices left Dillon on the stairs, panting. It was only then that he noticed a small amount of blood was on his hands. From their encounter, he had to fight off the panic that was rising within him. How the hell did blood manage to seep from his ears? Shuddering at the thought, Dillon moved up the stairs to the bathroom. There he washed away the blood that was not dry on his ears. Once that was finished, Dillon walked into the guestroom with all of his swords.

Hanging on all the walls were various swords. Some were short others were long. Dillon walked over to one on the far right wall. There, a broadsword hung. He picked it up off its stand and started to swing it around. The sword itself had a bit of weight to it and was one of the easier to use. Testing its sharpness with his finger, Dillon decided that it would do. Lingering in his head was the voices warning. After deciding that he was done in the guestroom, Dillon walked back to the master bedroom. Without saying anything, he began to shove clothes into a near by bag. Heeding the warning of the voices he decided not to take any chances. Biting his lip, he grabbed the bag then moved out. Descending the stairs, Dillon raced out into the day. Before him stood the large front door that lead to his fate. Taking in a deep breath, he opened it then slammed behind as him set out to start his future.

--

Hair rained down on her face. Kalinda shifted her eyes to it, annoyed with it. There was no use trying to brush it from her face as it tended to land there again in time anyway. For now, she’d have to ignore it as she stepped out of the house. A small shiver went up her spine as she walked out into the cold air. Russia was filled with snow this time of year. It tended to be so cold that snow even refused to fall at times. Rubbing her arms, Kalinda walked into the night. Stars littered the sky as she walked. Instead of looking at them, she was more interested in what was going through her head. The news of the murders has gotten around but she tried to ignore it. Thoughts about what happened were shifting around in her mind. Now that the she thought more about it, why would someone mess with her now that she had a sword in one hand. Ironically, it was just recently, she learned that her sister was a victim to these ghastly murders. Pain and anger welled up inside. Just because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time doesn’t justify what happened. Garnet didn’t deserve what punishment was delivered to her. Redness and heat started to show on Kalinda’s face. Random words in Russian began to spew from her mouth. It is safe to assume that the words were Russian profanities. Even though it’s been a few weeks since the accident, Kalinda hasn’t yet grasped the concept that her sister would never be returning. Thinking of that still angered Kalinda… it almost seemed like it was a wound that would never heal. Sighing, Kalinda shut her eyes and waited.

After several minutes passed, Kalinda managed to calm herself down. Losing her sister was a pain that she still wasn’t able to bear yet. As she walked down the street to a nearby shop, several people stopped to stare at her. All that they got in return was an evil glare and a glimpse of a long, sheathed sword. Many of them scrambled at the sight of this. The young woman could only laugh. Only a bit of pity was felt for them as they run away in fear. With everyone running away, she stopped outside of her shop.

The building itself was large as it also was fairly old. Large blocks of bricks colored in red stood out from it. Standing before it was Kalinda. It was her base of operations for her clothing store. Her pale green shirt reflected off the streetlights just as her heels clicked on the cement. Before her, two doors of glass stood, waiting to be opened. Sucking in air, Kalinda walked up to them to push them open. A rush of warm air greeted her as she stepped inside the building. Inside of the building was warm and smelled of various cloths. Few people nodded to her as she passed by. Kalinda only offered them a half smile. In all honesty, she wasn’t feeling too good tonight. Even though she has fairly dark skin, it did seem a bit pale. Her hand ran through her wavy, blonde hair as she neared the end of the building. Just the general overseeing showed Kalinda that all was well at her store. Knowing this put a smile on her face. That soon vanished as pain overcame her.

--

“Would you stop complaining already, Lauren?” Jennifer rolled her brown eyes. Her sister, Lauren, wasn’t exactly being friendly. Being twin sisters wasn’t an easy thing. Both girls were twenty-three, had brown hair and hazel eyes. If you look at them, you wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. In order to keep them different, Lauren tends to braid her hair while her sister keeps it long. The sisters were in a train car, fighting over the long-ness of the trip. Together, they were heading to Russia to visit their parents. Jennifer tapped her finger against the window, causing it make a constant yet annoying noise. Lauren could feel her anger rising. Of all the people on the train, why did she get stuck with her sister? Rolling her eyes, Lauren decided to stand up.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not a child. I’m going for a walk, so don’t worry, sister.” Lauren made sure she emphasized the word sister. The woman could see the annoyed look in her eyes as she walked away. Jennifer yelled something but Lauren was too far away to hear it. A smile was on her face as she went through the cars. Lauren was mainly interested in finding a cute gentleman to sit with. Before she could, dizziness came over her. Carefully, she leaned on the wall, hoping it’d pass. It didn’t. Slowly, she slid down the wall until everything went black.

Jennifer cursed her sister. For being the same age, she sure was a little prissy brat to her. As Lauren walked off, Jennifer swore at her for being so stupid. A small sigh escaped her lips. How could she be related to her? She threw her head back onto the seat. Lauren would return when she damn well felt like it. Just as she threw her head back, darkness took over. Voices whispered her name as she fell into what seemed to be a deep sleep.

Chapter 4 - Voice that Call their Names to the Library - Renae and Neil

Voices called their names. They spoke to the chosen ones in riddles. These voices were to guide them to Russia. When the voices spoke, it was like nails on a chalkboard rang inside their head. Even when they spoke, they tended to cause pain and agony when speaking. This was a mere side effect but it did ensure they were speaking to the chosen ones. One by one, the voices spoke to them. Each of the voices gave them the information that was required to fulfill their destiny. The voices didn’t answer their questions. Instead, they ended up causing more questions then anything. Questions that would in time have answers to them.

The chosen ones were ones with a hidden talent from their clan. Ones from the Dark class were able to fuse into monsters to carry out their bidding. Those from the Light class gifted with the power to make something pure and give life back to something that once was. While those blessed with the Earth class had the power to control nature herself. Others were given the power of Wind, Fire or Water are given the chance to control those elements themselves. When these elements are brought together, a new being is formed from their power. They will need that power in order to put an end to the nightmare. Now the voices would wait for those picked by the Gods to join in their quest. For if they fail, there will be nothing to stop the birth of a Demon.

--

A warm wind whipped through the air. Renae’s hair began to fly with it. Grumbling at the fact her hair was now another mess; she ran her fingers through it as fast as she could to see if that would improve the way it looked. Needless to say, it failed. She’d have to go through the day with it being a mess. Sighing, she glanced around again to notice the chattering and whispering among the people has stopped. Not thinking too much about it, Renae decided to just move on with what she had to do. Right now, Renae wanted to continue on with her daily activities. Brushing a few strands of blonde hair from her face, Renae walked down the street a bit more. She didn’t have a clue on what she was going to do at all today. For now, she figured she’d just keep walking. Maybe something would happen. As if on cue, a man that seemed oddly familiar to Renae began to run down the street. He quickly caught her eye and Renae took off after him. Feet pounding on the ground, she began to scream his name, begging him to come back. The figure bolted around a corner. In an instant, he was gone. Just as she finally caught up to him she found to him gone. Panting, she bent over to place her hands on her knees in order to catch her breath. Anger and sadness started to rise up inside of her mind. Tears gently rolled down her face as she caught her breath. Coughing in her fit of tears, the young woman took a few minutes to glance around. Maybe he left some trace to find him. As she searched, she found nothing. Unconsciously, Renae’s hand went to the necklace that hung around her neck. This was a present that he gave to her. Tightly, she clenched it gently then let go. It was all that she had left of him since he disappeared from her life. That and she decided to take on his last name. Wiping away the tears that had fallen from her face, she remember it had been a few years since she last saw him yet she didn’t give up hope on finding him. Standing up, the young woman took once last look at the ally that he had disappeared into.

“I’ll find you, Brendan, I promise.” She spoke it so softly that it was almost impossible to hear. Turning on her heel. Renae began to walk away from this place. Only was she able to take a few steps before she was brought to her knees by a screeching noise inside of her mind. Voices came and went as they spoke. Hearing them, Renae tried to cover her ears as if to shut the voices out. The voices gave her instructions to head to Russia. It didn’t make any sense to her. When only did she agree to go within her mind, did the voices stop. Carefully, Renae moved her hands from her ears. There was still a slight pain from their presence inside of her mind. Waving it off, the woman then began her search for a way to Russia.

The sunset was fairly pretty. It gave the sky a reddish, golden color. Sunlight reflected off the water’s surface. Renae mused at this. She could imagine what he’d say to this. Her thoughts were interrupted from the sound of boats blowing their horns as they left the docks. Before hand, Renae tried to talk to several sailors about getting a ride to Russia. Most of them looked at her like she was a complete nut. Most of her efforts seemed to be getting her nowhere. Sighing, Renae decided to take a chance and be a stowaway on one of the ships that were bound for Russia. Sure, it’d take a few days to reach Russia. All as long as she arrived in Russia, risking her life was well worth it. Taking her time, Renae looked around and found one of the smaller ships to jump aboard. Noticing that no one really seemed to be paying attention to her, the woman smiled as she climbed aboard the ship.

The ship was quiet as well as chilly. Renae brought her hands to her arms and began to rub them to keep them warm. Under her, she could feel the boat gently rocking as waves of water hit the sides of the boat. A couple of times, Renae almost toppled over from the waves. She grumbled a bit as she tried to catch her balance. Once she did, she moved into the lower decks of the ship. Figuring that she’d hide out in there until she arrived at her destination. The woman curled up into a ball in a nearby corner. At least she’d be a bit warmer in a corner. Finally settling down, Renae made herself comfortable in her new place, she closed her eyes and drifted into a dreamful sleep.

Begin Dream Sequence

Before her was a man. The man she had just met a bit ago, a man she had already started to care for. Now Renae would do anything for him. Just the look in his eyes was enough to make her melt. Just as quickly as it came, the feelings of happiness and joy left. One that she had met and she knew as Brendan had left. Renae started to search all over for him. She’d ask around to see if anyone knew anything. All she found was rumors. Rumors that he ran away with another woman to rumors that he was dead. With all of these rumors that were floating about, Renae nearly lost it. Now longer could she bear the pain or the thoughts of losing him. Taking in these rumors, Renae then heard of a story that it is possible to bring someone back from the dead with the Émigré Manuscript. Since then, Renae has been on a search for that document in hopes that it will bring back the one she truly cared about. Pain would consume her soul as she fought back the tears of agony. If he was truly dead, she’d join him in Hell by ending her own life.

End Dream Sequence

Renae shifted in her sleep as silent tears ran down her face. Standing before her was a man. He looked at her carefully. Longing to gently touch her face, he knew that doing so would wake her and cause problems. The man let out a deep sigh. Fighting back his anger as well as his tears, the man dropped down in close to Renae and whispered ‘I love you’ to her. With that, Brendan slowly stood up. Taking one last look at Renae then walked out of the ship. For now, he would leave no trace that he was even there. By doing so, he regretted what he did. Besides, it was the best thing he could do to help protect the one he loved.

The first rays of light hit the young girl’s face. Tears from the tear were now dry on her face and left no trace of being there. Painful cramps burrowed in her neck. Instantly, Renae brought her hand up to rub it away. Pieces of her dreams were still fresh in her mind. Silently, she recalled the pieces of the dream as she tried to make sense of it. As she tried, nothing particular came to her mind. She grumbled at the fact nothing was going her way. Slowly, Renae stood up, trying to catch her balance as waves crashed into the sides of the boat. Above her, voices could be heard. They were too far away really to be understood. Standing up, Renae moved around to stretch her legs and try to gain feeling back in them. Sleeping in the corner wasn’t the greatest idea she’d ever had. Her neck moved in circles as her hand still kept trying to rub the pain away. It was slowly subsiding. A yawn was the only thing that seemed to escape her lips as she peaked out a small window. Outside, a sun was shining down on a bright, blue sea. Small smiles came from her lips. View from the small window was actually very beautiful. Warm air could be felt flowing through the cabin that she was staying in. Footsteps also seemed to be coming closer to Renae’s location. Panic started to rise within her. What would happen if she were caught? Now it was only a day or so more until they reached Russia. Quickly, Renae scrambled around, trying to find a place to hide. Inside of her, her heart was beating so loudly, she could hear it within her own ears. Breath caught in her throat as the door slowly opened but then shut again. Air quickly rushed out of her mouth. Relief washed over her. Never had she felt such panic rise within in her. Shudders then followed her relief. For the next day, Renae would sit in the corner, lost in thoughts about her past and what the future may hold. Tears would fall from her eyes every so often as she thought of her past. Only would they last for a few moments as she shoved the thoughts of that from her mind.

As the day changed into the night, the air around Renae would cool off, causing chills to be sent down her spine. Goosebumps would form of her arms, causing tiny hairs to rise from her skin. The hairs would act as a heating device even if only for a few minutes. Teeth chattered as her body tried to keep its warmth. Light from the pale moon would flood the room, causing it to have an eerie glow. Renae closed her eyes while wishing for morning. Tonight, she figured she wouldn’t get any sleep due to the coldness that surrounded her. Fruitlessly, she would try. Closing her eyes and shutting out the sounds, Renae tried to drift off into a sleep. Hopefully when she did, morning will only be a few hours away. At least with morning, the air would be a bit warmer and she’d be off to pave her own future

The boat finally docked at Russia. Its timing couldn’t have been better. Renae was finally getting off this forsaken ship. After all, she spent the last four days on it. When she did leave it, she wasn’t the least bit sad to see it go. In fact, if she could have, she would have rejoiced at it leaving the dock. As she made her way off the boat, only one person seemed to notice her. Instead of chasing her like she expected, the man only stood there, staring at Renae. Only thing he was given in return was a slight nod. It served as her form of a thank you. She would have offered him a bit of money but Renae didn’t carry any on her. Smiling, Renae walked away from the docks. From here, she would move into the heart of Russia. Her hands rested gently on her arms as she traveled around the town. People seemed to be disappointed when she refused to buy anything from them. Only would Renae shrug her shoulders, as she didn’t understand their language. Instead, she was too busy trying to make her way around and find this…library.

Fifteen minutes passed when Renae finally found the place. In front of it, a woman stood. Seeing her confused Renae a bit. Deciding not to think about it, she walked closer to the building. She glanced at what the woman was reading: MOSCOW LIBRARY. Taking in a deep breath, she moved closer still to the building.

“Excuse me… if I sound crazy, I’m terribly sorry… but are you also one of the people the voices called to?” Renae tried to keep her voice as steady as possible. She shuffled her feet around a bit while waiting for the woman in the robe of sorts to reply.

--

Neil shifted on his feet. His nightmare that once plagued his mind was fading. However, the voice that called to him was still there. Voices sang of Russia and murders. The young man wondered if this had anything to do with the nightmares he was having. Longer Neil thought about it, the more likely it was true. Quickly, Neil grabbed a bag from under the bed. There, he would begin to shove clothes into it. He doubted that he’d return to his home once he sat out for this mission. Thankfully, he didn’t have far to go since he was already in Russia. Only thing that Neil was going to dread about leaving was the fact it was almost deathly cold outside. A storm that passed through earlier brought a cold front with it. Now it looked as if snow was going to threaten them. Searching all over the house for a coat proved to be fruitless. Everything was so scattered in his place, it was almost impossible to find anything. Under his feet, crumbling noises of newspapers could be heard. Papers were being ripped as well as Neil shifted around the house.

Ten minutes passed when Neil finally had everything he wanted before he took off. Slowly he looked at the newspapers on the floor. He was past the point in caring about them. Instead, he was too busy trying to gather any lose items that he managed to forget. Deciding that all was taken care of, Neil opened the front door. Cold air greeted him as he stepped outside. Almost instantly was he shivering from it. Even his breath dare not show as he took in the air. Teeth chattering, Neil began his long walk to the Library. By car would be the wiser choice but cars didn’t seem to even want to be out in the weather today. Quietly, Neil gazed up at the sky. It was truly amazing what the weather was like in this country. Without saying anything else, Neil made his way down the street to the Library.

His face and hands were now turning blue as he walked up to the steps. Even his skin felt ice cold to the touch. Neil didn’t bother to look around. Instead, he started to jog up the stairs to the entrance of the large building. It was at this point that Neil was too cold to bother even with the details of what it looked like. All he seen on the front of it was MOSCOW LIBRARY in blocky letters. Without waiting anymore, Neil opened the doors to the great hall. Instead of cold air, warm air greeted his face, sending a much welcome and needed sensation into his body. Inside, everything seemed so large. Books were stacked on shelves that seemed to rise a mile high. Curiously he ran his hands over their backs. Most of them felt a bit dusty as well as silky. Just feeling them almost caused Neil to jump. Something about this place didn’t seem right. It had a very eerie feeling to it… a feeling Neil wasn’t too fond of. The only noise within the place seemed to be Neil’s breathing as well as the sound of him rubbing his own hands to return feeling to them. He was thankful that no one else was here for the time being. Knowing that, Neil decided to just sit at a table, catching up on everything he knew. If he were feeling adventurous, he’d explore the books to see if he could find any other connection to the murder to past events.

Chapter 5 - Voice that Call their Names to the Library - Morgan, Ethan, Tyler, Alex

Beautiful, fluffy clouds filled the sky. Sunshine bounced off them to make it as if they were glowing with angelic properties. Morgan longed to touch them, just to feel if they were as soft as they looked. Knowing that it wasn’t possible, Morgan shifted in her chair uncomfortably. They had been in the air for the last 2 hours and it didn’t seem as if they’d get out of here any time soon. Flying for this length of time was starting to irritate the young woman. Right now, all Morgan wanted was to get out of this flying death trap and move onto her mission. Sighing, Morgan slammed her head back into the seat. Doing so caused the pilot to ask if she was fine. Her response was a mumbled ‘yes’. After saying that, the pilot seemed to be satisfied with her answer. As soon as she was comfortable in her seat, the plane took an unexpected nosedive. Morgan freaked well as let out a blood-curling scream. All that she could hear was the pilot laughing. It was at this point that she just wanted to reach out to strangle the moron. Within minutes, the plane was on the ground. Morgan’s heart pounded so hard in her chest, she swore it was about to jump out of her chest.

Without saying anything more, Morgan paid the man what little money she had. He thanked her for her company as well as ‘service’. A glare was all the thank you she gave him. She pulled her robe tighter against the cold wind that was now picking up. Traces of snow were dotted along the path. Trees swayed in the wind. Even though she was almost fully covered, Morgan was starting to feel the effects of the cold through the robe. It was really amazing at how people could survive this cold. Animals even seemed not to venture out into the world during this kind of weather. Thinking about it caused her to shudder a bit. Winds whipped around her, causing her to almost lose her balance. Her robe was knocked from her face from the gusts of wind. Scrambling, Morgan reached for the hood of the outfit. With the winds constantly blowing, Morgan found herself struggling to put it back on. Once she finally managed to do so, she placed her bare hands on it to keep it from flying anywhere again. For the next few hours, Morgan would let the wind turn her hands raw as she made her way to the Library.

Finally Morgan had reached her destination. Her hands were red and numb from the harsh winds. They say the body is the way to warm the soul. If that was true, Morgan’s soul must be frozen for her body sure as hell felt like that. Carefully she rubbed her hands, trying to bring feeling into them without causing them to bleed from the raw flesh. She blew slightly on them to warm them up as she climbed the set of worn, marble stairs. No noise was to be heard from her climbing thanks to her shoes. Gently, Morgan pushed the door open. Warm air caressed her face as she walked inside. One of the first things she noticed was a gentleman sitting at a table with books surrounding him. He seemed to be the only one here. Still rubbing her hands, Morgan walked over to him.

“Hi… my name is Morgan. Are you one of the chosen ones?” Morgan carefully asked. If he wasn’t, the worst that would happen was he would think that she was crazy. When he didn’t answer, Morgan took a chair next to him. She glanced at everything he was reading. Suddenly, images from before came flooding back to her mind, causing her to pass out. Minutes later, she managed to regain control of herself as the others stared at her.

--

Ethan and Tyler just stared at each other. Neither of them dared to say a word. Both men shook their heads as if trying to clear something from it. Fear could be seen in their eyes as well. It was almost as if both of them had the same mental connection for a brief moment. Tyler rubbed his eyes as he slowly came back to his senses. Everything that had just happened seemed to be overwhelming as well as just down right confusing.

“Um…Did you hear them to?” Ethan spat out. Tyler could only nod. For once in his life, Tyler wasn’t acting like the almighty God he portrayed himself as. He was seriously scared of what happened. Just thinking of it again caused both of them to shudder. Pain was still lingering in their heads as they tried to get a grasp on what was going on.

“I think it’s best to say that we must head to Russia. At least there, we can try to figure out what else is really going on.” Ethan said, his voice edged with fear. Ethan would never admit to being scared. In fact, he’d try to show off how brave he could be. Grabbing his camera, Ethan made his way to the door. He stopped himself before going out to see where or what Tyler was doing. Tyler was still standing there, shaking a bit. When Ethan called his name, he shook his head then came running. Without saying a word to anyone else, Tyler left his store.

The gentlemen walked down the street. Neither of them spoke a word to each other as they made their way to the shipping docks. From a distance, you could tell that they both were scared out of their minds. It looked as if they had just seen a ghost. They both paid for their ride on the next boat to the frozen tundra of Russia. As was expected, the boat rocked as it blew its horn to leave the docks. Both men could feel their stomach contents on the rise just as they went to the nearest rail. Quickly, they emptied their stomachs into the sea. Feeling better, both men started to make cracks at what just happened. In two hours, they’d be in Russia. For the remaining time, they would poke fun at each other as well as talk about their lives. After talking for the two hours, they learned that neither of them were married nor had any children. Both of them also were only 4 years apart and had a lot of the same interests. During this short time, they started to become the best of friends.

Stepping off the boat, they laughed at how they’d hope to never ride one of those damn things again. Just as they did so, cold air greeted them. Shivers ran down their spine as their shoes clicked on the pavement. Tyler almost slipped on a patch of ice that was off to the side. The young man grumbled at his misfortune then continued on. Chatter was scarce among them, as they didn’t feel like talking much due to the cold. Wind raced passed them as they walked up the steps. Their shoes echoed into the opening of the building. Each of them took a deep breath as they appeared into the building. There they saw three people. Two lovely ladies and one other man is what they saw as far as people went. Glancing at each other, both men pushed the doors open, catching the attention of those inside.

--

Pounding was the only thing Alex remembered. Pain shot through his head as he moved it. He searched his mind for something, anything. Everything came up as a blank. All he knew for sure was that he was in his own house. Anything else was just a blur. Shifting slightly, he tried to see if he could manage to pull himself up. It failed. More pain shot through his temples. Carefully he rubbed them, trying to make any pain that was still there go away. Nothing seemed to work. Only when he did finally agree to see what was in Russia did the voices stop. This came as a surprise to Alex. He figured that they’d keep harassing him. Smirking, he picked up the image from the trash only to shove it in his pocket. What was so special about Russia anyway? Everyone knew that it was just a frozen wasteland. Everything seemed to be confusing Alex. A fist slammed into the near by counter top. Anger was over taking him. Blood ran down his hand as he smashed the counter. Pieces of it were even imbedded into his hand. Orders were something Alex was getting used to. Parents were ordering him to do this. Voices were ordering him to do that. Alex might as well as be a pawn in a chess game. Running a hand through his hair, Alex walked out of the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Alex was out the door. Not even a note was left for his parents as he took off. It was just safe to assume that they didn’t care about where he was. Besides, all they cared about where their jobs. When the money wasn’t coming in, everyone had a problem. His parents only truly cared about money. If Alex were in trouble, no one would care. As long as money was coming in, their lives were perfect. Life just seemed to always bite Alex in the ass. Sighing, he walked through the night. Grass crunched under his feet due to the frost forming on the tips of the blades. Twigs also snapped as he walked over him. Brilliant rays of light from the full moon rained down on him. Everything around him seemed to have a silver glow to it. Animals were tucked away in their dens as Alex walked through the night. Only sounds were the few bustling of the trees as wind gently caressed them. Night was slowly changing into day when Alex decided to have a rest. Placing the bag he grabbed earlier before leaving, he curled up next to the base of a tree. Once settled in, he drifted into a sleep.

Only four hours had passed since Alex went to sleep. Pain was present in his neck from sleeping in such an awkward position. Rubbing his eyes, he managed to work out most of the sleep that has formed in them the last few hours. Sunlight lit the area with colors of green, blue and gold. It was almost as if it was taken from a picture book. The sight was truly amazing. Up ahead were docks full of ships. Alex decided to walk a little faster. Maybe he could be lucky enough to catch a ride on one of them that would be bound to Russia. Quietly, he approached the docks, taking in the warm, sea air. People were busy around him. Loading and unloading various cargo that had just arrive was the main source of noise. Looking around, Alex tried to find someone who wasn’t terribly busy when he saw a young woman. Judging from her looks, she could be no older then maybe 18 at most. Blonde hair ran down her back. Quickly noticing her, Alex decided to follow her. From a distance, he watched her sneak onto a ship then moving to what appeared to the lower decks. When she disappeared from sight, Alex began to move towards the ship. Before he could even board it, someone stopped him. There in front of him was a man of decent size. From the looks of it, he wasn’t too friendly. He began to eye Alex then grunted. Without another word, the man walked away. Confused by his actions, Alex decided to ignore it. As he stepped onto the dock, he looked around for that woman. She was nowhere to be seen. Alex swore. Where could she have gone? Last he knew she went under the deck but from there, he had no clue. Deciding not to bother with it, Alex made himself comfortable in a small room under the main deck. A small yawn came from his mouth as he settled it again. Little did he know in the room next to him was the woman he had seen earlier. Slowly, he drifted into sleep.

Alex’s eyes shot open when he heard someone whispering. He pulled himself up off the floor to look out the door. What he saw was a young man. Just from the looks of it, he was distressed. Reason to his discomfort would always remain a mystery to Alex. The man came from the room next to him. Curiosity getting to him, Alex opened the door. There, the young woman from earlier slept. Tears streaked her face as Alex felt a bit of pity for her. Strangely, Alex felt compelled to hold her. So he did. Walking over to her, he picked up her sleeping body. Placing the woman in his lap, he cradled her and rocked her as well. Hours passed as he held her in his arms. Daylight was just beginning to break when he left. Before leaving, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Only did she stir a bit as he left to head to the next room.

For the next few days, Alex avoided leaving the room. He didn’t wish to confront the woman yet. He was starting to long to keep her in his arms. When he was with her, he felt safe and complete. Sighing, Alex looked out the window. Russia was now coming into sight. Within a few hours, they’d finally be at the dock. Time seemed to come to a crawl as they reached their destination. The ship docked. Slowly, the woman came out, looked around then made her way off the ship. Seeing her leave actually hurt Alex. There was no use in denying that he was starting to develop an attraction to her. Slamming his fist into the wall, Alex sighed again. Never did he think he’d fall so hard and fast someone. That’s when reality smacked him. She was getting away while he was in here punishing himself for being a fool. Grabbing his bag, Alex raced after her.

He followed her to an old building. It was a library. Briefly, she stood out in front of it. From the distance, he could see that she was shivering. Once more, the longing to press his body against hers to keep her warm was rising. Even now he could imagine her soft skin on his, her voice echoing out wonderful melodies. Alex shook his head. She was now inside the building. Pulling his clothing tighter, Alex walked the path she did to the building. Steps echoed on the stairs as warm air kissed his face as he entered. There in front of him, she stood. Knees went weak at her sight until he was finally able to control himself. Suppressing his urges to just kiss and hug her, Alex regained his voice.

“My name is Alex. I’m here for the party or so the voices told me.” Alex replied, letting a small smirk come across his face. From there, he watched the others look at him and almost melted at the sight of her smile. He drifted into a realm of fantasies as he waited for their reactions.

Chapter 6 - Voice that Call their Names to the Library - Dillon, Jennifer, Lauren, Kalinda

Dillon walked to the nearest train station. When he arrived, he learned that there was only one more train that was bound to head to Russia. Quickly he bought a ticket to the country then quietly boarded the train. Since it was going to be a long trip, he was given a special car to ride in for the remainder of the trip. A slight nod was given to the man who sold him the ticket as he picked up his bag as well as sword. A few gave him a passing glance as he boarded the train with his sword. All Dillon could do was smile. Sword in one hand, bag in the other, Dillon made his way to his train car. Once inside, he dropped his entire luggage onto the floor. It felt good to be inside. Outside, the air was filled with coal as well as smoke from various people. Another fact that Dillon didn’t like that he had to shove his way through everyone just to get inside. Sighing, Dillon dropped himself into one of the nearest chairs. His body felt tired from long walk as well as all of the suffering those voices put him through. Voices that decided to subject him to extreme pain, just to drag him out of the house. Slowly, he eyes shut. Images of before arriving on the train were present in his mind. Seeing couples make out or children laughing before the train left made him a bit sad. After all, he didn’t have any family that he could go to. Instead, he was all alone. Paving his own life as he moved through it. It wasn’t worth thinking about at the moment. There were other things that needed to be done, like unpacking of a few belongings.

Unpacking of just the few items that he wanted out seemed to take forever. Just doing all of it annoyed Dillon. When he wanted something done, he’d prefer that it be done quickly. The last of everything he wanted unpacked was now done when a soft knock came across the door. Puzzled, he walked over to it, opened it to see a beautiful, young woman there. Taken back by her astounding beauty, Dillon could only open the door wider for her.

“I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but you wouldn’t by chance happen to have a spare room for me?” She batted her eyes then proceeded to make herself look as sweet and innocent as possible. Her brown hair was in a neat French braid while her hazel eyes seemed to shine with life. The outfit of choice for the young lady was a short but tight green button down shirt. To match it, she wore a very neat khaki skirt. Everything that she wore set off her features nicely.

“Um… Yes, I do. Please, come in.” Dillon replied. He gestured for her to walk in. When she did, Dillon couldn’t but help notice her backside. A trace of white panties showed above her skirt. Just thinking of what could be under all of it almost caused Dillon to start drooling. Dillon quickly snapped himself back into reality. From here on it, he’d have to try to be extra good.

Lauren smiled as she walked in. The young woman could clearly see that she managed to capture his attention. A small giggle managed to sneak past her slightly parted lips. She always loved to gain men’s attention with her looks. It’s how she managed to get everywhere. Also what Lauren noticed that Dillon couldn’t seem to stop either. Gently, she grabbed a stray piece of her hair from her braid and began to twirl it. It was her goal to keep herself looking sweet and innocent.

“My name is Lauren. I’m on my way to Russia.” She stuck out her hand for the man to shake it. When he did, she offered him a sweet smile. He returned it to her. When he didn’t say much about himself, Lauren decided to go exploring. Her memories of the voices were all but forgotten. Exploring, she came across what looked to be a sword. Gently, she picked it up, touching the blade ever so slightly. Dillon didn’t seem to mind what she was doing as he shifted his attention out the window.

With Lauren busy looking around, Dillon decided to do other things. He gave her hand a brief handshake then went over to the window. Trees and fields raced by as the train kept moving. Flakes of snow came from the sky and carefully landed on the window. A hand drew out to touch them through the glass. Just as it touched the glass, the hand jerked away. The window was ice cold. Even just for the brief moment that it was on there, a handprint could be seen on the surface. Dillon rubbed his hand a bit to keep it warm from his quick brush with the window. Lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t even realize that Lauren was talking to him. Instead, he was so spaced about what he could possibly do in Russia. From his knowledge, it was just a barren place that contained snow and drunks. What brought Dillon out of his trace was Lauren tapping on his shoulder.

Lauren shifted her attention to Dillon when she was done messing with the sword. The sword itself was fairly heavy to her but yet had a very elegant design for a handle. What bothered her was why would someone who looked like a businessman be carrying around a sword? Random thoughts about who he really was swirled through her mind. Carefully placing the sword on one of the beds, Lauren stood up to walk over to him. From there, she noticed that he was lost in his thoughts. A bit of words came from her but he didn’t seem to respond. That was what really bothered her. What could he be thinking about that could be so important? It was then what happened earlier hit her. Thoughts of the voices came rushing into her mind. Russia was her destination. Now there was no turning back. Titling her head, Lauren looked at the man again. His name escaped her. She tapped his shoulder to gain his attention. He seemed to jump at her touch, thus causing her to giggle a bit. Dillon quickly gained himself back, turning his attention to her.

“I’m sorry. I must have been lost in my own thoughts. You said your name was Lauren right? Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Dillon Hunt. Like your self, I too, am heading off to Russia. I assume it is for a different reason then your own.” Dillon said, flashing a bright, white smile. From there, he gazed into her eyes, almost getting lost in their beauty.

Lauren offered him a smile. So he was going to Russia too. Her curiosity was at full peak now. She wondered what he could be heading there for. Well, he did look like a businessman. Maybe he was going there for some form of a business trip. As time crept on, Lauren was finding herself more interested in the man. Knowledge of his past and who he really was started to eat away at her.

“If I may ask, Dillon. Why are you going to Russia?” Lauren asked with her voice dripping with pure innocence. Slowly, she inched herself closer to him. A gentle hand rested on her own as Dillon picked hers up. Various amounts of redness came across her face as he did so. He gave it a small squeeze before telling her his side of the story.

“I was in my home when I was attack if you will by these voices. I know it sounds crazy but I was told to head to Russia. At the time, I’d do anything to stop the pain they caused. So since then, I came aboard the nearest train that was heading to Russia. My sword that I carry is my passion and hobby. Never leave home without one.” Dillon tried to keep his story short and simple. Once finished, he offered a small smile to Lauren. Gazing at her, Dillon saw that she seemed a bit stunned yet something else. There was also something else he couldn’t put his finger on. Within seconds, he saw Lauren’s eyes light up as she went onto say that she heard the same voices. Excitement filled her as she gave Dillon a rough kiss. Dillon was caught off guard but accepted the kiss. For the next few hours, they would talk about their pasts and what their future may hold.

Days seemed to pass like they were nothing. Dillon and Lauren became so attached to each other; they could be classified as joined at the hips. Together, they stepped off the train and into the cold Russian air. Locking hands, the newly found couple, made their way to the Moscow Library. Along the way there, they would laugh and enjoy each other’s company. The one thought that never crossed Lauren’s mind was her sister. Soon enough, they were both at the location. Clenching each other’s hands, they sauntered up the steps. Looking inside, they had seen various people in a group. Without hesitation, Dillon and Lauren stepped inside. Quickly they noticed that everyone seemed to be staring at them. Finally, someone spoke and asked about ‘them’. Instantly, both of them knew what they were talking about. Lauren and Dillon both nodded before taking a seat at the table with the rest of the group.

--

Just as quickly as it came, the voices were gone. The young woman brought a hand up to her face when the pain was gone. Her face was a bit damp from the tears as well as sweat that came from her during the so-called ‘attack’. Fingers trace her face as the events unfolded again in her mind. Kalinda noticed that they seemed interested in helping her, not harming her. As she sat in thought, a few people began to wonder if she was truly all right. Only could she nod, as she didn’t trust her own voice. Images of people being slaughtered ran through her mind. This must be what the voices wanted her to see. People were in danger and they needed her. Barking orders to a few people in German, Kalinda left her store. Her orders were to keep on track and then move ahead with the next project even if Kalinda herself wasn’t there. People questioned her but she ignored it. Russia was calling her and she needed to get there now. With a sword in her hand and mind, Kalinda grabbed the nearest pilot to take her to Russia. He gave her a very bewildered look as she dropped her sword as well as herself into the plane. More orders came out. Confusion set in for the pilot. Obeying her orders, the pilot started up the plane to set to the skies to Russia.

Stars twinkled in the sky. A full moon was present that light the sky into various colors. Only trace whispers of clouds hung low. Placid breezes only drifting in the night as Kalinda flew to her destination. Waves of blonde hair fluttered as wind raced through it. Closing her eyes, fingers ran of the sharp blade that rested in her lap. Her mind kept going back to the images of the voices. Soft words that they spoke brought great visions into her mind. Just seeing them caused Kalinda to shudder. How can anyone do such a thing to someone? None of this was making any sense anymore. Before she did anything stupid, Kalinda always thought it through. What was different this time? It was those damn voices. Corrupting her mind with such vile thoughts of deceit. Slowly Kalinda was starting to realize how much of an idiot she was. All this was was a mind game. Someone was trying to pull the wool over her eyes. Making matters worse, Kalinda decided to just go with it. Only could she imagine how stupid she must have really looked. At that moment, all she wanted to do was beat her head in with a stupid stick. Ignoring her stupidity, Kalinda looked over the side of the plane. Miles stood between her and the ground. Suddenly, she felt sick. Bile began to rise in her throat as she tried to force it down. Snow began to fall gently from the sky, landing on her lap as she flew through the air. Seeing this helped calmed her nerves a bit. Time seemed to be at a crawl. At this rate, Kalinda never thought she’d get to Russia. Clouds began to fill in the sky and block out any source of light. Darkness started to choke her as the snow slowly disappeared. Never would she admit this but Kalinda was actually afraid of the dark. Panic rose in her, as it seemed to just get darker. Breathing became labored as time went on. Carefully, Kalinda tried to tell herself it was all right. Nothing was wrong. For now, all she could do is wait for the plane to land in Russia.

A day passed when Kalinda finally arrived at her destination. As she stepped off the plane, she cursed at it as well as the pilot. Confused as she was, she paid the man for his services then walked away. She still had roughly a few hours before she had to meet anyone at the library. With her sword in one hand, she walked down the streets. People backed away from her in fear as they saw her with a sword. Running around, people screamed that she was going to kill someone. Police came rushing in, trying to take her sword away. Only did she glare at them. No one was going to take her sword away. If they did, it would have to be over her dead body. Reaching for their guns, Kalinda quickly spoke something in Russian. Instantly, the police dropped their weapons. Words she spoke tended to stun them. Smiling, Kalinda walked passed them, flashing her sword. With that finally settled, she walked into the Library. This young woman never bothered to check for anyone else or if it was indeed the right place. Walking in, she glanced at everyone. Most of them assumed that she was part of them. Dillon eyed her sword and nearly drowned himself in his drool. Kalinda narrowed her eyes then said, “I assume we’re all of the voices pawns.”

--

Jennifer was starting to get worried. Lauren hadn’t dragged herself back here. It wasn’t like her to be gone for so long. Even after their major fights, Lauren would return in an hour. Now it was going on four hours since they came on the train together. Quietly, Jennifer looked around. No one was in sight nor had anyone seen her when she asked. Frustration was slowly taking over her. Who did Lauren think she was? A mental note was made to beat the snot out of her when she was found. In all honesty, it seemed as if Lauren wanted nothing to do with Jennifer. This is one reason Jennifer and Lauren were so different. Between the two women, Jennifer was more level headed and thought everything through. Whereas Lauren, she rushed into everything without even giving it a second thought. All this thinking of her sister was giving Jennifer a headache. Not that she didn’t already have one to begin with. For now, Lauren would be on her own. If she couldn’t take care of herself then that was her problem. Running a hand through her brown hair, Jennifer leaned back into the seat.

“Simple trip. Yeah, okay. That will be seriously the last time I listen to anyone. I don’t care whether she’s on her damn deathbed or not.” Jennifer replied to no one in particular. She was angry with her sister as well as the woman who had sent her on this crazy train. Everything would have been fine if Lauren would have just sat down and shut up. Her beautiful hazel eyes slowly shut. Instead of complaining to no one about her sister, she shifted her thoughts to what happened earlier. Out of nowhere, voices entered her mind. Not only didn’t she understand them, Jennifer was confused. She was positive if she started to talk about them to anyone that they’d think she’d lost it. In some small way, it was true. Nor would she ever admit that it was. Unlike everyone else, Jennifer kept her feelings to herself. This young woman believed that no one should share their feelings with people who aren’t close to her. Strangely, Jennifer was someone who had never seen anyone about her problems. Instead, her sister was always the one that ended up listening to them. As far as she knew, Lauren never had a problem with this. For hours on end, both sisters would stay up talking about their lives and problems. Without Lauren here, Jennifer felt a bit lost. No one was around for her to talk to about these voices. Sighing, Jennifer shifted in the wooden seat. Within a few hours, Russia should be coming into view. Maybe then, everything would turn out for the better.

Quickly as she thought those words, Russia came into sight. Snow covered parts of the ground as the windows started to fog up due to the temperature difference. Jennifer placed her hand on it then removed it. Left was her handprint and even then, it was quickly fading away. Looking at it fading, Jennifer brought one of her fingers up to it and traced an outline of it. Sure, doing it may seem silly and childlike but Jennifer didn’t care. Her mind was too confused with thoughts of voices and her sister. Pieces of hair shifted from their place on her head to bother her face. The pieces framed her face to give her a childlike innocence. No sooner then her thoughts came to her, the train stopped. Jennifer just assumed that it was time to get off. Grabbing both her bag as well as Lauren’s, Jennifer made her way off the train. Cold air kissed her cheeks as she stepped off. People around her chattered about the cold then rushed to find some form of a warm shelter. Hoisting the bags over her shoulders, Jennifer debated whether to head over to the Moscow Library or actually find a place to say. Without warning, voices came back. They haunted her mind with thoughts of what would happen should she not follow their strict orders. Gulping, Jennifer pulled the bags tighter. Quickly, the young woman walked over to a bus station. There, she bought a ticket and left for the Library. It was much warmer on the bus then it was outside. Minutes flew by as the bus finally stopped. Looking out the window, Jennifer could see that this was the library. From the looks of it, it was deserted. Sucking in the cold air, Jennifer let herself off of the bus. She pulled the bags as well as her winter coat closer to her body. Lauren still hasn’t been seen. All Jennifer could do is pray that she was all right. Gathering everything she had, Jennifer walked up the steps to the doors. With that, she shoved the doors open to see a group of people standing there. Above all else, her sister, Lauren, was hanging on some guy. Anger rose within her as she walked closer to her sister.

Chapter 7 - Haromnixer in Control

That Night

The man had walked away from her like that. Only once did he turn back to look at her lifeless body. His urge to turn back and finish his original duty still lingered. The plan was to keep her alive just long enough to allow her to bear his child. Instead, she struggled. She inflicted pain onto him. The pain and need to procreate. He let out a scream into the blackness of the night. Now he’d have to use Catie, the woman he managed to snag earlier, for the job. Before, he would have given her a choice. Now, it didn’t matter. All that did was him to be able to reproduce. Rain fell from the sky and began to wash away the blood that soaked his clothes. The rain also began to remove any trace of him from the body that lay not even ten feet away. The man turned on his heel, and walked away. He held no remorse for what he did. After all, it is in his blood to kill.

His steps echoed down the ally. Splashes of rain fell on his boots as he walked through the puddles that lay upon the ground. He briefly stopped at one of them to gaze at his reflection. He could see rain mixed with blood streaking down his face. In a way, it seemed as if it was face paint. It was as if he was a child, just returning home from a fair or a circus. Seeing himself caused him to become angry. He stomped his foot into the puddle, causing water to splash everywhere. Trickles of dirt stuck to his pants. The man let out a growl. He didn’t have time for this. Quickly, he tried to brush as much of the dirt off before it decided to set in. The dirt seemed to bother him more then the blood that had already set in. Satisfied that the dirt was all but gone, he carefully moved on. The ally he walked in seemed to go on forever. Trash was thrown about as well were mice running around. The man did once step on the poor creature. Its body snapped under the pressure. Its eyes bulged out of its head as it lay in a pile of flesh. He didn’t seem to care at what he just did. He was more interested in reaching his destination.

Roughly fifteen more minutes passed until the man reached where he was going. The building it self seemed to be old and falling apart. No lights were on inside and the windows were dirty and littered with cracks. The man walked up to the abandoned building. He seemed to be inspecting it for signs of someone else being present. Silently, he went to the door. He pushed it open gently as it made a slight squeaking noise. Inside of the building was like the outside. It was dark and a bit dirty. Sounds of animals rushing about echoed in the building. Also, a sound of someone struggling was also present. The man smirked. It was that damn woman’s fault for getting in the way. Now, he’d make her pay for the mistakes she caused him to make. The man strolled over to a single string and pulled it. Light began to flood the area. A woman was seen, bounded and gagged on a near by chair. Her eyes went wide with fear as she saw him come near.

She had to get lose. The look in his eyes told her all that she needed to know about what the man had planned for her. Catie rocked in the chair, struggling to get herself free. Sweat was being to drip from her face as she moved about. Her efforts on escape were proving to be useless. The man was only a few feet from her now. His hand reached out to caress her face. Catie cringed at his rough touch. He was forcing her to look at him in the eyes. When she did, all Catie could see in those hazel eyes were her self. They didn’t seem to hold any emotion in them as they did before. Catie felt her breath get stuck in her throat. The man ripped the gag from her mouth. Catie took in a long, deep breath. It was as if she had never breathed before in her life.
“You bastard! What the hell do you think you are doing?!” Catie would have screamed at him more but before anything else came out, his rough hand was already covering her mouth.

“Shh. This nightmare will be over soon.” The man removed his hand from her mouth. He could see the fear rise once more in her eyes. Seeing that caused him to chuckle a bit. If she only knew what was about to happen. With his right hand, he began to unzip his pants. Her eyes only grew bigger. The man’s pants were now off of his body and folded into a near pile. He then began to remove his boxers. Even those joined his pants. Now he was fully exposed and ready to do his bidding. He moved towards the woman. Catie let out a blood-curling scream. She knew what he was doing next. The sad thing about it was that there wasn’t anything in the world that she could do to stop it. The man pounced on her. From there, he started to rip off the pieces of her clothes to expose the skin that was underneath. The skin was warm to the touch. The man could feel his urge rising. Catie could feel the tears that she held back start to overflow. She didn’t ask for this nor did she deserve it. Once more, she screamed as she felt the man inside of her. The pain from his was overwhelming. Not only was she feeling physical pain but she was also suffering emotional pain. No sooner as it started, it was over. The man did what he wanted. He began to put his boxers and pants on. With them back in place, he gave Catie a cruel smile. He knew what he had done and strangely, he felt proud of it. Now, he turned and walked away. He’d return in a few hours to see how she was holding up. The last thing he saw was Catie crying and begging for someone to save her from this hell. What she didn’t know was that by the time this was over, she’d be dead.

Catie felt blood trickle down her leg. She was in a ball, sobs racking over her body. Mixed feelings were coming from all directions. Anger and hatred being the most pronounced of them all. She couldn’t believe what he did to her. The man didn’t even give her a warning. Instead, he just walked over to her, gave her an evil smile then went on his merry little way. Images from what happened kept appearing in her mind. Catie could see the looks of pleasure as well as laughter in his eyes. To him, this was nothing but a play. And Catie was one of his pawns. This was nothing more but a sick and twisted game. Inside her mind, Catie could hear his laughter. His smile that was so cold seemed to be etched into her brain. All Catie wanted was to wash away everything from this. She prayed that this was a dream and none of it was real. Catie couldn’t take the pain anymore. Once more, she tried to call for help. Maybe if she were lucky, someone passing by would hear her screams. For hours, she screamed at the top of her lungs. Every scream was a new hope someone would be there to save her. Catie would scream until her throat was raw. Only then would she give up on any hope she clung to. For now, she’d lay in silence, praying for something like a miracle to happen.

The man walked in silence down the street. He gave a slight nod to those who passed him by in the dark, rainy night. His mind was filled with thoughts from his actions earlier. He could almost smell the fear that came from her body as he thrust himself into her. A smile came across his face as he remembered the feeling of releasing his seed into the unwilling woman. He could feel the tightness of her around him as she struggled to keep herself away. He could tell that she felt violated at the act that he had just done to her. The man felt his body temperature rising as he thought of his malevolent acts. He also felt something else on his body rise to the occasion. The man moved his hand to the general area to calm him self down. His hand stopped mid-way when he realized that he was still in a public area. Being caught in the act of pleasure wouldn’t go over so well with a few others. He grumbled at the fact he wasn’t able to help himself yet once more. Soon enough, he figured, he’d have his day in the sun. For now, he’ll have to be content with what was back at the abandoned building.

Catie woke up to darkness. From the looks of it, no one came by – not even the man from earlier. A silent wave of relief passed over her as well a bit of hopelessness. Blood that had fell earlier onto her pale thigh was now dry. She lightly traced it with her nail on her left hand. The urge to dig it in and erase it came over her. Catie took her nail then dug it into her own flesh. Pain was over taking her body again. Strands of muscle and tissue were being exposed to the outside world. Even more blood began to pour from the opening. What started off as a simple trace was turning into a horror fest. Her nail went deeper into the tissue in the thigh. Her body began to shake from the pain and pressure from all of what has happened. As her nail and finger went deeper into the flesh, the nail eventually had to give. It broke inside of the tissue, close to the bone. Catie howled in more pain. She was torturing herself. In a way, she was trying to find the most painful way to die. Quickly, she ripped the finger from the wound that she had just caused. Catie stared at her finger for a few moments. What had she just done? Tears began to overflow from their ducts once more. For Catie, an end to her suffering wasn’t in sight.

Splash. The man had stepped in another puddle. He was trying to put the thoughts about what he wanted from his mind. It was failing. That particular part of his body was still on the rise. There was pain from it now. It didn’t want to be constricted anymore. The man could feel it wanting to be free, to be able to do what it wanted. He grunted at his problem. He was still in the open public so his problem wasn’t going anyway any time soon. He slammed his fist into a nearby brick wall. If it weren’t for those damned thoughts from earlier, he wouldn’t be suffering like he is now. He growled at his other mistake. For now, the man would have to attend to his hand. There was a bit of pain and blood from hitting the wall. When he touched it, he realized that he broke a few bones in his hand. Learning that, a string of profanities escape from his mouth. He didn’t understand how he could have been so foolish to do such a thing. The man casually ran his good hand through his hair. He tried to calm himself down from the anger that had over taken him. Slowly, he counted to the number ten. He was hoping that doing this would help him gain some more control over his actions as well as his feelings. Once he managed to control himself and the anger that was building, the man started to head back to the building. There, his new toy waits.

Catie forced herself to stop crying. She learned that it wasn’t going to get her anywhere in this place. In order to survive, Catie was determined that she had to pull herself together. If she didn’t, who knows what could happen to her. Quietly, she wiped away the fresh tears. They had already left visible paths in the dirt that covered her once pale face. Her dark hazel eyes that once were full of life now were full of fear. She couldn’t see anything in front of her except the wound she caused. Catie gently touched it only to scream out in pain. She was truly amazed at how something so small could cause such pain and suffering. It was then that Catie had just realized something. With an open wound in a dirty place such as this, she was bound to gather an infection within it. Using whatever strength she had left, she tore a piece of her shirt off. With that, she wrapped it around her thigh. Catie mentally chided herself for being so stupid. She let her anger and other various emotions take over her. She lost control of her own actions. Suddenly, she heard steps. Hope began to fill her once more.

“Please! Help me! I’m injured and in need of medical attention! Just save me, please! I beg you!” Catie squeaked. Her throat was still raw and sore from all the screaming earlier. All that she got in return for her screaming was laughter. Catie felt defeated. The man had returned. There was no help. She assumed that no one even knew that she was gone. Catie admitted her defeat. She was now beginning to realize that this would be her grave. Never would she hear the singing of the birds, feel the warmth of the sun, nothing. Instead, all she would be seeing is the darkness, feeling nothing but the damp, cold floor. Catie was now begging for her death. She didn’t want to live to see what the man would be doing to her next.

Screams came from inside. Too bad no one was around to hear them except the man. He purposely picked this location as no one ever dares to venture here. Hearing the screams caused the man to smile. He enjoyed listening to her scream. He found it to be a strange turn on. Once more, images from his previous actions flooded his mind. He felt his friend move once more. He could feel it almost begging to repeat the action. As before, he gently caressed it. He began to move again, this time to enter the building. He removed his hand from his crotch. The man kept his hands at his sides now as he started to approach Catie. He could see that her once perfect black hair was now a mess. Clean paths from her tears were etched on her face. For a moment, the man stared at her in awe. He still didn’t feel any remorse for what he did or what is yet to come. His boots made a loud thump as they hit the ground. The closer he came, the more excited he became. A few minutes passed and he was now inches from her face. She was holding her breath, waiting to see what hellish nature awaited her. Slap. The man struck her across the face. Instantly, Catie put her hand up to the area. She felt that it stung. Slap. Another blow was dealt to her face. Now Catie placed both of her hands to her face. The instant she did that, the man grabbed her wrists.

“Don’t you ever turn away or hide from me. Doing so will only ensures you suffer more.” The man whispered. His voice was deep and a bit raspy. His grip on her hands was so tight; he managed to snap both of her wrists. Catie cried out in pain but was silenced with a forceful kiss. Catie felt his tongue enter her mouth. He tasted sweet. Catie felt her body began to melt at his touch. She was brought back to reality when he released her. The pain in her wrists was now forgotten. All she wanted was more of this man’s delicious kisses. When Catie tried to pursue that interest, all she got in return was a chokehold.

“Remember this you bitch. I control what goes on around here. You are to never pursue or think of doing so again. If you weren’t carrying my child, you’d be already dead.” With that said, the man spat in her face. As if to make up for what he did, he placed another hard kiss onto her lips. He could feel her body starting to relax. The man decided to take advantage of her once more. This time, it wouldn’t be for the fact he needed to reproduce. Instead, it would be for sheer fun. When the time was right, he would kill her. After all, she was a pawn in this wicked game. When his child is born, is when this fragile woman will meet her end. For now, she would have to be content with pleasing him. For if she didn’t comply with his wishes, the man would make sure that she understood the punishment. Silently, the man pushed those thoughts from his head. He was going to need to keep his mind clear for the task that was lying ahead. The task of pleasuring himself at the expense of this woman is all that he was worried about. Thoughts quickly vanished from his mind as he heard her scream more. Instead of screams of horror or pain, they were screams of pleasure. A smile came across the man’s face. Soon enough, his screams would be joining hers.

She felt something inside of her moving. Catie wasn’t sure what it was until reality finally hit her. That thing implanted his child within her and now she had to suffer carrying it. Sobs started to build up in her tiny body again. She was grateful that the man had left her a short while ago. Catie just assumed that he went on his killing spree again. Once more, the child moved with in her. The woman placed her battered and broken hand on her stomach. It was painful but Catie learned to cope with the pain. Now all she wanted more then anything to just punch it to death. She knew doing so would more then likely end up killing her as well. Catie would cry if she could. For now, she had no tears in her ducts thanks to all of her crying sprees earlier. Instead, she just sighed. Catie placed her hands on her stomach. Her anger from just a few minutes ago was starting to rise again. As she rested her hands gently on her stomach, Catie could feel the child within growing. It’d be ready to be born within a few hours provided this rate of gestation. She closed her eyes and silently wished for death. She didn’t ask for the child nor did she wish to give birth to it in awhile.

The man walked around the building. He was outside in his demon form. He felt the call to kill once more. He knew he was at the end of his life span when this was beginning to take place. When the child is born, he would pass his powers onto it. From there, it would carry on from where the man had left off. A violent shake overtook the man by surprise. If these seizures kept up, he’d be dead before anything has truly started. When it was over, he changed from his demon form back into the one of a human. He began to spit blood that had been gathering in his mouth. He grumbled at this new fact. The man was now in a foul mood. He decided to go on his last hunt to bring back some form of food for his child.

Catie must have dozed off as she found herself just now waking up. In that short amount of time, she found that her stomach was now roughly equivalent to a human woman who was about four months pregnant. Catie mused at this a bit. She made the comment in of her head if all pregnancies were this simple. She tried to lift herself up but instantly fell back down. Pain shot up her wrists to remind her of what happened earlier. Her body was also in pain from the abuse and the activities he subjected her to earlier. Mix that in with her newfound pregnancy. Catie was now realizing that this would be where she died. Inside of her, she had a feeling as soon as this child was born, the man would kill her since he would have no use for her. She sighed and smacked her head on the wall behind her. She was now beginning to mentally beat herself up for being a foolish idiot. For Catie, it seemed as if the night would never end.

Another body lay in pieces. This one was also covered in blood. Pieces of flesh were ripped off and just laying around as if it were garbage. This time, the man didn’t bother to change into his demon form to do the killing. No one was around. Besides, even if they were, he was already sentence to die thanks to his genes. Again, another violent seizure took a hold of the man. Pain was starting to take over as well. Time was running short. He quickly grabbed all of the pieces of the body. This would have to do as a meal for his unborn child.

Footsteps could be heard within the building. Catie once more got her hopes up. They were crushed yet again when she saw the man. This time, he was bearing gifts... the gifts of a dead man. Catie could feel the bile rising up from her stomach. Did he expect her to eat that…thing? She had to force the bile back down before it decided to get all over her. She watched him drop the body then stare at her. He kept looking her up and down as if trying to judge how much long it’d be. Catie shivered. She wasn’t fond of the idea of him checking her out after all that he put her through. Without warning, pain gripped Catie. She was now gasping for air. The pain felt like contractions. The man stood up then pushed her back against the wall. Catie was becoming confused as to what he was doing. Her confusion was quickly replaced with more pain. He quickly pushed her legs apart. Catie feared the worst. She thought he was going to rape her again while she suffered this excruciating pain. She started to feel movement. Something was going out of her birthing canal. Catie then realized what it was. The thing inside of her was coming out. She tried to fight it. This world didn’t need another demon creature lurking around in the streets. She was too late. The child had been born. Its screams echoed into the night. The man yanked the child from here then held it up. Catie could see it was a baby girl. It looked human to her. A light began to glow between the child and man. Quickly as the light came, it went. The man slumped to the ground with the child still in his arms. The girl began to show signs of growing again. Within minutes, she was a young girl. The girl looked exactly like Catie did when she was that young.

Chapter 8 - New Beginning and Confusion

The girl looked curiously at the woman in front of her. She didn’t even bother to care about the dead body that the man had brought nor about the man himself. She was more interested in Catie.

“What is your name?” She asked. When the woman replied, the girl looked down. “That is a pretty name. I think I will call myself that.” A mischievous smile played around her lips. She could tell that the woman named Catie was confused beyond anything. The young girl walked up to Catie and gently stroked her face. Without warning, she struck. The girl took her hand and nails to drive them in Catie’s neck. She could see the look of surprise on her face as she did this. A wicked laugh came from the girl. Blood was pouring from Catie’s neck. Within minutes, her body slumped to the floor. Catie’s suffering was now at an end. The young girl, who adeptly named herself Catie, started to grow again. Now she was a teenager. A low grumbling could be heard in her stomach. She looked around for something to eat. She saw all of the bodies and began to feast on them.

A few hours passed and the bodies of the man, Catie, as well as another person, were nothing but a pile of bones. The girl giggled as she let out a belch. She was finally starting to grow for the last time after her meal. She was now a full-grown adult. She took on the looks of Catie as well as a bit of her personality. She also harvested the power to become a Harmonixer. That was the gift that the man passed onto her before his death. Catie Moss has been reborn. The new “woman” walked out of the building. She ran down the streets, screaming for help. When someone recognized her, the police came. So far, it was all going according to plan.

The Police took Catie to a hospital to be examined. Everything came out fine. The quickly released her, not wanting to keep her like a prisoner. They suggested she see someone about it and she agreed. Catie quickly thanked them and left the hospital. The air was cool and crisp. Outside, someone stood there waiting.

“I have done what you asked. Now all that I ask is that you don’t harm her.” The man replied, trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice. Catie gave him a scornful look. What did he think she was? She rolled her eyes then started to reply.

“My dear Brendan, I see you have returned with the book of the Forbidden Magic’s. Very nice. I assume the teleportation magic that my so-called ‘Father’ gave to you has proven useful, no? As for her, I won’t harm unless she decides to interfere with my plan. It would be such a shame to lose someone so close to you in a horrible manner, wouldn’t you say?” Catie let out a laugh. She could see the pain and anger in his eyes. She was enjoying messing around with this man. She found it to be amusing as well as worth her time.

“Now if you excuse me, my dear, I have a charade to keep up.” Before she left, she turned to Brendan. She placed a gentle kiss on his lips. Catie could feel him slither away from her touch. She could only smile at this as she walked away. Whatever this woman wanted, she intended to get.

--

Everyone looked around at each other, confused. Each one of them wondered who everyone really was. Lauren looked at Jennifer then shifted her attention back to Dillon. Kalinda looked at Dillon’s sword and almost forgot what she was doing there. Morgan looked at the group but said nothing. Alex moved closer to Renae as she just stared at everyone else. Ethan glanced at Tyler then to the couple. Jennifer just stared at her sister, anger boiling up inside of her. Neil just looked to the ground, shuffling his feet about. Minutes seemed to stand still as they all stared at each other. All of them seemed to be scared of each other, not sure what to say as to how the others may react. Air in the room seemed to come to a complete stand still. One could drop a pin and it’d resonance throughout the current room.

“Just what in the hell are you doing, Lauren?” Jennifer exploded. Here she was, worried to death about her sister only to find her with some guy. It was so typical of Lauren. When you’re mad at someone, go find a guy to screw. Really, Jennifer should have known what Lauren was up to. Without saying anything, Jennifer walked over to Lauren to smack her across her face. Her hand connected with her left cheek as well as left a hefty red mark. Looks of surprise as well as gasps of shock came from the others. Puzzling notions came into their minds. No one, again, dared to breathe a single word. After it all happened, Jennifer could see the look of fear and anger in her twin sisters’ eyes.

Lauren looked at Jennifer with trepidation. How could her own sister do such a thing to her? Besides, who did Jennifer think she was? Queen of the all mighty group? The young woman narrowed her eyes and slowly recovered from the shock of Jennifer hitting her. Temptation rose in her to slap her back. Shifting her eyes, Lauren looked at everyone in the group. She noticed that they seemed scared of what was going on. After all, they came here to help one another, not to bring pain and anguish on them. It was more then clear that each one of them had already Instead of trying to pursue this more, Lauren just gave him. Hands held high, she sighed to let Jennifer know that she gave up.

Morgan moved her feet. Silence in the air was just killing her inside. Her urge to break the silence was rising. Robes of black hung around her like darkness hugging the night. Generally, she wasn’t the one to speak but now she felt that it was time. Gathering her thoughts, Morgan ran through them to make sure that she had everything that she wanted to say.

“Alright. Fighting isn’t going to do us any good. Instead of bickering about stupid things, let’s work on something a bit more productive. How about we go around to introduce ourselves. In fact, I’ll go first.” Morgan removed the hood the expose her fairly pale face. Beautiful green eyes came out from the darkness. “My name is Morgan. I came here at the will of the voices.”

Inhaling, Renae gathered her own personal strength. Being extremely shy didn’t help her in this case. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that a young gentleman seemed to have taken a liking to her. Out of her kind nature, she smiled at him. Doing that caused him to move closer to her. Him doing so caused Renae to become uneasy. More then anything, she wished that Brendan were here to help her get through this. Sighing, Renae just let him get closer before she went on about who she was.

“My name is Renae. I came by boat from America. I was looking for someone when I was called…” She trailed off. Even thinking about it still caused her pain. Others seem to see the hurt in her eyes. Quietly, she titled her head down to listen to what the others had to say.

Hearing her voice as well as her name almost caused Alex to melt. So far, she felt like the perfect woman for him. Inching closer, he noticed her discomfort. At the moment, he didn’t care. All he wanted was to be next to her, to hold her in his arms. Noticing that he was fantasizing about her again, he shook his head from the thoughts. Replacing the thoughts with his ones from earlier, Alex backed down from Renae for the time being. Placing a devious smile on his face, he spoke his intent.

“I’m Alex. As I mentioned, I’m here for the party of the voices. I plan to get down and dirty with some of you.” He replied, giving a wink and seductive smile at Renae. Once more, he shifted his body closer to her. Now she was only a mere inch or two away from him. Reaching out, he grabbed her hand. It was smooth and soft to the touch. Just feeling her hand caused him to want more of her. Again, thoughts of her filled his mind as he blocked out anything else people had to say.

Dillon watched Lauren react to her sister’s slap. He was most surprised at how well she took it. The more he looked at them, the more he realized that they were twin sisters. His jaw nearly hit the floor after coming to that fact. Pulling Lauren closer to him, he shot another look at Jennifer. More then ever did he feel protective of her. Quietly, he nuzzled her neck before making his introduction.

”I’m Dillon, this is my baby.” Dillon said, point to his sword. He saw a young woman move closer to it and seemed to be fairly interested in him. Looking at her, he noticed that she too had a sword. His guard on Lauren dropped as he moved closer to her sword. Both Kalinda and Dillon were in utter awe over each other’s weapon. Quickly, both gushed on about their ‘babies’ as well as what other swords they both hand. Instantly, both of them hit it off with each other. For the remainder of the time, Kalinda and Dillon would spend talking to each other about swords.

Lauren looked at Dillon with disgust. Leave it to a man to leave her over some shiny piece of metal. Her eyes narrowed at she looked at Kalinda. Already, she was starting not to like this woman. Seeing Dillon so grossed into his new ‘toy’, Lauren just rolled her eyes and waited for the next one to explain who they were.

Ethan and Tyler exchanged looks. It appeared that everyone came from different backgrounds and were lucky to meet up here. Both of the men seemed to be a little uncomfortable with so many people around. Tyler was the first of them to decide to speak up. His introduced himself with his typical cocky attitude. Already, he could tell that he wasn’t going to get along too well with the others. Next up was Ethan. Being his calm, collected self, he gave a brief introduction about himself. Others seem to take well with him better then Tyler.

Looking around, everyone seemed to be engrossed into everything else. Neil only could sigh. Being around everyone made him feel a bit of an outcast. At least others seem to share some similar interests or had someone they knew. Only he didn’t. Not sure why he felt so horrible, Neil decided to pass up on his introduction. People right now didn’t seem to care. A woman named Renae seemed more interested in getting the guy named Alex away from her. Dillon and some other woman were interested in swords, something Neil didn’t care for. Lauren and what looked to be her twin sister, just stared at each other. Both women seemed angry at each other and refused to speak. Morgan, the woman glad in robes and started this whole thing, was silent. Beautiful green eyes seemed to dart around, not paying too much attention to one particular object. Two gentlemen seemed to be content with each other’s company so they didn’t talk much after their introductions. Adjusting himself in his chair, Neil only looked onto the group, waiting to see what else was going to happen.

Chapter 9 - What will become

Twenty minutes of random chatter went on. Everyone seemed interested in his or her ‘partners’. Nightfall was coming quickly as well as another batch of snow. Soon enough, everyone comes to find out that no one bothered to book a hotel. It was luck that Kalinda had a house floating around in Russia. Almost at once, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Kalinda was all but smiles from here on out. Always had she been a people person. Quietly, people gathered all of their belongings. One by one, they trailed out into the deadly cold of the early night. Echo’s of their footsteps rang out into the night as they walked a few blocked to Kalinda’s house. Small talk was the only thing that was passed between the group as they all huddled together to stay warm. Wind rushed passed them, threatening to freeze them all if they failed to find any shelter. Above them, a house with warm, glowing lights came into view. Leaving the group, Kalinda ran up to the house to unlock it for her guests. With the door open, everyone seemed to race inside to the warmth. Slowly, feeling came back to them as they took off their wet articles of clothing. Gathering all of the pieces of wet clothes, Kalinda put them out by the heaters to dry. It wasn’t too much but it was something. When she returned, she found that people were getting settled into the living room. Alex was sitting awfully close to Renae. Renae saw this and almost seemed to try to inch away from his presence. Lauren and Dillon were side by side; both holding each other’s hands. Just seeing this caused Kalinda to smile. After all, she thought that they were a cute couple. Ethan and Tyler seemed to make themselves comfy on the small couch that Kalinda had. Both men were chatting among themselves. Morgan was near the fireplace that hasn’t been used in what seems to be eons. Jennifer was only a few feet away from Morgan. She seemed content at glaring at her sister. Never did it cross Kalinda’s mind what they could truly be feuding about. Again, all alone, was Neil. He was sitting in the nearby corner, away from everyone else. Seeing this, Kalinda walked over to him to join him.

“What’s on your mind, Neil?” Kalinda asked. Quickly, she noticed that he seemed to be very shy around women. Only did he look at her without saying anything. Kalinda noticed that in his hands he carried a piece of paper. On that paper Kalinda noticed that it was filled with various notes about the recent stash of murders. She eyed it carefully and was quite surprised when Neil handed it to her. The paper was filled with the names and connections of each victim. More then ever was Kalinda surprised. This man must have devoted all of his free time to study these gruesome murders. Pity came over her as she looked through more of the writing. One name on there was something that Kalinda didn’t recognize. Christy was the name that was scribbled at the bottom of it. When Kalinda pointed at it, Neil only shook his head and cried. Without knowing it, Kalinda had hit a soft spot. Slowly, pieces of the puzzle began to fit. All of the victim were connected expect Christy. It was safe to assume that she was his wife. A gold band did appear on his ring finger from what she remembered. Kalinda gave the man a hug then brought him closer to the rest of the group.

Neil shifted uncomfortably in his spot. What did Kalinda really want anyway? It’s true that she was really interested in what was written on the piece of paper. Only thing that was on it were names and connections of the victims. Only thing on there that didn’t deal with the murders was the name Christy. Indeed that was his wife that he missed dearly. A small sigh escaped from his lips as he was brought closer to the group. He did appreciate what Kalinda was trying to do for him. Offering her a smile, Neil moved towards the rest of the others.

The note that Kalinda was holding was passed around the group. Everyone had a different reaction to it as well as a newfound respect for Neil. One person that seemed to be most shocked by this was Alex. Images from what he had visions from came flooding back. Everything on this piece of paper contained these images. After reading this, Alex almost felt connected to each of the others. Voices called to each and every one of them to stop what was on this paper. Together, they’d have to work in order to stop whatever was really going on. Out of nowhere, he hugged Renae. She seemed to be quite taken back from this action. Her eyes went wide and she almost seemed to shudder as his touch. Right now, Alex didn’t care. Instead, he passed the note to her and watched her eyes go wide. Seeing this almost made him melt again. Eyes bright as the sky lit up on her face. To Alex, this was one of the most beautiful sights that he has ever seen. Next to him, Jennifer seen this and smacked him, bringing him back to reality.

With the paper read by everyone, Neil was the first to speak. His voice was a bit shaky. He seemed to be really nervous about speaking. It took at least five minutes before he was able to get everything he wanted to say in order. Taking in a deep breath, Neil began.

“As all of you know, there have been many murders taking place. Since the first murder, I left my home in France to travel here to study these cases. From there, I devoted my time and energy to solving them. What you read were the connections of each victim. All of the victims were from the Light Clan. A question for you all: What would someone from the Dark Clan want with those from the Light? It’s simple. He wants them to breed. Rumors go around that when one of light and dark or any opposite element for that matter, there is a chance that a greater being can be formed. Knowing that, I believe that is what our killer is trying to do. Should a being with such great power ever be born, the world as we know it, will change forever. Voices call to those who can unlock their true power to come together in hopes of destroying this being.”

Neil finished his small speech. Morgan shifted in her seat. Is what he saying even true? It had to be. Why else would everyone have been brought together? Besides most of the people here had no idea who each other was. Pieces of what was going on began to fall into place once more. If they couldn’t work together, who would stop whatever was going to happen? Being the cool, calm and collected one, Morgan decided to offer up an idea for the group.

“Today has been a long day for all of us. I’d like to thank Kalinda for her hospitality. Last few days have no doubt been stressful and long. Tonight, let us take a load off and head to bed earlier. When morning arrives, we’ll decide what course of action we shall take from there.” Mummers of agreement came from the others. One could see the tiredness in their eyes. First one to stand up was Kalinda. She left the group to gather pillows as well as blankets for the others to use. Handing them out, Kalinda watched the rest of the group stand up. Morgan decided that sleeping on the floor next to the worn-out fireplace would be fine with her. Neil offered the couch to her but she politely declined. Jennifer decided that she’d the spot a few feet away from Morgan. No one seemed to argue that. Ethan and Tyler both decided to just use the floor. To them, it was better then nothing. From there, all that was left was Lauren, Dillon, Alex and Renae. Lauren offered to stay next to her sister while Dillon slept in the near by room. Renae only shrugged her shoulders as she made her way to one of the near by corners. Alex followed her until he was only about two feet away. There, he sat himself down and waited for her to fall asleep. With everyone settled in, Kalinda left the group to her own bed in the house. Sighing, Kalinda stripped off her clothes, exposing her think figure. Clad in only a pair of panties as well as a bra, she slowly began to strip those off as well. Minutes later, Kalinda was standing in front of the open window with nothing on. Her eyes gazed outside to the snow that seemed to be lined with silver from the pale moonlight that was shinning down. A small sigh came from her lips as she turned away from the window. In the doorway, a figure stood. Instantly, Kalinda covered her body as well as she could with her hands. Without a word, the figure moved closer. In the moonlight, Kalinda could see who it was.

Dillon moved closer to Kalinda. He watched her try to cover up her beautiful body. Only shaking his head, he stepped right in front of her. Fear and worry came from her eyes. Silently, he placed one of his fingers onto her lips. Doing so caused her to gasp slightly. Pulling her closer, Dillon looked into her eyes. Deep, brown eyes stared back at him as he leaned in to kiss her. She returned the kiss by slipping her tongue into his mouth. Deeper he pushed his tongue into her mouth, causing her to gasp for air. Various feelings came over him. Lust, hunger, power, everything. Gently, he picked Kalinda up to place her on the bed. Kalinda landed on the bed with a small bounce. Quickly, Dillon came over her, kissing her once more. Their tongues met for a short period of time. Both of them were losing air fast as they kept longing for each other’s kisses. Moving on from the kissing, Kalinda placed her legs around Dillon. It was then that she realized that he was still full clothed. Frustration came over Kalinda. So close yet so far from getting what she wanted. Ever since she laid eyes on Dillon, feelings of want and hunger came over her. Without thinking, she placed her hands inside of his pants as well as his underwear. With one quick motion, she managed to get them off of his body. Feeling her hands on his skin was enough to drive Dillon insane. Soft and gentle was what he was feeling. Moving off of her for the time being, Dillon ripped off his shirt only to return to her kissing gently on his chest. This was more then enough to excite him. Instead of letting her keep kissing, he pulled her closer to him. From there, they spent the rest of the night in each other’s arms, making love.

--

Morgan stirred in her spot. Noises from other areas of the house could be heard. Sleep was already hard to come by in a strange house. Mix that in with the strange noises, Morgan wondered how anyone could possibly sleep. Wind blew from outside as well as moans could be heard. Not wanting to know what it was, Morgan shoved her head under the pillow. Hard floor greeted her face as she blocked out the sounds from the house. A blanket covered the rest of her body. Windows rattled as wind brushed past them. Peaking out from the window, Morgan could see swirls of snow dance outside. Seeing it was just beautiful as the streetlights lit the snow to show off the unique patterns that are ever present on the snow. Next to her, low mummers of the others as they move around could be heard. Once more, Morgan shifted in her spot. Wooden floors were pretty to look at but hell to sleep on. Moaning, she brought the blanket over her face, hoping to get some form of sleep tonight.

Alex rested peacefully near by Renae. There he saw the gentle rise of her chest as she breathed in and out. Strands of blonde hair gently covered her face. Her eyes were hidden from view behind her lids as she rested in the corner. Blankets of a velvet material were wrapped around her body, keeping the cold from even gracing her. To Alex, she looked very angelic. Removing his own blanket, he positioned himself closer to her. Quietly, he brushed the strands of hair that lingered on her face away with his hands. Soft was the only feeling he received when he ran his hand over her face. Picking her up, Alex placed her in his lap. He figured that she’d be more comfortable in his lap then leaning against a hard wall. Cradling her, Alex rocked back and forth with her. Gently, her head rested against his chest. Inside, she could hear the steady beating of his heart. Seeing her sleep, Alex decided to run his hand through her hair. To the touch, it was silky as well as very soft. It fit her nicely. As he ran his hand through it, he caught his hand on a necklace. Around her neck was a teardrop shaped necklace. Looking at it, he fumbled with it between his fingers. What could be so important that she’d always have to wear it? Without thinking twice, Alex pulled on the necklace. Instantly, it fell from her neck and into his hands. Shining in the bit of light that was present, Alex noticed something engraved on the back of the shape. Forever and Always, Brendan was written on the teardrop. Anger began to rise inside of him. Who was this Brendan anyway? What did he think he was? An all mighty God that managed to capture this young woman’s heart? Clenching the necklace, anger began to seethe even more. Quickly as it came, the anger was gone as well was the necklace. In pieces did it lay in his hand. Smiling, Alex shoved the necklace in his pocket. Hopefully, she wouldn’t notice that the necklace was gone. Kissing her lips, Alex held her closer then went to sleep.

Neil sighed as he adjusted himself on the couch. Noises could be heard but he wasn’t sure what they were. Around him, others stirred. As cold as it was outside, Neil still felt fairly warm. Throwing the blanket off, Neil sat up to hang his legs off the couch. Like the others before him, sleep wasn’t going to come. Instead, his mind went to his wife and what she’d be doing. All he could see was her sitting on their bed, crying and waiting for him to open that door. Sadly, it seemed as if that day would never come. After only four years of marriage, it seemed as if it was already falling apart. By now, Neil was sure that Christy has already found someone else to be with. Thinking about all of it just made him more depressed. Christy was everything to him and more. What he wouldn’t do to hold her in his arms, rock her to sleep and just feel her body close against his. Tears flowed from his eyes, then dropped to the carpeted floor. Shining in the pale moonlight was a golden band on his left ring finger. Seeing it caused Neil to cry even more. Without thinking, he yanked the ring off of his finger then tossed it on the ground. Slowly, Neil was coming to the realization that he’d never see her again. No more beautiful brown eyes to stare back at him, no more flowing black hair. It was almost as if everything was against Neil for trying to have a family. Picking the ring up off the floor, he gently tucked it into his pocket. From there, he laid back down to cry himself to sleep.

Chatter was all that could be heard between Ethan and Tyler. Both men were busy going on about what information that they learned today. It was almost as if they were trying to predict the woman’s next move. Pieces of newspapers were scattered among them. Each piece held a clue as to what it could be. Together, both of them worked out possible suspects. Then, it hit them. One article from about a year or so ago stated that a man went missing. A missing person’s report was filed but he was never found. What surprised them even more was who filed the missing person’s report – Renae. But what did she have to do with the missing person? That was something Ethan and Tyler would have to find out. Once more, they read the article, trying to pick up any information that could have been missing.

Newspaper Article

Today, a young man was reported missing. The 23-year old man known to many people as Brendan Kincade went missing early this morning. He is a member of the fire clan. Anyone with any information of this matter should be directed to the police. He went missing shortly before morning came under unknown circumstances. Brendan was last seen with Catie, daughter of the High Priest. Their relationship is currently unknown. He stands at five feet, seven inches and weighs in around one hundred seventy pounds with brown curly hair, and hazel eyes. Again, anyone with information should inform the police.

End Newspaper Article

Reading it again, something clicked inside of Ethan’s head. Brendan knew Renae and she filed the report. The thing is, that was over a year ago. Was he still missing? He must be by the way she reacted to Alex’s moves. Inside, she must still long for him and to find him. Now her part in this little play was starting to make sense. Voices call to her to figure out her destiny with him as he was connected to the missing woman. Tyler and Ethan both shouted with joy. Realizing what they did, they quickly silenced their joy. This news would have to be shared with the others in the morning. Whispering took the place of the shouting; the men discovered that everyone that was here was destined to meet. Whether it has been now or later, at some point in time, everyone would have met. As their chattering died down, both men found a comfortable position and quickly fell asleep.

Crying noises could be heard in the small room that everyone was sleeping in. Silent tears of sorrow streaked down Lauren’s face. Without having to look, she already knew what was going on. Earlier, Dillon left his designated sleeping area and followed Kalinda. Apparently, Lauren wasn’t good enough for Dillon so he decided to check out what Kalinda had to offer. Him doing this almost felt as if he stabbed Lauren with a knife through her heart. When she first met Dillon, she began to slowly fall in love with him. To have him go around and do this? More then ever did she want to just beat him, make him feel what she is feeling now. Lauren almost felt as if she had been betrayed. Looking up, she noticed that her sister came over to sit by her. Silently, she let more tears come out as she leaned on her sister. Jennifer sat there, rocking her sister. Strangely, Jennifer knew something like this would happen. Every time her sister fell hard for someone, it ended up in heartbreak. Time and time before, Jennifer would have to cuddle her sister. Also, she’d have to tell Lauren that men were scum. Giggling, Lauren started to feel a bit better. The sisters were always close to each other and were known to help make each other feel better. Most often the case was Jennifer making Lauren feel better after the events of everything that tended to plague Lauren more often then not. Rocking her sister, Jennifer began to sing softly to Lauren. Doing so usually made Lauren feel better as well as help her drift to sleep. Minutes passed as Jennifer sang to Lauren. When she looked down, Lauren was sleep in her lap. Smiling, Jennifer closed her own eyes and went to sleep.

Chapter 10 - Fight or Flight

Footsteps were left in the fresh snow that had just fallen over Russia. Two people, a young man and woman could be seen walking, hand and hand. To most people, they’d seem like a couple that were in love. Where in all actuality, the two walking were none other then Catie and Brendan. Catie clung to Brendan’s hand as if it were her life. Giggling and smiling, the couple walked down the street. If one looked carefully, they could see that a giant book was in the arms of the young woman. Morning was beginning to peak over the horizon. Rays of sun hit the snow and caused a rainbow of colors. The sight of it was truly beautiful. Stopping at a near by bench, both of them sat down as Catie opened the book of the Forbidden Magic’s. Paging through the book only brought smiles to Catie’s face. Chanting a spell, she brought up the images of the ‘chosen ones’. To her surprise, they weren’t in the house that they were once were in. Instead, they all were roaming the streets, looking for clues as to their next destination. Suddenly, Catie had an idea pop into her head. A mischievous smile played across her lips. Once more, she chanted a spell then in front of her, the group appeared. Everyone looked around, confused. Seeing what she was doing, Brendan could only shake his head. He longed to stop her but him doing so risked the life of the one he loved. As if knowing his thoughts, he saw the group of people. Among the group was Renae. Next to her was some dumbass hanging all over her. Anger rose in Brendan. Just who did he think he was? Without saying anything, Brendan walked over to him and decked him. Alex flew back a good five feet as he struggled to recover. When he did, he saw that Renae was in his arms. Everything seemed to be repeating. This morning they learned that she was once involved with him before his disappearance. Now she hugged him as if she would never let go. Tears ran down her face. After so long, she had finally found him. Hugging her in return, he showered her in kisses as he wiped away her tears.

“What a touching reunion. I’m afraid that it’s going to have to end.” Quietly, Catie pulled Brendan away from Renae. With him finally away from her, Catie turned her own attention to the young woman. “So you’re the…thing he likes. What a pitiful choice. You’re nothing compared to me. I can offer him power. What can YOU offer him? Hmm? Nothing.” Smirking, she extended her hand to let a blast of water rush from it. It did a direct hit to Renae, causing her to fall to her hands and knees. When she looked up, Brendan could see the pain in her eyes. It’s no doubt that Catie could too. Seeing her pain was pleasure for Catie. Knowing her weakness, Catie gave her an evil smile. Without saying anything, she walked over to Brendan and placed a deep kiss on his lips. Once she was finished, she shifted her attention to Renae again. More pain and suffering were in her eyes. Laughter was all Catie could answer with.

“Now you understand what you are. You are nothing. He is mine and I am his. Should you ever interfere again, you shall die.” Catie smiled again. With Brendan in her arms, she gave the group a wink. Suddenly, from behind her, someone or something had struck the base of her neck. Stunned from it, she whipped around to see that Dillon had struck her with the base of his sword. Growling, Catie drew out her nails as she tried to scratch Dillon. Her natural element was dark, the opposite of what Dillon was. Nails dug into Dillon’s face as he drew back in pain. For now, he’d be out of the upcoming fight.

“Now who wants to die next?” Without waiting for an answer, Catie charged right at Renae. Seeing that she was caught off guard, Catie readied another water spell. Renae looked up with hatred in her eyes. Instead of backing down with fear, she stood up. The mad woman was coming right for her. Silently, Renae stuck out her hands and chanted. Warm, red glows came from her hands as an inferno of molten rock struck Catie. Stunned from the attack, Catie found herself a bit confused. Now was the perfect time for the others to attack. Morgan, Kalinda, Neil and Tyler formed a line. Instantly, Catie knew what they were doing. Opening their attack, Morgan let out a stream of water. Following her, Kalinda attacked with her rock storm spell. Next in line was Neil. Using a special skill of gale spark, Neil inflicted damage of wind and water. Closing the attack was Tyler. Instead of using his own magic, Tyler decided to use what others call ‘combo’ magic. Being smart like he is, Tyler picked out the light combo move. Quickly, the damage to Catie was adding up. Stumbling, she finally was able to get back on her feet. Odds were unfair as she was stronger then all of them together. Suddenly an idea popped into Catie’s head. Shoving Brendan into the rest of the group, Catie grabbed Renae. With a wicked smile, she chanted a spell. Just like that, both women were gone. Brendan watched her disappear. Was it going to be another year before he’d see her again? Honestly, he didn’t know and that’s what scared him.

Chapter 11 - Fate is sealed

Both women arrived in a place that was dark. Shadows danced on the walls. Catie had brought her to where she was born – a warehouse. Smiling, Catie shoved Renae into the spot where she was once before. The look of fear was priceless. It was almost as if there was a spotlight on the woman. As if she was an animal, Catie began to circle Renae. Alone she would never be strong enough to fight her. Lashing out at her, Catie dug deep claws into her face. Blood ran down her face as she worked to cover it up. Yanking her hands, Catie began to lick the blood that trickled down. Renae tried to jerk back but Catie held her firmly. Pushing her against the nearby wall, Catie’s mouth found Renae’s. Under her, she could feel the other woman struggling to get away. Doing so only excited Catie more. Sliding her tongue into her mouth, Catie could feel Renae’s body stiffen. Tongues met and swirled around as the demon reached to touch various areas of her body. Quietly, Catie broke off the kiss and pushed her small breasts almost into her face.

“Just so you know. I am in charge here. Any wrong moves and I won’t hesitate to kill you.” With that said, Catie forced another kiss onto her. As before, their tongues met as Catie began to feel around again. Hatred came into Renae’s eyes. She could only assume what she did to Brendan. Finally, Catie tore away. As she did, she looked at the woman’s body. Small and slender with perfect breasts, well at least to Catie. Seeing this caused her to lick her lips. Just imagine what lies under those clothes. In one quick moment, Catie had managed to rip off her blouse. Tears began to streak down Renae’s face, as she knew as what was about to happen.

Laughter echoed in the warehouse as Catie pranced around the terrified woman. Standing before her was a half naked woman. Under the bra, perky nipples were beginning to appear. Drawing closer to her, Catie silently removed the device that held such beautiful things captive. Once that was free, Catie took her fore finger as well as her thumb to gently pinch her nipples. Renae gasped for air as she was shocked by her actions. Doing so only caused Catie to laugh more. Lowering her head, Catie began to twirl her tongue around the pink flesh of her nipples. Moans escaped Renae’s lips as Catie moved father down. Kisses trailed the body of Renae. Soft panting could be heard as Catie continued to explore. A hand went into the waistband of Renae’s pants. It was none other then Catie’s hand. Breath caught in Renae’s throat as Catie worked her pants off. Now standing there in nothing, Renae shivered from the coldness of the warehouse. Seeing her there in nothing was a huge turn on for Catie. Trailing her fingers over her body, Catie found an opening that was warm and moist. Putting two fingers inside, Catie began to see what else she could do to this woman. Renae’s breathing became labored. Hearing her pant and succumb to her power. Pushing her down, Catie began to slowly explore her body to see what else could pleasure this fair lady. Fingers moved in circles as more moans left. Just as she was on the brink of pure pleasure, Catie stopped. Laughing, Catie made the scared young woman return the favor to her. Having Renae’s tongue whirl on her own nipples almost made Catie lose it. Pushing her down to between her legs, Catie could feel the woman’s tongue slip into her lips. Warm and slippery, Catie could feel the tongue slowly sliding in and out. Instead of having moans escape Renae’s lips, they escaped Catie’s. Grabbing her head and pushing her further into her, Catie let herself go. Seeing an opportunity, Renae bit fairly hard on a very sensitive part of Catie then took off. Screaming in pain, Catie ran after her.

Chapter 12 - No More Tears

Morgan was confused just like the others. Renae was whisked away only to be replaced by the one she was looking for. ‘Talk about irony’, Morgan thought. Her thoughts were shattered when she heard arguing. Without having to look, she knew who it was and what was going on. On his knees was Alex, Blood dripped from his nose as he stared up at Brendan. Eyes bore into him as Brendan resisted the urge to kill him right then in here. Only moments before did he find a broken necklace – Renae’s necklace – hanging out of his pocket. Seeing this, Morgan rushed over. Why is it that men always seemed to get themselves into some form of trouble? Brendan was about to deck Alex again when Morgan grabbed his hand. He looked at her with anger and sadness. Without a word, Morgan told him that she knew what it was like. Slowly, Brendan let his hand fall to his side. Tears began to fall from his eyes as she slowly began to speak.

“Do you even know what she means to me? That woman is my world, my everything. That young woman is my life. Without her, I’m only feeling half as good. I spent the last few years trying to get back to her. Just when I found her again, she is yanked from me! I had her in my arms and that bitch took her again. All I want is to hold her, make her feel safe.” Brendan was now sobbing as he thought of Renae and Catie. Who knows what she had already done to her? He slammed his fist into his open palm. How could he have been so duped by Catie to let her control? The answer was simple: Renae. At that moment, he wanted to give up. Now that she was gone and probably dead, what did he have to live for? More then ever did Brendan want to live his life out in solitude. Clearing his head, Brendan looked at Morgan. “What do we do from here?”

Looking uneasy, Morgan decided to reply. The others were still silent at Brendan’s outbreak. This wasn’t going to be an easy task. Taking in a deep breath, Morgan began to think about what she wanted to say. She let a few minutes of silence pass before deciding to say something.

“Alright. This is going to be our most difficult task. Not only did we lose Renae but we gained her counterpart. In order to stop this psycho woman from doing whatever, we’ll need to work together. Brendan, I need you to tell us everything you know about this Catie. From there, we will decide our course of action.”

Brendan nodded. If this would help get her back, he would do it. Slowly, he began to comb through his mind of the past events. It had been over a year since he had gone missing. Memories of the past events were painful but he would relive them just to help her. Closing his eyes, Brendan began to tell the tale of what happened.

Flashback

Warm sunshine rained down from a cloudless sky. Brendan had just begun to spend the day with the woman of his dreams. Both of them were enjoying each other’s company on the sandy beaches of Florida. Laughter filled the air as well as salt. Snuggled in his arms was a young woman. Three days had passed since he was able to see her and just be with her. Planting small kisses on her face, he noticed another young woman out of the corner of his eye. He caught her staring at him. Seeing her do this caused Brendan to pull Renae closer. The woman, who Brendan didn’t know was Catie, inched her way closer to them. Catie was becoming jealous even though she had no idea who he was. Ever since she laid eyes on him, she knew that she must have him. Something inside of her told her that he was meant for her, not that thing in his arms. Watching him kiss her and hold her began to build anger in Catie. No more as that was the last straw for Catie came when Brendan began to explore her body. Smiling, Catie walked over to the couple. A young man looked at her curiously only to pull his lover closer.

“Hi there. My name is Catie. I saw you from the distance and thought that I’d say hi.” Catie smiled as she held out her hand. She noticed that the girl seemed uneasy with her around. Knowing this only made Catie happier. Quietly, Catie grabbed the woman from his arms only to throw her on the ground a few feet away. Brendan seen this and quickly came to his feet. He ran over to Renae who was on the ground. Gently, he picked her up, cooing her that it’ll be all right. Annoyed, Catie stormed off but gave Brendan a look that said she would return. Cuddling her, Brendan took Renae back to his place. Little did he know Catie followed them. Once inside, Brendan placed Renae on a bed only to begin kissing her. Looking in the window, Catie saw what he was doing. He was going to make love to that thing. Piece by piece, their clothes came off. Slowly, Brendan and Renae made love. Narrowing her eyes, Catie could see the girl’s pale flesh as well as small beads of sweat form on her from their actions. Moans of pleasure and ecstasy escaped their mouths. For a few hours, they exchanged pleasures until they both were asleep in each other’s arms. Now that they were asleep, Catie could sneak in. Needle in hand; the young stalker broke into the small home. Neither of them seemed to notice or stir at the sound. Perfect for Catie as she slipped off the cap of the needle. Moving towards the sleeping girl, she slipped the needle into her skin. A small gasp came from her but it was silenced as Catie put her hand over her mouth. Seconds passed as Renae fell back asleep. Moving on, Catie shook Brendan to jar him from his sleep. Once he was up, a smile came across her face. Eyes told him to do as she says or suffer the price. Swallowing hard, he nodded. Together, they left the house and went on their way, leaving Renae behind.

End Flashback

From there, everything else to Brendan was a blur. Maybe in time he’d remember but for now, this would have to do. Shaking his head, he looked at the group to determine their actions to his story. Everyone seemed to shift their feet. Morgan was lost in thought so it left the course of action up to the rest of the group for a change. Kalinda decided that now was the time to decide. Never had she been a leader but there was a first for everything. Twirling her sword then slamming into the ground, she looked at everyone. Lauren jumped but only in return glared at her. Dillon only could shake his head at the small feud between the women. Jennifer stuck close to Lauren as well as Morgan. Tyler and Ethan were also grouped together, staring at Kalinda to see what her next move was. Alex only could glare at Brendan for showing up and taking away the one thing he wanted. Neil was still trying to help Dillon balance after that last attack.

“Alright. So we know that Renae and Brendan were once an item. That means Catie will use her to get to Brendan. Since he’s now apart of us, she’ll use her to get to us. We’re getting somewhere. Catie works on gaining advantages as well as what she wants. What she truly wants is Brendan. Here’s an idea. Let’s lure her out with Brendan as bait. From there, we nab Renae and Brendan. Then we kill the bitch and we all live happily ever after!” Kalinda seemed to ramble on but in a way, what she said made sense. After all, Brendan would get what he wanted then the rest can go on with their own life. Smiling, Kalinda waited for any replies that were sure to follow her crazy idea. Sure enough, Alex was the one to speak first. Knowing him, this only could be trouble. Sighing, Kalinda listened to what he’d have to say about her plan.

“Who said we’d all live happily ever after. I don’t get what I want. What I want is Renae but no. That thing over there has to claim her.” Narrowing his eyes, Alex walked over to Brendan. Anger and hatred could be seen with the little bit of his eyes that were showing. If looks could truly kill, Brendan probably would have been dead by Alex’s glare. Pacing around him, Alex just wanted to rip his heart out. Renae was his and he was damn well determined to get it. Growling, it was almost if the young man was daring Brendan to start something with him. From there, he waited to see what the other gentleman would do.

Brendan could only look at Alex. What was his problem any way? It wasn’t as if she was interested in that thing in front of him. He had known Renae and she wouldn’t give up without seeing his own body with her eyes. Reaching into his pocket, he could feel the tiny necklace that he had given her. Smiling, Brendan went back to that day.

Flashback

Waves of water crashed onto a near by beach. Sand washed away into the ocean. Fishes dotted through the water, trying to find something to feed on. Voices of the birds and wind carried through the air. It was such a peaceful day and no one but two young people were stationed on the beach. Above them, clear skies seemed to go on forever. In front of them, an endless ocean that seemed to shine with the brilliant colors of blue. Giggles escaped the lips of the young girl who was being tickled with sand by her lover. When together, they seemed to be the perfect couple. Nothing ever seemed to be wrong with them. Running his hand through her hair, he placed gentle kisses on her tender lips. All the girl, who we later find out that her name is Renae, smiled then returned his kisses. She seemed to be very happy with him. Pulling him closer, she rested her head on his muscular chest. There, he held her head close to his heart, only to rock her back and forth. Whispers of nothing but sweet romance filled her ears as Brendan told her that she meant everything to him. Brushing the hair from her face, Brendan pulled her face towards him to plant a very slow kiss on her lips. Her kisses seemed to be as sweet as chocolate and that was something that Brendan could never get enough of. Carefully pulling away, he listened to her protests that she wanted him. Rubbing her nose with his, Brendan reached behind him to grab a tiny white box. On the box, in an elegant handwriting, a small note was there. Picking it up, Renae cautiously opened it. Smells of a sweet scent, something she couldn’t place, rose to her nose as be began to read the letter within the box.


My dearest Renae,

I love you is never enough for you. Giving the world to you isn’t enough. If I could have every star in the sky for your beautiful smile, the sky would be in my hands. You are my life, my everything. Without you, I don’t want to be here. I need you. I love the way you laugh, the way you smile. Just holding you is enough to make any one happy. I don’t even have to speak and you know what I want to say. Every night when I’m asleep, your name is on my lips. I whisper it when you’re not around. I can never put my fingers on it that makes me want you. The way you look tonight is beautiful and I can’t take my eyes off of you. When I hold, you make me feel like I have something worth living for. I can feel in it the way. Seeing you smile just makes my whole day so much better. I could listen to your voice talk all day and I’d still never be truly satisfied. I thank my lucky stars that you came into my life. Words are never enough to tell you how much I love you, even when you tease me. I want you so much tonight and this can only show a little bit of that. Here I give you part of me. You already have my heart, my mind, my body and my soul. Now I give you my tears, my tears of ever lasting love for you. Before I go, I just want you to know that I will carry you through the anything because I want nothing but the absolute best for my angel.

I love you always,
Brendan

Reading that brought tears to her eyes. Never before had she known how much she meant to him. Now she knew. Letting the gentle tears run down her face, she grabbed Brendan, gave him a kiss for the romantic letter then opened the box. Inside, a beautiful necklace lay there. In the shape of a tear, it shone with such vivid light. Seeing it brought more tears to her eyes. Picking it up, Brendan helped her put it on. What she didn’t know is that on the back of the teardrop was the words BRFA. Those particular letters stood for Brendan and Renae – Forever and always. Holding her close again, he told her once more that he loved her. Nothing in the world would ever change that. Forever and always would he protect her from the darkness and anything else that would dare try to harm her. Snuggling her, they watched the sun fade into the horizon. Soon enough, it’d get cold and they’d have to migrate inside. Kissing her once more, he pulled her closer as if it was the last time that he would ever be able to do so.

End Flashback

Smiling to himself, Brendan remembered that day. It was one of the happiest days in his life since he met her. That all changed when he remember that Alex was staring him down. Grumbling, he had to resist the urge to beat the snot out of him. Gathering himself, he decided that he should reply to the jerk. Clearing his throat, he began to speak.

“Yes, Catie is after me. She wants me because I know of her plants to use the forbidden magics to dominate the world. With those in her grasp, she can do whatever she wishes. She was born out of evil – one with the power of light and dark. In other words, the myths are true. Catie is an ultimate being. Her powers surpass anything we have. I was used as pawn to gather her items that she wanted. Now she is going to use Renae to bring me back. I hate to tell you Kalinda but Catie isn’t stupid. She’ll know that we’re trying to set her up. I have another idea though. Let’s do an exchange. I’ll take Renae’s place. I would much rather her be alive and unharmed then suffering in some form Hell.”

Alex seemed to rejoice at this. With Brendan gone, Renae would have to be his. Morgan finally shifted back to reality then frowned. Exchanges were dangerous and it could leave Catie with both of them. Dillon seemed to agree with Morgan’s thoughts. Lauren seemed to be on the fence, not sure if it’d work but was willing to give it a try. Neil was all for it since he was more familiar with Renae instead of Brendan. Ethan and Tyler seemed to okay with it but not sure of how well it’d work. Jennifer seemed to side with Neil and told them it was worth it. Besides, to her, what did they have to lose? Kalinda frowned. Every time that she tried to make a suggestion, it failed or it seemed. Rolling her eyes, she’s just follow blindly into the death that she was sure that was awaiting them.

Chapter 13 - All or Nothing

Feet pounded on the cement ground. Panting and gasps for air escaped her lips. How long had she been running? She didn’t know. All that she did know is that her feet and lungs hurt from the running. Footsteps of someone coming closer could be heard. Panic rose in the girl. If she were caught, she would surely be killed. Catcalls of the woman who called herself Catie rang out into the night. Renae was out of breath. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Leaning against the wall, the young girl tried to catch her breath. In the shadows, a figure stood. Seeing this made Renae’s heart drop. Was she really that unlucky? Rolling her eyes, she tried to catch her breath at a fast rate. Slowly, Catie moved towards her with an evil grin on her face. Only could Renae imagine what this girl had planned. Laughter filled her ears. Within a few minutes, Catie was right in front of her. Holding her breath, Renae waited for the moment of her death. When it didn’t come, her eyes looked at Catie. Just by looking at them, Renae knew her future. Tears filled her eyes as the fate of her future had already been sealed. To her, it was unfair. Lowering her guard, Renae gave into Catie. For Catie, this couldn’t get better. Grabbing the woman’s hand, Catie teleported them back to the warehouse. Carefully, both women moved around to where they were. Smiling, Catie chained Renae to the wall. Once before, Catie was in the same position. Now it looked like the tables had turned. Hope was silently fading away from her. Pain shot through the girl’s wrist as the shackles of metal bound her to the wall. Seeing her suffer brought amusement to Catie’s face.

“Now…what would he say if he were here? Let’s find out.” Giggling, Catie chanted a spell and brought Brendan to their whereabouts. Before him, his love was chained to a wall like some animal. What made it worse was the fact she has been battered and had little to no clothing on. Anger rose in him. That little wench said she wouldn’t do anything to harm her as long as he followed her orders. Obviously, he was quite mistaken. Moving forward, he tried to get to Renae before Catie did anything. Footsteps of his moved closer to her, leaving a trail of footprints in the dirt. Inches away, he reached out to her. Tears in her eyes told him that she was in pain and obviously didn’t want to be here. Fighting his own tears, Brendan stepped next to her. Gently, he took his hands to lift her face. Pain and fear were in her eyes. Without a second thought, Brendan began to fumble with the chains that seemed to have bound her on the wall. Seconds pass and she was finally free. Lifting her, Brendan placed Renae in his arms, cuddled her against his chest. A weak smile crossed her lips as her body gave up from the pain and exhaustion. Slowly, her eyes shut. Smiling, Brendan pulled her close once more before deciding to head out. Turning around, he saw Catie. Memory failed him, as he was more worried about Renae. Pulling her closer yet, Brendan narrowed his eyes to the woman, rather thing, in front of him.

“You promised that you wouldn’t hurt her provided I did what you asked! Now look at her! Bruises litter her body and it almost appears that you raped her. If she dies here in my arms, I will kill you with my bare hands, right here and right now. I will not suffer her loss and I would much rather die just to be with her.” He managed to keep his voice cool and collected. Inside of him, his heart was racing. Was a battle to be had or would she just let them go with no harm?

“You dare try to talk to your master in such a tone? If I had known that you’d be this disobedient, I would have killed the little brat right out. You must remember that I am yours and you are mine. She has nothing to do with us. You should just drop here now and let her suffer to death. It’s not like she’ll be missed.” Catie said, her eyes flaring with anger. First time she laid eyes on her, she wasn’t too fond of her. More then ever did she just want to rip that demon child from his arms and do away with her.

Brendan glared at her. This wasn’t going to be easy. In order to get out, he was going to have to fight her in combat. Putting Renae down would risk her life as well as his. Rolling his eyes, he didn’t much have a choice. Whispering his love for her in her ear, he gently placed her behind him on the ground. Making sure that she was out of harms way, he turned his full attention back to Catie. Beating her was going to be no easy task. Slipping on his Gauntlets, he looked the woman dead in the eye. Drawing his hand back, he positioned it to just behind his right ear. Left hand out in front, he balanced himself as he readied his shot. Putting all of his thought into his attack, Brendan shoved his right arm through the air, releasing a fireball into the air.

Reacting quickly, Catie held out her hand to summon a spell from the depths of Hell. Darkness surrounded them as Catie charged. Taking advantage of the confusion, Catie struck Brendan with Evil Cast. Knocking him back, Catie ran at him again, almost beating him into the ground. Laughing, she waited to see his reply. Rubbing her hands, she glanced over to see that his lover was still resting peacefully where he had left her.

Looking around, Brendan tried to fight his way through the darkness. Using his skills to his advantage, he lit the room up with a swift hand punch to the ground. Instantly, he saw her trying to go for Renae. Growling, he charged hi at her, landing his fist right in her face. Screaming in pain, he saw her draw back from her attack. In her eyes, fear, hatred and anger were present. Spells of darkness and fire clashed, creating wondrous effects in the warehouse. If anyone looked inside, it’d be as if someone was letting fireworks off. Catie and Brendan charged at each other. Both of them were getting weak fighting against each other. The time to end it was now. Panting, Catie looked at him and replied, “Now I sentence your soul to death!”

Brendan looked at her with fear. Was this truly the end? What was going to happen? Fear ran through him as his blood turned cold. Catie was chanting a spell that would surely kill them both. Holding his breath, he waited to be sentenced to Hell. Closing his eyes, he waited for his life to end and to wake up in Hell. She had finished the spell and darkness was slowly over coming him. Just as it did, he felt himself being shoved out of it. Confused, he looked around to see Renae standing in the darkness. Tears filled his eyes as he realized what she was doing. Looking into her eyes, she knew that when she died that Catie would own her soul, as she knew her fate had been sealed. Darkness had filled her soul as she fell to the ground. Laughing echoed in the warehouse as Catie finally disappeared into the shadows. Rushing over to her, Brendan picked the woman up. Cuddling her against his chest again, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. A weak smile came across her lips as she did. Swallowing, she struggled to get out the words she wanted.

“Brendan…I-I-I love you. What I d-d-did was for you. When…this is over…I’ll go to Hell…to join her. When I do…I don’t want you to cry. Stay strong. Even in death, I will love you.” She again offered a weak smile. With that, she fell back into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter 14 - Fate Wins Anyway

“What else can go wrong for us?” Kalinda wondered. Not only was Renae gone, Brendan seemed to disappeared into thin air. Frustration was beginning to take affect on the group. Confusion also seemed to be spread out among them. Snow was beginning to fall again as a figure seemed to approach them. Everyone stood on his or her guard. Dillon moved closer to Kalinda, both of their swords being drawn. Jennifer and Lauren readied their magic for an attack. Slowly, the figure moved closer, thus prompting Alex to get ready to defend him as well as Morgan. Ethan and Tyler just seemed to stand there in awe and confusion. As the figure drew closer, everyone relaxed their guard. Brendan carrying Renae moved into the visual range of the group. All of them were looking at him in confusion and some were even rejoicing. Cradling the woman close to him, Brendan spoke to the group to inform them of what was going on.

“There is more at stake here then we had originally thought. Catie is trying to create a race of her own kind. Using the Manuscript, she can bring back the dead. With a small army of the dead, she can do whatever she wants. In other words, she’d be unstoppable. Beating her alone will be hard enough as it. Having more then one of her, well, that’s just another nightmare. We have to get that book away from here or we lose the war that we have been fighting.”

Everyone was unsure of what to do. It was true that the stakes for the game were much higher now that they knew of her plans. But what could they do? They couldn’t just walk up to her, ask for the book then leave. No, that’d just be stupid and suicide. Without that book, they’d have no way of stopping this elaborate plan. Few curses rang out into the night as Lauren decided to speak up. Hearing the shy woman actually offer her input was a great surprise to many people. Jennifer only looked at her sister with surprise. Kalinda looked at the woman with a confused look. Dillon looked at Morgan then felt ashamed for what he had put Lauren through. He swallowed hard but didn’t speak. Brendan pulled Renae closer then looked at Lauren to hear her idea. Alex glared at Brendan and felt her anger rising as he held the one he wanted. Swallowing hard, the woman began her speech of what they could do.

“We should split up. You know… into two groups. With that, we’ll be harder to track then staying together. We also won’t be easy targets. Also with this, we might be able to pull off a surprise attack. We need any advantage that we can get out hands on. Groups will be determined by Elements. That way we can be balanced and prepared for almost anything she can throw.” Lauren stated. In the end, Alex was grouped with Renae as well as Morgan plus Kalinda and Dillon. Neil, Brendan, Ethan Tyler, and the twins, Lauren and Jennifer were all together. Hopefully. They will be able to surprise Catie with their attacks.

--

Alex was bouncy. He had been stuck with Renae and that pathetic boyfriend of hers was stuck in the other group. Now would be the perfect time to get her in his hands and make her forget about him. After all, he did take the necklace she was wearing. Even after what Catie did to her, the woman still looked to be beautiful. Eyes were so full of life. Clothes hugged her body as if they were a shield to her. Drooling at the thought of what was under them, he felt someone smack in the back of the head. Growling, he watched Morgan move closer to her. Kalinda and Dillon seemed to be all into each other. Holding hands, they acted as if they were just married. That alone made Alex sick. Together, they whispered about various things, most something that Alex couldn’t quite make out. Renae seemed to calm down a bit as Morgan left. Now was the perfect time for Alex to strike.

“You look sad my dear. What is on your mind?” Without saying anymore, he pulled her closer; let her bury herself into his chest. Holding her close, he looked up and saw Brendan. Eyes were blaring at him with utter hatred. Smiling, Alex decided to pull Renae up, looked into her eyes to give her a fairly passionate kiss. Tongues met and danced as he gave her one of the best kisses in his life. Pulling back, he had seen that Renae seemed to be a bit better. Circles were slowly fading away from eyes as she rested on him. For now, she had completely forgot that Brendan had even existed. So far, Alex had everything he wanted. But will it stay that way in the future or would it change? Shrugging his shoulders, he stroked Renae’s hair as he slowly sang to her.

Kalinda was too busy with Dillon to even notice that Alex was being a typical ass. Dillon had swept her off her feet without trying. Main thing that had drawn her to this particular man was how similar of interests they had. Even after their night of lovemaking, Kalinda felt some form of an attachment to him. Without him, she strangely felt empty. What had he done to her? Shrugging her shoulders, Kalinda looked at Dillon. Words escaped his mouth as he told her about what he thought of the Alex/Renae/Brendan. Giggles escaped her lips as she whispered with him about it. Honestly, it had to be the best thing to happen to the group. Not only was it entertaining, it proved to be fairly interesting. Pulling Dillon closer to her, Kalinda could smell his scent. His sent rose to her nose as she took in a deep breath. Thoughts of their fun came to her mind as she smiled. Hand in hand, he led her away from the group before they decided to venture into their assisted suicide.

Morgan was finding all of this lovely junk between everyone fairly sickening. In a few hours, they’d most likely be dead and all they can do is sit there and suck face. Why she was really annoyed, she wasn’t sure. Alex was busy swooping Renae away from Brendan. Whereas Kalinda was too busy trying to get back into Dillon’s pants. It was almost as if everyone but her was getting somewhere. Grunting, she decided that it was time to pull everyone away from each other. Now wasn’t exactly the time to be trying to get something. Everyone can get that after the kick the snot out of Catie. Rubbing her hands, Morgan put her hood back on; grabbed Alex by the collar then had him trail along with her. Whining and inconstant words came from him as he had to leave the comfort of Renae in his arms. Smacking him in the back of the head, Morgan dragged him to where Kalinda and Dillon were. Taking Kalinda’s hand, she made them follow her away from their lovers.

“I don’t know what you do think you are doing. We are in a crisis here and both of you only care to get into someone’s pants. I suggest you get your heads out of the clouds as we are getting ready to face our worst nightmare. I need all the help I can get if I plan to do this right. Now get your thoughts together so we can save the world from becoming the reality of our nightmare.” Morgan’s voice was cold and stern. Both Alex and Kalinda flinched at it then decided to follow her orders. Swallowing hard, Morgan led her small group to where the battlegrounds were. In the end, someone was destined to die.

--

Eyes glared at Alex with pure hatred. His lips were locked with the one he wanted. Worst of all, it looked like Renae was enjoying this small moment of passion. Brendan slowly turned away, her heart full of pain and sorrow. How could she just do that to him? Biting his lip, he tried to remember all of the wonderful times that he had with that young woman. Everything around him seemed to be crashing down. Tears formed in his eyes. Thoughts of what they were going to do slipped into his mind. Shaking his head, he moved forward, ignoring the rest of the group. If anyone was going to die, he was going to do it for her to prove the fact he loved her. Fists clenched into balls as the snow under his feet crunched. Hazel eyes glanced at the world before him. Once was peaceful and full of life seemed to be dead with the nightmare that was starting to overrun this place. Shadows danced on the ground as well as the walls. Voices of the others filled his ears but he didn’t pay any attention to it. Running a hand through his brown, curly hair, Brendan decided that if needed, he’d tale on that little wench alone. Letting out a long sigh, Brendan looked back at the others before he disappeared into the shadows himself.