Chapter One

Chapter 1

Sader VanLorin walked briskly down a dark hallway. His jet-black hair whipped about his head, and his face, dark and brooding, was contorted with teenage determination. His stride put forth a sense of purpose as he lifted up his right arm in a sort of salute, heading straight towards a solid brick wall. He should have crashed into the wall painfully at the speed he was walking, but he passed harmlessly through it, as if he was smoke, and appeared in a dark room on the other side.

The room had nothing in it but a black video console that had tons screens, each of them flickering black every once in a while. Most of them showed teenagers in rooms that looked extremely bored, but one was fuzzy, like it was broken. Sader stared intently at the broken screen.

“Have you found them yet?” a hissing voice asked from the darkness. It echoed around the room, giving forth a sense of dark power.

“No.” said Sader, getting down on one knee and bowing his head. “They camouflage themselves well, but I will find them soon, I prom-”

“You have failed me one too many times.” the voice hissed, sounding angry. Sader cowered. “The girl's parents are the only ones who are still guardians, so only they must know how to transfer their power. If we don't find them soon, one of the guardians could escape before we put them to good use. I will look for Destiny and her husband myself. You-”

“Let me have another chance!” Sader said, looking up at nothing. “I promise if you let me-”

“You have used up your chances.” the voice said, getting dangerously quiet. “You are only adequate to look after the young guardians-” Sader's eyes flitted over to the teenagers on the console. “-to watch them, and make sure they don't escape. Please me and you will suffer less pain.”

The dark power in the room seemed to dissipate, leaving Sader watching the video console. His eyes lingered thoughtfully on a tall girl with black hair that was shorter in the back and longer in the front, and pale skin with a splash of freckles across her nose, who was sleeping peacefully in a pink bed. She unconsciously put her hand underneath her pillow and smiled in her sleep. A small smile formed on Sader's face, his eyes glinting evilly.

“You want me to watch her?” said Sader, “Fine, I'll watch her.”

Lina figured that she ought to be old enough to leave her room now. I mean, she hadn't left her bedroom since she was two, and now she was thirteen, almost fourteen. Barbra had been skittish after her parents' deaths, but it should have worn off by now. Shouldn't she at least be able to go outside for just an hour?

But alas, that could never happen.

You see, when Lina was two years old, her parents died in a car crash. Barbra, who was a good friend of her parents', took Lina in and raised her as if she was her own. But she had been so scared for Lina that she moved away into the outskirts of a very small town where nothing ever happened. But just to make sure that Lina stayed safe, she locked her away in a tall building surrounded by tall cliffs so that no one could ever get to her. There Lina had stayed for the last twelve years, only hoping that Barbra would someday let her go.

Lina started bouncing a red, rubber ball on the floor. It landed with a thud, then jumped back up into her hand. She threw it down again, and it came back up. Over and over and over, the ball bounced from the floor into Lina's hand then back again. Lina sighed as she watched it.

Storm, a cat that was a gift from Barbra, hissed when the ball bounced too close to him. He bounded off to his cat bed on the other side of the room, as far away from the ball as possible. Lina sighed and neglected to catch the oncoming ball out of boredom. It bounced away from her towards Storm, who hissed again and sped off to the bathroom, his silky black fur glinting blue in the sunlight.

Ignoring Storm, Lina stood up and walked to the open window on the other side of the room. She leaned against it and looked up at the drifting clouds above her, wishing that she could be outside chasing them without a care in the world. But, reluctantly, she turned away and sat down on her bed instead. She grabbed a necklace with nothing on it but a small purple amethyst; her mom's old necklace. The only thing in her life that proved she once had a family. She held it tightly to her chest.

Lina jumped when she heard the lock click on her door. Barbra was coming. Lina quickly smoothed down her fluffy pink dress, flipped her curled hair to make it look nicer and put on the best smile she could muster, just in the nick of time. She slipped the necklace under her pillow as Barbra opened the door.

As usual, Barbra had curled her dark brown, and graying, hair, making her look like a grandma. She wore ugly, old-fashioned clothes and pointy high heels that didn't match them. She wasn't wearing any makeup (except for some vivid pink lipstick), so all of her wrinkles were showing. She had a gushy smile on her face and was holding out her arms, ready to give Lina a hug.

“Hello my pretty Lina!” Barbra said as she walked over to her with surprising ease. Lina hugged her, not showing her reluctance to do so. Barbra took a basket she had hung on her arm and set it on a nearby table unconcernedly, then began to chat about the real world and everything wrong with it, just like always.

Lina pretended to listen, nodding occasionally and saying “Yes, I agree with you.”. But her mind was wandering far from Barbra's talking. Well, maybe not so far, as she was thinking about the real world herself, in the way she imagined it would be. Barbra had told her only abut the bad things, but she figured something good could somehow be made out of it. So when Barbra told her about a war fifty years ago, Lina tried to imagine having people to be with. What were they called? Friends? When Barbra switched to the sad deaths of her parents, Lina tried to picture them, alive and holding her in their arms.

When Barbra finally left, Lina was about to have an emotional breakdown, she missed her family so much. She flopped down onto her bed and began to cry silently into her pillow. She clutched the necklace that was still hiding underneath it. If only she could find a way to get out of here, then she might actually be able to find the rest of her family, if she had any. Soon however, Lina's eyes began to droop as she cried herself to sleep.

As she was sleeping, Lina had a dream. She was standing in the pouring rain, just out side a big city. The city was gray and lifeless, as if no one had lived there for ages. Somehow, she wasn't cold or wet. Maybe it was just because this was a dream. Suddenly, two people, a man and a woman, appeared out of the gloom, sopping wet. They began walking towards Lina, but not knowing she was there. They seemed to be looking for something valuable, something important. Both the man and the woman looked weary from lack of sleep, but they kept walking. Lina watched them in interest.

All of a sudden, the woman threw herself into the man's arms and started to cry. The man held her and said “I sense she is close. Hold on a little bit longer.” The woman didn't seem convinced.

“But we've been searching and searching for almost twelve years!” the woman complained. “How will we ever find her?”She continued to sob in the man's arms. He rubbed her back and she seemed to calm down a little, but she still sobbed.

“Don't worry.” the man told her though the pouring rain. “She's almost of age. She's bound to be easier to find once she turns fourteen.”

“But what if we don't recognize her?” the woman asked.

“That we don't need to worry about.” the man said. The woman broke away from him and began to look around anxiously. “We'll know her when we see her.” the man added, taking her hand gently. The woman looked at him for a moment, as if she was trying to see if he was lying. Her stormy eyes seemed to x-ray him. Then she nodded and the two continued searching.

Lina woke up in a cold sweat and breathing heavily. She knew who those people were. She also knew what they were looking for. But why were they still looking for her? Shouldn't they have given up hope? Okay, calm down. It was just a dream. She had only hoped that they were looking for her. It must have been Barbra, talking about her parents, that made her have that dream. She knew they couldn't be looking for her. They were dead.

Thunder sounded from outside. Lina looked out the window and saw that it was pouring rain. Just like in her dream. No, just a coincidence. Lina walked to the window and leaned out. There was nothing there except for the plant-covered cliffs and that boulder that didn't seem to belong there. She looked up at the storm and saw a rainbow gleaming against the gray sky. Somehow, it didn't make her feel better.

Lina sighed, and was about to turn her back on the window when a pure white dove flew out from a window above her. Lina stopped to look at it. But as she looked up, she saw a pair of hands closing the window on the level above her. They were pale like Barbra's, but there wasn't a crease on them. Lina was overcome with curiosity. “Hey!” she shouted, but a thunderclap sounded and whoever owned those hands apparently couldn't hear her. They closed the window.

Who was up there? Why were they up there? And did this have anything to do with Barbra? These questions flew around Lina's mind as she started pacing back and forth across the room. Maybe Barbra had put other people here. But why would she do that? And if she had put people here, wouldn't that mean that Barbra had put Lina here too? And in that case, are her parents still alive? What if the dream was real?

Puurrr. Puurrr. Puurrr.

Storm climbed onto Lina's bed and sneaked past Lina's sleeping body to her face. He started to lick Lina's nose, waking her up. Lina laughed as she playfully swatted him away. Storm jumped off the bed, still purring.

Lina got out of bed and dressed herself, stretching. She brushed her silky black hair and pinned the front behind her neck, adding a sparkly hairband at the last second. She retched when she saw herself in the mirror. She looked like an abnormally tall six year old with her flouncy pink dress and sparkly headband, but anything to hide herself from Barbra.

Speaking of Barbra, Lina heard a lock click and Barbra opened the door. “Hello my pretty princess Lina!” said Barbra in a sing-song voice. Lina tried to smile as she gave her a hug. “So, how have you been darling?”

“Oh wonderfully!” Lina said with false enthusiasm. “I've been playing with Storm a bit this morning and I started a new book; Pride and Prejudice.” Barbra smiled and nodded like she agreed with what Lina was doing with her life.

As usual, Barbra started to talk about the world outside Lina's bedroom; and Lina wasn't doing anything to stay with the conversation. She was thinking about her dream and the pair of hands that closed the window above her. But it was pointless wondering. It was time to pluck up the courage and ask.

“Uh, Barbra?” Lina asked.

Barbra looked at Lina concernedly. “Yes?”

Lina took a deep breath. No more hiding. “Who else is in here? Is their anyone else being kept here? Are they orphans too? I know you say that the world is cruel and dangerous, but I'm almost fourteen. Don't you think I'm old enough to go outside for once?”

“Darling, why would you even suggest such a thing?” Barbra asked, surprised. “Trust me when I say that you will never survive out there on your own.”

“Then why can't you take me out? Just for a day, an hour even?”

“Anything could happen, just like with your parents. I don't want the same thing happening to you.”

“What if I don't care if something happened to me? What if nothing did happen? What if the outside world isn't as bad as it seems?”

Barbra drew herself up to her fullest height (which wasn't much) and said “I am your legal guardian. I choose what happens with you, and I say that you are not leaving this room for a very long time.”

“But-”

“And that is final.” Barbra said.

Lina looked down at her feet. “Yes ma'am.” she said solemnly. Barbra nodded and walked out of the room, locking the door behind her.

In the weeks that followed, Lina kept her head down and didn't ask to go out again. Barbra stopped talking so much about the world and, instead, started talking about Lina's life. As much wasn't going on with her, Barbra's conversations ended quickly and Lina was left alone more often. Not that Lina minded. It was nicer without Barbra.

Lina drew a target on her wall and began throwing things at it whenever she became bored or angry. As a result, she soon became a very good aim with practically anything at practically anything. Lina's reflexes became extremely fast, but she was sure that she would never use these skills in her life, if she ever got out.

Lina was drawing a target behind her mirror when the lock clicked. Uh-oh. If Barbra found out that Lina was drawing on her wall, she would kill her. Lina dropped the permanent marker as she quickly slid the mirror back into place. The door opened and Barbra stepped over the threshold. Lina kicked the marker under her desk as Barbra gave her a hug.

“How are you my darling Lina?” asked Barbra.

“I am doing splendid.” Lina answered with fake enthusiasm.

“Yes, why would you ever want to go outside?” Barbra asked her, beginning to unpack her basket.

Lina shrugged, supposedly with no concern. Barbra nodded and smiled a gushy smile. She started going on and on and on about the world and it's problems. Barbra was back again.

Lina was glad when Barbra finally left her alone again. She had been talking for a long time, so long that Lina became sleepy. She hopped onto her bed and curled up into her pink blankets as the sun set. Storm slipped underneath them with her as Lina fell asleep.

Lina was standing in the vivid green grass, outside her room, but inside the cliffs. She moved the out-of-place boulder aside and walked through a dark tunnel, coming out in a big city; the city she had dreamed her parents were in. Barbra was waiting at the end, trying to grab her. Lina dodged and ran through the streets as fast as she could. She could hear Barbra shouting behind her, so she looked back. Barbra was running to her and beginning to gain momentum. Weird. Barbra was too old to run. But it was just a dream. Lina kept running.

Lina ran into something as she was looking back; a helicopter, like the ones she had seen flying over her room. A faceless man stepped out and, before Lina could run, grabbed her arm. Lina struggled, but the man threw her inside the helicopter. The blades on top of the helicopter began moving and it took off, leaving Barbra shouting up at Lina from beneath.

The helicopter flew high into the air, making the city look very small. The faceless man opened a side door and began to push Lina out. Lina shouted in fear as she tried to push back at him. But the faceless man was too strong. Lina fell, screaming, from the helicopter.

She grabbed on to a bar beneath the helicopter, hanging on with one hand. Lina grunted, trying to hold on. The faceless man looked over the side of the helicopter, into Lina's eyes. “We cannot have you ruining our society.” he said in a robot-like voice that Lina had heard in movies. The man lifted up his foot, preparing to kick Lina's hand.

All of a sudden, the dream changed. Lina was in a dirty brick room, with no light source within it. As Lina's eyes adjusted, Lina saw a man and a woman looking worriedly around the room; her parents. They were sitting in chairs with their backs facing her, tied up in black ropes. No, not ropes. Shadows.

“Tell me how to transfer her power.” a hissing voice said. It sounded like a thousand knives scraping against a blackboard as it echoed, making it seem like it came from everywhere. Lina covered her ears, but it seemed to shake her entire body.

“We'd rather die than tell you!” her father said, his blue eyes alive with malice. The voice growled, like it was annoyed.

“Let me make you a deal.” the voice said, trying to keep itself under control. “You give me the key to transferring her powers and I'll give her back to you.”

“She's alive?” her mother asked, shock forming on her face. A strand of dark hair hung loosely from her ponytail, but she didn't seem to notice.

“Yes.” the voice confirmed. “I've kept her safe all these years, along with . . . the others.”

“You've kept the other guardians too?” her father asked, growling with rage.

“They know nothing about their past lives.” the voice told her parents. “They would think you're crazy if you tried to let them go. They have been brainwashed, including your daughter, to think that where they are is the only safe place in the world for them. You can't get them without my help. So, do we have a deal?”

Lina wanted to shout at her parents to stop, not to agree, but her voice wouldn't work. She couldn't move. She had no idea what was going on, but she knew it was important. Her parents were in danger.

Dark energy seemed to wash over her when she had the thought. “What's this?” the voice asked. “An intruder?” Lina felt full of dread, just by feeling the power, like there would never be light again. Her chest tightened as it became harder and harder to breathe.

The voice became agitated as it spoke again. “You are growing to strong.” it said, almost to itself. “It is time for you to leave.”

All of a sudden, Lina was hanging from under the helicopter again. The faceless man's foot was still in the air. Lina was too confused to register what was happening. And then she was falling to the earth, spiraling uncontrollably as the ground flew closer . . .

Lina screamed and sat upright, shaking uncontrollably in her bed. Why were her parents trapped? What was that. . . voice? What had the voice meant when it said “transfer her powers”? What powers did she have? And her and the others being brainwashed. . . what others? Was the dream even real?

One thing was for sure though; if she wanted to find out anything, it was time to act. She needed to escape this prison, show her true colors. No more goody-two-shoes.

The war was on.