A door at the end of a long corridor.
Anyone in their right minds would avoid that door.
But there are some who would open it just for the sake of finding the truth.
Even at the cost of never returning home.

Third person view

Her heart pounded in her chest, her breathing ragged as she chanced a backwards glance.
The shadow was still after her, never changing pace but yet catching up.
Turning back to the path ahead of her, she put on an extra burst of speed, her lungs screaming for respite.
Suddenly, she burst into a clearing illuminated by moonlight.
She dashed to the middle, then stopped and turned around.
The shadow had vanished.
She hadn't needed to see its face to know that it was a soldier of the new empire.
They'd been hounding strays for almost a year now.
She fell to her knees, panting.
"Heh." The girl sneered, wiping a thin stream of blood from her split lip.
"Thought you could catch the uncatchable. How arrogant of you." She scolded under her breath.
Then, from some distance away, she heard an enormous sound.
Like a thunderclap through a megaphone.
Startled, her first instinct was to run, but something inside her was transfixed by the flash of multi-hued lightning that followed.
The girl got to her feet, and ran towards the direction of the sound without really knowing why.
Her feet pounded against the ground, taking towards the desert lands on the outskirts of the forest she'd been running through earlier.
She skidded to a halt as she caught sight of a prone figure lying on a patch of sand surrounded by molten glass.
She was still a good enough distance out, so she started running again, and leapt over the moat of glass, landing right next to the figure that she now saw was a young man.
"Ugh, picked a bad place for a nap, buddy." She muttered, looking for a way to get him out of the ring of mess.

?

I woke up with my head pounding and feeling freezing cold.
I groaned as I sat up, stretching out my arms.
"Oh, he's awake! Toby, go get Kaite." I heard a female voice call.
I looked over to where the voice came from, and saw a girl with platinum silver-blue hair and grey eyes sitting on an old chair.
She grinned lightly, waving at me.
"Morning, sleepy-head." She said cheerily.
I rubbed my eyes as they adjusted to the dim light.
"Ugh, what…where am I?" I muttered.
The blue-haired girl shrugged.
"We call it Hell-on-Earth, but its proper name is Umbratisa." She told me.
I was about to ask her name when two people walked into the room – well, I guess we were in a cavern of some sort, so more like side-cave.
"Well, I was just wondering if I should've left you in the sand dunes." The second girl said, crossing her arms.
The young man that was standing next to her tugged her sleeve, and pointed to the back of the cavern.
"Uh, Kaite? Should I get back to work now?" He asked.
His voice was deeper than I'd expected, and he sounded like a 13-year-old.
The girl nodded, and he headed off to the back of the cavern.
Then she turned back to me.
Her eyes were the thing that unnerved me the most.
They were a startling bright green, so they seemed almost out-of-place in the darkness of the cave.
Her hair was a dark brownish-red, pulled back into twin ponytails.
She looked rather thin for someone of her height, and she carried herself with an air of someone who has something to fight for.
I felt a little scared of her for some reason.
"So, I assume you have a name?" She asked, lifting herself onto a nearby ledge.
I nodded, not wanting to say the wrong thing on accident.
Apparently, I chose wrong.
She scowled at me, waving her hand around in an 'and' gesture.
"Well? What is it?" She asked patronizingly.
That made me a little indignant.
"Mat." I snapped, pulling my knees up to my chest and placing my chin atop of them, making it obvious that she'd ticked me off.
She chuckled, jumping off her ledge.
"Fiery one, aren't you Matthew?" She asked me, her voice holding a tone like she was talking to a child as she ruffled my hair.
I tried to duck out of her grasp, but she grabbed my hair, forcing me to look up at her.
Her eyes seemed to soften and turn sad as my eyes met hers.
Slowly, she knelt down in front of me, letting go of my hair and taking my chin gently in her other hand.
"Can't be…" She murmured.
"Kaite?" The blue-haired girl said, placing her hand on the other girl's shoulder.
The second girl, Kaite I assumed, looked at her friend, then back at me.
She ran her thumb over my bottom lip, then dropped her hand and stood up.
"Right." She muttered, then turned to face the far end of the cave.
"HEY, GUYS! NEWBIE'S UP!" She called out gently enough, but the echoes made it a thousand times louder.
Four more guys came over to where we were, one of which I recognized as Toby from earlier.
"Boys, introduce yourselves to the new blood." Kaite said, a daredevil grin on her face as she placed her hands on her hips.
Toby grinned back, walked over, and sat down by my right.
"You already know me, I guess." He said, holding out his hand.
I took it and shook it.
"Yeah, I do. Toby, right? I'm Mat." I said cheerily, feeling my old confidence return.
Toby was a tall guy, with curly light-brown hair that stuck out on either side of his old-fashioned aviator cap.
His eyes were a dark brown, not as dark as mine, but still noticeable.
He had an odd accent that I couldn't identify, but his voice was the kind of voice that could be soothing in bad situations.
Another guy came up, snatching Toby's cap off his head and ruffling his hair teasingly as he sat down next to Toby.
"Hey, there! I'm Josh. Toby's my buddy!" He said, his voice unusually cheerful and full of humor.
His hair was black except for the top, which was a crimson red.
He had it parted like I wore mine, and he had black framed squareish glasses.
He also had dark brown eyes, which sparkled behind the lenses of his glasses.
One of the guys went to stand by Kaite, looking a little scared.
The third guy, a well-built dude with dark blue hair, sat at my left.
"Name's Johnny Quib. Toby and Josh have the same last name, so it gets confusing sometimes." He said, grinning mischievously and winking at the other two.
Toby blushed lightly, but Josh seemed a little ruffled.
"So, what're their last names?" I asked hesitantly.
"Jones." They said at the same time.
I raised an eyebrow in amusement.
Kaite cleared her throat loudly to get our attention.
"This guy's Davie. He's…not really a people person." She said, gesturing to the dude next to her.
"And you've already met Emma." She continued, pointing at the blue-haired girl, who made a 'peace' sign at me.
"Sup?" She asked.
A green-haired guy came bounding into the room, a hat hanging from his belt.
"And I'm Shane." He said, grinning like an idiot as Josh pulled him down to the floor next to him, putting his arms around his waist.
"They're together." Johnny whispered.
I made an Oh face.
Kaite spread her arms wide, shrugging.
"This is my crew. Welcome to the team, kid." She said, holding a hand out to me.
I took it, and she pulled me to my feet.
"I'm 29." I said offendedly.
Kaite shrugged again, and turned to Toby.
"You said you had something, Tobes?" She asked.
Toby jumped to his feet, as did Josh.
"Yeah. I think you're gonna love this." Toby said, ducking slightly as Josh plopped his cap back on his head.
"Turn around, you nut." Josh said laughingly, spinning Toby to face him so he could fix the cap.
Toby went a little pink, but I was sure that only I could see it in the dim cavern light.
Josh patted Toby's head once, then took his wrist and started for the back of the cavern room.
"We think we've pinpointed their main base!" He cried, his enthusiasm echoing off the walls.
Kaite's face went stony, drained completely of color.
Her eyes grew hard, and she took off after them.
"Kaite!" Emma yelled, running after her and Davie, who was already hot on Kaite's heels.
I turned to Johnny, who looked worried.
"Who's main base?" I asked him.
He turned to me, his eyes cold, and the only thing he said was:
"White Cord."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"White Cord has been reported to hit this town the most." Josh said, pointing to a city not far from a red mark on the map.
I stood next to Emma, keeping my voice down as I asked:
"What's White Cord?"
"White Cord is bad news." She answered in a low voice, but Kaite had heard my question.
"White Cord is a rapist gang, kid." She told me sternly.
"Sex offenders on a whole other level. All male. The lowest form of scum on the face of this world."
Kaite's voice grew harder and colder as she spoke, her hands clenched into fists, her knuckles turning white.
I looked over to Emma, who mouthed killed her brother.
I felt uneasy at that.
"Kaite…" I heard a soft voice say.
I turned to see Davie holding on to Kaite's arm, looking worried.
Kaite took a deep breath, and her shoulders seemed to loosen.
"I'm okay, Davie." She said gently.
I turned to Emma again, and she looked surprised.
"I take it he doesn't talk much." I whispered.
Emma shook her head.
"In all the time I've known him, he's only ever said two things to me." She replied.
I was about to ask something else when a high-pitched yelp rang out, and I saw Josh scrambling backwards.
"THERE WAZZA MAOWSS!" He cried, pointing at a little grey animal sitting right where his hand had been.
Emma started cracking up.
"Eddie, there you are!" She exclaimed, picking up the mouse.
Josh shuddered, then caught Kaite's cold stare.
Shirking, he returned to his spot.
Kaite sighed slowly, tapping the tabletop with her nails.
"Emma, please put Eddie back in his pen." She said through gritted teeth.
Emma nodded, and took her pet away.
I turned to the young woman, my mind whirling with questions.
Where was this place?
How did I get here?
Why did it seem like the world was going through some sort of apocalypse?
My train of thought de-railed when I saw her face suddenly flush a whitish-grey.
I quickly moved behind her before she fell to the floor.
"Kaite?!" Davie exclaimed, sounding worried.
I checked her pulse.
"She's fine, Davie. Just asleep." I reassured him.
Davie nodded, but didn't seem too sure.
Emma came back out and saw Kaite passed out in my lap.
"Omigosh, is she okay?" She asked, dashing over.
I shrugged, brushing Kaite's bangs out of her face.
"I think so. She went pale and just collapsed." I told her.
Emma sighed in relief and pulled something out of her back pocket.
"God, I hate being the only one with the reflexes for this." She grumbled, unstoppering what I recognized as a bottle of knock-out salts and holding it under Kaite's nose.
Instantly, Kaite shot up, her fist swinging straight in front of her.
Emma looked as shocked as I felt when a split-second later my hand shot out and grabbed her wrist in mid-swing.
"Whoa." I murmured, letting go slowly.
Kaite looked at me, her eyes soft again.
"Conner…" She said, her tone almost adoring.
I shook my head, no doubt looking confused.
"No, I'm Mat." I said.
Kaite looked confused for a second, then the steel returned to her eyes and she scooted away from me so fast she could've qualified for the Indy 500.
Emma helped Kaite to her feet, her eyes showing her concern.
"I just passed out, Em. I'm fine." Kaite said sharply.
Johnny walked over to Kaite, took her wrist in his grasp and started pulling her off to the side.
Their voices were too low to hear, but they were obviously arguing about something.
~~~~

Kaite's POV
~~~~~~~~~~

"Johnny, let go!" I hissed at him, my eyes no doubt trying to burn their way through his thick skull.
Johnny turned me around sharply to face him, grabbed me by the shoulders, and looked me straight in the eyes, matching my death stare in full.
"When's the last time you ate something, Kaite?" He demanded in a low voice.
I scoffed, shaking my head.
"I don't know, three or four days ago?" I guessed.
Actually, I hadn't eaten in half a week.
I'd been giving all my rations to Davie.
I hadn't been keeping Johnny up-to-date on the ration stock, and we didn't have enough to feed everyone properly.
Times like these, no one really has food.
Johnny's hold on my shoulders tightened a little.
"You've been letting Davie have it again, haven't you?" He asked.
I groaned.
I forgot he could read minds.
I guess I should tell you guys about our world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This world is like an alternative Earth: a mirror world.
Not like dogs have humans for pets, but still….it's different.
It's a world under the rule of one bike gang: White Cord.
No one challenges them because they're the most powerful group of magic-users in the world.
English is the primary language in this world.
After White cord came into power, they started developing side-branches of their gang to rule over all the villages.
Many of the world's magic-users were killed, including my parents.
My older brother and I wandered the country we lived in, looking for and looking after other orphan magic-user kids.
After a while, we had a proper gang of our own: a bunch of kids who had no idea how to use their powers and no chance of survival.
My brother – that is, Conner, - had been learning how to use magic from our dad, while mom had been teaching me.
We finally found a place we could hide: the cave we were currently in.
I taught Conner the things Mom had taught me, and he did the same for me with what Dad had shown him.
Then we taught the others.
Emma was the second oldest out of the group, only about two years younger than Conner.
I was four years younger than my brother, but as we grew older it didn't make much difference to us.
We never left each other's sides for very long, because we'd taught ourselves that nothing could hurt us if we stayed together.
And as time went on, we grew very close.
A little closer than people would approve of.
We were all we had left in the world that was for us only.
And that was something we kept in mind.
Nothing could hurt us if we stayed together.
And we did stay together…..
Until the night of the dealing.

My brother and I were the head of the team.
The only rebels in the precinct…..or so we thought.
News started growing of rebels in the northeast, and Conner thought we should go check it out.
I'd advised against it.
But we went anyways.
I waited by the entrance to a backway bar in the nearest town.
If I'm not out in about 25 minutes during any meeting, come look for me.
That was our personal rule for each other.
I waited for about 29 minutes.
I strode into the bar, my hand resting on the handle of my favorite handgun.
Everyone knew who I was, my hair the reddish-brown it had always been with my crimson-dyed bangs.
I had earned the nickname "Crimson Killer" because of my trademark that I left with each White Cord kill.
I slammed my hand on the bar, glancing at the bartender through lazily hooded eyes.
"Where's the kid?" I demanded in a low voice that carried the threat of death's wrath.
The bartender tried to play it like he wasn't scared as he continued to dry a double-shot glass.
"Out back with Logan." He said in a slightly quivering voice.
I nodded, taking my leave.

I saw them before they saw me.
Conner was on the ground, covered by nothing but smudges of mud and bruises all over his body.
The taller one pulled out a knife, kneeling down by my beloved brother.
"You brought this on yourself, kid." He said in a tone that was both flirtatious and dangerous.
Then the blade was in his stomach.
I screamed, running over to my brother to hold him.
The knife-guy stood up, laughing cruelly.
"Well, looks like I'll be able to cash in a double with the Boss." He said, reaching for my shoulder.

Just as Conner breathed his last words to me:
"I….l-love….you….."

I snapped.

A roaring power surged through me as I gave vent to a heart-broken, ear-rending scream of grief.

The guy behind me was hit with the backlash of the force of my power wave.
I stood up slowly, my grief quickly being replaced with pure rage.
"So, this is how you conduct business?" I heard the words come from my mouth, my body twitching as I felt myself changing into something else.
My chest became flat, my voice deeper, more seductive.
I changed completely, turning to face the creep who'd killed my brother.
The last thing I remembered was grabbing his outstretched arm, then I blacked out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Johnny sighed exasperatedly.
"Look, I promised your brother I'd look after you." He reminded me for the 1000th time.
I looked down at the ground to the side of my right foot.
Johnny was the only one besides Emma who knew about my transformation problem.
I hated it when someone just knew something about me that I never told them.
I guess that's why Conner made Johnny my babysitter – because I'm always trying to hide things from the others.
I was going to say something snippy when we heard Shane laughing.
I turned back around to see Josh spinning Shane around, being adorable.
I chuckled at the same time as Johnny, and we glanced at each other.
The only thing that we could agree on was that they were so cute.
Shane was an "our world" equivilant of Irish.
He had the voice for it, anyways.
They reminded me so much of some people I'd known before all of this, but I…couldn't remember.
Johnny looked at me with eyes that reflected my so-often felt confusion.
I shrugged, and walked back over to the others, Johnny behind me.
"Tobes?" I prompted, sliding my hands into my pockets.
The new guy, Mat, stepped a little closer to me, a look on his face that almost matched Conner's whenever he got concerned.
I looked away, anywhere but his face, and found my eyes locked on a small object on his left hand.
Toby was giving the report, but my attention was on his small, gold wedding band.

Hey, guys.
So, this is my first story involving YouTube instead of Animé, so it's going to be a little difficult this time. *he he*
But anyways, I hope you enjoy it, and I'll see you with the next update.
BUH-BYEEEE!