Chapter 1
Escape from Darkness


"Hurry! They're almost through!" shouted Mike.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" retorted Liz.

"Well go faster!" Mike shouted back.

"Stop arguing you two!" shouted Jen, her eyes glinting dangerously, "You're gonna get us all killed!"

"I'm almost through. The Divergia Gate is almost open," said Liz her hands still typing franticly, as the numbers on the huge computer screen flickered in front of her.

Jen stared eagerly at the platform. It had taken them four years to locate it but now they had found it, but unfortunately IT had found the gateway the same time as they had. Now IT was at the two large metal doors of the lab they were in. The Divergia Gate was their only hope. It was capable of transporting them to a different dimension where they would be able to escape from IT until the prophecy came true.

The prophecy. Jen remembered it well. It had been four years since she had learned what it was. Tears threatened Jen's eyes as she recalled the day when she had learned of the prophecy and IT.

Jen had always been a good girl. She had grown up in an underground colony in what had once been a subway station. It was the only life she had ever known, the only one she could remember anyway. The colony had been made up of seventy-two people. Jen was raised by her 20-year-old aunt Reline and her 14-year-old cousin Natalie. It had been Jen's 8th birthday and she had been very excited. For today was the day when she would be decreed a novice Mystic, able to use simple magic and train until she became 13 when she would become a true Mystic and be able to study advanced magic. An hour before the ceremony there was a loud crash and a scream. Jen's aunt ordered Natalie to take Jen to the Hiding Place and then she ran off in the direction of noise. Natalie grabbed Jen by the hand and ran outside. As Jen ran she was shocked by what she saw. A large ray of daylight streamed through a hole in the ceiling of the underground station. Fire licked the roofs of the colony. People were running in all directions. Huge black winged monsters snatched up people as they ran and set fire to whatever they could. Not even her worst nightmares could have prepared her for this.

Natalie banged on the Hiding Place's secret entrance, but it refused to open. Natalie banged her fist on the door in frustration. Jen was clinging to her cousin's dress looking around in fear when she noticed a swirling black mist creeping towards them. She tugged on Natalie's dress and whimpered. Natalie took her attention away from the door and saw the mist. She gasped grabbed Jen's hand and they began to run toward one of the holes in the roof.

They climbed out and Jen's jaw dropped. The outside world she had dreamed of visiting when she was older was nothing but the ruins of eternal burning cities and a black sky that glowed red from the flames. This dream world was nothing like the stories had said it was. There were no rolling hills covered in rich green grass and wild flowers. No lush green forests with amazing creatures. Nothing.

Natalie squeezed Jen hand and led her inside the ruin of a house. They stayed there for hours, never once moving a muscle. Eventually, all the monsters left.
Natalie and Jen slowly got up from their hiding places. They went cautiously back to the rubble and ruin that they once called home. They walked around a bit, searching through the rubble and ruin for survivors. Once or twice they would hear the sound of a whimper and go and check it out, only to find that it was a new found wind blowing over the ruins of the colony. There were no bodies, and no survivors, until... they saw the twisted figure of a woman on the ground. Jen glanced up at Natalie who was trying hard not to cry.

'It's Reline,' she said fighting back the tears.

The figure moaned and turned over. Natalie ran over and knelt beside Reline and tears filled her eyes.

'Natalie?' she said.

'Yes?' Natalie said her throat tightening her words.

'Where's Jennifer? Tell me she's still with you,' said Reline her eyes glazing over, 'I must tell her.'

'Tell me what?' Jen asked tears steaming down her dirty face.

'Jen. Do you remember your parents at all?' she asked.

'No, only you and Natalie', she said.

'Well, let me tell you all about them. Your mother was a beautiful woman with extraordinary powers and your father was a magnificent scholar, with extreme knowledge in magic. It was only natural for them to have such as exceptional child such as yourself. When you were born everyone was so happy. They were astonished to see that you could perform the same amount of magic as a novice mystic at such a young age. At the time there was a rumor going around that one of the prophecies was going to come true. Of course no believed it at the time, but soon the sky began to rain fire and winged monsters ruled the land. Many went to war trying to defeat them but no one was a match for IT,' she said darkly.

'IT?' said Jen confused.

'Yes IT. IT is evil itself, there has never been anything like IT before. Soon many went underground or into hiding. But your mother and father weren't concerned, so we weren't concerned either, however I had signed up for an underground colony just case. Then one day just before your third birthday IT came. It had heard of a prophecy and IT would stop at nothing to keep that prophecy from coming true,' her eyes filled with tears. ' IT killed your parents and before IT could get you I had taken you away to the underground colony. IT searched frantically for you ripping up colony after colony. Until this was the only one left.'

'But why did it want me?' said Jen frowning.

'Because you are the one. The only one who can destroy IT. The prophecy speaks the one who is born a Mystic will destroy the evil at her thirteenth age. The prophecy also speaks that if the born Mystic falls into IT's hands than she will become IT and IT shall become her. You must keep yourself out of IT's hands until your thirteenth birthday when the prophecy will come true.'

'But what if I can't do it?' said Jen her voice quivering.

'You can do it I know you can,' said Reline smiling.

Jen made a feeble smile.

'You take care of each other. Especially you Natalie,' she said still smiling.

'I will,' Natalie croaked, her voice all choked up.

Smiling Reline closed her eyes.

Natalie and Jen stood up and Natalie held Jen for some time, then they began there mission.

"We can't hold them off for much longer," gasped Mike.

"Just a little longer," said Liz, "I've almost got it.

"Well hurry!" screeched Paolo.

"Ya, really!" said Amanda.

"Come on!" said Em.

Jen smiled, the day she had met this bunch of rowdy teens was one of the brightest moments in her life.

Natalie and Jen had been wandering the land for months and it was becoming harder and harder to hide. On day they were walking through a ruin city square when they were ambushed by a bunch of black monsters. There was no escape and it seemed that the prophecy would end pretty quickly when suddenly a bunch of masked kids jumped out of the shadows and destroyed all the monsters. They then had led Jen and Natalie into the sewer systems where they wouldn't be followed. There she met Mike, Liz, Paolo, Amanda, John, Sarah, and Em. They too had been the only survivors of the attacks on their colonies and had met up along the way. They had learned of gateway that would take them to a different dimension and were searching for it. They had also learned of the prophecy and were ecstatic to have found the chosen one. Over time they learned much of each other and became the best of friends.

Natalie leaned over the platform balcony.

"It's all hooked up on my end," she said.

"Great!" called Jen, "How's it going Liz?"

"Almost done all I need to do is put in the dimension we want to go to," she said.
BASH! A claw went though the door narrowly missing Mike's head.

"No time! Lets GO!" he shouted.

"But-," said Liz, but she never got to finish her sentence because another claw went through the door.

"Hold ON!" shout Liz as she activated the portal.

All at once things began getting sucked into the portal.

"Hold hands!" shout Jen, "We can't lose each other."

With that the two metal doors crashed open and at the same time all the kids were sucked into the portal.

Inside the portal was all black except for the glowing green square shaped windows that led to other dimensions.

Suddenly they began to move incredibly fast.

"I can't hold on!" shouted Mike as he lost his grip on Em's hand and disappeared through a window.

Em's hands began to sweat and she slipped out of Liz's grip. She didn't even have time to scream because she was swept through a dimension portal window too.

"Damn!" said Paolo with a smirk, "We better meet up later on otherwise this would have been a major waste of my life" With that he too disappeared through a window.

"Ya really!" said Sarah who tried to cross her arms and ended up letting go, which resulted in being sucked into a dimension.

"I can't hold on!" shouted Liz who was holding Jen's hand, "I gotta let go." With that she let go and went straight through a portal.

"Screw this!" said Mandy and she jumped into a portal.

Suddenly Jen noticed that Natalie wasn't with them.

"Where's Natalie?" shout Jen.

"I dunno. She wasn't with us when we jumped through the gate." said John.

They began to pick up speed.

"Hold on!" shouted Jen.

"I can't!" said John, with that he let go and disappeared through a dimension.

"John!!!" shouted Jen.

Suddenly a window appeared under her.

"CRAP!" she shouted and everything went dark.