Know that you could set your world on fire
Chapter 1

I knew that something wasn't right. The setting was familiar: the old church a few blocks away from my house. But something was off about it. Usually, the church looked absolutely beautiful at night. Now it looked like a scene from a horror movie. The trees were silhouetted against the night sky, lit by the full moon overhead. The shadows cast on the ground from the branches looked like claws reaching out at me. Everything about the situation just seemed wrong.

I heard rustling noises off in the distance. My mind was telling me to keep calm, but my body screamed for me to run. My muscles tensed with fear. I desperately wanted to run, but my knees felt as if they would give out at any moment.

But it wasn't until I heard his voice that I knew for sure that I wasn't alone.

"It wont be long now. You'll see." It was barely above a whisper, but his tone still sounded deadly.

Just then, I heard high pitched laughter, too high to belong to the first voice. No, it belonged undoubtedly to a female.

Before I had any time to react, a dark figure emerged through the shadows and wrapped thin, boney fingers around my throat, squeezing until nails penetrated my skin. The pain was excruciating and I could hardly breathe.

The figure leaned forward, showing golden blond hair and light silver-colored eyes. Her full lips parted into a devious smile and I watched as her iris went from silver to black, spreading throughout her entire sclera.

I tried screaming, but no sound escaped my lips. That's when I woke up, finally. I jolted upright in bed and my hands flew up to my neck. Nothing. It really was just a nightmare. A terrifyingly realistic nightmare.

I wiped my damp forehead, glancing at the clock on my nightstand. The numbers 5:32 jumped off of the screen. I was an hour ahead of schedule. I wanted so much to lie back down and sleep all day but, unfortunately, I couldn't skip work.

I pulled the covers off of my legs and stepped groggily into the hallway. I could hear nails clicking on the floor and a small smile spread slowly across my lips.

When I turned around I was greeted by Drexel, my two year old American Bulldog.

"Hi, buddy!" He reponded by stomping excitedly and licking the palm of my hand. "Do you wanna go outside?" I asked him before racing down the stairs. He ran ahead of me and scratched at the corner of the door.

Before I let him outside, I grabbed ahold of his collar. Once I was sure that he was secure, I stepped out onto the porch and hooked him to his chain.

"Go on," I said as I retreated back to the house. Once in the kitchen, I started up a pot of coffee. It wasn't a necessity, but I was hoping it would help keep me awake.

While I waited for the pot to finish I cooked two eggs, scrambling one in a bowl of dog food. Before I could take a bite of my own egg, a loud knock sounded from the hallway.

For some strange reason, it made me feel uncomfortable. I kept repeating the words from my dream, it wont be long now.

I sucked in a lungful of air and opened the door, holding my breath when I peered out onto an empty, completely silent porch. I stepped out onto the dark porch and released the air that was filling my lungs.

"Drexel?" I shouted, shivering even though it felt like it was over 90 degrees outside.

"Was that his name? Interesting." I spun around to see a man sitting on my rocking chair. "I'm not sure where this Drexel ran off to." When he rose, my eyes widened. He had to be 6'5" at the very least. His hair was dark brown and just long enough to fall in his eyes.

"What the hell did you do?" I took one step toward the man, feeling a little eccentric for standing up to somebody twice my size.

"Believe me, it's not the dog you should be worried about." A low chuckle rumbled in his chest. My hands fumbled around in the darkness of the morning, looking for something that I could use to defend myself, if that's what it came to.

The only thing I found was a small flower pot, but it was better than nothing.

I backed away slowly toward the light switch, but was caught off guard when I felt a firm hand grip my arm just below the elbow. The rough hand ran down the length of my arm and pried my fingers off of the flower pot.

"Not a good idea." He reached around me and picked up the pot, tossing it over his shoulder behind us. I was waiting to hear it shatter when it landed on the hard floor of the porch, but it never made a sound. The only other noise I heard was another set of foot steps closing in behind me.

"Jared, don't be stupid. You're scaring her." Of course he was. Anyone in their right mind would be terrified in a situation like this.

"I'm not gonna hurt her, chill out." I heard a low thump and turned to see Jared lift a hand to the back of his head. "What was that for?"

"Don't ever tell me to chill." The girl patted his shoulder before walking toward the other man, standing firmly at his side.

"What do you want from me?" I was glad to hear that my voice was so stern, though my hands were still shaking. The porch light flickered on and I turned to see Jared leaning against the wall where the switch was. He tilted his head slightly and smiled.

"We would like you to come with us," A calmer voice, the first man to show himself.

"I'm not going anywhere with any of you. I don't even know who you are."

"Adam, Jared and my name is Nicole." She gestured to the two guys as she spoke their names.

"That's not what I meant. I still have no idea who you are, or what you want."

"We're not here to hurt you." I jumped when Jared spoke. I hadn't even realized that he moved closer to us. "Easy tiger," His hands went up, palms out, in front of him. "We're not the bad guys. But we need to leave before you meet them. We'll explain everything later, when we're sure that you're safe. What do to say?" His hands fell back to his sides as he mouthed the word 'yes' along with nodding his head.

"I don't think so. How do I know you're not lying?"

"You don't. You're just going to have to trust us." It was pretty cliché, but Nicole looked so innocent that I was almost convinced by her. She sounded—and even looked—like someone I could consider trustworthy.

Her eyes were a very calming aquamarine, so blue that it made the summer sky look dull. Her light copper hair flowed in thick, wavy tendrils to her shoulders. Light ivory skin that stood out like a neon light in the darkness when compared to the two men, now standing on either side of her. The freckles scattered across her face made her look very young, but also even more beautiful.

But the feature that made her seem even more fragile was her size. She looked to be around 5'2". And she was very slender. With Jared and Adam next to her, she looked so small.

"I—no. I'm sorry." I couldn't bring myself to leave with people that I didn't know or fully trust.

"I really wish you wouldn't have said that," Jared sighed before taking a small step forward. His eyes seemed to get darker each second, until they were entirely engulfed in a black film. Just like the girl from my dream.

I wanted to run, to get away from the three strangers as fast as I possibly could. Instead, my body did the exact opposite.

My ears began ringing and my mouth felt horribly dry. I could feel the blood drain from my face as my vision blurred. I felt my legs give out, and half expected to crash to the floor. But it that instant I felt large arms wrap securely around my body.

"I'm sorry, but you brought this onto yourself." I could hear someones voice, but it sounded far away. Everything faded out slowly until it all went black.