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Chapter One
Harmony's End
The brilliant sun illuminated the island, a slight breeze gradually passing through the lanky trees. An enormous part of the island was covered with trees of all sorts, but the other part of the island was filled with wooden houses, only a few obtain a wooden porch or deck. The grainy sand of the outskirts of the island were unconcealed, the ocean water glistening in the beaming light of the sun, occasionally arriving to the shore. A timber bridge crossed the ocean, connecting to the beautiful island, presenting the deserted appearance. This island, known as Harmony's End, is the least known island of the whole world, even surprising anyone even discovered its existence. But, all in all, it never has had a day where it hasn't looked beautiful. It always looks angelic.
A teenage girl stared into the ocean, her bare feet beneath the streaming water. Her black tie was in place, protecting some of the visible areas of her stomach from any drops of water from the ocean that decide to abandon their companions. Her white, collared dress shirt was only buttoned to right below her chest, the rest of the shirt parting from each other, showing her delicate stomach. A black mini-skirt hugged her hips, white bandages wrapped around the skirt, but leaving the areas in between pronounceable. Her brunette hair ended at three inches below her shoulders, the tips of her hair dyed in a jet black color. She looked as if she was in a trance.
"Cami.." a hand was placed on her shoulder," ...you okay?"
Broken from the trance, she turned her head towards the direction of where she heard the voice. It was her friend, Crow. "Yeah...I'm fine.."
"You don't sound fine."
"Just distracted, that's all."
"Just remember you can talk to me and Zoey about it. We'll always be here."
Cami's lips soon turned into a feeble smile. "Thanks, Crow. That makes me feel better."
Cami turned towards Crow, sticking her tongue out playfully. Crow was wearing a black baggy shirt, two white snakes shaped into an eye, a flamed pupil resting in the middle. Dark, baggy shorts complimented his shirt, also matching with his black and white skater shoes. A large, red streak crossed the side of his black, messy hair, making it appear as if it was on accident, his hair reaching his shoulders, including his bangs. But, he wasn't as dark as he dressed...
"Good!" a voice yelled from a short distance.
"Woah!" Cami stumbled, almost falling to the ground. "You startled me...where were you?"
"I was talking to your dad about...what happened..." The voice's owner was a teenage girl, but looked a little younger than Cami. Her name was Zoey. Her pure, blonde hair reaches down to her waist, her bangs ending right above her eyes. She wore a light blue dress, only going down to her knees. Blue shorts were beneath her dress, but they are too short to be seen. Blue and white sandals were the only thing to cover her feet from the sand beneath.
"It's okay to say that my brother and mom died...it doesn't make me sad anymore. I'm movin' on!" Cami threw her arms up, letting out a whooping cheer. Crow and Zoey let out a laugh.
"Good to hear it!" Crow gave Cami a thumbs up.
"Yeah. Now we can have fun again!" Zoey smiled.
Cami smiled. "Of course! Wait," she paused. "We weren't having fun before?"
"I was just kidding!" Zoey laughed.
"Oh..." Cami smiled sheepishly.
"Come on! Let's get everyone together so we can play rubber ball toss!" Crow nodded his head towards where the houses, or where the so called "neighborhood", is.
"Okay!" Zoe smiled happily.
A grin slowly made itself visible on Cami's face.
"Oh...no, not again!" Zoey sighed.
"I bet I can get the most people," the grin on Cami's face was still showing.
Crow smirked. "Stop playin'! You know I'll gather everyone before you can even- HEY!"
Cami was already running towards the houses, chuckling to herself. Crow immediately began running after her, attempting to go past her as well.
"Why do I always have to be the one who is the slowest runner?" Zoey sighed and ran after the both of them, but obviously wouldn't be able to catch up with them.
-
The flames ate away at the piled wood, the flames dancing in satisfaction. Cami, Crow, Zoey, and five other people sat around the fire, silence filled the air. The fire only lit up the area around it, leaving everything else consumed in darkness. Cami brought her hands near the fire, feeling the warmth quickly spread throughout her hands.
"There's a rumor going around..." Crow said, breaking the silence.
"What rumor? It's been four years since I've heard a rumor!" Cami shot a look at him.
"Not here! I mean, there's a rumor going around in the city... Am I the only one that knows about it?" Crow looked around in possible hopes to hear a "yes" or someone to raise their hand. But, no one raised their hands or said anything. Frowning, he stared back into the fire.
"Well, there's a rumor going around saying Harmony's End once didn't exist.." Crow blinked, quickly looking at everyone to see their reactions.
"Well, yeah. I'm sure it didn't exist before," Cami said, unable to hold back a chuckle.
"No. I mean that it one day just popped up out of nowhere, and everything was completely dead. No sign of life was found, and I'm not talking about people," Crow folded his arms.
"Nothing pops up out of nowhere. There's always a cause for an effect," Zoey simply said, bringing her knees up to her chest and weakly hugging them.
"Exactly," Cami said in agreement, nodding as well.
"And the island," Crow continued on as if no one said anything, "was made for a purpose. The creator, who is unknown, created it because."
There was a long silence.
"Because...what?" Cami looked at him.
"...That's it."
"That's it! Oh, well that's just wonderful," Cami muttered sarcastically. "That shows that it was a lie. No commitment into finishing the rumor."
Cami sighed, looking into the pitch-dark distance. As she was about to look back into the fire, she spotted a figure in the distance. The moment she laid eyes on the unknown figure, a chill ran up her spine.
Cami...
More chills ran up her spine, her body going numb.
"Cami? CAMI!"
Cami's eyes found themselves traveling towards the direction of the voice.
"Cami? You feelin' okay?" Crow raised his eyebrow.
"Yeah, I'm fine...I'm probably just tired," Cami rubbed her eyes, looking back at where the figure once stood for a moment. The figure was gone.
"I think we should all go to sleep..." Zoey suggested, standing up to stretch.
"Yeah, sounds good," Crow yawned.
"We'll see you guys tomorrow!" one of the five people said, all five of them running off in different directions.
"Bye," Cami, Zoey, and Crow said in unison, waving also.
Once they were out of sight, Cami and Crow stood up, getting ready to say, "good bye". But, the ground began to suddenly shake immensely, almost knocking Cami, Crow, and Zoey off their feet. They grabbed each other's hands, almost being thrown around like rag dolls.
"What's going on?" Cami exclaimed.
A swirling pool of ink-black liquid began to form a couple feet in front of them, then more of them started forming in various places. Then, right under them, the same type of pool shaped, their feet gradually beginning to sink in. An invisible force began to push them away from each other, making it harder for them to keep their hands together.
"Cami!"
"Crow!"
"Zoey!"
As if their chain of friendship shattered, they lost their grip on each other's hands, leaving them waist-deep into the swirling pool of shadows.
"Zoey! Crow!" Cami cried, helplessly watching them fully sink into darkness. "Don't...don't..." Everything began to fade to black. But, before her vision was completely lost, she spotted the figure again.
Let your heart guide you, for you no longer have any friends to trust. You are alone.