Prisoner of Love

Chapter 1: A Lovely Surprise

To My Dear Pink Ranger,

A small token of appreciation from me. True we do have our differences but when it comes down to it, we are exactly the same. We fear not being loved, not being appreciated. Do not tell me that in your deepest darkest dreams each night, it is not my face that you see in the mirror staring back at you. Well I can assure you that you will never be unloved. You will never suffer as I did. And if you cause a little havoc along the way, even better. Don't be a self-righteous fool. Except my offering. I do not give very many gifts like this one.

Yours truly,

Dayu

A chill ran along Mia's spine as she read the note. Mia did not trust the Nighlock. She never had and she never would. She was trained to hate these foul beasts. She was trained not to fall for their trickery, and to know that every word that came out of their mouths was a horrible filthy lie. But Dayu was different. Something inside of Mia couldn't resist feeling bad for this poor little creature. After all, she had been human once in her life.

As if regarding a poisonous snake, Mia warily gazed upon the trinket that came in the pink little box that was attached to the note. Before Mia's eyes was the most beautiful locket that she had ever seen. It was white gold, with a long and thin chain and a blood red heart that was fused into the center of the locket. Mia could not help but gawk at its beauty. She had possessed many beautiful jewels in her life, but nothing rivaled this.

With trembling fingers, Mia reached out to touch the necklace before realizing how reckless and ridiculous that was. I'm doing what she wants. It's probably some sort of trap. I'll put it on and be poofed to the Netherworld. She reasoned with herself.

She shook her head decisively. "No." She scolded herself aloud. "No." She repeated with more force. But still, the necklace was beckoning to her. It wanted to be with her. It wanted to feel the cool skin on her neck. It wanted to consume her and become one united entity.

Mia blinked to herself. "It's a necklace." She stated dumbly. She shook her head in disgust with herself and the necklace and burst out of the room as fast as she could before she could change her mind.

She almost barreled into Emily who was using the hallway mirror right outside of her room to but her hair up into a ponytail. She jumped in surprise and then offered Mia a relieved smile.

"Oh. Hi there Mia! You startled me!" Mia didn't say anything. She just stared back at Emily her face flushed. Should she tell her about Dayu's gift? No she decided. It would just worry her and the others. I'll figure it out on my own. Maybe I'll talk to Antonio. If anyone can figure out what that thing does it's him.

She muttered an excuse like "I need to go to the bathroom," and brushed by her without so much as an apology. She was still perturbed about the necklace. Emily narrowed her eyes in confusion at her as she left.

"Well that was strange." She wondered aloud. "I wonder what her problem was." Several seconds later, however, she decided to shrug it off. Mia would telling her what was bothering her soon enough.

Happily she skipped into Mia's room looking for something to wear with her new flower top that the two of them had bought at the mall. Being a farm girl, Emily didn't really have many accessories to wear with nice clothes so Mia encouraged her to make use of her wide supply of jewelry.

"Take anything you want." Mia had once said to her. "You don't even need to ask. What's mine is yours." Emily smiled to herself at the memory. Mia really was so kind and generous. She really adored the older samurai. She was smart, beautiful tough and everything that Emily had ever wished that she could be. She saw the way that the other boys looked at Mia. She truly was a queen among women. Next to her, Emily couldn't help but feel a little bit like an ugly duckling next to a beautiful swan.

Emily shook her head reprimanding herself. I need to stop doing that. She though to herself. With a smile, she banished the unpleasant thoughts and made her way over to Mia's dressing table. She was in desperate search of something that would match her outfit. The entire team had decided to go out and watch a movie tonight. They were still in a debate about what kind of movie to watch. In other words, the girls were still trying to convince the boys to go out and watch the newest romantic comedy while they, appalled at the idea of a chick flick, were trying to coax bribe and threaten the girls into watching something a little more action packed and violent. In other words, the entire movie had to be jam packed with high speed chases and explosions.

Emily groaned in frustration. Mia had so much stuff. There had to be something that she could wear. She normally wouldn't have gone to this much trouble to look nice. When she went to movies back on the farm, she threw on some sweatpants and a t-shirt and called it a day. I mean, it would be dark in the movie theatre anyway. But Mia evidently didn't think that way. She showed up to every group outing as if she was ready to walk down the runway. Emily just wanted to measure up and look as if she could actually be friends with this beauty queen. She didn't want to embarrass her out in public.

Suddenly she saw it. This necklace was, by far, the most beautiful thing that she had seen in all of her life. Mia had so many beautiful pieces of jewelry but this was different. It seemed to glow as if the light of a star had been trapped inside of it. It seemed to radiate strength, power and beauty. Just like Mia. She told herself wistfully.

Suddenly, she realized something with absolute clarity. She wanted no needed to wear this necklace. She wanted to feel the smooth stone brush the cold marble of her skin. She wanted people to stop and look at this wonder that was draped across her chest. She wanted to feel as beautiful and proud and confident that Mia felt every day, at least for one night.

Before she knew what she was doing, Emily reached out to embrace the rock with trembling eager fingers and hastily fastened it around her neck. It felt right touching her skin, as if it was made for her. She realized with a pang that she would feel heartbroken to take if off at the end of the night. Emily suddenly realized that she sounded silly. How could she, who never cared about clothes or shoes or any type of accessory suddenly develop such a strong emotional connection to a necklace. Emily giggled. Well, I guess I just really like it. So this is why Mia likes shopping so much. I guess I'll have to ask her where she got it.

Suddenly, the two ends of the chain snapped together with a decisive click. As if a lock were fitting into a key. Emily looked herself in the mirror in satisfaction. She looked good she realized. Sure, she was no great beauty, but she looked great. Maybe I'll look almost as pretty as Mia tonight she thought hopefully to herself.

And then it began. Emily felt cold. Horribly cold. As if the necklace was freezing her slowly and penetrating the heart that rested underneath it, only protected by a thin sheet of skin. The room began spinning and Emily started to see red. She stumbled around in a shaky circle until she finally gripped the edges of the dresser for support. She closed her eyes to keep from feeling dizzy… Or vomiting. Her head throbbed with a blistering headache.

"What's… happening… to me." She managed to get out between gasps. She tried to call for help but found that only a shrill scream erupted from her lips. Her eyes flew open and when she looked in the mirror she saw that they were as red as the stone that rested in the center of her locket. Terrified by her own reflection she took a step backwards and plunged into darkness.