Chapter 6

Nix beckons me to his side. I have no choice but to follow. Alias is gone…my family slaughtered…and I have nothing left within me. I inhale and exhale slowly. Then I tell my feet to move until I'm standing next to Nix. He smiles – not a smile of cruelty, but one of white teeth and lips. He reaches for my hand. "Red, it's time to unleash the power inside of you."

I don't fight or scream out in anger. I'm silent. There's no need to speak. I have nothing and no one now. Where would I live? My home has died alongside my family. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

I nod my head and open my mouth to reply. "No."

"Close your eyes, you don't want to see this when we leave this place. It makes the body ill."

I do as I'm ordered and close my eyes. Nix still holds my hand, but I feel a rush of cold air surrounding me. My body feels distorted and morphed. I feel pressure run the length of my skin. A giant weight is pushing down on me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. Startled by such a fierce change in the space circulating near me, I can't help, but turn to Nix. "What is this?"

"This is how I move from place to place. The first time is always the hardest."

I become more daring, "What if I open my eyes?"

"You may if you wish, Red, but I must warn you. You may regret it. The first magic travel is rough if one has never traveled this way before."

I don't open my eyes. The pressure is still building around us, and I feel as if a thousand sharp claws are tearing madly through my skin. I can't contain my screams, but Nix squeezes my hand. "Don't fight the pain. Let it consume you."

"What if I don't?"

"Traveling by magic without proper training can harm the human body."

I let the magic or Nix's power rush towards me. As soon as I let the growing energy inside of me and the pain lessens. "You can open your eyes, Red."

When my eyes blink open, I take in the sight of a lavender colored room filled with bedroom furniture. "Here we are."

"Where is here, exactly…who's room is this?"

"This is yours for the time being. I'll leave you here for now," Nix told me as he let go of my hand and strode to the wooden door across the room.

Before he left me alone, he stopped and turned back to me. "Red, I know you're frightened of me. But, I'm not the evil villain of your story. I'm helping you become better than you were before. Soon, I hope you can realize that."

Nix left me to collect my thoughts and I shut the door behind him. Now I stood in my new room full of thoughts and questions. I walked over to the window and brushed aside the flimsy fabric of curtain to peer outside. The night was starless. The night was empty of lights and sounds. It was the petrified darkness of man's worst thoughts that painted the sky with the color black. The black night was the truest form of my grief. I dropped my gaze from the window and strode to my bed. I sat upon the comforter and stared emptily at the wall while my mind replayed my family's death repeatedly.

"How can I breathe without them, now? And Alistair…he knows what I am…but he's also gone. My grandmother knew that I was important, and she sacrificed herself for me. If I am special than how did I lose myself all in one night?"

Although I had only known Alistair for less than twenty-four hours, he was still someone that warned me that I wasn't safe. But, I played the fool and ignored him. Now, I can only sit in an ocean of 's also my family…who annoy the hell out of me…who have also kept this secret from me for all my life…but to lose them…

I can't even finish that thought. If I must survive here to unlock who I am, then so be it…but I'm not unleashing my true ability for Nix…or for me…I'll do it for them…for the ones who died trying to protect me from Nix. Maybe I'll play right into his hands or maybe I'll be trapped here forever, but I can endure the pain.

And if I can't…then I'll find a way…but for now, I've got to take this day by day. I finally push myself off the bed and move another door. I'm expecting a closet, but I'm surprised to see a small bathroom with a shower in one corner and a matching toilet and sink in the other. I step onto the white tiled floor and close the door. There's a mirror above the white sink. I stand before the cold glass not realizing that the girl in the mirror is me. But, she is…and I am me…no matter how much I wish for my story to be different, it will still be the same by this time tomorrow. I turn to my new shower and slide open the glass door.

I turn on the hot water and watch it spray out from the shower head. I slide the glass door back. Then I sit under the hot water and remember once again the faces and fond memories of my loved ones. I don't care if I appear to be a moody teenager to Nix if he comes in search of me later. I hope he finds me here. He doesn't deserve any kind of reward for making me an orphan. In fact, I hope to one day destroy him…I can no longer be who I was from days prior. I am molding, shifting, and changing tonight. My world may have fallen to fire and ashes, but this will not be my end…