Ah! Sorry, readers. I've been really busy, and I haven't had time to update in a while. I've had time to review, but that's it. And my stupid computer won't let me log in, so I don't know when this will show up.

Disclaimer: I own this story, but, um…I don't own anything in it…

Chapter Eleven: Locked in a Fiery Grip

The three kids stood, transfixed, staring up at the mansion that loomed before them. It seemed normal, but an oddly sinister air hung about it.

"Well…" Onyx said, breaking the silence, "…here we are."

"Good." Lili said, "The sooner we go in, the sooner we can get out of here." She took a step towards the house, then stopped. Lili took another look at the house then said, "Um…you go first, Raz." Raz walked on shaky legs towards the porch, Onyx and Lili following. Of all the things he had been through, he didn't understand why he was scared of this place.

"This forest is the darker part of my mind." Onyx said, as though reading his thoughts, "Memories I tried to lock away. There's a lot of negative psychic energy around here."

The three had been moving closer to the mansion as she said this. Before he knew it, Raz was standing right in front of the door. He took a deep breath, then pushed the door open.

It was very dark in there. Raz stepped through the door, looking around. It seemed as though no one had lived in the house for years. The furniture was covered in inch-thick dust, a chair had been knocked over, and although the grandfather clock in the corner of the room was still ticking, the hands had stopped moving. This appeared to be the entrance hall. There were two doorways opposite of each other, to the left and right of the front door. At the far end of the room, there was a wide, cobwebbed staircase. It was too dark to see what lay ay the top.

"So, where do we go from here?" Lili asked.

"I…don't know." Onyx said, "But there's something in here, something that will help us. I can feel it." Onyx moved forward, closer to the staircase. "Give me a minute." She said. Onyx closed her eyes, her fists clenched, as though trying to remember something. After a moment, her eyes opened, and her gaze moved to the top of the staircase.

"The library." She whispered, her voice barely audible. And, without waiting for Raz or Lili, she ran towards the stairs. Oddly, as they moved closer, Raz could see the top of the stairs more clearly, and the front door grew darker. As he continued to look, he noticed that the light seemed to be following Onyx as she moved. It was as though she were a human light bulb.

When they reached the top, Raz saw that the stairs sharply split in two different directions, leading into two different hallways. Without hesitation, Onyx turned right, Raz and Lili close behind. Like the rest of the house, the hallway was dark, decorated with a dusty red carpet on the floor, and various paintings lining the walls.

Onyx kept going until she reached the door at the end of the hallway. Without pausing, she wrenched open the door.

The library was colossal, probably bigger than the entrance hall. Everywhere you looked, there were books. Not only were there bookcases set into the walls, but there were rows and rows along the floor. In the center of the room was a cluster of velvet chairs, velvet sofas, and low oak tables.

"There's…something in this room." Onyx said, "But I don't know where."

"Wait, what's that noise?" Lili piped up. The three fell silent, and Raz could indeed hear something: hushed voices, coming from the center of the room. Raz, Lili and Onyx moved towards the source. Standing near the furniture were two girls. One Raz recognized as Onyx, although she looked considerably younger than she was now. Maybe about seven or eight years old. After looking at her for a moment, Raz recognized the other girl: Onyx's sister.

"Bella, why'd you bring me here?" Onyx asked.

"Because I wanted to teach you something." She replied, crouching slightly to reach Onyx's height. "It's just a little safety precaution."

"Precaution?" Onyx asked, cocking her head in a childish kind of way, "Against what?"

"Nevermind that. I just want to make sure you're safe. Now, pay attention. In case you're ever…stuck somewhere, you could easily blast your way out, right?"

"Right…?" Onyx said, a hint of confusion in her voice.

"Well, have you ever heard of mental bars?"

"No."

"They're bars that you can't break with your mind. They glow, so you'll know them if you see them. You can't break through them, but you can break the lock."

"The…lock…?" Onyx blinked, obviously not knowing what her sister was talking about.

"Yes. All mental bars have a lock. It's the source of its energy. Without it, the bars will just be normal bars, and you can blast through them. You can break the lock with a Fire Grip."

"What's that?"

"It's a combination of telekinesis and pyrokinesis. Basically, you set your TK hand on fire. If you ever find yourself stuck behind mental bars, find the lock and grab it with a Fire Grip. The fire and psychic energy should melt right through it. I'll teach it to you now."

"Okay. Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you want to teach me this?" Bella sighed.

"Just trust me on this one…" Just as before, the memory faded away.

"Of course!" Onyx—the real Onyx—exclaimed. "A Fire Grip, that's what it was. It's been so long, I forgot."

"I wonder why she wanted to teach you that?" Raz wondered aloud. Onyx sighed, then said,

"My sister had something not many others in my family had. She sometimes had…visions. It first happened a few days before the forest fire. She didn't tell us about it before, but afterwards she couldn't keep quiet. She told my parents that, in her mind, she saw me, surrounded by flames. She didn't know what it meant then, but my parents did: my sister could see into the future. I guess, somehow, she knew I'd be in this situation. So she tried to prevent it."

"I guess…hey, what's that?" Lili pointed to something at the far end of the room. It was like…a small dark spot on the wall, near the ceiling. As the three watched, the spot seemed to be getting bigger. And bigger. And bigger…until it was like some kind of huge beast, not unlike the personal demon Raz had seen in his mind. But this thing didn't have eyes or teeth. It was almost like a vortex.

The air suddenly got colder, and it blew around the kids. As the wind grew stronger, Raz noticed some odd bolts of electricity coming from the vortex. It continued to grow, until it took up the entire wall and spread to the next ones. The winds started moving in one direction: towards the vortex, like it was trying to suck Raz, Lili and Onyx in. Lightning shot out of the hole, almost hitting Lili.

"We have to get out of here!" Raz yelled over the wind, which was now howling. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a small, brown package. "Here, sniff the smelling salts." The three gathered around the smelling salts. Raz pulled open the package. It smelled horrible, but in a flash of light, the wind stopped, and they were standing back in the stables.

"That was close!" Lili said, sinking to the hay-lined floor. "What was that, Onyx?"

"I…I don't know." Onyx stammered. "But maybe we'll get some answers if we break out of this stable." She moved over to the bars and looked at the lock. "Okay, let's see if I remember how to do this." Onyx put her fingers to her temples, focusing her energy. Nothing happened at first. But after a moment, an odd shape appeared in the air above them. It was a flaming hand…if a somewhat feeble one. The hand floated over to the lock and closed its fingers around it. The hand squeezed with all its strength, and sure enough, the flames melted through the lock. The blue glow around the bars faded, and the hand vanished. Onyx relaxed, looking a bit exhausted from the effort.

"Come on, we can't waste any more time!" Without waiting for a reply, Lili blasted through the doors and bolted out of the stall, Raz and Onyx following in numb surprise.

Ummm…yeah, that's the end. I sort of have an idea of what to write next, but it'll take me a little time to plan it out. Oh, and when I'm done with this, I think I'll write a Danny Phantom fic…you know, just 'cause I feel like it…

If you're reading this, Bit-Basketcase: Ha, ha! I've now read all seven Othellos! Just thought you'd like to know

Okay, I know I've said this before, but in case someone wasn't listening, I'll repeat it: NO flames, please.