Happy late 4th of July, for all of my US readers! Hope none of you accidentally lit part of your aunt's backyard on fire like my cousins and I did (it was a faulty firework, I swear!). As I've said before, I was on vacation, and just before I posted this I was informed of a few typo/glitches via my kind-of-beta reader for this story. So, long story short, I was delayed (and re-planting grass), but now I'm not! So go on ahead and read, and I'll see y'all at the end of the chapter.

The scenes of horror movies never unfolded on dark and stormy nights in the real world. They happened during great things in the safest places you could imagine. They consumed you, and tore your beliefs down to raw ideas you were too skeptic to believe. And they weren't nice, either. Not like what you saw in the Disney movies when you were kids. They were real and deadly.

Bloom paced the length of her bedroom, her hands running through the curls she'd done specifically for the gallery opening. Her bangs were already limp in her hands, and she could only image how terrible she looked, especially since she hadn't changed into her cocktail dress for the gallery opening.

That damn child. Every call she'd gotten in the last two weeks; wither it be from Stella or Helia or even Sky, it happened. After a few minutes the line would cut out and leave her with that voice, telling her about the Brotherhood of Redemption and asking for help. She'd looked up the phrase on countless search engines, but they all reached dead ends.

She'd managed to tell Musa part of her problem when she'd called earlier that day, but when the line started to fill with static she'd cut the connection; terrified of the voice. Something was wrong, she could feel it.

"Yo Valen, take the leather jacket off! It's not winter!"

Bloom bit her lip. It didn't make her feel better that she was letting her children go unaccompanied to a theme park, crowded with people. Jason's mother had assured her everything would be fine, but it didn't ease her nerves. Especially since she would be at the gallery opening until well after midnight.

"Mom?" a moment later, Valen stuck his head through the door of her bedroom. His hair was spiked out of his eyes, and he wore sky blue jeans, a long sleeved black shirt (despite the warm weather), and a white skinny tie with a chain on it. "Did I leave my shoes in here when I was looking through the closet?"

She shook her head, forcing herself out of thought. "Yeah; over there." She watched him go and retrieve the sneakers. "Honey," she said after a moment, "You and Tori are going to be careful, right?"

"Course we are. Why?" He glanced up at her and saw she was a little pale. "Mom? Are you okay?"

"Quite nervous, to tell you the truth." She smiled, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "And I don't have any idea why."

"The picture looks great, Mom. Don't be nervous."

"It's not the picture, Valen."

He thought for a moment. "Then let me guess; you feel terrible for not getting us bigger present on our birthday?"

She laughed. "Why of course, how did you ever guess?"

Her son smiled at her and sat down next to her. "You're really okay with this?"

"Of course I am," she insisted, thinking quite the opposite. "Just…stay where you're supposed to, don't wander off, don't ride the rides; you're there to work…" she trailed off, noticing the look he was giving her. She smiled and pulled him against her chest. "I guess I'm overreacting. You're fifteen after all."

He hugged her back. "Go and have a good time, Mom. Meet some hot hunk you can bring home."

Her stomach tightened, and she gripped him tighter. "Valen…wherever your father is, I know he'd be very proud of you. Just like I am."

He nodded. "Is he…"

Bloom took a deep breath and pushed herself back so she could look at him. "Is he what, honey?"

There was a longing look on his face, but it quickly fell away. "Nothing. It's not important." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Love you Mom."

"I love you, too. Get Tori and ask her to help me carry that picture to the car, okay?"

"Will do." With that, he stood up and walked out of the room, leaving the door open a crack.

The minute he was gone Bloom let out a long sigh and flopped back onto her bed. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to sense the area around her and any kind of abnormalities. There was nothing; not even a faint light. Bloom fisted her hands in her hair again; she'd need a major hair spell before she could step in the gallery. "Baltor," she whispered, not sure who she was talking to; "if you were here to see what we created…"

There was a noise in the direction of her bedroom door, and Bloom snapped into a sitting position. There was no one there, thankfully. With a sigh she hauled herself to her feet, heading towards her closet to grab a comfortable pair of shoes.

Valen stood on the other side of the doorway, listening to see if her mother said anything else. When there was no sound, he turned and raced downstairs.

"Baltor? Oh, I like it."

"We don't know that was his name, Tori." Valen reminded her, checking his microphone one last time. He, his sister, Jason, and Ali were five minutes away from going out onstage, and it didn't help that his last mic check was being interrupted. "Baltor could be his last name."

"Hmm…Victoria Baltor? No way. It's got to be his first name. This is huge." She was positively bubbly over the whole situation.

He sighed. "Will you forget our father? Just be grateful Mom talks about him now and then."

"Oh please, you call that talking? We're lucky if we get one comment a year. And isn't it a little suspicious that we get that weird address around the same time?"

"Are you still on that? For God's sake Victoria –"

"Don't 'Victoria' me," she snapped, though it was more mocking. "I say tomorrow we corner her once and for all on Dad."

Valen rolled his eyes. "I don't think she'd appreciate it too much."

"What's the worst that could happen? She says no?"

"Or it turns out your Dad's a serial killer in jail." Jason spoke up from behind them. His white shirt glowed in the fluorescent light.

"Oh shut up, Jason," Ali admonished. She was the only one in the group who'd opted for a skirt instead of jeans. Granted the short, hot pink bubble skirt was eye-catching and futuristic, especially with her black lace top. "Those things rarely happen." She added before turning to Tori. "How do I look?"

"Fantastic. Me?" His sister was dressed the part; neon purple streaks were in her hair, her shirt was a strapless black number, her silver jeans were tucked into her purple knee-high boots, and silver fingerless gloves went up to her elbows.

"Brilliant."

"Can we focus ladies?" Jason asked. "We're on in two minutes."

"Drama queen," Ali muttered before heading off to get her drumsticks.

Once she and Jason were gone, Tori turned to her brother. "Are you ok? You certainly aren't very excited."

He sighed. "It's Mom. She seemed really nervous today."

"It's just the gallery opening. Here," she took out her phone and punched in a few numbers. "Let's call her real fast."

"No…she's probably there by now, and we don't want to disturb her."

She huffed, but still snapped the phone shut. It had only rung twice anyway. "Fine. But I'm telling you; this is the best night of our lives." She smirked and mimicked their mother's voice. "You're overreacting, Valentine. You need to have more fun like Tori."

He grimaced and waved her away. "I don't know why you do that."

"It's fun." She replied simply, slinging her guitar over her shoulder. "Now come on; we have a show to do."

Valen sighed, but grabbed his own instrument. "We're calling her during the set break."

Tori nodded, and when she spoke, she sounded like him. "Let's kill tonight."

The outside of the gallery was pleasant looking. It was a single-story brick building in a good area of town. By the time Bloom got there, there were already a number of cars parked outside, and she could hear music playing inside. "I," she said to herself, smoothing the skirt of her blue cocktail dress under her coat, "am worrying about nothing."

Now if only she believed.

She opened the door of her car and stepped out, breathing in the humid air. The place smelled like salt and asphalt and palm trees and…

Bloom paused, taking a deep breath, letting her senses work out what each individual small was.

…Magic?

But that was impossible. It had to be her own head. Everything over the last few weeks was just making her jittery. That was it. That had to be it.

A breeze rolled by, and Bloom decided to question herself later. She started to head inside to see if she could get anyone to help her carry the picture in. Though while walking to the door, she reached into her coat pocket and gripped her old phone tightly. Musa's number was punched in, and would dial with the touch of a button. Just for good measure, of course.

When she opened the door, the sound of the music became louder, more pronounced. The building seemed to be one large room, though a small hallway was visible at the back of it. It was dimly lit, and the walls were painted a deep red, and she glanced around for any local artist she knew. But when her eyes looked over the place, she realized the obvious.

The entire room was empty.

And that wasn't it. The walls were bare, no pictures on them at all. She couldn't even tell where the music was coming from; there were no speakers anywhere in the room. A chill went down her spine, so violently her toes curled.

And then; "Please help me."

Bloom took a violent breath and spun around, grasping and yanking at the door handle. It was locked tight, not even moving an inch. She felt adrenaline coming over her – a fight or flight response. At that moment, she'd rather do the second.

The child's voice spoke again; louder and more pronounced over the music. "You know my sister. Please help me."

The redhead spun around, nearly jumping out of her shoes when she saw the figure maybe ten feet from her. Her hair was a caramel brown, tied in a sloppy bun with a yellow ribbon. Her dress was cream colored and faded, almost black in some places. But her eyes were terrifying; the entire iris was a pure black, making the whites of the eye look grey. But despite that, Bloom still recognized the figure.

"…Rose?"

The little girl raised her head. It looked as though she hadn't aged since Bloom had last seen her. "Help Bloom. Help."

With fear running through her veins, she reached back to tug on the door handle. It remained jammed, and despite the child's presence she swore viciously. "What is going on here? I demand you tell me!"

"Well aren't we used to giving orders?"

The voice made Bloom stop mid-jerk. Looking around, she saw a mass in the shadows that hadn't been there before. It was leaning against the wall, head bowed. When the head rose, Bloom could tell it was female from the long beach blonde hair and generous chest. She was dressed all in black, and when she smiled it made her hair stand on end. "Hello Bloom. It is so nice to finally meet you."

Had there been room, she would've taken a step back. "Who are you?"

The woman's eyebrow quirked, obviously in an over-dramatic gesture. "What? You mean Rose hasn't told you? My, how silly of her. Though you know the old saying," she grinned, detaching herself from the wall and pacing the length of the room. Her heels clacked on the wood floor. "'Beggars can't be choosers'. My name is Lia, and I must again say it is so nice to finally see you face-to-face."

From inside her jacket pocket, Bloom pressed the button on the phone. "Well Lia, I can't say it's a mutual feeling."

She laughed; cold and vicious. "No…I suppose it isn't for you."

"Can I help you with something? You want money; you can have my car."

"Ah, smart and funny. Well, maybe not smart. No dear, I'm afraid what I need from you isn't of this world."

Bloom raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"

"Dragon Fire, dear," Lia said, turning on her heels and stalking towards her. "Specifically; dark Dragon Fire."

"…You're asking the wrong person."

"Oh am I? Really? I'd think you know all about it; being taken over by the Shadow Fire and letting a darkened ember of your own power inside you."

Her jaw dropped; out of shock or fury at the reference to her sex life she wasn't sure. "You're from the Brotherhood of Redemption, aren't you? That's why you want the power."

Lia gave a small laugh, but her eyes were cold. "Such a clever girl. Now then, we can do this four ways. Number one; you tell us where to find Baltor to take hold of the Dark Flame, and we leave you and your children alone. Number two; you willingly give yourself to the Brotherhood for experimentation so we can locate the Dark Flame, and we leave him and your children alone. Number three; we take your children and turn them into things like poor little Rose here, and they turn against you and Baltor to help give us the Dark Flame. Number four," she paused, tapping a finger to her chin. "Hmm…well I suppose there were only three."

"Not really," Bloom growled. The woman turned to look at her in shock, and Bloom dropped her coat to the ground. She wasn't sure if Musa had answered, but if she did, she wanted her friend to be all ears. "Option four; I kick you ass off of this planet, and you and your Brotherhood freaks release Rose, and leave my children alone. And FYI; I don't know where Baltor is."

She expected fury. But instead, Lia just laughed and motioned with her finger for Rose to step back. "Well then, I guess we have to do this the hard way. Rose," she barked, and the young girl stood to attention. "Go find her children. Capture them. I'll deal with this little bitch myself." A whip of light appeared in her hands. "Maybe she'll have a change of heart."

Bloom took a deep breath and raised her arms over her head. "Let's go Enchantix!"

By the time the set break rolled around, the crowds were raving like crazy. Kids and adults alike were in love with the new band that for some reason didn't have a name. The original songs were great, and the covers were amazing. Especially the girl in the purple boots that could mimic Katy Perry's voice for E.T. For reasons unknown, she was lighting up the show.

She was talking into the microphone now, her voice slowly fading from the famous singer to her own. "Thank you guys so much for your support! We're going to break for a few, so until we're back we're going to let our friends Dex and Nikki crank out a few tunes for you!" The crowd groaned, but still cheered as Tori, Valen, Ali, and Jason left the stage. The second they got the all clear that their mics were off, Tori and Ali clung to each other, jumping up and down and screaming.

Valen rolled his eyes, but still hit his friend's shoulder. "You know how to book a gig, man."

He laughed. "Can you believe its going this well?"

"Never dreamed it possible."

"Thanks for that boost of confidence, Alessandria."

Ali hit Jason's shoulder playfully. "Shut up. You know I'm kidding."

Tori glanced between them. "Aren't you two being nice."

Her friend blushed, making her cheeks match skirt. Jason chuckled, ruffling her caramel blond hair. "Not like it's any different from any other day." Ali managed to say, her voice oddly calm.

"Exactly." Jason leaned back, looking satisfied. "Well I should go find my uncle; he promised he'd be around here. Who's coming?"

"I'm game," Ali said. "Tori?"

"Nah, Valen and I promised to call my Mom."

"Bummer. Say hi for us!"

"She seems so interested," Valen chuckled as the two walked off. He wasn't sweating as much as he thought; the night was pretty cool.

"You think?" Tori grinned, going over to her bag and retrieving her cell phone. "You seem ok with it."

"With what?"

She gave him a pointed look. "With them. As an item."

"Are they? It didn't seem like it."

"That's because you're horrible at emotions."

"I'm going to kindly ignore that. And anyway, who cares? We can replace them once we're famous."

Tori chuckled. "Cruel."

"It's a joke, loser." he said, walking up behind her as she dialed. They crouched in front of the phone, acting as a sound barrier from the crowd outside. It rang five times, six, seven…eight…

Tori looked at phone curiously. "It must be busy."

"No, that can't be right. Why would she be on the phone at a gallery opening? And she's never ignored one of our calls. Especially if we're here."

"I know. I'll try one more time." She hung up and redialed, listening as the phone rang again and again. "It's not going though. Let's just –"

Suddenly, the phone cut off mid-ring. Voices came though the line in mid-conversation. Tori shrugged. "See? She must've answered by accident. Everything's –"

A loud bang sounded from the other end of the line, and Tori and Valen distinctly heard their mother scream out in pain.

Tori's eyes became the size of dinner plates. "…fine."

"Yeah, that sounds fine to me," Valen snapped. There was a cold shiver running down his spine.

"Come on now," a voice spoke on the other end of the line; "where's the power I've heard about, your Highness? The all-mighty Dragon Fire? Are you sure you just don't want to give up now?"

From the other end of the line, Tori and Valen heard their mother breathing heavily and unevenly, like she was hurt. "You are not touching my children."

Valen felt his sister reach out and grip his hand. He was too nervous to squeeze back.

"Then just tell me where Baltor is, and I'll leave them be."

"I don't know! I haven't seen Baltor in almost fifteen years; I don't even know if he's still alive!"

There was a pause, and then a dark chuckle. "I refuse to believe that. Which is terrible for you." There was another loud crash, and Bloom screamed again. "Don't worry, though. Rose may be going after Victoria and Valentine, but we'll experiment on you first."

"Experiment?" Tori whispered, more to herself.

Valen stood up abruptly, grabbing the phone out of her hands. He pressed a button that would record the conversation, and stuck it in his pocket. "Come on."

After a moment, his sister stood up too, looking a bit lost. "Where are we going?"

"Well we can't go back on stage, now can we? We'll be as obvious as Lady Gaga in a supermarket. We're calling Roxy and Andy, and we're getting the hell out of here."

"Valen," she said slowly, following him to the exit door of the stage. "Are you sure…"

"Did you not hear that?" he snapped. He was trying to remain calm, but his skin was crawling and his mind was whirling faster than a bullet. "Mom might be in real danger, and we might be too. Did you not hear her? That…Rose girl is coming to get us!"

She looked momentarily afraid, but took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay."

"Change your voice, too," he added, pulling off his vest and tie. He motioned for her to remove her gloves and jewelry. "You and Jason were the only one's talking in the microphones."

Tori nodded. "Got ya, luv." Her voice had a British accent.

Valen rolled his eyes. "Good enough." With that, he pushed the stage door open, grabbing his own phone and quickly dialing the number for the Fruity music bar. From behind, he could hear footsteps and Jason and Ali's voices. The door swung shut just as their shadows appeared.

The two started moving through the crowds, taking great care not to shove anyone too hard so they wouldn't be looked at. Tori kept her arm linked with her brothers, nervously looking around. Valen kept tapping his fingers against her arm as the phone rang. For some reason, it seemed to sound perfect in his ear, despite the roaring crowd.

On the sixth ring, a male voice answered. "Fruity Music Bar, this is –"

"Andy!" Valen cut off. Relief flooded him. "Thank God you answered."

"Valen! How are you, man? Aren't you performing at Disney tonight?"

"We were. But something's wrong."

There was a pause. "Something like what?"

"…We don't know exactly. We were calling Mom on the set break, but the line was busy. We called again and I think something hit the phone to accept the call. We heard bangs and a woman talking. She was saying she wanted something called Dragon Fire and said she was sending a girl named Rose after us. It might be nothing but –"

"This woman wants the Dragon Fire?" Andy asked, his tone serious. His reaction told Valen this was a serious matter.

"I don't know. She also mentioned something about a man named Baltor." There wasn't a response. "He's our father, isn't he? This is his fault."

He heard Andy sigh. "We can discuss Baltor later. I know your mother planned to wait until you were both eighteen to tell you this…that's not important right now. Roxy's coming to get you. She'll be there in maybe ten minutes."

The line crackled. Valen strained to hear him. "What do you mean? You're an hour away!"

"We'll explain everything later. For now, tell me where you are."

Valen looked around. Somewhere during the conversation they'd broken though the crowd and walked to the less crowded area of the park. "We're at the Hollywood Studios Backlot, near the Tower."

"All right. Do not get on any ride, and stay out sight. Where was the gallery opening you Mom was going to?"

"It was –" he cut off as the phone line dissolved into static. "Andy? Andy!"

Suddenly the static faded. "Help me." A voice said. "Help me."

Valen held the phone out. Tori was straining to hear, but she looked equally afraid of the voice. "Who are you?" Valen asked. "Is this Rose?"

"The Brotherhood will find you." The child's voice spoke. "You can't hide, Valentine. We can find you."

Valen snapped the phone shut. "They know we're here. Anything on Mom's phone?"

"Just screeching and loud banging." Tori said in her accent. She held the other phone to her ear.

"Put it away. We're going on a ride."

"Are you nuts?" his sister screeched, digging her heels into the ground. "Did you not hear Andy?"

"I heard him, but so did Rose. We need to do the opposite of what they think."

Tori sighed, looking at the massive building in front of her, the line surprisingly short for a Friday night. "Tower of Terror?"

Valen nodded. "Tower of Terror."

Bloom slammed into the wall at twenty-five miles an hour. She heard a distinct snap, and a moment later her wrist started burning. With a frustrated growl, she tore her fairy dust pendant from her neck and poured some of its contents onto her wrist. The pain immediately dulled before it became unbearable.

That was the fourth bone she'd had to heal herself with her fairy dust. This Lia was a tougher fight than she thought. What annoyed her even more was that she seemed to only be getting started. While she didn't have a fairy form (she was human, for Christ's sake), there was defiantly a kind of power she possessed.

"What's the problem, hon?" Lia asked in a mocking tone, her lips curled into a smirk. "Didn't you say I was in for an ass kicking?"

Bloom focused on controlling her breathing, blocking the woman's words from her head. Her powers were reaching a low pit; she'd been fighting for the better part of an hour. She didn't have enough power for a teleportation spell, and all the exits were barricaded.

Lia fired another shot, hitting the fairy in the leg. Bloom hissed in pain. "Aww, are you getting tired?"

"You can…say whatever you want. You're not…getting you hands on…"

"Oh give it up," the blonde woman replied, sounding bored. "I'll make this clear; we're getting you. We're getting your children. In fact," she continued, a smirk spreading across her face. "I wouldn't be surprised if they're about to meet the same fate as you."

"…What the hell does that mean?"

For a response, the woman launched another burst of energy at her.

Bloom used the blast's momentum so send her back into a wall so she could support herself. Her fairy form flickered, a warning she couldn't hold out much longer. She looked around for her coat with the cell phone, but she saw to her dismay it was on the other side of the room.

A blast hit her from the side and she went tumbling to the floor. The edges of her vision blurred, and she felt her arm scrape across a nail in the floor and slice open. She lifted herself up on her arms and reached a hand out to the fresh wound. It came back a deep, crimson red. The overwhelming metallic scent made her stomach churn, and she felt her consciousness slip away.

From somewhere in the room, she heard Lia laugh. Bloom didn't acknowledge it as she finally let her body give up and drop to the ground. "Baltor," she whispered, more out of delirium than anything else, "Please help me."

With that, the world fell from under her.

"Row three." The woman dressed in the hotel attendant uniform said, motioning to the numbers on the floor behind her.

With a quick 'thank you', Tori and her brother stepped into line, the final one before the ride. The building had terrible reception, and as a result the call with her mother had been dropped. They still had the recording, but Tori was still nervous as hell. All those stories she'd heard about monsters and demons from her childhood seemed to be coming true, and on the best night of her life.

Valen was equally as thrilled. He stood in front of her, hands jammed in his pockets, tapping his foot impatiently like he was in a very long line. "Ali's going to kill us," he finally stated, desperate to hear something other than the creepy background noise that was playing.

It took Tori a moment to realize what he was talking about. "You talked to Andy. Apparently this is serious."

"I know, but – "

"Ali will just have to deal with it. She always does."

The two fell back into silence as more people stepped into line near them. Eventually, the doors in front of them opened, giving way to a creepy looking man who launched into an obviously rehearsed speech of 'The Hollywood Tower Hotel'. He then led the people into their respective seats. Tori and Valen were in the back row, taking the two seats near the left wall of the car. Everyone fastened their belts, and once the safety checks were done the man leaned on the side of the door, looking everyone over with cold eyes.

"You know," he said absentmindedly, "the Hollywood Tower Hotel used to rest in the most prestigious area of the city." His eyes fell on the twins, and his lips curled into a smirk. "6200 Franklin Avenue."

Realization struck Tori, and she reached out and gripped Valen's hand. "Dude."

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "What?"

"That's the address."

"He just said that."

"The address," she hissed. "The one on that letter addressed to us. Without a city or state."

It took Valen a moment to realize what she meant. When he did, Tori got the frightening sight of seeing him pale a few shades.

"I want off of this thing," she suddenly spoke up, louder and still in her accent. "I changed my mind."

There were mutters of 'what?' and 'isn't she a chicken'. Tori pointedly ignored it, but instead focused her gaze on the man running the ride. She expected him to look annoyed but respect her wishes. Instead, his chilling smirk got wider. "I'm afraid once you're in the ride Victoria, you must see it through."

"Hey – how'd you know my name?"

He didn't respond, but instead pressed a button on the car. A moment later, the belts unlocked and retracted back across the passengers' laps. There were distinct moans and glares, but Tori ignored it and stood up, Valen following a second later. "Thank –"

Suddenly, the man clicked another button, and the door leading off the ride closed. The car jerked back, and Tori and Valen were thrown back into their seats. People gasped and quickly grabbed the belts to re-secure them. Tori did the same, but when she put the metal buckle into the slot, it retracted back immediately. "Valen," she said, her voice growing nervous. She looked over and saw his wasn't attaching either.

"No," her brother muttered, trying a bit violently to put it into the lock.

"Welcome to the Hollywood Tower Hotel," a voice boomed from the speakers. "One stormy night long ago, five people stepped through the door of an elevator and into a nightmare."

People screamed, trying to lock the belts into place. One man in the front row leaned over the front of the car and pressed a few buttons on the control. Nothing happened.

"Wave goodbye to the world you know."

"Valen!" Tori screeched, fear in her voice. "What do we do?"

Her brother reached out and grabbed her hand, forcing it to wrap around the armrests of the ride. All around them people were panicking, taking out their phones and trying to dial numbers. A little girl in the second row was crying. "Just hold on!"

"That's a piece of shit! We're going to die!"

"But this time," the voice continued, sounding more intimidating than ever before. "It's opening for you."

The car dropped.

Bet none of you are going to ride the Tower of Terror now, huh? My little cousin and I recently took a trip out to DisneyLand, and though we didn't get to go on this ride, she asked me what I thought would happen if the seat belts didn't work on the ride, hence the inspiration! So a shout-out to my cousin Eliza! Also, a bis shout out to everyone who added this story to their favorites and alerts! If you didn't review, please do; I swear I don't bite ;-). Hope everyone's enjoying their summer, and I'll be back with updates soon! Peace!

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