Chapter 1:The Beginning

I could feel the group crumble underneath the weight of my own body. I could feel the immense energy flowing in my veins as if a mighty waterfall had been placed inside of my body. Overcome by this force, I could feel my body begin to collapse, forcing me onto my knees. Almost instantly, I pressed my palms onto the ground, my palms leaving imprints on the soft, cold soil. I could feel the sweat on my face combining with the tears that had begun to emerge from my eyes, as they both began to drip heavily onto the ground. All that was going through my mind was the cold, emotionless, inhuman-like laugh of the cloaked individual who caused me this pain. My arms collapsed, causing my face to hit the ground hard. I could feel the bone in my jaw crack upon the impact as well as the blood that began to flow out my mouth, leaving in its wake a small river of blood that would surely drown numerous ants. "Why. . . me?" I forced myself to say as I painfully lifted my head to gaze into the seemingly endless darkness. "How . . . did . . .I . . end up. . . like this?" With my last ounce of strength, I forced myself to speak but my voice was replaced by a spray of warm blood. I could feel myself slipping into unconsciousness, my mind replaying the events that had led me to this point.

"I can't believe you fell asleep in class again." The voice of my closest friend, Rachel, was mixed with that of laughter as she walked beside me, struggling to keep up a slow enough pace to keep up with me. "Things happen, I guess." To be quite honest, I wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. My mind had other more important things to deal with. I knew it wasn't good to lie to your friends, but I knew I had to keep this a secret from her and all the others. I didn't want anyone to get hurt for my own selfish goal. "Well whatever. See you guys tomorrow. You better not be late this time." I forced myself to have a small laugh as I watched her wave to me as we made our separate ways home but that was not where I was heading. Rotating my shoulders to keep them from going numb under the immense weight of my backpack, I began walking through a nearby uninhabited forest which had seemingly been forgotten in time, stuck in a time of no technology, no communication, and no hope.

There was no path in the forest so it was very easy to get lost in its immenseness. It didn't help that by the time I had reached the forest, it had turned pitch black and the moon had been hidden behind a series of dark clouds. Luckily for me, I had stowed away in the safety of my bag, a hand drawn map of the region, as well as other numerous objects to help me in my search. "To think, if they had demolished the ancient library, I would have never found this little baby." I whispered to myself as I quickly took the bag off of my back and dropped it quickly onto the ground. Almost instantly, I unzipped the main compartment of the bag and begun digging through the contents and placing them close to myself on the ground, so not to lose them. Finding the small flashlight that I had brought with me, my left hand gripped its handle and quickly turned it on with my free hand. Almost a whole new world was revealed to my eyes as the light from the flashlight blanketed the immediate surroundings. The branches of the trees were weird in shape, seemingly forming unnerving arms, reaching out to some unknown force for help. The bark of each tree seemed to resemble the crumpled features of human-like beings, frozen in a state of pure horror and fear. I quickly slapped both of my palms onto my face, to calm myself, to remind myself of what I came here to do. "I've got to locate whatever is on this map." I softly spoke, trying to hide the fear that had crept into my subconscious from myself, but it was almost impossible to not notice the breaking of my voice as well as the strangely high pitched voice that had come out. "You are 15. You know that there is nothing here that can harm you. . ." I muttered to myself repeatedly as I positioned the light to shine on the map that I had just unrolled onto the ground in front of me.

The map itself could possibly outdate the entire city, but was strangely kept in mint condition. The paper's natural colour had changed to a muddy brownish colour save for one encircled place that was strangely a bright green colour. "Whatever is in this forest, I'm going to find it."

After what seemed like an eternity of walking and jumping at every little sound that could be made out. Holding the map in front of myself, with shaking hand, I positioned the flashlight in front of it with my other hand. "According to the map, whatever I'm going to find, is supposed to be here." I mumbled to myself, confidence renewed within me. "Oh you found it, all right." I instinctively dropped myself to ground level at the same time breaking my expensive flashlight, curled up into a ball, and awaited whatever punishment was coming my way for entering the territory. "Don't worry; I'm not going to kill you." The same voice spoke. Though the voice was cold and didn't quite seem human, I could tell whatever it was, was telling me the truth. I quickly rose to my full height, overcome by embarrassment, positioning myself to look at whatever had been talking to me. What was shown to me, was a cloaked and hooded individual who seemingly glowed with a bright green light. "What are you?" I knew it wasn't the right question to ask but I knew it had to be asked. Whatever I was talking to was not human, this I knew. "What I am is not important. What is important. . ." The creature seemingly floated towards a clearing that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "is you finding what you have been searching for." I knew that I had to get out of there fast but my body betrayed me and followed the glowing creature into the clearing.

"It's right here." The creature had some how appeared behind me and pushed me forward with the force of ten men. My body flew through the air effortlessly. Whatever this creature was doing, I knew it WAS trying to take my life. Strangely, my body became frozen in midair and bathed in a bright green light that had broken through the clouds above my head. I could hear the laughter of the creature, echoing throughout every fibre of my being as I felt alien forces enter my body, changing me. Just what have I gotten myself into?