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Scarlett Smith now knew without a doubt that something was wrong with her. Truth be told, she had known something was off two weeks ago. Right after her twenty-fifth birthday. At least she had suspected so. Until this moment, she had come up with a logical excuse for all the weird things that had happened in the last two weeks. Her time of denial had come to a crashing halt. She mentally yelled at herself as she thought of the other weird things.

She should have gotten help, she thought. She should have done it that time when everyone at the grocery store had frozen. She had been shopping with a friend. They had been chatting about how awesome her birthday party was. It had been epic and her best friend Sophia had been there the entire time. They had been friends since high school and they now lived together. They went shopping often together. It was usually uneventful.

That Saturday afternoon, however, was like no other. As soon as Scarlett had mentioned how she wished they had more time to hang out, Sophia had frozen in her place. Scarlett had called for help just to realize everyone in the store was frozen. Not a sole twitched. Scarlett was the only one who could move.

Outside, the traffic of the busy streets was still going, so she figured the strange phenomenon was limited to the inside of the store. As much as Scarlett did not want to leave her friend, flight kicked in fast, and she was out of there. She didn't talk to her roommate for three days. Only for Sophia to return to the apartment like nothing had happened.

A few days after that, she had been in the park with Sophia and her boyfriend, Theodore. Mario, Scarlett's boyfriend, had been there as well. They had been enjoying a nice day at the park, not a cloud in sight. She had said that she would welcome some rain since her flower beds were cooking. Out of nowhere, clouds rolled in, and the rain poured. Everyone had joked about Scarlett controlling the rain. She was the only one who hadn't laughed. It had rained for two days non-stop. That was when she had thought about telling her friends about the store, but she chickened out.

Now she sat on her bed, in the same position she has been in for at least twenty minutes, trying to undo this last deed. She was transfixed on her boyfriend, who now stood frozen in her bedroom. He had spent the night last night. He stood facing her bathroom in only boxers. He was supposed to be going to the bathroom. They were racing to see who would get there first. She had yelled wait, then there was a whoosh of cool air and bam. Mario was frozen mid-run. That was almost an hour ago.

She had concluded that she has definitely made him freeze. Scarlett wondered how that was even possible. She had never done anything like this in her life. Neither had she seen it done. Her proof, though, was in her bedroom this time. There was no running from this.

She had tried to command him to unfreeze. She had tried everything she could think of. "Move" 'Unfreeze" "Release" "Talk" "Go". Still, he didn't move. So here she sat on the bed and out of options. Sophia and Theodore had come knocking on the door a while ago. She had told them they were still asleep. They had left, but they would be back. Theodore and Mario both had work in a few hours. Based on past experiences, he would be frozen for days.

Scarlett did not know what to do. Who to call. Briefly she thought of calling the cops, but that thought left a bile taste in her mouth. Instinctively, she knew that would be a bad idea. There was only one person she could think of to call who wouldn't laugh at her or have her committed. Her grandmother.

Charlotte Smith was one hundred and two years old and didn't look a day over eighty. Her grandmother was a survivor and her only living family. She was kind of kooky, but who wasn't when they were over one hundred and could still play golf. As a child, her grandmother had told her stories about witches and magic. She knew that was who she needed to speak to.

Deciding to call her grandma and finding her phone dead, she went in search of her charger. That was when she heard it. It was a sound so light, anyone else would have missed it. Someone had opened a door in the apartment. She knew Sophia and Theodore had gone for lunch about ten minutes ago. There was no way they would be back now.

Scarlett opened her bedroom door a crack and peeked out. She quickly closed the door again as she saw two dark figures in her living room. Was she being robbed? No way, this building had security to the max. Still, she had an intruder. Once again, flight kicked in and she knew she needed to get out of her apartment.

She tried to be quiet as she opened her bedroom window. This was her only escape route. She quickly dresses, knowing she didn't have much time before they made it down the hall to her room. She had stuffed a good weeks' worth of clothes into a backpack. Scarlett was about to make her escape when her bedroom door opened.

Her pulse jumped as she looked into the eyes of the man that had burst into her room. If you could call him a man. His eyes were red with black slits, like a serpent. His skin was a waxy back color and his face was strong and angular. He didn't look human. His fingers flexed, and she realized he had claws. When he grinned at her, like she was on the menu, she saw that his teeth were sharp and jagged.

That was when she dashed to the window. Her escape was cancelled, however, as the large man moved with lightning speed. She collided with his body and was knocked back across the room. She crashed into the wall and slid to the floor, landing by Mario's feet. She rolled over with a groan and now saw both men in her bedroom. They looked alike, both with red eyes and dark skin. Through her momentary dazed stated she realized they were talking in some foreign language.

She closed her eyes and wondered where the hell was that weird freeze thing that kept happening to everyone else. She thought of ice and wind, yet nothing happened. Opening her eyes, she saw the two men were staring down at her. Maybe they thought she was dead. However, when she opened her eyes, they knew she was still alive. The bigger of the guys picked her up by the throat with one hand.

That was no easy feat, as she was not a small woman by any means. She had curves and rolls. Still, he made it look easy. He looked at her intensely and talked to her in that weird language. She shook her head to let him know she didn't understand. He looked confused and turned his head to the side, as if trying to figure her out. The smaller guy, jabbed an elbow into the ribs of the guy currently chocking her out. When the smaller guy spoke, it was in English.

"She doesn't understand you, dipshit." Said smaller thug, and Scarlett nodded my head in agreement.

The big guy scowled, and his hand around her throat tightened. "Why does she not fight back?" He asked.

What did he mean fight back. They were evil looking giants. Scarlett knew when she was beat. Not to mention again, she was a big fan of flight. She had never had a fight in her life. The smaller guy seemed to be in charge, one again jabbed the big guy.

"Don't kill her dumb ass," He said. "She wants her breathing." Then the big guy plunked her on her ass. She groaned again, and this time, the shorter one pulled her to her feet. "You're coming with us princess."

Scarlett was about to protest big time. There was no way she was going anywhere with these deformed thugs. She had been through enough today and kidnapping would not happen. She dug in her heels and when she was going to demand he let her go, but then he snatched his hand away as if burned.

He let out a yelp as his hands caught fire. The flames soon engulfed his body and soon he was ash. The big guy turned to her and looked as if he was going to grab her. He thought better of it. He let out a furious snarl before stepping back, and in a shimmer, he disappeared. Scarlett was momentarily stunned, but she quickly flew into action. Scarlett grabbed her backpack and left out the window. She was going to visit her grandma for a few days.