1 Chapter 1

"How do I do this again?"

I hated cooking. 

Somehow, my best friends Marla and Jax talked me into helping them out.

"Just place the dough in the pan of oil and flip it out onto the plate, then add the toppings. Come on Amee, I know you aren't stupid."

I groaned as I placed the dough in the hot oil and watched it sizzle and pop. 

"Ok, now flip it out of the pan onto the plate."

Oops - that wasn't a good idea.

"OH SHIT!"

My eyes grew wide and I gasped as the hot, oiled bread hit Kye on the leg.  Kye is our leader and a shapeshifter, he was the one who led us to Utopia along with the help of Terra, who also is a shapeshifter.  

"AHH! Fuck, Fuck!"

He danced around as he brushed the hot bread off his leg. He stopped for a moment to examine the oil spot. Luckily he wasn't burned and his pants just had an oil stain. 

My face started to heat up. I was so embarrassed, I should have never listened to Marla, I knew I couldn't cook. 

Setting the spatula down, I walked away ignoring Marla's pleas to come back.  Frustration had reached its breaking point with me.  The trip here was stressful, being ambushed by the Infected, nearly dying of hypothermia after jumping into a river with Kye to escape, and moving from the home we built after the apocalypse.  This place is incredible, don't get me wrong, but it has a charm about it that I am not used to or comfortable with yet. 

I picked up my pace and ran into the forest.  I continued to run as the forest swallowed me - freeing myself from all the domestic problems in the world.

Glancing over my shoulder, I see no one was following me.  In a way I wished at least Marla was, yet, I was relieved to see no one. I haven't had any alone time since this all started and it would be nice to have some time to think.  When I returned my attention to the path I was on, I noticed ahead of me a few yards was a fallen tree.   Slowing my pace to a jog, I turned my attention to the sky.  The sun was beginning to set and bright orange and yellow hues covered the darkening sky - it was a beautiful sight.

I took a seat on top of the old log and rested my head on the palms of my hands. Taking in the wooded scenery and fresh air, I felt something hard pushing into my side.  At first, I thought it was my knife that I always carry, but it was on the opposite side.  I reached for the item and pulled a small book out of my back pocket.

After examining it for a moment I remembered why I had it.  Marina was the name of the old lady that owned and ran a library within the village.  She never told me what she was, maybe a witch?  She was very adamant about me taking this book.  

She told me, "It holds all the answers to the questions you have now and will have in the future."

I had A LOT of questions that I don't think could ever be answered but maybe a few could be.  The book was unique - the cover was black, it had a faint green glow around it and beautiful silver lettering made up the title which read, "The Fifth Dimension." I've heard a little about the different dimensions that make up the universe, information about them was trickled out during the start of our world's collapse.  

I brush my hand over the front of the book.  I haven't even opened it yet to see what was inside.  Could be pictures, words I'll never understand, or it might just be blank.

"Hmm… wonder why this book was so important for me to have?"

Opening the book, I found that the first few pages were blank.  Growing more disappointed as I moved through the pages, some hope came to light when the fifth page had a title written in black that read, "In the Beginning." Nothing else followed.

"That is weird.  Why would someone just write a title and nothing else?" 

As I focused on those words, reading them over and over in my mind, the sound of a cracking branch came from my left.  I turned in the direction it came from but, nothing was there that I could see.  Returning to the book, I noticed the page now was full of words when only a moment ago it only held three.  Giving the page a confused look, I began to read out loud what it said.

"Long ago when nothing existed but the galaxies above, five gods assembled and decided to create five individually unique worlds.  Each world reflected their personality.  These five gods are Luminous, Leviathan, Nathara, Roya, and the last world to be created was perceived as an infant.  It had no god therefore the creatures of this world governed themselves which in turn led to their destruction."

I stopped for a moment.  

"I wonder why the last world doesn't have a god?" Thinking to myself that it didn't make sense to list five gods when there were only four - maybe as I read further it will explain the reason.

 My thoughts were interrupted though by a feeling of being watched.  Lifting my eyes from the page I looked in front of me, then to the left and right - nothing was there.  The hair on my neck suddenly stood on end sending a cool shiver down my back.  I quickly looked