Prologue

A Green travel bus drove along the road at high speed. The trees blurred in the eyes of a young man in a window seat. He brushed his blonde hair out of his eyes. He rubbed his baggy eyes and sighed. He almost fell asleep until an old woman looked at him.

Looking him up and down, she smiled. He was skinny, and probably no older than sixteen. She tapped his shoulder and he jumped. He took in a deep breath.

"Sorry," he said.

"No, I'm sorry," She said, smiling. "May I ask you a question?"

The boy nodded.

"Where are you going? You seem very young to be traveling alone."

"I am going to see my aunt."

The lady chuckled, "That must be nice."

"Hm," He turned back to the window and closed his eyes. 'Can't wait to get off this bus.'

Passing over a bump in the road, he opened his eyes and caught the view of a beautiful clearing.

"What is your name?" The woman asked after a few minutes.

"My name is Alex," He said, clearly uninterested in the conversation.

"Where are your parents, Alex?" She continued to pry.

"They are no longer with us." His voice cracked a bit.

"I'm sorry to hear that. If you don't mind my asking, what happened?" She grabbed the handles of her purse. They were almost at her stop.

"They were killed for money," His face contorted into an angry frown.

"It's nice that your aunt is taking you in."

"Hm," He zoned out and stared outside.

An orphan. That's all he was now. Alex never even cared about anything in his hometown. His grandfather died a few years ago, and now his parents. He never needed friends, and he wasn't social, to begin with. For the first time in sixteen years, Alex felt alone.

He knew he lived in an unforgivable world where murderers could go free. He knew anything could happen at any time. Alex just didn't understand why it had to happen to him. He was always shrouded in bad luck.

Alex was awoken by the bus driver.

"Stop twenty-one. If this is your stop, please get off now."

Alex grabbed his bag and exited the bus, immediately being embraced in a hug. A small white, brown-haired woman was crushing his spine.

"Alex, I'm so glad you made it safely. I bought some stuff to make food later, alright?"

Alex grew a small smile staring at his aunt. He knew they would just end up ordering pizza later, considering she couldn't cook to save her life.

"Ok, Aunt Leah."

After walking to Leah's car and putting his stuff in the trunk, apart from his backpack, he got in the passenger's seat.

They drove in silence for a few minutes.

"So how have you been kiddo?" Leah broke the silence with a concerned look on her face.

"I am fine Aunt Leah, I've just been lonely."

Alex pulled a book out of his bag and began reading it. He'd read it before but didn't care.

Leah looked at him and sighed, "You and your books. It's a nice hobby, but wouldn't you rather play with kids your age?"

Alex furrowed his brow, "Each book is a story I can be a part of. A new world. An escape."

Leah shook her head and let the silence fall back over them.

They turned into a small driveway next to a small house. Small at least in terms of the nearby properties. He didn't know what his aunt did. Alex only visited Leah a few times before the funeral. There were four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a few acres of grass and hills.

She let him take whichever spare room he wanted. He took the one that had a twin-sized bed and a desk. It wasn't much, but he could work with it. He unloads his bags and takes out a small red ball. It was something from the only friend he ever made. Alex set it on the desk, but it fell and rolled under the bed.

'Great,' he thought to himself. He got on his knees and reached under the bed. He felt something prick his finger and quickly pulled his hand out. He looked at his middle finger and saw blood slowly leaking through a small hole. Looking back under the bed, he saw a small glowing object.

Alex grabbed it and stared at it, forgetting about the red ball. It was a key. It was made of silver metal and had red glowing eyes. He could see it absorbing the blood on the teeth of the key and then the eyes stopped glowing. Red gems are all they were.

Alex wondered if his aunt knew about it, and decided to put the key in his pocket, 'Better safe than sorry.'

He lay in his room and heard his aunt mess up the food and order pizza.

They sat down and started to eat, "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes. I'm fine. Keep asking and I'm gonna say no," Alex said, eating his pizza.

She just laughs it away "Okay kid, but if you need anything, I'm here for you."

"I will," They then left once they were done eating and they went to bed.

The next morning he got up and found a note attached to his face.

"I have work today, I will be back tonight and I'll bring home food, love you kiddo. My number and the wi-fi password are here."

Alex put on grey pants and a white shirt before putting the key in his pocket and heading to the kitchen. He raided the pantry and made coffee before going outback. He took a deep breath of air and sipped the coffee. One thing he loved about his aunt: she loved the countryside. He went back to his room and grabbed a book before heading back outside and sitting on the grass. After finishing the coffee, he pulled the key out of his pocket.

He took his empty cup to the kitchen before looking around for a lock that the key fit. There wasn't one. Looking at his phone and seeing it was eleven, Alex grabbed a long bag from the edge of his bed.

Opening it up, there were a few weapons. Katanas. His grandfather was a somewhat famous Japanese swordsman and taught him everything he knew. His parents were fine with it because they believed he'd save a beautiful girl one day.

Although he knew that wouldn't happen, he loved using the katana. After a few years, he was almost as good as his grandfather. He began training for a few hours before going inside. He grabbed a bottle of water and looked at his phone.

'It's only two," he thought. 'Might as well go explore the clearing.'

He grabbed another of his katanas and put it on with the one he had already. He also grabbed his grandfather's tanto and fashioned it to his lower back.

He walked into the clearing and spent the next few hours exploring, eventually coming across a small pond. He walked around it when he noticed a strange crack in a large rock. It was definitely big enough for a person to squeeze through.

Alex struggled but successfully got through. He turned his phone's light on and gasped. It wasn't just a rock: It was a cave. He slowly walked through it for a few minutes before deciding to turn back. He stopped however when the key began vibrating. Alex took it from his pocket and saw the eyes were once again glowing.

He walked deeper into the cave and soon found what was clearly a door. The key stopped vibrating, but the eyes glowed fiercely. He dusted off the spider webs covering the keyhole and looked between it and the key.

'I shouldn't' he thought as he put the key in the hole. "I need to go back." He turned the key and opened the door. His curiosity would get the better of him in these situations.

There was only stone behind the door. He sighed and turned around, clearly disappointed. As he began walking away, the ground began to shake. The walls began to crumble as bright lights filled his vision and hit the stone behind the door. The stone melted, revealing a dark red vortex.

"Oh shit!" Alex tried to run, dropping his phone. He soon realized he was running in place, and accepted his fate. He allowed himself to get sucked into the vortex.

Once he was sukced through, the cave collapsed in on itself, hiding any and all traces that it was ever there.

Alex awoke a few hours later in a similar clearing. He grabbed his head and got up. Looking around, he could see a distant castle and carriages riding along roads.

"Definitely not in Kansas anymore," He smiled at his joke, "Where am I?"

He was about to walk towards what was clearly a road before he heard a woman's scream. He turned, shocked. Alex took off towards the scream and unsheathed one of his katanas.

"Maybe my parents were right! I will save a girl!"