4) The Dark Prison

I don't remember exactly how I got there. I woke up drowsy. I only remember the kids in the school shaking me, trying to get my attention and even then, I was slipping away into a wonderful sleep full of peace and darkness.

I woke up standing, which was odd. Had I only just blinked? I must have. I see Cynthia on the lone bed in front of me and I grab the closest pillow and hit her with it to wake her.

"You let me wake up early!" I scolded her. She groaned and I shook my head. I look around the room. There were two bunk beds, one on each side of the wall. In the middle sat the bed with Cynthia on top of it, creating an I out of beds. I saw a lone window seat across the room. It's a very small room and it feels like I've been here for quite a while. Cynthia gets up and I ignore her as I move around to get a feel for everything. I try to look out the window, but I see nothing. It seems like the window is just a white light.

Maybe just so we can see in here.

Opposite the window are two double doors with strange white ribbons hanging from all four doorknobs. Strange.

The room is a light brown color, almost a light tan, but not quite. The beds are silver. All of them, including the single twin bed.

I run to one of the double doors and it opens easily enough. I swing it open and run straight out. Blinding light strikes me and I'm suddenly falling. Then I'm not.

I land back inside the room, pulled in by someone. Cynthia? Probably. The door slams closed in front of me and I flinch and stumble backwards. My foot brushed something and I jump and then turn quickly around. There's Cynthia, curled in a ball. Oh my God. Cynthia! I felt like crying, seeing her. Why had I not remembered? Why had I acted so clueless?

I was about to rush to her and hug her until the life drained out of her when I noticed the state she was in. She was curled in a ball against the wall and rocked herself back and forth. I don't think I had ever seen her this way before. Never have I ever seen her look so broken. She was whispering something to herself, something about an Ace and then she looked at me dead in the eyes.

It scared me, not because it was so sudden, but the sudden transition of her scattered sight to a quick zoom on me and I saw her pupils widen. For some reason, I thought she looked beautiful in that moment. Her rocking stopped and I took a small step back.

"Don't go to him." She whispered, frightened. I wanted to ask "who is him?" when she glanced down the hall I hadn't seen before. It made sense that I hadn't seen it. I had awoken right beside the hallway so I never got to view whatever was directly beside me. What confused me was the eerie sense of danger I was getting. Why hadn't I gotten it earlier while I was standing directly beside it? Is it because I'm closer now? Because I'm aware?

I'm a few more feet into the hallway now than I was before, so that could, indeed, be the reason for my only just now noticing it.

Darkness began down the hallway right where I stood and I was almost directly touching the wall of black. I jumped away from it, afraid something would jump out of it and attack me. I felt something watching me, something cold and moved completely away and sat on one of the beds, staring at the wall of black. Cynthia still sat there and I could hear her raspy breathing. I could even hear the way she moved back and forth. And then it stopped.

"Cynthia?" I barely whisper, afraid to truly speak up. I look around to where she had only been previously sitting and saw her tennis shoe get pulled into the darkness before I could even breathe. My eyes widened and I wanted to scream but couldn't find my voice.

Something moved beside me and I flinched and quickly looked that direction, eyes wide and afraid. "She's gone." A girl said to me. Her short curly hair flopped a bit when she moved. She was half covered by the blankets which would be a good explanation for why I missed her in my scan of the room.

I shook my head in both fear and disbelief. "She can't be gone. What do you mean?"

The girl closed her eyes. "I was like you once. We all were."

We?

She notices my silent question and nods toward the other beds in the room. Yes, other girls sat in the same fetal positions beneath the covers. One girl sat much like Cynthia had, curled up and wide-eyed. Another sat unmoving, unblinking and I wished I could be gone, too. Mentally, at least. I want to be more worried about Cynthia. I want to do something about it, but I can't seem to move. What would I do once I get there, anyway? I don't even know what I'm dealing with. I look to the girl beside me.

"What's your name?" I ask her. The girl narrows her eyes and then thinks it over.

"Karis" she finally says. Karis...

I taste the word on my tongue. "Mine is—" I said but she interrupted me.

I give her a confused look and she whispers to me, "be careful who you say your name to. Choose a fake one. Please." Her eyes plead with me, but I don't see the big deal. She seems to see my way of thinking, so she explains "names are powerful here. You don't want the Shadow Man finding out yours."

"Who's the Shadow Man? Am I stuck in some horror book or something? My life was normal before this happened. How do I get out?" Karis closed her eyes and sighed. Then she stopped breathing and I felt suddenly alarmed. "Karis? Are you okay?"

She shushes me. "I'm trying to concentrate."

Concentrate on what exactly? I thought. I don't get an answer. I don't hear sound from anyone or anywhere. I want to know what is going on and I want to know what happened to Cynthia. I want to know what happened to me at school. What even happened at school? That monster in the vault, right? Then that screech. The burst of something that threw me backwards. Then in the lunchroom. I was so happy. What made it go so wrong? Was it Jace? Could Jace be behind all of this? If so, how? Was I kidnapped?

This is madness. Oh no. What about Alissa, mom, dad, Ashlyn, Skylar, Christiana, Nicolai, and what about my step father whom nobody likes? And my other step siblings I don't live with? What happened to them? Are they alright?

Why couldn't I hear anyone breathing? I expected my pulse to pick up in my panic but couldn't feel it. I felt my neck and nothing. My wrist. Nothing. I closed my eyes, breathed deeply and realized the air seemed to go straight through me. I choked on air.

I sat there on a stupid unknown bed and choked on air. I was still choking but then someone from above hit me in the face and I stopped. It was another girl. What was her name?

She reminded me of Christiana. Long, straight brown hair. No, not brown. It was blonde. Her eyes shone a fiery golden and I was entranced by it. Then her anger at me clicked and she raised her perfect upside down brows. That's when I realized she was hanging from the top bunk. She rolled her eyes—which looked strange from down here—and told me "oh get up here, newbie. I'm gonna teach you some things". She sounded southern, but I followed her up the ladder and onto the bed. Here, I could see the other top bunk and quickly realized it was empty.

"That's yours, hun. We all got one. We are all sweet, sweet desserts, so we all get our own bed! Isn't that just nice?" She sincerely looked like she really believed what she was saying. I enjoyed the fact that she could smile in such a situation and I smiled back at her. She seemed very pleased at this. "Have I met someone who thinks like I do?" She put her hand over her mouth and giggled. She seems kind of like a lunatic, actually.

I still smile at her, though it's quite a nervous one.

"Well, I don't really know what's going on." My voice gets a bit quiet. "My friend was just kidnapped by whatever is in that hallway."

She laughed: "oh that's sweet, darling! Your friend is just fine. In fact, she is having the T O H L!"

"TOHL?" I ask, suddenly much more confused now than before.

"No, honey. It's means time of her life. I must admit, the first time I was chosen, it was madly terrifying, but once you get the hang of it, it's VERY pleasurable. He likes it better when they're easy to entrance and it's niiiice."

"What's your name?" I ask her, noting to myself that she has got to be crazy.

With no hesitation, she said "Oh, girl, so sweet, my name is Sophia Elizabeth... well I forget the last one, but honestly, it doesn't matter! Call me Sofe!" She reaches out her hand and I accept it, glad to have a friend, but still upset that she is a possible wacko. I don't know any sane person who would ever call this pleasurable.

She raises an expectant eyebrow and I realized she's waiting on my name. I decide to give her my middle name just in case Karis was right about something and I won't have to lie to Sophia because she seems nice enough. It just seems like she's been here far too long and it's affecting her sanity.

I reach my hand out to her and introduce myself. "My name is Natsu!" She smiles wide.

"What an interesting name? Is it Chinese?" I shake my head.

"It's Japanese. It means summer." I remember my mom telling me that the first time I ever smiled; it reminded her of the sun smiling down on her. Then again, she is genetically programmed to love me, so what else could I expect?

"Are you Japanese?" Sofe asks me. "You don't look it."

"No, I'm not. My mom just liked it." I failed to mention the whole smiling thing to Sofe because I didn't think it was her business anyway. "When will Cynthia return?" I ask her as politely as I can.

Sofe's face gleamed. "I hope she doesn't return at all. She cried too much. She's not going to last very long, anyway, and she doesn't want to be my friend. Such a bummer." Sofe let out a small, happy sigh then looks at me and realizes her mistake. "Oh, I'm sorry. Usually, they return from ten minutes to an hour. If you think like Karis, it's better to get as little time as possible, but me... Well, I want to be with him every second of every day. He's truly amazing. Gorgeous head of hair, too, so nice to run my fingers through." Her eyes seemed to drift off as she spoke and spoke about the Shadow Man, but I couldn't seem to shake the feeling that she was being manipulated somehow. Who is this Shadow Man?

"Hey." I say, interrupting her. It doesn't seem to bother her. "Who is the Shadow Man exactly?"

She frowns and says, "he's amazing". She looks at me as if I had just grown wings and flown away. I nod solemnly and am about to go down the ladder when she touches my hand. "So how close are you with your Shadow?" I freeze.

"My... what?" I'm not sure what else to say to that except; "it's attached to me and whenever a light shines on me, it appears." I frown, not sure what else she was expecting from me.

"No, silly. I mean the one that's connected to you." I smile nervously, trying to lighten the mood. Yeah, definitely a wacko. I just shrug at her and scuttle down the ladder. I want to walk to one of the other two girls but they seem to either be in the same state as Cynthia was or not moving at all. Just... staring off. I sit next to Karis and close my eyes to attempt sleep.

I wonder how I can escape this place. Obviously not through the doors. If I go out there, I just fall and then somehow am returned to this room again. The only way out is through the darkness. Can I do it? Can I walk through that dark wall and find somewhere to escape to?

Sava.

I hear that same voice I heard in the high school. It sounded important. A whisper, yet an echo as if whatever was being said needed to be heard. A small voice that takes up an infinite amount of space. A voice only I seem to be able to hear.

Sava. It repeated. My body flashes with heat and I wonder what has just passed through me. Probably just a hot flash. But what's a Sava?

"If you're trying to sleep, you won't be able to." Karis says beside me.

"Why is that?" I reply dryly.

She keeps her eyes closed and her body relaxed. "You're dead. The dead never sleep."

I scoff. "I'm not dead. I've been kidnapped." Yet a part of me believes her words are true.

"We all have gifts here." Karis continues.

"Gifts?" I reply. "What kind of gifts?"

She turns her head to look at me, serious. "I can steal memories. I've stolen memories from each girl who's ever been to this room. It makes me stronger so when the Shadow Man feeds from me, I'm not so affected by it. I also guide new people. You see the girl who isn't moving?" I nod and look at her. She's got light brown skin and dark eyes. Her cheekbones are narrow and she has a sharp nose. Her lips are small, and slightly parted as if she were only sleeping. But she didn't breathe. I nod to Karis.

"Her soul will be completely devoured by the Shadow Man if she goes to him one more time. I'm going to take her memories away. She won't know why she's suffering and she will have no regrets. And I will have learned a lot from her life and will be able to pass on the information to newcomers like you. Cynthia was too afraid. She never spoke." Her eyes glanced at her fingernails and I glanced forward. Her eyes were open now and, for that, I was glad. It was scary how quiet and alone I felt even with her speaking and having these girls here. Everything just felt so morbid and just wrong.

"Cynthia is the only friend I could ever count on." I muttered. Karis's head snapped to attention and she blurted something to me that I wish she truly hadn't.

"She WAS the only friend you could ever count on. Now you have no one. Cynthia will be gone soon. She's not conjoined with any Shadow. She has no hope of survival. She has only a small remnant of power and it's nothing special. Historic Touch." Karis sneers. "Useless. We didn't get any luck getting her. She's a nice treat for the basic shadows. She's got a nice body and that's all they really want." I want to scream and cry and tell this girl that she will live. I'll help her. Whenever she gets back. If she gets back. No, she will get back.

You WILL be mine. I jump on the bed and Karis let's out a hiss. Sofe giggles a "hey, no jumping, we'll get in trouble. Let's not make him mad, okay?" And I'm so alarmed by that demanding voice that it sends chills up my spine. I feel the space where my heart would usually be go cold and it spreads through my limbs. I can't control my body suddenly, and I'm getting up off the bottom bunk and am walking quickly towards the wall of dark etching itself into my very soul.

We have got to go. A trembling female voice tells me in my mind.

Go? Go where?

Escape. We can't be here. HE is here.

He? Who's he? This time I hear no reply.

I hear Karis behind me, alarmed, and she grabs my arm, pulling me backwards. I shove her backward and she slams straight into the wall.

I want to apologize to her, to say I'm sorry, but I can't control anything. I can only see what is happening through my own eyes while never actually moving my limbs myself.

I feel the moment my body touches the wall and it's absolutely electrifying. I felt like every hair on every piece of skin stood on end and not even half a second went by and I was on the other side. The walls were very much the same, but I wasn't given enough time to look at my surroundings before my legs bounded off again through so many hallways and doors that I'm sure I would never find my way back.

I try to at least blink but even that small movement didn't work. I was at a loss here, my body moving forward before my mind could even think. Was this the conjoined shadow Karis was talking about in there? And what was this about gifts? How much time had even gone by? A few minutes, perhaps.

But in that room? How much? A few hours? A few minutes? A few seconds? What about Cynthia? I can't leave without her! No! I need Cynthia. I felt a tug in my mind pulling me in the direction of the exit and I pulled it as hard as I could. I needed to go back for Cynthia. If Karis is right, then she won't survive long without me. She may not even survive long with me, so I have to get her out of there. I have to. I'm her friend. I'm her family!

I take a deep breath, finally able to control my composure. Then I choke. And continue choking on air.

Stop choking, you idiot! I never felt happier that my normal, logical, and more snarky second voice was back. I was able to stop choking by not breathing at all. I realized then that I didn't need to. Does this really mean I'm dead?

But then how was I able to choke on air at all?

"It's instinct, my child." A voice says against my ear. My spine jolts and I feel as though my fear is painted on my skin.

I hadn't even noticed I was just standing in an empty hallway, let alone noticed someone walk up to me.

I hear a long sniff inward. "My, you do smell divine." I feel hair touch my neck as he leans in. Or is that my hair? I didn't know, but suddenly my body was pressed against the wall and his hands were on my hips.

I gasped. It had happened so quickly, I had only felt the pain of slamming into the wall and barely seen anything at all.

I felt his face in my neck and he smelled me again. I felt dizzy. From the rush to the wall? A good chance that was the reason, yes.

"What's your name?" The mystery dude asked. I couldn't think straight at the moment, but I was able to answer "Natsu." Then my back was to the wall and I could clearly see the face of the person behind me. Well, in front of me. He didn't touch me any longer. It made me very glad because that was awful and I never want him to touch me again. It felt so invasive and private. No. Just please, no.

Then again, I'm his captive and I have no control as of now. Without touching me, the man came closer to me. This close, I could see his eyes. They were a light gray color and his pupils glistened. His frame leaned more on the lean side and I could tell his hair had only just been cut. It was a crazy silver color. When I say crazy, I mean his hair was everywhere and it would explain why I felt so much hair when he leaned in and possibly mistook it for mine.

"What's your real name?" He whispered dangerously close to my lips. Too close. Oh god, no. I wanted to barf.

My answer was the same. He tried the name on his tongue and looked at me for any reaction at all.

When he got none, he gripped my chin and turned my face to one side then to the next.

"Ah. You're completely conjoined. Now that is a rare sight to see. Yet I sense familiarity in you, but I'm not quite sure why." I closed my eyes, not wanting to look into his eyes anymore. They seemed only cold and hungry to me.

"Look at me." He commanded. I didn't fight him. I looked at him. Just not his eyes. One of his hands was gently placed on the wall beside my head and it was oddly threatening. I glanced at it warily, wondering what the heck he planned on doing with it. "Higher." I looked at his forehead. "That's annoying, little girl. You do not want to anger me." At my wide-eyed expression, he placed his finger over my mouth. I looked straight into his eyes. He smiled then, a malicious one. His hand beside my head reached back and he slammed it into my chest. This would usually knock the breath out of me, but considering I wasn't breathing, it only managed to make me jump. I felt a dull pain in my chest and I saw the man in front of me flinch.

He glanced at me, surprised and curious. I felt wary looking at him and grabbed the courage to rub the now-sore spot on my chest.

"Congratulations, little pet. You've earned yourself a question." I gave him a confused face and a part of his mouth lifted into a smirk. A dimple formed on the very same side. I found that oddly attractive which is horrible. This man is horrible. Awful. Disgusting. And I don't even know who he is.

"For what?" I ask and his smile disappears.

"Well, that was a disappointing question. The answer is you've surprised me and I haven't had that pleasure in quite a while. That is why. Now, off you go to room 13, little one." I wanted to know who this guy was. I wanted to know where Cynthia was. I wanted to know why this man had acted so strangely. Aren't I his victim and he the kidnapper? Why wouldn't he punish me for it? Why would he even try to allow me to go to my room on my own, knowing full well I had attempted an escape?

It seemed that as many questions I had gotten an answer to, each answer led to more questions that also needed to be answered and then explained. It was a never-ending cycle.

I just want to go back to school! I want Cynthia and I to go back to the way things used to be! Heck, I would be alright with being around Jace. I'm sure Cynthia will have realized he is horrible for her then her and I could be best friends for the rest of our lives, forever connected by blood.

But no. That can't be how it is. I didn't know when I would see this guy again, but if names are so powerful, I'd want to know his before either of us left.

He was about to walk away when he stopped, and turned slowly back to me. "Ask it," he whispered, as if begging me to.

"What's your name?" I ask. He smiles a wicked grin and lays both his hands beside my head, enjoying tormenting me with his presence. How he had gotten so close so quickly, I have no idea.

He leans down and whispers to me, "I am the Shadow Man."

I start choking on air again and all I can hear is his laughter as he walks away.

I blink and I've returned to where it all began and I first appeared, thinking only of the way his eyes seemed to shine as he smiled that evil grin.