Chapter 1: Life
As I peered out the window of the restaurant during my shift, I realized it would be a long walk home. It was raining buckets, maybe I should call a cab I think to myself. I immediately changed my mind as the rain lightens up to a drizzle just as I am about to get off. I walk out of work at ten at night and it's pitch black except for the few street lights that actually work, I had four blocks to walk. The rain was soft ,it dropped in a rhythmic way, making a symphony as it hit the ground. I love the rain, I always have. I smile and play with my necklace as I walk. It’s an old gold key on a long gold chain. My grandmother had given it to me when I turned three. I almost never take it off. It’s my most prized possession. I don’t need expensive things, just objects with love behind them.
    As I got close to my apartment building I began planning out which homework to do first. Psychology, sociology, criminal intent, english law, spanish, there was too much for me to even make a plan. I swiped my card and entered the dim lit building lobby, as always some drunk old ladies sitting down on the couch talking about the good old days. I smiled and offered to help them to their rooms, they respectfully declined. I walked quickly to the elevator, I was ready to be home and alone. When the elevator opened Mr.Grungy stood inside. He is an elderly man in his early nineties, he has a full head of gray hair and the most kind blue eyes I have ever seen, but he’s a complete fruitcake. He is constantly rambling about some far off place, that he refers to as an alternate dimension, the poor man is lucky they haven’t stuck him in a looney bin. His doctor says it was just a dream he had but Mr.Grungy is convinced it actually happened.
    He smiled at me and said “What are you doing out so late Angelus? Its not good for a pretty lady like you to roam the streets alone at this hour.” Mr. Grungy doesn’t realize that I do it all the time. I shake my head and step into the elevator while responding as I would to an overbearing parent “I was out with a boy.” I pressed the button for floor seven and watched the door close. Mr.Grungy was staring at me in disapproval. I laughed and turned to him as I say “I was at work, I get the best tips this time of day as well as the dinner rush, so I make good money.” He grinned at me and crackled out “I knew you were too smart for any of the boys around here.” The elevator doors opened I walked out and turned back to Mr.Grungy and laughed “Goodnight, Mr.Grungy, have a good evening.” He smiled and said “The pleasure is all mine darling, goodnight.”
    As I walk down the hall to my room, I get a chill. Something just doesn’t feel right tonight. Everything seems so dark and cold. As I walk into my apartment, I flip on the lights, I’m getting a very eerie vibe from the dark tonight. I settled down in my small living room on the couch and prepared myself to do homework. But first I pulled my phone out of my pocket and texted my friend Vic from work and told her I made it home okay. Vic is about twenty years older than me in her mid forties and treats me like her daughter, which I appreciate since I never really had a mother.
    My mother had left my father, Carter, all alone to raise me and headed to the west coast right after my first birthday. I’ve always felt somewhat slighted by this, growing up without a mom was hard. It made it even harder since I was a girl, and boys don’t know anything about hair or how to dress a girl. I owe a lot to my grandmother, Jane because of this, she practically lived with us until I was thirteen and could do my own basic hair dos, nails and makeup. She came to every school event I was in, took me dress shopping for all the school dances and visited me on a regular basis. Now that she’s getting older she doesn’t come to visit me, I go visit her. Now that she is eighty-two and I’m twenty-three, I’m just obviously more capable.
Chapter 2: The Lone
    It was bright when I opened my eyes, the light radiating from my window was illuminating my whole room. The sun shining in consumed me with warmth and motivated me to get up. I sat up and began getting ready for the day, I ate a small bagel for breakfast and took a long hot shower. Then I did my hair, threw on my favorite jeans and a loose t-shirt and prepared myself for class. I looked back over my spanish notes feeling that there was going to be a pop quiz, then skimmed back over the chapter of English Law I read the night before. I can feel it running through my veins, today was going to be a good day. I unplugged my phone from the charger, grabbed my bag and walked out the door.
    I’m almost to school when my phone begins ringing in my pocket. I pull it out quickly seeing that it's my father, we don’t talk often because of a lot of things from my childhood. I answered knowing it must be important. His voice came thru the phone solemnly and I could tell he was upset. He said “Angel, it’s about your grandmother.” My heart instantly sank. “I know you’re mad at me but please listen. She passed away through the night. She didn’t want a funeral and I’m going to honor her wishes, the reading of her will is today at three. Can you be at her house then?” I was crushed and could feel the tears draining out of my eyes like waterfalls, I steadied my breathing just enough and said “Yes, I’ll be there.” My father could tell I was upset, he tried to comfort me by sweetly saying “I know you guys were close and you still haven't forgiven me for taking you from her but all we have now is each other, can you at least let me explain? She loved you more than life itself Angelus, I’m sorry I pulled you away.” I wiped a tear from my cheek and carefully spoke “Carter, I know you’re sorry. You can explain after the will if you wish but I doubt it will change anything. Bye.”    
    I walked over to a shaded tree in the school yard and sat down. Memories came flooding back, leaving my mind turbid. My head was caught in a centrifuge of things my father had done, and all the times my grandmother and I were together. It was just too much. My thoughts circled in on one memory. The day my father took me from my grandmother’s home. Grandmother Jane was busy cleaning and tidying things up for a party, so I wandered around her house. It was enormous it had three floors and an attic and all kinds of fun places for a thirteen year old to explore. I wandered up into the attic and found myself elapsed in all of the old objects. There were music boxes, jewelry and paintings, portraits, statues, it was beautiful but very dim and dusty. I was admiring an ancient wooden box with swirled carvings on the side when out of no where my father was in the attic dragging me down the stairs.
My grandmother was yelling “She’s fine, Carter! She was just playing don’t you dare think you are going to take her from me.” My father got the most defensive and stern tone I have ever heard in my life and hollered “If you can’t watch her, I can’t trust you. I won’t have the same thing that happened to my wife happen to her. Are we clear mother? Angel will no longer be coming over here without me! It’s too dangerous.” My father pulled me out of the house and into the car, all the while I was crying and so was my grandmother. Once in the car he drove away full speed, I was still in shock but managed to ask “What do you mean like what happened to your wife? I thought mom left?” My father grimaced and frowned then spoke “She did, I’m worried that if something happens and you get hurt the state will take you away from me. I’m sorry but your grandmother is just getting too old to watch you alone.”
I opened my eyes, I could feel the sun even in the shade of the tree, the cool grass calmed my nerves. I looked at my phone and realized I’d fell asleep. It was two, I hurried myself off the ground and began to walk towards my grandmothers when out of nowhere a truck stopped in front of me. It was Carter, he rolled down the window and said “Do you want a ride? I know it's a beautiful day but it’s a long walk and I’m not sure you’ll get there in time.” I grimaced and reluctantly got into the car. Once inside Carter said “Thank you, I really appreciate this. I’m so sorry I took you away. I was just so worried something was going to happen. It seems foolish now, but at the time it seemed rational. I’m so sorry Angel.” I burst out in a mix of angry and mournful tears “Don’t call me Angel, that’s only for people who care about me. I know you’re sorry, I get it, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m upset. Okay?” My father was awestruck, he mumbled out “I do care about you, more than you’ll ever understand.” We sat in silence the rest of the car ride.
When we arrived at the house, it took everything I had not to burst into tears again. This is so painful, it feels like a piece of me is gone. It’s the worst! I take a few deep breaths and get out of the car. My father walks ahead of me and leads me into my Grandfather’s study. I never met my Grandfather, he died shortly before I was born. A lot of my family actually used me as a way to rouse my grandmother out of depression. My grandmother had told me so many stories about him, how they met, what kind of man he was. She told me how he cried when she had my father and how upset he was when he was drafted for the war, leaving his business in ruins. My grandmother loved him so much she made a habit of reminding me how he’d greet her everyday when he got home from work. He’d come up behind her, give her tight hug, kiss her on the cheek and tell her how much he loved her. I was always captivated by these tales, they made me believe in true love.
I took a seat in the plush elegant chair on the left, my father on the right, the attorney sat behind the desk. He was old, but still had black hair and his eyes proved that his soul had not aged with the rest of him. He looked at us and spoke softly with understanding “I’m sorry for your loss. Jane was a wonderful women. I’ve known her since I first became an attorney.” My father and I both smiled at him but he could tell we were obviously still grieving severely. He paused for only a moment then said “Her will is short and to the point, it reads as follows “Dearly Beloved, do not cry for me. I’ll see you again one day. I leave my husband's collection of baseball cards and model cars to my only son Carter, I leave everything else to greatly loved granddaughter Angelus, this includes my house, your grandfathers business and all of the vehicles. Do with it what you please, my little Angel. I love you both dearly, please forgive your father Angel, he loves you more than you’ll ever understand. Take care of yourselves, see you again, not too soon though.” I broke down, I could barely breathe.
The lawyer bid us both good day, and left once he handed me the papers of ownership. My father turned to me and said “Darling I think you should sell the house, you don’t have the right kind of job to afford it. I can have people auction the belongings as well if you please.” I glared at him. Then yelled “How dare you even consider such things! I am keeping the house the money made by the business will be enough to pay for the house. The belongings will stay, I’ll move some things around and make it my own but it's all staying.” He looked at me and pleaded “Angel please you don’t understand, it's dangerous here. Just once please trust me!” I looked him dead in the face and sternly said “No, I’m an adult I can make my own decisions.” My father spoke softly “Fine but don’t blame me when something goes wrong” and walked out of the house.
    I walked around the house, it was full of elegant and old things. I loved it, it was so graceful and beautiful. I walked up to the attic, looking around, I decided that I’d take some things from the attic and put them down stairs and move other things to the attic. As I reach the third floor, I decide to change some curtains and rugs, along with some furniture, just to make it my own. I climb up the ladder into the attic, it’s even more dusty than I remember. Everything is covered in a thick layer of dust. I play with the key on my necklace, and smile. I wander around just absorbing the history, when I come across that large brown box I was so fixated on as a child. I realize now that it's a trunk, but the engravings are just as detailed in little swirls as I remember. Its so beautiful but it's locked, I sigh wishing I had the key. Then I think maybe the one on my necklace, I take it off and stick the key into the hole and turn it. The chest clicks open. I feel a centrifuge of air and am sucked up as if it were a vacuum.
Chapter 3:  Things Change
I land on a hard surface, I look around sharply, looking for anything familiar. There’s nothing, the colors are so vibrant it looks like artificial trees and plants in the forest around me, they were all neon colors. My mind is boggled and I don’t understand, nothing on earth looks like this. I stand up carefully, cautious in case something were to jump up. I walk with soft footsteps all around looking for anyone who could tell me where I am. While scanning the area I come across what looks like a town. It’s a large group of buildings but everything was dark. The factories put out bubbles instead of smoke but the town looked like something out of a horror movie. The forest even with all the neon colors the eyes lurking were sinister beyond compare. As I walked into the town I received insidious glances from people crawling around like vicious dogs. I shrink away, so frightened by them.
I prepare to run incase one were to lurch out in an attempt to attack me. They don’t, they just stare as I continue walking. I am so focused on them, I don’t see the man walking toward me and run straight into him. I stumble backwards and onto the ground. The moment I fall the wild ones attack, one begins biting my leg while another grabs and pulls my hair. I scream in pain, another climbs on top of me and holds down my arms. My heart is pounding so loud, I feel even they can hear it. I yell in pain “Help, help me!” The man I ran into kicked them off and pulled me up into his arms. I feel the tears running down my face. I spaz, and ask “Who are you? Where am I? What were those?”
He looks down at me and for the first time, I see his face. He’s cute, he has honey blonde curly hair and gorgeous deep green eyes. His shoulders are broad and his smile is obvious, he finds me amusing. He laughs out “I’m Hyden. You are in Altaica and we call those pups. They’re people who have gone nuts with killing and have actually taken on a more dog like persona. Who are you? I’ve never seen you before. Where did you come from?”  Hyden is staring at me, I wonder if he is looking at my light red-brown hair and into my warm amber eyes, analyzing my confused features. I ask him still confused “Where exactly is Altaica? I’m Angelus, I’m from South Carolina.” He now looks as confused as I am. He sets me down on my feet and says “In tryic. That’s a peculiar name, everyone's names are supposed to start from D to I and K to Z.”
I frown “I guess I don’t fit then.” Hyden nods at me then softly says “I think I should take you to the council, they’ll be mad if I don’t.” I shake my head no then say “I just don’t understand. What council? I don’t know where I am, all I did was look in a box and now I’m here.” I break down crying, the stress is just too much. Hyden hugs me and rushes me into an ally then sternly says “I don’t know where you’re from or who you are but you have to calm down or else you’ll draw attention and trust me you don’t want to do that. This is a bad world, almost everyone is a killer or a rapist or a thief. All I know is you don’t want to have a run-in with any of them. I’m taking you to the council, they’ll know what to do.” He takes my hand and drags me through the streets.
Every corner we turn I watch intently trying to remember so I can find a way back but there’s just too many, it's like a maze. This continues until we come to a small building that looks like it's made for dwarves. It doesn’t even come up to my hip. I look at hayden and say “We’re not going in their are we?” He laughs “Yes actually we are. Don’t worry I’ll go in first and catch you.” I nod then say “What do you mean catch me?” He laughs opens the door and jumps inside. I hear a slight thump then a voice calling to me saying “Jump down, it’s safe I promise.” Every instinct I have tells me not to listen but despite that I take a deep breathe and slide through the door.
Before I even know it I’m falling, its pitch black, I am instantly scared. Then I land in Haydn's arms. He looks into my eyes and says “See that wasn’t so bad now was it?” I laugh and smartly say “No it was actually kind of fun.” He places me on my feet and says “Alright follow me, I can’t hold your hand in here. They don’t agree with any form of touching.” I look at him pleadingly “Okay” He gives me a look of reassurance and begins leading me down the dim lit long hall. We walk for what seems like an hour but I’m sure is nothing more than a few moments. Hyden turns abruptly and knocks on what looks like a wall but turns out to be a door. It pops out and I jump back shocked by the noise. Hyden steps inside and as I follow him the door slams back into place once we are inside and I jump yet again. The room is brightly lit, and inside I can see there are eight figures sitting at a bench but I can’t make them out yet.
As my eyes adjust I realize it’s four men and four women all elegantly dressed, obviously different from the rest of the town. They all gasped when they saw me. My heart is racing so much, I can hear it in my ears. They mumble amongst themselves then one man and one women stand up. The man orders me “Come to the podium, state your name. Hyden you stay back” I walk up in the most confident way I can. I say “Angelus Pettier”  The woman and looks at me and says “You’re not from here and you need to go back from where you came from. You came in the forest right?” I squeak out “If I knew how to get back I would’ve left already and yes.” The man turns to the others and says “Get Laine.”
Chapter 4: In the Dark
A women walks out of some unseen door and up to a seat on the bench. The woman in front of me says “Laine is this your kind?” She looks at me, she has dark hair and eyes, almost reminding me of myself. She gasped “Yes, actually that’s my daughter, Dia.” Dia is dark skinned with blonde hair which is was very odd to me. She looked at Laine and said “Good. We can send you both home now.” Laine smiled, ran down from the bench and hugged me tight. I pushed her off and said “Who are you?”
She frowned deeply “I’m your mother. I know you were young when I disappeared but I thought for sure that your father would’ve shown you pictures or something.” The council interrupted in unison saying “That’s enough! You are before us, the Keydom Council, therefore you will follow our rules! You can discuss these petty matters when you’re no longer is this hell that we call a world. Do we make ourselves clear?” I nodded wanting out of the conversation anyhow. The council all sat down, except for one girl, dark skinned, with orange hair, she looked indian besides her hair. Then she spoke “Laine if you leave who will lead, you know you’re niece is no fit although she has been begging for years.” Laine’s face twisted in thought  “Julia will rule, my niece Nia is just simply too naive therefore, Julia will take my place on the council. Not that we as a council actually help anything anyway, but a few find safety.”
The rest of the council sat with their jaws dropped until one man with light blonde hair and sky blue eyes said “Julia is smart but she is not tough enough for this job. You know this Laine, it will ruin her, take her innocence.” Laine instantly flashed back “Henry, I know it’s your daughter and you want her safe but she is more adequate for this job than I am, she understands how the whole world works. Julia is amazing. Let her shine, she may even return Keydom to some of its past glory.” Henry trembled with the thought then spoke “Alright, alright. You’re right but I just worry, what will happen when you leave? The magic that brought you here is strong. The amount of magic it will take to put you back will be even stronger.”
The group nodded and Dia spoke “We’ll all have to work together or contact Cistal.” The group erupted “We cannot do that.” “What on zagabo are you thinking?” “He is the most powerful sorcerer, but he cannot be trusted!” Dia raised her voice and spoke harsh “Not even all of us together have the power! You all know that! The only way to restore the order is to send them back, and that is exactly what we will do.” I glanced back at Hyden frightened, I could see it in his eyes he didn’t know what to think of any of this. Laine turn to Hyden and politely said “You can come up here Hyden, you’re a part of this too.” Hyden stepped carefully as if the floor will fall beneath him. When he reached the podium he said, “How does this involve me Laine? I was born here, I’m part of the order.” Laine laughed and I stared in awe. Then she said “Hyden you think I don’t see the way you look at her? I know you haven’t known her long and that makes you weary but I can feel the connection between the two of you. Hyden you’ve always hated this world, so if my daughter and I are going back, why don’t you just come with us?”
The council gasped loudly “Laine, what are you thinking?” Dia asked curiously. Laine spoke softly “I’m thinking why don’t you and all the sane people come back to my world. There’s plenty of room and then no one would be here in misery.” The council smiled. It was decided. Henry stood up and said “Fetch your families and all the sane you know, that goes for you Tyler and Jake, as well as you June.” They all stood up and began walking away to gather everyone up. Just as they went to exit Henry hollered  “Be back here in less than an hour. Laine begin summoning Cistal.” Laine nodded obediently and grabbed my arm pulling me into the center of this large intricately designed circle. Hyden followed. Laine gave him a death stare then roughly said “What do you think you’re doing? Go round up others!” Hyden lowered his head and slowly spoke “I have no one to round up. It’s just me. Besides I want to help you and Angelus.” Laine nodded telling him it was okay.
They intertwined hands around me and Laine softly said “Hyden repeat after me. Angelus….try not to scream.” I felt my eyes widen as I blurted out “Why Would I scream?” Hyden looked away ashamed and Laine said “Darling we need to attach to your soul and put it into distress so he will come. He only comes when someone’s soul is in deep desperation, he was made by an Angel.” I shrank back scared and bumped into Hyden, he released his hands from Laine’s, took me in his arms, looked me in the eyes and said “Angelus, I would never do anything to hurt you, but this is necessary for you to get home.” His green eyes gleamed at me and I melted in his arms. He smiled and said “Trust me, I’ll protect you.” I nooded and got back between them. Then Laine began speaking in a language foreign to me and I could feel something inside me get really tight, I felt like my heart was stuck inside the tube of a vacuum in space, I screamed. This process continued for what I am sure is almost an hour but feels like entire life times to me. I am about to pass out from the pain when a whirl of wind rushes into the room and manifests into a creature right in front of me.
I collapse to the floor as they release me from the magic and their arms. I finally open my eyes after a few moments and realize all of the others have returned. I can tell they are talking but I have no idea what is being said because of the cacophony ringing in my ears. Hyden came to me and helped me up, I can barely stand and I sway unstable. He holds me up until my ears stop ringing and I could stand on my own. I turn to him and quickly say,  “What did I miss?” He grimaces “Cistal doesn’t want to do it, he wants something in return. They’re negotiating right now, nothing for you and I to worry about.” I stare into his perfect green eyes and whisper “Thank you.” I kiss him gently. He smirks like a child afterwards and giggles “My pleasure.” Laine rushes over and says “We have to go now!” Hyden looks at her and says “What deal did you come to?” My mother glares at him “He gets to rule this place once we are gone.”
Chapter 5: Trunk
Laine grabs my arm and begins dragging me over to where all the others were standing, I clasp Hyden’s arm with my hand and lead him along ensuring he won’t get left behind. Once we are over there I get a much clearer look at Cistal, he’s older maybe thirty, he is beautiful, his face glows and his staff shines magnificently, his cloak around his shoulders is black, beneath it he is wearing a deep red shirt and black pants. He looks kind of dapper to me. Cistal directly said “This is a one time go, it will close the portal forever. Are you all ready?” He scanned his deep dark eyes over us and we each nodded and quick yes. He then swiftly turned his back to us and began mumbling something so low I couldn’t understand even if I would’ve known the peculiar language. Out of the wall emerges a large centrifuge of deep purple and bright green, it reminds me of ugly halloween tights. He turns to us as soon as the portal gets what I assume is fully open and says “Go now before it closes.” All of the council and their family and friends flood the opening. Laine runs in right after them, I look at Hyden in his leather jacket and black shirt with plain blue jeans and smile as he pulls me into the centrifuge of darkness with him.
The trip only lasted a few seconds but was beyond disorienting, we all ended up in the dim dusty attack right in front of the trunk. I slam the trunk tight and lock it immediately. They all look at me as if I am insane, I turn to them and say “I’m sorry, I just can’t risk that happening ever again. I’m going to burn the trunk in the fireplace.” I go to walk away and Laine stops me and softly says “How are we all going to fit in society now.” The others all turned to Laine nervously agreeing. I look at her and say “Don’t worry I’ve just inherited some money I’ll make sure you all fit in.” Hyden surprises me with a hug from the back and kisses my cheek. I gladly accept his arms, they provide a comfort that I’ve never experienced before. I glanced at them all and laughed slightly and said “As I said I’m going to burn this thing. Do any of you want to help?” Hyden picked it up and all of the others nodded. Hyden followed me down the stairs and each followed him one by one. When we arrived at the main living room Laine grabbed my arm and said “Angelus, I know I’ve been gone for a long, long time but I hope you’ll let me in your life and let me know what all I’ve missed.” I turned to her and said “Of course but I think there’s someone who can do that better than I can.” I hear a weird noise in the dining room and dash to the entrance swiftly to see who it is, I see it’s my father and relieved I say “Carter…. I mean dad, there’s some people I want you to meet, come in here.”
He enters the room and runs to Laine saying “You’re back! I’ve missed you so much, but how? You, you disappeared.” Laine kissed him and said “I’ll explain everything later but for now I just want to burn that trunk.” I walk to the fireplace carefully then slowly pull the lighter from my pocket. I freeze petrified of what will happen next. Hyden comes over pulling me into his arms sweetly and like flowing honey says “I’ll help you.” He grabs the lighter, the turns me around and kisses me passionately as he lights it. I notice and turn to watch as he lites it. Hyden lowers his hand and quickly lights the wood underneath and around the trunk.  My heart flutters as we all watch the beautiful colors until a large wind comes flying out of the trunk and with it come all these things from the other world. I scream at the top of my lungs “No! This cannot be happening!” The creatures all soar in over taking everything, Hyden, my parents and I run into the basement for cover. Once we close the door we find it is enchanted with magic and the creatures can't get in. Realizing we were trapped, I pull the key necklace my grandmother gave me out of my pocket and throw it across the basement all the while screaming “I hate this key and all the trouble it has caused.” I collapse to the ground in tears. After sitting in silence for hours, my parents fell asleep sitting together against a wall. Hyden finally came to me and reassuringly said “Don’t worry. We’ll survive this. Everything will be okay.” He takes me into his arms as we sink down to the ground against the cold concrete wall. All night we stared into each others eyes reassuring each other until we finally became exhausted. All the while in our own minds doubting it, knowing it would be almost impossible but that for each other we’d find a way to.