/ ABBY /"Who the hell are you?" the man asked, staring at us with a very annoyed look on his face. He looked like he had just woken up with his ruffled hair and drooping eyes.Shade cleared her throat. "Uhm, you may not know us but we're here to ask for your help," she explained."I think you got the wrong person!" He snapped and started closing the door."No, no, no... Wait!" Shade stopped him and pulled something from her pocket. "I got something."It was a necklace, but not too fancy to be called a piece of jewellery. A charm, maybe. And she raised just at the man's eye level."You know about this, right?" Shade asked again, showing the man the object and letting him study it for a while.He seemed to know about it because his eyes narrowed. "Why do you have something like that?" He asked, getting curious now. "Because a friend of ours is one of you and he needs your help," Shade replied, trying to smile and convince the man.He debated against himself for a moment before he fi
/ ABBY /"Are you seriously going to pay him?" I asked Shade as we got back into her car. "Yeah," she replied nonchalantly, starting the car up and pulling into the driveway."How much?" I asked again, not sure if I would agree with this one."Not for you to worry about, girl. Let's just get back and tell Elvon about him," she told me as drove our car back to our apartment."What if he's not the one we're looking for?" Genebeth asked, leaving over from the back seat to get closer to us."Then we'll keep looking," Shade answered. We got back to the apartment and rushed upstairs to the rooftop.We found Lylion sitting on a bench by the floor, eyes closed and snoring."Lylion!" Genebeth called out to his surprise. He stood up and alerted himself."What's the matter?" He asked, his hands already on his sword, probably thinking we were in danger."Where's Elvon? We found the man in his dreams!" Shade muttered out loud."He's inside," Lylion replied and opened the door for us.Elvon was
/ ABBY /The car slowed down as we drove back to the blue house by the river. We took it as a chance to listen to what excuse Shade had to say."I stole some money from my parents and ran away from home," she explained to us. I could sense the desperation in her voice. There was also a look of disappointment on her face.Now it made sense where she got all that money. There was no way someone like Shade, a student without even a job, could pay for all our living expenses. There was no way.Genebeth gasped and we both went silent. "Oh my God, Shade," Genebeth muttered, reaching a hand to Shade's shoulder to empathize with her. "No big deal, I've done it a few times before, they always let me come back," she added, trying to be nonchalant about it but I could sense her worry. "Yeah, you're right. Probably this time, they're going to abandon me. I stole a lot. Like a lot. Enough to sustain my independence, including the bail money I got Adam and Zhask out of prison, and yeah, the money
/ ABBY /"You're taking me to where?" the man asked, clearly confused about what madness we just brought him into."To our apartment. To meet our friend," Shade replied, trying to convince him to come.We were standing just outside his house, making a deal with a man who possibly had no idea what he was about to do. "I guess this is too quick for you, isn't it?" Genebeth muttered beside me. "Why don't we introduce ourselves first? I'm Genebeth, for a start."Genebeth nudged at me, urging me to say something. "I'm Abby," I said, extending my hand to him."And I'm Shade. You are?"The man shook my hand first, "I'm Mark."Then he shook Genebeth's and Shade's after."Done with the introductions. Let's get to the point now," Shade said, pulling out her wallet. "Here take it. It's all yours.""I can't possibly...""Just take it," Shade cut him off. "Take it and get in the car. We won't ask you anything more."Mark took the wallet and his eyes widened upon seeing how much money was inside.
/ ABBY /Elvon and Mark gathered weird stuff in the kitchen. Stuff we barely recognized, some of them were amulets, pearls, potions, and other witchcraft stuff. The scent of smoke was heavier than usual and the whole room just felt so weird and dark and moist.We sat in the living room for ours, just letting them do whatever thing they were doing and just waiting until something would happen. So far, nothing happened yet and we were bored to death.It was already evening and we were starving. We couldn't cook our meals there because they had transformed the kitchen into some sort of magical room or whatever. So Genebeth decided to just eat outside.We didn't want to disturb the two magicians in there so we left them behind, promising we'd come back with food later. There was a small fast-food restaurant down there near the apartment building and we all went there to eat. They served us some chicken and some soup and ramen. I didn't realize I was hungry when I finally tasted food."S
/ ABBY / It took me a few minutes to recover from the impact. I bit off my shirt and tore some fabric to wrap around my wound.Things were all over the place in the kitchen. All that stuff Elvon owned was scattered on the floor, it felt like an earthquake happened.But there was no earthquake. I looked around and found a glowing and pulsing white light where the counter once was.I saw Genebeth standing up, gushes on her face as well, as she shook off dust and broken shards of wood and glass off her.Mark and Elvon were in the corner, all over each other, struggling to stand up. Mark was still holding a piece of chicken in his hands, his face looked like he had seen a ghost."What the hell was that!" he yelled in panic.Elvon finally gathered his strength and stared at the white glowing light in the corner. It looked exactly like the light I had seen back in the woods when I first met Zhask. "It can't be...." I muttered and stared in wonder."It seems like someone has opened a porta
/ ABBY /The woman who saved Zhask and me took us both to her house a little further away from where she found us.She treated our wounds and gave us water and a proper meal. She even gave me clothes to wear and made Zhask lay down on one of their beds to rest.Her house was small but it was spacious, with big windows which remained open for the rest of the day. It was located in what seemed to be a small village with people whose main source of food was farming. The village was surrounded by fields of crops and small green hills, and little streams. It reminded me of the island where Adam and I used to live, except this village was even more traditional than that place. There was no car, no technology, nothing that the modern human world ever owned. Or maybe we were just too far from the mainland?The portal had sucked us up and brought us out into the open field near a river. That's where the little kid found us. Now, I had to adjust my state of being before I could decide what to d
/ ZHASK /It was the night of the Blood Moon again, the night we held our blood hunting ceremony that takes place every once in a year during a full red moon.It was this time of the year where us, werewolves of the Eastern Werewolf Kingdom felt our strength to its extent. We would rip our clothes and run across the forest of the Great Woodlands in our wolf forms, feeling so high as we jumped over rocks and rivers and bushes and fallen trees chasing our prey. We would howl on top of hills as the light of the red moon shone upon us and got reflected in our shiny furs.It was a good evening to be a werewolf. Unluckily for me, I had to skip the ceremony because, for some unknown reason, my father, the current Alpha King of our kingdom, had fallen ill and I had to stay by his side. Being the Crown Alpha Prince and the only child, it’s customary to be present in times like these to fulfil my duty as the next in line to the throne. But I had to be there as his son, because for all I know, i
/ ABBY /The woman who saved Zhask and me took us both to her house a little further away from where she found us.She treated our wounds and gave us water and a proper meal. She even gave me clothes to wear and made Zhask lay down on one of their beds to rest.Her house was small but it was spacious, with big windows which remained open for the rest of the day. It was located in what seemed to be a small village with people whose main source of food was farming. The village was surrounded by fields of crops and small green hills, and little streams. It reminded me of the island where Adam and I used to live, except this village was even more traditional than that place. There was no car, no technology, nothing that the modern human world ever owned. Or maybe we were just too far from the mainland?The portal had sucked us up and brought us out into the open field near a river. That's where the little kid found us. Now, I had to adjust my state of being before I could decide what to d
/ ABBY / It took me a few minutes to recover from the impact. I bit off my shirt and tore some fabric to wrap around my wound.Things were all over the place in the kitchen. All that stuff Elvon owned was scattered on the floor, it felt like an earthquake happened.But there was no earthquake. I looked around and found a glowing and pulsing white light where the counter once was.I saw Genebeth standing up, gushes on her face as well, as she shook off dust and broken shards of wood and glass off her.Mark and Elvon were in the corner, all over each other, struggling to stand up. Mark was still holding a piece of chicken in his hands, his face looked like he had seen a ghost."What the hell was that!" he yelled in panic.Elvon finally gathered his strength and stared at the white glowing light in the corner. It looked exactly like the light I had seen back in the woods when I first met Zhask. "It can't be...." I muttered and stared in wonder."It seems like someone has opened a porta
/ ABBY /Elvon and Mark gathered weird stuff in the kitchen. Stuff we barely recognized, some of them were amulets, pearls, potions, and other witchcraft stuff. The scent of smoke was heavier than usual and the whole room just felt so weird and dark and moist.We sat in the living room for ours, just letting them do whatever thing they were doing and just waiting until something would happen. So far, nothing happened yet and we were bored to death.It was already evening and we were starving. We couldn't cook our meals there because they had transformed the kitchen into some sort of magical room or whatever. So Genebeth decided to just eat outside.We didn't want to disturb the two magicians in there so we left them behind, promising we'd come back with food later. There was a small fast-food restaurant down there near the apartment building and we all went there to eat. They served us some chicken and some soup and ramen. I didn't realize I was hungry when I finally tasted food."S
/ ABBY /"You're taking me to where?" the man asked, clearly confused about what madness we just brought him into."To our apartment. To meet our friend," Shade replied, trying to convince him to come.We were standing just outside his house, making a deal with a man who possibly had no idea what he was about to do. "I guess this is too quick for you, isn't it?" Genebeth muttered beside me. "Why don't we introduce ourselves first? I'm Genebeth, for a start."Genebeth nudged at me, urging me to say something. "I'm Abby," I said, extending my hand to him."And I'm Shade. You are?"The man shook my hand first, "I'm Mark."Then he shook Genebeth's and Shade's after."Done with the introductions. Let's get to the point now," Shade said, pulling out her wallet. "Here take it. It's all yours.""I can't possibly...""Just take it," Shade cut him off. "Take it and get in the car. We won't ask you anything more."Mark took the wallet and his eyes widened upon seeing how much money was inside.
/ ABBY /The car slowed down as we drove back to the blue house by the river. We took it as a chance to listen to what excuse Shade had to say."I stole some money from my parents and ran away from home," she explained to us. I could sense the desperation in her voice. There was also a look of disappointment on her face.Now it made sense where she got all that money. There was no way someone like Shade, a student without even a job, could pay for all our living expenses. There was no way.Genebeth gasped and we both went silent. "Oh my God, Shade," Genebeth muttered, reaching a hand to Shade's shoulder to empathize with her. "No big deal, I've done it a few times before, they always let me come back," she added, trying to be nonchalant about it but I could sense her worry. "Yeah, you're right. Probably this time, they're going to abandon me. I stole a lot. Like a lot. Enough to sustain my independence, including the bail money I got Adam and Zhask out of prison, and yeah, the money
/ ABBY /"Are you seriously going to pay him?" I asked Shade as we got back into her car. "Yeah," she replied nonchalantly, starting the car up and pulling into the driveway."How much?" I asked again, not sure if I would agree with this one."Not for you to worry about, girl. Let's just get back and tell Elvon about him," she told me as drove our car back to our apartment."What if he's not the one we're looking for?" Genebeth asked, leaving over from the back seat to get closer to us."Then we'll keep looking," Shade answered. We got back to the apartment and rushed upstairs to the rooftop.We found Lylion sitting on a bench by the floor, eyes closed and snoring."Lylion!" Genebeth called out to his surprise. He stood up and alerted himself."What's the matter?" He asked, his hands already on his sword, probably thinking we were in danger."Where's Elvon? We found the man in his dreams!" Shade muttered out loud."He's inside," Lylion replied and opened the door for us.Elvon was
/ ABBY /"Who the hell are you?" the man asked, staring at us with a very annoyed look on his face. He looked like he had just woken up with his ruffled hair and drooping eyes.Shade cleared her throat. "Uhm, you may not know us but we're here to ask for your help," she explained."I think you got the wrong person!" He snapped and started closing the door."No, no, no... Wait!" Shade stopped him and pulled something from her pocket. "I got something."It was a necklace, but not too fancy to be called a piece of jewellery. A charm, maybe. And she raised just at the man's eye level."You know about this, right?" Shade asked again, showing the man the object and letting him study it for a while.He seemed to know about it because his eyes narrowed. "Why do you have something like that?" He asked, getting curious now. "Because a friend of ours is one of you and he needs your help," Shade replied, trying to smile and convince the man.He debated against himself for a moment before he fi
/ ABBY /After I met Zhask, I went to visit my adoptive parents with Genebeth and Shade. They were worried sick about me but I told them I was fine. I explained to them what happened, but it was more kind of a lie as I left out a few important details. I didn't want them to worry about me."Mom, Dad, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I didn't want you all to worry. I was trying to recover my memories and I went with someone without saying goodbye. Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm so close now but I need you to understand that there's always a hole in me that can only be filled once I figured out who I was before you found me four years ago, and I'm not going to stop until I remembered everything. Not when I'm already so close."Mom hugged me and carressed my back. "I understand, sweetie. It's your life. Your father and I knew this would happen but we're always ready to let you go. Thank you for being the daughter we never thought we could have again. Thank you for being Abby. We never
/ ABBY /We arrived at the mainland at six in the morning, just in time before the folks in town woke up. We returned the yacht to its original place in the port, and Shade welcomed us with warm hugs.I hugged her back, and we were crying. "I thought we'd never find you," she whispered to me."I never thought I'd see you all too," I replied, wiping my tears. "You're safe now, Abby. You're home," she told me and hugged me again.She paid our driver and told him not to speak anything about her elusive act last night or her parents would definitely ground her again or worse, send her out of the country for school."I guess that concludes our mission for the day," Genebeth declared. "Now let's go get some food. I'm starving.""Yup, let's go," Shade added, ready to walk towards her car which was waiting for us across the road.But I stopped her. "Uhmmm. I want to see Zhask first. Can you take me to him?" I pleaded desperately.Shade looked at me and understood how I felt. "Okay, hop in!"