The day continued. But it seemed less colorful. The daisies seemed to droop, the trees were bare, the sky was grey. And Seirra's heartfelt empty. Well, of course, her heart couldn't feel anything. But I'm not talking literally. Her steps were heavy, and her thoughts were troubled.

Why would Mistress smile, as if she knew what I was feeling? It confused her. The smile was warm, as if full of understated, and the same longing look was on the Mistresses eyes. Her normally cold blue eyes were inviting. Her black hair glimmering with a warm halo, not a cold glare of one. But she gave up on thinking.

She kept walking along the street, not forgetting the errand Mistress Sharp had sent her on. Seirra needed to get cloth and soap. A new child had come, it was a sweet three years old named Tommy. Tom for short. He was a happy child, not a care in the world.

Sighing she entered the old clothing store. It had a musky smell to it, but it wasn't a bad smell. It reminded her of her old home, in Germany. A crooked open sign hung in the small window encased with bricks.

The store was small and not well lit. The clerk, Mr. Harrison was standing, his worn apron full of well-used supplies.

"Hello, Mr. Harrison!" Seirra tried to exclaim brightly.

A look of understating entered the old man's lukewarm brown eyes.

"Hello Seirra, thinking of home again?"

Tears started to fill up in the girl's eyes. "Yes, Sir." She tried to hold them back, but one soon strolled down her cheek.

"It's okay to cry. Anyhow, how else can I help you?" The tough-skinned man asked.

"I need four yards of your cotton fabric," Seirra said, nodding through the pain.

The man went to the cream-colored cloth and grabbed his favorite pair of scissors that were in his apron pocket. He cut exactly four yards. It took years of practice, which is what Mr. Harrison had, to cut such a neat line. He bagged the cloth and handed it to the auburn-haired girl.

"Thank you, Sir," Seirra spoke, it barely being a whisper.

"Of course Seirra! Have a great rest of your day!" He smiled.

She smiled back, not responding. As she left the old brick store, something opened up beneath her.

Black, then blue, then purple, pink, a creamy yellow, and then finally white. The colors enveloped her. There was nothing, and then stars. Then it came. The rushing blood to her face, the feeling of fire on her cheeks. Adrenaline, fear. Seirra wasn't sure. All she could feel was nothingness, and she liked this feeling. It wasn't a feeling as if she was falling, more like a feeling of slowly being carried to the ground on a blanket of satin, or silk.

The feeling was far away, but close. And Seirra basked in it.

Then it happened, the true feeling of falling. The gravity pulled her closer, and closer to the ground that seemed to come nearer. She was falling very fast with nothing to stop her from becoming a pancake on this new land. But then, as she reached the trees, a force seemed to pull her back, like a seatbelt.

Her head snapped back. All she could remember was being gently laid down on the soft, green grass.

❇❇❇

Seirra blinked, her head pounding with a headache. Fully opening her eyes, she took in her surroundings. Mountainous shapes were looming in the distance. Flower patches were all around her. Giant trees that weren't far away gave her the strength to stand up. Walking to them was like a water illusion in the desert. The closer she got, the farther away they seemed.

"OW!"

Seirra stumbled over in pain. She clutched her foot in pain. Looking down, she saw she had stepped on a long thorn. It had gone right through the thin soles of her shoe. Tearing a piece of her clean shirt, she tied it around the small wound. Then she put her shoe on. Not taking note that the ground was a reddish-purple color, like a maroon shade.

Seirra stood back up. Her face twisting in agony. The wound still felt as if a dull thorn was stabbing it. But she pushed forward. The pain was a small thing to worry about in her mind.

She continued to push forward. And when Seirra finally reached the trees, she was worn. She looked to the closest tree and opened her mouth in shock. The bark was rough enough to climb but smooth. Seirra then quickly realized the grass was softer than what was normally under her feet (her souls of her shoes are in shreds). Joyful tears were making her vision blurry. One word was repeating in her mind over and over again.

The pain was ceasing. All the hurt, mistrust, pain, and longing faded from Seirra's mind, because she, Seirra was in the place she wanted to be.

Kascia!

❇❇❇

Kaden was walking outside to get the mail when he realized Seirra hadn't returned. Shrugging it off, he opened up the rusty mailbox. Something like the force of a vacuum sucked first his hand, then the rest of him into the small box.

Black. The color of nothing or evil enveloped him.

Until he awoke that is. The sky shimmered like it was awake. The trees were tall above Kaden's head, a lively green against the purple and light blue sky.

Kaden, still in shock, stood there with his jaw open. It was so beautiful! The weirdly shaped and colored flowers. The bark on the tree-

That's it! Ho-how can this be real? I thought it was only a story. That Seirra was making it up! But no! Kascia was it? Yes, Kascia is really real!

Kaden shut his mouth is still in awe of this place. It was so, SO, big! And the stars were beautiful.

Watch out Kascia. Here I come!

❇❇❇

A dark shadow moved. Candlelight flickered. An evil overlord looked down.

"Asadior." He acknowledged.

"Lord Liveos." The smaller power, Asadior bowed.

"It has been a long time. Where have you been all these years?" The shadow asked.

"Nowhere your majesty. "

But the memories flashed in his mind. Stargazer selling him to a supposedly "better" prison. The floggings. The days he barely could survive. The only thing that kept his hope alive was the girl. The girl that had created this horrible world. The brown freckled girl, Seirra. If he ever laid eyes on her again.

She would deserve it. She had given him false hope once. But no more!

"Ah. Vengeance drives you, young one." The deep voice chuckled. "Well, evil is evil. No matter where it comes from. I'll take it."

The shadow's voice was deep but welcoming in a very twisted way. The shadow Lord had a cloak seemingly made of the shadows themselves. His face was hidden, part of the shadows that clothed him.

"Of course. I'd rather be the hunter than the prey." Asadior looked up to Liveos. "I'm a beating heart of stone. The only thing I care about is death." Asadior grinned.

"To make it here, you must be cold." Liveos hissed. He screeched, then disappeared into a whip of smoke.

Asadior laughed, a crazed look glazing over his eyes. He was a threat now, and Seirra would have to come to him. And once she came.

Oh, that's when the game truly begins...

No light could reach him. He was too far gone. Darkness was now familiar. His home was here, among people who couldn't be trusted.

How wrong Seirra had been, that one time, that seemed like decades ago, when she told him he could change. The day she seemed like a friend. Not the creator of this nightmare he had lived through.

Now he was an alpha. And he was going to run through the dark side, just to get his pack. He didn't care what the cost was. He already lost everything he loved. Libbi, and Kuma, although it was his fault.

Just thinking of them brought him to his knees. He lived to regret every moment of their death. The pain was almost to hard to bear.

What kind of monster kills his own family?

Asadior grimaced as the thought hit him.

Monster.

Monster.

MONSTER.

The word had grown in his mind until he decided to believe it, he learned to lean into the pain. Somehow he found comfort in it.

❇❇❇

Kaden continued to walk around, marveling at all the sights. Basking in the beautiful light from the sky above. Finding a small pool, he chuckled.

How much cooler could it get?!

The pond was aqua colored. But not just a solid color, it was marbled, a hint of light blue in the squiggle lines of the marble.

Kaden found a smooth stone, turning it over in his hand, he skipped it across the oddly colored pool. The marbled water rippled, but then, changed to a purple and pink.

He kept skipping rocks until he grew bored of it. Not too far away, there was a well with the same kind of water. Dipping the bucket into the water, he drew up some liquid. In the bucket, it looked like normal water.

He took a sip of it. He imagined milk for some reason, as soon as the "water" touched his lips, it turned to milk.

How weirder could this day get?!

He was having so much fun, he was about to jump into the shallow pond when a voice stopped him.

"You wouldn't want to do that, love."

Kaden jumped, looking up into deep green eyes. A teal mane and blue body gave it all away.

Stargazer!

"Why hello young one." She whinnied.

"Hey Stargazer!"

"How? What? Well, that doesn't matter. What's your name?" The blue horse questioned.

"Kaden. Kaden ma'am." He noted she had almost something like a British accent.

"Nice to meet your acquaintance, Kaden."

(1,673 words)