The Rise Of The Phoenix

CHAPTER FIVE: IV’E BEEN CAPTURED

When my eyes opened, I was laying in someone’s bed in a house that definitely wasn’t mine. Where was I? Suddenly, one of the two girls from the woods came into the room with a tray of snacks.

And this is when it clicked. I’d been kidn*pped! And I’d sent Ivy away, so nobody had any idea where I was, either! Is this really how I go? I’d just be one of those kids that went missing in the Appalachian? Nobody would know what happened to me! My breathing became heavy as the girl approached with the tray. I hated that she had a smile on her face while I was in a crisis.

Kidnappers and their schemes.

“Let me go right now, or you’ll regret it!” I said, gritting my teeth in anger. “You can’t just take people! How did I even get here, anyway? Did you drug me?”

The girl simply looked at me for a second and let out a small laugh. “Come on, be serious.”

I was even more confused by that statement. Be serious about what? I was already serious enough, asking them to let me go back to my family. Who were these freaks, and what did they want with me?

While I was trying to think hard about how I got here and why I was asleep in a random bed, the red haired girl and one of the two guys came into the room. I glared at them.

“What did you do to me?” I asked the red head. “And why am I even here? What do you want?”

They stared at eachother before the red head decided to speak. I held my hand up and stopped her from talking.

“The last time I heard your voice, I passed out.”

The girl with the tray decided to talk instead. ”Fine. I’ll speak instead.” She said, looking at me.

“We think you may not be fully human.”

I let out a laugh I’d never heard in my life. These people had totally lost it. “What, am I like, half demon or something? Is Lucifer my dad?”

The guy moved sideways from one foot to the other. I laughed again. Obviously, I wasn’t the devil’s spawn. But I was amused by them. Maybe next, they would say that I held the key to the underworld or something.

“Is somebody going to explain?” I asked, breaking the silence.

The guy sighed and spoke up. “We’re called the Guard. We are not human, and we have some…abilities.” He said.

I looked at him with a raised brow. “Abilities?”

“Magic. We have powers.” He said. “We have one primary role, which is to maintain balance between Earth and the magical realm, Valoria. And we think you may be from Valoria too.”

There was a long silence. I stared at them one by one for a long time before bursting into laughter.

I finally understood. I was being pranked! That had to be it. The other guy was missing because he was filming! This was all a joke. They weren’t laughing, but I knew this all had to be a joke.

There was no way these crazy people really kidn*pped me to tell me some fantasy stories.

While I laughed long and hard, the red haired girl sighed and left the room, and the other two followed. I heard one say I wasn’t receptive.

And I definitely wasn’t planning to ever be!

A few hours passed before I noticed that my shoulder felt normal. It felt like nothing even happened to it. I started to flex the arm to check for pain when the guy who showed up to myroom the first

time, came in.

“That shoulder was pretty nasty.” He said, as he leaned on the door frame. “Luna had to fix it up for you.”

Whoever Luna was, she couldn’t have healed me perfectly. I continued to flex without

responding.

“It’s perfectly healed, by the way.” He said, as if reading my mind. “Her magic is just perfect like that.” He popped a chocolate bar into his mouth while watching me.

Magic? I looked at my palms where I had splinters before. They were gone. Like they were never there! I had one question on my mind, and I thought he was friendly enough to answer. So I raised my head to speak. But he wasn’t there! That weirdo just disappeared! I sat by myself for an hour more, before the other guy I hadn’t seen at all walked by my room.

“Hey!” I called his attention. He kept walking. I hopped to my feet and ran out of the room. That got his attention. He ran back and grabbed me before I could go any farther. He looked very upset.

“Please get back into your room.” He said briefly, letting go of me.

I scoffed. I wasn’t some child that they would instruct like that. I folded my arms and stood right where I was. “I’d like to leave now.”

He shrugged as he turned his back to walk away. “Sorry, we cant do that. We need to keep a close eye on you right now.”

Hearing that filled my body with anger and panic. What did that statement even mean? I wasn’t some Area 51 case to be monitored!

I ran after him as he walked off. “Hey! You weirdos can’t keep me here against my will!” I screamed after him. “What is this, a cult!? I am not interested in joining your fantasy land of Valencia or whatever!”

He stopped in his tracks and turned swiftly to face me. “Valoria.”

“I don’t care about wherever you say you’re from!” I threw my hands in the air in frustration. “ For all I know, you could be from Virginia! Let. Me. Go!”

His face twisted into something like disgust and anger. He began to walk towards me, and instinctively, I began to back up.

“You are unreliable, unpredictable, and for all we know, you could be a witch!” He yelled at me, still walking. “I don’t care about your family or whatever. You are staying right here, where we can watch you before you murder people!”

By the time he’d finished his rant, I had backed all the way into my room. So once he finished his sentence, he slammed the door shut. I threw myself on the bed. In normal circumstances, I would have told him how stupid he looked, but right now, I was more concerned for my safety.

The sun was starting to set. I was about to be declared a missing person. I’d listened to podcasts about the creepy things that happened in the Appalachian. I was about to become a podcast story. I was horrified. All I knew was, I couldn’t be stuck in this room like some captive. I had to find a way out.

It had been hours since anyone had come to check on me. The were probably busy performing rituals or something. It was time to strike. I opened the window in the room and jumped out of it. There was no time to attach bedsheets or whatever. Once I landed, I didn’t even stop to check for injuries. I just took off into the woods.

Soon, I realised I was much deeper in the forest than I thought. I had no idea where I was going. But kept walking, in hopes that I would see some asphalt soon. A while passed, and I heard their voices. They were looking for me. I kept walking, till I made direct eye context with the guy that yelled at me in the house. In a panic, I started to run again, but this guy did the craziest thing I had ever seen. He cloned himself into five more bodies! I let out a small scream and tried to run, but I realised I’d been frozen in fear. While I was still stunned, the clones formed a circle around me

and began to yell.

“She’s over here!”

“No!” I yelled, as I pushed my way out of the circle. I took off again but this time, all four of them were close behind me.

While running, I got cornered by the same guy again! How did he move so fast?

“Stop trying to run! It’s no use!” he yelled.

My breathing was getting faster and faster. I didn’t know what to do.The guy in front of me was speaking, but all I was hearing was muffled sound. I was overwhelmed. I closed my eyes and let out a scream and I suddenly felt heat all around me. I opened my eyes, and I saw a ring of fire around me. The guy in front of me had moved alot farther away now, and he was glaring at me in

disbelief. Did I do that?

Well, I had no idea how I did it, but I hoped I could do it again!