An hour later, I am struggling to get out of this class, almost exhausted. This man has the ability to suck the life out of me, leaving absolutely nothing. He droned on for at least thirty minutes without stopping to consider the possible meanings of my dream. Well, this time I did it myself. I should be ashamed of myself. Now to get out of my etiquette class. I head to the room where Lady Miranda is attending to some papers cluttered on her desk. "Excuse me, Lady Miranda?" I ask, making my voice as sickly as possible. She seems to be nicer when I speak this way. "Mona? Is that you?" She looks up, her features mesmerizing. Her emerald eyes contrast with flawless ivory skin and dark red lips, along with a swan-like neck and graceful body. To me, she is like an icy goddess. "Yes, Lady Miranda." I curtsy awkwardly, and I think I see a tug of amusement at the corner of her closed mouth. "I'm not feeling

We reach the entrance of a small room after a short while, having walked slowly but surely. It seems to be in the heart of the headquarters, several flights of stairs underground. It's a little scary, knowing that with every step I take, I'm getting closer to becoming a whole new person. It's hard to imagine what I'll be like when it's over. Will my personality change back to what it was before I met him...him? Will I keep everything but my memories? Griffin continues to try to explain the process of the ritual, but I'm distracted by the curious drawings dancing on the walls of this hallway. There are no other doors except for the one at the very end, which is rather strange. The door itself is huge, decorated with similar patterns around the edges. The whole layout of the headquarters confuses me. It's kind of like an upside down castle, with one plain floor above ground and many other beautiful floors below. We enter t

"She refuses to accept me as her mate," Xavier explains to another annoyingly beautiful man with slanted eyes, "she's completely different than before." "Well, I mean, they performed the Sharuken ritual on her," her companion replies... Yi, I think her name is. "The old witch never finished! I think." He protests rather feebly. "Honestly, I don't understand why you had to tie her up. Surely she's not so stupid to think she can escape us, weird amnesia problem or not. "You don't understand, Yi. She's acting like a crazy person. "I doubt it. More than likely, you're the one acting like a crazy person. "Oh yeah? Well, you'll talk to her then," Xavier bellows with a note of frustration. "I think I will." The slender werewolf stands up and walks toward me, smiling wildly. I feel the urge to punch him in the face, but I can

I made sure to sleep near the trees, as far away from the others as possible without being considered suspicious. Xavier fell first, then Danae's eyes closed quickly, then Yi started snoring like a freight train. Ah, how I love loud snoring. I wait a few minutes, lying on my back and looking straight up at the sky. Not a star is up there, only real black, the same black that covers this whole landscape. I haven't seen real natural light from the sky since we got here. There is always a haze, a thick fog that spreads across the sky and the forest. It doesn't seem like this place ever gets rain or any kind of irregular weather. If this is the same place as my dream, it will always look like this. Which would be explainable, if this place is in fact the land of the dead. I never imagined that hell would be quite like this. I always thought of a world of fire, endless smoke, and screams of terror, and this world seems anti-c

For the first time, it rains. It pounds the stone walls, swirling around the spires and turrets. It caresses the clear windows, dripping from each stone like blood. It must be the wrath of God, coming to us in liquid terror... a symbol of worse things to come. He turns away, overwhelmed by the endless sight of rivers flowing from above, washing the earth with coin. Never before has he experienced such fear, shaking his soul with overwhelming intensity. The old one is overthrown, the regime is coming to an end. But it is difficult for him to grasp - the "end". The end exists only in relation to the beginning, the omega to the alpha, and there is no beginning here. There is only the "is," the simple state of being that extends beyond what the eye can see. No one knows when it began; it was just-was, and is, and always will be. The continuous roar of the darkening clouds as they hurry to take the earth