Chapter 4

I stood in the middle of the cemetary in my bare feet, shivering from the strong breeze that blew across my bare skin. I don’t remember exactly how I got there, or how I escaped the prison, but I found myself in front of a gravestone with my name printed on it with large, bold letters. And  next to it laid an open coffin.

When I peered inside, I saw that it was empty. I noticed that the sides were covered in dust, and yet the bottom was spotless, as though something had just recently have been moved from it. The thought of that terrified me, and a shiver ran down my spine.

As I was bent over to look into the coffin, raindrops began pouring down on me from above. I looked up to see the moon quickly disappear behind a dark, threatening cloud. Lightning crashes across the sky and the ground beneath me began breaking.  Panicked, I threw myself to the side just in time before everything fell into the giant cracks created in the ground. I stared in horror as I watched the leaves, tombstones, and even the trees disappear before me.

The crack ran further through the graveyard, boiling hot lava bubbling from underneath it. Another loud clap of thunder roared across the sky and I flinched. The sky had turned to a dangerous shade of red, and the moon was nowhere to be seen.

I sat on the ground, breathing heavily, not knowing what to do. I felt like a kid again, unsure of anything that was going on around me.

Just then, a hand gingerly touched my shoulder and I jumped. I spun around to see a boy around my age, smiling gently at me. Everything about him made him seem dark and mysterious.

First of all, his hair was unlike anything that I have ever seen. His long, silver hair was set off to the side and covered only one of his eyes, while his other eye seemed to glow. He had silver-gray eyes, and long eyelashes.

I was intrigued by all of this. This whole look was completely new to me; I’ve never seen anything like it. And his skin was so pale that it almost seemed too unreal. His look was completely breathtaking, but I still couldn’t help but to feel cautious of this guy.

I took an uneasy step backwards and the guy’s smile dropped. A serious look appeared on his face and he stared intently at me. He then held out his hand to me and I hesitated, not exactly sure what to do. I really wanted to trust him but my whole body was screaming at me not to. Probably because he seemed way too calm during the end of the world while there I was, almost about to cry. Finally, the boy spoke.

“Mystic…” the boy said in a soft, deep voice. My stomach turned when I heard my name. How did he know my name? What did he want? Just then, a name flashed into my head.

“Hunter…” was the name that escaped my lips. The boy’s eyes flashed darker in reply.

“Mystic,” he said, slowly motioning for me to take his hand. “Come.”

I looked around hesitantly and spotted two familiar figures nearby. They had fallen onto their knees and were crying out in agony as they were set on fire. I squinted through the thick fog to try to see who they were. I caught my breath when I saw realized who they were.

“Arielle!” I cried. “Kelsey!”

My eyes widened and I immediately began running towards them, trying to help, but Hunter quickly caught my arm, stopping me. Tears began forming in my eyes as I watched in horror as the only people that I cared about were being burned alive.

“No!” I cried, trying to pull away. Hunter’s eyes turned cold and he glared down at me. A chill ran down my spine at his sudden change of mood. The aura around him was darker now. He seemed more dangerous.

“You can’t DO anything, Mystic!” he hissed.

I finally stopped fighting him and just watched as both Arielle and Kelsey burned up into smoke. The world around me started spinning and the last thing I heard was Hunter’s harsh voice whispering into my ear. “I tried to warn you… Now look at what you’ve done.”

The world around me faded and I woke up in a cold sweat. I was back in my prison cell again, safe in bed. I sat there for a moment, unable and unwilling to move. I looked around my cell, breathing heavily, making sure that everything was just the way I had left it.

‘Everything seems to be okay…’ I thought hesitantly as I slowly began laying back down. ‘But that dream… seemed so realistic. It couldn’t possibly have been one of those visions, could it? I stopped  having those years ago!’

I closed my eyes, trying to convince myself to go back to sleep, that everything would be alright. But yet I knew deep inside that the vision was real.

I jumped at the sudden sound of the door opening and looked up in shock to see Shay walking in with bags under her eyes. She looked miserable, as though she hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before. She looked really irritated to be up so early in the morning.

I ran to the bars, heart pounding.

“Shay!” I cried. “You need to get me out of here! Please!” Shay rose a tired eyebrow at me, clearly unimpressed by my pleads.

“Please!” I begged. “It’s an emergency. I need to warn Arielle and Kelsey about what I’ve just seen. I need to stop it!” A small smile appeared on Shay’s face. She seemed slightly amused by this now.

“Stop it?” she asked. I nodded.

“I saw something, Shay,” I told her. “Something tragic. I need to get out of here and stop it.”

Shay snorted but tossed me the keys. I stared at them in surprise.

“Really?” I asked.

“Sure,” Shay said. “Knock yourself out ‘stopping’ the tragedy. It won’t do you any good.”

Confused by what she meant, I quickly unlocked the cell and ran out.

“Thank you!” I cried behind me. “Thank you so much!”