Chapter 1

His eyes were Hell fire; that's all that I could remember from my dream but that detail alone was enough to keep me awake for the rest of the night and cloud my thoughts this morning. It impresses me how something so trivial could attach itself to my subconscious so well that the effects seeped into my every train of thought.
   I sit at my desk oblivious to the days lessons as I try to conjure up details from last nights rapture but all I get is shadows.
   Shadows.
   They alone confuse the mind and trick the eyes to create illusions for and of themselves, and it has been my experience that those who hide in them do even worse. But still, even from what I know and have seen what puzzles me is seeing Hell in the shadows but that I was comforted by it.
   Since mentally I was absent I figured being so physically wouldn't really matter so when the opportunity presented itself, I left. The walk was calm; it was Autumn. I found my way to my usual escape- a bench under the ancient willow in my town's cemetery. It's all too cliche for a loner to sit in a cemetery but the tranquil atmosphere is impossible to resist. Besides I am surrounded by what I know; death and the damned.
   I became orphaned four years ago when a house fire claimed the life of my father. As for my mother, I never met her. I only asked once and my father barely uttered that her illness got the best of her. It wasn't until I was given a fire proof box that was found amongst the ash and rubble which contained some of her things that I learned that she developed postpartum psychosis after giving birth to me and her delusions resulted in her taking her own life.
   My foster family is nice, I am one of seven and one of the few to have my own room; mainly because I'm almost eighteen and I'll be on my own in a matter of months. Even with constant company, all I really want is someone to confide in which is where I believe he came from. After all our dreams are supposed to just be images materialized from our deepest desires, and who doesn't want to connect with a person who is just like them?
   I caress my amulet taken from my mother's box as the wind blows my hair back. It never ceases to amaze me what you can learn from nature's presence. The gust alerted me of another presence, a presence who caused a familiar atmospheric change which I knew meant to leave and I heeded that warning instantly. Heading home was my only option I had left and since all I had to do was cross the street and walk south for about two minutes, it didn't bother me as much.
   I opened the door, climbed the stairs and entered my domain. Shedding my trench coat inspire sweater I flopped face down on my bed and screamed. Never has a dream caused me this much frustration. I am bewildered that I am obsessing over it this much.  I roll onto my back to sit myself up and glance around my room; something is different, I could feel it. A frantic search began, some being was here and I instantly knew it wasn't human. Being connected with the damned gave me more than enough insight to know when a dark force has marked an area.
  "Aryn", whispers a voice that is all too familiar. Flashbacks of my dream take over my sight and I look across from my bed to the dresser- the place where he stood last night; the place he was calling me to now. Hesitantly, I proceed, I am in no way prepared for a fight and at this point, he is in control. It is there on the surface of my dresser I read the beautifully carved inscription: "Fire and Ice". Those three words informed me that the world I knew was forever changed.