Chapter 1: Oregon

Standing outside the Bus Station was a young woman. Seventeen, five foot and five inches tall, about 120 pounds give or take, golden tanned skin, pale blue eyes and platinum blond hair. She was dressed casually in a clinging white v-neck top, a pair of old worn jeans and brown steel toed boots. Her hair was tied back with a brown leather string and she carried two bags. The only peculiar thing about this girl was the long sword strapped to her back. She had in her ear phones to her MP3 player and was leaning against the wall, taping a foot to the beat. She stared down the road at the barely visible bus she would be boarding soon. Everyone else at the station waited inside, murmuring about the scary girl with a sword. Security was keeping a close eye on the oblivious teen.

"Excuse me Miss? You're going to have to check those before they go on the bus. Miss?" The man dressed in the same bus station uniform as the woman who gave me the bus ticket.

He tapped my shoulder and then took a step back a little warily. I turned my head quickly and through my arms up guarded. I slowly removed my ear phones as the guy held up his hands like I was pointing a gun at him! Security came out and stood behind the man.

Great, this is all I need.

"Is there a problem?" The Security officer inquired.

"Yeah, I was just asking her if she could check her bags and she was about to attack me!" The Employee was quick to accuse.

My eyes went wide with shock as I stood up straight and dropped my hands.

"Whoa, wait a minute! This guy caught me off my guard and scared me. I was listening to my music when He tapped me on the shoulder. I actually didn't even hear him. I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

Ever since I was young I noticed I've had a certain effect on people. As long as I'm telling the truth they will be kind of under my spell. It's weird, they'll agree or do anything I want when I am being honest. I wish I could do that while not being honest. I'd probably be a millionaire. In any case they seemed to be charmed. The two men smiled softly at the exact same time, helping me with my bags and showing me where to check them. People all around the station looked really confused. I winked at a little kid, no more than nine years old and drooling over me. I grinned and without looking forward managed to trip over a woman's bag. I was throwing my hands out to catch myself, but managed to knock over some old lady on my way down.

Oh good Lord. What is wrong with me?!?!

I helped the poor woman up as she scolded and yelled at me. Something about a bad hip and 4 surgeries. I don't know, I wasn't really paying that much attention. I apologized for what seemed like forty times before walking up to the counter. She grumbled and growled at me as I walked away.

That's weird, usually people react better to me once I'm honest. I guess it can't work on everyone.

I kept looking over my shoulder at this extra grouchy prune as her eyes pierced me like daggers. What was this Lady's problem? It was really freaking me out. I checked my bags and distanced myself from her as I walked outside to meet the bus.

The crowd waited for me to rid of my sword before feeling safe enough to enter the bus. The Driver looked upset as I handed it to him. The employee I met earlier turned out to be a manager. He pulled some strings for me, but he said I could only travel with my weapon as far as Mid- Oregon. It was better than nothing, so I agreed. The Manager and the Driver argued a little about it before the Driver gave in with a sigh.

"Whatever, it's going to have to go under the Bus in the cargo storage."

He rolled his eyes and then pushed me to the bus door.

"In you go, lets get this over with."

I didn't like being touched, but I nodded and followed orders. As I got on the bus people were suddenly quiet. I smiled pretending not to notice and sat by myself in the back. Once the others realized I wasn't a threat they broke into conversation, rarely looking at me to check if I was still there. I fell asleep a few miles down the road. I somehow managed to sleep the whole trip away. I awoke to the bus stopped and people rushing to get off. I yawned and stretched my arms wide before getting up. I looked out the windows to see that the sun had set. It took a lot longer than I thought.

Bend was bustling as rush hour traffic was concluding. I overheard some people talking about a Hotel just a few blocks down from the station. After grabbing my bags I started walking in the direction they had pointed. The air was cool and dry on my short journey. It was much different than the moist air in Seattle. There wasn't really much to see, a few grocery stores and businesses. Much like any other town. There was a lack of trees and vegetation though. It was very much a desert here.

I got the same wary look as I walked through the front door of the hotel. People really didn't like my sword. I know it wasn't practical, but it was my favorite weapon from my training and I fought best with it. I wasn't about to give it up because it was different than what people were used to. Forget it! The guy at the front counter gave me a hard time about being under age too. It took a lot of convincing before he realized that I was in fact alone and that I wasn't here to cause problems. After that he allowed me to stay, with the condition that my sword remain in their office.

The next morning I turned in my key card and got my sword back. It was covered in finger prints! They must have been ogling over it all night. How annoying, this would take a great deal of polishing. I rubbed it a little before strapping it to my back once more. I thought about what to do next as I walked back toward the bus station.

I was pretty sure they wouldn't let me take the bus anymore. Not with my sword anyway. There's no way I was giving it up either. I finally decided to just continue on foot. It seemed logical at the time.

Something was drawing me South like a gravitational pull. I just shrugged it off like it was just a calling. I was pretty used to it by now. After making it out of the city limits I found myself walking along Highway 97. Good thing I hadn't thought to grab a map from the hotel lobby. Another brainless act on my part. If I stayed on the road maybe I wouldn't get lost. I tried hitch hiking for a few miles, but people seemed to speed up after seeing my sword. Again, another burden for me. Maybe I'd pick up a special bag for it in the next city so people wouldn't prejudge me by it.

As the night wore on, I found myself more awake and a little scared. The coyotes were following me from a distance and it made me a little jumpy every time they'd howl. I held my flashlight shakily by my side pointed forward. My eyes were everywhere at once. There wasn't much traffic on this road, just the occasional semi truck.

After a few hours of being followed I'd got used to my canine companions. It became comforting to hear them nearby. That's why I got jumpy again when I realized they had fallen quiet. That was never a good sign. I moved the light all around me as I continued to walk, not sure what I'd find. My worry is that I would stumble on a bear or something. Did they have bears out here?

A bright light in the shape of a large circle appeared in front of me. It looked like something from a movie. A portal?  A large dark figure appeared and stood with the light behind him. I couldn't make out any features as he threw what looked like four adult bodies in a pile outside the portal. I stopped and jumped behind a rock in a crouch. I wondered who the tall dark figure was and if the people were dead or alive? Was he... undead?