Prologue

She tried to cry out, to scramble away, but nothing worked. The chains just pulled tighter and tighter. She shrieked, tears falling down her face hysterically as she began sinking into the ground. Soon, the darkness swallowed her whole and she fell.

The Prologue


The air was unbelievably cold as she ran through the night. The sweat on her skin was freezing into ice crystals, but still she pressed on. She couldn't give up. Not now. She had to get out. Get out of this place and never come back.

Why had she come here in the first place? She didn't remember how she'd gotten here, only that she wanted to leave as soon as she had become aware of her surroundings.

The bald, frozen trees passed her by, each staring down at her menacingly, bearing shadowed spirits resembling vultures with glowing, red eyes that bore into her back. She weaved in between the headstones, trying her best to avoid stepping on the ground directly in front of them. The dead were not nice here. Nothing was nice here.

A.J. gulped in the chilly air and her lungs burned with the feel of it. She gasped and threw her arms out to catch herself when she tripped. Her knees scraped against the rough ground and she hissed in pain, but immediately tried scrambling to her feet again.

Only... she couldn't.

Looking down, she realized something had grabbed onto her leg. Her green eyes widened in horror at the thick, black chain locked around her ankle.

"Let me go!" She screamed, shaking her leg wildly. The chain protruding from the ground pulled back and knocked her onto her butt. Another cold, black chain tore through the ground and wrapped around her free ankle.

"Stop it!" She shrieked, her mind filling with panic now as another heavy chain ripped through the ground and came at her like a snake lunging at prey. She grabbed the chain and threw it away from her, but it came back powerfully and smacked her in the face, knocking her down for good. Two more chains wrapped themselves around her wrists. Working like strings on a puppet, they forced her to sit up and then finally fall down onto her hands and knees like a dog.

A.J.'s breaths came in short, hysterical gasps as the tears ran down her face, hidden by her long blue-streaked raven hair.

The atmosphere was silent except for her sobs of frustration and depression. She tried yanking free of the chains, but they wouldn't let her go.

A deep cackle echoed through the graveyard, bouncing off of trees and headstones. A.J. looked up, terrified, and searched all around her for the source of the voice.

A dark figure materialized in front of her. He stared down at her with souless, black eyes and a wide, evil grin. "Hello, Young One," he greeted in a hiss.

"Let me go!" A.J. screamed again, trying to hide within herself from the white-haired monster of a man in front of her.

The man chuckled. "Now... you know I can't do that, Ashley." He floated down until his feet touched the ground. He bent down in front of her. "Lift your face up, Darling. I can't see you."

Unable to fight his order, A.J. looked back up at him.

"Awwww," he said with mock sincerity. "My pretty puppy shouldn't cry so much." Anubis wiped the tears away from her eyes.

A.J. growled and snapped at his fingers, but he pulled them away before she could bite him.

Anubis raised an eyebrow at her and grinned again. "Feisty today, aren't we?"

"A*****e!" She hollered, struggling against her chains again to no avail.

"You shouldn't have such a temperament, Young One. It could get you into trouble."

Once her body finally realized there was no longer any chance to flee, she chose fight mode. Immediately her body began phasing. First, her muscles ripped and tingled until they were much bigger and firmer. Her tendons and ligaments snapped as her bones popped out of place, tearing her skin and muscle until a new body shape formed. Sinews re-stitched themselves over this new body shape and a tail sprouted from the seat of her pants.

She growled and lurched against her binds again, but still they held her to the ground. Her tail swished around as her back arched menacingly.

To a normal human, the half-girl, half-beast crouched before Anubis would have been absolutely terrifying. But to the fallen angel, she was nothing but a mutt.

Anubis wrinkled his nose at her. "And what do you think that will accomplish?" He snorted, circling her. "You think your added strength will help you?"

"Why have you brought me here?!" She demanded, roaring at him every time he passed in front of her.

Anubis smirked. "Ah. Finally we get to the point." He stopped in front of her. "I came to welcome you home, my child."

"Your child?!" She snarled.

"Settle." The command was spoken softly but firmly. Like the dog he treated her like, she sat back on her haunches and stopped struggling. Instead, she chose to glare at him.

"You see, your contract is up, Young One." He continued. A.J.'s eyes widened and her heart dropped into her stomach. That was supposed to be a good thing... so why did she feel so sick? Anubis' grin spread across his face again. "And since your contract is up... that means that you're no longer immortal." Without warning, he took a silver dagger out of his cloak and came at her fast.

A.J. screamed in surprise and tried to avoid it, but the chains were doing a good job of holding her in place. She couldn't dodge his attack.

The dagger plunged into her chest.

Gasping and coughing, she looked up, horrified, into his black eyes. Anubis grinned back at her. "And do you know where you're going?" He whispered into her ear. "Certainly not where you hope to."

A.J. could feel the life leaving her as he spoke. Had death always been so... so... painful?

She tried to cry out, to scramble away, but nothing worked. The chains just pulled tighter and tighter. She shrieked, tears falling down her face hysterically as she started sinking into the ground directly in front of a broken headstone. Soon, the darkness swallowed her whole and she fell.

"A.J.! Wake up!" Simon shook her shoulders violently as he straddled her lap. With one arm he kept her swinging fists from hitting him and with the other he shook her. "Wake up you bloody mutt!" He hollered.

A.J.'s eyes snapped open and she lurched forward, gasping and still screaming. Her hands were still swinging wildly and managed to nail the blond in the jaw before she realized where she was. He howled in pain, startling her.

Her eyes were wild and her pupils small. Her breathing began slowing and suddenly she was very cold. She automatically wrapped her arms around her torso, noticing for the first time, that she was drenched in a cold sweat.

"God! You bloody idiot!" Simon hollered pathetically, rubbing his cheek.

Tears welled up in A.J.'s eyes, but she didn't hear Simon's words, or complain that he was crushing her lap... or that he was in his boxers only... again.

Simon saw the change in her expression and he immediately put his hands on her shoulders. "Love... are you all right?" He asked quietly. "That was quite the nightmare you must have been having."

Without saying a word, A.J. broke down in tears. Simon, startled and confused by her reaction, did the only thing he could think of- he hugged her close.

Author's Note

This was the original idea I had for the story. It was just the prologue, that's it. Then I was bored, so I continued it. 83

A.J., Simon, Anubis (c) Tomatowolf