Down End Road

My heavy boots echoed across the brittle tiles that coated the inside of the manor. The sound seemed too tinny for such a dark place. Henry, who was diligently trying to keep our pace, had for some reason found it necessary to follow us all the way there.

"Why are you still here," Alex huffed at Henry in my stead. My mouth, no matter how much I tried, would not reposition itself from its sealed line.

Henry rolled his eyes and ignored him. Testosterone was thick in the air, far too thick for comfort. Multiple strangled yelps echoed from a corridor. My head snapped to the side and before I could even think, my body plunged itself into the dusty dim hall. A door stood tall and majestic at the end of it.

Wood splintered, as my shoulder collided with the door. It swung open, revealing a dark room, and an ever darker huddle of people wriggling on the floor.

The blue tinge in my sight receded as the power left my body, returning to its compact cavern in my soul. With the control over my body gained, the numbness of my injuries faded so fast it left me dizzy. I swayed on my feet, feeling my body swing like a pendulum.

Alex snaked an arm around my waist, keeping most of my weight on him. My audible sigh of relief was noticeable, and surprisingly so was his.

They are each other's strengths, and greatest weakness'.

My mind no longer whispered, but declared. Fingers trembling, I walked over to the group, Alex acting as my crutch. I felt a cry of relief tear itself from my aching lungs when I caught sight of my fathers fiery hair. Rushing to him, I collapsed on my knees and ripped the gag from his face.

His fuzzy ocean blue eyes, looked up at me wearily, the strain of movement evident on his face. "Dad?" I whispered. He sighed in relief before wrapping me in his burly arms. I felt a tear leak out of my eye as he continued to hold me.

The rest of the victims had been untied thanks to Alex and Henry. Horror and petrification written clearly across their wan faces. I hugged my father to my chest as tight as I could one last time, before dragging him to his feet. Two of the victims, one boy and one girl, came over to help him stand upon seeing the gashes littered across my body ooze thick crimson blood onto the floor.

The sting was the worst pain I had ever felt, like thousands of bees were pricking me continuously. I bit my knuckles to smother the scream that almost tore through my lips.

CRASH!

The room was invaded by Shifters all spilling into the room by the dozen. Their soulless gaze was set on me and me only, scarily tentative to my movements. The horror filled shrieks of those around me could be heard over the pounding roar of blood in my ears. Muffled grunts came from my father as Henry placed his arms around him, dragging him from the room along with all the others his screams followed them down the hall.

My tongue felt like sandpaper as I waited for that familiar rush of numbing power. I rattled my mind, looking for its hide away, trying to bring it to the forefront. I couldn't do this without the extra boost of help from it. I had grown dependant on it without even realising it.

You don't need us for this one.

A voice, not my own, whispered thoughts that slithered into my head, shaking me to my core with fear. My chest heaved erratically. I swung my head frantically around the room, looking for Alex.

What I found was more horrifying than being alone in a room with nightmares. Alex hung limply in the arms of two Shifters. His head bowed with blood dribbling from his forehead. "ALEX!" I vaguely registered my own scream through the drumming flood of rushing blood in my ears.

Before I even saw it, a shifter had gripped me around the waist and pushed me through the window. Shards of crystal clear glass flew around in the air, my hair -which had perviously been tied- was now flapping wildly in the wind.

The air left my lungs in a whoosh as I landed solidly on my back, vision now dotted with black spots. I was more than grateful we had been on the ground floor.

I rolled to my side. A searing pain in my arm and stomach. Looking down at my top smeared in stains of blood, I almost fainted at the sight of a clear piece of blood covered glass sticking straight up from my abdomen. I gulped, then screamed as loud as I possibly could, trying to scream away my pain.

Tears leaked down my face, as I looked around at the lines of Shifters, all encircling me like a predator would its prey. My shaking hands reached at a snails pace toward the protruding object.

Doing it like I had been taught, I placed my hand around the area and applied pressure as I wrapped my gloved hands around the glass. I gripped it, feeling the burning agony enflame my stomach even more. A sob leaked out of my shaking shoulders as I pulled it out with a swiftness even I was surprised by.

I was so relieved to have it out I almost forgot about the fiery sting in my arm. Almost forgot, before I rolled onto my arm, effectively shoving the glass a tiny bit deeper. A louder roar tore through out of my mouth. Feeling each and ever jagged edge touch every nerve in my arm.

I couldn't keep my hands from violently shaking as I pulled the glass from my arm. My lips quivered as I looked around me. The suns light no longer visible.

The dark so menacing, so malicious it hurt my eyes. The Shifters all stood in a circle, The shadowed black covering me like a dome emanated from their mass of bodies.

I curled my body into a ball, protecting myself as much as possible when the tallest Shifter of the group stepped forward. My queen. Its reptilian voice assaulted my inner thoughts. My shoulders convulsed with my stomach as I heaved up bile and something suspiciously akin to blood onto the blackened ground.

You have come to save your kin? It questioned in that slithering voice. Saliva dripped from its mouth onto the floor, burning a hole through a leaf.

"Yes." I cried quietly, my body still shaking.

But not to open the door? Its voice said with a rage that was so calm and methodic, it became the most tormented sound that I had ever heard.

"No, I have come to open the door." I answered, salty tears still slipping down my face like a river. "I- I- I-" Words proved to be too difficult as my jaw began to chatter. The same roiling nausea was crashing into me, the overwhelming stench of rot and damp that I had become so accustomed to in the past few hours, was now sharper and more prominent.

Sick spilled from my mouth when I couldn't hold in my disgust any longer. Shivers wracked my body curled into a fetal position. The towering Shifter cocked its head to the side, unnervingly darks eyes studying me. We shall help, we will heal you, but only if you vow to open the door.

Its voice snaked into my mind, carving a path through my rapid thoughts. I nodded my head vigorously, my mothers words comically chanted in my head. Never agree to eagerly when offered a deal. I smiled, the movement tiresome and painful.

"I v- vvvow to op- opppen the doorrrrr," I pledged, voice shaking in time with my shivers.

The daunting monster nodded its head, a peak of luminous white skin peaking through the black smoke encasing its body. It hauled me to my feet, dragging my convulsing body up by the arm in its clawed hand.

The twirling black smoke surrounding its hand withdrew to reveal a green plant. This will not heal your outsides, but it will heal your insides. It explained crudely.

I nodded jerkily and gratefully grabbed the plant swallowing it whole. A bitter taste soured my mouth, twisting my face into a grimace, before a burning sensation slid down my throat and into my tummy.

I whimpered as the plant continued to burn through me, the pain intensifying around the wound in my stomach. The shard of glass must have pierced my kidney, I thought.

The burning pain reached its climax as the pain suddenly turned into aching relief. My insides no longer felt like fire was scorching them black, and although my head was still fuzzy it was clearer than before.

Its claws almost pierced my skin as its nails dug into my arm, dragging me to a door. The black tendrils of black shadow that blanketed its body, receded from where its skin touched mine. A cold chill swept over my heated body, the sweat along my skin suddenly turned to ice.

Its skin felt too cool to be natural. In fact the skin of this Shifter was balmy, smooth but scaly, and unnaturally chilled. It felt more like a walking corpse, and that thought chilled me to my very marrow.

I stumbled over my own two feet, as the monster dragged me behind it. Pulling my body up through the threshold of the manor. Down dimly lit winding corridors. Until, it suddenly stopped.

Stood before us was an excessively large door. So dissimilar to the old crooked door at End Road Manor -its only decoration the tree of knowledge stamped onto a tapestry hanging from its top. It was made entirely of black obsidian rock, carved and smoothed down into one perfect slab that served as double doors to what I presumed was the most beautiful world in the history of the worlds.

Whispers crowded my mind, all too fast and indistinct to make sense of. The collective pressure of so many voices in my head oppressed me. Adding extra fatigue to my exhausted body. With trembling legs, I wobbled closer to the spectacular door.

Glancing behind me, the shifter stood tall and expectantly. Its demonically black eyes honed in on my movements. So intense was its burning stare, that the searing pain in my leg couldn't rival the mental anguish of having to bear such a weighty leer.

Swallowing thickly, I turned my face to the beautifully ornate door. Carved into its gleaming surface, was a gorgeous pair of dragon wings. I traced the calloused tips of my fingertips along the markings.

Each one of the wings' scales had been chiselled into the stone with skilled craftsmanship. The tips of the wings pointed, dipping low only, to connect to another clawed point. My fingertips pressed against the jewels of the door, black studs that winked with pride in the flickering light of the candles.

When the candles had been lit I was not sure. But a sneaking suspicion told me that this was not the first time the Shifters had been to this place. My chest heaved before I pressed my palm to the cooled surface.

A rush of images flooded my already crammed brain. A woman smiling, her lips split into a wide heart wrenching grin that took ones breath away. She wore a waistcoat and baggy cotton shirt, with blue breeches. Her eyes attentively focused downward on me. No. Not me, someone I was seeing the perspective of. The woman's strawberry streaked blonde curls bounced while her shoulders shook with ecstatic laughter.

Another image, one more morose. A man, decked in an old suit with a tail coat and top hat, screwed two bolts into the beautifully carved door. It was mine. I thought, no. Not my thoughts, someone else's, whose eyes was I seeing this from. My vision turned to the side, looking at the woman whose smile had taken this persons breath away.

No longer was her hair vibrant and free, now it was brown, curls pinned tightly to her scalp in an elaborate bun. Her radiant smile replaced with a cold scowl, blue eyes alight with hidden anger.

A small sleeping child was in her arms, she held onto it for dear life, clutching them to her chest possessively. Its stirred and let out a shrieking wail, a tear leaked down the woman's face as she whispered secret words to the small child.

Another flash of light dominated my sight before I finally could focus back on reality. A gasp let my mouth as I looked around with urgency, desperate for any sign that I was back in the present. I almost cried in relief when I saw the dark ominous Shifter behind me.

Open the door. Its voice said, weaving through my thoughts to the forefront, a quiet command with the lethal promise of a slow death if I didn't obey.

My head jerked up and down sporadically. Swallowing another burning lump in my throat. I took the small dagger in my trousers a brought it to the light. I hadn't used half the weapons on my person, I overpacked, I thought to myself. My subconscious's way of lightening my mood.

I brought the twinkling metal down to my hand, the blade hovering inches from the smooth skin of my hand. "Blood is thicker than water." I said, the cold voice not my own. The familiar thrum of power returned to my weary soul, spreading around me to surround me in a comforting support.

Slicing the silver through my palm, blood leaked from the cut as I brought my hand up to face the gem in the centre of the door, the centre of the wings.