Chap 1

A Chapter by ShadowSpinners

Water fell like stars onto the slick floor catching and reflecting the remains of the fading light.

A boy lay sprawled on the ground, his short brown locks falling about his face. Slowly his eye lashes fluttered and focused on a letter laying a few feet away addressed to Harmony Vessalius. He clenched his fist in frustration and tried to roll on his back but found that he could not. His body was limp, but that didn’t mean he was going to give up. The boy tried again and again and again; at long last he was on his back. Outstretching his arm to retrieve the letter, he brushed his fingers against the edge of the envelope and slid it under his hand at once, bringing it to his chest.
His vision was so blurry he wouldn’t have been able to read the note anyway. It didn’t matter. He knew what it said. Darkness crept into the sides of his vision as he tried desperately to remain conscious, after all… He had made a promise.

~***~

     “What do mean you can’t find him?!” Exclaimed Harmony.
     “I am sorry ma’am but according to our records the person you’re looking for doesn’t even exist." Said the officer with feigned patience.
     “Are you insane…? You mean to tell me my friend, Ray Walker, doesn’t exist?” Harmony asked once again. She didn't believe these officers for one second. If he really didn’t exist, then she would have no memory of him…
     “Ma’am, this investigation cannot be looked into any further. We’re going to have to ask you to go back home.” The officer said escorting Harmony back on her way home.
     “I won’t believe it.” Muttered Harmony marching off on her own. Without thinking, her feet carried her to the house where she had spent so much of her childhood playing. Or rather where the house should have been. The house on either side of where the Walker’s house had been were now simply side by side with no evidence that it had ever been otherwise. Harmony bit her lip. It was all so wrong! Why Ray? And why now?
     “What is happening? Was Ray and his family all just an imagination I created in my head?” She asked herself. “Or… did they move? What’s happening to me?” She turned around clutching her head in agony and continued on her way back home. She didn’t pay any heed that as she began to walk; her surrounding began to morph and change with every step she took. She began to feel a bit jaded suddenly. Her head was spinning and began to pound. She lost her balance, knees locking and fell to the ground… but it wasn’t the cement she collided with, it was a black floor. Rain suddenly began to drizzle, soaking Harmony. Her vision began to blur and fade.
     The promise, don't break the promise. A voice echoed in her head.
     “What… What’s happening?” She asked herself before passing out.
     Harmony curled into her-self as the iciness of the rain seemed to seep into her core. The darkness was over whelming and the whispers that she could hear almost imperceptibly were completely unnerving.
     “-mony! Harmony!” She opened her eyes to see her Cousin Beatrice looking at her with concern.
     “B? What happened?” She asked sitting up.
     “You just collapsed! You had me worried there for a moment.” Said B sighing in relief. Harmony glanced at the distinct lack of her friend’s house. Now was as good a time as any to make sure she wasn’t crazy.
     “B, have you seen Ray? I have been looking for him everywhere.”

     “Who?” B asked. She gasped loudly, “IS HE YOUR BOYFRIEND?! DOES AUNTIE SARAH AND UNCLE JACK KNOW ABOUT YOUR SECRET BOYFRIEND?!”
     “NO!!” Harmony squeaked with a flustered face. “He- he’s-!”
     “I’m only playing with you, Harmony.” B laughed. “By now I thought you’d know when I’m serious and when I’m not. Anyway, to answer your question: no I have not seen Ray.”
     “This is utterly horrible…” Harmony mumbled to herself.
     “Hmm?”
     “Uh, what about the last time you saw him?”
     “Last time I saw Ray was when he was with his mom at the grocery store getting their usual food supplies for the rest of their family a month ago when I accompanied dad to get meat for mom.”
     “Anything else?”
     “Mmm… Well, Ray seemed to be carrying a book with a piece of paper in it.” B replied.
     “A piece of paper?” Harmony wondered out loud.
     “I think it might have been a letter. Maybe he was going to mail it after food shopping?” B said. “He seemed to be pretty attached to the book.”
     “Aren't they all?” Harmony asked.
     “True.” B replied with a giggle. “Let’s talk about this back at my place, kay?”
     Harmony nodded and the two cousins headed to Beatrice’s home.

~***~

     “My mom and dad are out.” Said B leading Harmony up familiar steps and into her room.
     “So, you think something has happened to Ray?” Asked B leaning forward.
     “Definitely." Said Harmony solemnly. "Did u see their house? Just gone! Like poof! And I tried to talk to the police but they told me that they did not exist. It’s weird.”
     “Indeed…” Said B frowning. “Maybe they just took off on another one of their exotic expositions? The Wilder Walkers do that sometimes.”
     “Yeah, but their house? And why don’t people remember them?" Insisted Harmony. “… And I’ve also been having these weird dreams about Ray…”
     “OoOoh! Don’t let your father hear you talk like that Harmony! Family friend or not he gets really protective of you!”
     “B! I’ve told you a million times, it’s not like that with Ray and me. We’re like siblings; it’d be weird!” Huffed Harmony.
     “Don’t worry, I know. You’re just fun to tease.” Grinned B.
     “So?” Demanded Harmony. “Are you going to help me find him? I’m really worried, I think something bad has happened.”
     “You know neither of your parents will let us go if they think there is danger about.” Said B.
     “then let’s run away! And it’s not like they can talk; they were just as bad.”
     “Hmm… You’ve got a point, Harmony,” B began, “but we shouldn’t leave without knowing where to look.”
     “But-!”
     “So we should go out and find clues on the Walkers!”
     “So when can-”
     “Let’s start our investigation right now.” She finished taking Harmony’s arm and dragged her out of her room and out the front door. “Where to first?”
     “How about we split up. After all, the two places the Walkers frequented besides their house was the food market and the library.” Said Harmony with a deep breath trying to calm her frantic mind enough to think clearly.
     “But won’t the people have forgotten them just like everyone else?” Asked B.
     “Maybe… But tons of people go in and out of those places every day and the Wilder Walkers are there practically every day; Except for Ray’s mom, the whole family has at least a little white in their hair. People remember that sort of thing.” Said Harmony. Talking it though out loud was actually calming her down slightly. Somebody must have seen Ray at some point…
     “Good point. We’ll meet here in three hours then.” Agreed B.

~***~

Ray blinked blearily at the sudden light. Something was different…… He sat up, but maybe too quickly. He suddenly was dizzy. He held his head and looked at his new surroundings.
     “Where am I?” He asks himself. After a few minutes adjusting to the light, he could see where he was much better. Ray gasped. He sure wasn’t home. He had awoken into a very strange looking world with floating rocks, trees that had a sticky, smelly goop dripping, and many other things he could hardly tell what they were. He clenched his fists, a paper crumbling. He almost had forgotten he had been holding onto the paper. He held it to his mouth, closing his eyes.
     “How am I going to give this to Harmony now?” He wondered.
     Ray heard footsteps and he quickly stuffed the letter in his pants pocket. He was lifted to his feet and his hands were held together tightly. He cringed in pain.
     “Search the boy.” The figure said. Ray was given the pat down and his letter had been discovered.
     “What's this, a letter to your “girlfriend”?”
     “N-no! It’s not like that!” Ray said blushing and gritting his teeth.
     The man snickered.
     “Tie him up. We’ll bring the boy to our Queen." The guard said carelessly tossing the letter aside. Ray forced himself not to follow its path with his eyes. No need to let the guards know how important what they just threw away was.
     They grabbed Ray under his arms and dragged his lanky form down a winding pathway to a pair of enormous gates covered in runes.
     “New order from the king.” A new guard informed Ray’s captors. “He wants the boy brought directly to that place and the procedure begun immediately.”
     “Now? I thought they were going to test him first. All the others have died.” Said the guards looking nervous.
     “Apparently the king thinks that because of his family background his body and mind will hold.”
     “It was ruddy difficult to whisk him away under all those power freaks he keeps around him!”
     “Then let’s pray it works.”
     Ray thought that was excellent advice and did so.

~***~

     “HARMONY!!!!” Harmony braced herself on instinct as she recognized the familiar volume and sound of the voice… And not two seconds later was barreled into anyway by Natsu Walker.
     “Cant…! Breath…!” Harmony choked.
     “I-it’s horrible! I-i-i-i-it’s too sad!” Sobbed the energetic friend of Ray’s older twin brothers.
     “What is?” Asked Harmony wriggling in his grip.
     “T-they found Seph’s body in the forest!” Wailed Natsu. Harmony’s blood went cold. It was impossible. It had to be. Sweet, gentle, and shy Seph (so different from his wild energetic twin) who used to sneak her and Ray candy couldn’t be dead. It just couldn’t be! “And Zander is out for blood! He disappeared in search of his brother’s killer and left me a note telling me to protect you and Ray! And I couldn’t find Ray! And when I saw what happened to your house I thought-!”
     “What happened to the house?” Harmony heard herself saying as if from far away.
     “It was ripped apart! It looked like someone was searching for something.” Sniffed Natsu which was not as strange a sight as it should have been considering that Natsu was a tall full grown man. “Oh and what if something happened to Ray-!”
     “NO!”
     Harmony didn’t want to believe anything bad happened to Ray. She wants to believe he’s safe and unharmed. He had to be. And Seph…

     “Don't make it sound like Ray is dead… He can’t be. And Seph, I have to see Seph! Take me to Seph!”
     “Okay…” He said. He led Harmony to the hospital Seph was being held in. Harmony wanted to know Seph would be okay. If possible, she wants to know if he knows where Ray may be.

The two arrive to the hospital but are unable to see Seph right away. The Doctor and nurses were doing everything they could to save the boy. He was losing a lot of blood and if they didn’t work fast enough, they may not be able to save him in time.
     Harmony was worried. She had so much on her plate and the fact that her house was torn apart wasn’t helping at all. Also, hearing Zander is somewhere out there looking for revenge was troubling. What is with all these events going on? Do they link to Ray’s disappearance?
     Harmony’s phone rang. She looked to see Beatrice was calling her. Did she find Ray?
     “B? Did you find out where Ray is?” She answered without hesitation.
     No answer.
     “B?” She asked with a little worry.
     “There’s no use getting any information from the boy. He won’t be able to tell you anything. Meet us down here in ten minutes. If you don’t, we'll dispose of your friend here.” A voice on the other line said. It wasn’t B.
     “HARMONY!!” B yelled.
     “Ten minutes.”
     The person on the other line hung up. Harmony was in complete shock. She kept the phone to her ear. Her hand was shaky.
     “Harmony?” Natsu asked. The doctor came out and gave them the good and bad news.
     “He’ll be just fine, but he’s gone into a state of a coma. We won’t know when he’ll wake up. We’ll be keeping him here for the time being until he does.”
     'How’d they know Seph wasn’t going to be able to talk to us?' Harmony thought, thinking back on what the person who is holding B captive said. She bolted up and dashed to the elevator.
     “Wait! Harmony!” Natsu called, following her. The doors closed. He grunted and repeatedly pressed the elevator button and waited impatiently for the next elevator.

Harmony came outside the hospital and looked frantically for her cousin.
     “B! Where are you?” She called.
     “IT’S A TRAP!! RUN!! THEY’RE AFTER YOU!!” B answered.
     “What?” Harmony asked. She had no time to think when she was suddenly jumped from behind.
     “At last we can deliver the little princess to the King and Queen.” The figure said. He brought her close and covered her eyes with his gloved hand. Her heart beat fast. She was literally frozen in fear.

     “Oi! Get your hands off her!” Roared Natsu finally out of the elevator and bashing the man who was holding Harmony against the wall. The others around them started to close in and Natsu cursed under his breath. Before Harmony could protest he scooped her up under one arm and B under the other and thundered through and past where there would be kidnappers. Down and away. Harmony was so shocked she couldn’t even speak. Why were they after HER too? B on the other hand had plenty to say.
     “PUT ME DOWN YOU NEADRATHAL!” She screeched and wiggled, her face turning crimson. Harmony blinked. Though her words were angry her face was more-!
     “Not one word Harmony.” Hissed B flushing further when she saw Harmony’s jaw drop in realization.
     “I don’t really care what kind of crazy girl stuff you two are in the middle of: there are people trying to kidnap you two. I am not putting you down till we get somewhere safe.” Said Natsu, the whole situation going over his head.
     “One thing is certain,” said B ignoring Harmony’s giggling, “whatever $*** that Ray is in is more serious than we thought.”