𝗔 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀.
𝗔 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿.
𝗔 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
When senior high school student Elizabeth Carter sees Isaac Belwich at her...
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Going through a portal was not how I had imagined it would be. It was not instant. Instead, we walked on an extended invisible platform, and all around us were endless stars and swirling galaxies. At the end of the path was another portal.
Dumbstruck, I wasn't watching my footing, and I slipped off the edge. Isaac quickly reached out to steady me. Fear rippled through me as I stared at the bottomless drop of an endless starry sky.
"Careful! " He warned, pulling me back to the center of the walkway and squeezing my shoulder. "You do not want to fall."
"What is this? I didn't see anything like this when I fell through the portal back at the castle." I asked, still in awe.
"It's Divinus, the land of the Gods. Or at least that's what our scholars call it," Isabella chimed in, walking straight ahead with confidence. "The portal Mom used was within Arvora. Only the portals into the Earthly plane are like this. It's one of the reasons travel between is so dangerous. The pathways are unpredictable. Fluctuating. Those who fall never return," she ended ominously.
I gulped as I stared back down. It made me dizzy just thinking about it. "Do you know where this portal leads?" I asked.
Isabella eyed me then chuckled lowly. "Of course! How else do you think I dragged your butt into Arvora?"
We both laughed at that, before remembering the situation. The mood became serious again as we continued to walk forward. Reaching the end of the pathway, Isabella passed her hand over the portal to make sure it was stable before jumping through. We tumbled onto a hard concrete floor into what looked like another dusty storage. The mirror shattered upon our exit, and Isabella helped my father up. The warehouse was cramped and filled with strange magical things.
"I forgot this was here!" Dad exclaimed as he rushed to the shelves, excitingly looking through them. "All this was carried over when Sylvia came here. We had moved it into storage before the fire to keep prying eyes away. I didn't know what to do with it, I couldn't just leave it in Colorado, so I moved it into the Shield Storage place."
I couldn't believe he had a room full of Mom's things. Even if it was all from Arvora, surely there was something in here that he could have given me. I grew up with only stories. It still hurt to think she was gone and that dad had lied all these years, but I couldn't imagine what Isabella was feeling.
"Is there anything useful in here? Maybe something that could help against my mother?" Isaac asked, picking up a jar filled with strange yellow liquid and examining it cautiously.
"No, not really. Mom mostly kept tonics and remedies in here when she still lived in Colorado. This stuff is old. I doubt she even knew the portal still worked in the basement. Until I brought Liz through it," she snickered.
An ache spread in my chest as I picked up an ornate box. Upon opening it, I realized it was a jewelry box. It was filled with many different necklaces. One, in particular, stood out to me. It was a small silver choker with a small rose gold heart. I picked it up and my mind suddenly filled with images of a man with cold blue eyes and long black hair flashed through my mind. He turned and saw me, recognition spread across his face, and he gave me an evil grin.
