Those Who Sparkle

Chapter 3: Trapped

A/N: I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've updated, between homework and exams I've been really busy. Sorry! I'm really going to try to update, more, hopefully about once or twice a week. I really hope you're enjoying my story! I'm planning on revealing the plot line a bit more in the next chapter, hopefully you guys aren't too confused about it. I'm also going to try to make my chapters longer, I know I hate it when a chapter of a book I'm into is only a page! Anyway, I hope you guys like it! As always, vote, comment, fan!

I woke up again, this time in a cabin. Was this real? I didn't know. I sat up in my bed, looking around. The space around me was empty. I tried to stand up, expecting to be restrained. But to my surprise, I could move freely. Smiling to myself, I stood up.

I surveyed the cabin again. There was no one there, I was sure of it. Yet I felt a prickling on the back of my neck, like someone was watching me. Cautiously, I turned a corner of the large cabin, looking for a door that would lead me outside.

Every corner I turned, there were no doors, just long wooden corridoors, stretched out in front of me, seemingly without end. There were no people either, through the peculiar feeling that someone was watching me remained.

Finally, after what seemed like hours and thousands of corners, I came face to face with a door. Light was radiating through the cracks, though somehow I knew it wasn't sunlight. Nervously, I tried the handle. It turned with ease.

I pushed the door open, not prepared for what was to come. The light was blinding. I tried to shield my eyes with my arm, but my effort was fultile, they were doing nothing at all to protect me. It was like the light was literally going through my body, penetrating deep into my soul. The light didn't frighten me, it was quite the opposite, actually - warm and comfortable. It reminded me of the warm, gooey chocolate cookies my mother used to make. I knew that was extremely cliche, but I could almost taste the mysterious light. It reminded me of home. Then all of a sudden, the light began to diminish, slowly pulsating towards a center shadow of darkness. It was as if it were being sucked into a black hole.

As the darkness receded, a wave of cold despair washed over me. The light was gone, and always would be. The warmth was gone, the familiarity of it gone too. All of it was gone.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the famous little Liluye again," a voice came out of the darkness. Then a figure stepped forwards. It was Ayunli. Somehow, I wasn't surprised.Her body looked healthy, young. Not at all like I had seen her in my dream earlier. How had she been replenished with this youth?

Then I noticed. I couldn't see how I hadn't before. My leader was glowing, radiating the light that was begining to penetrate the darkness once again. The light had healed her, I realized, returned her to her eternal state.

"Liluye," she repeated, like she was weighing the name for her liking the first time she heard it. "What can I do with you?" There was the slightest hint of a sneer in her voice. Her eyes showed it too. "This is your test," her eyes softened now. "Ohanzi predicted it long ago: Soon, I will be killed. You must be the new leader. But we much be able to trust you, understand if you are ready. I sent the hunter. I sense your questions in the air. But I may not answer any of them." In that moment, I smiled. I saw the Ayunli she remembered, not the one of my dream. The kindness showed on the old woman's face. "Do me proud."

The light flooded back into the space, blinding me yet again. But this time, I knew I needed to leave. But it was just so beautiful! I could stay here forever. The warmth, the love, it was amazing. It was like everything being in an embrace, so loving and kind that you never wanted to let go. My mind began to go fuzzy and the light became a little more dull. The light was so comfortable, luring me to stay."This is your test." Ayunli's words rang through my thoughts, startling me from my pleasant thoughts. I thought about what she had said. I needed to get out.

I stood up, though it was hard. It felt like the soft light had become thick. I was going in slow motion, almost, but it required a lot more strength, and a lot more will power. I dragged myself in the direction of the door. I didn't know how I was going to find it, I knew I was walking in circles.

Then, a voice resounded in my head, filling it with not words, but some kind of language that I had no idea how I knew, but gave me strength and direction to leave the light. I slowly stumbled over my feet, to where I knew the door was. When I got there, I slammed face first into it. I scrambled for the handle, still in slow motion. I found it, and twisted the handle. It was locked.

I looked around frantically for Ayunli, or any source of hope of gettting out, but she was gone. The light was licking at my body, threatening to consume me. I screamed. It was high and beautiful. To my suprise, the light recoiled, suddenly turned black. I looked at my ski. It looked normal. But when the light grabbed me again, I saw why it recoiled: my skin had burnt the strange thick light. I looked around for what might have caused this change. As I looked up, I saw a faint outline of Ayunli's caring face looking down on me in the light, but before I could ponder if it was really her, it vanished. Even still, I thought a whisper echo through the infinite space, telling me "go....". I obeyed. I found the door, confused, and turned it. It opened, and I fell, asleep again, onto the cold bed of my captor.