The Lost Heir (Book I)- The Violet City

Slip n' Slide

Isabella ignored them and kept climbing. When she got to the top shelf, she heard Seth's groggy voice. "What are you guys looking at?" Then as if awakened by a bolt of lightning, his next words rang loud and clear, "What the heck, Isabella? Get down from there!"

When Isabella reached the top of the bookcase, she poked one leg through what she now saw was a small door that had sprung open. Her other leg dangled over the side of the bookcase. "Don't tell me what to do, Seth!" Warmth from her necklace continued, signaling that she was on the right track.

"Okay," Seth said. "I'll stop after you come down."

"Sometimes you gotta take risks, Seth."

He got up and walked toward the bookshelf. "You gotta take the right risks, so you can get what you want," he said slowly. Was he humoring her? She didn't like that.

"Do you have what you want?" she shot back.

"No, but I'm gonna get it. Starting with you coming down from there."

Isabella sighed. "Don't you see this? There's light coming from here."

"A little bit, but what does that have to do with you trying to kill yourself?"

"The sun was shining full on through that hole when we woke up this morning. Izzy's kind of blocking it right now," said Xander.

Isabella ignored them again and looked down into what appeared to be a lit tunnel. It wasn't light from the sun. It was an artificial light, and she couldn't see what was below her. But the strange thing was that she did not feel any danger. Turning her body, she slipped her other leg through the little door. Then, the light turned to darkness, and her feet grew heavier and heavier. She screamed when the weight of them pulled her down suddenly. Then, she slipped from the door and plunked down into what felt like a lightly cushioned high-back chair. Her heart raced with fear as her arms strapped to something and down she went at lightning speed through a tube of some sort.

"Press GREEN for Port One or PURPLE for Port Two." Two lights ticked off and on above her head. Port One and Port Two. Her fingers glued to her side. She was too afraid to touch anything. She bypassed a big white number one, then a few seconds later, flew by a big number two. Then not too much longer after that, her feet stuck to the bottom of a rubbery floor. Well, they sort of bounced and then stuck.

She slowly opened her eyes, and a translucent light filled the small room she found herself in.

The passage she'd come from on the opposite side of the wall had snapped shut. She turned and found a circular opening, another tube, which seemed to curve downward in a wavelike pattern. A sign above it read: Press Here to Liquidate Slide. A large, black button sat beneath it. What? A waterslide? To her left, there was a mirror. To her right, there was a small closet with a robe, a towel and...a wet suit? She went to the closet and noticed a small note taped on the inside of its open door: One Size Fits All. She picked up the wet suit. It was dry and appeared to be relatively new.

"Okay. I want to go back now," she said, feeling fear press down on her chest. She was alone and lost, and that was not okay. She touched her necklace to see if that would help ease her panic. It did a little. This was where she was supposed to be, wasn't it? The necklace buzzed. She turned and noticed her reflection in the mirror: her black hair appeared full and wavy. She'd expected her thick hair to be wild and out of control after a fall like that. And wait. When she turned her head just so, it looked like it shimmered violet. She swished it around. It was still black but there was different tint to it. She heard giggling coming from where she did not know. She should have been scared, but she felt like she was finally home.