Straight-Up Not Having A Good Time At Night Raven College: Prologue

Prologue: The Curtain Rises

"If your heart wills it, take the hand of the one reflected in the mirror."

Just as it said, a hand unfurled from the mirror-- oh, I guess it's a mirror, not a window- reaching out towards her palm-up, as if asking to accompany her in a dance.

She hesitated, then-- she wasn't sure why, it wasn't like she could move anyway-- tried to reach back, cautiously.
To her surprise, it worked. She grasped the hand, which was slim and long, and oddly cool to the touch, and it folded around her own.

"Was it you who called for me?" A new voice asked, still masculine and genteel, but a bit deeper, and also somehow younger, than the first voice.

Uhh-- I dunno, her thoughts replied, head still drifting slowly like she'd fallen asleep while inhaling dentist gas directly into her lungs.
I don't really know what's going on, but-- I guess if that's what's happening here, then... Could you lend me a hand?
...No pun intended.

The new voice chuckled.
"Very well," it replied, and she could feel herself being pulled forward. "Let us commence."

There was a strange feeling, like she was passing through a vertical wall of water, and she shuddered as her entire consciousness seemed to ripple.
Suddenly, she was running through darkness, clutching the same hand as her throat burned like this had been going on for quite some time.
She couldn't see the person in front of her clearly-- they seemed to be tall, thin and very fast. She couldn't even hear their footsteps.
Her own, sure, she heard them-- or more accurately, felt them, colliding with the ground or floor, or whatever was under them.

"Oya, oya-- do try to keep up," her companion said, a note of amusement in their voice.
She wanted to snap something back, but still couldn't-- whether it was her lack of breath or something else stopping her voice, she couldn't tell.

Still trying to push out a retort, she accelerated again-- not really running now, but being pulled along, feet only occasionally making contact with the ground, in a startling but oddly exhilarating rush of speed.
At the same time, the visions of the dark room still flashed in her mind.
The mirror reflected a series of images, and the first voice continued to speak.

"As flame reduces even the stars to ash--"
A smoldering ember blazed into a red-hot flame.

"As ice seals away even time itself--"
A shard of glittering ice, purer than a diamond, rotated slowly.

"As great trees swallow even the sky..."
A ripple of verdant green, like the leaves of a great forest dancing in a powerful wind.

"Fear not the power of darkness."

The mirror fell pitch-black. It wasn't just the black of a switched-off screen. It was more like the darkness of a cave-- a yawning void, waiting patiently, but eagerly, for her to make the slightest misstep and tumble into it forever.

"Now-- demonstrate to me your power."

Looking ahead, she caught a glimpse of a white-toothed smile, with just a hint of what looked like fangs.
"Don't let go, now," her companion warned jokingly.
She couldn't even if she wanted to-- her hand didn't hurt or anything, but the grip they had on it was as unyielding as steel.

The next moment, it was gone.

She skidded to a halt, almost falling over-- stumbling back, she flailed her arms, looking up at the... thing... that loomed over her.