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Heart going, lub-dub lub-dub. Gasping for air, I look around unable to see anything more than a blur. Then I feel it, the searing pain going throughout my entire body. Heat overwhelms me as my long dirty blonde hair is drenched with sweat and blood. I hear an unfamiliar voice, panicked. I strain my ears trying to figure out what they are saying. Sobbing in the background of loud beeps and muffled voices, mom? It all happened four years ago, I was Thirteen. Gradually I lost all of the friends I used to have. I’m not sure what I did wrong but now no one at my high school likes me, even with the sacrifice I made for them. Before the incident I had many friends, but then the lockdown happened. The killer managed to get into our classroom, I don't know if the door wasn't closed right or if he just managed to get in with a key he found. When he got into our classroom everyone cried, screaming in terror as he held us at gun-point.
Naturally my first instinct was to defend my class, while the teacher sat in the corner being a coward. I don't know what came over me but I stood up and ran towards him from behind, tackling him. I dragged him away from the classroom after knocking him out, I have no idea how I did it. When the police finally got to the school he awoke. Looking at me with eyes full of anger, I heard the police yell “Freeze!”
He grabbed the gun and screamed at me “You idiot girl! Trying to play hero? Well, in this story the hero dies!” than the gunshot. Screams filled the halls as I fell to the ground. Clutching the entry wound from the bullet in my stomach, as I fall to the ground in what feels like slow-motion. Tears well up in my eyes, everything turns into a blur. Was this the end of my life?
I open my eyes, but I wasn't in the same place, everything was tinted a dark red colour. Looking around, I'm in a graveyard. A scream loud enough to shatter glass in the near distance. Where am I? “Welcome to the Realm of Umbra Caligo, may I warn you, you don't want to be here.” A deep amused voice tells me. I turn in a jump of fright to see nothing. A loud roar far behind me, I gaze into the distance to see but I only make out what looks like my school.
Realm of Umbra Caligo? Was that latin? Where am I? I want to go home.
Tears start to run down my face as I think to myself that I had died, I will never see my mom again. I have to get out of here, I can't be dead, I'm just asleep. If I’m asleep, why does it feel so real.
“Bria Shermore? You shouldn't be here. Your soul could be slaughtered. We have to get you out.” A calm yet slightly worried voice said from my left. I thought I was going insane again, but when I turned to my left I saw a kid about my age. Green eyes that could make anyone melt in a second, brown hair swerved perfectly on his head. He looked like someone I would definitely be crushing on if I wasn't scared out of my mind. He apologized and grabbed my waist, I could feel butterflies in my stomach when his hand touched me. Looking at him with my surprised face his eyes closed as if he was focusing on something. In the blink of an eye we were in front of a large glowing rectangle with a bright blue colour. It looked almost happy, completely different from anything else around us. His eyes opened, he was looking at me with concerned eyes.
“I need you to walk through this portal. Get out of here as fast as possible. It's not safe. Oh and here.” He handed me a necklace, with a talisman made of silver, covered in weird designs, hanging gracefully on a black chain. “Never cross a portal without this, you will be destroyed in a matter of seconds. Now hurry, before it's too late.”  he tells me panicked.
“What about you?” I ask.
       “Oh Bria, Don't worry, this will not be the last time we meet.” he responded before rushing me into the portal.
    I wake up, mom squeezing my hand tight, tears running down her face. I hear her slight whispers. “Please don't take her from me too. You already took my husband and her older sister, don't take her, Please.”
Older sister? I never knew I had an older sister.
    “Mom?”
“Oh my god Bria!” My mom says happily as she reaches over me and hugs me.
Crusts of dried blood still in my hair and on my body. When she reached over my chest I feel something move on my neck, I move my hand to my neck to feel a chain. I don't wear necklaces what is this? When my mom pulls away from the hug I pull the necklace that kid gave me out of my shirt. Confused , I asked my mom where I got the necklace, She responded with a worried “What necklace?” I tell her that it must be the pain meds they have me on, after all I was just shot. My mom sighs in relief as she figures that would make sense. It definitely made more sense than the real story, so much so that even I believed my own lie. I had passed out and made up this new dangerous world in my head, but I didn't know latin. So where did the name come from? It would make sense as to why that boy was so attractive, because it was my own imagination. Everything was starting to make sense as I was laying in that hospital bed.
“Rest Bria, you're going to need it, I will be right by your side tomorrow. I love you, sweet dreams.” I nod and tell her that I love her too as I slowly drift off into a peaceful slumber. Only to be rudely awoken a few hours later from the pain meds wearing off and the nurses running in to fix that problem. Screaming and crying in pain as my bullet wound started to ooze black gunk combined with my blood. The nurses freeze staring at it confused, as my mom wakes up and starts screaming at them to help me. They add more pain meds to my IV and patch my wound again. They were on the graveyard shift so they probably just put off what happened as their minds playing tricks on them. There was never a follow up on what was oozing out of me, which is why I assumed that. I looked back to my mom after the medicine started working as the world started spinning, sickness taking over my body.
“Close your eyes honey, that medicine will make you sick if you don't relax. I need you to relax” My mom says to me.
Okay, close your eyes, the world will go still, Don't throw up!
I couldn't even respond to my mom, I just close my eyes and try to ignore the illness consuming my body. Soon after I fell back into that deep slumber, slowly the dreams finally come, dreams of being normal again, from when I was a kid. Then those dreams turn into a nightmare as they become that realm. Visualizing the danger surrounding me, a dark cloud taking over my body. Unable to control the way I move, unable to think for myself. I'm in danger. In danger from what?
    A being floating in front of me, beautiful, eyes full of terror, face crossed with worry. Her mouth slowly opening, that blood curdling scream rings in my ears, causing a surge of fearful energy throughout my entire body jerking me awake. I look around the hospital room, moms eyes wide open, unmoving. Looking at me with terror in her eyes.
    “Mom, are you okay?”
No response. I push the nurse button on my remote worried about my mom, the nurse calmly walks in asking what I need. Pointing to my mom I ask if she is okay, seeing if the nurse would check her out. As the nurse walked towards my mom, she turned facing the nurse, mouth opening slowly, eyes widening. “You cannot protect young Bria forever, we will capture her.” something said from inside my mom. The nurse backing up slowly.
“Check her pulse!” I pleaded.
    The nurse reached toward my mom's neck, eyes full of terror as she looked at me and shook her head. Why are all these weird things happening? It can't be the meds. It can't be a coincidence. What is happening to my life?
    My mother's body collapsed to the ground as I screamed in terror, She can't be dead. The nurse checked her pulse again but still nothing, she scrambled out the door to get help. I looked at the massive heap in the corner that was my mother and began imagining bringing her back into her body. Bringing her back to life, I never thought it would work, but before the nurse came back in she was getting up.  Thats gotta be a coincidence, there is no way I did that.
    “Bria, what happened” my mom asked.
“I don't know.”
    “You were awake what do you mean you don't know?”
       “Mrs. Shermore, you’re alive?” the nurse said.
    “What do you mean?”
“You didn't have a pulse just three minutes ago.”
    My mom's face overwhelmed with terror, after she realized what I had just witnessed. She looked at me, her face apologetic. I wave her off as I sit up, Afraid to fall asleep again. By this point it was around Five Thirty in the morning. I was hungry, wanting anything to cure the growling of my stomach. When the nurses left I asked my mom for food, then I figured out that I couldn't leave this room. My mom told me she would make a run to McDonalds, I nodded but I was nervous, I hate hospitals and especially with what's been going on, I didn't want to be alone. In the war between mind over stomach, my stomach won, allowing my mom to leave me.
    Luckily, nothing happened while my mom was gone, just me watching TV. The nurses came in once to give me more pain meds and to check on me, it took my mom almost an hour to get the food. When she finally got back I shoved so much food in my face that you would think I haven't eaten in over a week. About a week after that I was able to go home. Go back to school, the first thing I did when I met up with my best friend was tell about the other realm. Of course she thought I was crazy, she started spreading rumors about me. Gradually because of her I'd lost almost all of my friends.
    I had lost all except one, mainly because she didn't go to our school, she was homeschooled. Everyone at school quickly forgot about me risking my life, I went from being the school hero into being the school lunatic in a matter of days. I got over the fact that I had lost almost everyone and just continued with school. I never cared what anyone thought about me, and even with the constant bullying I knew their opinions didn't matter.
    I knew Rosaline had my back, and that she loved me no matter what. She also seemed to believe what I was telling her. After four years I started to believe that I was crazy and that it had just been a dream. Rosaline is still my closest friend, and nobody likes me at school but I never cared. Thinking back to the accident and when I had passed out.  I remember slipping under to a dangerous realm, but, was it just a figment of my imagination? Will I ever figure out what really happened to me?