The lighting crackled across the blood red sky and the sun started to flicker. Chaos had been released on Earth and the whole world knew it. The U.S consulted with other powerful countries and tried to figure out what was happening to their precious sky.
"Daddy? I'm scared!" Little Iris squealed to President Kain. The fear in her dark brown eyes dug a painful hole in her fathers heart. He couldn't stand to see her so frightened.
"It's okay sweetheart, Daddy's going to fix everything. Just try and get some sleep." He walked her back to her room and tucked her in. He doubled the security guards and kept a doctor close, incase anything happened.
"Mr. Richards? Can you tell me a story?" Iris knew all of the security guards very well. Whenever her dad was like busy, which was pretty much all the time, she spent time with the guards. They'd play games and talk and every night Mr. Richards would tell Iris a story before she fell asleep.
"Not tonight Iris." He frowned, but the little girl just smiled and told him it was okay. Whenever times got tough she just smiled because she knew it was in God's hands and everything would work itself out. Iris closed her eyes and let her imagination take control. She thought of different reasons the sky had changed so drastically. Whatever her innocent mind thought of, it always had something to do with magic. It wasn't that far off of reality. A special group of humans learned to master the art of magic, but most abused their power. President Kain believed these 'magihumans' were the reason for the mysterious sky issue.
And he was right.
A sparkling purple fire ball came flying through the window, shattering the thin glass, and burning the rug on the hardwood floors.
"Iris!" Mr. Richards yelled. She immediately awoke from her daze and sprung out of bed. The fire spread up onto the drapes of her bed and along the hand embroidered curtains. More flaming fire balls were hurled through the window and the purple flame consumed the entire room. The security didn't know what to do. Mr. Richards ran through the fire and carried Iris, protecting her with his body. Even her practically permanent smile had disappeared in the fire.
Mr. Richards and the other security guards tried to get through the hall and out of the burning mansion but the fire spread almost immediately. It had to have been enchanted to move that fast. They were trapped.
"We don't have to survive, but Iris, she needs to live! Do whatever it takes for her to stay safe." Mr. Richards states nobly and the rest of the crew nods.
A figure forms in the bedroom window, but it's too dark to make out thanks to the waves of heat and clouds of smoke.
"Firemen?!" Exclaims one of the security members. The group squints through the smoke and screams loudly with their scratchy throats. The shady figure gets closer, but it's not a fireman. He shoots a blast that strikes all the security down. Iris crashes into the flames as Mr. Richards drops her. Her screams echo loud enough for the whole mansion to hear. The figure swoops in and lifts her up and then he soars out of the same window he entered through.
Iris clutches to the man for dear life worrying he would drop her on the ground to die on the hard azfault.
"Put me down!" She screams helplessly.
"Not even a thank you for saving your life?" His voice was deep and spooky and only made the girl more scared.
"You hurt my friends! Just let me see my daddy!" She cries. The mysterious man dove down and grabbed the president, dodging all the security's bullets.
"Iris!" He reached for her arm.
"Quiet!" Her roars.
"Daddy! I'm scared!" Salty tears streamed down her pale face. The man released the family to drop to their doom and an unpleasant fear consumed both bodies. But before the Kains hit the ground the figure grabbed them saving them from certain death.
"I said quiet!" He shouted right into their ears, and then dropped Mr. Kain, but gently set down his daughter. They landscape was beautiful, with a clear waterfall and colorful wildflower surrounding the green meadow. It looked like no place a bad guy would set up base. He pulls out a rock and then places it in another slot and the flow of the waterfall comes to an end.
"Let's go." He demands and shoves the two into the secret cave. As soon as everyone was inside the waterfall came rushing back down, covering their tracks. Candles had been set up to illuminate the dark cave. The Kains stand in both awe and fear.
They walk until they are forced into an old rusty elevator that drops down before the door fully closed. It was like a free fall at an amusement park, but it was far from amusing. The elevator slammed to a stop that jolted everyone back. When the door slid open it revealed a highly established interior.
The man jerked President Kain away from Iris and roughly pushed him into an iron prison cell.
"Daddy! No!" The girl sprinted to her father.
"Uh, uh, uh. I have a special job for you."
"I'm not going to help you! Just let us go. We didn't do anything to you!"
"If you ever want to see your daddy again you'll be a good little girl for me!" His twisted smile and tricky eyes.
"Daddy!" She collapsed to the ground in confusion and squeaked out "Fine, I'll do whatever you want, just leave my daddy alone!" It was a courageous thing for such a young girl to say, but bravery had always been something Iris was good at.
"Good. Now come with me."
"What are you going to make me do?"
"I'm going onto give you magic."
"And why would you do that?"
"Because I want you and your father to suffer the way I have."
"But why? I thought having magic would be awesome!"
"It's awesome, but extremely painful. Plus, the world is against us with magic, the presidents daughter having magic, would make the world go mad!"
"I think you've gone mad!" Iris insulted.
"Maybe I have. But that doesn't matter. What matters is your father paying for what he did to me!"
"He didn't do anything to you! You don't even know him!"
"My little princess, I'm his brother! You're my niece. Your father didn't tell you! That's a shame." He teased. Iris's color drained out of her face and left her empty and blank. Her usual bright glow burnt out in a second. She was consumed by the dreadful darkness surrounding her small, weak, helpless body and her tears slowly increased. The salty liquid ran down the side of her pink nose and down her cheek until they formed tiny lakes on the rough floor.
"Family doesn't do this to family!" She yelled at the man with fury.
"Tell that to your father, he took everything from me. Your mother was my dream girl. When I heard that they had been married and I wasn't invited to the ceremony, I went to their house and tried to kill you idiot father, but your mother jumped in the way to save him." The dark man turned away and fought back his tears, but Iris didn't care she let her tears run freely down her face.
"You killed my mommy?" In the background, even her imprisoned father started crying.
"Your father killed her the moment he proposed. Yet, I was too late, they already had a child. It's why I can't even bare to look at you, your the spitting image of her." He stared at Iris for what seemed like forever, he was festering up all the anger he had for her and then he grabbed her arm and dragged her across the floor. Her high pitch screams echoed in her fathers cell and he couldn't stop shaking in fear for his daughter.
When the man dropped Iris, her clothes were dirty from the rocky floor and stained with brown, black, and grey. She had bloody scratches from the ground all over her soft, tender body. Before the two, stood a tall shimmering machine that appeared to be from a different universe.
"What is that?" The man kept silent. He lifted the girl up an strapped her into a seat attached to the terrifying machine. He flips a lever and the machine turns on.
"I'm going to consume you with dark magic." He yanks down another lever and magic floods her veins. There's on last silver lever left. It's the lever that will send the dark magic into the victim.
"Why?" The man sighs and rolls his red eyes.
"I already told you, I want to see your father suffer!" At that moment, the room fills with U.S soldiers armed and ready to fire. The man shoots magic blasts, but the ones who die are quickly replaced, there are too many and the man is outnumbered, he vanishes in thin air, leaving Iris still strapped to the chair, but not before he flicks the last lever, sending all evil running down her blood.
The president was released and came sprinting to his daughter he flips off all the levers but it was too late. The girl now had magic. Fortunately, the dark magic wasn't on long enough to fully consume her, but it did give her some dark magic abilities. Her deep brown eyes changed to a soft golden shade that sparkle with power.
"Sweetie I'm so sorry!" His embrace comforted Iris, but not enough to stop their tears.
"It's okay, no matter what he says, I know it wasn't your fault."
"Let's just get you home."
"What home?" The president slams his forehead as he remembers the tragedy. Luckily, a security guard steps in and shows a hotel keycard.
"Thanks Ronald." He takes the card out of the mans hands and returns his focus to his daughter.
"What was his name?" Iris curiously asks.
"Gregory. Gregory Kain." President Kain frowns, "but he calls himself the Shadow."
They drive home, well, to the hotel, and the ride was silent. Little Iris fell asleep in the car, so when they reach the luxurious hotel, President Kain carriers her in his arms. He tucks her in bed for the second time and her eyes flutter open, revealing her golden eyes, then she goes back to sleep.