What Is Happening?

Sarah’s POV

My name is Sarah Salvatore. I’m a twenty two year old, female, college graduate.

I spent the last four years in college studying day and night, sacrificing my social life, sleep, and the ability to date the cute guys, because I had a dream and therefore could never settle for less than a perfect score. I did this all in the hope that I would get the chance to work at World Capital. The top law firm in the country.

After interviewing with them along with hundreds of others, I was chosen for a Junior Lawyer position. Today I received the phone call that they had picked me, making this the happiest day of my life.

As soon as the call ended, I danced around my kitchen, freely waving my arms about which knocked over a glass of milk from the counter, shattering it on my white tiled floor.

Having been clumsy my entire life, I was used to things like that happening but this time I didn’t care about having to clean the mess or about the cuts I received on my hands when picking up the shards.

After dumping the broken glass in the trash can and mopping up the milk, I made sure that there wasn’t anymore peices of glass. Regardless of how well I look, there will likely be a tiny peice I miss which I will of course find later by stepping on in, probably in the middle of the night. Such is my luck.

Just as I open my hall closet to put away the mop and bucket, I hear a knock on my front door. On the other side, my parents stand waiting for me to let them into my small studio apartment.

For most people there wouldn’t be anything odd about having their parents standing at their door. For me, this was strange.

My relationship with my parents was different from most peoples. I didn’t hate them or anything like that. We just didn’t interact much. They did their own thing and I did mine. It’s just how it’s always been ever since my childhood. The only thing that hurt was how they were with my little brother. They catered to him while ignoring me. I always figured it was because he’s the youngest and a boy.

Opening the door, I hug them both then ask them to come inside. My mother and father sit next to eachother on my sofa and I bring them two glasses of water before sitting in a chair accross front of them.

“What brings you here? Is anything wrong?” I ask.

“Well, we just got back from abroad this morning and wanted to drop off your graduation gift.” My father answers while noticeably not making eye contact.

My parents had left for a vacation the day I graduated so they missed the ceremony. I wasn’t expecting them to come but normally they send me gifts or money when they blow off important events of mine.

My mother turns and pulls a box from her bag. I reach out to take it from her, but surprisingly she opens the box herself and removes a beautiful pendant necklace. A large yellow teardrop shaped stone, hangs from a long silver chain.

Putting the box back in her bag, my mother stands and walks behind my chair.

“Lift your hair, I want to see it on you.” I lift my hair so my mom can put the necklace on me. I can see my father watching us with a strained look.

“The price must be paid, the deal must be honored. We exchanged the debt, and own nothing further.” My mother says this as she closes the necklace around my neck. It feels warm as if it had been sitting in the sun for awhile.

Smiling broadly, my mother prances back to her bag and picks it up, as I examine the yellow stone which sparkles in the light. If I didn’t know better, I would think it’s a diamond but a stone this large would be a few million dollars. The chain is long and it hangs to the middle of my stomach. I pickup the pendant, turning it over in my fingers feeling the weight.

“Thank you, it’s beau..” I look up to see my mother ushering my father towards the front door.

“Sorry, we have a prior engagement. Since you like it, don’t take it off.” My mother opens the door and practically pushes my father through it. Then closes it behind her.

“That was weird.” I say to the empty room.

Sarah’s Father POV

Alice is pushing me towards the car. I knew this day was coming and thought I was prepared. Now that our part is done, I’m having second thoughts.

“What is with that look, David? You know this had to be done. It’s why we kept her around all this time.” Alice says while tugging his arm towards the car.

“This isn’t right.” I mumble.

“Would you rather it be you? Or maybe you’d like it to be my son?” Alice opens the drivers side door and pushes him into the car. “It has to be someone, David. It’s done now. We’re free and can live in peace. Forget about her. It was always the plan so don’t back out at the last minute.”

Alice climbs into the car and slams the door.

“Drive!” She demands. I put the keys in the ignition and start the car.

“Forgive me, my daughter. I will make it up to you in your next life.” Alice glares at me as I drive away.

Sarah’s POV

After the weird interaction with my parents, I head out to buy myself some work attire. My first day will be tomorrow and I want to look like I belong there.

I use my credit card to buy several blouses, skirts, pants, shoes and blazers. I even get a hair cut and purchase new makeup. The lady at the makeup counter was very nice and helped me pick out work appropriate colors and showed me how to apply them.

By the time I’m done, my credit card has several thousand dollars put on it. I shuttered a little as I hand the card to the lady at the register. My new salary is going to be much more than I’m used to so I should pay it off really soon but it’s still nerve racking.

Gathering my items, I head back home to put together my outfit for tomorrow. I settle for a cream blouse, dark blue pencil skirt and cream pumps. I fuss over every wrinkle with my iron and run a sticky roller over everything so there aren’t any fuzzies anywhere.

When I’m done, I hang my outfit over my closet door and get ready for bed but I’m restless. Tomorrow will be the day I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. My nerves are getting to me and I know I won’t be able to sleep.

After brushing my teeth, I open my medicine cabinet behind my bathroom mirror. Taking out a sleeping pill, I pop it into my mouth then take a sip of water from the sink to swallow it down. In twenty minutes, the pill does its job and I’m sleeping like the dead.

Third Person POV

The clock on Sarah’s night stand turns to midnight. Sarah’s body begins to heat and she kicks the blankets off. Laying in her white nightgown, she moves restlessly as her clothes and sheets become wet with perspiration. Her heavy breathing is load in the otherwise silent room.

Having been distracted, Sarah fell asleep with the necklace on and now it started to glow, emitting a soft yellow light that got brighter as seconds pass.

Once the light became to bright, it engulfed Sarah and in a flash she disappeared from her bed.

Unknown POV

“Your majesty, the debtor’s stone has been detected in the kingdom. The royal magician felt its presence appear near the Lake of Dreams.” The King’s asstant bows while delivering the news.

An evil grin spreads across the kings handsome face.

“A debt must be paid. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Bring me the traitor alive.” The King gives the command and his assistant bows deeper before rushing off to complete his mission

“I wonder who it will be?” He ponders. “Whichever one it is, I will be sure to punish them severely.”

In thousands of years, a debtor’s stone had only been used once. It took a great amount of magic to create and bind to the victim but once bound, it will find the person who’s blood was used to create the magic, destroying them and everyone in their family unless someone willingly sacrifices themselves to save the others.

The traitors had used magic to escape to a different world, making it harder for the stone to find them. The king learnt that the world they traveled to had a different passage of time than theirs. The king had waited a year for the stone to find them but in their world, the traitors had lived over twenty years in peace.

‘Whoever was sent back is going to pay dearly for each year they escaped punishment.’ He thought to himself.

Sarah POV

Being cold and wet woke me from my sleep. Groggily feeling for my blanket, my hand lands in muddy grass.

My body jerks into a sitting position after feeling the cold, slimy, mud squishing between my fingers. Looking at my muck covered hand, I struggle to understand my surroundings.

“Am I dreaming?” I ponder out loud.

I can smell the musty stink of wet and rotting vegetation as crickets chirp and flying night creatures take off from branches over my head.

Hearing the movement, I look up to see trees looming above me and a twinkling starry sky, shining between the branches.

Standing, I feel around trying to move out from under the trees and come across a silver lake. Freaking silver, as if it’s made of mercury, and reflecting off its surface are two full moons.

“What the actual eff, is going on?” I ask out loud.

“Don’t move.” I hear a deep, authoritative voice behind me. Startled, I jump and turn to see who spoke.

A tall figure, with broad shoulders, and a long hooded cloak stands several feet away next to a tree.

“Touch that water and you will sleep forever. Come to me now and I promise to be civil, if not and I will take you with force. You won’t like it if I have to force you.” The man tells me with a voice that makes me shiver.

“Who are you? Where am I? I don’t understand wants going on.” Instead if answering, he takes a step towards me.

This man gives a sense of dread. I can’t see his face but he sounds young, around my age but he comes off intimidating and I know that I don’t want to go anywhere near him.

Turning, I take off at a sprint along the shore of the silver lake. My wet night gown sticking to my figure, hugging every curve and tangling around my legs. The chill in the air cuts through the wet fabric, as my bare feet dash across the smushy ground all of which hinders my escape.

Looking behind me, I don’t see the wall of muscle I slam into, nearly falling backwards from the force. A thick arm wraps around my waist stopping me from landing in the mud.

“I told you not to run.” How did this guy get ahead of me?

Pushing at his chest, I struggle to break free from his iron like grip.

“Woman, I am losing my patience. Stop your struggling. You can’t get away. A debt must be paid.”

“What are you talking about? What debt? I don’t owe anyone any money. I just used my credit card today and I can pay it off with my first paycheck. You have the wrong person. Let me go. I have to get home.” I continue to push at his arms and chest. Instead of letting go he pulls me in harder smashing my chest against his.

I hadn’t noticed how cold I’d gotten until his warm chest was against mine. My teeth chattered and my body shook, causing me to seek out the warmth his body offered. Unconsciously, I leaned into him despite my fear.

In response, his strong arms wrapped around me, holding me close. I look up to see under his hood. Violet eyes framed by long black lashes, set into a pail face, are staring down at me. Strands of white hair fall around his face. A straight thin nose, strong jaw and pointy chin create a strikingly handsome face. His smooth porcelain skin seems to glow in the moon light and his ruby red lips are set in an annoyed scowl.

“You have a debt to pay. You’re not going home, ever again.” With that, the strange man pulls a golden rope from within his robe. Taking a closer look, I see it’s not a rope but is in fact a golden snake with red shining eyes.

I try to pull away, as I’m terrified of snakes. Hearing a hiss, I feel the creature wrap itself around my neck. Fearing it’s about to bite or strangle me, I reach up to pull it away, all while screeching.

The handsome but scary man whistles and the snake hisses loudly in my ear, as a warning. I stop yelling and whimper instead. Now I’m shaking from the cold and from fear while slowly lowing my arms.

“No more running or the basilisk will strike. It’s venom will paralyze you for hours. Do you want to be alone with me, unable to move?” He askes while pinching my chin and moving his face closer to mine.

“N-No.”I respond with tear filled eyes.

“Hum, pitty.” He smirks and moves way. Still holding me tightly, now with one arm, he uses his other to wave it about while chanting in a language I don’t understand. A shimmering portal appears and he steps into it, pulling me after him.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***