Isabella woke up to the hum of the car underneath her, and the warmth of a blanket covering her. She didn't know how long they had been traveling. Time had twisted into something strange—no stars, no sun, just endless mist and the hum of something Isabella didn't recognize. Her tears had dried, but her body still trembled. Her voice was hoarse from crying. Her heart ached with confusion and fear.
The car stopped. The door creaked open.
Two cloaked figures reached in and lifted her out of the car and carried her kicking and screaming into a grey, cold building, but her strength was no match them. Her powers—whatever they were—remained dormant, locked behind fear and innocence.
They carried her through a stone corridor lit by flickering torches. The walls were damp, carved from black rock that pulsed faintly with energy. The air smelled of ash and old secrets.
They eventually reached a small room, with a bed and a small window with iron bars. The door slammed shut behind her.
Isabella scrambled to her feet, ran to the door, and shouted, "Let me out! I want my mommy! I want my daddy!"
No answer.
She pounded on the door until her hands hurt. She screamed until her voice cracked. But the only response was silence.
She collapsed onto the bed, curling into a ball, exhausted, clutching the edge of her dress like a lifeline. Her music box was gone. Her parents were gone. And she was alone.
Then, footsteps.
The man from the car appeared inside her room—his face half-lit by torchlight. His eyes still glowing red. His tattoos shimmered with dark power.
His name was Malric.
He sat down on the bed, peering at her with a faint smile, the red eyes made her skin crawl.
"You're stronger than you know," he said softly. "And soon, you'll understand what you were born to be."
"I don't want to be anything," Isabella whispered.
Malric's smile widened. "You don't have a choice, it's your destiny. It's late, and you must be tired from today." Through the door at the end of the room is a bathroom, and in the cupboard are some clothes for you. Go and get ready for bed and your dinner will be ready when you are done"
He stood and walked to the door and was gone before she could reply.
Isabella stared at the door long after he was gone, her breath shallow, her body frozen.
And in the silence, she whispered to herself, "Mommy… Daddy… please find me."
But as Isabella sat there, she knew that for now she would have to take care of herself, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths, just like her Daddy had shown her. She sat like that until she felt a peaceful calm come over her. And in that moment, Isabella at the young age of five, knew that if she was to survive this, she would need to be strong. Her parents would come for her, she had no doubt about that.
After a few minutes of sitting quietly, calming herself, Isabella heard her stomach growl, she didn't know how much time had passed since they had left her home this morning, but it was dark outside her window.
It was time to look after herself. She went to the door that the man with the red eyes had shown her, and looked inside. It looked just like her bathroom at home, even the little pink bath towels were the same.
Isabella opened the tap and started filling the bath with warm water, her Mommy had always run her bath for her, but Isabella had watched her and knew what to do. She turned the tap to where her Mommy always turned it for the perfect temperature.
After her bath, Isabella found some warm pyjama's on the chair next to the bath, she was feeling proud of herself and already a bit better. She couldn't wait to tell her Mommy that she was a big girl now. By this time her tummy was growling loudly, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since this morning.
As Isabella walked back into her little room, she smelt food, and her stomach growled loudly again. By now her eyelids were starting to droop, but some instinct inside of her was guiding her, and she knew that if she was going to survive, she needed her strength.
Isabella woke up to the sun shining into her little pink bedroom, she must've dreamt it all, but it had all felt so real.
She jumped out of her bed and ran to her the door to go and tell her Mommy and Daddy her scary dream, but the door wouldn't open. And Isabella knew, it wasn't a dream. She was in a bedroom that looked exactly like hers, except this wasn't her bedroom, here she was a prisoner.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she remembered, she was supposed to be strong. She wiped them away just as the door opened and Malric stepped through.
Malric smiled, "Good-morning Isabella, how did you sleep? I am here to fetch you for breakfast, and then we can start your training, something your parents neglected."
Instant anger welled up inside Isabella, but she remembered what she had to do. Isabella looked at Malric and with a shaky voice Isabella could not hide, she pronounced: "I am ready."
Malric led the way to a huge dining room, inside were others, men and women, but they all had red eyes and black scars on their skin, just like Malric. Even though the sun was shining, it was cold and Isabella felt a cold deep in her bones. She shivered. Nobody looked at her or even acknowledged her. She preferred it that way. Inside she was shaking and terrified, but she vowed that she would never show them. No matter what happened.
She just had to be brave until her parents found her. She was five years old, a big girl now.