Lucas got up off the ground and stumbled away from the house. He could vaguely remember the path he took to get here. Go straight ahead, right, left, forward, left. The houses all looked the same, made of bricks and one-story tall. Surely he wouldn’t get lost, right? If he was gone, Leta would think he had run away. He couldn’t let that happen.

He was sure that if he turned left one more time, he would reach Leta’s house. But as he did, he found that nothing had changed, everything was indistinguishable and navigating this place was like navigating a labyrinth. He didn’t understand. Why couldn’t the architects of this place bother adding variety? Was it really that hard? Did the people here just love uniformity so much that they needed their houses to be the exact same as everyone else's?

He could not believe his luck. Surely this was the doing of a God, who found his suffering utterly hilarious. They were probably watching Lucas, lazing on a couch somewhere, chowing down on popcorn, wheezing at him. He hoped, then, that God would choke on his popcorn.

He decided to stop walking and planted himself on the side of a road. Continuing to wander around would only make him more lost. He thought back to Leta. Had she accounted for this? Did she even expect him to get out alive from that house? The silent night gave no answer.

Lucas sat down and leaned his back against the wall. He felt like a child again, waiting for his mother to come and pick him up after she had finished with all her shopping. He did not remember much from that day, just that he cried and cried when she took longer than ten minutes. But when she did come out, she came with a packet of gummy worms, which he greedily shovelled down.

He wondered how she was doing. Perhaps he would be marked a missing persons case, and his heart ached, knowing that she would be terribly worried for him. He could not do anything to tell his mother that he was alive. He let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes. Now without the pink-tinted night vision, he had returned back into the darkness he was so comfortable with.

It was clear that Leta needed Lucas and it wasn’t just for errands. He just didn’t know what for. The cat was even worse, its intentions as clear as mud.

But he knew that Leta wouldn’t let him go and be free, so he made a bet with himself. She would either have to come and find him or get someone else to look for him. If she came to find him, he wins. If someone else comes, he loses. So he waited.

But it seemed that Lucas did not have to wait for long. He heard approaching footsteps, undoubtedly going in his direction. He kept his eyes closed, leaving the result of his little game as a surprise. The footsteps drew close and then stopped right in front of him.

“I take back what I said about you being low maintenance.”

An irritated, familiar voice. He wasn’t sure if he should feel proud that he won, but something went as he predicted, at least. He stood up and glanced at Leta. She said nothing else, turned around and walked away. Lucas caught up to her and stayed just behind her.

Soon enough, they had made it back to where he started. It was different from every other house, as it had a lack of windows. In many senses, the house was more like a prison than a home, but that’s what made it distinguishable from everything else.

The two were at the front door this time, and as Leta turned the key in the lock, she froze. Lucas was about to push the door open but she held out her arm, preventing him from moving forward. She gestured to pull his hood lower and put one finger over her mouth.

He did not understand what was going on, but he obeyed her commands. She straightened her back, inhaled and opened the door, Lucas following close behind.

Although the hood obscured his vision, he could easily tell that there was someone in the house. It wasn’t an intruder or a thief, rather they stood confidently in the living room, inspecting the walls as if it were some kind of artwork. Lucas stood as still as a statue.

“Well, Leta, I have to admit, I thought you were lying when you said you had found someone.” It was a grating, intense voice that was filled to the brim with animosity.

There was a hostility within her that felt foreign to what Lucas had experienced. He was looking downward and he could see that her hands were shaking. “You’re not supposed to be here,” she replied.

“Not supposed to be here? After all the trouble I went to in finding you, don’t you think that’s quite rude? I’m just a dear friend, checking up on you. So tell me, what part of me”, the figure moved closer to Leta, “isn’t supposed to be here?”

Leta froze, before mumbling in response. “Nothing.”

“Sorry? I didn’t quite catch that.”

She raised her voice. “Nothing. You’re my dear friend and you’re just checking up on me.”

The man let out a hearty laugh and slapped her on the shoulder. “Good, good. See, I was worried about how you'd fare next week without a companion, but looks like that’s been settled now.”

The man exuded a dangerous aura, which leached into the atmosphere, turning it bloodthirsty and ravenous. Lucas kept his eyes trained on the floor, fearing that if he looked up, he would be devoured by this brute. The top of his head had two holes burnt into him, where the man was staring.

He was getting closer to Lucas, reaching out, trying to see what was under the hood. Leta stepped between them, and said with a sharp tone, “You shouldn’t touch what doesn’t belong to you.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The man stopped and let out a humph. “As secretive as ever. Well then, I’ll let the others know that you’ve found someone.” He leaned towards Leta and mockingly whispered, “I’m sure your parents would be delighted.”

She tensed up as the man pushed the front door open and sauntered away, the sound of the door slamming shut reverberating around the room. After a little while, an ear-splitting silence settled in.

Lucas took off the cloak and glanced over at Leta. She was still standing in the same position in a daze. He wanted to know what was happening next week. He wanted to know who that was. But he felt that Leta was teetering over the edge. One word from him would push her over and he would bear the consequences of that.

Unsure of what to do, he fiddled with the black box in his hand and went over to the table. He pulled the chair out, the sound of its legs scraping against the wooden floor snapping Leta out of her trance. He watched as she blinked slowly and lifted her head up. Then suddenly, she was alert again and marched into the room next to the bathroom.

She came out not long after, holding something in her hand, and she put it on the table, in front of Lucas. It was a ring, with a small, translucent cube attached to it. A vivid pink light began to appear around her hand and there were specks dancing around her fingers. She touched the cube and the specks floated towards it. They were curious, orbiting it, seemingly testing it. Then, all at once, they closed in and merged with the cube, a vibrant light shining from it.

Eventually, the light died down, and Lucas could see that the cube was now opaque, smooth and pink in colour. It reminded him of those pink opal gemstones.

Leta slid the ring over to him and he picked it up. “What is it?” He asked.

“A ring. You’ll be accompanying me outside from now on, so keep it on at all times,” Leta responded.

An insultingly simplistic answer to a straightforward question. Did she have to be so secretive about everything? The cat’s voice felt like a curse, ingrained into his head. Trust? This paranoid kidnapper?

He wanted to let out the blistering feeling inside his chest, but he couldn’t. Couldn’t do this, couldn’t do that. He bit his lip and crammed his frustration back down to the depths where they had come from. He had to stay optimistic. At least he was alive. At least there was magic.

Right. He needed to learn more about magic. What Leta had displayed was some manipulation of light, and its colour was based on the wielder’s hair colour. She had pink hair, so her magic was pink. Great. That was a start.

He slid the ring onto his index finger. He rotated his hand, examining it for any changes. Nothing.

But then a prickly feeling. His finger started to ache and it was spreading. His palm, his wrist, his arm. It was an uncomfortable warmth that was crawling inside him. His eyes widened and he glared at Leta. What had she-?

Leta had her eyes closed, her palm outstretched. She was concentrating intently, paying no attention to Lucas’ discomfort. The sensation didn’t feel painful, but he could feel it coating his insides, enveloping his organs. His entire body tensed up as the feeling was rising, travelling up his neck and into his head.

A blinding flash of pink obscured his vision, and there was a high-pitched whine in his ear. But then it seemed like things were back to normal, and the strange sensation within him was gone.

Strangely, he felt lighter. His vision through his glasses was wonky and ill-adjusted, so he took them off and he froze. He could see perfectly. He looked around at distant and close-up objects, left, and right just to make sure. It was real.

He could hear the rustling of the wind outside, which should have been impossible since the sound would be too quiet to hear from within the house. He stared, bewildered, at Leta.

She seemed to be just as surprised as he was, inspecting him with caution. She grabbed his hand and put her palm to his, emitting a pink glow. His palm responded with a similar pink glow and she let go.

“That went better than I thought it would.” She seemed relieved

“What,” Lucas’ voice was shaking. “What did you do to me?”

“Well…It was meant to replace your aura. But looks like it did a whole lot more than that.”

Leta had done a complete one-eighty flip from her usual expression, no longer sporting her usual, soulless eyes and frowning mouth. She had a smile, one that showed all her teeth, and her eyes were wide, wild. It was not rooted in pure joy or happiness. It was a twisted smile from a wretched person.

Lucas decided that this might be his chance to probe her a little more. He leaned forward. “Replace my aura? What’s an aura?”

“You don’t know?” The fluidity of her movements was foreign compared to her previous stiffness. She was shocked by his question, and she very clearly showed it. “Well, it’s not visible unless you or someone else intentionally reveals it. It’s a colour that your body passively emits.”

She continued. ”See, my magic was supposed to disperse across the outside of your body, making your aura look similar to mine. But instead, you absorbed it. You can tell because your hair is the same colour as mine.”

Lucas inspected a loose strand of hair. It was just like she had said, and it was no longer the sleek black he remembered. It was bright pink, a photocopy of her hair colour.

So he had her magic in him. Did that mean he could use it?

He was about to ask her but she clapped her hands, cutting in.

“All right! You should go to sleep now. Tomorrow will be a big day.” Her head was tilted and her voice had an edge to it.

Right. He couldn’t push his luck by asking too many questions. He would just have to figure it out himself.

“Where do I sleep?” He asked.

She pointed to a closed door and he walked over, opening it. Inside was a well-made bed with folded clothes on it, presumably the clothes he would be sleeping in. There was a single light, which gave the room a warm orange glow. The door closed behind him, trapping him inside. He turned around and tried the handle, but it was locked.

Lucas sighed and got changed into the bedclothes. They were soft and breathable, which suited the room temperature perfectly. The mattress was a little stiff, but he was glad that he didn’t have to sleep on the floor.

He wondered what could possibly be in store for him when he woke up. Surely, it could not be as eventful as this day had been. He wasn’t sure if anything could beat the chaos that had happened. Knocked out, tied to a tree, kidnapped, forced to invade someone’s house, the fact he almost suffocated, the list went on and on.

As the light dimmed and he was plunged into darkness, his thoughts returned to the voice that he heard when he first arrived here.

Peace and happiness. Did such a concept even exist in this place?

He decided it wasn't worth thinking about, so he exhaled and let his exhaustion overtake him.