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Chapter 8

  The bathroom is dimly lit as I tentatively walk in. My eyes scan the bleak and dirty bathroom. Grime clings to the sink and paper towels litter the floor. The boy isn't here and I hold my breath. Where is he? I turn to look at the mirror covered in fingerprints. I can't see details, but I peer at the mirror and see a figure standing behind me. I whip around and the boy is behind me. Oh my heck, he's really here. Every doubt that I had comes back in full motion and I can't breathe.

  The boy looks at me and looks me in the eye, "You came." I nod and he replies, "I'm sure you came to hear about Tiephriam or the 'Land of Steam'." My mouth drops. He laughs, "Amazing isn't it?" Instantly I start to build walls in my mind. What am I doing?

  I stumble backwards, "Umm, I gotta...uh...water my...uh...fish, so I...uh"

  He grabs my hand and stares me in the eyes, his eyes are blue with copper flecks and his hair is swept into his face. I look down to my scar and it finally clicked. "You aren't going anywhere."

  I gasp and the floor beneath me starts to swirl, the black and white tiles make a cyclone underneath my feet. I feel so sick, and it's hard for me to stay standing. I close my eyes as my legs just topple beneath me. I land with a soft thud and my stomach is spinning like a top. Any remains of my breakfast are thrown up onto the slippery, smelly floor and into the curls of my hair. I feel my hand being lifted up and something puts pressure on my wrist. On my scar.

  I scream, it hurts so bad. I thought that it was bad last time, but this time is so much worse. It feels like bone, muscle, nerve, anything and everything is being torn apart and shredded by a meat grinder. I can't feel anything but pain.l A whisper enters into my conscience. "Tiephriam. Siris and Yelir are coming back." It's too much. I can't think, I can't process anything. I take a gasping breath and then all goes black for the second time that day.

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  I am just laying on the ground in pain when I feel a force slap me in the face. "Wake up Riley!" My mind is so foggy, it is so much more worse than last time.

  "Ow."

  "Wake up sunshine. We have to go." Colors swirl around my vision and bile rises up my throat. "Come on, it's not that bad. You should be up by now." I squint my eyes open and I swear there are at least three identical guys hovering over my body. My stomach lurches and I hurl the remains of anything still left in my body onto the floor next to me. My head is spinning, eyes are heavy, and all I can make is a groan.

  I hear a sigh of impatience and a force makes me sit up and it plugs my nose. Nerves send shooting pain through my body and my head pounds like someone is bashing my skull with a hammer. I open my mouth to take a breath and I feel a liquid fill my mouth and run down my throat. It burns as it slithers down my throat and drips into my twisted stomach. I lean over to dispel this nastiness and I hear a "Oh no you don't!" The force leans me back down and releases my nostrils. Sweet clear air fills my lungs and I take a couple of loud gasps. I crack open my eyes again and the three blurry identical men lean over me, "Sorry Riley. It'll hurt, but I promise it'll be for the best."

  I see the men simultaneously reach up and grab a blazing star, they shudder and they bring it to my wrist, the one with the scar. "Sorry Riley."

  Pain sears through my body, I scream bloody murder and my cheeks are wet with tears. I don't even know how to describe the pain and I don't know if I can fully comprehend it myself. All I feel is pain, all I can think of is pain, and everything around me is pain. My world is now pain and, thankfully, everything goes black.