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Part 3

"A person's mind is so powerful. We can invent, create, experience, and destroy things with thoughts alone." Anonymous

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The voice inside me told me where to drive, and I obeyed mindlessly. I did wonder, of course, who it was, and if whoever it was was actually on my side. There was always the slight chance that there was no voice and I was just crazy. But I preferred not to think about that option.

When I finally pulled into the parking lot of a Dunkin' Doughnuts, I asked what was next. And. . . . there was no response. Maybe I was crazy? I bonked my head against the steering wheel, until I accidentally hit the horn. I ducked down, my face flushing as everyone turned to stare at me.

When I finally looked up, and saw a girl making her way through the parking lot to me. As she waited for some cars to go into the drive-through, she looked up and made eye contact with me.

'Hi!' The voice in my mind said, 'It's nice to finally meet you!' I must have jumped, because then it said, 'don't worry, I'm here to help you!' I wasn't so sure that she was.

She ran across the parking lot, and when she reached my car, she tapped on the window. She looked normal enough. She had on a tank top and shorts, and her hair was a coppery red. It shined in the bright sunlight, and was pulled into a bun on top of her head.

After an internal debate whether I should talk to her or not, which lasted a couple minutes, the voice yelled at me.

'Come on Ilsa! Just let me talk already!' She was grinning when I rolled down the window and said.

"Why don't you come in the car, I think we have a lot to talk about."

"Sure!" she responded, and ran around the car to the shotgun seat. "So, I know you're probably really confused," she began.

"Me?" I asked sarcastically, "Now why would I be confused? Like, there is no reason for me to be confused!" I bit my tongue the instant I stopped talking. Stupid! That was so rude! Aggghh! Thankfully, she just laughed and said, rolling her eyes,

"Tell me about it! I'm Emmy." She put down her coffee in my car's drink holder. She took a deep breath. "So it goes something like this, and don't interrupt me. I will take questions later. Ok?"

"Ok!" I said.

"Ok," She echoed, as if to prepare herself. "So, there are some people with special talents. Some of them manipulate the elements. And some of them manipulate the mind. There aren't a lot of the latter, but those who do exist are powerful. We don't come from here." She tucked her hair behind her ear, and I saw that half of her auburn hair was shaved off. Her expression darkens as she continues,

"There are people who use it in the wrong way. Their leader goes by an alias: Sun. To represent his influence over all." Her face twisted in disgust, "We lived in another world before this, but we were thrown out of the otherworld. All thanks to them."

She pulled her feet onto the seat and hugged them against herself.

"A month ago, my friends and I tried to get back into the other world. The guardians of the gate had already refused to let us through, so we planned to fight them." Her voice cracks on the last word, and she turns her face away. "The Guardians killed all of them. I barely made it out alive." She whispered, so soft that it was barely audible. She looks back at me, a bittersweet smile crossing her lips. "Not unscathed," she continues. "I'm sure you've noticed that half of my hair is gone."

"Yeah," I reply, glancing at her inquisitively. It might be rude, but I can't help it, and she doesn't seem to mind.

"Well," she says with a sigh, "half of my hair got burnt off by Emily Nicci. She's a guard of the Gate." Emmy scowled, "She used to be one of my best friends, but then I got my powers." I looked at Emmy in shock. How could anyone do that to their best friend?