Bewitching

Chapter One

Darkness.

That's the first thing is see.

I feel the memories in my head whirling around. I start to panic as I remember the horror of what I have been through. Wait. One disappears. Then another. They start to dissolve. My father. I try to remember him.

I can't. Wasn't I just thinking about him a moment before. I desperately try to grasp something, anything. But everything slips away like water through fingertips.

I only know one word. Elizabeth. My name. I go by Lizzy. I squeeze my eyes shut trying to keep that fact with me. I go by Lizzy. Lizzy. Lizzylizzylizzylizzy.

What was I thinking? I can't remember. I start to panic. No don't do that. I try to get familiar with my surroundings, pushing my memory loss aside to deal with later. I try to stand up, my legs shaking. The floors sways slightly. I must be moving. I try to guess in what direction. I can't tell. I was never good at directions anyway. How come I can remember that and nothing else? The thought suddenly disappears. What was I thinking about?

I feel my way around the room, which I had now realized is a box. I started to freak. Where was I? Who would be so evil to put me in a dark box with no memory of my past life at all? I was nauseous. Why couldn't I remember anything?

The box jerked and I slipped and slammed into the floor. Upward. Definitely moving upward. The box jerked and I fell again halfway through the process getting up again.

So I sat. I put my face in my hands and concentrated on my breathing.

Five seconds in. Five seconds out. I practiced this for about ten minutes. At least I think. I apparently can't tell time well.

I sat with my back against the wall and tried to figure out my situation. I was stuck in a pitch black upward moving box with no memories. I started to freak again. So much for the ten minutes of breathing exercises.

I don't know how long I sat there. Hours? Days?

Suddenly the box jerked to a halt. My stomach churned. Where did this box bring me?

I waited. Why isn't anything happening!? I screamed.

"SOMEONE HELP ME!"

I waited to see if I would get a reply. Nothing.

A loud creaking sounded from above. I scrambled back against the wall as a crack of light appeared across the center of the box.

It slowly got bigger, until with a BANG it suddenly burst open. I covered my eyes with my hands. A huge commotion sounded from above and suddenly the box shook. I squinted at the shape that suddenly blocked out the sunlight. A cute blonde haired boy with brown eyes stood infront of me.

"It's a girl." He said. Why did he sound confused? I stood up and he immediately stepped back. "Who are you?" I asked. He just stared. I looked up.The opening of the box was surrounded by boys. All in their teens. Uh oh.

Voices started up from the cluster.

"A girl?!"

"What does she look like?"

"I call dibs!"

Dibs. No way. What are they, five-year-olds?

"She has red hair!" I pulled out a strand of my long hair to look at it. A chorus of laughter rose from above. My face reddened.

"Not as red as her face!" Someone called, causing me to blush even more. They roared with laughter.

I. Want. Answers. I turned to blondie, who continued to stare. That's it.

I rushed to him and slammed him up against the corner of the box. Everybody went silent. "Who are you!" I screamed into his face. "Where am I?" The box shook. All of a sudden hands were roughly pulling me away from the boy.

I strained against the hands. Turns out I was stronger. I burst away and back onto the boy. The box shook more. More hands on me.

I pull away from them to and back into a corner. About three boys are in the box with me. They start to move toward me. "Stop!" A voice rings out. A dark boy hops into the box and moved until he was standing in front of me. He holds out a hand to me. "I'm Alby." I reach out and shake it. "Elizabeth."

I remember the boy. "I'm sorry about pounding you." I turn to the blonde boy who had fallen and was being hauled to his feet by an asian boy with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up until you could see his muscles, and a dark haired boy with funny eyebrows.

He looks at me wearily. I looked him over. I didn't realize I had beat him so hard.

"Clint! Jeff!" Alby calls. Two boys peered over the edge of the hole. "Help Gally and Minho get Newt over to the homestead and then check him over, looks like he banged his head pretty hard." He glanced at me.

The two boys hopped in and grabbed Newt by the arms. They helped him over to a rope that was being lowered into the box.

I turned to Alby. "Sorry." He glared at me. "You beat up my second-in-command." I cringe. Oops. "Can you tell me anything about yourself?" He asks. I shake my head. Panic starts to overwhelm me again as I think about it, but I push it down.

Gally and Minho hopped back down into the box. "Why would the creators send a girl?" Alby ask Minho. "I don't shucking know." He snorts. Shucking? I open my mouth to speak but am cut off by Alby. "Don't speak unless I tell you to."

Fine then.

"You should throw her in the slammer." Gally sneered at me. "I don't think this can mean anything good." I gulp. Slammer? JAIL? I can barely keep my mouth shut.

"I need a gathering." Minho jogged to the edge of the box and jumped. He grasped the edge with his fingers and hauled himself up. I stared. Is that humanly possible?

Gally soon followed suit. Alby turned to the boys surrounding the box. "Shut your holes! I want you all to leave and go back to your daily routine. I will handle the girl." The girl? Try Elizabeth. That was the closest I got to opening my mouth to comment.

They all started to walk away, grumbling. "Wait!" Alby called after them. "If any one of you touch the girl, even just a tap, you will either get your shuck butt thrown off the cliff or banished! You hear me!"

They started to whisper to each other. Some mumbled "good that" or "Fine". I made a mental note to watch out for the "fine" guys.

Once they all disappeared Alby turned to me with a frown. "The only reason I haven't thrown you in the slammer and screamed at the creators what the shuck were they thinking is because I need to keep my cool. If I freak out they freak out. Now you look responsible and all that klunk so I am going to trust you on this. I am going to give you the tour and then bring you to the gathering so we can discuss you fate. Now no questions until the end, good that?"

I nod eagerly. "Good." he tips his head slightly. "Now lets begin."