The Riches of Power

Transformation

All of the following are occurring at about the same time.

POV Raven

Luke had silently guided me down a metal hallway, unfamiliar to me. He pushed me into a room. My muscles were sore and most movements hurt, but I was very careful. I did my best to remember the hallway, just in case I can make an escape. He didn't look at me on our walk, it almost seemed like he was ignoring me. He opened a rusting metal door into a smaller room. I examined the room. It had the same metal walls as the rest of the place, but there were various candles lighting the room instead of ceiling lights. There was only a sofa and an armchair. Unsurprisingly, he sat in the armchair right next to the door. He motioned for me to sit on the sofa, in the far corner of the tiny space. I sat down sitting awkwardly proper, with correct posture and my hands were fiddling in my lap. He stared at the floor for a while and I started to sit very still. Time past very slowly. He didn't move and I didn't move, the only sound was my shallow breathing. My adrenaline levels were falling. I ended up leaning my elbow against the sofa's side and my head on my hand. Slowly my eyes began to close for longer increments of time until I had fallen asleep. A buzzing sound woke me up, only when I sat up and listened, did I realize that he had begun to hum an unknown tune. Awkwardly I listened as he began to sing in an almost whispered voice. I tried to make out the words. As he got louder, I realized that he wasn't speaking in English. The words though sung soothingly felt sharp and painful, if that even makes any sense. Memories began to flash in front of me, blurring my vision of reality.

It was at my birthday party. I had all eight of us at my house plus a few others we had decided to play hide and seek in the dark because that's what we did every time we had a get together at my house. Since I was the birthday girl, I was it. After counting in the living room, I began my search. It was pitch black except for the little button on the TV and the alarm system's screen. I found Axel first and then I slowly gathered everyone out of their hiding spots. The first game was usually the longest because Kaitlyn would always find a new hiding spot that you would never think to look. My dad was playing with us this round and we were beginning to get bored of searching. We began screaming at each other playfully. "Where the hell is she?" I groaned.  Then we heard a loud "That's not fair!" coming from the guest room. Everyone hurried over, Kaitlyn was at the top of the closet using her feet and hands to keep her up. She must have used that ladder that we keep in there, but I never would have thought she would actually climb up there. As she climbed there she grumbled, "If you didn't reach up, I never would have been caught." My dad was the one who found her, but she seemed to be happy with herself. Most of the people eventually left and Paige, Tara, and Kaitlyn were the only ones left. We decided to attempt Karaoke, of course none of us could sing. I'm pretty sure my dad got a headache, but we all had fun singing Metallica, evanescence, Journey, and other bands.

The memory faded leaving only a faint laughter ringing in my ears. More memories flashed by, but none long enough for me feel was what was actually going on. Soon it all stopped. It seemed as if none of it had happened. Luke hadn't moved, and neither did I. Then I saw it. There was a glowing ball in the center of the room. As I inspected it closer I saw that it was made of smaller white orbs each replaying a picture. I let out a small gasp when I saw that each one replayed scenes from my past. 'Were those my memories?' I thought. Luke stood up a smirk replacing his composed face. "You will help us, and you might even like it," he said as the orb separated into eight different ones. I could see pictures of each of my friends with their families. 'That's from all of us!' I mentally shrieked. He summoned the acidic liquid and I screamed as it engulfed the spheres of our lives.  That's when I couldn't remember anything from my past. I don't remember why I'm in this room. I know that I should be afraid of Luke, but I don't know why. I know that my friends are in danger but I don't know why. Why can't I remember anything?