Luce

The Realm of Luce

I opened my eyes slowly and looked around. I was in a van. Sitting around me were four muscular men. Even though everything was blurry since I had been squinting, I swore one of the men had horns. I shut my eyes tightly and took a deep breath. Who in the world am I with? Keeping my eyes shut, I listened to the men talk.

"Stop staring at her, Minotaur." One man called out.

"Stop calling me Minotaur!" A deep voice yelled.

I winced in fear and accidentally opened my eyes. The man I'd been looking at did have horns. But, it's impossible for him to have horns.

But, Minotaurs have horns. They're bulls, right? I remembered reading about them in my mythology class in high school. Unless it was just a headband with horns? That would be silly for a man to be wearing. I slightly shook my head, and looked towards the floor of the van.

"Sorry about that, Miss. I didn't mean to startle you." The man with horns said. I stared at him blankly, unable to move. The man's facial structure resembled those of a bull. I kept comparing him to a bull since I had already planted the thought inside my head.

The man beside me put his hand on my forearm, causing me to jump. "Don't worry about them, Belle. They won't hurt you." He said. His green eyes looked oddly familiar. Of course! He was the man that came up to Lisa and me. Nick?

I looked at Nick, still in shock. I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. I looked back around at the men. Nick was a lot less built than the rest of them. But the questions I had kept flowing in, where am I? Who are these people? What's going on? Have I just been kidnapped?

Nick spoke up, "We're taking you to a place where you can learn to control your abilities."

What's he talking about? What abilities? I'm just an average girl who is preparing for college.

"You'll be safe there. I don't have the authority to explain to you what's going on."

Safe? I was safe as I was with Lisa! Wait. Where's Lisa?

"Where's my friend? I need to see Lisa! Is she okay?" I managed to cry out.

Nick spoke softly, "She's fine. She's back at your dorm. Everything has been explained to her."

Before I could reply or even think, the van came to a halt. "We're here." The man with horns said. He opened the van door and everyone got out. I sat there in silence, with my hands clasped together, rubbing my nail into my hand in an attempt to calm my nerves. The horned man held out his hand to me. "It's okay to come out."

I felt oddly assured by his soft words and took his hand. As I was getting out of the van, I stepped on my foot and slipped. Before I could fall, the horned man caught me and pulled me close to his body. His body was warm and I felt weirdly safe. But, I quickly pushed him away and whispered, "Thank you."

"Not a problem at all, Miss." He replied with a smile and continued walking.

I followed behind and the next thing I knew, Nick was standing beside me. "He has that effect on people."

I confusedly looked at him with furrowed brows. "What?"

"He's a guard. Depending on what he's doing, he makes people feel...different."

With a puzzled look on my face, I looked back at the horned man.

Nick chuckled and continued talking. "If he's trying to hurt someone, his touch makes them feel cold and overpowered. If he's trying to help someone, his touch makes them feel warm and protected. It's fairly interesting"