The Ring's Rage

Chapter 1. The Strange Ring

It was such a perfect day when it all began.

One sunny Monday morning, i sat on a bench and watched a little girl play at Crosser Park. She was sitting in the stream.
Enthusiastically, the little girl scooped up sand with her hands. I noticed her open them and let the sand slip out.
She spotted something.
I couldn't see what it was from a distance, but it was gleaming. The little girl furrowed her eyebrows, confused at what it was. All she cared about was that it sparkled in the sun.

"Come on, Sophie," her mother chirped, "It's getting late and we're going to have dinner soon."

"Okay," she sighed unwillingly.
I watched as her mom hoisted her daughter up and walked away. Slowly Sophie dozed off to sleep, her eyes drooping shut.

After another hour of reading and watching the gentle stream flow, I lifted myself lazily from the bench and dragged myself home. I walked on, looking at my feet. Suddenly, a flash of light caught my eye. The light reflected from the street.
I picked up the strange ring.
It had a gold stripe on the top and bottom going all the way around. The middle part was silver, and it had a weird flame like symbol on it. Carefully, I slipped it on.
I felt a sudden wave of warmth on my hand.
I was hesitant to keep it with me, but kept it anyway since it was pretty.
Realizing this ring is what that little girl, Sophie had found, I continued my walk. I would have given it back if not for the fact that I didn't know where she lived.

Finally I stepped inside, overcome with sleepiness. I trudged my way upstairs to my room and went straight to sleep.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"Im older, I should go first." Jay declared as he nudged past me the next morning on his way to the bathroom.

In frustration i yelled, "Fine, I don't care! Use up all the hot water."

I felt my hands warm up with a strange sensation. I studied them and tried to see what was causing such a strong heat, but came up short. I waited for what felt like hours for Jay to finish.

"About time," i muttered as he opened the door wearing a towel around his waist.

"As if you don't take longer..." He snorted and headed to his room.

"I don't." I called back and shut the bathroom door.

The water was cold and I was still pretty angry about that. He could have gone second and showered with cool water. Why didn't he?
I could feel my hands warm up again, even hotter than before.
Suddenly, the water also became heated.
I wondered where the sudden heat came from.

He couldn't have left some warm water for me, right?
I decided to let the thought go for now and sunk in to the warm water.

After a nice hot bath, I wanted to surprise my best friend and skipped to his house. I knocked on the door and hoped it was his mother who opened it.

"Oh, good morning, Belle!" Mrs. Clinton sang as she ushered me inside.

"I suppose you're wanting Sam? He's up in his bedroom again," she said with thought.

"God, I don't know what that kid does up there, but he sure is lazy." She mumbled.

I giggled at his moms scolding and snuck up to his door. I was about to open it, when I heard a shout.

"BOO!"

I heard a squeal, and someone laughed.
That squeal was mine.
I huffed and punched his strong, laughing stomach.

"Not funny, Sam," I growled.

"Oh, come on; it was hilarious! And your face," he stopped himself to laugh some more.

"Priceless."

"Shut up," I muttered, entering his room.
I went to lie on the bed. He followed.

"I have to tell you something," he hesitated and thought carefully about his words.

I sat up, getting worried.

"You know how I've been doing some research on the forest?"

"Yeah; why?"

He was learning about the forest. The police, detectives and Sam were trying to figure out why there weren't as many animals in the forest as there should've been.

"Well, I'm going into the forest to find out more. I'm working with one of the detectives. I'll be gone for about three months. They found some blood," he rambled on, but I was too preoccupied with my thoughts to hear.

He doesn't expect me to stay, does he?
Two months seemed like a year; it felt too long. And what if my bestest friend got hurt, or even worse? I'd never be able to live without him.

"I'm coming with you, right?" I asked uncertainly, worry etched in my voice.

"No, Belle. It's too dangerous," he stuttered.

I laughed at his statement.

"Dangerous? How can it possibly be 'dangerous' if there isn't anything dangerous to be afraid of?"

That's ridiculous, I thought.

"Whatever got hurt could harm you."

"You mean whoever. There hardly have been any animals in the forest for so long, it's the reason you're going; it has to have been a person. What else could it have been?"

"I never said the blood they found was human. They tested it and mentioned that it was an unidentified creature. They've actually done it a couple of times." He explained.

"Well, what about you? You could get hurt too,"

Abruptly, my hands heated up again. It was stornger this time.
The candles lit up in the room, and he stopped himself from answering to stare at them.

But all I cared about was that my best friend was going to leave, for a very long time.

"No, you cant leave! What if something happened to you?" I yelled in anger as my eyes started to water.

Sam jumped at my sudden outburst.

Then my hands lit up.

Literally.

They caught fire but there was no pain, only strength. Both sam and I examined my hands.
Then he yelled, took a bottle of water and poured it on them.
I was frozen in shock.

What the hell just happened?

"Belle! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He took my tiny hands in his larger ones and inspected them.
His touch felt gentle.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled, and stared at his green eyes. He met my gaze and we stayed like that for a minute or two.

His eyes were filled with concern but he also seemed distracted.
I blushed as I looked down at our fingers and pulled away.

"You have a new ring," he noticed.
So I told him about what's happened ever since I found the ring.

He told me it wasn't just an ordinary ring,
but the ring.