Keeper of the Veil

Beginnings.

~~~Jamie.~~~

Wake up, a voice stirred from inside me, drawing me out of my slumber. Wake up, it sounded like me, but older, worn out.

Obeying my inner voice I fully woke to muffled shouts coming from down the hall, I figured mom and dad were in one of their rare fights. Finding it impossible to ignore them any longer I slowly opened my eyes and felt my heart jump into my throat.

This wasn’t my home.

Shocked to my place I let my eyes wonder around the room. Currently I laid on a king sized bed, wrapped up in earthly tones of brown and green quilted blankets. The walls were textured to appear to be made of stone, but other than that the room was completely empty. My only source of light was from the window on the opposite wall, allowing the bright sun to light up the entire room.

I told myself that I needed to sit up, that I needed to see what was going on, but I couldn’t. My muscles were sluggish to my commands, my limbs felt like jello, unable to support my weight. The only thing I found myself capable of doing was rolling so that I faced the door.

Don't panic.

As I calmed down the panic attack that began to form, I listened to the voices that were coming from wherever I was being held. A girl it seemed did most of the shouting as they stopped close to where I laid. “Denali, you worthless, good for nothing, half breed! Could you maybe take these Trials seriously for once in your life?”

I assumed whoever responded was the one named Denali, “God damn it Sam, don't you have better things to do? Like train maybe?” There seemed to be a small scuffle at the door, followed by a thump against the wall behind my head. “Leave her be Samantha!”

She struggled to speak as she coughed out, “She won't survive the Trails! She doesn’t have what it takes! Send her back to the Other Realm before she hurts herself! She's a worthless, ignorant,” I could tell she was going to continue but she was cut off by another thump against the wall.

“Enough!” The male voice lowered an octave and made the whole room vibrate with its power, “if you ever talk like that about her again I will not hesitate to destroy you where you stand! She is a candidate of these Trails just like you are and she deserves the same respect! I will protect her with all my might Samantha, so unless you have the army following you, leave her be!” Without another word, a single set of footsteps trailed away from the room until I could no longer hear them. After a minute someone outside my door groaned, sighed, and then began to turn the knob of the door.

Prepare yourself.

Quickly I mustered up all the strength I could and propped myself up on one elbow, holding my head up in my hand as the world began to spin. Listening to the door push open the male voice I had heard previously shouted, “Are you stupid? Lay back down.” He had gorgeous deep blue eyes, wild black hair, strong features in his face, and I probably looked like a hot mess. Placing a cup full of thick purple liquid on the nightstand he stood at the edge of the bed waiting for me to follow his directions. For a moment we just stared at each other in a test of wills. I could feel adrenaline pumping through my veins, sending my heart fluttering, making my limbs shaky.

Swallowing hard, I managed to croak out in my most unattractive voice, “Where am I?” In response he sighed, rolled his eyes, and gripped my shoulder, forcing me to lie down as he sat on the bed next to me. For a moment we both just looked at each other while sparks of electricity passed between us. Unfortunately this only fueled the panic that was rising in my stomach and I painfully shuffled away from him, releasing my body from those strange electric pulses. “Who are you?” My voice cracked from the nerves of the situation and the pain in my muscles.