Lainey and the Magicians (First Draft)

Chapter 16

 Orange circles with golden ringlets in the middle seized Lainey and surrounded the atmosphere turning it to blackish orange. Ashamed, unhuman faces with their shoulders slumped surrounded her in four dark corners. A dark fire blazed underneath Lainey and a few signs surrounded her close to where the inhuman figures were. One sign showed 965. Lainey's eyes glowed red and her skin turned to dark black. A pretty lady with long black hair similar to that of David embroidered in jeweled clothing with a symbol of a black leaf strolled up to Lainey with a smug grin on her face. "Hello, Lainey Paris, or should I say, Shadow Rider? You will never escape your true identity." The Lady lifted Lainey's chin up. Without warning, Lainey's tongue hissed out of her mouth like a snake, beating back against the Lady's advances. The darkness writhed inside her entire body.

 Just then, Lainey noticed two symbols going across the Lady's chest. There was a black leaf and to the right of it was a green leaf to represent light along with harmony. "I will not be a part of darkness and it is not my true identity," Lainey replied.

 "You lie to yourself. Your people established Minapo and they also established the darkness of the world. You have Rider blood inside you and despite your half-blood status, you were chosen to be Shadow Rider. The new Shadow Rider still prowls about the streets, but you remain with your Rider powers. When you used them today, they filled you with such power and adrenaline that you were high for hours afterward. You want to forget all of it and you shut down memories, Shadow Rider," the Lady said.

 965 still glared in Lainey's line of vision. The Lady held Lainey down. "Since you're about to fall anyway, I might as well take you down a trip through Memory Lane," she grabbed Lainey's hand. The fires rumbled below Lainey, inviting her with open arms for them to ingest her. Lava shot up close to Lainey's ears! She was helpless against this Lady. They came to a street where all the directions said Memory Lane and they went to the west part of Memory Lane first. It was a winding street and it didn't seem to have an end.

 A small town surrounded them. People were bustling around and having good times with their families. Some of them were carrying large bags of expensive perfume with buckets of makeup and other people were hanging by the benches and tables near the massive mall that had been funded by Lainey's family. A school was nearby. Nobody noticed Lainey or the Lady. Inside the elementary school, a girl with long blonde hair and gold chains taunted Past Lainey. "Hey, Lainey. I've heard your Alternative Club raised money and went to the movies with it. I like you and all, but what do you do in your 'Alternative Club?" The rich girl named Carla asked in mockery.

 In the empty classroom where ten faces watched, Past Lainey's hands trembled and she handed Carla her funds from all the backpacks of all the treasury members of the Alternative Club. Lainey frowned at Carla when she walked out and she walked out with Carla's gang of friends. The Lady looked at the Present Lainey as they witnessed the scene that had unfolded. "That very same day, you let them push you around for the most part and you even went to the mall with those horrible people. Horrible people is relative, isn't it?" The Lady looked at Present Lainey with a dark smile in her cold eyes as they walked even further down Memory Lane. They watched Lainey and the group of girls eating inside an overpriced restaurant attached to the mall called Balanced Panda. Balanced Panda was a chain that had many stores across America. It had first started in China.

 "I also used to have brown hair that matched my chocolate brown eyes and I used to wear some of the clothes that Carla wore. I'd feel bad sometimes and think I was transforming into someone who wasn't true to myself so I went-" Lainey paused.

 "You went to extremes to feel like you were even being more of yourself while you weren't," the Lady finished. Down the road, they ended up at a Welcome to Vegas sign. The traffic was crowded. Blinding lights shot through the entire city and there were rainbows all over the city. They came across a subway area. Eventually, they ended up with twelve-year-old Lainey and her friends in a casino lobby in Vegas.