White Powder

"Quinnipt." she said, acknowledging the boy in front of her.

"Ephemera." He replied, then took her arm. "What are you doing out here?" Ephemera looked away from his piercing stare.

"Listening to his next victim." She said. The wind had gotten much stronger now, and she shivered when it carried more screams along with it. Quinnipt wrapped her in his arms, and she didn't complain. She rested there.

"I wonder who it is," she said softly. "Who knows if they still have a family out there, and they have no idea where they went..." Quinnipt stroked her hair.

"I know...I know..." he said in his rough but soothing voice. She stiffened and looked up into his eyes.

"You know I still have a little brother..." she said, a smile spreading across her face, but it wasn't a happy smile. It was a smile filled with sadness. "His name was Jonelii. He should be nine now." her voice started to break . "It's been 5 years he hasn't seen me, and he probably thinks that I'm dead." tears spilled down her cheeks. Quinnipt hugged her tighter.

"Don't think about that," he said firmly. "That won't make things any better. I swear to you that we'll get out of here with the others, and you'll get back to your family." Ephemera nodded, and Quinnipt wiped her tears away and kissed her forehead. "It'll all come to an end soon. I can feel it."

....

Hispert is anything but popular. All she has is her BFF, Phryzpia. When she goes to a Halloween/birthday party, she, Phryzpia, and Skyler (her long-time crush) are transported to a different world. They meet people who have been there for years, and after hearing stories about the place, they think they know exactly why specifically Hispert is there in the first place...and it's definitely not a good reason.