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Ginny looked at me and raised her eyes softly and plastered on a fake smile. Leigh said to trust my gut, and my gut said it was fake.

“Is Max going to be ok?” I tried to break the silence.

“Yes, he will be up and ready to face another day in a couple of days. Elliot is really good at what he does.”

“That’s good to know,” I said softly.

“So,” Margot said and looked at Ginny whose back was to us. “The number one question is what were Level Four Casters doing here?”

My gut didn’t like her tone.

“Margot, Elliot said to leave it alone.”

“No. I want to know, ‘cause I can promise you they don’t need the Outer to get into Revera, Ginny.”

“I said leave it alone.” Ginny’s tone was filled with warning.

“My brother almost died last night. I need to know what she is.” She looked straight at me, my gut said that she was going to leap and kill me with her bare hands.
Run.
“Are you a Shadow Caster?”

I just stared at her. Nobody had ever asked me that straight, not even Leigh, although he knew what I was.

“Margot, that’s enough. If you can’t play nice, I suggest you leave the kitchen, now, before I call Elliot.”

She hit her fists on the table, pushed herself up and walked with huge strides out of the room.

Pretend Chas,
just like Mom said
, the voice inside my head said. “Is that why they were here, for me?”

“Don’t worry about that Chastity. We don’t know for sure, but Fox think it’s because of the woman that kidnapped you. She’s quite important in the Oblivion. Maybe they just wanted to find out why she felt the need to try to recruit you.”

“I’m sorry about Max. I didn’t want anybody to get hurt.” I got up, feeling guilty about almost killing a boy only slightly older than me.

“Chastity,” Ginny called but I didn’t stop. I headed straight back to my room.

I paced up and down for a long time. Trust your gut was what Leigh had said, but my gut was all messed up. It told me to run, it still did, and I didn’t know who to trust.

I closed my eyes and saw my mother. Not with her platinum blonde hair and dark, dark eyes, but with her beautiful red hair and bright blue eyes. She twirled a piece of my raven black hair that hid my face and placed it gently back behind my ear.

You can do this, honey. Trust your instincts, they are stronger than you know.

My eyes flew open. Her voice sounded so clear, so real, as if she was right here.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I never thought that I would miss her this much.

My instincts were strong, I’d known it all along, I just needed the confirmation of a voice I completely trusted.

Leigh was right, I could do this.

AROUND EIGHT THIRTY FOX KNOCKED ON MY DOOR.

“Ginny told me what happened, are you okay?” She sat down on my bed.

I nodded.

“Margot isn’t one of the most pleasant little creatures out there. She’s realistic and really cares about her brother.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

“Hey, Max is going to be fine.”

I nodded again and smiled.

“Then stop sulking and wipe that guilty look off your face.”

“What guilty look?”

She gave me a side glance. “Chas, I carry that same look every time something goes wrong. I’m a pro at detecting guilt.”

I giggled. Still, the fact that she would lie to me soon made me feel as if she was going to rip out a knife from her side pocket and stab me in the gut.

“You need something in that system of yours, food preferably and Elliot needs a word.”

She got up and walked to the door.

“Fox?” I asked and she turned around

“What is it Chas?”

“Why do you think the Casters were here, last night? Margot asked me if I was….” I couldn’t say the word.

“Margot is just a silly girl who believes in silly objects. That pendant she carries around her neck?”

I nodded.

“She believes that it actually has the ability to show her when a Shadow Caster is near. Don’t worry too much about what Margot says or thinks. I can promise you that girl has no idea what she wants and changes her mind on a daily basis.”

Her face said it all. The way she looked at the carpet. “To answer your question of why I think Level Four Shadow Casters were here,” she said, and took a deep breath. She looked at me again and smiled. “Let’s not go there, okay. I’m sure they won’t come back any time soon.”

I nodded and let her leave.

I went back down to the kitchen and Ginny gave me a motherly smile.

“Come sit, I’ll whip you up some eggs.”

I did as she asked and took a chair close to Elliot who was reading today’s paper.

He finally put the paper down as Ginny placed a plate of food in front of me.

“Sorry about Margot this morning. I promise you she will be dealt with.”

“It’s fine, really. I just haven’t been asked directly if I was, you know, part of the other team.”

He smiled, carrying a look as if he wanted to ask that too and that was my cue to start digging into my plate, ignoring the stare.

“What you see with Margot is what you get. She’s like an open book, but Max, he is the total opposite.”

“Good to know.”

“But I’m not here to speak about Margot and Max. I’m here to talk about today’s events.”

Here it comes, the lies.

“We have to start with training you soon and with that comes a couple of tests, Chastity. Some in the form of a lot of questions you need to fill in and others through a couple of tests in the Virtual Realm.”

I swallowed my eggs and looked at him. “What sort of tests?”

“It’s not that important, but they were created to help us find out where you belong inside Revera.”

I nodded and stared back down at my plate. I’d known that answer, that lie, was going to come, still I’d silently wished for another, one that would prove I could trust these people.

“Okay, just as long as they won’t be about math, I suck at math.”

Elliot laughed as Ginny sat down with a cup of coffee in her hands.

“I’m sure they won’t be that difficult.”

I finished my breakfast quickly and went back to my room.

I was disgusted with his lies; Leigh said it would happen, still, I didn’t want it to be true, because that would mean that they really would try to trick me into showing my true nature.

At half past ten, Fox knocked on my door.

I’d been staring out the window for the past half hour and trying to clear my thoughts about what lay ahead, to keep calm and to not wield my dust.

“Are you ready?” Her head peeked inside my room.

“Sure, let’s do this.” I smiled and followed her down the staircase again. “So what sort of test will it be today?”

She squinted. “If I remember correctly, the first one is the most boring you will ever experience. A lot of questions. So I guess you’ll be fine.”

I giggled. Fox wasn’t a good liar, so I doubted that it was a lie. She usually looked away when she didn’t want to lie.

“Okay, boring questions it is.”

We took the passage on the right, I’d never been down this passage and we stopped before a room with a solid steel door.

“I thought you said it was questions only?” I looked at her and back at the door.

She giggled.

“It’s the room where all the tests need to be given Chas. Don’t look so worried. Just answer the questions truthfully, they really do help in placing you inside Revera.”

“Okay.”

She pulled the heavy door open and I found a grey room. There were no windows, only grey walls and a desk right in the middle.

“Elliot will be with you in a minute.”

I nodded and watched her leave again.

I didn’t like the grey room and my gut was telling me to run away.

Concentrate Chas, no running.
You’ve got to face this, but not face-face this.

I sighed again and jumped slightly as Elliot opened the door and came in.

He flopped a stack of A4 paper on the desk with a pen. “Plenty of questions Chas.” He looked at his watch. “It will take you almost half a day to finish all of them. When you are done, press this button.” The button was red, like it would set off an alarm and he smiled. “Answer them truthfully, please. That is all I ask.”

I nodded again and watched him close the steel door behind him as he left.

I threw myself onto the chair and looked at the stack of paper. There were at least a thousand questions to answer, if not more, and I took the pen and started reading the first question.

Name? Surname, age, year you were born
. I scanned the page and turned over to see what was on the next. Five pages, asking me questions about myself, what did I want to become.
I didn’t have a clue a couple of months ago, and now I am even more clueless, so good luck with that one.

Questions about my home, where I grew up, my life with my mom, what happened that day etc. were typed out on countless numbers of pages. The sooner I started, the better.

I filled in each question as honestly as I could. Even the ones that were a lie, the ones that Mom and I rehearsed so many hours a day, that I was sure if they asked me a few months from now, I would still be able to recite what I wrote down.

It took me an entire hour just to fill in a hundred pages. By the second hour, my wrist began to ache and I had ink all over my palm.

By the third hour, I couldn’t feel my hand anymore from all the writing and by the fifth hour, life came back and an ache stronger than before was lodged inside my wrist. My handwriting became all scribbled and I doubted that Elliot would be able to decipher anything.

When I filled in the last question, my stomach growled.

I needed food and I needed it now.

I pressed the red button and the door automatically released. When I found the kitchen it was deserted and I made myself a huge BLT sandwich.

I had to admit, it was weird not hearing or seeing anyone and I started to wonder where all of them were.

I walked up the stairs and went to my room. I opened the door and closed it behind me.

I stared out the window. The sky looked absolutely stunning with colors of light gold, orange, and a slight pink showing it was twilight.

I turned around and my heart stopped for a few seconds. I cupped my mouth and the last piece of sandwich fell to the floor.

I wanted to scream, but I didn’t.

Tom, Henry the owl, John, Fox, Elliot, Ginny, Margot and Stacey had been executed and crucified against my wall. Long, rusty nails pierced their hands and feet as they were splayed like a horrible, grotesque painting. Blood was spread all over the walls and ran down in rivulets, soaking the carpet. I stared, frozen in horror and shock as I took in the scene before me.

Fox grunted, she was still alive and I ran to her body.

“Who did this?”

“Where is Max?” she asked.

“Max?” I asked and a tear rolled over my cheek. This cannot be happening. “Fox who did this?”

“You were safe in the test room, they came back. Chastity you need to find Max. He could still be alive. You’ll need him now more than ever.”

“No, I need you. Let me help you.” I touched the huge nail inside her hand and she yelped.

“You can’t save me, get Max, and get the hell out of here,” she said through gasps and heavy breathing.

“Where are we supposed to go, Fox? I can’t leave you.”

“Get Max,” she ordered again. “I’m not going to make it, Chastity, just get Max and get out of here.”

I nodded as tears rolled down my face.

“Good girl.” She smiled and breathed out her last breath.

I sobbed softly.
Why did they have to bring me here?

Get Max. Shit, now I have to find him too.

I wiped off my tears and opened the door to my room.

The hallways looked dark and creepy and I found Max’s room faster than I thought. I opened the door slowly and found him still lying in his bed.

I closed the door, locked it behind me and went over to his bed.

He still had a pulse and he breathed.
Signs of life, check.

I shook him slightly but no sign of waking came from his side.

“Max,” I cried softly. “You need to wake up.”

I shook him again, this time slightly harder and he jolted upright, grabbed me around the neck and pressed a knife against my throat.

“Calm down, it’s me, the new girl,” I yelled.

He took a few seconds to register. His body was soaking, and hot, like fire. He still had some black veins running over his arms and torso.

“It’s me, Chastity, please I don’t want to die,” I begged again.

“What are you doing here?” he asked and let me go.

I stroked my neck from his grip and took a couple of breaths to calm my beating heart. Then the tears started to flow.

“Chastity, what are you doing in my room?”

The doors and the windows of his room disappeared instantly. The Shadow Casters were back. Fox said that they won’t come back, still they did, more than once.

What did they want with me?

“What the hell is happening?” Max stumbled to the spot where his door used to be, feeling for a knob, as if it was still there but just camouflaged.

“Stop, please. We’re safe in here,” I begged him.

“My family needs me,” he grunted and felt for the knob again.

“They don’t, they’re dead.”

His entire body froze.

“I’m so sorry. I was busy with the test. I don’t know what happened. I found them inside my room staked to the wall. Fox told me to find you, she said you would know what to do.”

He didn’t even move.

“Max, please. I’m scared and I don’t know where to go from here. We need to stick together.”

He shot me a look. “Why did the Shadow Casters come, Chas? They’re Level Four. It doesn’t make sense. Ever since they brought you here, all this shit is happening.”

“I know, okay? I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying you are sorry and tell me the truth.”

“I don’t know what the truth is,” I yelled back at him. “All I know is that for some reason a Shadow Caster kidnapped me. I didn’t know who she was until recently. She’s some big shot’s daughter inside the Oblivion. Please, that’s all I know.”

He walked over to me. “If you lie to me, I swear I will kill you myself.” The cusses were there, in between all those syllables and I’d never heard anybody cuss as much as Max.

“I’ll take the knife from you and kill myself.”