"Versels"

Skylar looked around the room at large, and saw that everyone's eyes were on her.

"That was the word." she said and leaned back on her chair.

Skylar was back at the library searching for more information about the word. After she was woken up the previous night, her mind had pondered her to find more details regarding the word and that was what she had done as soon as she had woken up. Both Reese and Darla had joined her once more, and she was actually greatful for all three of them, because if not for them - definitely Skylar would have anyway gotten far for where she was now - but it would have taken a long time for her to do so.

"Even Google says nothing about it." Ed said, switching off his phone and placing it beside him. Skylar nodded.

"Yeah, I've checked it already." she said and sighed pulling a large book towards her. "I think that this is the only way left for us." She finished and pulled her note book out from her bag, ready to take down notes.

Only the turning of pages and muffled footsteps as they went to change the book, were heard. Silence ruled around all four of them, and frustration started to reach their minds because there was not even one single word regarding the term Versels.

Not being able to digest it anymore, Reese groaned loudly and laid back on her chair.

"There's nothing about it. Nothing." she cried and rolled her eyes as Skylar just looked up at her, but did not say anything. Knowing that it would not work with Skylar, Reese sighed and leaned forward on the table, pulling another large book towards her.

"I think we will have to write a book about Versels." she mumbled after an hour, and Skylar looked up from her book, not lifting her head up. She knew that Reese was doing this just for her, and she also knew how quickly she would be frustrated and give up. But being Reese's best friend for a long time had taught her an important thing. It was to never give her a piece of advice when she was frustrated. She would be frustrated at one second, and on the next, she would come back towards Skylar, as though nothing had happened just moments ago.

Skylar continued reading book after book after book. But still there was not at least one piece of information that was useful for her. The problem was she did not even know what the word meant. It had just come up in her mind, and for all she knew, they might be completely wasting their time, because it would have been just a random word that did not have anything to do with her mission.

"Are you sure that was the exact word, Sky?" Darla asked in a soft voice after a very long time, closing the book in front of her. She looked disgustedly at the horribly illustrated cover, and she turned towards Skylar, pushing the book away from her.

Skylar sighed, and lifting her head up, she caught Ed's eyes. He nodded at her encouragingly, and giving him a small smile in return, she turned towards Darla.

"Yes Dar," she said. "That was the word."

Darla smiled sadly, and met Reese's eyes. She shrugged her shoulders, but did not say anything anymore. Skylar knew that being in a deserted library for more than six hours was finally taking a toll on all of them. She had a feeling that the word was somewhere between them, in one of the books, but without knowing where to start, she thought that losing her friends in return for an unknown term, was too much of a price to pay. So, closing the large glossary in front of her, Skylar pushed her chair back and stood up. All three pairs of eyes stared at her, as she closed the books in front of them.

"Let's leave now," she said. Reese tried to hide the happiness the sudden words made her feel, but she failed miserably. Skylar noticed, but did not look at her, to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Nothing is helping us today," Skylar mumbled, as she placed the book back from where they had taken them. Ed nodded and joined her. "Maybe we'll start fresh another day, and that might help us." she shrugged her shoulders, and came towards the table once more. She saw both Darla and Reese were already standing up, ready to leave the too silenced place. Skylar smiled, but did not say anything further as she snapped her fingers, and the thousands of bookshelves rushed past them.

Skylar bid goodbye to both Reese and Darla, as they neared Darla's home, and Skylar walked forward in silence with Ed. Her hand was snaked around his upper arm, and Ed looked sideways at Skylar, who was leaning her head on his arm, lost in some deep thoughts.

"We'll definitely find something, darling." he said softly, and Skylar stopped, looking up at him.

"Are you sure, Eddie?" she asked softly. She was looking uncomfortable, but Ed smiled encouragingly at her.

"Positive," he said, and took her hand in his. "I think this word has to be something to help us start somewhere Sky." he continued. "The only problem is, we have to find out what that means, that's all. If we have sorted that part out, things would be very easy for us." he said encouragingly, and unbeknownst to her, Skylar felt a huge weight lifting off her shoulders, and she felt relaxed once more. She smiled at him, as they started to walk once more.

It had been three weeks since Skylar had woken up, and had remembered the word. She had not yet found out anything useful, and she knew that all the time she was wasting would come back hard for her once more. She had come across a few terms that were almost as similar to what she was searching, but none of the definitions matched what she was looking for. Skylar was very close to giving up and going further but she did not do that yet, because from the bottom of her heart she knew that something would definitely come up, helping her.

*

"Good morning darling"

Henry said, surprised to see Skylar up and early in the morning. He was the first one to always wake up, and looking at Skylar for a change, had raised his eyebrows up. He chuckled for himself as he also saw that she had prepared coffee for the two of them.

"What a surprise, Sky." he chuckled looking up at her. He noticed that her mind was elsewhere as her eyes were focused on something that was far from both of them. He had noticed the change in her during the past few weeks, but he had not thought to ask anything about it, as he knew that she would not let him know of her worries, because she did not want to trouble him. Shaking his head at her and the things that were happening around her, Henry sat opposite to her, and raised the morning newspaper up towards his eyes.

Skylar was leaned back on the sofa, thinking about everything she had known regarding her mysterious life. She remembered every note she had taken in her note book, and every sentence she had ever read in the library. But not even one sentence came to her mind that was helpful for her. The constant bother in her mind had not even made her have a good night's sleep. She had been twisting and turning throughout the nights ever since. Her inner voice was trying to say something for her, but the problem was that she did not know what that was. It was as though the answer was on the tip of her tongue, but only that it was restricted by something wchich was holding it tight.

Henry glanced towards Skylar and saw that her eyebrows were knotted in worry. He had wanted to ask what it was, but he knew better not to ask. He turned another page in the newspaper.

"Wow, the Blockdead mansion is freaking out again," he mumbled loudly, trying to catch Skylar's attention. But she did not hear him. Henry shook his head and tried talking more to her about the piece of news, trying to remove her mind off of her worries, even though temporarily.

"Have you seen that mansion darling?" he asked, turning to another page. Skylar did not reply.

"Sky," he called once more, and that made Skylar look around her, as though she was woken up from a long sleep. She turned around confused and finally her eyes fell on her father.

"Oh, hello dad." she smiled. "How long were you here?" she asked, trying to hide the disappointment in her eyes. She felt bad for him, as she had not noticed him beside her for a long time. Henry just smiled and shook his head.

"Just some minutes, darling," he replied and placed the paper down on the table. He tried to turn her mind around and started talking to her about the mansion thinking that it would momentarily distract her.

"Have you seen this darling?" he asked Skylar, pointing at the image on the newspaper. She turned her head towards it and read the headline, shaking her head.

"Nope dad." she said. "Never heard of it."

Henry nodded. "It's a very old mansion around here." he said, and pulled up the paper towards him once more. Skylar nodded.

"Funny name for a mansion." she chuckled trying to lighten up the mood. Henry laughed and turned towards her.

"Yeah, a really funny name," he agreed. "It changed its name recently," he continued. "It was called 'Versels' earlier." he said and turned to another page.

*

Skylar froze. She felt the world stop around her. In slow motion, she turned towards her father once more. Only he was in her eye sight and she did not notice anything around the two of them.

"Dad," she said loudly. Henry looked up at her, wondering why she had to sound shaken.

"What, what, what did you say just now?" she stuttered, as a chill shudder went down her spine. Henry shrugged his shoulders and he scratched his eyebrow.

"Er," he thought. "What did I say just now?" he asked himself, trying to remember their conversation. "Oh, about being here for about some time." he said, remembering what Skylar had asked him, but Skylar shook her head.

"No dad," she groaned. "About the mansion. You said that it changed its name recently and then you told me something else." she pressed on.

"Oh, about that," Henry said, finally remembering what he had said. "I said that it was called 'Versels'." he said.

A huge beam went over Skylar's face and she jumped up victoriously, raising her arms up into the air. Henry stared at her, wondering what had changed her mind.

"I knew it, I knew it." she shouted. "I knew it was closest to me, but I didn't know that it was this close." she laughed. Henry stared at her, wondering what was wrong with her.

"Er," he started slowly. "May I know about what you are so happy about darling?" he asked chuckling, not being able to hide his happy smile looking at her laughing face.

Skylar turned towards him. She came up closer and sat beside him.

"It was a word that I was searching for the definition for a long time dad, a really long time." she said. "But I was not able to find it, and it was eating me." she said, her eyebrows scrunched up in frustration. Henry nodded. "I thought that the word might help me in my fight dad." she said slowly.

Henry nodded once more and looked up at her. "Do you really have to fight them darling?" he asked. Skylar looked up at him.

"There's no other choice dad." she said slowly, and placed her head on his lap, as he started to stroke her hair. Skylar felt all her worries leave her mind.

Skylar had shared the piece of information she had come to know with all of the others. Her friends were feeling ecstatic and Skylar was not able to wipe the smile off her face.

"So, what's the next plan darling?" Ed asked her. All four of her friends had come to her home to discuss further on the term and the discovery, but they also knew that another plan was very close to them. Skylar looked up at him.

"I think we will have to go there, and find out for ourselves Eddie." she said slowly, looking up at him. Ed nodded.

"That is a wise decision," he said and rubbed his chin. "But before doing that, we should be well prepared." he said and others too nodded their heads in words of agreement.

"So, what's the first step?" Reese asked, turning towards Skylar. She saw all four pairs of eyes turn to stare at her.

Taking a deep breath, Skylar looked at them. "We go to Versels."

*

It took them three days to come up with a good plan. Having a back up plan always helped them, and the main focus of their plan was to learn what powers Skylar had and what sort of powers she would have to use, if she was to come across something dangerous. They had taken all of the newspaper articles regarding the mansion, and this time instead of searching about Versels they found out about the Blockdead mansion.

However well rehearsed and planned they were, in the back of her head, the constant irritating voice of her inner self reminded her that nothing would help her. She did not know what to expect and getting ready for something without having the slightest idea was as though she was expecting snow during summer. But, not having the heart to say no to her friends who were trying to help her, Skylar agreed with whatever they said and she wished for the time to come sooner.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to her, Skylar went towards the mansion, hoping that it would solve a large part of the puzzle for her. She did not know what she was expecting, but she only knew that whatever it was, it would not be easy.

Taking a deep breath, Skylar got down out of Jacob's jeep. All four of them had accompanied her, and even though Henry too had wanted to come, Skylar had said no to him, because she knew how worried he would be and she did not want him to help her if that meant trouble for him. Being obliged to whatever Skylar had said to him, Henry could not say no this time too, and he remained silent, listening to her. But, unlike Henry, her friends were not much cooperating with her, and all of them had kept their foot down, not even giving an ear to Skylar. So finally, all five of them were in front of the lane that led them towards the Versels mansion.

Skylar turned behind her and stared at Reese, Darla and Jacob. Ed squeezed her hand gently, and she turned towards him. There was fear in her eyes and Ed gave her a reassuring smile.

"You can do it, darling." he said softly, so that only she would hear him. Skylar stared at him.

She knew that she would be able to do it, but she wondered what would be the circumstances, after she does whatever she has to do. She stared into Ed's dark brown eyes. She wondered whether she would be able to look into his eyes once more. Taking a deep sigh, Skylar turned towards her front and nodded. She was this close to solving her issues, and she was not going to have cold feet right now. She nodded once more and released her hand from Ed's and took a step forward. The girl who doubted herself and was afraid most of the time was not there anymore. A new Skylar stood where she was, with an undying fire in her eyes.

Holding her head up high, Skylar walked towards the tall iron wrought gates. In the dark evening, the steel of the gate looked as though lively snakes were welled around it. The lane was deserted and the large mansion behind it was in darkness. Only a lone light was lit on the top floor of the mansion, and Skylar wondered if anyone lived there anymore. Bravely, thinking that her questions will be answered in a few more minutes to come, Skylar walked towards the gate and standing just one feet away from it, she raised her head and stared at the iron gate.

Without any hesitation, Skylar placed her hands on the dark chain that had gone around the iron bars, and its coldness made a chill run down Skylar's spine. She held it hard and looked around her to make sure that no one was running towards her, thinking that she was trying to trespass into private boundaries. After being sure of her search, Skylar looked one last time at her friends, and at Ed who was standing one feet behind her. She turned to the front and stared at her hand once more. She stared at the chain unblinking and the red tongue of fire in her eyes danced. Smoke started to issue from under her contact and Skylar felt the chain slowly start to move under her skin. She stared harder at her hand and the process quickened. The chain loosened, and it slithered across the metal bars releasing its lock. With a giant clang, the heavy chain fell down to the floor, beside Skylar's feet. She smirked looking at the chain. First burden was broken.

Skylar pushed the tall wrought iron gate with both of her hands. The joints creaked as though it had not seen a drop of oil to lubricate and the shearing of its rust made Skylar feel that the gate had not been open in years. Or decades to be exact.

The gates opened slowly, and Skylar stared at it until the gate went back and opened completely to let them inside. Skylar let out a deep breath from out of her lips and she took a step inside. Her imagination was too wild and she had actually expected someone to jump over her body and try to choke her throat, but nothing of the sort happened. The mansion, the gates and the trees remained the same. Taking courage into her heart, Skylar took further steps inside and turned behind her as she heard a giant clang of a gate being closed echoed behind where she was. She turned around her and saw that all of her friends had been locked out. The gates had closed itself behind Skylar, allowing only her to step inside. Thinking that it was all for the good, Skylar nodded at Ed, looking at him through the metal bars, as he looked broken at her.

Looking at him for one last final time, Skylar turned forwards and she stepped inside. She passed giant overgrown trees which were neatly trimmed and the largest flower garden she had ever seen. There were different colors of flowers blooming, and Skylar wondered how she was able to look at the flowers as the place was in complete darkness in the evening. Not wanting to dwell further on the matter anymore, Skylar moved around the flower garden, not wanting to walk over its flower beds. She rounded the corner and stood in front of the entrance to the large mansion. She raised her head up and stared at the golden walls. A large heavy door shone through the night light. There were only two lamps on the sides of the door, which was illuminating through the night and Skylar noticed that except for those two, there was only one lamp which was on the topmost floor, which she had noticed as she had come inside to the lane. Skylar climbed the two short steps and stepped near the large door. She did not notice any lockers or handles beside it, and only saw that the doors were closed. She wondered what to do, and trying to have an insight to check the powers the mansion held, she balled up her fist and rapped loudly on the door. The noise echoed through the deserted mansion and as the gate had opened without any support, the doors too creaked open, letting her inside.

Skylar remained where she was and stared at the mansion that was illuminated in golden light behind her. Its walls were so tall that there was not a visible end to it. She saw long corridors leading further inside the house, and not wanting to waste time anymore, Skylar took a step inside. As soon as she had taken five steps inside the mansion, her footsteps echoing loudly behind her, the doors started to close. She turned behind her, glancing at it, but did not try to hold it open. She wondered how she was going to get out, but that was a problem to worry about later.

Skylar turned her head to the sides and marveled at the beauty of the mansion. Long red curtains were draped across tall windows and not even a fraction of a dust particle was visible. She smelled a thickness of the air, and Skylar knew that whatever powers the mansion held, she did not have at least a half of it. Staring around her in confusion and in admiration, Skylar stepped to the middle of the room.

"Hello..." she said loudly and echoes of her voice rang around her. Skylar shook her head and tried again.

"Hello..." she said and thinking that it would not do any change, she tried to change her dialogue.

"I am Skylar," she said, and as soon as she had said her name, the force from a giant whoosh of a wind pushed her down. Skylar stumbled and losing her balance, she fell down, landing hard on her back. She felt stars go up in front of her eyes and she stood up slowly, rubbing her back in pain.

"That was rude." she mumbled and as though whatever in the room had heard her complain, she felt the wind increase its velocity around the room. The wind started to swirl around her, and she saw the curtains sway, caught in the wind. She opened her mouth trying to do something and even tried to snap her fingers to stop the wind, but she failed. Before she was able to get over her surprise, she felt the wind start to swirl around her once more, and she felt herself being lifted off her feet. Skylar flared her hands and legs up and down, trying to hold onto something, but nothing helped. She screamed for help, but none heard her. She shouted and felt tears of rage kiss her cheeks but she knew that she was in a helpless situation. Gripping her teeth in fury, Skylar screamed loudly.

"I am sorry, okay. I know it was not kind." She did not know what had made her say that, but as soon as she had said it, everything went back to normal. She was landed once more on her feet, and the curtains gently swayed to the sides, as though nothing abnormal had happened just moments ago. Mumbling to herself, annoyed at her quick mouth, Skylar took a step forward.

Suddenly, Skylar felt something grip around her ankle. Shaking her leg to release the grip, she stared below her, and saw the same burnt, blackened hand, which had disturbed Skylar's sleep a long time ago and had held her on the ceiling, dangling her, gripping her ankle. She screamed as the grip started to tighten and she felt the temperature rise on her ankle, around the skeleton fingers. She hissed in pain as she saw smoke issue out of it. She tried to kick the skeleton hand away with her other leg, but another hand came up and it held her other ankle as well. Skylar struggled against the grip, but it was not any help to her.

"Let go of me," she screamed but the grip only tightened. Suddenly, she felt herself being swept off her feet, for the second time in a row. The two hands which were gripping her ankles had lifted her up into the air, flipping her head down. Skylar screamed as blood started to rush towards her brain.

"Leave me alone! Just, leave me alone!!" she screamed, feeling blood on her throat, but a moment later she realized that it was a wrong choice of plea. The hands that had gripped her ankle tightened more and more, and Skylar started to smell burnt jeans and burnt skin. The pain had intensified into an unbearable level, as Skylar whimpered in pain. She started to scream out once more, but a horrified gasp slipped through her lips as she felt another burnt hand hover below her face. Her eyes grew large in horror, as she saw the hand come closer to her, and place its skeleton fingers over Skylar's mouth, stopping her from screaming. Spitting in agony, and in disgust, Skylar tried to move the burnt skeleton away from her lips. But the grip started to tighten as hard as Skylar tried to release it, and she even tasted a drop of the gooey lava like substance that was coming out of the burnt wounds, slipping through her lips. Struggling harder and harder, Skylar tried to break out of the grip as she felt herself being moved. She did not even feel the hands that were gripping her arms and she puked as the burnt smell went down through her nose. She snorted in disgust as the skinless fingers grip her mouth harder. Struggling for her release, Skylar had even forgotten why she was there in the first place. She struggled more and more, as she felt the blood rush to her head.

*

Suddenly, Skylar froze as she saw a large light beam in front of her. She was shutting her eyes tight, and she opened them as soon as the huge beam of light illuminated her eyelids. Opening her eyes, Skylar noticed that everything was blurred around her, and she groaned as she realized that her glasses might have fallen off in her struggle to escape. She saw the unconnected arms grip her arms, legs and mouth, and she tried to move herself to get a better view of the light. Skylar squinted her eyes shut, as the light made her see through the burnt skeletons. The bones had lost their structures and it was like a hollow tube.

"Leave her"

Skylar stopped her struggles as she heard a loud voice echo around her. Just as the voice had commanded, Skylar felt the hands leave the grip on her at once, and she fell hard to the marble floor. She fell down head first and her chin made an echoing contact on to the floor. Skylar tasted blood as she felt her teeth split her bottom lip. Scrambling back up to her feet, Skylar stared around her. Everything was in a blur and she was only able to see the light.

"Where are my glasses?" she mumbled, turning around her, trying to see where she was. She saw something black shimmer in front of her, and she raised her hand to touch it. Realizing that it was her glasses, she wore it quickly, pushing it up her nose. Skylar shook her head to the sides, trying to erase the horrible contact that she still felt on her skin, and she slowly looked up, as the huge beam of light, still lit on her. Raising her head up slowly, Skylar saw that the light was coming from the center of the room. She squinted her eyes and tried to get a better view. She took a few steps forwards, in doubt whether that would cause her to be lifted off her feet once more, but nothing of the sort happened.

"Hello Skylar..."

Suddenly, a voice issued from the middle of the room. Skylar turned around her and stared at it. She was able to make a shadow of a very lean woman and she leaned her head to the side, trying to get a better view.

"Why are you here?" the voice asked once more, and Skylar composed herself. She stood up trying to look professional.

"Erm," she started. "I came to request assistance from you." she said, and her eyebrows wrinkled, as she realized how bad that sounded.

"Erm, not assistance." she added hurriedly, and wondered why she was not better prepared.

"What do you need, Skylar?" the voice asked once more. Taking a deep breath, Skylar looked up straight.

"Can I look at your face please?" she asked, thinking that the eye contact would make things easier.

The woman chuckled. "That's not the reason as to why you are here." she said, and Skylar groaned.

"Yes, that's not the exact reason." she said, and looked up once more. "But could you please turn back." she asked softly, in an almost pleading voice. The woman smiled and she stood up slowly. Skylar stared at her open mouth as she turned around her. She had never ever seen a woman as beautiful as her. She felt as though she would be able to stare at her face forever, and still not be able to have enough of it. She saw the long lashes that were kissing her cheeks and her thin red lips and her sharp nose was highlighted due to her perfect eyebrows.

"Wow," Skylar gasped in surprise, as the woman slowly opened her eyes to look at her. Skylar felt marveled again, as she noticed how beautiful her eyes were. It was the color of the clear sky and Skylar wished her to not to close her eyes, so that she would be able to stare more and more at it.

As the woman looked up at Skylar her eyebrows raised by a tenth of a millimeter, and Skylar noticed the sudden moistness in her eyes.

"Mother..." the word left from the woman's mouth and Skylar stared uncomfortably at her. She wondered what had made her call Skylar, as her mother, but she did not have the heart to tell her that she was not her mother.

"Er, hii," Skylar said once more, thinking that a proper introduction was necessary. The woman still stared transfixed at her.

"Erm," Skylar said again, and as though realizing what she was doing, the woman composed herself once more and looked up at Skylar. Smiling sweetly, even though her lip was bleeding, Skylar looked up at the woman.

"May I know who you are please?" she asked, her eyes small. The woman chuckled and looked up at her.

"You came in searching for me, but still you don't know my name?" she asked, more like said. Skylar took it as a good sign because she did not raise her voice. Taking up courage, Skylar shook her head to the sides.

"No, actually I don't know who you are." she said, scrunching up her eyebrows, and stared down at her feet. The woman smiled kindly.

"Tell me, what are you?" she asked. Skylar looked up at her once more.

What was she?

That was the same exact question she had been asking her for a long time. She did not honestly know who she was. Maybe she was a demon. But Ed had said no for that. But what did he know about this world?

"You are not a demon Skylar." the woman said softly, smiling radially, as though she was able to read Skylar's mind. She looked up at the woman. Maybe she was a devil then.

"No Skylar," the woman said once more. "You are not a devil either."

Skylar looked up frustrated at her.

"What am I then?" she asked. "Who am I?" she shouted, as she felt her break the mask of bravery she wore. The woman smiled kindly.

"You will know that soon, Skylar." she said and Skylar felt her pain ease. She did not know how, but the words had released a huge weight off her shoulders.

"You came in search of this, right?"

The woman asked. Skylar looked up at her. She had come searching for answers. What was she talking about?

Skylar looked up at the woman and her eyes grew large in horror as she realized what she was about to do.

"No, don't!"

Skylar screamed in vain, but the woman just smiled and she gently gripped her chest, directly over her heart. Without even flinching her face, or at least blinking, the woman inserted her hand through her chest, as though it was just melted butter, and with a loud noise that sounded like a giant plug being pulled off, the woman took her hand out.

Skylar screamed, her blood racing quickly to her heart, as she saw the blood dripping heart of the woman that was beating for air, struggling in her hands. The red piece of muscle with red and blue veins that adorned it, was trying to get more air and continue its service. It was still beating hard, trying to power the woman, make her live longer.

Skylar shrieked in horror, and she lifted her eyes towards the woman. She was still smiling, as though her heart was not literally up her sleeve. Skylar stared at her.

"How can you?" she asked slowly. The woman smiled.

"It's long dead, Skylar." she said.

Skylar stared at the woman's heart. She stretched her arm towards Skylar, as though she was inviting her to take it into her hands. Skylar looked up at the woman's eyes once more as though she was to ask whether she was sure of what she was doing, and saw that the woman was still smiling. Doubting and hating herself, Skylar walked forwards, towards the woman and held both of her hands under hers. Still smiling, the woman placed her beating, throbbing heart on Skylar's hands. Suddenly, Skylar felt as though she would die at that instant, because she was having an extra heart on her hand, but she looked up at the woman once more, gulping down the bile that rose up through her throat.

"It will not be as easy as this in the future, Skylar."

The woman said, and Skylar stared at her. She smiled down at Skylar once more. Skylar turned to look at the heart on her hands.

"It's yours to use." the woman said, and with a soft smile on her lips.

Skylar looked up at the woman once more. She understood how serious the situation was. She looked at the heart on her hand and she did not feel pukish any more. She turned towards the beautiful woman.

"Thank you," she said softly. The woman smiled nodding at her. She turned towards her heart on Skylar's hand as Skylar too looked at it.

Agreeing with her inner voice, Skylar snapped her fingers and the heart disappeared from her hands, leaving blood in its absence. She turned towards the woman, and the woman smiled at her once more. Skylar saw the woman start to fade and she stared at her face until only the light beam remained behind.

"Thank you, Ethel." she mumbled slowly, as she turned behind her.

Skylar jogged through the steps and left the 'Noble Mansion of Versels, the House of Ethel' behind her as a distant memory echoed through her mind.

Your heart and others' will help you...