• Prologue




    Annie was walked to the door by her closest friends. Laughter was bubbling through their throats. Each of them was holding their shoes in their hands. The heels were hurting their feet, so they took them off after the party and walked on the dirt trail bare foot. Annie could feel her independence growing with each party she went to responsibly. Sometimes she didn’t think that she thanked her sister, Keychain, enough with her sticking up against their mother to have the possibility of going to parties that lasted to late nights of the night.

    Oh, she couldn’t wait to talk to Keychain about all this! Being so different, her sister was named as an “outcast.” She was left outside everything and the world seemed to be content that way. Annie didn’t like the situation. Her sister wasn’t given enough credit. She was a great artist, even for her hands that shook too much. Her heart was always in the right place. Keychain never blamed anything on anyone. It was like the world was good to her, and she couldn’t see any other way like that.

    Plus, Annie liked her sister’s different name. It was something no one else could copy. She was the original. Unlike Annie herself, there had to be about five to six different people who had her name. If she could do anything, it would to be to change her name to something no one had. Like Lilac, for example. Lily was too known, it had to be Lilac.

    “I’ll see you guys later. But if anyone of you want to come in and meet my sister, you’re more than welcomed,” Annie said as she stopped by the door. Her face looked pale under the moonlight. Ever since she removed her face makeup, she looked like the other kids who stuck inside more than went outside. However, Keychain skin was a light pale color, almost a creamy color. She couldn’t get as dark as their father, who spent all his teen in the sun.

    “You may make her sound cool,” commented a friend. “But she’s not one the people that can be easily approached. When I went to speak with her once, her eyes went all wide and round. She looked terrified to have someone talking to her. And besides, she was quiet the whole time.”

    That’s because she would have stuttered too badly to say anything, thought Annie. She felt bad for Keychain but she really couldn’t stand up for her sister. Keychain was a great farmer, a fantastic artist, and the best sister in the world, but she made it difficult on herself. Ever since she got sick and something attacked her body to make her shake, since it never happened before, she became secluded. Only Luis, Keychain’s twin brother, could ever get to her after that.

    With a sigh, Annie said, “Okay, okay. I’ll talk to all of you later. But are you sure none of you want to come in? Keychain is most likely reading one of her favorite books.” Keychain, in fact, spent a lot of time reading, drawing, and farming on their small farm. The favorite genre that the two girls loved had to be romance. The two could sit on the couch with their heads glued together while reading the books. Sometimes it was hard to see how the two were far apart in years.

    “No, I think we’ll be more interested in talking about the outside world around the village rather than try to speak with your sister.”

    Currently, all of the villagers knew about the outside world. Currently, none of them dared to exit the isolated town. Did anyone name their town? No. There weren’t any street names to guide a person around. Why need to? The place was so small that once a person was two they knew everyone and everything. The biggest thing that the village was known for was gossip.

    And Keychain was currently the biggest gossip of the town. The latest rumor Annie heard about her older sister was that she held a demon inside of her. Of course it was a stupid rumor, but it wasn’t the first ridiculous words she heard from a person’s mouth.

    “Thanks, then. Good bye,” Annie said, trying to hide her depressed state. Even though her friends were older than by four years, their ages matching Keychain’s, she couldn’t find any way to connect with them personally. She made friends with them mostly to try and get them to look Keychain’s way a bit more. They couldn’t notice that Keychain was beautiful with her unnaturally dark red hair (Annie could swear that there was some violet in it as well) and bright, knowing blue eyes.

    They walked away, though. Her friends had other lives, and it was obvious that it didn’t include Keychain or Annie at all.

    Annie stuck her key in the door lock and opened it. Her hand was on the knob when she heard something. Turning around, she examined the area with her own, dull blue eyes. They couldn’t match Keychain’s eyes at all. Seeing nothing, she turned back to the door, and then heard a voice speak.

    “Target seen, inserting bug now.”

    “Excuse me?” Annie questioned, becoming confused. She turned back around to see a man dressed in black armor. A gasp ripped from her throat. “Who are you!?” His figure stalked her way. Once his hand grabbed her throat, she started screaming. Was anyone home? Could they hear her?

    The door started to rattle behind her. Someone was trying to yank it open. “Annie! It’s jammed. What’s going on out there? Annie?” It was Keychain’s voice. Her sweet voice was filled with worry.

    She obviously couldn’t answer. The hand on her throat prevented it. Her leg shot out. Annie thought that she could do some damage. It ended up backfiring. The force of her kick came right back at her, hitting her stomach region. She would have gasped if the air wasn’t already half out of her body already. What was that? Why did her attack come back at her?

    “Stop you b*****d!” It was her first time cussing, and it felt odd on her tongue.

    After her words were spoken, she felt something crawl into her ear. Shivering, she released one hand from the man’s wrists and went to dig her finger in it. Then she felt it. Something was trying to see what she was seeing. A feeling like she had itched erupting being her eyes.

    And then there was an urge to suddenly kill her sister.

    “What do you know about magic?” the man growled.

    “It was banned sixteen years ago,” she gasped. Her body fell to the ground. Indeed, magic was forbidden to be used by the two Elders. They were the two people who discovered the small, no named town. It was a shame to have not use magic. Their mother used it as her life job. Her eyes were purple from the magic settling into her body and contaminating it. There were a few accidents in which someone might use it, but they were always pushed from the village and never seen or mentioned again.

    But Keychain used it once when she was younger. Since she was so young, she wasn’t kicked out. But a few years later she got sick. And then the shaking settled in. Why was she the target of the village?

    The door swung open. Keychain gasped and hauled her sister to her feet. The man was in no sight. “Annie, are you okay?”

    “I’m fine,” she grumbled, but she didn’t feel it. She suddenly hated her sister. Why did she hate her sister? She looked at Keychain, and knew that her sister was too smart to think that there was something that wasn’t wrong with her at the moment.

    “Annie, please tell me what happened,” Keychain whispered. “If it’s something bad that you don’t want to me to tell our parents or Luis, I will keep it as a secret. You can’t just hide certain things.”

    Annie opened her mouth to tell everything. She wanted to spill the beans about the man who put something in her brain to make her hate her sister. But the words that she wanted to say didn’t come out at all. “Nothing is wrong! Just get away from me and leave me be.”

    I’m sorry Keychain, she thought. I’m way over my head. I don’t know what I’m doing. Please figure something out. Please.

    Help me, Keychain.