Hai, I am Lisa C, aka Pheonix DeLoures., author of this story, Countdown.
This is just the beginning, explaining how the main character gets into the major predicament she is in which causes the Countdown..
(is it just me or did that make NO sense)
Anywhore, I hope you enjoy the beginning, and stick around to read more.

Italics: are thoughts
Prologue

Her dark violet eyes shifted throughout all the garbage that lined the alleyway as she ran, but her only hope of escape now was to hide. But she could find nowhere she thought she could fit, and her breathing was coming harsher.
She dove beneath a pile of several bags of trash, her heart pounding in her ears, practically beating it's way out of her chest, and she could have sworn they would have heard her.
She tucked the pilfered jewelry in her pocket and slowed her breathing and attempted to calm her heart. If they found her, there was little telling what they would do to her.
Their gruff and gravelly voices reached her ears, only a little muffled as they talked from beyond her hiding place. Her heart skipped a beat. They were standing right in front of where she was hiding. If she were to move, or the bags were to shift, they would find her.

'Please,' she prayed desperately, to anyone who would hear her, 'Don't let them find me. Don't let them hear me, just please, PLEASE, don't let them find me...'

A foot came closer to her spot, as if the man was leaning right over the bags she was under. She trembled a little, and her eyes widened and her heart stopped as she heard the bag on top of her shift and emit a tinkling noise.

"Wait." The closer one said, stopping his movement, and grabbing the other. The fabric rustled a little, it was a thick, heavy, and rigid fabric, (her ears picked up on these things) indicating a suit-like material.
The one turned from his companion to face her way, his heavy set frame making his boots click ominously.

'All this trouble over some silly necklace,' she thought to herself as she flicked her eyes down to her pocket where the tear shaped crystal hid.

~~~
It had been her grandmother's, and after her grandma had passed away two years ago, three large men in suits came and tore apart the house, searching for something.
They had found it after smashing her grandmother's jewelry box, the one she had treasured since she was a little girl.
The pieces lay scattered all over the floor, and they left, crushing paintings and possessions on their way out, warning her and her mother that if they followed, they would die too.

That had been two years ago, and she had been following them around since, trying to reclaim her grandmother's crystal necklace.
She didn't know what it held for them, but the sentimental value was over the top for her. It was the last piece of her mysterious grandmother, and she refused to lose it. At least without a fight.

A gasp escaped her lips as the top bag was lifted from above her head, and two ugly muscle heads peered down at her, sneers marring their faces, the only expression of emotion visible on their faces.
She felt fear welling up within her, and felt almost hopeless now. What could she do, she was just a seventeen year old girl, out to protect her grandmother's most prized treasure, now cornered by two fully grown men, who could probably pick her up with one hand.

'In retrospect, perhaps this wasn't the greatest idea in the history of the universe...' She shivered, partially from the cold, partially from fear, and her smart-alec side gaped up at them and managed a meek wave.
The largest one reached in and grabbed her upper arm, pulling her to her feet and flinging her across the alley and into the wall on the other side.

"So, girlie," He hissed, spraying spittle onto her cheek. She contemplated spitting back on him, till his partner slapped her hard across the cheek.
Her head turned away from the slap so fast she could have sworn she was going to get whiplash, and her face stung to no end. She whipped her head back, to face them again, tears pricking at the back of her eyes, but she held them back, glaring burning hatred directly at them.

"You gonna give us the necklace? Or are we gonna have to take it from you..." His eyes traveled down her propped up body, and stopped just below her midriff. She shuddered uncontrollably. "Along with some other things?" He finished, grinning evilly, licking his lips.

This time she did spit on him.

He growled, and dashed at her, but the one holding her stopped him, motioning him back.

"Look," He started, his eyes boring into hers, "Geeve uus thee neecklace." his accent was atrocious, and she hardly understood him, except for the fact that she knew what it was that he wanted.

"Look guys, I dropped the stupid necklace while you were chasing me." She stated matter-of-factly, eyeing the other one, who seemed to be putting a major effort into restraining himself.
The large one dealt her a slap to the side of the head, and her consciousness swam, blackness closing in around the edges of her eyes.
She fought it, and managed to keep her eyes open, but he did it again, to the other side, and for a few seconds she blacked out.

She opened her eyes, and found that her hand was wrapped around the necklace, and tightly.
'Natural reaction?' She thought to herself, and she she tried to wrench her arm from the man's grasp, but he just clutched it tighter.

"I found it!" the other man hissed, and reached for her pocket.
She screamed, and kicked her legs outward, feeling her foot connect with the large male's groin.
Trained, though he was, he still fell to the ground and clutched at his man hood, as she bolted, in the only direction that had any promise, away from the two men, into what was surely a dead end.

She skidded around the corner and found herself to be right. Seven foot high walls surrounded her on three sides, and the two approached from behind.
A squeak of terror brushed through her lips, and she reached into her pocket and clutched at the Crystal, figuring it would be harder to get if they had to pry it from her cold, dead fingers.

She slid into the battle stance her grandmother had taught her when she was younger, and backed up a step.
Her back was now three inches from the wall, and they were still advancing on her. As she felt hopelessness begin to crush in around her, a phrase her grandmother had taught her when she was little popped into her head.

'Ilyar harahal jurls heras'

Her grandmother had told her that it meant "When light is gone, and dark is near."
So, still subconsciously clutching the Crystal, she said it aloud, almost like a prayer to her grandmother.

Light shifted, darkness pulled at the edges of her eyes, pressure pressed against her temples, her heart raced.
Blackness swam in on her, throwing her into unconsciousness , but not before she heard the startled and confused shouts of the men she left in the waking world.