Roscoe reached out her pale hand. Her fingers caressed the stone object that was creating the tornado. It vibrated slightly, probably from not having been used in so long. She smiled, knowing that she could finally figure out what the Otherworld was all about.

“I’ve waited so long... Trapped in a bird’s body... Now, I get to discover what being a dreamer is all about!” she said, a laugh slipping from her lips. “Let’s see if I remember how this goes...”

She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, beginning to chant. She could feel the stone apparatus moving slowly around her. It wasn’t long until she could feel a burning sensation in the pit of her stomach. She opened her eyes to see a bright green light coming from the stone object. “The gate is finally open.” she whispered.

***********************

Quinn pulled himself free of Jacques’ arms, staring up into the amethyst eyes of the Asian boy. He couldn’t help but smile. “Why wouldn’t you let me do it?” he asked, his voice barely audible over the raging winds.

Jacques stared down at the younger boy, surprised to see a tear forming in the corner of his eye.

“None of this would’ve happened if I had just given him my dreams! Why did you stop him?” Quinn said angrily, raising his voice for the very first time.

Jacques seemed shocked, but quickly laid a hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “Because I care about you... Do you know how bad I felt when I found out that you had lost your memory of me... of us?” he asked.

Quinn stood silently, not knowing how to reply.

Jacques continued. “It was so hard knowing that you couldn’t remember...” Jacques paused, not wanting to think too much about the past. “Then there was that time when your mind had slipped into the Otherworld and you laid in my arms, lifeless for almost an hour or so... That was the first time in eight years that I cried, Quinn!”

Quinn shut his eyes, trying to hold back his tears. There was so much he didn’t understand. Maybe he didn’t want to understand. He laid his head on Jacques’ chest, but pulled away soon after. “I didn’t know... I thought you didn’t care-”

“No.” Jacques interrupted, pressing his finger against Quinn’s lips. “Principal Isis tried to make you believe that I didn’t care about you... That Oliver didn’t care... That Jason or Jade didn’t care... But we do. We all care about you...”

Quinn pulled Jacques’ fingers away and turned to see Oliver looking at the raging tornado off in the distance. Jason was sitting on the other side. Quinn walked over towards the shaggy-haired Goth. “Are you alright?” Quinn asked, sitting down beside Jason.

Jason shook his head before running a finger through his slightly tangled, brown hair. “Not really...”

“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked, a smile crossing his face. Jason is rather cute for a white guy. Quinn thought.

Jason looked up at Quinn before looking back down at the tops of the swaying trees far below them. Before Jason could even speak, Oliver shouted.

Both Quinn and Jason looked up to see a bright green light shoot through the center of the tornado. The light covered everything in a soft green haze and it wasn’t long until it had reached the four teenagers.

Based on its transparent appearance, none of them were expecting it to have a solid form, and they were all taken by surprise when the green light knocked them down... and into another plane of existence.

**********************

“Does anybody see that?” a young girl questioned, pointing out the cathedral style windows of the Academy.

Jade and everyone else in the student body-except Quinn, Jason, Jacques, and Oliver-had been told to go into the thick-walled cafeteria until the tornado died out.

Jade looked to where the young girl pointed. It was hard to here her voice in the roar of the voices in the cafeteria. Jade checked her watch, it was almost six in the morning.

“They’ve been out there seven hours...” Jade whispered to herself as she got up to look out the window.

The glowing tornado had increased in size, covering the entire forest, but nothing else seemed to be affected. The brick wall that marked school property and picnic tables alongside it surely would have been affected by the circling mass of wind only a few yards away, wouldn’t it.

Before Jade got too much of a chance to examine, a bright green light made the tornado glow even brighter.

Almost everyone’s attention was attracted to the windows now as the green glow began to increase in brightness. Jade had a bad feeling about this. She pushed her way out of the crowd and made her way to an unoccupied window. With a well-placed kick. She broke it without making too much noise.

She carefully climbed out of it and made sure her daggers were still in place. With a look of determination in her eyes, she ran toward the brick wall that marked school property.

Hoping no one would see her, especially in her bright yellow pajamas, she began her climb over the tall wall. As she climbed, she noticed that the green light was beginning to retract, returning to the size and shape of the slowly disappearing tornado.

Finding herself on the other side of the wall. She ran as fast as she was able towards the retreating wall of light. After no more than a quarter mile of running, she caught up to it and all she had to do was touch the solid surface and she, along with her friends, was taken to the Otherworld.

*******************

Roscoe laughed as the stone apparatus fell to the ground. Having served its purpose, it was no longer needed. “The Otherworld... Able to be shaped by the imagination... With Principal Isis’ necklace, it was possible for MY imagination to take control. The Otherworld will be shaped by my will... It will be my world... One where I can be happy...”

She was already beginning to come up with ideas to shape her world. That rather cute Jacques... He’s so strong-willed and so determined...” she said, closing her eyes dreamily. “His athletic body... His fair hand with weaponry... And other fair parts as well...” A lusty laugh escaped her throat.

“In my story, Quinn won’t have a happily ever after. Jacques is going to be mine...” She laughed even louder this time and smiled. It was all according to her plan. She knew that Oliver, Jacques, Quinn, Jason and Isis were brought to the Otherworld... Now, she could shape their reality... With her imagination...”

Author’s Note: I know this chapter might seem a little rushed, but I have too many ideas for this story to limit to one novel. Be sure to review if you haven’t done so already. Don’t worry, the sequel will come soon.

I don’t want to spoil the plot, but I will let you know that the sequel will be a bit darker than this one. There will be a few better, more detailed fight scenes with things other than Isis’ summoned monsters (the stakes are higher, the battles have to be bigger!); the characters and their motives will be tested and revealed, so you’ll find out quite a bit more about them, there may even be special chapters with only a specific character’s first-person view on a situation (a novel is only as good as its characters); there will be a bit more PG-13 in the next part...

The sequel is coming soon and I hope it will be longer and better!