{Helix: City of Angels: Chapter One}

Grandma Lana drove us to the airport that gloomy, rainy Friday night with the windows of the car rolled shut. It was thirty-three degrees here in Salt Lake City, Utah. Extensive amounts of snow blanketed the ground while chilly gusts of winds blew past, making the tall, thick, pine trees sway gently back and forth with the sky a depressing charcoaled hue with thick, prodigious bands of grey-black clouds rolling across it with a thin, wispy fog lingering in the air, as if frozen there. I was dressed for the weather- furry, knee-high boots, a thick turtleneck, a scarf, and gloves. My carry-on item? Grandma Lana's big, bulky snow jacket.

Buried deep in the Olympic Western-most Peninsula and the Cascades of Washington State, a small town named Chagrin Heights resided within its boundaries. The town was made up of one thousand four-hundred people with a mixture of farmlands, mountains, islands, and the big cities not too far away. It was in this town, this gloomy, forgotten town that Dad met and remarried my new stepmother, Kirsten, and then transferred a few months later as a doctor there. It was in this town where I learned how to ride a two-wheeler and tell time on my Great-Great Grandfather's pocket watch. It was in this town where I grew up and attended school until I turned six and moved away with Dad to Utah where my Grandparents live. Shortly after Mom died in a car wreck.

It was Chagrin Heights where my dreaded sentence began- an action that didn't take my Dad long to ponder over. 'It'll be a good chance for you to get to know the place where you were born and you'll like living with Kirsten and Duke" he once said. I highly doubted that. In the few times Kirsten and I had actually tried to have some 'girl time' together, I'd never felt so uncomfortable and awkward in my life. Almost like having lunch with one of your school teachers. It just didn't sit right with me. I had resisted the urge to gag at the mention of my egotistical, half-brained, surfer boy stepbrother's heinous name.

I rolled my eyes at the memory and leaned my forehead against the cool, foggy window. I hadn't been to see Chagrin Heights in almost nine years- why would I want to spend the rest of my adolescent life in a gloomy, semi-abandoned town when I could graduate from high school with people that love and care about me? Why not with people that I knew?

"Ooooh," Grandma Lana began and reached over for the handkerchief she kept in the pocket of her coat. She sniffled once and then took one hand off the steering wheel to dab at her eyes.

Here we go again with the tears.

Dad reached over from the passenger's seat and patted her shoulder. "It'll be okay, Ma," he said and pulled his hand back. Grandma Lana nodded and patted a lock of her snow white hair back into its place behind her right ear. She sniffled again and dabbed at her eyes.

"Do you have to leave? I mean, of all the places-"

"Ma," Dad said sternly. Grandma Lana slowed down at a red light and held his gaze. They stayed like that- staring at each other intently, unblinkingly for a brief moment before Grandma Lana blinked back her tears and turned her eyes back to the road. Dad sighed and shifted his stare out the window at the scenery rushing past us in a multicolored blur of white, grays, and browns.

"I can't believe you're doing this," Grandma Lana muttered and accelerated. "If Harry were still around, he'd feel just the same way." Harry was my Grandfather who past away two years ago due to heart and kidney failure. Grandma took it pretty hard- we were all down in Florida for Thanksgiving at Aunt Marie's house waiting for him to arrive when we got the call for Doctor Colander, Grandpa Harry's doctor. Dad frowned. "You don't know that."

Grandma Lana scowled. "Oh yes I do, Drake- or my name isn't Lana Lorelei Gibbons Daniels!" She stepped harder on the gas petal and accelerated. Honestly, I didn't know what the big deal was. Why was it so wrong of Dad to take a job as a Doctor in another state and live with his new wife and…son? I sighed. Grandma Lana could be so dramatic sometimes. Dad rolled his eyes at her.

"Ma, I'm a grown man- I'm perfectly capable of making decisions for myself and my daughter. Don't-"

"It's not that!" Grandma Lana argued and shot Dad a death glare. "It's the fact that you're going back to that manipulative, demanding, she-devil of a-"

"Mom!" Dad shouted and Grandma Lana went quiet.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. She? Who's the heck is she? And why was Grandma Lana so worked up over her? Was she talking about Kirsten?

"Who are you talking about?" I asked before I could stop myself. I knew better then in intervene in an adult discussion. I bit my lip and retreated further into my seat, knowing how Dad was going to react. Instead, he sighed and shook his head.

"It's nothing, honey," he said and shot me a weary smile. Grandma Lana's jaw twitched and her hands grip the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Apparently, it wasn't a 'nothing' to my grandmother.

"But-"

"You heard your Father," Grandma Lana interjected sternly. For a brief moment, our eyes met in her rearview mirror. Her wide, round, sky blue, and my deep-set, light brown ones. I sighed and retreated into the backseat of Grandma Lana's baby blue minivan again and wished that she would just pull over and kick me out. Dad sighed and turned to look at Grandma.

"Ma-"

"I'm not talking to you," she growled and jerked the wheel to the right, jolting Dad and me along with it.

Her lips twitched in satisfaction, but only for a minute. Dad rolled his eyes and turned to look out the window at the wonderland of snow unfolding before our eyes. I leaned my head back against the seat and closed me eyes. The car rocked underneath me in a soothing, almost relaxing motion. Cars could be heard zooming past us every now and then, accompanied by muffled horns blasting through the sill, crisp air and angry warnings shouted from irritated drivers trying to get to their destinations. Despite my evolving case of car sickness, I felt relaxed- not nervous or anxious like I normally would be when we have to travel. I wasn't a big fan of planes: I didn't like being so high up in the air with the only way of escape in case of an emergency would be nowhere at all- unless you were up for skydiving- which I wasn't a big fan of either. The only possible way I'd feel at ease while traveling would be by car. No heights, no parachutes, no emergency oxygen masks. Just the good old petal to the metal.

"We're here," Grandma Lana announced sharply and pulled over to the right.

The airport was a large, rectangular glass building the size of a Wal-Mart super center with three floors and the broadest crowd of people I'd ever seen. I gawked at them- zipping in and out through the tall, glass double doors lugging luggage of various colors and sizes along with them. Women in thick coats and boots held on to whimpering, snot-dripping children while men uploaded the luggage from the backseat of their cars. The snow was falling still, but the chilly winds had vanished, which was a relief for me.

Grandma Lana cut the ignition then pushed her door open and stepped out of the car. Dad and I mimicked her movement and left the comforting warmth of the car for the numbing cold outside. I shivered and slid into my snow jacket. Grandma Lana let out a soft sob and dabbed at her eyes- the last of a hundred times- before we were to depart to board our flights.

"Ooooooh," she cried and pulled me into a crushing, air-depriving hug. I hugged her back just as tightly and buried my face in her shoulder.

Goodbye, beloved Utah. I loved Utah. I loved the incredibly friendly people and trolling around the neighborhood with friends and family singing Christmas carols. I was going to miss building snowmen with Dad and having our annual December snowball fight with Grandma Lana and the rest of the family. I took a step back and smiled at my sniffling Grandmother.

"You be good, Leila Lynn Daniels," Grandma Lana said with a small smile. I nodded and hugged her again. "I will be- see you, um, when I'll see you," I said and Grandma Lana laughed.

"Christmas dear," she replied and kissed my forehead. I nodded and kissed her cheek.

"And you," Grandma said, wagging a thin, skeletal finger in front of Dad's face. He raised an eyebrow at her, as if to say "you're talking to me now?" I swallowed hard and mentally prayed that she wasn't going to make a scene. Instead, she pulled him into a tight bear hug.

"Take care of my granddaughter," she warned playfully. Dad smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Yes, ma'am," he said with a hearty laugh. Grandma and I joined him and then we had our last group hug- until Christmas, that is. After we all broke apart, Dad and I grabbed our things and headed toward the airport.

Grandma Lana waved and called out to us, "You can come home whenever you like- I'll be here waiting! Just give a call!"

And then we were on the plane to Washington and she was gone.

The flight lasted three and a half hours from Salt Lake city to Chagrin Heights; an half hour on a small plane to St. Holiday, an hour waiting in the bustling, lively building snacking on water bottles and salted peanuts while waiting for Kirsten and Duke to arrive, and then another hour driving home to Kirsten's three-story home that she'd bought shortly after her divorce. It wasn't the flight that had me on the edge of opening my door and flinging myself into heavy traffic; it was the hour we'd spent in the car with motor mouth Kirsten gushing about the 'wonderful' life we'd have with her here. Surprisingly, Duke hadn't done anything to get on my nerves like the last time we saw each other at Dad's and Kirsten's wedding. No whoopee cushions, no jokes, no nothing.

In fact, he simply had his attention on the various brightly lit stores and blinding city lights whizzing past us as we drove by. He had an iPod ear bud plugged into one ear and a disapproving frown etched onto his face. Apparently, he wasn't a big fan of his Mom's endless talk either. Dad laughed at something Kirsten has said and reached over to squeeze her hand. Duke and I stiffened in unison. Something about him and Kirsten doing things like that made my stomach flip-flop in unease and my skin crawl. Duke rolled his eyes and leaned his head against the window to stare at the city. I sighed and closed my eyes.

"I just can't wait to get those two out and around the city!" Kirsten prattled with a broad smile. Dad nodded in agreement and turned his attention out the window.

And surprisingly that the end of Kirsten's talking.

We stayed like that for the remainder of the car ride- Duke paid no attention to me or didn't even bother to acknowledge my or my Dad's existence in this car. Instead, he sat there with his eyes closed and a hand tapping some unknown rhythm on his thigh in time to the buzzing music in his ear. Dad looked like he could use some sleep. He was slumped against the seat with his head drooping every few seconds. And unlike her son, Kirsten looked worried and confused by the eerie silence that hung in the car.

I sighed loudly, then opened my eyes to look around…and immediately regretted it. Kirsten smiled at me in the rearview mirror.

"It's good to see you again, Leila," she said cheerfully. I forced a smile on my face and nodded. I should've faked being asleep.

"I haven't seen you since the wedding," she said again. "How are you? How's your Grandmother?" Probably crying her eyes out at home and wishing she would've tied Dad and I to chairs and locked us in the basement of her house, I thought glumly. "She's fine," I fibbed and swallowed. If only she knew that Grandma Lana had disapproved of this move in the first place. Maybe that was why Dad didn't tell her right away?

Kirsten nodded. "I see. That's good. I nodded as well and turned my attention to look out the window before she could say anything more.

"How was the flight?" Kirsten inquired and peeked at me through the rearview mirror. I curled my hands into tiny fists inside the pockets of my parka. Apparently, Kirsten couldn't take a hint either.

"It was fine," I lied. "I like being up in the sky and looking down at the city, it looks, uh, cool."

Kirsten's eyes lit up at that. "Oh!" she gasped jubilantly and flashed me a wide, thin-lipped smile. "I'm glad to hear that! You know, I love doing that too, but it's weird that I do because I'm seriously afraid of heights!" She threw her head back and let out a long, shrill giggle. I raised my eyebrows at her. She sure didn't seem like that type.

"Me too," I mumbled softly and blushed slightly. Kirsten laughed and made a sharp right.

Duke groaned and grumbled something incoherent under his breath that sounded something like "if you're gonna drive, at least be good at it." I mentally rolled my eyes. For someone his age, he was sure acting like a baby. We drove on, weaving through the brightly lit town, passing various buildings and vehicles so fast, they become blurs of blues, whites, and other colors. I sighed and closed my eyes again. What I wouldn't do to have a good book right now. Kirsten's voice was enough to make me want to snip my ears off with a pair of scissors.

"So, Leila, what grade are you in this year?" Kirsten inquired and I took a deep breath before answering her to keep from saying something rude. Dad wouldn't appreciate that even though I get the feeling that Dad disliked her endless chattering as much as I did.

"I'll be in seventh grade this year," I replied slowly. Kirsten let out a squeal of delight and clapped her hands jubilantly, like a soccer mom whose kid just score the winning goal of the game. Dad cried out and sat up in his seat again with a start, blinking rapidly with his chest heaving up and down. Duke chuckled under his breath and shook his head back and forth slowly, as if to say "what a loser." I turned at glared at him.

"That's great, hon!" she cried and clapped again. "You know, when I was in seventh grade, I felt like I never wanted to leave. I was president of the student council, the envy of all the girls in my grade, and even voted most friendly student of the year! I can't remember how many times I was asked out by all the older boys at my school. We had…"

And that's when I decided to tune her voice rather than sit here driving myself crazy. How someone who didn't even know you that well could have so much to say to you was beyond me. It was bad enough moving here, but now I had to live in a house with a grumpy stepbrother and a chatterbox like Kirsten who apparently didn't come with an off switch. I wished I was home with Grandma right now. At least she didn't go on and on about pointless things and she knew how to take a hint.

What she had against Kirsten was another thing that bothered me. It wasn't that I liked Kirsten, but I just thought that grandma didn't know her well enough to call her names. Sure, she was annoying, but so far she hasn't shown any traits of being an evil stepmother. I saw those traits in Duke.

I turned and looked over at him. Last time I saw him, he was this goofy, immature joker who seemed to enjoy picking on me and making my time at the wedding a living nightmare. Tonight he was just totally different: serious, cold, and grumpy. A complete turnaround. Was he like this because he felt the same way I did about our new lives? What exactly was it? Kirsten made another right and then pulled into the driveway of a three story home a few seconds later. I guess she finally got the message and stop talking.

"We're here!" Kirsten announced happily and cut the engine. I yawned and reached over to unbuckle my seatbelt just as Dad awoke with a start and rubbed at his eyes. Duke yanked his ear bud out of his ear and pushed his door open. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt? I sighed and stepped out of the warm Lexus and into the chilly night. The neighborhood was dead silent- no dogs barking, no blaring music from the neighbor across the street, or even the sounds of late night joggers striding past in groups of twos, threes, and fours. Kirsten stepped out of the car and glanced down at her watch while Dad went around back and started uploading our luggage from the back with Duke.

"Leila?" Kirsten called and tapped my shoulder. "Here are the keys to the house. Could you please go in and turn on the front lights?"

I nodded once then plucked the keys out of her hand gingerly and stalked up the curved, cobblestone driveway toward the house. Creepy house, I thought as I paused at the glass front door. I fumbled with the keys in my hands as I tried to figure out which keys was the one need out of the five of them.

"Shoot," I grumbled as the keys slipped out of my hands and hit the front step. "Leila?" Kirsten called. She sounded closer now.

"Almost got it!" I called back and hurriedly picked up the keys. "Just hold on!"

"Here we go," I mumbled and inserted the key into the lock. I pushed against the door, expecting it to open. Only it didn't' open. It didn't budge. Puzzled, I grabbed the doorknob and pulled. Maybe it'd open now. Instead, it remained shut. It didn't move an inch. What the heck? I cupped my hands around my eyes and peeked into the darkness inside the house. Maybe something was blocking the door? As I expected, I didn't see anything-

And then I saw something.

A figure or a shadow of a person moving around in the back against the moonlit windows of what I assumed to be the living room. The figure paused, and then crouched down onto its hands and knees. I squinted harder to try and make out the shape. The shadow suddenly began to tremble; it shook violently, as if it was being electrocuted, and it jerked its head to the side. And then large patches of hair ruptured from its skin and the tip of its nose jutted out more and rounded at the tip, joining with its jaw…

I gasped and staggered backward, heart racing and eyes frozen wide. What the heck was that?

"Leila? Leila, sweetie? Are you alright?"

I could barely hear Kirsten's voice over the loud pounding of blood in my ears; it sounded so distant; so faint, as if she were calling me from a hundred miles away. I stood there with adrenaline pumping rashly through my veins and my heart slamming riotously against my ribcage, threatening to bust through and shatter my ribs in pieces. My eyes remained on the spot where I'd seen the person morph into a...a what? What the heck was that thing? I took a deep, shaky breath and backed away from the door, the keys slipping out of my hand and striking the cold, colorless pavement underneath my boots. The sound for some unfathomable reason was loud; as if it were being amplified with speakers and carried out through the silent night air. I felt a firm grip on my shoulder. I didn't respond. I just stared unblinkingly at the spot. I had seen it, right?

"Leila?" Kirsten repeated, sounding worried and confused. "Sweetie- what's wrong?"

Despite the fact that she was standing right there next to me, she still sounded too far away. I heard more footsteps come up behind me; these were heavier and louder. More hands are on my shoulders, shaking me gently, followed by faint, familiar voices. "Leila?" my Dad said. He sounded concerned and slightly fearful. Get a grip, Leila, I scolded myself and took another deep, shaky breath. I closed my eyes, hoping that it would help me clear my mind. I cleared my throat and opened my eyes again. Dad's thin eyebrows furrowed in worry and Kirsten shot me an anxious frown. Duke looked like he'd rather have been somewhere else, judging by the look of both worry and irritation on his face.

"Leila? Honey, what's wrong? What happened?" Dad asked and wrapped an arm around my trembling shoulders. "N-nothing," I croaked out. "I just…nothing."

"Don't lie to me, Angel." Dad frowned at me and pulled me aside with him so Kirsten could open the door. Duke rolled his eyes and leaned against the house with his hands in the pockets of his dark green cardigan, waiting for Kirsten to open the door.

"I-I thought I saw someone in the house…" I lowered my eyes to my boots. What were the chances of Dad believing me if I chose to tell him that I saw some strange man in the living room of our new house morph into some kind of dog thing? I attempted to smile at Dad, but it only came out as a simple coy smirk. What if I hadn't seen anything? What if it was all in my head? I was tired after all. The flight was longer then I thought it would be and snacking on water and peanuts for an hour hadn't exactly satisfied my hunger. I was just tired. That had to be it. People didn't break into other people's houses to transform into dogs. Reality wasn't a Harry Potter movie. I was just tired. Sleepy, hungry, and tired was all.

Kirsten pushed the door inside and stepped inside. She clapped her hands and instantly the house was bathed in bright white light. Duke stepped in next, then Dad and me taking up the rear.

"We should check the house," Dad said and looked around at the numerous towers of stacked moving boxes that decorated the large, warmly decorated living room. I couldn't help but notice that Kirsten had good taste in decorations; long upholstered ottoman and silk curtains hung from the tall rectangular windows on the south end of the living space. There was a tall dark wood bookshelf against the east wall, sitting next to an unused chimney, mantel, a few plants, and a large, tan arm chair sitting there looking abandoned. Two large, brown, custom-made, sofas sat in the middle of the room along with a loop wool rug, and a glass coffee table.

"Why?" Duke asked and raised a dark blonde eyebrow at me. I looked down at my boots again. Kirsten looked alarmed.

"Leila said that she saw someone in here," Dad replied sternly. "We could be dealing with a burglar."

"Might have," I chimed in, keeping my eyes cast on to floor. "I'm not sure since it was dark, but I thought I saw someone in here." And somehow I saw them transform into some sort of monster, I thought and hung my head. What if I was wrong? How was I going to explain this to them? People didn't morph into dogs and then simply vanish into thin air. Everything looked undisturbed, like nothing had ever happened. It was simply a trick of the night since it was dark and I was feeling tired and hungry.

"Really?" Duke sounded both skeptical and suspicious. He folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at me. "Shouldn't we call the police then?"

Kirsten paled and glanced around nervously. "We should look around then," she said, leaving Duke's question unanswered, and fled to my father's side. She linked one of her anorexic arms through one of his lean ones.

Duke rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't we just call the cops?" He repeated with an irritated frown.

Dad shook his head. "We should make sure first. You two stay here while Kirsten and I look around for any sign of forced entry. Maybe a tampered lock or a broken window. We don't want to call the authorities for a false alarm."

Kirsten nodded. "Be careful guys," she said, looking straight at me rather then the both of us. They both disappeared down the hall.

Duke grumbled something under his breath and dragged me along roughly by my arm, but decided against saying anything. How could I when it was my fault that we were looking for a guy who probably didn't even exist. But still…what if I wasn't seeing things? What if what I saw was somehow real? I shook my head and pushed the thought back into my head. It was crazy. Things like that didn't happen in real life. This wasn't a Harry Potter movie or a book. Reality wasn't like that at all.

"Come on," Duke hissed and squeezed harder on my arm. He led me down a brightly lit hall across the hall from the living room. I yelped and yanked myself out of his grasp. "You're hurting me," I complained and rubbed my throbbing arm. Duke rolled his eyes.

"Boo hoo," he said sarcastically. "Thanks to you, Princess, we're lookin' for some imaginary burglar that you made up to-"

"I didn't make him up!" I protested with a stomp of my foot. I scowled at him and shoved past him to climb up the stairs.

"Sure you didn't," Duke argued in a low whisper. I rolled my eyes again. "Just admit it."

"I don't have to admit anything," I retorted and shot him a glare over my shoulder. "He was here- well downstairs when I came to open the door. If you don't believe me, then that's your problem."

Duke snorted. "The only problem I have is some snot-nosed brat running around my house playing charades to get attention."

I stopped and whirled around to face him. "You-"

I sudden fell forward and collided with Duke. He staggered back, but regained his balanced by grabbing the stair rail in time with one hand and catching me by the hood of my parka with the other, nearly choking off my air and breathing. I gasped and clung to his arm. What the heck just happened? Duke jerked me back and hauled me up the stairs until we were at the top.

"Jesus," he breathed and looked down at me with wide eyes. I regained my balance and wrapped my arms around myself to keep from shaking. What the heck just happened? I replayed in incident in my head; Duke and I walking up the steps, Duke said something mean to me, and I turned around to glare at him…and then the light pressure I felt on my back when I fell? I shivered at the thought. I hadn't tripped- I couldn't have tripped. But what other explanation was there?

"Watch your step," Duke jeered with a dark chuckle. "I can't believe you!" I spat and swatted at him. He leaned away, narrowly missing my hand, and blinked at me, as if to say "what did I say?" I stood up and sauntered down the hallway, keeping one hand against the wall so I could catch myself in case I tripped again. Duke chuckled again behind me.

"Don't be such a baby," he said when I paused on the first door on my left. I turned the doorknob. But it didn't budge. I tried again, this time jiggling the brass knob with more strength. The result was the same.

"Let me see, shorty," Duke sighed with an irritated sigh and elbowed his way past me. He gripped the doorknob tightly in one large, tanned hand and jiggled the doorknob. The door didn't give way. I chuckled aloud and grinned smugly when Duke glared at me. He tried again, only this time he pressed his shoulder against the door and jiggled the knob. The door didn't even moan with protest.

"This is hopeless," I said. "Let's just try the other doors-"

"Just shut up and let me concentrate," Duke grumbled and rammed a shoulder into the door. I rolled my eyes and tapped my foot with impatience. Jeez, he could be so annoying sometimes. He rammed his shoulder into the door again and then repeated it three more times. I sighed and tugged on the end of his plain white tank top. Duke scowled at me and swatted my hand away.

"Why the hell isn't this door opening?" he griped in frustration, more to himself than to me. "Let's move on," I said. Duke shook his head. I groaned aloud and threw my hands up in the air in exasperation. He was just so annoying.

"One more try," he replied. I sighed and rolled my eyes at him.

He took a few steps back and massaged his shoulder first before he ran for the door, like a bull charging at bullfighter. It swung open slightly just before his shoulder rammed into it again, sending my annoying stepbrother stumbling across the room; he collided into a heap of half empty boxes, spilling their contents across the hard wood floors. I blinked. Did the door just..? I looked over at Duke, who was still lying on the floor, surrounded with a folded bed sheets and newly bought pillows still in their plastic bags.

"Duke," I said carefully and looked back at the door, as if it would tell me what just happened. The door opened by itself. I just saw it, didn't I? Did he? I knelt down on the ground and buried my face in my hands. Now I knew I wasn't crazy and I had Duke as a witness. I took a few deep breaths and stood up slowly on shaky legs.

Duke sat up and blinked up at me. "Dude..."

"Did you just see what I just saw?" I asked and jerked a thumb at the door. He must have seen it. The door opened before he even touched it. It must've because I saw it…didn't I? Duke smiled at me smugly. "I told you I could get it open." I blinked at him like he'd just slapped me. What did he just say?

"Admit it," Duke boasted and motioned for me to give him a hand. "You were wrong. Told you I could-"

"Argh!" I turned on the ball of my heel and stomped out of the bedroom, leaving my boasting, cocky stepbrother there to gawk and shout questions after me. I couldn't believe my ears. Was I the only one seeing this? That door opened by itself! Just like my 'accidental trip' on the stairs and the man who transformed into a...a…I stopped short and frowned at myself. A what? I didn't even see exactly what he turned into exactly. Only that he suddenly had hair and a dog-like nose. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. This whole thing was getting ridiculous. I was just tired; it was a long flight here and I hadn't been able to sleep on the plane because of how nauseated I was during those dreaded three and a half hours.

I was just imagining things. That was all there was to it. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. I could feel a wave of dizziness washing over me all of a sudden. It was probably an oncoming headache. This whole…whatever it was really was starting to make my head hurt. I braced myself against the wall and breathed out through my nose. I opened my eyes and glanced around at the spinning, gyrating room. The colors swirled in one another, turning into a multicolored spiral of tans, muddy browns, and jade greens.

"Duke…" I grabbed onto the nearest thing I could mange, which was the door frame of the room next door. My vision blurred slightly and blackened at the edges; I opened my mouth to cry out, but my tongue felt swollen and my lips felt numb, unable to form the proper words.

"Leila?" I heard footsteps ambling down the hall toward me. I collapsed and sunk into a hot, sticky darkness.