So here's a story I've had in my head since I was eight years old, and has grown up with me. I've tried to write it many times, but this is the first time I've actually managed to write a complete beginning I like. I'm still not totally satisfied with it, so expect lots of editing! But tell me what y'all think about it and suggestions are MOST WELCOME. And FYI, Seren and Don will not be the main characters. They will have a role, but the next chapter will not be about them. I promise this will all eventually make sense! I left things vague on purpose.

"Run." It was that one whispered word that changed her life forever. She didn't even know who it was that had spoken; she seemed to be alone as she stood in the clearing, shell shocked. The blaze of what was once her home crackled and burned, black smoke drifting up into the twilight sky. Seren stared at it numbly, not able to yet believe what had happened. Her throat was dry and parched, her clothes singed. The palms of her hands were still glowing with rune marks, ugly black ones, pulsating on her pale skin. Seren glanced down at them and clenched her fists so she wouldn't have to see them. Slowly, she looked around, seeing no one but the deathly quiet forest surroundings. But someone had spoken; she was sure of it.

The girl swallowed hard and finally spoke, her voice rasping and hoarse. "Who's there?! Show yourself!" She looked around, eyes wild with panic. Had someone seen? Seen what she'd done just mere minutes before?

"Calm down. I'm not here to hurt you," the disembodied voice replied smoothly. "But you need to run. Or they will kill you." Seren closed her eyes and took a few shuddering breaths, trying to calm down.

"I know," she gasped out, on the brink of hysteria. "But I deserve to die," Again her eyes were drawn to the pulsing rune marks on her palms and the blaze before her.

"Look what I did!" she screamed suddenly, pointing a trembling finger at the fire. "I did this. Me. What am I now? I killed them and I liked it." Tears streaked down her face and she dropped to her knees, gripping the grass with her hands, looking ready to start ripping patches out. The voice said nothing for a few moments and when it spoke again it sounded different. More livelier almost. As if it was excited.

"I know." It sounded like it was holding back a laugh. Seren was too distraught to notice. "And I can help you. I can help you gain control. Then this will only happen when you want it to," A shadowy figure materialized behind the sobbing girl. It was constantly shifting and twisting, and the area around it seemed to die; the grass withered, and a few wildflowers lost their petals.

But she remained silent, thinking. The promise sounded genuine, and Seren prided herself on usually being able to tell when people were lying to her. She was clever for her age, and knew better than to immediately trust a perfect stranger. What had Tamsin always said? Think before you make any rash decisions, Ser. Once upon a time, her sister's words echoing in her head might have been comforting. Now it was like they were haunting her, as they rang in her ears. Seren closed her eyes and forced herself to exhale slowly. She had to calm down. She didn't want to do anything stupid. Still her emotions continued to take control of her, wetness bubbling up in her pale green eyes.

She turned slowly, sensing its presence, and lifted teary, pleading eyes to look at him. "You can help? You'd help me? I'm a murderer," she barely breathed the last word, almost afraid to say it. The figure said nothing, but simply extended a hand made of roiling darkness towards her. Seren gazed at it and hesitated. "What do you want in return?" she asked fearfully. "I'm no fool; everything has a price." She stared up at figure, as she wiped anxiously at her eyes. A low, eerie chuckle came from it.

"I knew you were a wise girl. You're right, child. You'll pay a price for coming with me, be it big or small. But the question is not what that may be, but if you would prefer death to it." Cold eyes stared at her, frozen there. "If I recall correctly, the punishment for murder with magic is death, is it not? But of course it's entirely up to you. Seren shook her head and stared at the ground, a million thoughts running through her distressed mind. But in the end, one single thought stood out clearly. If I stay here, I will die. It was not so much death itself that terrified her, but the thought of having to face her family once more after that. They would surely not forgive her; she had killed them. Only one option remained.

Her gaze flickered back up to the still outstretched hand. Seren glanced behind her at the smoldering wreckage of her home and surrendered to her fate, whatever it might be. She timidly grasped it, realizing she could touch it even though it seemed like her hand would slip right through. "Excellent," It sounded pleased, and the voice shifted towards a more normal one, sounding distinctly masculine now. "Let us go then. Come, Seren."

Seren tilted her head to one side, confused. "How do you know my name?" The figure did not answer and then they were gone, one with the shadows of the approaching night and the darkness it would bring. But no one was aware that a different kind of darkness would be known that night. For that night was the end of Seren Magecrest's old life, and the beginning of her new one. Little did she know that her new life would be one wreathed in darkness. And in evil.

Seren must have fallen unconscious when she departed with the shadowy figure. At least that was what she assumed, for when she awoke she was in an entirely different place; a dark room, with the only light being rows and rows of candles lining the walls. Wax dripped from them, and their flames were constantly sputtering, as if they always on the verge of being blown out. Seren hoped they wouldn't. She didn't want to be alone in the dark. Yet as she thought that, she detected the sound of breathing that was not her own. She wasn't alone. Someone else was there with her. Frightened now, the girl drew back into the corner she was sitting in, glancing around in the hopes of finding an exit. If there was one, she could not see it.

Gathering up all her courage, she called out quietly, her voice still slightly choked and raspy sounding. "Hello?" Then she was slammed into the wall behind her, the breath being torn from her. Seren gasped and trembled, going stiff with pure terror as whoever had slammed her into the wall tightened their grip around her neck. "Who are you?!" they demanded flatly. "Is this another test?!" It sounded like a boy around her own age, which was thirteen. But she couldn't be sure; he spoke quickly and plainly.

"Please…." She whispered, feeling her air flow beginning to become cut off. What if he killed her? Had she been brought here to die?

"Why are you here?!" the boy practically hissed and she could feel the anger radiating off him, and something else too. Fear?

With a cross between a shriek and a whimper, she kicked out desperately, her fingers clawing at his hands on her throat. The rune marks that had finally disappeared returned, glowing an alarming red. He was shoved off her, stumbling backwards. Seren massaged her throat, staring at him fearfully. "Don't hurt me! I mean you no harm! I was brought here by someone. I don't know who, but he said he could help me!" The boy said nothing, but she saw his face for the first time in the candle light. He looked young, and just as terrified as her.

"His name is forbidden for us to speak," the boy whispered, glancing around as if someone might be listening.

"But we are to call him Master, that I know."

"Master?" Seren echoed.

"Yes," the boy looked like he was caught between smiling and screaming. "We are his apprentices."

"I didn't know…" Seren murmured, thinking over this new revelation. "Do you regret coming here, then?" the boy asked curiously, and she realized that his eyes were completely black, as if the iris had taken over the surrounding white. A gasp escaped her lips, and she had to force herself too look away after a moment. The boy shifted awkwardly."Sorry about attacking you. But he's been testing me since I got here, and I don't think I can tell what's real and what's not anymore. I'm Don, by the way."

"Seren," Seren said softly, still finding her gaze drawn to his eyes. Stop looking at them. You're being rude. But what could have made them look like that. There's now way they're natural. "So it looks like it's just us."

"Yeah…" Don mumbled.

"Hey, don't worry," she said warmly, suddenly feeling sympathetic towards him. He looked so alone and afraid. Who knew how long he had been in this dark room, with the sputtering candles as his only source of light. "I'll help you. With figuring out what's real, I mean."

"You will?" he asked, looking surprised.

"Of course!" Seren exclaimed. "If we're both apprentices we've got to help each other out, right?"

He nodded slowly. "I suppose so…" Seren smiled at him, feeling a bit better about all of this now that she had someone else with her.

"Do you have magic? I'm a novice mage. Fire's my element. And my older sister is a-" She cut herself off, abruptly remembering that her sister was dead. She'd killed her. If Don noticed her sudden silence he made no comment on it.

"No. But I have a power." Seren forced her thoughts away from her dead family and smiled weakly.

"Really? What?"

"…I can't tell you," Don muttered, looking uncomfortable.

"Oh. Okay," Seren said slowly. She stepped out from her corner, more at ease with the situation then she had been before and sat down on the floor in the center of the room, legs crossed beneath her. Don trailed after her taking a similar position.

"What are you doing?" he asked. Seren simply closed her eyes and a look of extreme focus came over her young face.

"Hold on, I'm going to give us a little more light." The candles flared up suddenly, flames shooting higher than they should have been capable of doing, and turning white. Seren gritted her teeth, and lifted her palms up, glowing white. The room was bathed in light, and Don watched in astonishment.

"That's amazing!" he gasped, staring at the girl, who opened her eyes slowly. She shrugged.

"It's no big deal. I should have just done this in the first place, but I was too scared to think strai-EEK!" Suddenly the floor underneath them opened up and both young teens screamed as they plummeted down.

They stopped in the air, caught in the middle of falling. Seren gasped in shock, suspended upside down, as that's how she had been falling. Her blond hair was splayed out beneath her head like a fan, frozen. Don was just above her, curled up in a fetal position, eyes wide with fright. "Master?" Seren whispered.

"Yes?" He was there, somewhere in the surrounding darkness. "You have done well, both of you. Now the real training starts."

"Training for what?" Don asked hesitantly.

"I'll tell you some day. As for now, come. We have things to do." Both resumed falling and hit the floor with a groan. Luckily they had only been about five feet above the ground.

Seren got to her feet shakily and helped Don up. The two locked eyes for a second and Don looked shocked. "What?" Seren asked in confusion.

"Your eyes…" He trailed off and looked away awkwardly. She fought back the sick feeling in her stomach and wrenched a metal bracelet off her wrist, holding up. In the reflection she saw her eyes. They were completely black. A shriek burst out of her mouth, as she stared in horror at her new appearance. "My eyes," she whispered, realizing she would probably never see them green again. Don shook his head, looking regretful.

"Don't. Come on," He grabbed her wrist and pulled her off, following after their new master. The bracelet slipped from her limp fingers and fell to the floor with a dull thud. Seren Magecrest was dead. But Seren the Apprentice had just been born.