Hello, this is an idea I've been developing for months, and I've finally gotten the first chapter the way I wanted it. I have the entire story pretty much mapped out at this point, so this story will probably be updated fairly often. Hope you guys enjoy!

XXX

A young girl, barely five years of age, stood at the top of her ordinary apartment complex's roof. Paradoxically, there was absolutely nothing ordinary about the silver haired child. A voice had lured her from the comfort of her dreams, and out into the harsh winter night.

"I'm waiting for you Serena.", it had called to her.

She had quickly scampered out of her bedroom window, her sense of adventure drowning out her fears. Her eyes had widened slightly in comprehension when she realised that the soothing soprano voice was coming from above.

Gingerly, she set one tiny foot in front of her, and then the other, going very slowly to avoid falling off the five story building. The wind blew past her, and she had to squint against it. She could still see her destination ahead of her. It was not a person, but an orb of red light.

She giggled with wonder as she took in the warm light, "I'm here now", she whispered.

The light flickered once and the same disembodied voice emanated from within, "You must follow me darling.", It said before darting up into the night sky.

Serena gasped, "No! Wait for me!", she jumped after it.

Her scream pierced the night sky as she realised she was not floating towards the light, but rather freefalling.

The ground was rushing up to her so fast that she didn't even have time to cry over what her young mind knew would happen. She closed her eyes, as if the simple action would ease the pain. The small girl felt the ground beneath her body, but the agony she had expected was not present. Slowly cracking her eyes open, she saw that she was engulfed in silver light.

In a split second, it was gone, leaving the bewildered child sitting in the snow at the front door of her building.

XXX

There was a light tap on her bedroom door, followed by the appearance of a soft face framed in blonde waves, "May I come in sweetheart?", Eileen Verity asked her only daughter.

Serena smiled and nodded in the affirmative whilst sitting up on her bed. "Did you finish your packing?", Eileen inquired with the quirk of a perfectly arched eyebrow as she made her way over to the young woman and took a seat beside her.

"Yeah, all done.", she pointed to a fist-sized glass cube sitting on the corner of her stainless steel desk, the matter-compacter 6000, which contained everything one would need were they leaving home for several months.

Eileen smiled, "Of course.", she shook her head amusedly, "You're always on top of things, aren't you?"

Serena mustered a laugh, but the usual twinkle in her eyes was noticeably absent, "You've taught me well I suppose."

Eileen looked her daughter over sceptically and then let out a resigned sigh, "Serena," she started as she took one of the girl's hands in her own, "I know this will be hard for you, but it's only for a little while."

Serena swallowed hard, "I know mom, I'll be fine."

Eileen gave her daughter an encouraging smile, "You need this experience sweetheart .", she smiled and stood up, "Your father thinks you could have a wonderful time on Epson6 ."

Before Serena could answer, her mother was out the door.

Yeah, wonderful.

XXX

The trees whipped past her in a blur. Her legs burned in protest, but she dared not stop. The witch was coming. The billowing branches latched on to her stray hairs, ripping them out. The wind lashed against her face, but she dared not stop. The witch was coming. She could feel her bare feet bleed from the numerous cuts they had sustained, she could feel the wet mud seep between her toes . With a screech, she fell to the ground, thorns having caught onto her ankle. She cried out from the pain, but her cries were overpowered by a mirthless cackle.

She had stopped, the witch was coming.

Serena woke up with a gasp, her breathing was laboured, coming out in short breaths. She clutched at her racing heart, and thought for one petrifying moment that she would go into shock. Bolting upwards, she discovered that she was drenched in sweat. She closed her eyes in an effort to clear her mind and calm herself, but it was in vain. Vivid images of her nightmare appeared. She had never experienced a dream so real. Serena could practically still smell the aroma of the trees mingling with the wet mud. She shivered, she had been running as if her life were in jeopardy.

The witch.

Never had a faceless, seemingly meaningless, entity inspired so much fear within her. It was just a dream, nothing more, Serena thought to herself in a bid to calm dawn. She ran a hand through her bangs, wiping away the perspiration, and exhaled slowly. Just a dream, she reinforced.

Suddenly, her right ankle started to burn with an intensity she had never felt before, it was as if magma had been thrown onto it. Serena's mouth opened, but the scream died on the tip of her tongue. She stared down at the leg she was clutching, and the source of the burn revealed itself. A tattoo was etching itself across the offending ankle. Intricate vines swirled about, wrapping themselves around. Serena cringed from the pain but dared not cry out. With a final jolt of pain, thorns jetted themselves out of the vines.

The thorns from my dream...the ones that tripped me, Serena thought, her eyes widened in horror, but it was a dream!

The thorns stopped burning and glowed, a drop of blood broke the surface of her milky white skin.

Suddenly she wasn't so sure anymore.

XXX

Serena never fell back asleep. Every time she would drift off, her ankle would burn and she'd be reminded of what awaited her in the realm of her dreams. She hadn't mentioned anything to her parents. Serena greatly feared their reaction. What if they thought her to be crazy? Things like these simply didn't happen. She had tried over and over again to brush off the occurrence, hoping that the tattoo would simply go away. She broke down into tears when it didn't.

What scared Serena the most was that she had no idea how to explain what had happened. It was all so surreal, so paranormal.

After what had happened to her as a young girl, her parents had always been a tad reluctant to believe her. They had accused her of lying, reasoning that it would not be possible for her to have fallen five stories without a scratch. Serena admitted that they were correct in doubting her, for her only recollection of the incident was of intense lights. However, she knew they were wrong. Something had happened that night.

She was currently staring out the hover transporter's window. It was pouring rain outside and the sky was darkened by the swirling turquoise storm clouds, her home world's trademark. This did nothing to ease Serena's mind. She had always hated the rain, it made everything so eerie. However, she had always found reassurance in rationality. It was rain, it rained nearly every single day, what could happen?

But now...she questioned everything.

Serena squinted in an effort to see past the sheet of water covering the window; nothing but glistening structures and highway. They had set out for the Interstellar Transit Port a few minutes prior, where Serena would be shipped off for Viken23's closest star system. She sighed and turned her attention back to the movie she had been pretending to watch on her visor.

"Yo, space cadet! What's wrong with you?", her younger brother inquired with a poke to her ribs.

Serena rolled her eyes at him, she was in no mood for his antics, "Nothing Sammy. Just play your little Dchip and leave me alone.", she hissed back to him.

Instead of going back to his holographic game, Sammy simply smirked at her and shook his mother's headrest, "Mom! Serena's being mean to me again, I think she has PMS."

Serena went red in the face, He's a 10 year old boy, as if he even knows what that means!

Ken coughed uncomfortably at the mention of his daughter's menstrual cycle; there were things fathers just didn't need to know. Eileen turned around, speaking the words she had uttered so many times in the past, "Behave you two!", she then turned back to her husband, "Darling, perhaps you could flick that switch? You know dear, the one that makes the craft go faster? The kids are getting restless."

Serena was about to protest when her father flipped the smallest of the switches on the dash, sending the hovercraft into turbo drive.

Her nails digging into her seat, Serena fought to keep in the bile that had risen into her throat. She always got sick from going into turbo. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing. During a particularly long exhale, the craft jerked to a stop, jarring the passengers.

Ken chuckled, "Sorry about that. At least I got us here eh?", he grinned as he sheepishly ran a hand through his short greying hair and nodded towards his window.

Indeed, they were now stationed outside the gate of the Interstellar Transit Port. As much as every building looked quite similar on Vicken23, all tall and glistening, the ITP was truly a sight to behold. It was composed of two parts, the common area where people from all over said their goodbyes to loved ones, excitedly bounding off in search of adventure, and the launching area which all passengers shuttled to in order to board one of the many ships that were docked. What truly set apart the ITP was the launching area itself. In a world where everything was silver, the massive spherical compound was completely golden. Some compared it to the sun that kept the small planet alive. Truly, it was the center of the economy, being one of the main transit ports in the colonised universe. Multiple ships docked all around the sphere.

Serena's father lowered their small hovercraft to the ground. The family got out and made their way inside the ITP's first building.

Once through the doors, the room was made up mostly of glass and steel. Multiple computer interfaces were set up around the room, where some people were purchasing last minute tickets, and others were looking for information on their destination.

Serena felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned towards it, her icy blue eyes clashing with her mother's hazel ones. Serena's adoption had never been kept a secret from the girl, it couldn't possibly be. There was simply no fathomable way Serena could be related to the Verities by blood. Her pale silver hair and fair skin contrasted greatly with the rest of the small clan's dark looks.

Eileen offered her daughter one of her gentle smiles, "Well Serena, this is it.", she bent down slightly to kiss her upon both cheeks, her eyes slightly misted by unshed tears, "Your aunt Helen will be waiting for you on Epson6. Make sure to holocall us when you there, alright sweetheart?".

Serena nodded, indicating that she would do as her mother wished. Ken wrapped his arms around his daughter, giving her an awkward hug. He cleared his throat uneasily, "Yes, well, be careful. Don't talk to strangers, and, you know, no candy from them and all that."

"I know dad, I am eighteen.", she smiled.

"Later, loser", Sammy said without even looking up from his game, causing Serena to roll her eyes.

"The Marsden, voyaging to Epson6 is now boarding. All passengers must please make their way towards the launch area.", a robotic voice broadcasted over the intercom.

Serena forced a grin onto her face, trying so hard to make her parents believe she was excited for this trip, "Well, that's me!"

Her parents smiled, "We love you dear!", her mom called out as Serena started to make her way towards the shuttles that led towards the ITP's launch area.

"I love you too!", she called back, waving her goodbyes.

It was then, walking away from her family, that she realised that she was truly leaving. She wasn't going to see any of them for months. Tears made their way into her eyes and spilled over onto her pale cheeks. Her vision clouded, and she could barely see where she was going. She brought her hands to her eyes, and furiously rubbed the tears away.

Serena bumped into something hard, and then was unpleasantly socked with cold liquid. Opening her eyes, she saw that she had bumped into a kid, making him spill his orange soda all over her.

Realising that he now had no drink, the child started to cry. Serena cringed as a blush crept up her neck and across her face, as she was completely embarrassed. People were now starting to stare, and what was worse, they were sending her accusatory glances.

Trying to escape as fast as she could, Serena mumbled an apology and bolted into the nearest bathroom, away from the wails and dirty looks.

Once in the restroom, she glanced around, giving it a once over, "I guess the transit port isn't all sparkle and shine...", she muttered to herself. It wasn't what she had expected from the luxurious establishment at all. It was positively filthy.

The lights were obviously damaged, they flickered noisily. Most of the stalls had "out of order" signs taped messily across their doors, and the one that didn't was rusted out. Serena sighed, Well, good thing I didn't have to go in the first place.

Serena made her way to the sinks and clouded mirror. The tap looked pretty clean, so she turned it on, hoping to wash her hands after having touched the stalls. She jumped back in surprise and let out a shriek as the water turned brown. "Well, not so unexpected, really.", she thought out loud as she placed a hand over her erratic heart. She reached over to the mirror and tried to wipe some of the grime off with the roll of paper towels she had found by the sinks. Once Serena had cleared a spot sufficiently large enough to be visible in, she looked herself over. She frowned as she took in her haggard appearance. Her exceedingly long, pale tresses lacked their usual bounce, her skin looked positively gray, and there was dark bruising under her eyes, evidence of her lack of sleep. She dabbed at the wet spot on her blue polo and tried to smooth down her travel worn jeans. Serena stopped when she got down to her right ankle. She pulled her hand away swiftly, as if she had been electrocuted. Damn tattoo! ,she cursed. She felt like crying as she thought of the normalcy which had been brutally swept out from under her. How could she get over what had happened last night?

Serena closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, No use dwelling on it, nothing else has happened. It's probably nothing. She tried, in vain, to soothe herself.

She took a steadying breath, and opened her eyes. Serena was making her way towards the exit when suddenly the lights went out. She gulped, never having been a fan of the dark. Serena tried to rationalise the situation, calmly telling herself that the lights had been flickering and it had only been a matter of time until they went out. Shaking, she tried to feel her way to the door.

Serena was then thrown back by an unexplainable force. It propelled her against one of the stalls, knocking the wind out of her. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't find her voice. A pair of golden, cat-like eyes could be seen from the direction the sink had been in. Serena couldn't do anything but sit there, unable to get up because of the pressure pushing down on her, and let the tears fall.

Very quickly, yet not soon enough in Serena's opinion, the eyes vanished, as did the crippling pressure, and the lights turned back on. She didn't dare get up, too terrified to move, and did the only thing that seemed logical.

She screamed.

A few women rushed into the bathrooms, obviously alerted by the shrill screaming coming from within, to find the small girl sprawled out on the ground, her eyes clamped shut.

Serena felt someone pulling at her arm, and shaking her shoulders slightly, "Miss? Miss, what's wrong?"

Serena opened her eyes and turned her gaze to the find a short, frumpy looking woman with gray hair holding onto her. She quickly snapped out of her horrified trance, she noticed that she was not at all where she had thought herself to be.

Gone were the rusted out stalls and grimy sinks, all replaced with stainless steel sinks and crystal clear mirrors. Serena gulped; she couldn't have just imagined all that, could she?

Behind the woman crouched beside her was a tall blonde woman holding her child by the hand. The little girl looked positively frightened as she looked up to her mother, who was equally wide eyed, "Mommy? What's wrong with the lady?"

The woman placed a hand over her daughter's mouth, "Hush, not now baby.", and with a pitying smile sent Serena's way, left the gleaming bathroom.

She shook her head, as if to clear up the fog in her brain, "There was a rat.", she managed weakly.

The plump woman raised an eyebrow, "It knocked you down?", she asked, her voice dripping in scepticism.

Serena faked a sheepish smile, "I slipped"

The woman cocked an eyebrow, "I see."

She wrapped an arm around Serena's waist in order to hoist her up from the ground. Serena, feeling completely embarrassed, muttered her thanks and hurriedly exited the bathroom; she had a flight to catch.

XXX

Although she had experienced it twice in the past, cryogenic freezing had always scared her. Serena had never been comfortable with relinquishing all control over herself for such lengthy periods. Cryo sleep was pretty much the equivalent of a coma, or "a very long nap" as the flight crew constantly explained to the children. However bizarre, it was a necessary process. The travel time from Vicken23 to Epson6 clocked in at around two and a half weeks.

Cryogenic pods lined the interior of the massive passenger bay within The Marsden. As far as she knew the ship had already taken off, and Serena had settled into the pod designated by her flight ticket, number 22. She nervously waited for a member of the crew to come by and start the cryostasis.

She gulped as she thought of what was to come. First, a numbing cold would spread throughout the pod, slowing down her bodily functions to a crawl. Once every part of her was operating at a minimum, she would quickly nod off, and would be left to pray that the oxygen pump attached to the pod didn't malfunction. Although cryo deaths were a rarity, they were not unheard of.

A tall, handsome crew member who seemed to be in his mid thirties came over to her pod. Serena felt her cheeks grow hot as he unabashedly stared at her for a little longer than was necessary. She was used to it, her appearance being less than common.

He cracked a grin, "Hello, my name is Riley. Do you have any questions about the cryostasis?", he asked good naturedly.

Serena shook her head from side to side; she had researched the entire process years ago. In fact, it was highly probably that she knew more about the process than even he.

Riley busied himself with the pod's settings, his grin never faltering, "Everything seems to be in order, you are set to be woken up in sixteen days.", he closed the pod's clear hatch, muffling his voice.

"Good night Sleeping Beauty", he winked as the final button was pressed.

Serena felt the cold swirl in and around her, slowing her breathing, and making her feel impossibly heavy. Her lids started to slowly drift closed.

She was vaguely aware of the pod suddenly quaking, of red lights flashing, and of distant sirens. Serena knew something was dreadfully wrong, yet she had neither the will, nor the energy to do anything. The last image that registered in her brain was of Riley's good looking features contorted in horror as he was thrown across the bay.

It was too late to react, she'd react in sixteen days.

XXX

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