Darkness is all that she sees. Terrified to open her eyes as millions of questions fill her mind. Where am I? Am I dead? Am I really here or is this just a really deep sleep? she wondered. Her whole body felt very numb and she felt as if she couldn’t move. Being able to gather enough strength, she finally attempted to open her eyes. White is all that she saw and got the fear of being in heaven, but no. She was in some sort of room. It was strange, every single thing in this room was white. She assumed that she was in the hospital. Wait, something isn’t right….she listened carefully. No noise. Aren’t there supposed to be at least a few doctors in the hospital at all times, she thought to herself. Finally she was able to gather enough strength to sit up on the bed. Shaky at first but she managed. Having no idea what she was doing in the hospital, she decided to check the clipboard that should be hanging at the end of her bed. As she got up, her leg gave out for a split second but she managed to balance herself out. Using the rails on her bed for support, she finally made it to the end of the bed. She grabbed the clipboard and just after the first look at the front page, she received a puzzled look on her face. The front page said:




St. Peterson Hospital
2567 Keirsten Ave. Atchison, Kansas

Name: Andrea Ballow
Age: 24
Height:5’8




Hair Color: Blonde
Weight: 164 lbs.



Eye Color: Blue
Reason for being here: Got into major accident.
P.S. May die sooner than we think….

“May die sooner that we think?” she asked herself as she was reading the page over and over again. What kind of accident have I been in? Andrea wondered. As Andrea looked around the room, she eyes a mirror on the back of the door to the room. She slowly approached the door making sure not to pressure her strength. As she finally reached the mirror, Andrea’s eyes widened with fear once she got a glance of herself in the mirror. “What has happened to me?” she whispered to herself as she slowly touched the scar on her left cheek. As the tips of her fingers barely touched the scar a sudden rush of electricity seemed to have shocked her. Suddenly a very chill breeze rushed past Andrea. The lights began to flicker and suddenly stopped leaving the room in complete darkness. Pitch black is all that Andrea was able to see.

In an instant the lights turned back on and Andrea felt like everything got back to normal, little did she know about what was about to happen. As Andrea turned around there stood a dark figure with a long dark cloak on, an outstretched hand, and floating a few feet off the ground. Andrea’s face became paralyzed with fear as her helpless body began to tremble. All that Andrea could do is stand there with her mouth open ajar. What does it want? Andrea thought to herself. Suddenly, the dark figure seemed to be rising higher and higher. Still paralyzed in fear, Andrea just stood there as the figure got closer and closer. Whoosh! Is the last thing that Andrea heard as she felt herself fall to the ground after the figure flew right through her. The familiar look of darkness was seen by Andrea once more. She didn’t want to get up. She’s done with life, she thought. I was going to die anyway, Andrea told herself. Then out of nowhere the sound of telephones ringing and people having conversations filled her ears. As Andrea opens her eyes again once more she finds herself laying in an everyday looking hospital.
******
It’s been a few days after Andrea’s release from the hospital. She’s been getting phone calls from a random number, and whenever she answers it the person on the other end claims to be a friend of hers named Sasha. After 10 minutes of utter confusion they both agreed to meet up at the town’s café.

“What happened to you?” cried Sasha.
“I honestly have no idea,” Andrea answered.

Sasha motioned for Andrea to sit fearing that her friend was on the verge of passing out. Hours flew by as the two tried to restore Andrea’s memories of the two of them from the 1st grade. After quieting their giggles from remembering about the time when Ashley Sho walked around with a piece of spaghetti in her hair, and of the time when their old crush Johnny Hemsworth ripped his pants and didn’t even notice, Andrea began to think of what has happened in the hospital a few days back.

“Hey Sasha,” began Andrea, “have you ever heard of some black shadowed figures with no face?”

“Other than the death eaters from Harry Potter, no I haven’t,” chuckled Sasha, “why you ask?”

Another hour or so flew by as Andrea explained the incident from a few days ago to Sasha. Her eyes widening as Andrea described the face to face encounter with the dark shadowed figure. Sasha got up and ran over to Andrea and hugged her with all of her might.

“I don’t know what happened to you, but I swear that I will do whatever it takes to find out what all of that means,” swore Sasha.

“Thanks Sasha, you’re such a great friend. Also thank you for helping me get most of my memory back,” said Andrea with a sheepish smile.

“It’s no problem love. That’s a really cute necklace by the way,” claimed Sasha, “where did you get it?”

“I have no clue,” replied Andrea as she began to play with the red ruby on her necklace. “I just found it in the pocket of my jeans when I was getting dressed at the hospital.”

“I’m sooooo jelly,” exclaimed Sasha, “let me borrow it sometime, yea?”

Andrea seems to have tuned out and didn’t even know that Sasha has asked her a question. She was just so mesmerized by the red blood like color of the ruby. Without saying a word, Andrea stood up and left Sasha with a puzzled look on her face. As Sasha called Andrea’s name to ask where she was going, Andrea began to sprint towards her car. She decided to head over to the local library. Although her necklace was beautiful as can be, she felt as if it had a story written behind it. As if the necklace was trying to tell her a secret, but wouldn’t till she made the first move.
As Andrea pulled into the parking lot of the library, she saw a very old looking scrawny man locking the door to the library. She slammed the car door and sprinted up to the man.

“Sir! Can you please open this door?” pleaded Andrea, “I just need to do some real quick research. It’s very important and I promise you that I will repay you in some way.

After a moment of hesitation the old man decided to open the door for Andrea. He introduced himself as Mr. Nixon and told her to get comfortable and if she needs anything to just yell for him. Andrea thanked Mr. Nixon about twenty times when he brought her a couple of books on red rubies. After hours and hours of research it became as dark as a grizzly bears warm coat of fur outside, and Mr. Nixon recommended that the two of them head home, but Andrea didn’t move. After all of that reading, Andrea finally understands! Turns out that the very necklace around Andrea’s neck belonged to her great, great grandmother, Isabella Ballow. Apparently the ruby necklace has the power to heal and Isabella had it hidden when an army of soulless dark figures tried to destroy everyone and everything in their paths. The leader of the dark shadowed figures made it a goal to find the necklace. He wanted the necklace to be destroyed so his army would become undefeatable. Andrea came back to reality when she heard a sudden click. It sounded as if the sound belonged to a lock of some sort. As Andrea looked up she saw Mr. Nixon look at her with an eerie grin.

“My master has been waiting for this all of his life and I shall be rewarded for putting his greatest enemy to a halt,” whispered Mr. Nixon as he slowly approached Andrea.

He slowly outstretched his arm while he stared at the ruby necklace that was clasped around Andrea’s neck. Andrea slowly rose from her seat and began to walk backwards while shielding her necklace with her right hand. She quickly glanced around the room searching for an emergency exit. Reaching a dead end, Andrea began to run down every aisle of books hoping not to run into Mr. Nixon. Coming to a halt, Andrea began to listen for any footsteps that might belong to Mr. Nixon. Slowly beginning to back up, making sure not to make any noise, Andrea saw the exit. Only a few steps away, but she just can’t run out into the open.

Andrea’s only hope was to quietly creep around the aisles and make it to the exit and just run for her life. Just as Andrea reached the end of the aisle, Mr. Nixon came out from behind one of the shelves and quickly put a bag over Andrea’s head to muffle her screams and tightened the end around her neck secure that no more air entered the bag. As Andrea began to gasp and try to loosen the grip of the bag, Mr. Nixon ripped off the necklace from around Andrea’s neck. While Mr. Nixon began to collect his belongings, he can hear Andrea fall to her knees as she continued to gasp for air and beckoning for help. As silence had fallen all over the library, Mr. Nixon knew that Andrea’s spirit was no longer with him and that darkness was all that she could see, for the very last time.