Chapter 1 - Pursued by demons
She pressed her trembling body tightly against the rock face. Her breathing was rapid, her eyes were filled with tears. Her lips trembled like it was minus 10 degrees.
The screams she heard were loud and clear. But she fervently hoped they wouldn't find her here. She put a hand in front of her face. If she didn't see them, maybe they couldn't see them. But apparently it didn't work.
The girl, maybe 16 years old, pushed even harder against the wall as the screams grew louder and clearer. The dark roar echoed through the night.
She somehow knew she shouldn't have run away. She should have faced them, stood her ground against them. But she had no more strength. For too long she fled from them, for too long she hid from them. And now they were about to catch her and then push her through the forbidden window. She couldn't imagine where she would end up. She didn't want that either.
"Leave me alone," the girl whispered tonelessly.
Another scream. Louder than usual this time.
With the last of her strength, the girl pressed herself firmly against the rock face of the gorge she must be in. Suddenly the wall gave way. An opening appeared out of nowhere and the girl was swallowed by the rocks.
The screams stopped. It got darker than night. The girl could no longer see. Only her breathing could be heard.
In the second that followed, the girl groped into emptiness. The rock face seemed to have disappeared. But it was still pitch dark and she didn't know where she was.
Her breathing slowed down as she felt that she could feel safe.
"Where am I?" she whispered softly.
Suddenly there was a rumble. It sounded like someone was pushing a chair or a table back and forth. She then heard something shatter - probably glass.
Less than two seconds later a small light came on, probably the light of a torch. The girl turned around, startled.
She was in a small cave. It was damp and cold in here. The drops falling from the ceiling of the room conjured up stone patterns. Narrow and elongated, they formed and hung down from the ceiling. Below the structures she saw other patterns, almost mirror-inverted from the ones on the ceiling.
"I knew it," she suddenly heard a voice.
The girl turned abruptly to where the voice came from. Then she saw a stranger standing next to her, holding a torch. The young man was maybe 18 years old. With an awed look he looked at the girl.
"I knew you were coming," he said.
The girl looked into his eyes in surprise.
"Where am I?" She wanted to know."Who are you?"
"There'll be time for that later, Kitty Linnore," said the young man."First of all, it's important that you're here."
"But I don't even know where I am," Kitty clarified."What's going on here anyway?"
The young man made no move to answer Kitty. He took her by the hand and led her to a corner of the cave where a table with two chairs sat.
"Sit down," he invited her.
Kitty did as he said, not without taking her eyes off him.
"You ran away from them," the man stated.
"To who?" Kitty said thoughtfully.
"Never let them find you," the stranger explained."Only when you are ready can you fight them."
"But I don't want to fight," Kitty complained."Who am I supposed to fight? Who are those persecuting me and why are they persecuting me?”
The young man shook his head.
"All in good time, Kitty Linnore," he said quietly.
And in the next second it was pitch black again. Kitty hear
