Halsey raced through the woods trying to get away from whatever or whoever was chasing her, terror clawing up to her throat. She ran ahead and only stopped when she sighted a silhouette.
"Who is there?", she asked breathlessly, stumbling forward.
No answer.
The figure, a boy about her age, stood silently. She staggered closer but just as she reached out, he vanished into thin air, her hands mid-air.
A laughter echoed in the forest. Cruel, cold.
Halsey's body shook in terror, "what do you want from me?", she screamed out loud.
The laughter only grew louder, Halsey closed her eyes and her ears, too afraid to leave them open.
When she opened her eyes, she wasn't in the forest any more. In front of her stood a magnificent building on fire. Creatures of different forms crawled out of a large black hole and attacked the people around and anything in sight.
"What is happening?" Halsey looked on in horror. "What am I doing here, what are all these?"she screamed in frustration.
Halsey watched as the chaos kept spreading throughout the city. She felt a pang in her heart as she fell to her knees. She groaned in pain, her breathing heavy as the pain spread rapidly in her body.
She screamed in pain as she coughed out blood, staining her trembling hands,her body weak.
Wake up, please wake up, she screamed inside her.
Soon, a creature noticed her and came crawling towards her. Halsey's eyes widened in fear as the other creatures noticed her and crawled towards her too.
Frozen in pain, she could not move.
"Somebody help, help me." She screamed out in fear.
The silhouette she had seen earlier appeared again and approached her, the only thing she could clearly see were his bright blue eyes.
"Where is the black stone?", he asked, voice sharp.
"What?", she coughed out more blood.
His eyes went red with rage, "destroy her."
"What, no no no no!", the creatures ran towards her and Halsey felt her chest tighten up the more as her vision began to get blurry.
"Blue eyes", she whispered as she lost consciousness.
"Halsey, honey, wake up", Mr Quinn shook his daughter. He heard her screams from his room and ran down here and found her struggling in her sleep.
He shook her the more to wake her up. She woke up, breathing heavily. She looked around scared. When she saw him, she threw herself on him, crying on him.
"Dad,I was so scared dad,I thought I would die dad, I thought I would never get to see you again. It felt so real, so real." She kept on talking as she sobbed the more.
"It's okay honey, I'm here, nothing bad will happen to you, I promise." He hugged her tightly as he rubbed her back affectionately until she drifted back to sleep. He knelt beside her bed staring at her, his heart aching with sadness.
He did not know how long he would keep on protecting her or tying her to his side and keeping her from the world. He brushed the hair off her face, caressing her face, a sad smile playing on his lips.
"My lovely daughter, I can't protect you forever, no matter how much I want to."
He kissed her forehead as he stepped out of her room.
*
Mr Quinn stood in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for Halsey. He made sure to prepare her favorite sandwiches with a glass of warm milk.
"Good morning to the best dad in the whole world."
He turned to see her hurry to the kitchen, sniffing the air.
"You only tease me when I prepare breakfast for you, which makes me wonder if you really love me or just the food I prepare?"
She smiled as she hugged him from behind, "of course I love the meals you prepare but I love you more."
He shook her off smiling, "cheesy girl."
She picked a sandwich and raced to the dining room. He stared at her as she ran past him.
"Little thief", he muttered under his breath.
The table was set and they sat down for breakfast.
"Don't you have work today?", she asked him as they ate.
"I wanted to talk to you, so I stayed back."
She glanced at him, "what is it?"
He cleared his throat before speaking, "I want you to start schooling outside the home, no more homeschooling."
Complete surprise was etched on her face. "What?"
"I have already made all the arrangements, all you need to do is just to pack up a few things that you will need", he paused for a moment. "But if you don't want to go, you could tell me."
Emotions flooded through her at once. Surprised that he finally agreed to her constant request, happy that she could finally go to school normally, sad that she will have to leave her father and anxious of starting school after a long time.
"Halsey?"
She looked at her father, "If I go, you will be lonely."
He shook his head, "Don't worry about me, I won't be that lonely. I won't even have time to be lonely."
She smiled as she remembered how busy her father could be.
"If you feel lonely, you can bring me back."
"Schools do not work that way honey, they have rules."
She had been homeschooled for so long that she had forgotten how life in a school could be.
She looked up to see her father staring at her.
"What?"
"It just feels strange thinking of you going to school."
She smiled, "maybe I could find a boyfriend, or two."
He pointed the spoon at her, "you are not permitted to date."
"Why?"
"Because it's part of the school rules", he replied.
They laughed almost at the same time.
"I'm going to date dad. Don't worry, no one can ever replace you."
"When am I going?", she asked.
"On Monday."
"On Monday? That's just three days from now. Why didn't you tell me sooner? I have a lot I need to buy and pack."
She stood up, "I need your credit card."
"Why can't you use yours?", he asked.
"I need to keep mine for my future boyfriend."
She smiled, running to her room.
"Silly girl."
Halsey ran off happily but stopped abruptly as the hallway shifted.
Halsey looked around in fear and noticed the familiar environment.
She was back in the dark forest.
a figure walked towards her - an old man with glowing eyes and long silver hair.
"Beware of the prophecy child, your destiny has been written down. The safety of the world lies in your choices and sacrifices. Your happiness for chaos, your joy for eternal suffering." His eyes locked with hers as he spoke, his voice echoing in the darkness.
Halsey shivered in fear as he spoke.
"Born as a hybrid, a descendant shall be born. Her choices shall determine the fate of all races. A silver glow at night, Tribrid by day. Three drops of blood hold the darkest stone, only the descendant shall reveal it."