Chapter I Stories in My Head

That day I remembered exactly. It was November 16th in Greenhills Oregon. The clouds had covered up the sun so that it shone no more and the bird's had left for their homes elsewhere. All was gloomy and downdraught in the city.

Then there was me, Jennie Mago who will be telling you my tale. The tale I'm about to tell is one of importance and should be classified as a historical record. This is no easy to swallow story either, many secrets will be uncovered. Consider all that the Stark Empire has told you a lie and a complete make believe story. So, let it be written that from this point on, I Jennie Mago promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Where was I…? Oh yes! The morning of my misfortunes that would start to occur, it was a regular morning though for this time of year. It would also mark the day of my 25th birthday, an important day in the least. While most adults would be having a merry birthday celebration, I on the other hand was out for a job interview. This would be my fourth trial and error this month if I hadn't made it (which I'm sure I wasn't).

I woke up drowsing and looked at the clock that would not stop beeping. I wished for that clock to be gone, but in the end it was helping me so I gently turned it off. Then I slowly arose in lazy manor and scratched my head. Then I took a true look at the clock and saw why the beeps were so unforgiving this time, it was eight o'clock! I should've been out of the shower, gotten dressed already, and have headed out the door!

I ran to my apartment shower and hopped in, no singing today though. With scrubbing myself in a not-effective matter the day wasn't going well so far. I then jumped out onto the bathroom mat and brushed my hair quickly so that I at least looked somewhat presentable.

After, I ran into my room for the hard part of the morning, finding something presentable to wear. I had nothing but t-shirts, jeans that were naturally ripped, and some tops that might suffice. Perhaps going clothes shopping may help my cause for a job. But, outfits were out of the question right now! I threw on a green top that was like a sweater, jeans that weren't too terribly ripped, and my only pair of shoes that looked like black sneakers.

I flew down the stairs to only find out soon that my shoelace was untied and that resulted in my fall down nine stair steps. Ignoring the minor bruises I opened the door and ran out my door. Running to my old car (that probably wasn't legal anymore), I pulled down my sleeves and situated the tears to cover up the bruises again.

I unlocked then jumped in the old automobile and started it up. It took me five tries and a few curses but I got the old car to work. I then drove like a crazed maniac through the crowded streets to the Crow and Highs building.

The building was a business office. I was applying for a job at the receptionist's office. A receptionist seemed like an easy enough job, and the income was stable so I took my chances.

I walked in there confident, studious, and ready for anything. I sat down in front of the woman who had glasses, too much makeup, and a dark skirt and smiled at her. "Good morning Ms. Mago. I hope your absence and poor choice of attire isn't going to be a normal thing in the work force," she said looking down at her papers.

"Wait. Going to be? Does that mean I'm in!" I exclaimed excited.

"Well, you were the only one who showed up for the interview. I guess you do have the job. You start Monday," the lady said sighing and handed me some papers. I reached out to grab the papers and something happened.

When my hand came in contact with the papers I saw the lady, in a vision. I saw her life and saw everything that she was, could've been, and is. I saw her troubles and her fortunes. Suddenly I knew her, from beginning to now. My visions then shot back to me and I came back to myself. I must've only been gone for a couple seconds because she was still telling me about my requirements.

She finished up, and I answered, "Yea, yea sure." Then I walked out of the room still a little dazed and confused, and then it got weird. I saw a man walk in a suit and I stared at him for a good ten seconds, and the same thing happened. I saw him and the entire summary of his life until now too. I didn't know what to comprehend of myself at that moment but I just figured I was having one of those days and that I was a bit tired.

Anyways, I told my friend Elise Hart that I would meet her for my birthday after my job interview. Elise's social class situation was about mine. She lived in a small house that was a bit nicer than my apartment. Also, she was my only support in certain times like these and was the only one that I could count on. We often spent holidays together as well.

She was waiting for me outside and we jumped in my small illegal car. "So? How did it go?" she asked.

I then stared at her and tried to tell her but the same thing happened. I saw how she would fight with her older siblings and her entire family for that matter. I saw how she was bullied throughout her entire school career. Then, I saw when we met each other in college and how she was so happy she finally met a friend. When I came back she noticed.

"What was that?" she questioned.

"I don't know. I've been just… spacing out all day I guess?" I tried to tell myself to reassure I wasn't crazy.

"Well, sounds normal. How did it go!" she exclaimed excited and eager.

"I got the job! The lady just gave it to me too!" I yelled in excitement.

"That's great! And for this miraculous achievement and your birthday, I'll take you out to lunch at Minnino's," she told me all happy. Minnino's was a casual pizza place but it was a stretch for Elise. I was grateful anyways after all, it isn't everyday you turn 25. We drove up and I could already tell my weird ability was going to overcome me in a place with so many people.

I walked in and I was ok but I knew that many stories were trying to get through to me. I then sat down at the farthest table but that didn't solve my problems. I tried to concentrate but I couldn't on anything, the menu, talking to Elise, or looking out the window. Then the waitress came over, "What can I get you two?"

"I'll have two pieces of plain pizza," Elise said keeping it simple.

"And you ma'am?" she asked me. I opened my mouth and everything came rushing in. I experienced everyone in the restaurant and beyond. I saw everyone's stories and it was emotionally overwhelming. I must've been gone for five minutes then I came back. The waitress was still looking at me and so was Elise.

"I need to go to the bathroom," I stated hurrying up and getting to the bathroom. I closed the door and cried a river of tears. I felt all the sadness, the happiness, and the anger everyone in a twenty yard radius from the restaurant. The stories were each exhilarating and brought another tear and a laugh to the party. This went on for ten minutes of torture. Then I wiped the countless tears from my eyes and stopped the laughing to go back out.

I walked back to my table with my head down, my face was a wreck. I then sat down and was able to think a little. "You mind telling me what the hell is going on?" Elise asked.

"I told you little sleep," I said with my head still down.

"C'mon Jennie!" she yelled.

"Fine! When I went into my job interview this morning I grabbed the papers from the lady and I knew all that she knew and saw her past. Then I was able to look at people and see their life and feel what they've felt. I saw yours I should mention too. Then when I walked into this restaurant I felt everyone's and beyond! I went into the bathroom to shed tears and laugh about other people's lives. The scary part is… I can't control it and the radius of my visions keep growing," I told her.

Her expression went from confused to worry. Her breathing exceeded then I knew it was coming. "What do we do? Where should we take you!" she panicked in a frenzy. She must've been meaning the asylum, which I should've been at the time.

"Calm down, the only one I can think of is my grandmother. She's a very mysterious woman. I can think of some things she'd know," I told her trying to shush her. May I also imply that Elise is a very paranoid woman.

"What about your millionaire father? He might know something too," she said eating her pizza and leaving me with nothing.

"He doesn't know anything of which I know of. If he did I think he would tell me right?" I asked her.

"True. So, what are we doing here? Let's go see her!" Elsie exclaimed suddenly taking an interest in what is wrong with me. My grandmother was a lone widow for grandpa past thirty years ago; he was abducted and was found in the woods dead. Grandma liked to live by herself in Violetfields which was an hour away from Greenhills. Even though the distance wasn't too bad, my grandmother was in no state to travel. My grandmother was also a mysterious woman; she would disappear sometimes for weeks and return out of nowhere. Also, there was that one year when grandpa past that no one saw eye or ear of her for months. She then showed up at my father's house and had to talk to him for some reason. All I could remember about that day was that I wasn't allowed in the room.

"That sounds good. I felt more stories trying to come in by the minutes," I quickly got up and ran out of the restaurant while Elise slowly walked out and paid for her lunch. She took her time and sat down in the seat next to me.

"So, you saw my past too?" she asked me. She looked at me worried that I've seen everything.

"I saw everything up until now, if that's what you mean. I couldn't control anything, I didn't mean to intrude," I told her trying to comfort her that all that she had done was known.

"This must be rough. The sooner we get there the better," Elise told herself again hoping for some things to not have been seen.

"Is there anything behind me?" I asked starting the car.

Elise looked behind and she went from worried to confuse. "Well, there's a person, walking in the middle of the road…?" she questioned herself thinking she was seeing things. She was right, there was a man! He was dressed in a black trench coat and walked with purpose; he looked like he was walking towards us, he looked like he wanted us.

Chapter II Family Visits

"Why is he in the middle of the road…?" I questioned myself. I soon received my answer, he took out a gun. The gun he pulled without a decision and loaded it. I stepped on the gas pedal and the countless visions weren't helping my driving skills either. I swerved and clinched my teeth as I tried to lose the murderous man. I couldn't take it, I told Elise, "Take the wheel I can't do this!" I screamed in a panic.

That was the bravest thing I ever saw Elise do and I slipped into the back while she drove. The car then picked up so some steam and drove but the man only grew to run faster and fire more shots. Soon, I knew that my car was illegal because of all the holes in it. He grew to such an incredible speed that he was right next to the car and could've killed us right there, but luckily Elise floored it and my car was going it's max speed, sixty miles per hour.

He still was shooting and was running at an extreme rate of almost sixty miles an hour. I ducked and clutched the old seat cushions hoping for him to disappear. Elise leaned back and yelled at me, "We have to lose this bastard!"

I looked out the window and we were out of the city in the country, there's no help we could get. I saw in the back there was a gas tank that I had kept in case my car ran out. I needed a match, so I searched the seats for previous boyfriend's matches that they had left behind and sure enough Gordon Figrento came through. He was a huge smoker and thankfully he dropped a match in the back seat (maybe I shouldn't have dumped him).

I looked out the window praying he wouldn't shoot my idle head. I calculated where to pour the gas. Then, I ten foot line and lit it. The fire spread and that man didn't see what hit him. Then he didn't burn, he exploded.

When the fire came in contact with him there was a split second and he exploded. The normal human would've surely burnt but not have combusted. Also, when he exploded it wasn't just organs and blood; there was metal that had exploded along with the normal human material. The metal was big and hard, and clashed at the pavement. Again, we were in the middle of the country, so no one would see this miraculous yet freaky spectacle.

Outside of Greenhills was just open country and it soothed the visions. "Who was that?" Elise yelled at me. I slipped into shotgun while she talked.

"I don't know! And did you see the speed? He must've been going at least fifty miles an hour! Is that humanly possible?" I asked regaining myself from the visions.

"That can't be right! Did you see the explosion? Normal humans would've burnt, wouldn't they?" she questioned me again. We were like little teenagers talking about last night's teen drama and romance.

"I know right! Nobody has combustible material inside of them too! When the explosion happened, there was metal that flew with the rest of the human organs. Why would that happen?" I questioned myself.

"He isn't a robot then, but he's not human either. Is it kryptonite, radioactivity, a genius brain, or an alien perhaps?" Elise asked joking with me.

"This isn't funny Elise!" I exclaimed.

"Easy, how far away from your grandmother's?" she asked staying calm for the first time. She knew when I needed a good calming.

"Just turn left at this turn. My grandmother lived on a street with population, her. There were endless trees and forests surrounding her. She didn't even live on a road; there was a dirt trail that led to her house. It was a petite house too, but just enough for an old lady that has been through so much. She also had a small pond by her house that she took pleasure in.

I walked up to the door with Elise; my grandmother greeted us with merriment, "Hello Jennie and Elise! What a wonderful surprise. Come in! Don't just stand out there, this November weather can be dreadful," Grandma Mago said with a gesture.

"Thanks Mrs. Mago," Elise warmly said walking in.

"Happy birthday Jennie. Did you come up here to spend the day with your old Grandma Mago?" she asked with that warming Grandma face again.

"Grandma, there are certain occurrences that I need to talk to you about. Weird things have been happening lately, I don't know how to explain it either," I tried to tell her in the most sensible way possible. Her face grew grim and she walked over to her modern kitchen that she had recently installed. She put her hand on the counter and closed her eyes like she needed a breath because of shock. "Grandma? Is there something wrong?"

She stood there for an hour it seemed like. Her eyes looked into mine and I still couldn't see her story as I did with everyone else's. Then, we heard the crash of a thousand windows bursting.

We turned in a shock and saw the window glass clash on the floor. In came more people like the man, but they were armed with large weapons. "Come with us Jennie. You have no business here," one man said with his gun pointed at my grandma.

"Go Jennie!" my grandmother said. I looked at the people with fear. Elise was holding back the tears of terror as well.

One shot a bullet at me. The bullet stopped before it was able to pierce my skin. I stood there, breathless again as the bullet hovered in front of me like a fly without movement. I looked over at my grandmother and saw her hand in a "karate chopping" form as she concentrated on the bullet with her eyes. "Go Jennie!" I ran out the door with Elise.

I got out the door and heard an open fire on my grandma; I assumed the worst. I ran into the car and shut the door, and Elise practically jumped in from the doorstep. I took the keys and jammed them in the keyhole. "C'mon, c'mon!" I said to myself turning and returning the keys hoping for that reassuring purr of the engine.

Then one of the people with the guns walked out the door and stared and looked at the car. He pulled out his gun and opened fire. "Hurry it up!" Elise shouted at me. He shot the gun and hit the window shield, the exterior of the car, the ground below us, and the tires, but not us. I eventually jammed the key in so far that the car had no choice but to start.

I drove the car (with the slashed tires, a broken wind shield, and tinted exteriors) out of sight of the house. Going to my grandmother's house didn't answer questions, it aroused them! Who were those people with the guns? Why did my grandma stop the bullet and how? Was Grandma Mago dead? Were those people with the man prior to the arrival at my grandma's? And the question that scared me the most, what were the answers? "Ok, this day has been a total bombshell!" Elise yelled as soon as she couldn't see the house.

"I don't even know what to do!" I yelled back trying to focus on driving.

"Wanna try your dad now?" Elise asked like she was getting used to her friend's weird and supernatural world.

"I'm afraid that those…" my mind was searching for a word. "Those, evil proxy will show up again! I've never seen them, and now I can't get away from them!" I exclaimed trying to make sense of everything, but still nothing. "I don't see why not. I mean, my grandma's probably dead anyways. Why not go see him?"

"You've never told me about your dad. Y'know besides the fact that he's a millionaire and he won't give you any money," Elise said to me.

"Well, he's a millionaire because of his many inventions that I don't know of. He and my mom had a huge fight one night then the next week she was dead, and her corpse had many knife holes in it. The huge thing was that there were no signs of a break in, but the holes were so fluent that she would've died before she created that many holes. Then, he had full custody of me; my life took a major downfall. He would leave for days, and leave his little child in the hands of some babysitter. Then, when I was eleven that's when my grandmother came about my grandpa, and then he started to disappear for weeks at a time. My Aunt Ursula took me in for months and I grew up without him," I told Elise.

"How awful," Elise said. The rest of the short drive was silent and uninterrupted by those people with the guns. I pulled up to the stately mansion and made it certain to park for an easy escape. The mansion had three floors, a rooftop garden, you needed to buzz yourself in at the gate, and he had a maid and a butler.

I walked up to the door and rang the elegant doorbell chime. Then, the maid answered the door and she mustered my dad whom I was surprised was home. "Jennie! Elise! How are you doing tonight?" he asked in a surprisingly nice voice. Something wasn't right.

I thought about telling him, and then I knew I couldn't. He was acting compassionate! The father I knew had an attitude like, aggravated, stressed, and completely controlling. Something was definitely wrong with him, and I needed to find more about him before I panicked and gave away my cover. Elise knew it too, I saw it in her eyes the confusion between the story and his current attitude. Through everything he's done would never give the impression of his attitude now.

"Hi… how are you?" I asked in a suspicious tone. He simply smiled like a new Hugh Mago.

"Hello Mr. Mago," Elise said copying my tone. The butlers took our coats and such. I looked into their eyes and I couldn't read their stories like my grandma and the armed people whom still had no title. Their eyes were blank too; they were black and had no color. They seemed brain washed almost, but that couldn't be could it? Who could brain wash people?

"Uh, dad? My car was-was… hit! By a tree that fell over on the highway and I was wondering if you could fix it up?" I asked him making up the story as I went along.

"Absolutely!" he yelled with excitement. He mustered up his butlers and said, "Go and fix my daughter's car will you all!" That was the father I knew. "Come, my maid Laurel will show you your room."

The old maid put her hands behind our shoulder and led us up the stairs. She seemed like the rest of the brain washed staff too. I asked her, "Maid Laurel? If I may be so bold, what is my dad's issue? He never was that nice to anyone, not even Grandma Mago. Now all of the sudden, he's going to fix up my old and rusty car in one night? Tell me, has he been taking any new medication or seen someone?"

"Mr. Mago is a wise and pleasant master. You not need worry," she said looking at the wall. Her expression was a simple smile and she said it like it was a practiced ritual. I walked inside Elise's and mine big room. The maid said not but a word but shut the door tightly.

"Something fishy is going on here," Elise told me as I walked over to the door. I laid my hands on the shiny knob and pulled, twisted, and yanked on the knob hoping to open it.

I turned around with my palms all sweaty and faced Elise. "It's locked," I said wiping my hands on my pants.

Chapter III A House of Forbidden Answers and Forgotten Secrets

"How do we get out!" Elise yelled panicking.

"The air vent!" I exclaimed walking over to the large vent. "We can crawl through this vent and escape to find out what's going on in this house of secrets," I told Elise yanking the vent off. It fell with a bang and Elise and I shimmied up into the vent.

"Which way do we go?" Elise asked when we reached a cross roads. I turned right then left and we were out in the long hallway of the third floor. We dropped slowly, so we hadn't startled any staff nearby.

Down the hall there were five doors and a staircase to go down and up, and placed ever so productively, there were video cameras; eying our every move. We couldn't be seen by them could we! Elise and I backed up against the wall. "We have to shut it down!" I exclaimed to Elise but still in a whisper.

There was a small table beside us with a lamp on it. I looked at it like a promise and took action on it. I sat down like a catcher on a baseball then yanked the leg of the table. Through two minutes of tug-a-war I was able to pull the wooden support off. I aimed the plank at the camera. Then, I sort of sprinted across the hall to the other side while throwing the plank directly at the camera making sparks fly. Elise and I exceeded through the halls.

"Hey you!" we turned and saw two butlers eying us with guns. "How did you get out of your room, you senseless humans? Get back there now!" the two said simultaneously. They were right in front us and we had no choice but to go back.

Elise then did another remarkable act. As we walked by she grabbed the gun from the one butler and shot the two foots of them. They were in pain on the ground but they weren't going to die. Elise then threw me the gun and I was able to shoot the remaining cameras on that level.

As we exceeded we looked in the different rooms. There was a nursery (that was unused), storage, our room, laundry room, and the last door we were about to look in. Then, more staff emerged and was headed after us. The gun was out of bullets so we swung through the door into what appeared to be a study.

Inside the study, there were bookcases that lined the walls, a computer at a center desk, a giant window, and a few chairs. "Maybe if we pull books the bookcase will swing open," Elise quickly joked. All the books were adult books that no one had ever heard of, but none of them seemed suspicious. The door shot of the hinges as the staff piled in. I flung open the window and crawled up the side as Elise followed.

"What's going on here? All I wanted today was a good pizza god! That's all I asked for!" I screamed as an uncalled for rain pelted me and the side of the house. We shimmied up onto the top of the house which was the roof garden. In the midst of all this battling we didn't acknowledge the beauty of the garden, but that was for another day.

I walked over to a telescope that was in the middle of the roof pointed at the stars. "Elise, throw the pots over the roof to slow them down, while I see if I can find what's going on here," I told her. She nodded and picked up plant after plant, running to all sides of the roof throwing things overboard. I looked through the expensive telescope to the stars and saw nothing since at first since it was a rainy night.

I looked harder for a second and saw there were a billion stars in the sky tonight but it was cloudy. They were also swirling and slightly moving through the sky. I was confused, but there was no time for any of that.

"Jennie! Help!" Elise screamed across the roof throwing plants but having too much staff crawling over the walls. I picked up some plants and hit people over the head with them but there wasn't any entire warehouse of plants and we soon ran out.

"What do we do?" Elise asked trying to figure out a solution while the staff pounded on in. I looked at an opening where the official entrance was. I took my chances, grabbed Elise, and headed through. Once we got to the hall there was maybe ten staff members down there, so I screwed open a new air vent and hopped up there.

With the lid, I pounded the fingers that tried to get in the vent. We crawled, but this time it was faster and more urgent that we did. We dropped down and through bends and twists hoping we knew where we were, but we didn't. We eventually heard people up in the vents, so we had to drop down where we were to live.

The room we dropped in looked like a mad scientist's lab. The room contained many books on, The Atrons, The Magicians, The Power of Perception, The Evil Magicians, The NEW World, and The Powers of the Ancient Magicians. There was also a bunch of flasks with different materials that looked like they danced and swayed in the bottle. Located in the center there was a capsule, a capsule that when you opened it a human would fit perfectly in it, and it had many wires running around the entire thing.

"Well, well, look who figured everything?" my dad, Hugh Mago, said.

"I didn't figure out anything! If I did figure out anything, it's that you have something to do with all the weird happenings that have been happening to me today!" I yelled at him.

"What a young and super powerful substance for the Stark Sentries," he told me again but I had no idea what he was saying at all.

"Why did your staff try to kill us?" Elise ever so boldly yelled at him.

"Aren't they fine specimens for mind control? They are my minions; they do whatever I want them too. At that point you needed to be stopped before you reached my study. You ever so cleverly made it though, didn't you?" he questioned trying to intimidate us. Just then, the staff flooded the room with guns and such ready to kill us.

I saw my future, it was a dark one, and one that ended right here. It didn't take much perception to know that too. I closed my eyes, and wished. I wished that I knew what my dad had known about what I am. I wished that all these nightmares could disappear. But most of all, I wished that the staff's guns would be destructed somehow. I wished and I wished and I wished, I thought of nothing but it, for what else was I to do? I couldn't make another hasty escape, and fighting back was already out of the question. I opened my eyes and something extraordinary happened.

All the guns of the staffs' were, to say, on fire! They were burning in flames in the palms of the staff. They trembled and held their hands while screaming from the burn marks. My father stood there in amazement, he must've not expected this to happen; I know I wasn't. They all dropped the pistols in anguish still, and my joy couldn't be contained. Elise and I had survived the house of horrors.

"You're better than I had thought," he said in disgust looking at me knowing he had been beaten. "Don't just stand there whimpering like little babies! Get them!" he yelled and we ran towards the door.

I looked back at my dad and saw him tasking off his jacket. Underneath was a sort of one piece stretch suit that had the word STARK printed across it. The suit was blue with black streaks at some parts of it, like under the big word across the front that was on a diagonal. And on the sleeves there was a black hexagon with an "S" on it. He then stepped into the pod and shut it harshly.

We ran out of the horrendous house tripping over ourselves. Then we jumped into the car and it was actually fixed. I drove without any extra key jamming to escape. "Do I even need to say anything?" I asked Elise.

"I need a heavy ass dose of reality now," she laughed back trying to avoid talking about the supernatural things we encountered in that house.

"I don't even want to go to any of my relative's house now," I told her with another chuckle.

"Don't be afraid," Elise told me seriously now.

"How can I be brave now, when I don't even know what I can be brave for anymore?" I questioned her trying to make sense of the previous events and what to expect in further terms. You all must be confused too. Is this a sci-fi "story" or is it a "fantasy"? Let me say it is neither; all of these events are real and totally nonfiction.

"Where do we go now?" Elise asked me.

"I don't know, but the sooner we get out of this state the better," I said as the car slowed down. "What's happening?" I asked myself.

"The car, he must've rigged it so that we couldn't get to far away. We better pull over and get ourselves good and lost," Elise suggested and I did. We traveled into the woods to get ourselves lost from them.

The two of us headed into the woods and hopped over tree stumps and rocks in good fashion for being concealed in darkness. We stumbled though, over a rock and hit our heads on another rock. I heard footsteps coming closer and closer to me. "Uh… Mnah… Don't… Don't do it," I barely made out before whoever picked me up did and I passed out in their arms.

Chapter IV Man behind the Magic

I awoke the next morning. I looked around, and soon concluded that in was in an abandoned apartment building. The floors were torn and splintered and the windows, which covered up a whole wall, were cracked. The walls were originally a white, but they had stains on them now. The ceiling had leaks running through it too.

I stood up and Elise was sitting next to me with her fragile head rested on my shoulders like a child. She mumbled something and wiggled her head a little then soon settled down again. I started to regain my senses as my head circled around my neck. I started to stand up and Elise awoke, "Huh! Whe-where are we?"

"I'm not quite sure. An abandoned apartment I'm guessing. But, how did we get here?" I asked myself.

"Jennie look! We must be above Greenfields!" Elise exclaimed standing up and looking out the dome shaped window. I ran over and it seemed that we were in a fifteen story building overlooking the entire city.

Then the visions started only this time they were more dramatic and drastic. There were times that I blanked out and saw Elise's worried face staring down at me. But after a while of emotional stories, I simply blanked out from the trauma I endured.