MANIPULATED Book A (Sequel to Tempted)

8. A Whole New World

This is not a good idea, you think.

You're standing in your room. Anti is downstairs waiting for you.

Earlier, you told him you were just going crazy. That you had no idea what you were saying. If Anti thinks it's too dangerous, then you shouldn't go. But he insists. He doesn't love the idea, but you were right about being quick and speedy. This entire thing could be done tonight.

You barely have anything packed with you: a small backpack filled with just essential supplies, and your knife in your hand at the ready. You stand in front of the mirror and look at your outfit: black jeans, boots, a garnet tank top (despite it being the middle of fall, Anti says its a constant temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit there), and your hair is styled in a tight ponytail (if you can).

You humorlessly laugh because you almost look like some sort of heroine from a story. But that's just a fantasy. Isn't it?

Anti insisted in these colors and style because he said you'll "blend in with the surroundings" easier. Which, you don't know what kind of surroundings you'll he dealing with. But who knows? It's a completely Other World, after all.

You go downstairs and see Anti in the living room loomis like his normal self. But only one he has a strip of bandage wrapped multiple times around his neck. He has done this often when he goes out in public so people don't freak out and call the police. But he does this now because he's afraid the sight of blood will make you go crazy again.

Speaking of which, the reason you have been doing those things is because Anti's soul inside is having an effect on you. All those things you have done are all things Anti would do. That was all just a peek at what Anti sees and thinks and experiences. But only he knows how to control it.... Sometimes.

Just yesterday, you had a rage of your own, and you only snapped out of it when you fainted. Which was the doing of you stressing your soul, and Anti just powered you down and rebooted you.

You're back to normal now, but Anti wanted to take the extra measures to be sure. He let you keep your knife through, because even Anti admits that fidgeting with it calms him down and just having it on him gives him a sense of comfort. Plus he feels better for you to have it as protection in the Other World. He just won't leave you alone for an excessive period of time. But he is taking you with him for that reason.
You are too weak by yourself. And you have a high risk of getting in trouble or fainting by yourself, and Anti won't know it. You can't wake up by yourself, so Anti needs to keep an eye on you.

"Okay... Now, Dark can tell when a foreign lifeform has entered the Other World, namely, a human. But at this point, you are part demon and have the same amount of human in you as I do, bcause we share a soul. So letting you in will look the exact same as it does for me. So we can hope that Dark doesn't sense you. But... We can't be sure."

You can't believe this is actually happening.

"Where will I hide?"

"I'll show you when we get there. I have a place in mind."

Anti holds out his hand as if to says it's time to go. You take it in one hand and you're knife in the other. Then you feel a familiar buzzing feeling. It brings back memories of a few months ago. When he took you to Jack's recording room...

But the memories can't catch you because you are suddenly jumped into a different sense of atmosphere.

Your apartment vanished, and it is replaced by stone walls.

You are in a cave, the stone unnaturally black, making it seem you have become one with the shadows. There is some red light seeping in at the end of the cave. That must be the opening. The exit.

"There's a hidden hut not too far from here. I can't teleport you right to it because Dark can sense where we all enter and exit the world."

Anti is looking out towards the light, surrounding his silhouette in a red halo.

"The best part is that he doesn't know where the hut exists."

You two start towards the mouth of the cave, and once you're there, you can finally see what the Other World looks like. It's breathtaking. Its not like anything you have ever seen in your whole life.

Then cave is on the side of mountain, or a really tall hill. The rock is black and the dirt is red. The land goes on for what seems like forever, and it's mostly trees. But theyre not the kind of trees you would think. These ones are all shades of red. The leaves are bright shades, and the trunks are darker. You can see there are some patches of area where there aren't any trees, and in them there are tips of structures. Buildings maybe? Those patches are scattered all around, some on hills or in a valley.

The most breathtaking sight is the sky, which is a pitch back void. You can't see any sort of distance or how close the sky is to the ground. No clouds, no depth. It looks like that if you were to throw a baseball in to it, it wouldn't return. The red leaves of the trees against the black sky is striking.

There also isn't a sun. No source of light, but somehow light it is still produced gives everything red-ish hue.

This has to be one of the most beautiful sights you have ever seen.

The only thing in this Other World that makes you uneasy, is seeing the tips of towers of a dark castle in the distance.

A/N

Hey all! I forgot to make an a/n at the end of the last chapter. But here I am! Back in business!

Im actually really proud of this chapter i don't know why. I think it's because im not as stressed and I wasn't actually rushing while writing. Plus I think the scenery is really pretty so I was just sort of lost in my Other World.

I was in a GROOVE!

Things are gonna get strange. A whole new world means a whole new adventure. I apologize if you are mad that it doesn't take place in your real world. Or think this is getting less and less realistic. But im the author and im doing what I think is best for this series. To keep it interesting. So I hope you understand. Because I know what it feels like to have a sudden dramatic change in story tactics and it messes me up. But I think you guys are going to enjoy what I have planned.

;)