As I opened my eyes the next night I found my self in a dream. I was in a room that I didn’t recognize. It was bright almost pure white my eyes burned from the sight of it; they were not used to such intensity. The only color in the room was the furniture so I kept my focus on it as much as I could. The air was thick and hot slightly burning my lungs with every breath. As I looked at the very few items in the room, which now that I looked around a bit more had no definition of walls, a roof or even a floor. “Where was I” I thought to my self, it was almost like some form of purgatory. Then I noticed it the one and only thing in this room that was familiar to me, my personal suitcase. What was it doing in my dream? I walked over and picked it up and placed it on the bed. When I opened it there was a note inside.  

 

It read “Dear Mr. Burhardt we are sorry to have to do this to you in this way, it was not our original intensions to do this. We believed that with the recent events and with the news of your friend that you would try to find the ones responsible. I’m sorry to have to tell you in a letter but by now I’m sure you realize that you are not at home…and I’m sure you think that this is all a dream. Let me assure you that this is no dream Caden, this is your punishment. Again I’m sorry to have to do it this way but the elders thought it was best. Your human servant Victor has packed some things for you. Well good luck kid see you in a year” That was it no name. 

 

“WHO ARE THEY….. INTENSIONS…. I’LL SHOW THEM INTENSIONS” I screamed as I ripped up the piece of paper. Tears filled my eyes. How could they rip me away from my Tyler in the middle of the night and not give me a chance to even kiss his lips one last time or even say good bye, and now I was forced to spend a year with out his touch. “SIGH” This is going to be harder than I thought, I miss him already. I rummaged through the things that Victor packed for me. He packed a nice selection of clothes, and to my surprise he packed my laptop and my journals, and good ol Victor he remembered to put my extra power supplies in there as well.  

 

I unpacked my things and in the process I found my sunglasses. “Thank you Victor” I put them on, it didn’t do much but it was just enough that my eyes stopped burning after a few minutes. I paced back and forth for awhile, trying to collect my thought and make plans on how I was going to keep myself occupied everyday. I wondered if this room had any restrictions on my extras. If there was one thing that was going to take up some time it would be to master the extras that I have learned over the years. I decided to give it a shot. I aimed for the section of the room that had no furniture. Now I needed to decide on which power I was going to test, since my true extra couldn’t be tested here. One extra came to mind it was the first one that Tyler taught me. It was a light attack power but I’m sure with some constant practice it would be quite dangerous. I raised my arm and aimed my hand, I focus the power and felt it surge through my hand. Light sparks started to form at my finger tips and the more I concentrated the lager they got, after a few minutes I was able to get them to farm a small ball in my hand. I held on to the ball of electricity for a second just watching as it flowed in my hand. I drew my hand back then threw it at the wall, and to my surprise the ball of energy didn’t stop it kept going until I could no longer see it any more. I took my glasses of and rubbed my eyes. “What the hell…did that just happen” I walked over to what I thought was a wall and I was shocked when I just kept on going as well. There was no wall and this room seamed to go on for an eternity. I decided to test my theory out and built up an even larger ball of energy and threw it as hard as I could, and again it just flew into the nothingness. “This could be very useful…very useful indeed” I thought to myself.  

 

I used another extra I was taught which allowed me to split myself in two. The two of us started running side by side, we stared at each other and smiled. Then the punches began to fly, we continued running as we punched each other. I jumped back and threw I energy ball and it landed at his feet just as he jumped into the air countering with one of his own. I dodged to the left the best I could and was hit just slightly on my right leg, and was sent to the floor. My other self grabbed his leg in pain. “HA…don’t forget… what you do to me happens to you as well” “I haven’t forgotten if you haven’t forgotten” He snickered. We continued this onslaught for hours. I pulled the double back in and once again became one being. I winced in agony as the pain from both bodies became truly my own. I begun to walk back to where the bed was since I could no longer refer to it as a room, this whole place was one large room.

 

I looked at all of the cuts and bruises on my body, as I walked they weren’t anything that a good nights rest wouldn’t take care of. As I continued walking a heard a faint voice, “That was good….but not good enough” it was so faint that I shrugged it off as a figment of my imagination or maybe even my double still in my subconscious some how. I spent the next couple of weeks testing and training with the extras I have picked up from many friends over the years and with the use of their extras I was reminded of the great times I had spent with each of them.   

 

I awoke one morning with an old familiar feeling, it was time to feed and soon it will only be a day or two before the hunger pains started. As I remember though I’m stuck here in this place and I haven’t seen any humans running around. My mind started racing in a thousand directions, trying to think of how I was going to survive in here with out anything to eat. Was I to starve in here only to wither down to nothing is this why the others that were here went crazy. If that was the case how long was I going to be able to last in here, how strong of a mind do I really have. I guess this was going to be my test, my test of will, my test of strength. I spent the rest of that day trying to keep myself occupied. The next day started out the same I was able to keep my mind off the hunger for a while, until the gut wrenching pains started the first one brought me to my knees twisting and pulling sensation that I was never preview to. I had always taken care of this before it had gotten this out of hand. I spent that day in bed just wanting the pain to go away. By the third day I had little conscious thought at all. I could feel my insides deteriorating, the blood from my last donor was all but used up and the hot and heavy air wasn’t helping my situation. How long can one go with out feeding this is some thing I should know but for some reason I couldn’t think. Another pain shoot through me causing me to curl up into a tight ball. *cough* “Aghhh…I just want this to be over with” *cough* My throat was dry to the point I thought I was going to cough out some form of dust. 

 

“You need to feed…not want” Another faint whisper passed through my consciousness, I didn’t have a choice but to hear it this time. What did this voice mean and where did it come from, who or what was talking to me. I tried to understand what the voice had said and repeated the words in my head over and over. 

 

“Of course I need to feed…I need to know how” I was frustrated at this point with this mystery guest of mine. 

 

“Hahahaha”   Was all I got in response, great now I’m being mocked by a voice. 

 

It was then when I caught the sent of blood and I could hear the sound of a heart beat. Once I was locked in on its location my instincts took over the hunger pains all but disappeared. I got out of bed and looked out in the distance to see the silhouette of a human, the sound of its heart the smell of the blood was all to real. My heart began to pound like a drum, my fangs dropped and I leapt into action running towards the figure. When I got near I didn’t even bother to notice the sex or even the face of this human in front of me, my hunger was so intense that I was bitting down and sucking the blood and before I even knew it I was finished. Letting go of my donor and letting its lifeless body fall to the floor is when I took a good look at the face, there was none and the body had no distinction of sex. I stepped back in disbelief wiping the blood from my mouth. “What is going on here” I said out loud hoping the mystery voice was listening. “Can you hear me…HELLO” I got no response so I turned and walked back towards my bed. “Thanks anyways” I pouted. 

 

“You’re Welcome Caden…..If you want to learn more you must seek me out” 

 

“Seek you out?” where the hell could this voice be hiding as I looked around into the nothingness. “There’s nothing here” I waited and listen but again heard nothing in return. I walked around in the nothing for some time until I got frustrated to the point to where I was becoming angry.  

 

“OK…I don’t have time for your games….I don’t need this…I need answers….I need you to show yourself to me… no more of this mystery crap” I stomped my foot and turned around to walk back to what I would call home at this point, when I was stopped in my tracks by a boy, a gorgeous boy. He didn’t look older than nineteen years old. He was taller than me by a few inches with pale white skin. He had long black hair down to his shoulders that looked like silk and framed the smooth skin of his face very nicely. His eyes were a very odd shade of orange and the more I paid attention to them the more they seemed to be like tiny flames dancing behind the surface. 

 

“Hello Caden Burhardt, my name is Duamu…” He offered his hand and I shook it, giving him a nod and a smile. 

 

“It’s nice to meet you Lucas…I’m sure as you may know I have a lot of questions for you” I said with an excited look on my face. 

 

“I’m sure you do and I am willing to answer them in due time. Right now I just want you to listen to me…ok” 

 

“Sure” I said as we started to walk. 

 

“Caden I’m sure you know that I am a vampire, what you don’t know is that I am not really here…it’s hard to explain but you are talking to my spirit, my body withered away many years ago. I was sent here over three thousand years ago Caden and left to suffer the rest of eternity in here alone, before I went insane a was able to separate my spirit from my body and use this place as my body until the right person had arrived. That person is you Caden.” Duamu said placing his hand lightly on my shoulder. 

 

“I don’t understand how were you able to…well you know separate your soul from your body” I looked up at him.     

 

“If you haven’t noticed by now, the reason you were able to feed and how you got me to appear is that this place responds to certain needs that are deep enough for the room to respond, of course it has its limits. Like you can’t use this to get out of here it will not work that way, but in other aspects it works great and we will use that to our benefit”         

     

As I listen to him talk I could tell he had some thing in mind and I was a big part of it. “Why me, why not any of the others that have come here, why am I special?” 

 

Duamu stopped me and looked deeply into my eyes. “It’s your heart Caden your soul is very caring and full of love and good will, that is some thing that a lot of people lack…most like me are self centered and only care for themselves and seek power only for destruction…Caden…I was sent here because I became to powerful even for the elder’s elite to take me down, it took years and many died in the attempt. I was finally captured and banished here, now I know your asking yourself why they didn’t just kill me…well you see the only way for them to even get me here a vampire with teleporting powers had to sacrifice his life.” Duamu wiped a tear that formed on his eye.  

 

“I’ve had a very long time to think of all the destruction and mayhem that I have done in the past, and that’s why I made the choice many years ago to give up that power to some one with just the right soul…I want you Caden to have my power, the choice is yours all you have to do ask and I will merge with you” I had to stop him. 

 

“What do you mean merge, like you and me in the same body? I don’t know…I mean what if I go crazy, like all of the other vampires that came in here” my eyes widened and I took a step back. 

 

“Caden those other vampires went insane because they couldn’t handle this place not because I tried to merge with them. Like I saidthat is reserved for you…call it fate or destiny…I always kept a ray of hope in my soul that some day you would come to take me away from this place and in return receive my vast knowledge and power to be used for good instead of evil like I did. I have dreamt of this day…well if you can call it dreaming.” Duamu smiled at me and I returned one back and giggled. 

 

“We should get going if were to make it back to the house thing or what ever” I started walking again when Lucas quickly caught up to me laughing “Hehehe… you still don’t get how this place works do you, here let me show you. You have to feel it and need it at the same time. So if you need a bed, you would feel the need for it and say the words….I NEED A BED” and when he said the words a bed appeared in front of us. “You see it’s the same way you got the donor and me to appear” He smiled and went and sat on the bed patting his hand at the space next to him. I walked over hesitantly and sat next to him. 

 

“So what will happen to me if we umm you know merge together” I sat there with my hands together in my lap. 

 

“You should stay the same person that you are, though you may take on a few of my traits and of course you will gain my extra and all of my knowledge our souls will be joined, but yours will hold dominance and I will only remain as a faint  whisper in the wind in the back of your mind like a sixth sense of sorts” he sat back on the bed propping himself up with his arms. 

 

“So how does this work…ummm just incase I was interested” I looked over at Duamu and his eyes got huge and he got a big smile on his face. “Are you serious” he said. 

 

“Yeah I’m serious I couldn’t leave here knowing you were stuck here for eternity even if you did those things that got you here that was a long time ago” 

 

“Well in order for us to become one we well in a sense step into one another like walking through a mirror it’s quite simple actually” Duamu trembled with anticipation. 

 

I was still unsure if I wanted to go through with this, having another being inside of me would take a lot of getting used to and would I be different in appearance and in personality. Could I trust this mysterious boy sitting next to me, he seamed so sweet and he has done nothing but help me so far…so why shouldn’t I trust him, my heart tells me to trust him…I think I’m going to go through with this…yes I’m going to do it.  

 

I kissed him on the cheek. “Ok let’s do it” I was trembling with just as much anticipation as Duamu was at this point. Duamu blushed then jumped up off of the bed. “Ok it’s pretty easy to do but you need to prepare yourself first” I nodded and stood up next to him. We walked a few feet away from the bed so we had plenty of space. 

 

“Caden I need you to clear your mind of all thought to where it is as empty as this place and then I want you to think of you and me joining together and then of only you as we become one”  

 

I closed my eyes and did as I was told. “OK…it’s done” 

 

“Good now this is going to be like I said walking through a mirror, stand in front of me and place your hands flat against mine. Like if I was the glass…now we’re not going to do it just yet, I need to show you first. Ok so once your hands are on mine you will close your and clear your mind like before and as you go through the steps, I need your to physically walk into me…like I said walk through the mirror. As you do this we will become one, now once this happens you will become tired and may sleep for quite some time. How long I’m unsure of but what I am sure of is you will be fine and unharmed…So are you ready”  

 

“Yeah I think so” Duamu smiled and I closed my eyes. 

 

“Wait” Duamu said causing me to open my eyes and look at him. 

 

“What is it…did you forget to tell me some thing?” 

 

“Yes I did…I wanted to say thank you Caden and I’m glad you decided to do this, believe me you won’t regret it” Duamu smiled and gave me a hug then kissed me on the lips. We took our positions and I closed my eyes and went through the steps we just rehearsed, as I took the step into his body I could feel a tingling sensation as his soul was absorbed by my body. It was a lot to handle all at once, like having pins and needles all over my body. My head started to become fuzzy like it was full of cobwebs, I opened my eyes and they began to burn like hot coals, I quickly shut after I saw where the bed was at. I slowly made my way to the bed and crawled in. some thing in the back of my mind was telling me to relax and try to rest. I guess that was Duamu as my sixth sense or my second conscious. I did the best I could to relax and rest before I fell a sleep that night, but all I could do was think of what was going to happen to me now, what kind of powers was this joining going give me. Only time was going to tell and I had a lot more time to spend in here to get to know them.