Morningstar,

Shani had been trapped and alone for months in the walled Oriental village that she had secretly entered with the two females after the one had created the door. Her whole plan of escape had hinged on following the two out of the prison she was trapped in. Her plan was a simple one, once she had let the two lead her out of her imprisonment Shani would quietly slip away to freedom. Simple as her plan was it had backfired. Shani has stayed in her smallest form and after the two females had left using the same doorway, she began exploring this new place she had followed them into, increasing her size only long enough so she could open doors to look beyond them. Days became weeks, the only doorway she could open that led anywhere was the one she had followed them through into this place and it only led back into that infernal place she had escaped.

Shani had been perched atop one of the dozen buildings when she saw one of the arched doorways, identical to the one she had first entered the area though, appear out of nowhere in the garden area. Digging backwards into the thick straw thatching that protected the building from the rain, Shani buried herself into the straw to conceal her white fur and wings from being spotted. She watched as the plants and rocks in the garden shifted and moved around as a stone paved path began forming at the new archway and as plants and rock moved out of its way the new path made its way down to the pond where a wooden bridge formed over onto the small island in the center of the pond. ‘A new door?’ Shani let her sharp teeth show in what her kind would have considered a smile.

Shani watched as the smaller Oriental came through the new archway, then after walking halfway to the water on the new stone path, began yelling in a language Shani couldn’t understand. At first Shani worried the Oriental female knew she was there and was yelling her discovery as there were no other living creatures there. Shani would have known if there was any living in this place as all her kind could sense living creatures no matter how well they may hide themselves and with the time she had spent alone here exploring as she looked for other ways out with the only living presence the fish that lived in the pond.

Shani noticed the female was not looking her direction, but toward the center of the small island that lay in the middle of the pond where a small roofed area was surrounded by the four suits of armor. Before Shani’s eyes two of the suits of armor turned toward the female and began walking toward her. Still feeling nothing living from the animated armor Shani had to wonder what kind of magic the female possessed to have the ability to animate nonliving things in this manner. Watching the golems for a moment, Shani turned to see what the female would do with them only to find she had disappeared, ‘Probably back through the new portal,’ Shani reasoned.

Realizing this new portal could lead to her freedom, Shani fought the decision to come out of her hiding spot and fly over to it now. ‘Doing so right now, the Oriental one may see me and I do not know how powerful her magic is,’ Shani reasoned. ‘It would be better to wait until it looks like she will not be back for some time, that way I won’t have to deal with her or her magic.’ Shani nestled down into the straw and observed.

It was a good thing she decided to wait, as Shani witnessed yet another of the arched portals appear less than twenty-five feet away from the last. The newest stone path merging with the other that had appeared less than a third of the way between the portal and the bridge that crossed the water. The oriental reappeared through this newest arched doorway, this time dragging a large rectangular item. Shani could make out green and off white paper wrapped in some clear shiny material. Shani reasoned the paper concealed the package’s true contents and while curious, Shani was much more concerned as to where these two new portals would lead.

A short time later Shani saw the Oriental female bring a male in through the first of the new archway portals. Shani couldn’t help but notice how brighter the male’s life force burned compared to the female, if it has been a true light Shani would have found his life force blinding. Shani thought such a bright life was familiar to her, a thought came to her mind, ‘The brighter the flame, the faster it burns out.’ Pondering that thought while spying on the male she realized the only race this male could be. ‘The portal leads to the human world!’ Shani could not believe her luck, with patience she would be completely free in a world richer in life than she could ever dream for.

Waking up, Don found himself on the thick woven mat lying on the floor that Shiki had shown him to the previous night. Knowing how painful getting up from the floor was at his age, Don rolled over on his stomach then using his hands pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, surprised that his knee chose not to complain painfully as he expected. ‘It wasn’t a dream!’ Don thought to himself when he saw his much younger hands on the floor below him. The wrinkles and sun damaged skin replaced with younger healthy skin. Memories from the previous night came forward in his mind, ‘It’s real, I’m younger.’ Don rose to his feet carefully, not out of necessity as his revitalized body rose with the youthful ease and none of the aches and pains he had become accustomed to. Hearing voices in the main room Don dressed quickly and after remembering to slip his feet in the house slippers went out to see his employers.

Sliding the door open Don saw both Lucy and Shiki sitting on cushions at the low table. On the table sat several bowls, one held various fruits, another what he thought was probably rice, two other bowls held contents he was unfamiliar with, one was some kind of soup while the other while the other, he could describe as lumpy and brown. Tea cups like the ones Shiki had used the night before also sat out along with the matching earthenware teapot she had used before. Lucy must have made a trip out to the cab of the truck late last night or early this morning as she had the road atlas that he carried in the truck, spread out on the table.

Pointing at the map Don asked, “Planning where we’re going next?”

“Actually I was looking for a good place that the truck can be parked for a few days,” Lucy looked up from the map.

That’s simple,” Don walked over and knelt beside the table. He could see that Lucy had the atlas opened to the city just north of where they had stopped for the night. “Right up here at this interchange,” Don placed his finger on the map, “There’s a large truck stop with plenty of space for truckers to park their rigs. We can top off the fuel tanks while we’re there too.”

“Good,” Lucy smiled, “Then once you have eaten, we will unload the car and you can drive the truck to that truck stop. Shiki and I will meet you there in a few days.”

“Okay but there isn’t a dock around here for me to back up to where you can drive the car out of the trailer?”

“That won’t be a problem,” Lucy grinned.

Don couldn’t imagine how Lucy would drive the car out of the trailer, but then he was almost thirty years younger and sitting in a building in a feudal Oriental compound that he entered by walking into the sleeper of his truck, Whatever either of these two women said they could or would do should not surprise him.

Shani waited for close to twenty minutes to make sure the three would not reenter before she made her way back up through the thick thatching of the home’s roof where she had hidden herself over night to spy upon the three. As her diminutive form clawed its way free of the thick straw Shani knew her opportunity to free herself of this place would be coming up very soon.

Shaking his head as he craned his neck to see the television above the bar, Jake did his best to hear everything being said. Owning his own small bar, the news report was an important one for him. Over the past year seventeen young women had been drugged and gang raped. The police were certain that at least half the young women had been drugged while out at bars. While the police had collected DNA evidence they had yet to match the DNA to any suspects, this fact didn’t surprise Jake with the amount of people coming and going around the university campus.

For all Jake knew the group of rapist may in some small nearby town and only come into the city to hunt their prey. To the Ex-Marine this theory made the most sense of any theory Jake had heard on television. It was times like this that Jake questioned his decision to open the bar instead of joining the police. Although he knew he had made the right decision because if he caught someone like these lowlife rapists, the temptation to take justice in his own hands would be too hard to resist.

Jake’s bar had been a dream of his since he had become old enough to drink himself. It had started as a joke between friends, but the more he thought about it the more he liked the idea. And once retired from the Marines, Jake took his savings and opened ‘He’s Not Here.’ A name that came about from watching so many married men in the different bars he had visited over the years say to the bartender after the phone rang, “Tell her I’m not here!” Jake had hoped the catchy name would draw in a mostly older crowd of regulars, but being so close to the campus his place had quickly turned into a college hangout.

Having the younger crowd in the bar was not without its benefits. The college crowd spent a lot more money in his bar than older, more mature people would. Of course older customers couldn’t phone home and ask for more money when they were broke.

The way the young college girls dressed that came in was also something Jake thought of as a benefit. Jake appreciated their youthful beauty as much as the next guy although unlike the majority of his male customers, Jake held a strict hands off policy even when the young women sat at the bar flirting with him. The downside of having a younger crowd of customers was the underage ones that tried to pass off fake IDs.

Jake eyed the two young women in mini dresses suspiciously as they walked across the floor to the bar. It wasn’t like he minded beautiful scantily dressed women in his bar, it was the fact that all too often underage kids came in with fake IDs and tried to order alcohol. In the case of the women he had to be especially careful that the men in the bar, all too ready to buy a pretty girl a drink, did not buy any alcohol for one that was underage. Jake watched as the two young women walked over and sat at the far end of the bar, ‘If their ID’s even hint at being fake I’m throwing them out, I don’t give a shit how good looking the two are,’ Jake thought to himself as he hurried over to the new comers.

“Evening ladies, can I see some ID please?” Jake carefully watched the two girl’s expressions for any signs of nervousness. Jake had a knack of reading people’s tells, those little facial expressions that gave away a person’s real feelings. He was so good at reading a person’s tells that looking at the ID was only a formality, he would already know if the person was legally old enough to drink by the way they looked as he inspected their ID.

The darker haired girl in the red minidress passed her driver’s license over first. Jake watched for any facial expressions out of the corner of his eye as he looked at the Texas license. It wasn’t uncommon for Jake to see an out of state license from time to time, although usually not one attached to one that looked so young. Studying her face, Jake found it unusual for someone from that area to have such a light complexion, no sign of any tan at all. Furthermore her facial features and dark brown eyes made him think that if her complexion was not so light she could pass for full blooded Native American.

The tells he saw in her face were not what he was expecting. Jake had expected her to show some nervousness if she was underage, or at the most annoyance if she was twenty-four as her driver’s license told. Jake knew most that were just over the legal age grew tired of always showing their ID. The expression on her face was one he would have expected from a woman many years older. It was an expression of gratitude he saw in her face, as if she was saying, ‘Thank you for pretending that you think I am younger than I am.’ Handing her license back, Jake took the one from her companion.

The smaller, younger looking oriental in a similar but black mini dress held an expression that could have been seen by a blind man. She looked well beyond annoyed, something Jake would have thought such a look impossible on such cute Asian girl. Jake’s first impression when he saw them walk in was that if either of the two were underage it would have been the Oriental girl, although according to her license, which was from the same town as her friend, she was actually her friends senior by almost three years. Handing her license back, “What can I get you two ladies?”

Refilling a couple pitchers of beer for the group of guys playing on the pool table in the corner as he poured the two their drinks, “So you two ladies starting college here or just visiting?”

“Passing through,” the first one answered.

Bringing their drinks over, “So you’re from Texas? I’ve heard there are some interesting names of towns in Texas. Even heard there was a town there called, ‘Earth’ but don’t think I’ve ever heard of Inferno?”

“The place sucks!” the Asian girl spat out downing the drink he had sat in front of her in one gulp. “Refill!” the pretty Asian ordered, slamming the glass down hard on the bar.

Taking a step over Jake reached down and brought up a bottle labeled, ‘Demon’s due’ that he used to pour a measured shot into the young woman’s empty glass. Reaching into her clutch purse the Asian girl slapped two crisp one-hundred dollar bills on the bar, “Leave the bottle.”

“I take it from the way you’re drinking, you must be really glad to be gone from there?”

Nodding in agreement the darker haired woman explained, “She’s right about where we’re from, it’s not a place anyone would want to be.”

“It can’t be that bad?” Jake speculated, and then had to run off to take care of other customers.

“He’s has no fucking idea!” the Asian mumbled into her glass before throwing her head back, emptying the glass once again.

“Slow down Shiki,” the first woman scolded. “You don’t want to draw unneeded attention to yourself.”

“Fuck that shit Lucy!” the Oriental spat out venomously. “It’s only a matter of time before that bastard finds us and drags us back. I plan on having as much fun as I can until then!”

“And if your ‘fun’ makes him notice us sooner, what will that accomplish?”