Back to Atlantis

on the forest floor.
Gloriana looked at her student in disgust. She had grown to be mildly fond of Yasmin, despite the first impression. She had also been present at the ball and witnessed Yasmin’s outburst. But what she had just found out, and the fact that it seemed Yasmin was prone to fainting, was not good news at this moment.
Yasmin looked around, sighing. It seemed that she was dreaming, because this place was too perfect to be real.
A beach with turquoise waters and golden sand swept out on her left. With a forest to her back and a cliff on her right, it was beautiful. Everything was perfect, and the beach home several yards away from her looked nice and inviting. She could even hear sounds coming from the inside. Moreover, they were cat sounds- and that meant cats!
Yasmin stepped toward the house, and human laughter started up. It sounded like her friends, with food on the stove. But when she turned around, there was no one there.
‘Are you so sure about that?’ A loud and commanding voice boomed all around her. ‘This place is paradise, and you could make all your dreams come true.’
Yasmin felt a yearning to accept anything he had to offer, to just agree. ‘No!’ She bellowed in her mind. There is something too good about this man.
As if the voice had sensed her disagreement, the winds started blowing coldly. ‘You are slowly losing everything that matters. Your family, your friends, and soon, all of Atlantis shall be lost to the rebellion. It is inevitable. So why not join? You can make this dream come true, and David and his horrid mother will perish.’
Yasmin hesitated. It sounded like a personally reasonable offer. If she would lose everything, shouldn’t she gain everything, too?
‘No!!!!!!’ Another voice-the voice in her head screamed. ‘Stay away from her! Yasmin, don’t listen to him! It was my greatest mistake!’
‘Who are you?’ Yasmin wondered again. There was no reply from her voice.
‘Are you ready?’ The other voice said, eager to finish. ‘You are soon to be a name that goes down in history.’
Yasmin couldn’t answer, because at that moment, she was swamped by images that flooded her head. And they were the memories of Abby Silvertree.
She saw a mother’s face scowl at her, felt herself strive toward perfection, remembering every little mistake. Given a chance for freedom she took it, and regretted it immediately.
For what Abby had not known was that the voice was the beast, who cared nothing at all for her thoughts and feelings.
Yasmin fell to her knees, overwhelmed by the images. Silently she thought: ‘Abby?’
‘Yes.’ Came the reply.
The spirt of Abby was inside her.
And so was the pull of the beast.

Chapter 6
The fight
‘How?’ Yasmin thought/ said.
An image of Abby’s final moments appeared in her head, and she saw herself through Abby’s eyes.
Abby had given herself to Yasmin, as a last way to let her spirt live on.
‘Enough!’ Growled the beast. ‘Do you truly wish to save Atlantis? Then let me help you.’
Yasmin wanted nothing to do with any of them, Abby and most certainly not the beast.
‘Go away!’ She thought. ‘I will never join you!’
‘Never is a long time, little one.’ The Beast said, his voice echoing around the dream. ‘In your darkest hours, you will agree to be mine.’
Yasmin feared he was right. As the dream began disappearing, the misty outline of Abby began forming.
Abby reached out her hand, but this time, Yasmin wasn’t taking it.
“Yasmin. Yasmin.” A soft male voice sliced through her dream. “Are you okay? You fainted.”
Yasmin slowly opened her eyes. She had a killer headache. And that dream! She shivered. If it was true, then Abby was inside her head. Was there any way to get her out?
There was a male standing in front of her. He was tall and male, with black hair. She thought she recognized his blurry shape. As her vision cleared, she gasped. It was David.
“David?” she asked, pressing a hand to her temples. He clearly was overworked. He had bags under his eyes, and his face was lined with worry. And most important, why was he here?!
“I heard you fainted. I came immediately!” David scowled, looking more like a prince than ever.
Yasmin had never felt farther away from him. “What did I tell you about overworking your magic?” he scolded, and Yasmin looked away.
Was David worried?
It gave her time to notice she was some place that looked like an infirmary. It was big, and had cream colored walls but it was scary. The walls had been painted with children and rainbows, probably the opposite of what Yasmin felt right now.
“Oh!” she cried, remembering something important. “How are the villagers? Are they okay? They lost their homes.”
David looked worried again. “My mother is taking care of it, she gives the kingdom a lot more thought than she does me and my family. They should be fine.”
“Okay.” Yasmin suddenly felt uncomfortable, and she didn’t know what to do. She had been very mean to him the last time they had seen each other, and she had said some unforgivable things. Even if he deserved it, that didn’t matter.
She wouldn’t feel better until she apologized. And then she would find out the truth. Did David ever really like her?
“Look, Yasmin.” David looked very uncomfortable. He cleared his throat nervously. “I need to go back. I have work to do. The rebels are getting out of control.”
Yasmin’s head throbbed. And she felt her eyes sting with tears. How could she apologize to him if he didn’t want to be near her? He obviously hated her, and that was that. “Just to be clear,” she said, trying to push aside her pain. “Are we broken up yet?”
She had the satisfaction of seeing David stiffen, and a look of pain come to his face. “I don’t know,” he whispered. For the first time in a while, his mask broke and he was just a normal boy again. “I thought you would hate