I was breathing heavily. Trying to breath in and out. But no matter how hard I tried, it would hurt more. I heard someone coming up the stairs. IN. Step. OUT. Step. I tried to get away from the door, crawling as fast as I could. IN. The door opened and I tried to stand up. IN, OUT, IN, OUT. I was breathing faster and harder. And the belt came off of the figure. I winced away. And I was trying to get away. And I was trying to get away. And how to get out without having to come back again. The figure was getting closer.

I looked behind me. And I saw a window. Before I had anytime to react, I jumped out. IN. I looked up and saw the figure looking out the window, at me. OUT. And I heard the door of the house open up as I tried to keep my eyes open. IN. OPEN.

I tried my hardest to get away from him without getting caught. But then, I heard police sirens. And saw ambulance lights. I leaned against a tree and saw that they were coming over here. I tried to call for help, but I couldn’t utter a word. They were getting closer and closer. And the figure began to run away. OUT.

The police came up to the house and saw me lying there. Before I could utter a single word, my eyes slowly began to close. And no matter how hard I tried to keep them open, I failed. The officers started shouting for help as they saw the bleeding, battered body that I was. And I could barely feel them as they picked me up and carried me into the ambulance to be sent to the Emergency Room.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The sound of the machine linked to my heart woke me up. But the bright translucent lights of the room made it hard to open my eyes. When my eyes finally adjusted to the room, I saw all the machines hooked up to my body. The needles stuck in my arm. And the bandages all over. And the dizziness from my head. And the needles. And I didn’t know what had happened. How did I get away from The figure? And why did my head feel so dizzy? I tried to think, but all it did was hurt me more. Soon, a police officer came to see if I was doing better. And to see if I could answer some questions.

“When we found you, you were covered with bruises and cuts, how did that happen and who did this to you?” Before he could finish his question, I started to cry. I didn’t remember. And he left, saying he would try later, instead of staying to comfort me. I sat there, not know what to do. And I wept. I wept in that great big white room with no one else but me. Just like always.

The next day, he came again and asked me the same questions. I gave the same answer. And I cried. But not because I didn’t remember, but because I did. The bad night. And the pain I had felt. And the belt. And the breathing. Instead of leaving, the police officer stayed. It was new to me. A thing that I hadn’t felt in a long time. We talked a little to calm me down. And the next day he came. And we talked more, but not about me, about him.

And we did it for a week. Everyday, I was stuck in the hospital. And everyday he would visit. On that last day, I wasn’t afraid to answer. I wanted to tell him what had happened to me.

“My father” I answered shakily and quietly. “My father did this to me.”

Strings. There were strings everywhere. Strings that connect person to person. Friend to friend. Never getting tangled. Always there, always everywhere that only I could see. I looked at all the different strings in the sky. The yellows, the reds, the pinks. The threads, the strings, the ropes.

I was focusing on a specific yellow string in the sky. The string was surrounded in the color of pain and misery, the color black. Suddenly, the yellow string I was looking at, snapped. I pursued the string back to two women yelling at each other. I immediately reached out and grabbed the two fading strings. My hands struck together with such force that the two strings became one once again. The two women started to apologize profusely. I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding, the two friends were back together. As I was staring at the two friends, I heard laughter. A group of friends, all connected with yellow ropes, walked past me, all as happy as can be.

Down the street, a yellow roped pair turned into a red stringed couple. I saw them kissing, and looking at each other with admiration. Like they were the only two in the world. Another red roped couple were walking with their hands locked together, smiling sweetly at each other.

Suddenly, two people walking past me, collided. Looking up they saw each other with raw emotion. A bright glow emitted from both of their bodies. The glow created the most powerful string. The pink string, True Love. I heard gasps behind me. I turned around seeing a man kneeling on the ground, a box in his hands containing a ring. He lovingly stared at a woman that was connected to him with a pink string. She nodded happily and he got up and swung her around in a hug.

I looked at all the different combinations: Friendship, Relationship, True Love. All the different ways people are connected. Smiling sadly, I looked down where my strings should be, not seeing any.

A bell sounded, I turned back to see the building of colored webs. I walked into the school. It was filled with yellow, red, and even a few pink strings. Varying in sizes, twisting and turning. Amazed, I looked around at the red roped teens, kissing. There was a group of yellow threads gossiping in the corner. Two pink strings looked at each other and blushed as they walked past one another.

I was admiring the different view, the building I have never been in before. Seeing all the different combinations in here than in the outside world, I didn't notice when someone bumped into me. Making me fall to the ground.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” A girl asked, helping me up. “Hi, my name is Alice. What’s yours?” She had long brown hair meant for a goddess, and blue eyes that reminded me of pools of water.

I opened my mouth to answer, when I felt a tug coming from my stomach as if something pulled me to Alice. I slowly looked down, seeing a yellow string come out of me and attach to her. A lonely string, the only string I had.

I smiled softly, already knowing everything would be better here.

 Cruel, unforgiving, that what people called me. I called myself a king, ready to do anything and everything to maintain order. There was only one that called me human. She was my daughter and she was my world.

Her name was Lucy, and everyone loved her. She was known as the light, and I, as the dark. Everyone knew how protective I was of her. But that didn’t stop them from trying. People from around the world tried to take her from me.

One morning there was a slight chill. I could feel darkness seep through and swallow me whole. My light was gone. Lucy was gone.

Whoever took her was going to pay. I was going to get her back, no matter how long it took.

I got dressed fast and asked the general to ready the army. I needed to have a talk with them.

As soon as everyone was at attention, I gave my speech:

“Gentlemen! My daughter was taken sometime last night. We need to find who took her and make them sorry!” I yelled at all the soldiers.

We soon began to leave the kingdom. I decided that a good place to start would be the neighboring kingdom. They have shown interest in my daughter and have always hated me. Not only that, they could also easily be defeated by my massive army.

Soon, we came to the translucent gate. We stormed past it as I yelled the word “Attack!” on the front lines.

My men scattered in all directions. Swords were clashing, men were dying. The king came out of his castle,a blonde wavy-haired girl was near him.

As I looked more, I realized the girl was Lucy. My vision was clouded and my breathing quickened. I ran at him with my maximum speed. My sword was getting in position to slice the kidnapper into pieces.

Suddenly, I felt an object insert and pull out of my stomach. Put my hand there and felt the hot, sticky, substance on it. I glanced down to see a large, gaping, dark red hole through my stomach. I collapsed onto the ground.

There was a scream across the battlefield. I struggled to keep my head up, I saw Lucy with a tunnel of light behind her. She was running with her arms reaching towards me.

As soon as her reached me, she flung her arms on me, in a hug. There were a few words she kept mumbling that made my heart break.

“He was human too.” Those were the last words I heard as I went past her, towards the light.

                                                                     ...

I kept my head down on my father’s dead body.

‘They’re all going to pay,’ was the only thought running in my head ‘I will continue my father’s work. I will become King Lucifer.’

Have you ever wished for something so hard that when it actually happened, you thought you were magic? Well that happened to me, except I actually was magic. 

It all started last month. I went to sleep, wishing for food. When I woke up, I was surrounded by foods of all kind. Right on top of my lap, balanced perfectly, was a pile of pancakes. Let me tell you, those pancakes were heavenly.

I started wishing for everything. Money, found 50 bucks on the ground. Relationship, a boy came over and asked to a date. Happiness, my friends always came over and hung out. This happened for a month.

Until this weird dude from the government came to my house. He and my mom were talking in hushed voices, until he saw me. He started walking towards me, and said a few words that changed my life. 

"I'm here to take you to a secret location and train you to become a trained assassin." Right when he said assassin, I ran out that door as fast as I could. Assassin? You would have to catch me first.

I looked behind me, not watching where I was going. That was a mistake. I hit something hard, I looked up to see the guy with a cloth.

Man, I wish this wasn't happening to me.  

Strings. There were strings everywhere. Strings that connect person to person. Friend to friend. Never getting tangled. Always there, always everywhere that only I could see. I looked at all the different strings in the sky. The yellows, the reds, the pinks. The threads, the strings, the ropes.

I was focusing on a specific yellow string in the sky. The string was surrounded in the color of pain and misery, the color black. Suddenly, the yellow string I was looking at, snapped. I pursued the string back to two women yelling at each other. I immediately reached out and grabbed the two fading strings. My hands struck together with such force that the two strings became one once again. The two women started to apologize profusely. I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding, the two friends were back together. As I was staring at the two friends, I heard laughter. A group of friends, all connected with yellow ropes, walked past me, all as happy as can be.

Down the street, a yellow roped pair turned into a red stringed couple. I saw them kissing, and looking at each other with admiration. Like they were the only two in the world. Another red roped couple were walking with their hands locked together, smiling sweetly at each other.

Suddenly, two people walking past me, collided. Looking up they saw each other with raw emotion. A bright glow emitted from both of their bodies. The glow created the most powerful string. The pink string, True Love. I heard gasps behind me. I turned around seeing a man kneeling on the ground, a box in his hands containing a ring. He lovingly stared at a woman that was connected to him with a pink string. She nodded happily and he got up and swung her around in a hug.

I looked at all the different combinations: Friendship, Relationship, True Love. All the different ways people are connected. Smiling sadly, I looked down where my strings should be, not seeing any.

A bell sounded, I turned back to see the building of colored webs. I walked into the school. It was filled with yellow, red, and even a few pink strings. Varying in sizes, twisting and turning. Amazed, I looked around at the red roped teens, kissing. There was a group of yellow threads gossiping in the corner. Two pink strings looked at each other and blushed as they walked past one another.

I was admiring the different view, the building I have never been in before. Seeing all the different combinations in here than in the outside world, I didn't notice when someone bumped into me. Making me fall to the ground.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” A girl asked, helping me up. “Hi, my name is Alice. What’s yours?” She had long brown hair meant for a goddess, and blue eyes that reminded me of pools of water.

I opened my mouth to answer, when I felt a tug coming from my stomach as if something pulled me to Alice. I slowly looked down, seeing a yellow string come out of me and attach to her. A lonely string, the only string I had.

I smiled softly, already knowing everything would be better here.