"Caine" Jacquelyn heard her grandfather whisper

Her head slowly turned to her best friend. Alianor was doing the same to her. She had heard the whisper too. They shared a panicked look before turning back to the man on the stone pillar, as he looked at the crowd.

This couldn't really be him, could it? This couldn't be the one who betrayed his friends and destroyed the Sun Queen, right? The looks on their grandfathers' faces gave them their answer.

His skin was pale and wrinkled, it's expected when you've been banished to the shadow realm for fifty years. His hair was black, with streaks of grey in between. His nose was straight, and his lips thin, slightly less pale than the rest of his skin.

Jacquelyn paid more attention to his salt and pepper hair. It looked too clean and freshly cut for a person who lived in the shadow realm for as long as he did. She wondered if there were barbers down there. She smiled at the image in her head of Caine getting up from the barber chair every month after his regular cut.

Her amused smile quickly fell from her face when Caine's dark eyes were now looking in their direction. But he wasn't looking at her, he was looking at her grandfather and Alistair who was standing in front of them.

A smirk grew on his face.

"I wasn't expecting to see you two alive" he spoke for the first time

"Sorry to disappoint," Zoricus said in a harsh tone

"Why so hostile brother?" Caine asked, using the endearment the guardians had always used for each other years ago

"You are not one of us" Alistair spat back

Caine scanned his old friends' attire, scrutinizing their expensive threads.

"That, I am not," he said

"How did you get out?" Zoricus asked

"You didn't think your precious Sun Queen's spell would last forever did you?" he said looking at the golden statue that was not too far away from him

They knew that he would eventually get out, but he didn't have to know that they knew. They just didn't know how.

His eyes started to roam, taking in his old home. Certain things remained the same, like the Mills bakery in the town square, but things had improved so much. His kingdom looked more rich and developed.

"A lot has changed here" Caine pointed out "I bet we rank highly among the world's kingdoms"

Zoricus looked at him with anger. How would they know? He had cut them off from the outside world. It was their hard work, knowledge, and wisdom that had brought the kingdom to where it was today...at least they could say that for the South side of the force field. Who knew what the other side was going through.

"We?" King Francis finally spoke "You are no longer a part of this kingdom"

Caine laid eyes on the King as if now noticing his presence. He recognized the greying ginger hair and the green eyes.

"Francis" he smirked

"That's King Francis to you Caine" the King spat

"I shouldn't be surprised" Caine smiled

"What do you want Caine? Why are you here?" Alistair asked, his old friend's presence was beginning to make him feel anxious.

"To continue where I left off" he answered with a grin "And take back what is rightfully mine, this kingdom"

"I will never give up my throne!" King Francis said

"Well..." Caine began, a black flame engulfing his right hand "...I'll just have to take it then"

With that, he lifted his hand and threw a ball of black flame towards the King.

"Your Majesty!" one of the knights yelled, running in front of the King block the flame with his shield

The flame bounced off the metal and hit the ground, engulfing a small flower that had managed to grow through the cracks of the stone street.

"Run!" Alistair's voice bellowed and the crowd instantly dispersed

"Rise my friends!" Caine yelled, raising his hands

The ground around Caine began to crumble and stairs began to emerge from the pillar he was on. Soon, black figures, hundreds of them, began to ascend the stairs eliciting screams from those who had managed to look back while they ran.

Soon their true appearance was revealed, and it would have been better if they had just stayed as black figures.

It looked human, with a head, body, arms and standing on two legs. Its limbs were thin and long. It looked like it lacked fat and muscle, and all that was covering the bone was the dark rotten looking flesh. Its head was abnormally small, and its lips abnormally wide. Small slits could be seen as a nose and it was hard to tell if there were actually eyes in its dark deep sockets. But the sockets glowed bright red, indicating that there probably was red eyes there. Strips of black and grey rags covered their bodies.

"Our time has come to rule!" Caine said

Deep ghostly howls came from them, and they immediately spread out, going after the people.

"Find the guardians" he instructed as they went

Not too far away from the town square, Alianor and Jacquelyn made their way between buildings, running as fast as their feet could carry them. As soon as they heard Alistair's voice, they had dashed out. Like everyone else, the girls were running to a safe place, but unlike the others, it wasn't their homes, it was Alistair's shop. It was the one place the girls went to get away from the world. Now, it was the place they went for safety.

The howls and screams hastened their steps, making them run faster than they thought they could. They finally burst through the door of the shop and quickly closed it behind them.

Their chests rose and fell, their breaths making up for the amount of extra oxygen used. After taking a minute to get their breathing closer to normal, they made their way behind the counter, sitting on the floor.

"Now what do we do?" Jacquelyn asked

"I don't know" Alianor answered

Jacquelyn sighed and looked at the painting of the Sun Queen that was at the back of the shop. She was in the same pose as the statue in the town square. As little girls their grandfathers always told them that when they were scared and in danger, the queen would lead them to a safe place. She wished that was true right then.

"Could really use your help oh great Sun Queen!" Jacquelyn said unenthusiastically

Alianor smiled at her friend's antics, but the light moment was short lived when horrifying shrieks could be heard not too far from the shop.

"They're coming" Jacquelyn panicked

"Oh no" Alianor whispered

"We're gonna die!" Jacquelyn said a little too loud

"Can you shut up!" her best friend whispered, fearing they would be heard

Panic took over Jacquelyn's petite body, and she no longer could sit still. She stood from behind the counter and began to pace the floor.

"I don't want to die," she said as she paced "I'm too young to die"

"Jackie calm down," Alianor said standing up "They're going to hear you"

She ignored her friend and continued babbling "I don't want to be captured by...Lord of the freakin' shadow people"

Alianor groaned, she should know by now that it took a lot to get her best friend to shut up. Jacquelyn then turned to the portrait of the Sun Queen.

"If you can help, now would be a good time to do that" she glared at it

There was silence for a minute in the shop, the only things that could be heard were the howls and screams outside. It was as if they were waiting for the Queen herself to show up. Jacquelyn walked up to the painting, her frustration at its highest.

"Come on!" she said lifting her hand and sending a clenched fist towards it

Her frustration quickly turned to confusion when instead of hitting the wall behind the painting, her hand went right through the paper. She quickly pulled her hand away, not wanting to do more damage. Panic rose in her once again, this time for a different reason.

"Not only would I be enslaved by shadow people, I'll be grounded too," she said worriedly

When they were little, they were always told to never touch the painting, that it was fragile and very old. She had broken the rules, and now the little girl inside her was worried about getting in trouble.

Alianor, on the other hand, was trying to figure out why her friend's hand went through the painting. The painting was tight up against the wall, her hand should have hit the wall without ripping through.

She slowly walked up to the painting and put her fingers through the tear on the right of it. As she expected, her fingers didn't hit anything. She continued until her whole hand was in, and then her arm, up to her elbow.

"Whoa," Jacquelyn said just noticing what her friend was doing "How are you doing that?" she asked, it looked like Alianor was making her hand go right through the wall

"I'm not doing anything," she said back "There isn't a wall there. I think its a..."

"Secret passage!" Jacquelyn said with excitement when it finally hit her

Turned out that their grandfathers weren't lying.

"Help me get this off its hook," Alianor said to Jacquelyn

The younger girl quickly made her way over to help. They held on to the sides, trying to lift it off the hook but it wasn't working.

Then, Alianor noticed something she hadn't noticed on the left side of the thin frame.

"Hinges!" she said

°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°

There you have it, Chapter 3. If you like it, please be sure to give it a vote. Your comments, critiques, and suggestions are always welcomed. The next chapter will be up on Friday!

And be sure to check out my collaboration with TeaceFindlay called Work For It...

Unit Friday guys!