Damien wasn’t sure where he was when he woke up, the last thing he remembered was seeing his sister get knocked out. “Sissy?” He asked rubbing his forehead to numb the pain he felt inside his head. His vision was blurry for a few moments and when it cleared up, he saw bars in front of him. Damien panicked and tried to back away, but he couldn’t move much. The eight year old gazed down at his feet and saw silver chains on them. He had seen a few movies where people had gotten thrown in places with bars because they were bad. But he never thought that he would end up in one. As he looked around the room he spotted a number of other kids inside the bad place as well. Some of them looked younger than he was, while others looked a bit older.

“Hello,” Damien said, trying to get their attention. Every child turned to face him and shushed him.
“Don’t he’ll hear you,” A nine year old girl said to him.

“Who?” Damien asked not sure what she meant.
“The Ghost Master, if you make too much noise he’ll throw you into the ice box,” Another girl explained while she quivered with fear. All of the children shuddered at the mere mention of their captor’s name. Showing how deathly afraid of him they were. Damien was young but he could see the fear in their eyes. He wondered if the children were talking about the man who had taken him from his sister.

“I know you have questions kid, but you can’t ask them here, this place is our cage and our home,” An eleven year old boy explained and everyone went silent. Damien noticed that there were only children here, no teenagers like his sister or adults like his Dad. Damien realized that the badman had kidnapped him, and that made him feel feverish. He first wanted to think that it was just his cold, but he was a smart kid and knew that he was in big trouble.

Miles away Samantha awoke on a couch with a warm blanket on her shoulders. She had no idea how long she had been out or who had rescued her, but obviously they knew what they were doing. She felt a bandage on her head and also on her side where a few stitches were in place.
"Oh I didn't realize you were awake, " a voice said and Samantha turned her head to see Clarisse. In her hands she had a first kid and a cup of herbal tea.

"Clarisse?" Samantha asked confused on how her new friend found her. "How did you find me? And how long was I out?" She asked trying to stand up but she was still too injured to move.
"I wouldn't do that, the herbs I gave you healed you a bit, but it will still take time to fully recover," Clarisse explained and sat next to Samantha on the couch. Without a second thought she handed Samantha the mug and the injured girl immediately took a sip. "To answer your question from earlier you we're asleep for two days, " Clarisse said.

"Two days!" Samantha yelled and realized  that her brother had gotten taken right under her nose. All because her body couldn't heal fast enough. "I can't stay here I need to find Damien!" Samantha exclaimed.
"You won't be able to help him if you can't stand up, " Clarisse said placing her hands on Samantha's shoulders so she wouldn't try to stand up.

Samantha burst into a fit of angry tears, how could something like this happen? Ghosts weren't supposed to exist. They were supposed to just be figments of peoples imagination. Yet one just appeared out of nowhere and took her brother. What was worse, it was the Ghost Master himself who appeared. The malevolent spirit who was told as a story to kids, so they wouldn't stay out late. Don't stay up too late during the night or the Ghost Master will catch you, and take you to his castle in another world. Where he will lock you up and make you his puppet.

Samantha remembered those words by heart, mostly because her father had told her the story a hundred times. But she always chalked it up just being fake, but clearly she was wrong.
"Hey don't cry my friend, everything is going to be okay, " Clarisse said to her.
"My brother  was taken by an evil ghost and I have no idea how to find him! How is any of that okay?" Samantha asked angrily. Clarisse flinched at the sound of her loud voice. She was so used to being yelled at for no reason, that any yelling caused her to quiver.

Samantha immediately stopped when she noticed how small Clarisse tried to make herself. The girl wasn't an expert at reading people, but she recognized the signs of abuse.
"I'm sorry Clarisse I didn't mean to scare you, " Samantha said no longer yelling.
"It is alright, you have every right to be angry, " Clarisse answered. The older girl took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off her face. "The ghost you saw the other night was my father, " she admitted.
"What?" Samantha asked unable to process what Clarisse said. "I'm sorry can you repeat that, " she continued.

"You heard me correctly The Ghost Master is my father, do not fear me though I despise him just as much as you do, " Clarisse explained. She had a scowl on her face to prove her point. Samantha said nothing still unable to take in the information.
"I see that you have questions and in time I will answer them, but right now we must focus on you getting well, " Clarisse said to her.
"No you're going to tell me what's going on, or I am going to lose the trust I had in you, " Samantha said sternly.

Clarisse sighs and tried to protest saying that there was no time for her origin story. But Samantha was stubborn and refused to listen to anything she said unless she heard the truth.
"Alright but you should show me some respect, I rescued you from my father and I can just as easily throw you into his clutches, " Clarisse declared with a burning glare. Samantha went silent at those words and realized that Clarisse wasn't someone to piss off. Even with her fears, she was powerful and at moment she was the only alley Samantha had.