• * "Let me go!" Daru shouted at the men that hauled her away. She struggled against their strength, but they were to strong for her to break free. "I said let me go!" she shouted again angrily.

    The men dragged her down an underground hallway. The walls were metal and shone like polished silver. It was lit by a row of dim lights that hung from the ceiling. Daru paid her surroundings no mind and focused on trying to escape the men. They stopped before a heavy metal door with an eye window that was covered by a sliding sheet of metal. One guard pulled out his keys with his free hand and unlocked the door. He pulled the heavy weight of the door open easily, and together the men threw Daru inside.

    "Ow!" she yelped as she hit the hard floor. She pulled herself to her knees and watched as the guard slammed the door closed and locked it tight. She got up and ran to the door. She began to beat on it rapidly with her fists, creating a loud banging that echoed down the hall. "Let me out of here!" she shouted. "Let me out!"

    She beat on the door until her fists were bruised and nearly broken. She turned and pressed her back against the door and slid down it until she sat on the floor in front of it. She pulled her knees close and looked around the cell. The walls were made of the same metal as the hallway and had no windows. There was only a bed made of steel that hung from two chains supported by the wall. She sighed and held back her tears.

    They were not sad tears as much as they were angry tears. She was angry that she had gotten herself into the situation she was in. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, wiping her eyes even though they were barely wet. She let her head fall forward so that her forehead rested on her knees. She sat there silently for a while until she heard a voice in the back of her mind.

    So, you finally did it. the voice said with a hint of smug amusement.

    "Who's there?" Daru called, looking around the small cell for the voice's source.

    Dang girl, I'd figured you'd know me by now! the voice said in amazement.

    Daru recognized it now. But how was it possible? "U-Urad?" she asked.

    Urad appeared beside Daru, sitting in the same position, yet more relaxed. She wasn't tangible. "Good job, girl!" she said with a satisfied smirk.

    Daru looked in the other direction. "Go away." she muttered darkly.

    Urad shook her head, still smirking. "Well," she said. "Technically I can't. I'm not even here."

    Daru whipped her head to her left to face Urad. "What?" she asked in a demanding, confused voice.

    "I'm dead, remember? I'm nothing more than a figment of your imagination." Urad explained.

    Daru shook her head slightly, even more confused than before. "You lost me."

    Urad rubbed her head, thinking of an easy way to explain her appearance to the girl. Finally she said: "Think of me as your conscience. Since I'm well, dead, we are only mentally linked, if even only faintly. I have no manipulation of objects, magic, or your powers." She leaped into the air, as if she were lighter than a feather, and showed Daru that she was unable to even touch objects by running her hand through the metal bed. "See?"

    Daru glared at her. "What do you want?" she asked darkly.

    "To congratulate you on your achievement, girl!" She said happily, leaving the air and now standing before Daru. "It's been blocking your mind so much that I'm glad you finally got it out of your system! Now I may speak with you freely!"

    Daru looked away, resting her chin on her arms, which were crossed and resting on her knees. "Lemme alone!" she said, irritated by her shadow's reappearance. "I don't want you to bother me!"

    Urad crossed her arms and smirked down at the girl. "But I'm not doing anything!" she said. "I'm only at will to do what you think I will do! I can't torture you unless you believe I'm going to."

    Daru looked up at Urad from the corner of her eye. "And this helps me how??"

    Urad raised her hands in pure amazement. "Now you control me, girl!" She told her in a loud voice. "What happened to you, girl?" she asked. "Did your brain slow up?!"

    Daru frowned and averted her eyes again. "No." she said in an annoyed, somewhat offended tone. "Why are you here?" she asked again.

    Urad waved her finger in the air. "Because you think I'm here. If you want me gone, the you have to do that, but I'm only here to help you."

    "Then help me get out of here." Daru muttered again.

    "I can't do that," Urad explained. "I'm not a physical, or even magical, being any longer. I'm basically a ghost! Besides, the boy will come. Your words have given him all the strength he needs..." With that she disappeared.

    Daru leaped up. "Wait!" she called out. "Urad, come back!"

    She was gone.