Chaos and courage

by Willow Rose

  DRAGON! Where are you? I need you, dang it!

  Amy grumbled in anger and almost tripped over her own feet as she rushed toward Kipp, her heart pounding in her chest. She felt like crying and screaming at her dragon when she remembered something her mother had once told her.

  "Your dragon is a sensitive creature. If it senses it's not welcome, if you're embarrassed about it, it won't show itself. It needs to feel welcome. You need to make it feel welcome as a part of you and not as something that happened to you."

  That's it. I haven't been treating it properly, she thought to herself. I’ve been embarrassed about it. I’ve treated it like a disease.

  While still running, Amy closed her eyes and pictured her dragon, big and beautiful. She felt love for it, felt proud of it, and as she opened her eyes again, she had changed and was flying above the ground toward the spiders.

  Amy laughed loudly, then took in a deep breath before spewing out a huge ball of fire, bigger and more massive than any she had ever spewed out before. It whistled through the air, hit the spider that was holding Kipp in the back, and the spider burst into flames. Seconds later, it was nothing but a pile of ashes on the ground.

  "Amy!" Kipp yelled from inside the web. "Help me out."

  She bent over and tried to burn it, but it didn't work.

  "They're flame resistant," she murmured, remembering the one she had been wrapped in herself at Ruelle's house.

  "But are they waterproof?" Kipp said, sounding clever. "Probably not," he answered his own question. "Since I am one of the only mermen left here, they have no need to protect themselves from water."

  Kipp closed his eyes and a second later water came up from one of the sewers beneath them with such great force that it split the web in two. Amy laughed and ran to Kipp, then helped him get out. After they hugged and kissed, they turned around and looked at the war zone behind them. Kipp then climbed onto her back. Amy soared into the air with him. She was spewing out fire at the spiders, attacking them from behind, while Kipp threw water at them afterward to make sure the fire didn't spread.

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Jazmine received the texts from all her friends and even some from Amy's parents and Aunt Tina, telling her to run. But she couldn't. She was still staring at the battleground beneath her. In the middle of it all lay the body of Robyn, completely still, now looking like it was deflated.

  The spiders were everywhere, coming from all sides now, attacking everyone they saw. Even the humans.

  I can't just run away from this. Adrian is down there!

  Jazmine scanned the area to see if she could spot him, but he was nowhere to be seen. She took one look at her phone, then back at the cul-de-sac, before making her decision. As soon as she spotted Amy rushing onto the scene and turning dragon, she no longer questioned what to do. Instead, she ran downstairs and took in one deep breath before hurrying outside. Barely had she made it out there before a spider jumped in front of her. It was standing on its many legs, its narrow eyes glaring at her, holding out its machine toward her, then turned it on.

  "Now, what do we have here? A witch, huh?" it said, grinning.

  Jazmine shrieked at the sound of the machine. It brought all her memories back from when her father had been taken, and she backed up, regretting having come outside.

  "Please."

  "It's a little late for that," the spider hissed, then held the machine out toward her.

  Jazmine screamed, when a forceful wind blew from the north, and she was pushed aside, falling onto the grass. As she looked up, she saw Adrian standing in front of the spider. He had pushed her away, saving her.

  "No, Adrian, no!" she yelled as the spider placed the machine so close to Adrian that it clung onto him.

  Adrian turned to look at Jazmine, then mouthed My Wild Rose before his soul was sucked into it, and his empty body fell to the ground.

  "NO!!!! ADRIAN!"

  Jazmine was on her feet in one quick movement, then rushed toward the spider, yelling:

  "Subtraxerim Utilium. Subtraxerim Utilium. Subtraxerim Utilium!"

  The spider grinned, but then began to shake heavily before it shrunk to the size of an ordinary spider. Jazmine then lifted her boot and stepped on it, making sure it was completely smeared out on the bottom of her boot. Then she rushed to Adrian's deflated body and looked at him. He was completely lifeless, nothing but a shell. Looking at him, caressing his cold face, she started to cry. After the crying came the anger. An anger so large she could hardly contain it.

  Jazmine rose to her feet, the anger rumbling inside of her, then reached out her arms, stretching them far out, her eyes rolling back in her head. A bright red light emerged from her hands, and she leaned her head backward, screaming her anger out.

  Seconds later, the ground beneath them rumbled again. Just like earlier, it was no earthquake. Using her powers, Jazmine had summoned all the animals of the forest, and with one small thought, she told them all to attack.

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  "Jayden?"

  I looked around me. Where was he? The last thing I remembered was him standing right next to me when I realized that he…that he was also in the room, pacing back and forth. I remembered thinking how could he be both here and there?

  Oh, dear God. He's the beast, Jayden's the beast!

  The realization felt like a punch in my stomach. The kisses, the promises he had given me, were any of them true? They couldn't be, could they? If it hadn't been him. The thought made me sick.

  I looked around me again to see if I could find Jayden. I did. He was lying on the floor. I approached him slowly, then realized it wasn't really him. It was just his skin.

  Which means the beast is no longer Jayden. He must have changed. But to whom? Who is he now?

  I looked down at myself, then at my surroundings, feeling so confused. How long had I been here?

  Oh, Dear Lord. It is me. The beast is me! But wait, I’m awake now, so it was me. But it isn't anymore?

  I sat on the bed of the old room, then looked around. I was still in the abandoned house. This was where the creature took his victims when he impersonated them. This was where I had seen Jayden. This was where Ruelle had come running out of before Amy hit her with the car.

  Oh, my. I should get back out there and see what kind of damage it has done in my name.

  Still feeling dizzy and strange, I rushed down the stairs and into the great hall when I could hear turmoil coming from outside in the street. Thinking my doppelganger had something to do with it, I hurried to the door and opened it.

  What I saw outside, I had no words for. A war zone, yes, but it was more than that. Spiders kept coming up the street, while Amy and Kipp were fighting them off by throwing fireballs at them. There were animals, so many animals. Foxes, bears, birds, and stray dogs were attacking from the other side. Yet it seemed like there were so many spiders that it helped very little.

  What the heck is going on here?

  I rushed up the street and into the cul-de-sac, looking around. I felt confused and perplexed, wondering where my family was and if they were still alive when I tripped over something and realized it was my own body, completely deflated and wearing a vampire costume.

  The sight made me want to throw up, yet quickly filled me with hope. This was what Veronika had seen when traveling, wasn't it? It had to be—me in a vampire costume lying in a pool of blood.

  Except it wasn't me at all.

  So, this was how I had been liberated. They had killed the beast. Duncan had killed it and not me. It wasn't me at all. But that must have meant he knew? How had he found out? And was he still alive?

  A scream made me turn and look when I spotted Jayden not far from me. He was fighting a spider off the back of his mother by clinging to one of its legs and pulling it while yelling like a madman.

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  "It's no use."

  Kipp was yelling from Amy's back. She was getting tired from spewing fire and flying at
the same time. She was still weak and didn't have the strength she used to.

  "Every time we kill one of them, two more show up," he said. "They keep coming. There's no way for us to win."

  "I need a break," Amy said and flew to her own yard and landed in the grass, bumping across it. She landed face first, throwing Kipp frontward into the big magnolia tree.

  "I'm sorry," she grunted and sat up, touching her sore nose.

  "I would be if I were you," a voice said from behind her.

  Recognizing it, she lifted her head and looked into the eyes of Mr. Aran. Next to him stood Agent L. Mactans, her black Mohawk pointing straight into the air. The red hourglass-shaped birthmark on her neck seemed to be glowing on her dark skin. She almost looked like she was enjoying herself.

  "You met my wife, didn't you?" Mr. Aran asked.

  Amy snorted. "What do you want?"

  "Just here to say thanks."

  "For what?"

  "For all your help. With this," he said. "I do believe we're winning this war now, and it's all thanks to you."

  His wife grinned and nodded.

  Amy gave him a suspicious look. "I never told you about this party."

  Mr. Aran laughed. "You didn't need to. You were so kind as to take my daughter, so she could tell me all about it."

  A figure came up behind Mr. Aran.

  "Alice?"

  The girl nodded, swaying along on long spider legs like her parents, a vicious grin on her face. Mr. Aran petted her head. "I knew you'd fail me, so I made sure to have a backup plan. She was the perfect little spy."

  Amy stared at the girl. The endless crying in her cell, the bonding they had done, the story of her family. It was all just a lie? She had thought she was helping her out by taking her in. How could she have been so naïve?

  "S-so what happens now?" she asked.

  Mr. Aran tilted his head, then lifted his black vacuum machine. "Now—my dear—you all die."

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  I found a shovel in Jayden's garage, then smacked the spider on the head with it. As it hissed and turned to face me, I swung the shovel again and knocked the creature's head off. Jayden stared at me as his mother got loose and threw herself into the arms of her husband, who too had been trapped by the spider.

  Jayden and I looked at one another, scrutinizing each other closely.

  "J-Jayden?"

  "Robyn?"

  "Is it you?" I asked.

  "Is it you?" he asked.

  "I…I think so," I said. "I just woke up."

  "I saw him kill you," he said. "At first, I cried out and thought I had lost you, but Duncan explained it to me. I realized it wasn't you. But…this is really you now?"

  I nodded. "And it's really you?" I asked.

  He nodded, smiling. He took a step closer, then touched my cheek gently while still looking into my eyes. His had tears in them. It made me want to cry too.

  "It really is you, isn't it?"

  I nodded. "Yes."

  He then closed his eyes, leaned forward, and placed a soft kiss on my lips. I closed my eyes and kissed him back. As our lips parted and we opened our eyes once again, we both nodded.

  "Yup. That's you all right," he said.

  "And that's you too."

  "I can't believe I didn't realize it wasn't you. I mean I thought something was off, but I just…" he said.

  "You can never believe the one you love could be evil, do you? That's how I felt when I realized…that it wasn't you I had been with."

  He swallowed. "Y-you still love me?"

  I nodded. "I do. More than ever, Jayden. It's you; it has always been you."

  He chuckled, then grabbed me around the waist and pulled me close.

  "You took the words right out of my mouth," he whispered, then kissed me again. While the fighting continued around us, we were lost in ourselves for just a short second.

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  Jazmine's animals had a hard time fighting off the many spiders. One after another, they were defeated. They were either killed or chased back into the forest, and soon she realized she had to give up. The spiders were taking over and taking down the animals one after another.

  With tears in her eyes, she spotted Robyn crossing the cul-de-sac holding Jayden's hand. She saw Amy and Kipp standing in Amy's front yard, then decided to join them. She used a spell to change herself into a fly, then flew across the scene toward her friends and landed in Amy's yard, then changed back, panting in exhaustion. It was tougher than people thought being a fly.

  "Amy, Kipp," she said. "Are you two all right?"

  Amy was crying heavily. "He told us to watch."

  "Who?" Robyn asked as she came up to them.

  "Mr. Aran," Amy said, crying. Realizing Robyn was there, she looked up with a gasp.

  "It's her," Jayden said. "The real Robyn. The beast had taken her."

  "Robyn!" Amy said and pulled her into a hug. She held her for a few seconds, then put her down. "I am so sorry. You've come back to everything being in ruins, and it's all my fault."

  "It's not," a voice said coming from behind them. It was Melanie. She came as her wolf. Blood was running from her chest and head.

  "Melanie, you're hurt," Amy exclaimed.

  "It's nothing. I tried to fight them," she said. "And I will till it means the end of us all."

  "Which won't be long, according to Mr. Aran," Amy said.

  "What did you mean that it wasn't her fault?" Jayden asked.

  Melanie shook her head. "I'm the one who brought Alice here, remember?"

  "It doesn’t really matter whose fault it is, does it?" Robyn said. "What matters is we need to stop them."

  Amy nodded, tears springing to her eyes. "They took my dad. I saw them do it a few minutes ago. I’m scared."

  "This has got to stop," Robyn said. "We have got to stop them."

  "Is that your mom?" Jazmine asked when she spotted Darth Vader in the crowd fighting someone. "What's she doing?"

  They all stared at Robyn's mom as she fought Mr. Brown, Kipp's foster dad, then lifted her arm and clawed him.

  "Oh, dear God, Robyn, what's she doing?" Amy asked.

  Robyn swallowed. "She's killing him."

  "Why? Why is she killing Mr. Brown? He's not a spider?"

  Robyn took in a deep breath then looked around her. "Say, where did Mr. Aran go after he spoke to you?"

  "He’s right over there," Amy said and pointed toward house number three where he was standing with the female spider and several others who seemed to be in charge and not fighting. "Why?"

  Robyn took in a deep breath. "I think I might have an idea."

  "What idea?" Amy asked.

  Robyn looked out in the cul-de-sac and spotted her grandmother. A spider had her pinned down to the ground while she was fighting for her life. Jazmine could tell that Robyn wanted to scream but held it back.

  "I don't have time to explain," she said.

  "Where is she going? Robyn?" Jayden yelled after her, but she had left them. They watched as she crossed the street, her eyes fixated on Mr. Aran in front of her. He was standing there with his wife and daughter, looking like he was enjoying the spectacle.

  Jazmine watched as Robyn exchanged a few words with him before she reached down and grabbed his vacuum machine thingy.

  "Robyn!" Jayden said as she took the thing and walked into the cul-de-sac. "What's she doing?" he asked, looking at the others for an answer. But none of them had one.

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  I was walking with the most determination I had ever had. I spotted her in the middle of the cul-de-sac, still with her claws deeply pierced into Mr. Brown's chest, ripping him open. No one around her saw anything since they were all so occupied fighting off the spiders or trying to escape.

  I held the vacuum thingy over my shoulder as I walked toward her. Behind me, I could hear my friends yelling and screaming my name. I knew they were confused, maybe even worried for what I had in mind, but there was n
o more time to waste. I had the power to stop it all, and that was exactly what I was going to do.

  I stopped in front of my mother.

  "Hey, Mommy?"

  Darth Vader let go of Mr. Brown, and his dead body fell to the ground. She turned to look at me, wheezing as she breathed.

  "Robyn, darling.”

  "Mommy. Dearest."

  She took a step closer. Her mask was smeared in Mr. Brown's blood. A spider tried to attack her, but she punched it, causing it to fly into three others who were pushed forcefully away.

  She was stronger than I thought.

  "Robyn. Robyn. Robyn," she said, reaching out her hands. "I am so glad to see that you're okay."

  "Well, I am human, after all. The spiders don't care much about me. They might kill me eventually, yes, because I have seen too much but I am not their primary target."

  She came closer, leaning forward. "Oh, yes. You're human. Wonderfully human."

  "And you are not," I said.

  "What are you talking about?" she said.

  I pulled out Mr. Aran's machine, then turned it on. "This," I said. "This is what I am talking about."

  Darth Vader breathed heavily as I placed the machine on her chest and let it suck her soul out. The entire machine shook heavily, and it was hard to keep it still. I prayed hard that I hadn't made some mistake as my mother's soul—or the soul of the one pretending to be my mother—left her skin and was sucked into the machine.

  When it was over, I gasped, watching my mother's deflated body fall to the ground. The sight made me almost lose it.

  "What are you doing?" Amy yelled as she approached me along with the others.

  "Cleaning up our neighborhood," I said as I swung the machine back over my shoulder and turned around and faced Mr. Aran, who had walked over to me. He and his family stood in front of me as I handed him the machine.

  "There you go. Now, I have held up my end of the bargain; you keep yours."