by Rue Volley
“Wait…” I said as I moved towards him.
He stopped and turned to me. “You are different from the others... I thank you for not feeding on her,” he said.
“I do not feed on humans,” I said.
He smiled and walked quickly to the door. He looked at me once more, before he walked out. I didn't hear the lock turn this time.
I walked to the door and turned the knob. It opened.
“You gotta be kidding me,” I whispered.
I ran back to the basket and grabbed an apple, I bit into it and closed my eyes. The juice ran down my throat and my stomach appreciated it. I tore off some bread and shoved it in my mouth. I ran back to the door as I chewed. I stood there and listened for anything, the last thing I wanted to do was open the door and have a guard standing out there.
I slowly cracked it open, as I held my breath. I opened it and peeked out, the hall looked empty to the right, now looking left...took a leap of faith. I opened it more and stuck my head out, looking down the other way. No one...you"re kidding right? I breathed in and opened it up, I stepped out and pressed against the wall.
It was silent. Where the hell is everyone...? I don't like it.
I reached behind my back and felt my blades. Why do I have my blades...? Maybe that human boy had taken pity on me... Oh my god...if he saw me naked, oh who cares. I raised the bread to my mouth and took a bite. That is, by far, the least of my worries, in fact I'd take any intrusion in my room over this crap any day.
I headed down the hallway and came to a corner. I slowed my breathing, as I peeked around the corner. A door opened and I backed up. I listened, holding my breath...I just hoped that they didn't come this way. I pulled my blades out and gripped them in my hands. No one came, thank god.
I peeked back around the corner, and it was clear. I moved around the corner and headed straight. I knelt down and pressed my hand against the stone.
I closed my eyes and focused. It was faint, but I started to hear a heartbeat well up in my ears, and I knew it was Josh. It sounded slow and distant…I could only hope that he was strong enough to help me fight our way out of here.
My horse and I had passed a body of water coming here and if I could only get us there...we could portal, I hoped, back home. I could only hope that they had a mirror ready on the other side . I had to believe that they did. It was the the only glimmer of survival...
******
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Johnathan dropped the phone and turned to Theodore and Sara sitting on the couch. “We have to get a mirror ready now!” he yelled out.
Sara pushed herself up. “Johnathan?” she cried out. “You are dead!” she said with her eyes wide.
“What?” he said.
She stood up and stumbled. “You are dead...or you were dead,” Sara said.
“I don't understand,” Johnathan said to her.
“It was in the paper Johnathan, that's why your Mother and Sophie moved away from here.”
“Well, I'm not,” Johnathan said as he passed her by.
Sara stood there and blinked a few times.
Theodore rose up. “Where do we need to go Johnathan?” he asked.
“To the woods, we need to take a large mirror as a portal for Rue. She said to hurry,” Johnathan said as he ran back up the stairs.
“Very well then,” Theodore said. “Samantha, Kai!” he yelled out.
They came running out and Sara stood there hanging onto the side of the couch.
“Ummm...excuse me, what is going on?” she asked.
Theodore looked back at her. “You should sleep, love,” he said to her. He flashed up and she sucked in her breath. “No!” she yelled at him.
He stood there and grinned at her.
“What are you smiling about...? Listen, someone needs to tell me what is going on...! I called Rue and she said she was grounded. She asked me to come over and she was lit up like some freaky Christmas tree on her bed… I touched her and now I am here in the living room.”
Sara said as she crossed her arms over her chest. Theodore raised his hand and she stumbled away from him. “No...no more touching me. Now who the hell are you people...? And where is Rue?” she said as she took a few steps backward.
Sam stood there and smiled as she stared at her.
“Listen...Sara, you need to sleep. Trust me...it will be all better if you do.”
“I think someone should tell me what is going on here!” she yelled, as she clinched her fists.
“Oh for Christ sake Theodore, put her down already. We don't have time for this!”
Johnathan said as he ran down the stairs, fully dressed in white leather.
Sara looked at him and whispered, “Oh...what are you wearing?”
Johnathan passed her by and stood at the front door.
Sam flashed up to Sara and touched her head. Sara started to fall and she caught her and gently placed her on the couch.
“Why does she have memory?” She asked as she crossed Sara's arms on her chest and touched her face.
Theodore smiled. “Seems that she touched Rue, she will retain that memory... I guess we will deal with that later,” he said.
“Oh that's just great ,Theodore,” Sam said as she ran back to Kai's room. She passed Kai who was rubbing his head. “Come on Kai, get dressed!” she yelled at him as she passed him by.
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Johnathan stood at the door and stared at Theodore. “We have to hurry,” he muttered.
“We have to find a large mirror Johnathan, where can we find one?” he asked.
“My house... We have a room of mirrors...it's in the basement... It is a studio for my sister, she took dance when she was little,” he said as he inspected his blades.
“That is perfect,” Theodore said as he ran to his room.
Everyone returned fully dressed in battle gear. They looked at Johnathan who flashed out the door. Sara started to stir awake.
“Oh for god"s sake,” Sam muttered. “Just bind the house Theodore.”
“I do not know if that will work with her right now, seems she is not herself...
Perhaps Rue shared her energy with her,” Theodore said as they watched Sara sit up.
“I swear to god the next person who puts me to sleep with some weirdo magic is going to get punched,” Sara said as she scrambled to her feet.
“Oh...fine, come with us then,” Sam said as she looked at Sara.
“Are we going to find Rue?” she asked.
“Yes...that is exactly what we are going to do, and hopefully my stupid brother will be with her,” Sam said as she slapped her arms against her legs.
“Oh!.” Sara said as she started to smile.
Sam looked at Kai. “Pick her up Kai, I guess we will carry her.”
Kai looked at Sara and then flashed to her.
Sara blinked her eyes, as the air coming off of him blew her hair a little.
“You are fast Kai!” she whispered.
“You have no idea Sara,” Kai said to her as he scooped her up into his arms and flashed out the door.
They ran as fast as they could until they all came to a stop at the gate of Johnathan's old house. Kai came to a stop with Sara clutching to him. She had her face buried in his chest. When she realized that they had stopped moving, she lifted her head and smiled up at him.
“Holy crap Kai, that was cool,” she said.
Sam rolled her eyes. “Listen Sara, you shouldn't even be here so just do what we say.”
“K,” Sara said as she squeezed Kai's neck. “What are we doing?” she whispered to Kai.
Kai looked down at her. “We are getting to a mirror so Rue can portal through it.”
Sara's eyes got really big. “Like Stargate?” she asked.
Sam grumbled, “Oh my god…Kai, the more you tell her, the harder it is going to be to suck it out of her head.”
Kai looked at Sam and grinned. “What...? She asked me.”
Theodore raised his hand and they all crouched do
wn to the ground. “It looks as if the movers are here,” he said as he stared at the large truck in front of the house.
Sam started to rise up, while she pulled her blades out.
“Samantha…no,” Theodore said.
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She put them away and lowered back down. “We don't have time. I will be quick,”
she said.
“Enough have fallen, Samantha...we will have to be clever,” Theodore said as he looked out across the entryway.
“Sara?” Theodore said.
Sara leaned forward on her knees. “What?” she asked.
“How good are you at flirting?” he said.
“Oh...quite good,” she said as she grinned.
“Well then, I need for you to get these boys away from the entrance. Keep them out of the house.” Theodore said, “Go up there and just keep talking, give us time to get into the house.”
“Oh this is stupid, I could have them down in ten seconds,” Sam said.
“We will not cause any more harm... Everything I have is protecting this town right now. I have nothing left for glamor...just let the little one here do her magic,”
Theodore said as he placed a hand on Sara's face.
“I'm on it!” Sara said as she stood up. She fluffed her hair and brushed at her clothes as she started to walk up the long driveway.
“This better work Theodore…” Sam said as she watched Sara walk towards the house.
“Oh it will... Sara has a charm about her, they will listen.”
Sara started to pick up her pace and she started running toward the house, she got about fifteen feet away from the boys moving heavy things out of the truck and she fell down pretty hard. She cried out.
Sam stood up. “What the hell is that girl doing?” she said.
Theodore stood up next to her and touched her arm. “She is being a siren to the sailors,” Theodore said.
Sam looked at him. “What?”
“Just wait,” Theodore said.
They stood there and watched as the two boys carrying their heavy load sat it down and looked out to Sara, who grabbed at her ankle and cried out. They started to walk quickly to her. They watched as the two boys leaned down to her and spoke. Sara grabbed at her ankle and shook her head. They reached down and lifted her off of the ground. Sara put her arms around their necks and they moved forward. Sam laughed out loud.
“Well, look at that,” she said.
“Yes, very clever girl,” Theodore whispered. He turned to the three of them. “We now have an opportunity to get in, lets go.”
Theodore flashed up the side of the trees lining the house and flashed behind the truck around to the back side of the house. They all followed him. He crouched down against the back wall. He looked to Johnathan.
“Where do we enter?” he asked him.
“Follow me...there is an entrance to the bottom floor, around the side,” Johnathan said as he flashed forward.
They came to set of stairs that led down to a small door. Johnathan flashed down them and placed his hand, turning the knob. The door opened. He stepped through and into darkness. Sam turned and closed the door behind 336
them, snuffing out what little light was coming in. Suddenly a small glow lit up the stone hallway. Johnathan looked back at Theodore, who had light glowing from his hand.
“Lead us to the room,” Theodore said as he raised his hand up, causing rings of light to form on the walls of the hallway ahead of them. Johnathan moved forward and the rest followed him. They came to turn and he stood there looking both ways.
“What are you doing?” Sam whispered.
“Trying to remember which way it is,” Johnathan said.
He turned to the right and walked down another hallway until he came to a set of double doors. He reached for both door knobs and pulled the doors towards them. He stepped in and looked all around as Theodore's light reflected off of the mirrored room. Everyone looked around them. Johnathan ran over to the wall and flipped on the light. Crystal chandeliers lit up the room. It was enormous, the walls and the ceiling were mirrored...the floor a dark wood.
“Wow,” Kai said as he looked around. “Sophie needed a room this big huh?” he asked.
“Well...my family has never done anything small, it's always big,” Johnathan said as he looked around the room.
“Okay then,” Theodore said as he pulled out a thick piece of chalk. “We have to get the symbols on this room.” He reached into his straps and pulled out chalk.
“Here,” he said as he threw one to Sam, she caught it and looked out at the room.
“You know if anyone is right on them, we will have a battle on our hands Theodore.”
“I am aware of that...but this is what we have to work with... Johnathan said to find a large mirror,” he said as he flashed to a wall and started to scribble on it.
“A large mirror...not a room,” Sam said as she looked at the ceiling.
“Get started Samantha,” Theodore said without turning to look at her.
She gripped the chalk in her hand and sighed. “This better work,” she whispered to herself.
******
I stood still at the corner for a minute longer, gripping my blade in my hand. I peeked out again and then knelt down, touching the cold stone under me.
I closed my eyes and focused on Josh, his heart beat fluttered. I didn't know if he was in trouble, or had just felt me...I just could not tell. I opened my eyes and a trail opened up to me, swirling black in the air like mist. It clung to the stone and I stood up staring down at it. It had to be him... I started to move forward and watched as it it misted under a large door. I reached out and grabbed the doorknob, gently turning it in my hand. I opened it up and looked at stairs leading upward.
“Awesome..of course it would go up,” I muttered under my breath.
I stepped in and pulled the door behind me. I started to walk slowly up the stairs, they went on forever. I finally came to a point where I started to see more 337
light ahead and I pressed against the wall, listening for any voices...there was nothing, no sound at all. I saw that the stairs were coming to an end and I peeked up to see if anyone was waiting at the top. I looked to the left and the right...I saw nobody. I sighed and stepped up and out into the room.
I looked up and saw the room was open to the sky, the clouds drifted overhead so closely that if I was up there. I could touch them, I was sure. The room was lit only by the sunlight coming in. The ceiling was open and the walls were all cut in tall pieces in a circle, revealing more sky. I looked down at the floor and saw symbols glowing under my feet, they pulsated as I leaned back and forth on them.
I stepped out and gripped my blades in my hand. I looked to the middle of the room and saw a large mirror reaching upward, it was turned at an angle away from me. It almost looked like one of those strange sculptures on a college campus. God college...! I couldn't remember the last day I was actually in school.
I blew out my breath and watched as the black swirls led me forward and seemed to pool around this mirror.
I walked forward and watched as my feet broke up the black mist with each step. I reached the edge of a large hole, I looked down and saw that black water rolled under this mirror that was suspended by nothing above it. I heard a groan and I ran around it to the other side. My eyes got wider as I saw that Josh was laying on this mirror. He was on his back, but the mirror was at an angle. I didn't know how it held him in place.
“Josh,” I called out to him, in a half whisper.
“Hey...Josh,” I said a little louder.
He started to move a little, but said nothing. I looked above him and saw nothing that I could climb onto to get to him. Under him a rolling pool of black water. I scanned the room, it was empty.
“Josh...listen you have to wake up!” I said with a low tone. My voice echoed a little. I crouched down instinctively. No one came so I slowly rose back up. I saw him move his head.
“Josh!” I sa
id again.
He groaned and started to flutter his eyes.
“Wake up and tell me how you got on there,” I said to him.
I saw his chest rise and fall. He started to mutter something, but I couldn't understand him. I looked behind me and started to back up. I was going to have to jump, I didn't know what would happen when I hit that mirror, but in this room devoid of anything I can use, my options are limited. I placed my blades on my back and kept backing up. I sucked in my breath and started to flash forward, I heard a voice cry out and I covered my ears as it echoed through the room, like a sonic boom.
I stopped right at the edge and teetered on my toes. I leaned back and fell to the floor, my heart racing in my chest. I pushed myself up quickly and looked out, as the room filled with flashes of protectors, one by one. Sophia stood front and center, Erik by her side. I pulled my blades and turned them at an angle, as I gripped them tightly.
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Erik threw a boy in front of him, at his feet. I looked to see that it was the one who had given me the basket of food. He rolled onto his side and groaned. I stepped out from the back side of the circle and placed my feet apart. Erik grinned, as he looked at the boy on the floor.
“Seems that we have some treachery,” he said, as he stepped forward.
He pulled his blade and the boy rolled onto his back putting his hands up.
Erik came down in a flash and plunged his blade through his shoulder. I heard the echo of the blade penetrate the stone under him. The boy cried out, and reached for the blade. Erik stood up and left it in him, pinning him to the stone floor. I watched as blood flowed out from under him and snaked it's way towards me. I gripped my blades and I felt a sharp pain in my stomach.
“Hungry?” Erik said to me, as he tilted his head.
I scanned the room “No…I am fine.” There must be a hundred protectors standing before me.
Sophia laughed, her voice echoed in the room. “You have had your fun...and now, say your goodbye to Joshua Barrington, he is about to return to the creator.”
“What?” I said, as I turned to look at him. “No…you cannot destroy him, you can't.”
“It has already been decided... It is fortunate that you are here to see it…you must understand our laws,” Sophia said as she walked towards me.