The Devil's Prey (The Demon Within)

by Jessica Stark

  'Well, I guess you were wrong. Do you even know why I called? I called because I had a dream where everyone was dead because of me, and whatever I was doing in my sleep, I was doing for real. Then Liam opened every goddamn horrible memory I had, to see what happened to me- to see how I went into another life. I rang because I needed to hear your voice, to make sure you were still alive, Ethan- and you weren’t there! You never are, Ethan! All we do is fight over nothing, and if we are not fighting, we are ignoring each other.' I felt a tear run down my face, but I wiped it away so Ethan would not see.

  'What does Michel have to do with this?'

  I couldn't believe I had just told him such deeply personal information, and all he could think about was Michel. ‘This is what I mean. You don t care about me, and Michel is always there for me. Are you really that stupid? Who do you think was keeping me grounded from going insane? It was Michel. Not you or Amanda. It was Michel. If you don't have the balls to do it, then I will, Ethan! I am sick of you breaking my heart over and over again, ok? So it's over. There is no more us!' I started to walk away from Ethan, but before I did, I turned to face him. 'If you want to know, I didn't write the message on the board. It was someone else, someone who has been sending me blood messages etched into my arm, my leg, and my back.'

  I turned back around, but not fast enough to avoid seeing the hurt on Ethan’s face. He looked scared and devastated at the same time. I didn’t know where I was going. I just walked as the final school bell rang. I kept walking until eventually I found my way to the real place I called home. I knocked on the door, but Mum did not answer. I took out my key, but it did not fit. She had changed the locks.

  'Mum, are you home? It's summer.' Still no answer. There was no car in the driveway, so she must have been out.

  'Summer?’

  I turned around and ran into Michel’s arms.

  ‘Oh, come here, Summer.’

  I looked up into his blue eyes, which were gazing down at me. 'My mum has changed the locks, and I broke up with Ethan. I don’t even know why I am upset. It was his fault.' I let a few tears run down my face.

  'Come on, let's take you home, Summer.' We were about to leave when I felt something hit my head. The last thing I remembered was Michel and me going down.

  Chapter 19

  When I woke up, my head was killing me. I made out my surroundings. I was on a hard floor in an enclosed space. I got up and looked around. It was only me in the room. Where was Michel? I tried to recall the last events, but all I could remember was going home, and I was with Michel…and that was it.

  'Michel, where are you?' I yelled into the empty space.

  'Summer, where are you?' he responded to my call by yelling back.

  'I am not sure. I am in a room with a door that is locked from the outside. What about you?' I asked him.

  'I am the same. Have you tried to get in contact with Amanda?'

  I tried to call Amanda, but all I felt was a sharp pain in my head. It hurt so much I cried out.

  'Summmmmmer!' Michel yelled.

  'I wouldn't try anything, Summer, because all you will feel is pain,' a voice from behind the door said.

  'Who are you, and what do you want?' I managed to yell out.

  'I only wanted one thing- your blood.' I heard the person walk away. 'Oh, and Summer, if you try anything, I will kill pretty boy next door.'

  I started to feel the walls for anywhere that might be hollow as panic began to set in. ‘Michel, have you tried to materialize yet?' Somehow I knew there was really no hope of that working, either.

  'Nope, none of my powers work. What about you?' We were both yelling at each other. I tried to use my powers, but it caused too much pain. There was no getting past it.

  'I tried. I can, but I am going to have to push against the barrier.' I stood in the middle of the space, preparing to push past the pain, when a gas began seeping into the room. I started to choke on the air around me. 'Michel, the gas!' I screamed in pain as it burned my lungs.

  'Summer, what is going on?' I screamed out loud at the pain in my arm. The gas had turned into acid, burning me.

  'Summmmerrr!' Michel was screaming in the room next to mine as I cried out in pain. The acid was burning through my skin, right down to the bone. After most of my skin was gone, the acid stopped. I was still screaming out in pain on the floor. The most I could do was protect my face, but my arms, legs, and body had been burned just about to muscle and bone.

  'Summer, what just happened? I need you to talk to me!' I could hear Michel's voice, but I could not move anything, except for my mouth, which was trembling with pain, fear and panic.

  'Acid....skin....gone...' I could hear Michel shouting again for me to stay awake. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I started hearing the voice, calling my name over and over.

  But then they said, ‘Heal.’ That was all it said. But how was I meant to heal when my powers were somehow blocked? The worst I could do was try, and fail. The first thing I did was move my hand onto my burnt arm. I screamed out in agony every time I moved my arm. I concentrated really hard, and I could feel the power surge up and through my hand. Instead of healing just my arm, though, my whole body began healing. When it was done, I could sit up. Not all the flesh was fully restored, but enough for me to move without it causing agony.

  ‘Thank you,’ I whispered to the voice. ‘Michel, I am going to get us out.’ Because of the acid, the walls were weakened. I started to ram into the wall.

  ‘Summer, what are you doing?’ Michel yelled. I kept running into the wall until there was a small hole.

  ‘Michel, can you hear me better?’ I didn’t have to yell anymore. I was just speaking through the hole.

  ‘Yes. Summer, where are you?’

  I started to claw at the wall to make the hole bigger. ‘Whoa, this place is so much nicer than mine.’ I stuck my head through the hole. Michel’s room was the same as mind, but with a scrawny bed.

  ‘Summer, step back,’ he said. I did what I was told, and he kicked into the wall, making a space big enough to walk in and out. ‘Oh my god, Summer, your skin!’ He ran his finger along my arm, but when I flinched, he stopped.

  ‘It was worse before. I managed to heal some parts, but others are gone.’ I showed him the back of my leg, which was missing a fair bit of skin.

  He looked like he might be sick. ‘What did they do?’

  ‘Gas. At first I couldn’t breathe…then acid.’ I could hear someone coming. The footsteps echoed off the walls.

  ‘Michel, we need to get out. The person behind it is the person sending me the messages. We are in a torture chamber. They reduce your power to nothing by torturing you. In Italy, I was taught about them and how to escape, but the one I tried wasn’t this strong.’ I walked into Michel’s room to see what we had. ‘Michel, go back into your room. Someone is coming.’ I ran back into my room and lied on the floor, trying to look like I was in pain.

  ‘I am surprised, Summer, that you managed to get to pretty boy. There is no need to pretend you are dying. But what I want to know is how you practically healed yourself? This chamber had held many fairies over the years, and not one has had an ounce of power, so how did you do it?’ The voice was coming from behind the door.

  I stood up, summoning my courage. ‘Come in, and I will show you,’ I threatened.

  ‘Hahaha! Very funny. I think not- when the time is right, you will know. Now…’ I felt pressure building up in my head, the same way Lauren had done. I dropped to the floor and screamed out in pain.

  ‘SUMMER!’ Michel yelled, and ran into the room.

  ‘I wouldn’t, pretty boy. If you do, I will kill her.’ And the voice laughed. It was not high-pitched, but I had heard it before.

  ‘Is that the best that you’ve got?’ I rolled over.

  ‘You really know how to push it, Summer.’ And more pressure was put into my head.

  ‘And so do you, Lauren. How long did you think it would take me to figure it o
ut? The moment you put pressure in my head, I knew it was you, but why do you want me dead?’ I felt the ultimate betrayal. I’d had my problems with Lauren, but I’d still trusted her.

  She pushed so much more pressure into my head that I think I blacked out for a little bit. When I came to, she was talking. ‘Summer so sweet, the reason is that I believe that no one should be higher than anyone else, especially not in the world of fairies. I was very surprised when you managed to survive the attack last year. I kept telling everyone there was no hope, but you managed to pull through. Not this time, though. I won’t make the same mistake twice and kill you straight away. I will take my time. It may be four years until I decide to kill you.’

  I opened my eyes to see Michel pinned up against the wall. Lauren continued, ‘I was very surprised when I went to your house and found you with someone else. I had thought it would have been Ethan, but this one is so much prettier.’ She ran her finger along his face.

  ‘Don’t touch him, or I will make sure I kill you!’ I yelled at Lauren, knowing that this time, there was nothing stopping me from killing her.

  ‘Ah, don’t you see? I can hurt you, but you can’t touch me.’ She put pressure into my head, and I cried out.

  ‘Lauren, stop! What you are doing? You’re going to kill her!’ Michel snapped.

  ‘He cares about you, Summer, and you care about him, but what I want to know is…what is he?’ She was running her fingers along his arm.

  ‘I said, leave him alone!’ I got up and lunged at Lauren, but when I smacked into her, it was like running into a brick wall, and I hit the floor, the wind knocked out of me.

  ‘Summer, Summer. What am I going to do with you? How about some role playing, where I stab you and see if you live? But then there is the risk of killing you…let’s not.’ She turned to face Michel. ‘But you, pretty boy…it will kill Summer to watch you die, so let’s role play with you.’

  I saw a knife in her hand, and my body froze up. I can’t move- not because of Lauren, but because of the knife. It was the same knife the devil had used on me.

  ‘Ah, Summer, you recognize this? I sure do. It is my favorite out of all of my collections. But I think you know it a bit better than I do.’ She waved the knife in front of me, then slashed my leg. I didn’t scream or move. I was paralyzed with my own fear. No matter how much I had worked with Liam to get me over my fears, none of his methods seemed to be working now.

  ‘Who knew that all I had to do was bring out a knife, and you would be still and silent.’ She slashed me in the other leg, and like before, I didn’t even flinch.

  ‘Summer, you need to snap out of it! Summer, listen to me! You are strong. Think of it as any normal knife, ok? There is nothing special. You have never seen it before. Summer, you need to listen!’ I could hear Michel, but I couldn’t take in what he was saying.

  ‘Shut up, boy,’ Lauren growled, and turned her attention back to me.

  ‘What I love about this knife is that I have never cleaned it. I think I can still see some blood from last time.’ Lauren laughed at the idea she had just planted in my head. I looked at the knife to see it dripping in blood…my blood. I could feel the knife slide down my arm, but I didn’t feel any pain. ‘I will leave you two now, but I will be back.’ She left the room, and Michel was dropped to the floor.

  ‘Summer, look at me. You have lost a lot of blood, ok?’ He got up, moved into his room, and brought in a thin sheet. He started ripping it up. ‘Holy Jesus, Summer.’ His hands were covered in blood. I still sat there, feeling paralyzed, unable to move. Michel wiped his hands and cupped my face. ‘Summer, I need you to come back to me. I am going to get us out, but I need you to listen to what I am about to tell you.’

  I was staring right into his blue eyes, and they were glittering with unshed tears. ‘I know you are strong, Summer,” he said. “I have seen you in action. I need you to fight it- for yourself, for your friends, for everyone. I won’t lie. She is going to come back, and we need to be ready for her. You can do this.’ I felt something warm on my lips. It took me a second to realize that Michel was kissing me, or at least trying. For some reason, I wanted to kiss him back, but I ended up slapping him in the face instead.

  ‘Ok, I guess I had that coming.’ He rubbed the side of his cheek, where I had slapped him. ‘I guess it worked.’ He smiled. I went to move, but my legs were in too much pain. ‘Don’t try and move. Can you remember anything that just happened?’

  I was puzzled a first, wondering how I’d gotten slashes in my legs and arm. ‘I think so. Lauren. The knife.’ I stopped talking, and Michel looked at me. ‘The knife… it was the same, Michel, the same as before. Lauren is in league with the devil.’ I could feel my body start to lock down again, but this time I knew there would be no coming out.

  ‘Summer, don’t you dare go into shock again. Nod if you understand.’

  I nodded my head slightly.

  ‘Can you try and heal yourself?’

  I tried, but nothing happened. ‘Michel, I am scared,’ I whispered to him.

  ‘I know, Summer. So am I, ok? But we can’t show it.’ He took my hand and squeezed it.

  ‘Look how cute this is.’ Lauren walked into the room.

  ‘You stay away from her!’ This time Michel was doing the threatening.

  ‘I left our little friend outside. I thought it would be best to talk it out like civilized people.’ She took a seat next to me.

  ‘Ha! Civilized? What you mean is, talk until we are at each other’s throats. Remember how well that went last time.’ I spat my words at her.

  ‘And…you’re back, the feisty Summer that I know.’

  ‘And I guess the bitch is back then, as well.’ I smirked at her.

  ‘Summer, watch what you say. I hold all the power here.’ She tapped her head. ‘Now you are going to tell me what you are.’ She pointed her finger at Michel.

  ‘Never,’ he said.

  ‘Have it your way.’ And suddenly Michel was screaming, holding his head.

  ‘Lauren, stop. The war is between you and me, not Michel. He has nothing to do with this,’ I said, hoping she would stop, and she did.

  ‘Michel? So that is your name.’ She had a worried look on her face. ‘I shall be back.’ She left the room in a hurry.

  ‘Summer, this is our chance. We are going to run at the door.’ Michel helped me up.

  ‘Wait. I have a better idea.’ I closed my eyes and searched deep down for my power. I felt something very small, but big enough. I could hear Michel telling me not to, but if it could get us out, I had to try. I worked the power through my veins, and I commanded it to open the door. It hurt every muscle, but I could feel it working, and the door flew open.

  Chapter 20

  The moment the door opened, I could feel a huge amount of power come back to me. I started to glow, and I could feel my wounds healing themselves. It was like I had been lifted to heaven.

  ‘You did it, Summer,’ Michel said.

  I took a step forward and felt all my powers leave my body. ‘Michel, we can’t leave. If we do, we won’t have much power. The room is designed that if we escape, we won’t get far, as we will have very little power.’ I took a step forward, and felt my powers drain again.

  ‘How long until they come back?’ Michel was standing next to me, looking at our exit.

  ‘Maybe a day or two.’ I could hear someone coming, and there was no time for thinking. I grabbed Michel’s hand and made a run for the exit.

  We made it outside, but we didn’t get far before I fell to the ground. ‘Summer, you ok?’ Michel asked, concerned.

  I looked down to see the wound in my left leg opening up again. ‘My powers have gone, and my leg must not have finished healing.’ There was a lot of blood coming out of it.

  ‘Here, take this.’ Michel ripped the bottom of his shirt off, and tied it above my wound.

  ‘Thanks,’ I said when he was done.

  ‘No problem. Now we better get moving, before La
uren gets back. When my powers are restored, we will disappear.’ He helped me up, and we started to move through the unknown woods.

  ‘Michel, where are we going?’

  ‘To my place. It is protected by this weird…thing. We will be safe there, but I just need to find it from here.’ We stopped walking. Michel drew a circle in the dirt, and looked at the setting sun. ‘We have to go this way. My house is right on the horizon. It makes sense when you see it.’ We started to walk again, stopping a lot because of my leg.

  Finally I told him, ‘Michel, we have to stop for today. I can’t move anymore.’ We sat down under a tree.

  ‘You think you can make a fire?’ he asked. I tried to flick my hand, but all I got was a spark.

  ‘Nope, no use.’ I tried again, but still nothing. ‘I guess it is going to be a cold night.’ I smiled at Michel and tried to fall asleep.

  I didn’t get much sleep, as it was very cold. Halfway through the night, it started to snow softly. I tried to make a fire again, but all I got was a spark. For some reason, Lauren had dressed me in shorts and a singlet, and parts of them were burnt away from the acid. Michel was a bit more lucky. He had jeans and a shirt on, but we were still both cold.

  ‘You ok, Summer?’ he asked through his chattering teeth.

  ‘I guess, if you don’t count freezing.’ I tried to smile, but the skin on my face was too stiff from the cold.

  ‘You think Lauren is looking for us?’ Michel moved closer to me to keep me warm.

  ‘Probably not.’ I shrugged when I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder. ‘Great, another message.’

  ‘Don’t think you can hide, Summer. I know what Michel is, and I am not letting you have him. If you’re not back in one hour, the hunt begins.

  This message was right across my shoulder. ‘So Michel, I guess we better get moving to your place.’ I got up, even though it was still dark. ‘Amanda, can you hear me?’ I spoke to Amanda, hoping she could hear.