Last Time She Died

by Niki Kamerzell

  Like a snake, Blaine reached out and grabbed at Cali. She jumped back, but Blaine caught the chain around her neck. Instinctively, Alexia reached up to lay her fingers on her own.

  “I’m done wasting time,” Blaine hissed as he leaned forward and grabbed Alexia by the back of the head. He pulled her close and kissed her on the forehead. “You had your chance.”

  A fog formed over Alexia as he waved his fingers in front of him. She felt herself relax. Her eyes clouded over. She bent her legs until she felt the ground under her, cold and hard. A twinge ran through her. She was forgetting something.

  She was tired of forgetting everything. She wanted to remember.

  The cloud retreated. Blaine pulled Cali down the hallway. His hand was fisted into her short blonde hair and the chain of her necklace dug angerly into her red skin.

  He had his back to her. She felt weak but she dragged herself to Gregory and shook him.

  “What?” His eyelids sagged over his blank gaze before he drooped his head.

  Standing on wobbly legs, Alexia looked at the group around her. Whatever spell she’d been under had them in full force. She turned back to Blaine in time to see him drag a wide-eyed Cali into one of the many rooms that lined the hallway. Her face was red and darkening. Her feet flailed around wildly, and she clawed at her neck.

  Alexia dashed down the hall. If she didn’t make it back, she was abandoning the others like helpless, sitting ducks. If she didn’t follow Cali, she’d be lost for sure.

  She reached the doorway only seconds after Cali’s feet had been dragged out of sight.

  In the room, Cali’s toes hardly touched the ground. She’d ceased thrashing and her face was purple.

  “Cali,” Alexia gasped.

  Blaine turned to her and his face paled. His shoulders slumped and it was enough that Cali’s feet brushed the floor. Alexia could see her struggling to push enough to breathe. Blaine’s mouth opened like he wanted to say something, but instead, he composed himself, tightened his grip, and lifted Cali off the dark yellow tiles. Cali let out a small gurgling noise and her eyes rolled up into her skull.

  “Let her go!” Alexia shrieked and flung herself toward him. She felt something surge through her and out her fingertips. Though it was cold, it felt powerful and right.

  Rain poured down. Alexia looked up in wonder. Storm clouds roiled just below the ceiling and spit water. The temperature in the room plummeted and the rain turned to ice. Hail ripped through the room and Alexia was glad to see small puffs of breath coming through Cali’s lips, though they were too far apart.

  Blaine held up his hand, palm toward her as if saying stop, and a blast of wind knocked her back. “I don’t know how you did it—”

  “Shut the fuck up!” Alexia roared.

  The power coursing through her strengthened. It shot out of her body toward Blaine and he stopped talking. Exhausted but unable to quit, she moved toward him. A single breath came out of his blue lips in a puff of steam. She wasn’t sure what had happened, exactly. The hail had stopped and the temperature rose just slightly, but Alexia didn’t wait.

  She pried Blaine’s fingers loose from Cali’s necklace. They popped and ice flakes cracked off his joints. He was frozen. Once the necklace was loose, Alexia worked at unwinding Cali’s long hair from Blaine’s forearm. She heard Cali gasping just as the last of her hair came loose. Cali sank to the floor in an awkward pile.

  Alexia pulled her best friend up and carried her as best she could. One arm slung over Alexia’s shoulder and she wrapped her own around Cali’s waist, pulling her from the room. Cali let out a soft moan, but her eyes were still closed, and her head lolled to the side. Reaching the door, Alexia heard a cracking sound. Stopping, she turned unwillingly back toward Blaine. The blue was fading from his lips and he blinked.

  “What did you do to me?” His voice filled the room and Alexia cringed. Blaine didn’t approach her.

  Instead of answering, Alexia skirted out the door. She closed it behind her, wishing she could freeze it shut. The doorknob turned cold, but there was no ice. As best as she could, she dragged Cali toward her pile of friends. They hadn’t moved. She lowered Cali to the floor as gently as she could.

  There was no time to rest. She yelled, but no one stirred. She moved back to Leland who was slowly sliding down the wall. “Leland?” She snapped her fingers in front of his face. He shook his head and focused on her.

  “What happened?” His voice was thick with sleep.

  “Fix Gregory,” she told him. “Blaine did something.”

  Leland moved toward Gregory and she turned her attention to Dustin. He crouched with his head between his knees.

  “Dustin, snap out of this. Cali needs you.” Alexia could hear the pleading in her voice.

  His eyes, blurry and unfocused, looked at Alexia. She heard Leland talking to Gregory. She smacked Dustin’s cheek. “Snap out of it.”

  His eyes flew the rest of the way open and shot around the room. “Where is she?”

  Spotting her on the floor, Dustin unsteadily crawled to her. He sat, wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and pulled her head into his lap. He started mumbling something to her while stroking her hair.

  “Get an opening going. Get us out of here.”

  A dragging sound down the hall distracted her. Blaine moved in odd, jerky movements, but he moved fast.

  “Leland, go!” Alexia screamed.

  “Don’t go.” Blaine’s voice was menacing, and he sounded much stronger than he looked. “Stay and explain to me what the hell just happened.” He looked at each of them.

  “What did you do to us, Blaine?” Leland’s voice was shaky, but he stood as if to show he wasn’t afraid.

  Blaine tilted his head and his blue eyes sparkled. He didn’t answer, aside from raising an eyebrow. His perfect teeth shone in his predatory smile.

  Alexia reached out for Leland. “Link hands! Like when we made the window before. It helped then, it will again,” she called as Blaine crept closer.

  The group shifted so they were close enough to reach each other. Cali and Dustin stayed on the floor, but they held hands. Alexia felt the heat in her palms.

  “That is a neat trick you have there, Blaine.” Venom laced Leland’s tone.

  Alexia watched as hate flared behind Blaine’s eyes. His mouth twitched ever so slightly. He had shown them a strong ability, and they had deflected it. Another emotion, regret maybe, flashed across his face for only a second before his face hardened into a mask of pure cockiness. A small window started to form, but it wavered and stayed too small to use.

  “I have so much more than that,” Blaine bellowed. “More than you realize.” He clapped his hand and the wind whipped around them.

  The tiny opening Leland had created vanished and wind pushed and pulled the five sets of hands apart. Gregory flew through an open door to one of the rooms and there was a metallic crash. Alexia was knocked to the ground, and Dustin was tossed into a corner. He pulled Cali with him for a second, but a strong gust pulled them apart and she cartwheeled across the floor. Cali’s eyes opened, but she laid her head on the cold floor and closed them again.

  Caught in a gust with his arms flailing, Leland flew toward Blaine. He must not have expected it; his eyes widened, and he ducked. Leland reached out and clawed Blaine’s face. Four bright red scratches popped up on Blaine’s cheek and started to bleed. Leland convulsed and fell limp to the floor.

  Blaine’s forced angry expression didn’t hide the exhaustion hiding in the bags of his eyes. Alexia moved toward him and once he noticed her, his gaze hardened. He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. With the flick of a finger, the ground under Alexia rose. The earth pushed up at her feet. The floor cracked open and dirt flowed out, propelling her away from him.

  Alexia slammed into the opposite wall with a thud and dirt settled around her like a blanket. A burst of cold escaped her body. Something hot and sticky ran down her neck. Reaching to the back of her head, she felt the
warm liquid on her fingertips and pulled her hand back to her face. It dripped with blood.

  Leland shouted something Alexia couldn’t hear. She felt detached from the people rushing around the room. Leland looked dazed from his fall, but he moved quickly, crawling on all fours toward her. She couldn’t see anything wrong with him, but he seemed unable to stand.

  Alexia stumbled over to Dustin who picked up Cali. Gregory moved to Leland, helped him upright, and supported his weight as they closed the distance to her.

  Alexia looked at Blaine, wondering why he was letting them go. He stood encased in a rectangle of ice so large, no part of his body stuck out. The wind was gone.

  She heard voices around her but couldn’t focus on the words. She heard a cracking sound like ice breaking apart. A portal opened on the wall. The cracking sound echoed again as the ice encasing Blaine thawed. The room was warm and there was a puddle at Blaine’s feet. Alexia could see his fingers twitching.

  “Hurry,” Alexia whispered weakly. Gregory lifted her into his arms and dragged through the opening.

  ***

  Dustin collapsed on the large tiles of the kitchen floor as soon as he stepped through the opening in the air. Cali studied the hole from the other side. The thing in front of her had ragged edges and looking through it was like looking through iridescent plastic. She took a deep breath and leaned into Dustin. He moved his hand as if to stroke her hair, but his fingers tangled in the melted mess left on top of her head.

  They stepped through the plastic-looking thing in front of them. She felt it wrap around her, but it offered no resistance. It slid off her body and they were through. Wherever they landed was different. Cali wasn’t sure where she was, but she could tell Blaine wasn’t near. It felt safe.

  The kitchen they’d entered was large and sunny. There was a narrow island lined with barstools to Cali’s right, and behind that, the fridge. There was a table near her with more chairs, but she stayed on the floor. She looked into a large living room. The plush furniture looked inviting, but Cali was too tired to cross the room.

  Once everyone was through, the portal snapped shut with such force, Cali was sure it would have taken the leg off anyone a second slower. Lexi was being carried to the couch and Cali’s stomach twisted as she watched her limp body.

  Looking away, Cali focused on the other people in the room. The two men who carried Lexi, she guessed, were Leland and Gregory. They collapsed to the floor after putting Lexi down.

  “Lexi?”

  Her friend stirred at her voice. “I’m okay, Cali. Just a little dizzy.”

  “Oh good. You looked pretty bad in there.”

  “Pretty bad for a dead girl, that’s really saying something.”

  Cali laughed. She’d missed Lexi’s sense of humor.

  “So, I’m Cali. This is Dustin.”

  “Of course. What a mess. Sorry, I’m Gregory. This is Leland.”

  Cali nodded.

  “So, uhh, what’s going on?” Dustin asked.

  “We’re dead?” Cali asked.

  “You’re not dead,” Lexi croaked.

  Gregory looked better than he had just minutes before. He straightened. “You’re not dead, but your Essence isn’t in your body at the moment.”

  Cali looked to Dustin, who shrugged. “What’s an Essence?”

  “It’s what we are when we’re dead. It’s like a soul,” Lexi said.

  Cali listened while Gregory explained about Essences and Blaine and the protection Lexi’s Ether provided. While he spoke, she felt better. Confused, sure, but physically better.

  “That sounds insane,” Dustin said when Gregory finished. “We’re not dead, but you all are. We’re here in a place Blaine—who is trying to kill us for magical powers—put a spell on, but his spell backfired and so we’re safe here?”

  “Pretty much sums it up,” Lexi said. She was sitting and looked better. “You forgot the part about how we have to kill him so you guys don’t die and so I can go to the afterlife.”

  “Sure.” Dustin screwed up his face. “Sure, sure. Of course.”

  He looked at Cali, who shrugged. “I mean, I trust her. And that dude almost killed us, so. Either we’re dreaming or it’s true.”

  “Alright, well now what?” he asked.

  Gregory moved to a large padded armchair. “When Alexia attacked Blaine, whatever shield he had around his mind dropped. I hadn’t even realized he had a shield. It must’ve been how he kept his true nature hidden from me.”

  “He was frozen in ice. Lexi did that?” Cali screwed up her face.

  “That’s me. I’m weather girl, which apparently allows me to freeze Blaine into an ice cube.” She lifted an eyebrow.

  “Tell us about the shield.” Dustin looked intently at him.

  “It’s hard to describe since I didn’t know it was there until it was gone.” Gregory shook his head. “But once I realized there had been something there, I was able to see it when it started to come back. It felt a lot like the block around this Ether.”

  Lexi nodded. “Well, we knew Blaine blocked this. So, that almost makes sense.”

  “What happened?” Leland asked from his corner. He barely lifted his head and didn’t look up from the floor.

  Gregory looked at Leland, cocked his head to the side as if deciding something and walked over to him. He paused for only a second before kneeling in front of him. Gregory put Leland’s head between his palms and it was as if a current shot down his back. “Something happened.” He dropped his hands.

  Leland’s face flushed. After a pause, he looked back to Gregory.

  Gregory nodded a sad yet understanding smile. “I guess we’re lucky that his stolen powers have holes and you found a weakness.”

  “What happened to me?” Leland’s voice was scratchy.

  “Blaine’s power is similar to yours, Leland, and yet, very different.” Gregory put his hand on Leland’s shoulder. “You are able to copy other Essences’ powers. Blaine takes powers violently and he only gets a watered-down version of that Essence’s strongest power.”

  Leland finally uncurled from his tight ball and shrugged.

  “I don’t know if it was from the contact and your similar powers, or if it was simply the violence. Perhaps some combination, but when you scratched Blaine today, I think you copied his powers. I can see them inside of you. Fragmented and incomplete, like the glimpse I had of his.”

  “But that isn’t how it works. I don’t just copy people’s powers.” The look of guilt deepened in his face. His eyes darted to everyone near him.

  Cali looked to Dustin; he looked just as confused as she felt.

  “It isn’t your power,” Gregory confirmed. “It has something to do with Blaine. I don’t fully understand it. But I sense all the powers he had in you.”

  Leland’s face contorted like he was holding back tears. “I feel dirty. These powers were stolen. I’m just as evil as Blaine for possessing it.”

  Gregory shook his head sternly. “You’re not. Having Blaine’s powers doesn’t make you Blaine. You’re still a good person.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Leland asked.

  Gregory chuckled. “You know that I know.”

  Leland looked at him for a long minute before nodding.

  “Having his powers could be an advantage,” Lexi mumbled.

  “I don’t even know what I have!” Leland protested.

  Cali shrugged. “It probably wouldn’t hurt if you could use some of his stuff against him.”

  “We know Blaine has mind tricks. He can’t erase your mind, but he can do strange things.” Gregory wrung his hands while he paced.

  “Like what he did to us in the hospital?” Dustin asked. “He made us forget what we were doing and go to sleep.”

  Gregory nodded.

  “But only for a moment,” Lexi said. “I was able to stop it. All of you did too.” She looked into his warm green eyes.

  Gregory nodded slowly. “He was surprised you were able t
o do that, especially since you’ve been under his spell so long.”

  “Right,” Lexi sagged. “My memories still haven’t come back completely.”

  “You probably just need more time.”

  “Yeah, and in the meantime, not get dispersed by Blaine,” Lexi added with a crooked smile. Her eyes dropped and Cali noticed she was having a hard time keeping them open.

  “Well, yes.” Gregory laughed. “That would certainly make it harder to get your memory back.”

  “As long as Blaine is after us, he won’t go after anyone else. If we can stop him, we can save everyone else from being in danger from him,” Lexi said dryly.

  “I don’t know about that,” Gregory said.

  “No?” Leland asked.

  “He’s been hunting you for a long time. You guys really pissed him off and you keep slipping away. I saw his memories. In between chasing you, he hunts down others.”

  “So, if we hide here, he’ll just kill a bunch more innocent Essences?” Lexi asked.

  Gregory nodded. “If we stay hidden here, we will be safe, but no one else will be. And for how long? What’s to stop him from dispersing everyone he needs until he has the power to get in here and take us by force.”

  The room fell silent.

  “What can we do?” Leland asked.

  “We have to fight,” Lexi’s hollow voice answered.

  Gregory shook his head. “Not tonight. We need to rest. We need a plan.”

  “Umm,” Cali interrupted, “how long can we stay here? Will our bodies die without us there?”

  “In theory? Years. Decades even,” Gregory said.

  “Like a vegetable?” Cali asked. She felt her stomach sink.

  “Yes. You can stay out of your body for quite a while, especially since your body is healing. You’ll have to return to them, but right now they are so damaged, being there wouldn’t help. You’d be sitting ducks.”