Darkness Within

by Carli Castle

  He heard a scream and knew the next soul was ready for him, ready for his taking.

  He moved forward, almost relaxed. It didn’t make him nervous to know he was going to take a life. Not like it did at first. Now, it was natural. It was a matter of survival.

  Once he reached the spot where the young woman was being held by the shadows, he hesitated, but only for a moment. This body he was inhabiting was not going to work for long if it kept trying to stop him from doing what he set out to do. He would have to find another one, and he didn’t want to have to do that. It was exhausting.

  He lifted the witch’s staff, which transformed into the sword before he lifted it over his head, and then slashed down. The crunch of bone, the slice of flesh, brought him an indescribable feeling of completeness. And when the soul flowed into the sword, he felt it make him stronger. He felt the effects of the powers take over him, giving him one more thing he could use to get the powers he truly wanted. The powers of the elements.

  For the moment, he reveled in the completeness he felt with this new soul. It was amazing. Like a full body orgasm that shook his every cell, and seeped out of every pore.

  He breathed in deeply, knowing he needed rest, but realizing he couldn’t sit down now. He had to take over this vessel once and for all. Do what he set out to do for so long.

  “Go get me the rest. I need to finish this now,” he said to the shadows, and they left to his bidding.

  He laughed under his breath. Oh yes, this was going to do.

  Lucas awoke with a great gasp, sitting on the bed. He was drenched in sweat, his hair matted against his forehead. Drops were sliding onto his face, down his back, every cell in his body shivering with the remnants of that dream.

  However, he was aware it had not been a mere dream. It felt like more. He didn’t know how he knew, he just did.

  He stood from the bed, not bothering with shoes. As he ran downstairs, he bumped into Noah, who had a stack of books and a notepad in hand.

  “Hey, watch where you’re going,” he yelled, but Lucas didn’t stop.

  “Mom,” Lucas called from the foyer, ignoring Noah, and making his way to the kitchen.

  “Lucas?”

  “Mom, something’s happened.” He slipped on some water in the kitchen, but stopped himself from going head first into the counter. Caleb and his father were both sitting on the breakfast nook, eating.

  “What happened,” Mom asked.

  “There was another killing. There was a killing in the forest just now,” he told her.

  “What?” Caleb stood, his food forgotten. “Who? Where?”

  “A girl, I don’t know where,” he told Caleb.

  “How do you know this? You were supposed to be asleep,” Mom said.

  “I was, and I dreamt it,” he said, realizing how it sounded after he said it. “But it wasn’t a dream, I know what I saw. I was Udyia, and I was instructing the Shadows to find me souls to consume with the sword. I—the me in my dream—killed a woman, and instructed shadows to find me the rest of the souls. It wants to take over the body it possessed. ”

  “You just said it, Lucas, it was a dream, nothing more,” Caleb said cautiously.

  “No, it wasn’t just a dream. I swear, this was different. Someone is dead and there are eight others who are in grave danger.”

  Caleb looked skeptical for a moment, but he nodded.

  “All right, let’s go take a look. What part of the forest was it?”

  “I’m not sure, I think the north side. I think I saw birch trees, but I can’t be sure.”

  Caleb just looked at him for a moment, and Lucas snapped.

  He turned around, and without bothering to put on his shoes, he walked outside into the cool dusk air. The sun was still going down, throwing orange, purple, and pink hues all about the sky. He teleported to the spot where he had seen things happen. There was nothing. But something was definitely not right.

  Everything was extremely quiet. The same way it had become when the Shadows were brought to mom’s house that afternoon.

  “Lucas.” Mom was beside him now, accompanied by his dad and Caleb.

  “Mom, don’t try to convince me to go back. I will not leave this forest until I figure out what happened.” And until I figure out if I caused this, and how—he added to himself.

  He walked forward, stones and branches biting at the bottom of his feet.

  The smell of blood hit him first, then that feeling came over him. The same feeling as always. When he knew something was definitely wrong.

  There was a shriek, and he turned to his mom bent over at the waist. Dad was holding her up.

  Lucas’s brain didn’t even register that he was moving, but soon enough, he was standing next to his family, looking down at the woman on the ground. There was blood everywhere, and her eyes and mouth were wide open in horror.

  Lucas turned around, unable to continue looking at her. That was an image you never got used to.

  He also knew it wasn’t over, because he had just confirmed his dream had been more than a hallucination. He’d been there. He had been the person that killed that girl.

  He closed his eyes, ignoring everything else, and focused on the forest, on the noises, and the atmosphere. There was something there, he could feel it crawling in his skin.

  His feet began to move. It was as if he could feel where the Shadows were. It was the strangest feeling. Like he was connected to them.

  Then he heard it. A man this time, pleading for his life.

  He began to run.

  “Lucas, what are you doing?” He heard Caleb yelling at him, but he didn’t stop.

  He could hear Caleb running behind him, trying to catch up, but he didn’t stop, nor did he look back. He had to save that man. He had to get to him and prevent the masked person from killing him.

  “Lucas, stop!”

  But Lucas didn’t stop. He kept going, and soon, he was there. Among the trees. Looking at the scene in front of him. The great sword slashing down.

  “NO,” he screamed, and got the attention of all the shadows and the masked person. He stepped from behind the trees and ran forward. He didn’t know what he was going to do, he let instinct take over.

  “Lucas,” Caleb yelled as if from far away. He felt the fire forming inside him, running through his veins as he ran toward the Shadows and the masked killer.

  The fire shot out and hit one of the shadows, and another ball of fire immediately formed. He shot it at the masked figure, but it used the sword to deflect it.

  Lucas stumbled back, scared that he’d made a big mistake by running there without a plan. But he didn’t have time to be afraid, and shot another ball of fire, and it got deflected as well, batted back at him with the sword, and he ducked to avoid it. He missed it by a hair, and when he was able to stand up straight, which took nothing more than a second, he retreated. He grabbed Caleb’s arm when he ran by him and pulled him along. He knew the shadows were going to be right on their tails, and he wanted to avoid them.

  “What is going on,” Caleb yelled as he ran as fast as he could beside Lucas.

  “Just run,” Lucas yelled back, winded, and continued practically flying down the forest. Then, like something out of a bad horror novel, his foot caught on something, and he sprawled on the ground, hitting his head hard. Blood spurted all over his face from his forehead, and maybe from his nose, he wasn’t sure. His arm registered some sort of pain, but it was dull.

  A scream, the most horrified scream, snapped his attention back to Caleb. He was scrambling back on his heels and his hands. He was bloody, almost from head to toe, and fear paralyzed Lucas. He was hurt, his brother was hurt and all because of him. He had brought his family into this situation. Where were mom and dad?

  Lightning struck across the sky, and wind lifted all around them. He wasn’t doing it, he knew he wasn’t, but the wind picked up. It was a hot wind, something strange and unlike anything else he had ever felt.

  He lifted his he
ad. The hooded swordsman lifted the sword to the sky, that terrible blade moving and screaming as silver wisps flew into it. They were engulfed in a black aura that glowed like it was the middle of the day, and the scream that came out of its mouth was triumphant.

  The swordsman disappeared, and Lucas gave in to the intense bout of nausea. His stomach heaved all its contents, shooting them out his bloody mouth and nose, threatening to completely choke him, covering him from head to toe. It hurt to breathe.

  There was a great commotion just moments later, but he didn’t know what was happening. He was sure he and Caleb were going to die. They were going to die that night because of his stupidity.

  Someone was shaking him, but his eyes wouldn’t focus on anything. The pain hit him like a boulder. He couldn’t move his arm, and the agony that came with the movement made him vomit again. He could feel hands on him, on his face, lifting his lids, but he couldn’t tell who it was. He couldn’t even remember his name. He was getting more and more frustrated and disgusted with his body's reaction every time he used his powers.

  The sting of a slap on his cheek registered, but his eyes were pulled to something else.

  “Lucas,” came a male voice from really far away. “Lucas.” But Lucas’s gaze became trapped to the spot that was just a few steps away from where he had fallen, the spot where Caleb was still half sitting.

  There was a group of people—all young people—on the ground. They were all bathed in bright red blood, each one with a great hole in their chest.

  Chapter Twenty

  He faded in and out of consciousness. Sometimes, he felt as if he was fully awake, though he had his eyes closed. He could hear everything going on around him, the healers, the assistants, the poking and prodding, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t let them know he could feel and hear everything.

  He didn’t know how long he was at the healing house, but when he woke up, it was nighttime. There were several people in the room with him: Caleb, his mother and father, King Patrick, Asher, and Harper.

  Caleb’s face was scratched, his arm in a sling again. He had purple and blue bruises on his arm, on his shoulder, and on his face. Mom was trying to get him to sit down, and he arguing every step of the way before he let her push him down on a chair.

  Guilt tightened his throat. He had put those there. Not with his own hands, but he might as well have. He had been reckless, thinking he could go into the forest and defeat whoever it was that was causing these horrible deaths in the realm. He was an idiot. A complete and utter idiot. Everyone in his life got hurt because of him.

  If only you let me help you, Lucas. You don’t have to feel like this anymore, I can take it all away.

  “Son.” Dad stepped forward and put his hand on his forehead. The splitting headache came as if it had been waiting for someone to touch him. He tried to move, but realized that his arm was immobile next to him. He looked down at it. It had been wrapped with bandages. He couldn’t feel the effects of any potions working on it and wondered why.

  “Your arm is broken, son, it is still healing,” his father said. “Stay still.”

  “What’s everyone doing here,” he asked. His throat felt raw and dry. It was painful to breathe. No one answered, and he looked at everyone. “Mom?”

  “Udyia is back,” she whispered, her eyes spilling over, and fat tears running down her face. Harper sucked in her breath, as if she wasn’t ready to hear it out loud, but the look on her face was not that of surprise. “She’s back. I felt her in that forest. She has fully possessed whoever is behind that mask.”

  “I know,” he admitted, remembering that vivid dream. Or should he call it a vision? He had no idea, he hadn’t really had any visions before, so he didn’t know what to expect. However, the fact that he had found the person murdered in his dream, was enough for him to know that was the truth. His water power was bringing him visions. “How long have I been here?”

  “Just since last night,” his father answered.

  “It feels like it’s been longer.”

  “You were out the entire time. Almost twenty-four hours,” Dad responded.

  Caleb stood from his chair, ignoring a scowl from their mother, and walked forward. “The situation has become a lot more serious than ever before, Lucas. Udyia has the full possession of someone’s body and we don’t know who it is. We have no clue if it is a man or a woman, or close to any of us. It could be anyone. In this room are the only people that have been eliminated from the pile of possible suspects.”

  “And now I’m in immediate danger because I possess the powers of all the elements,” Lucas finished for him.

  “We all are,” Caleb said. “If Udyia kills you…”

  “She gets all four powers at the same time,” he finished again. He didn’t have to hear anyone say it, because he was painfully aware of this, and had been for a while.

  He looked at Caleb for a while longer. His face was badly bruised, and Lucas could see the stress in him. It was in the set of his shoulders, how his mouth set in a straight line. His brother could have been killed because of his recklessness.

  He had to work hard to keep tears at bay. It just wouldn’t do to start crying like a little boy in front of everyone, but it was difficult. He didn’t know how to handle this anymore. He wanted to help, to protect, to keep Udyia as far from the powers as possible, but he didn’t know how. Every time he used a power, he became helpless.

  “Then how do we release them,” he asked, looking at no one in particular. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but at the same time, he wanted to do everything he could to make this all better.

  “We have talked with the High Priests and there is one way, but it will be an extremely painful and long process.” Asher stepped forward.

  “I have to die,” he mumbled, steeling himself for the truth. He was ready to let go, if it meant his loved ones would be safe. If Elle would be safe.

  “Three times, to be exact,” Asher said. “Each time, a power will be released from your heart, and they will find asylum in another vessel.”

  “Another vessel,” he asked, remembering the vision, and how Udyia had called the body it was in a vessel. “You mean another person.”

  “Not this time,” Caleb said.

  Lucas frowned. “What do you mean ‘not this time’? The powers have to be used against Udyia to be able to defeat her.”

  “Yes, but while we find a worthy vessel, they will remain in my custody,” Caleb said with finality, his lips tight.

  “And how do you propose that I die three times?” Lucas looked up at Asher. “Am I the only one that thinks that’s actually impossible?”

  “Not impossible,” King Patrick said.

  “We have spoken to the High Priests, and to Phoenix Priests and Priestesses.” His mom stepped forward and took his hand. “They are to help you come back three times until those powers are out of you for good, son.”

  “But mom, what if they can’t?”

  “They can,” she said, her face set, though her voice trembled. “Phoenixes are the only race that can be reborn from their ashes, and they can help you in the transition.”

  “I think you’re all forgetting that I’m not a Phoenix,” he said, trying hard to keep his stomach from heaving. He was so drained of energy he could barely keep open his eyes.

  “We have it all worked out,” Asher said. “You don’t need to worry about the details, Lucas, this is something we have planned to the most miniscule detail.”

  “It will most likely be painful, but it’s worth it if it saves your life,” Harper said.

  “We have full support from the High Priests,” Asher said. He looked extremely tired. “And with the priestesses from Cionaodh, you have everything you need.”

  His head did a flip, and he had to close his eyes. The pounding behind his forehead had become more intense, and he felt like he was going to throw up. He was sick of throwing up.

  “We should let him rest,” his dad said. He heard the
door open and close, but he didn’t open his eyes for a very long time. To anyone watching him, he would look like he was sleeping, but he wasn’t. He needed to rest his eyes, to command to his stomach to stop heaving and trying to vomit stuff that wasn’t there.

  After a while, when the nausea had subsided, he opened his eyes and his heart jolted.

  Elle was standing by the door, looking weary, uncertain.

  “Lucas,” she whispered, walking toward him.

  He couldn’t say anything for a long time, because he couldn’t get anything past the terrible lump in his throat. Her free hand went to his forehead and his headache eased.

  “You don’t need to do that,” he mumbled. He didn’t even care when his voice shook. He wanted to hug her, to kiss her and ask her to go away with him, like she’d wanted to, until he broke her heart.

  “I know I don’t.” She pulled her hand away. “Lucas…”

  “What are you doing here, Elle,” he asked her before she could continue. “I thought I was clear enough before.”

  She stood there looking at him, with no reaction. He needed it to be like this. Quick, ruthless, because it would keep her away from him. He was not good for her, he put her in danger. More than once. And he would die before he hurt her even more. She didn’t deserve to have to be with someone who had no control over a monster inside of him.

  Even when his heart was breaking, too. Because it was breaking. It hurt to even breathe, but he had been selfish for far too long. It was time that he became a man and took full control of his life. It was time to stop pretending like he knew what he was doing, because he didn’t. He was nothing more than a poor excuse of a man, someone that could not be trusted, even around the woman he loved.

  “I just wanted to make sure you’re all right,” she whispered, unbearable sadness in her eyes.

  “I’m fine, as you can see,” he said. “Nothing that can’t be healed by my father.”