by Jade Frances
Here, they both replied.
How you holding up? I asked. I needed their reassurance.
Scared, waiting in the kitchen with Barak. Hurry please, Rose replied.
I’m in my room, idiot Egan won’t let me pack my straighteners, Sandra moaned. I laughed, typical Sandra. The world was in turmoil and she was worried about beauty products.
Gotta go, idiots shouting again, I’ll grab you on the way down Evvy. Be with you soon, Rose.
I felt sorry for Egan with the fight he had coming his way with her. A frown formed on my face. They were here, and I was laughing at Sandra having an attitude. Shaking my head, I packed a couple of other bits. Five minutes later Sandra was pounding on my door. Accompanied by,
“let’s go, move it,” from Egan, who was furious. I guess Sandra had won. Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I looked around the room. I always seemed to run. No home lasted. Sadly, I switched off the light and walked out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Once we had all gathered in the kitchen, it surprised me to hear what little a plan we had. We were splitting into three groups. Evade and escape. Then reconvene at the hut. We would all take different routes to get there, hopefully throwing our scent off from the Veil. That was it, our grand plan. The first group was me, Adam and Pearce. Second was Rose, Darryl and Barak, and the third, Sandra, Taylor and Egan. I didn’t feel comfortable at all with splitting everyone up; we were stronger together. But I tried to understand the logistics behind it and not argue. The plan was weak, at best, I thought. As I looked around the group, I knew they thought it too. In such a short space of time, though, it was the best we could come up with. They had breached the perimeter toward the North; I learnt. Which bought us a little time to head South. Looking round at everyone’s grim faces, the severity of the situation hit me again. Pulling both of the girls in for a cuddle, I tried to ignore the fear and worry in their eyes.
“See you on the other side,” I whispered into their hair. I was sure Rose let out a small sob.
Stay strong girls, it’s not only the men who can defend themselves. Where is Avetta? I sent through the bond, praying it would lighten their worries a little.
I asked Egan, he wouldn’t answer, Sandra replied.
Right, doesn’t that seem weird to you?
Not really.
Be careful, they both sent. Hiding my fear, I squeezed both their hands reassuringly. Letting go, I turned to join Adam and Pearce, who were already heading for the back door.
“Whatever happens, whatever you see, don’t stop, do not ever stop,” Pearce told me, sending shivers down my spine. He was the first to dart forward. I didn’t hesitate in following him. Not looking back, I made a run for the back of the barn and straight into the tree line. It was the same route me and Darryl had taken when we left to find Adam. Adam, I knew, was slightly behind me and Pearce was just ahead. My protectors. They were fast and diligent, their eyes darting around looking for any sign of the Veil. We don’t know who they had sent, or what to expect. But my protectors were on high alert, prepared for anything. The forest floor was uneven, old tree stumps and random rubble were scattered everywhere. I tried to focus on running and staying on my feet. Between the floor and the backpack that was weighing heavily on my shoulders, I knew it was slowing my pace.
I’d rather move slightly slower though, than sprain an ankle or worse, break my neck. We had only been running for what seemed like ten minutes, but I was already starting to pant. I wondered how the others were getting on, or if they had even made it safely out of the house. For a second, I pondered if it was worth reaching to them through our bond. Concentrate, I told myself, they will be fine. I pushed all thoughts away and focused on the task at hand, evade and escape.
Only moments later, an icy breeze made its way up my spine. It wasn’t natural. Magic! I faltered slightly, nearly losing my footing, and thought I glimpsed something moving equally as fast as us, just to the left. The guys didn’t seem to notice though, or if they did, they weren’t making it known. Picking up my pace, my breathing sped up even more. The shadow I had seen suddenly burst out from the bushes to the left of us, heading straight for me. Energy vibrated in the air. Adam changed, faster than I had ever seen before, and was charging straight towards it. I froze. Scared. Worried. I couldn’t just leave him. I had to help. Pearce yanked my arm and pulled me forward, snapping me out of my haze.
“Run Evangeline,” there was a slight pleading to his voice. It worried him, I realised. Blocking out the growling and snapping ripping through the air, I ran again. I was pushing my legs harder, and faster, than I ever had before. They were burning, I could feel sweat dripping down my back and my breathing was coming in sharp and shallow. God, I hope Adam would be ok. Don’t look back, I told myself.
Girls! Sandra cried through our bond. We are in trouble. Egan, he... She cut off. I couldn’t feel her in my mind. Crap! What had happened?
Sandra! I called out, hoping she would reconnect. No answer came back.
Rose! I tried again. No answer. Panic set in and I risked a glance over to Pearce. From the look on his face, his brother had contacted him. He turned to me, raising an eyebrow. His eyes went wide as he took in my face. It was like he realised what I was about to do, before even I knew. I had to get to them. Determination rose from deep within me, overtaking my fear. I had to find them, and I had to help.
“Evangeline, no,” Pearce shouted.
“I have to,” I replied, as I steered off to the right.
“We have to keep you safe,” he shouted after me.
Again I caught sight of movement. “Pearce,” I screamed as a black shadow leapt straight for him. I threw a ball of fire in their direction, but I didn’t need to. Pearce had already sensed the attack. Dodging to the left, he ducked, swung around, and caught the wolf by its hind legs as it soared over him. With strength I never knew he had; he swung the wolf down onto the forest floor. I heard a sickening crack. Its neck must have broken on impact. Flinching at the sight before me, I noticed there were more shadows approaching from behind him. Pearce turned to me, his eyes blazing.
“Run.” Without a second thought, I started running again.
Fear coursed through me, but determination pushed me on. I would find the others. I broke out into a clearing, squinting as the sun’s rays temporarily blinded me. I hadn’t even noticed how dark it had been among the trees. Anxiously, I searched the trees behind me for any sign of Pearce or Adam. Neither were there. It was eerily silent, I could hear only the rustling of leaves. Movement across the field drew my attention. Slowly I stepped back, concealing myself in the trees, hoping I hadn’t been seen. Waiting silently, I watched.
I breathed a sigh of relief as Rose broke through the tree line. She looked as shocked and frantic as I was. Without thinking, I took off in a run towards her. Whipping round, she launched a tornado of air in my direction. Thankfully, before it hit, she realised it was me and called it back, falling to her knees. As I got closer to her, I could see she was drained. She had been using her energy and was weak. Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her to me.
“They’re cutting us off, I couldn’t reach you or Sandra,” she sobbed into my lap. “They were everywhere, I tried Evvy, I tried to stay strong and fight.”
“It’s ok Rose, it will be ok,” I whispered soothingly into her hair, desperately wishing that I could believe my own words. A rustling behind us had me jumping up defensively. Ready for whatever was heading our way.
There was no threat to us this time, though. I watched as Barak and Darryl made their way towards us. Relief coursed through me, only briefly, as it hit me that most of our group were still missing. Barak rushed over to Rose. As she lifted her head and looked up at him, I saw relief there too.
“I thought you were dead,” she sobbed. Barak scooped her up in his arms.
“I’m here, you’ve done so well,” he comforted her. She peered around his shoulder to give Darryl a weak smile.
“Reme
mber, I’m here then?” he asked cheekily.
“Of course,” she whispered, but turned her gaze swiftly back to Barak. Their reunion was sweet, but we couldn’t let our guard down. As if remembering that himself, Barak set Rose on her feet and turned to me.
“Pearce?” I looked at him, then the floor, then back again.
“I don’t know,” I replied. More movement across the clearing had us all looking in that direction. Barak was the first to jump into action.
“Egan,” I heard him say. “Stay with the girls,” he ordered Darryl.
Taking Rose’s hand in mine, we waited for the group to approach us. Either my mind was playing tricks on me, or I could only see three people walking towards us and one of them was Barak. No, I thought.
“What’s wrong?” Rose asked, she hadn’t been looking in their direction, she was watching the forest behind us. I didn’t know what to say, I couldn’t see them clear enough yet. A cloud passed over the sun, dimming the sky slightly. Now I could see. Egan, he was covered in blood and his shirt was torn to pieces, showing fresh wounds that were still bleeding. Laying in his arms was Sandra. Her body was limp, eyes closed. Rose noticed at the same time I did and let out a loud scream as she ran towards them.
Chasing after her, we reached them at the same time. Egan dropped to his knees, laying Sandra gently on the floor. I could see the small rise and fall of her chest.
“Oh, thank the lord,” I said.
“She’s only knocked out, stubborn girl wouldn’t run,” Egan said gruffly, although I detected a hint of pride in his voice.
“Of course she wouldn’t,” Rose whispered as she stroked her sister’s face. Taking off my jacket, I rolled it up and softly placed it under Sandra’s head. Kneeling by her side with Rose, I suddenly felt helpless.
“Girls,” Sandra croaked.
We both looked down at her in surprise. Her eyes were fluttering open.
“We are here,” Rosemary whispered. I fought back tears. Unexpectedly, arms grabbed me from behind, and I let out a small yelp as I was hauled away from the girls. Turning to face my attacker, I looked straight into grey eyes.
“You arse,” I yelled and punched Pearce right in the stomach.
“Humph.” I had taken him by surprise, finally landing a punch! Grinning, I forgot our situation for a moment and felt proud of myself.
“The first thing I taught you was not to turn your back,” he grumbled. He wasn’t mad though, I could see relief shining through his eyes as he took in my uninjured self. Before I could answer, something entered my mind. Dark and twisted. I fell to the floor as a searing heat followed it.
Have you seen enough Evangeline? There is no way out. The hoarse voice from my nightmares spoke in my mind.
No, No! Get out my head! I screamed. Through the pain, I wasn’t sure if I was screaming in my mind or out loud.
If you want your friends to live you will join me, Evangeline.
“Evangeline, Evangeline, listen to my voice. Block him out, push him back. You have a light inside you, grasp it. Push Evangeline,” I could hear Pearce’s frantic voice, but I couldn’t see him. Grasping light, I brought it to me, using it to strengthen myself.
You are not stronger than me, little girl; he boomed.
Maybe not, but I can try! I shouted back.
Fine, have it your way. Watch them all die! The darkness vanished, taking the voice with it.
As my senses slowly returned, I noticed I was sitting, wrapped in Pearce’s arms. He was rocking us gently. I looked up into his face.
“Hey, you,” I said weakly, “your back is to the forest,” I added.
“No jokes, little siren, what happened?” his gaze was intense, and I flinched under it.
“He wants me to join him, said he will let you all live if I go,” I told him. Pearce’s grey eyes turned into a hard-stony glare, his body tensed up.
“No.”
Peering round him, I noticed Adam was observing us. I felt guilty. I was sitting here practically on Pearce’s lap. No one else had seemed to notice, though. Moving away from him, I gave him a serious look.
“Don’t tell the others.” He nodded and joined me to stand.
“Don’t do anything stupid or heroic and I won’t.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, stroking his arm quickly, I walked towards everyone else.
We decided that it was safer if we stuck together.
“Which I could have told them in the first place,” I mumbled to myself.
The guys had formed a circle with us girls in the middle. We moved. Paranoia swept over me, my eyes were darting everywhere looking for signs of movement. There is no way out, he had told me. I didn’t notice Pearce stop until I walked right into him. Everyone came to a halt. Egan turned to look to the West and Barak turned to look to the East.
“They’ve trapped us in the clearing, we are surrounded,” Pearce announced. I wasn’t surprised. Aresollo had told me as much.
“What now?” Darryl growled; he was tense, ready to fight. Pearce turned to look at everyone, his gaze landing on me last.
“Fight or flight. Either way, not all of us are coming out of this alive.” I heard my own, and a few others, gasps as the severity of his words hit home. Pearce was still watching me closely; I broke his gaze to look at the group. As I took in the sight before me, I felt shock. Were they saying goodbye?
Pearce pulled me towards him.
“Remember our training.” I just stared at him, speechless. Shaking me now he was shouting, “Evvy listen, remember our training! I don’t know how many of them I can hold off.” Kissing my forehead lightly, he looked over my head, gave a small nod and walked over to his brothers. I sensed Adam behind me and turned to him. I watched as he shuffled from one foot to the other, staring at the ground. Finally he spoke.
“I’m sorry I’ve pushed you away, you seem happy though,” his eyes quickly glanced to Pearce then back down again. “I’m sorry I haven’t figured things out, if we survive this. I promise I’ll try harder.” He looked at me then, eyes full of sadness. It was a look I was getting so used to seeing on his face. Yet I had no clue how to make it better. I threw my arms around him and leant into his warm body.
“It’s ok Adam, we will talk when we survive, when this is over.” We had no more time, growls, shouts and magic buzzed in the air. They were coming.
It took Darryl and Adam only seconds to change. Their wolves stood beside me, strong and fierce. Adam howled and turned to look at me. A look of regret. I reached out a hand and stroked his fur. He leant into the comfort of my hand for a split second, then howled again. Both he and Darryl took off running towards a group that had emerged from the trees right in front of us. I watched as they both leapt mid-air, taking out the smaller wolves closest to them. Snarls and rips filled the air between us. They were tearing into each other. Another commotion had me spinning round. Taylor and Egan were fighting what looked like humans!
“Magic users,” Rose stuttered. That explained the icy feeling I had felt in the forest, I thought. It suddenly occurred to me that I had never seen Taylor use his gift. He looked magnificent; jets of waters streamed out in front of him. Wrapping around any magic user that got too close. Egan was equally impressive, throwing his balls of fire into any of them that were trying to get near us.
Barak hadn’t left Rose’s side, which gave me some slight comfort, I could tell that she was still weak. Sandra was watching Taylor and Egan, I could see her itching to get involved and gave her a look that I hoped showed as stand down. Pearce! I thought. Frantically, I searched the chaos for him. When I finally found him, I watched, captivated. Pearce wasn’t fighting one, but two wolves! I had nicknamed him the beast in training, but that had been child’s play compared to what I was witnessing now. He moved with such grace, yet delivered blows that were deadly. He was fighting like a God, unstoppable. I watched as he dodged, weaved and side kicked his way through any wolf that came near him. Why wasn’t he using his gift? The more I watch
ed, the faster the answer came to me. He didn’t need to.
Piercing screams tore through me, I whipped around trying to see where they were coming from. No one had moved, everyone was still fighting in the same spot they had been. Sandra and Rosemary, although scared as hell, looked relatively calm. What the? Again, I heard them piercing through me.
Evangeline, help me. He will kill me, Evvy, please.
I froze on the spot. I know that voice. The surrounding battle faded. Darkness swept in, I welcomed it this time, frantic. No pain accompanied the dark mist that was forming in my mind.
Ava! I called out. Where are you, Ava!
It wasn’t Ava that replied though; it was Aresollo.
Did I forget to mention I have your dear little friend, how rude of me. Dread trickled through every pore in my body. He had Ava, that had definitely been her, and there was nothing I could do. The feeling of hopelessness hit me.
But there is something isn’t there Evangeline, join me.
I can’t I whispered back, but even I knew I was slowly losing the will to fight him. I was losing any strength I had left. As if sensing that, Aresollo seemed to vamp up the volume of Ava’s screams. Her blood-curdling cries played over and over. It was heart wrenching to hear; she was only a girl. Covering my ears, I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. It was useless; the screams were in my mind and they weren’t going away, at least not until Aresollo decided they were. I tried to draw in strength.
Leave her alone! Please, I whimpered.
Join me, Evangeline.
Drawing in strength was proving useless. He was too strong. It could be a trap; he might not have her.
I can’t, I tried again. Look around you insolent child! They are dying! He pushed me out of the darkness and my eyes slowly adjusted again. I glanced around me. Everyone had been fine. It had only been a minute; I thought. Barak was holding back Rose, who was screaming and fighting to get to someone. Following her line of sight, I could see she was looking at Sandra, she was trying to get to her. Sandra was also screaming. There were tears streaming down her face as she raced towards someone. Egan, his body lay on the floor only feet away from her. Reaching him, she collapsed next to him, letting out piercing cries. Cries that tore through my very center. A loud, long, and painful howl stole my attention, and I looked towards Darryl.