LAILAH #3
Once in the bathroom, I splashed cold water on my face trying to calm the fuck down.
I blotted my face gently with a paper towel, trying not to wash off all my makeup.
I heard someone enter the bathroom, but didn’t really bother to see who it was.
Still bent over the sink, I didn’t see the attack coming, but I felt it as my head was smashed into the porcelain sink. Then I blacked out.
I groaned as I sat up, my head pounding like I was kicked by a horse.
I opened my eyes slowly and found that I wasn’t in the bathroom but an open field in the middle of nowhere.
Or that was my guess, since I couldn’t see anything to give me a clue to where I was.
The night sky was clear, and the moon was full, so the field was cast in a cold glow, making the whole scene look eerie.
“Little lamb, little lamb, I found you . . .”
The raspy voice grated on my nerves, sending me into a panic. How could the creature from my nightmare be here? I dreamt that whole thing, there’s no way it could be real.
Out of the shadows, a person materialized a few feet in front of me.
It was Mallory, but she was ashen, and her eyes were dead, unseeing orbs in her head.
Her body was limp and seemed to move like a puppet on strings.
I scrambled to my feet as the feeling of pure terror coursed through my body, and I froze at the vision before me.
Black smoke seemed to pour out of her mouth, and when it was done, the body fell limply to the ground.
The black smoke seemed to solidify into the shape of a creature that would only be in someone’s nightmares.
It was tall and skeletal, the remaining flesh on it was black and charred, falling from him like ash.
The face, if you could call it that, had no eyes, just a gaping mouth with rows of teeth.
Even without eyes, it seemed to know right where I was, so it could see in some fashion.
Its arms reached all the way down to its knees with long, sharply-pointed fingers.
It reached out to me, its claws falling short by a mere inch.
“You won’t get away from me this time, little lamb. I will have you and bring you to my master. He will be most pleased with me.” It stepped forward in a strange, disjointed way, like it didn’t really know how to use its legs.
“Why does your master want me?” I stammered, trying desperately to understand what was going on.
It cocked its head at me as if it didn’t understand the question. “The little lamb doesn’t know?” It laughed, the sound as grating as rocks crashing to the ground. “The angels’ weapon is clueless to its power. I am truly lucky to have been given this task.”
“You’re right, I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about. You must have me mistaken for someone else,” I said, clinging to that hope.
“No, little lamb, you may not know what you are, but I do.” It raised its hand again and let a claw-like finger scrape down my cheek hard enough that I felt it begin to bleed.
“Your power is close, but you have not owned it yet. Pity we will never see what you will become. I imagine the heaven’s light would have shone brightly from you, little lamb, or should I say, little Synergy. ”
If I hadn’t already been frozen where I stood, that one word would have done it. Synergy, the sixth element, according to Aydin Ryevick, that was to be the most powerful element of them all. Why would this creature be bringing that up now?
“I have delayed enough, now I must end you and bring your lifeless body to my master,” the creature said, pulling his hand back and straightening two fingers, readying to slit my throat.
My terror bubbled up in my throat strangling any cry for help.
I railed against my fear and the power that was holding me frozen in place.
I cried out with everything I had, desperate to live and save myself.
Hot tears streamed down my face, stinging in the cut on my cheek.
Finally, my voice returned, and I screamed loud and long, hoping anyone would be able to hear me and come to my rescue.
With that cry, I felt something deep inside me crack and burst, filling my body with explosive power.
My back bowed at the force of my power. It shot out of my hands and my mouth, seeking escape where it could, trying to free my body from its dark hold.
With that surge of power, my body was freed, and I fell to my knees, gasping for breath.
My throat burned as if I had just swallowed an ember.
I blinked a few times, trying to clear my eyes from the golden haze that clouded them.
“It seems that the little Elementi had found her spark,” the creature said, its voice no longer as sure as it once was. It had taken a step back from me and shrank away from the golden light I was surrounded by.
My power-filled body flowed with the knowledge that this was a demon, and he was the enemy.
I had no idea where the knowledge came from, but I didn’t argue with it.
Unfortunately, I didn’t know what to do about it.
Before I could come up with any sort of plan or idea, the demon attacked, lashing out at me with its talons.
Still on my knees, I rolled out of the way and surged to my feet, keeping the demon in my eyesight.
I sorted through the things I learned at the self-defense classes, but nothing was going to help me in this scenario.
It wasn’t trying to hold me and take me somewhere, no, this attacker was trying to kill me.
“Lailah, duck!” Hudson’s voice called out of the darkness.
Without hesitating, I dropped to the ground.
Gunshots went off, and the demon staggered back with two glowing blue bullet holes in its chest. It was followed up by an arrow to the middle of its head, knocking it to the ground.
Parker charged up to the demon with a glowing purple staff that had a blade attached to the end of it.
The demon was trying to stand, but in one fluid move, Parker severed its head.
The force of the hit sent the head flying off into the field and out of sight.
Micah strode forward, glowing from some internal light that made it seem like he was an ember in the dark of night.
Fire shot out of his hands, engulfing the demon’s body in flames until it was reduced to ashes.
Slowly, I made it up on my knees, but I knew I wasn’t ready to try and stand. Jay, holding a glowing white bow, walked over to me and crouched, looking me over. “Are you okay?”
I tried to nod my head yes but the power that had receded with their arrival burst forth again, drowning me until all I could see was golden light.
I was drifting, lost in the swirling golden light of a power that I knew was held in my body.
It had been dormant, waiting for the right time to be released.
No, that wasn’t right. It was waiting for the right people, who I was meant to find, to show up, and now they were here with me.
“Lailah Mackenzie, chosen bearer of the element Synergy, you have been awakened at last,” a soft lilting voice said.
Slowly, my eyes cleared only to be blinded by a bright white light as if I was staring into the sun. I raised a hand to shield my face from the rays. I could make out an outline of a figure dressed in white with large wings flared out on either side.