Besides my irrational fear of basements, the Shadows had gone suddenly quiet, seemingly sucked into the vortex of the unknown. The hairs on the back of my neck sprung straight and my eyes watered with nervous energy. This could not be good.
I heard voices in the distance and decided they were the law enforcement investigating the cafeteria and what I could hear be referred to as the “bat problem.” I nodded toward the human sounds to alert Seth to be stealthily quiet.
I wasn’t exactly sure how we were going to get out of this mess and protect Mead High School, all without making an unexplainable scene. Right now it seemed impossible.
But safety first, right?
Seth motioned that he would go first and so I followed him into the dim stairwell and down the cement stairs that led beneath the school. It was still quiet when we turned the corner into the main hallway that ran the length of the school. There was no movement, no sound, no evil.
What in the world?
“I could have sworn I just felt the strongest presence….” I whispered as we crept carefully forward.
Our swords were held high, and we walked on our tiptoes, ready for anything at any time. A skittering near the boy’s locker room door caught our attention and we followed it, although something clearly didn’t feel right. Actually that was the problem. I didn’t feel anything.
“What do you think?” Seth asked, paused just on the outside of the locker room door.
“This feels a lot like a trap,” I admitted and Seth nodded in quick agreement. “But what choice do we have?”
“Wait for Serena and Nate?” Seth suggested.
The evil was there again, raising my hairs and reminding me just how elusive and evasive it was. I tilted my head when I realized how close it was, whatever “it” was. It may or may not exist but I was more frustrated than ever that Seth seemingly couldn’t feel the sneaky little evil. I had to get to the bottom of it.
“That’s if they even know we’re in trouble,” I sighed a little impatiently, knowing with the mystery evil floating around there was a strong possibility that the heightened evil activity hadn’t even registered with Serena yet.
“Stella, I will follow you to hell and back, just give me the word.”
“Then let’s do this,” I smirked, feeling confidence surge inside of me. Whatever the outcome, I knew the Council of Elders had chosen me for moments like these, Jupiter had drove me crazy and beat the crap out of me for chances like this and my parents had raised me to be prepared for exactly this moment.
I couldn’t back down. It just wasn’t in my nature.
With a quick breath and courage so fierce it formed the expression on his face, Seth shoved through the heavy wooden door. I was at his side before the door could even close and suddenly we were trapped in utter Darkness. The iciness of evil surrounded us, filling our lungs quickly with its presence and turning our blood to slush.
What was more frustrating than the fact that we had actually walked, willingly into a trap was that we should have known what was on the other side of the door. We were born with a sixth sense for detecting evil. One day I would literally be able to feel an increase in evil activity all the way across the world, but right now I couldn’t even tell what was on the other side of one door before I walked through it.
My breathing became quick and labored as I forced air in and out of my lungs, but the pungent smell of death made even the little oxygen I did get torturous. I clenched and unclenched my fists trying to keep the blood pumping to my hands, I needed to be able to grip and swing a sword or this fight would be over before it began.
And then they attacked.
From every direction and angle.
Seth and I kept our backs pressed against each other in an effort to protect each other while our swords flailed around us in graceful, skilled movements. There was no stopping the Shadows from touching my skin, slicing away at my arms and chest, my legs and anywhere else they could get to.
I winced against the pain, the consuming coldness. Icicles crackled through my veins as the pressure to cave against the debilitating torture threatened to win. I looked back at Seth for just the smallest moment as he fought vigilantly and mercilessly. How could I even entertain the idea of giving up when nothing would convince Seth that it would ever be time to throw in the towel?
I put more effort into my sword, more of myself into every swing. The Shadows were everywhere; there was no stopping them, no slowing them down. They just continued to attack as we fought them from taking us completely.
A concentrated rush of movement on my left side caused me to stumble to the side. I caught myself, never slowing the movement of my weapon, but I was effectively separated from Seth’s protection against my back. Immediately we had to get more involved in the fight, flipping forward or spinning around to keep the Shadows from being able to connect with our skin the best we could.
I felt my veins rise from my skin and knew that my golden skin would be marked with their swollen, black trails. I intensified my light and forced the Shadows back; giving myself some reprieve for a moment, but immediately the small space of the locker room felt the effects of the hot light.
And then the attack stalled completely.
The Shadows retreated to the farthest corners of the room, staying near the ceiling or close to the ground. I felt like we had been entombed in a coffin of evil. This was not going well.
From the darkness Aliah stepped out and I couldn’t even be surprised to see him. I immediately softened my light to protect the dilapidated locker room from more damage.
Aliah was perfect as usual, his golden brown hair was swept back from his forehead and his intense hazel eyes seemed to match his hair color perfectly. They were crinkled in a happy expression and I couldn’t help but admire the strong lines of his handsome face. His evil nature made my stomach curdle in disgust, knowing it belonged to someone who looked exactly like an Angel should.
“Aliah,” I growled. “This is clever.” I gestured with my sword to the room.
“What’s clever?” he asked, his lips twisting.
“School property…. We’re in here, surrounded by people we know…. broad daylight and all,” I offered while his smile grew.
“Oh that’s right, I forgot all about your moral code of conduct! Wouldn’t want to damage property that isn’t yours or blind an innocent bystander….” he laughed.
“Why are you here Aliah?” Seth asked and then sighed as if this was the biggest waste of time. “Didn’t we just go through this the other night?”
“We did,” Aliah admitted shortly. “But I didn’t get the outcome I was hoping for, so I thought I would try again and again and again until you give up pretending to be all holy light and join me!” I flinched at the way Aliah grew more animated with every word until he finished his sentence sounding disturbingly maniacal, his voice punching the syllables with a disconcerting poignancy.
“That will not happen Aliah, so why don’t we skip the next several weeks of you trying to court me and we end this right here, right now,” Seth growled, his eyes flashing with something other than light.
Aliah relaxed a little then, stretching his arms out like he was yawning. “Doesn’t it feel good?” He waited for us to respond and when we both stayed silent, poised to attack he continued, “The Darkness, can’t you feel it moving inside you, taking hold of those secret places you keep buried. It’s already there, it’s already made a bed. Just give in, let it take over. It’s so much easier. You will feel so much better, I promise.”
I took a step back at the hypnotizing tone to Aliah’s silky voice. He wasn’t speaking directly to me; he wasn’t even looking at me. He had eyes only for Seth and a direct link to his conscious. I watched Seth blush from embarrassment and frustration. He gripped his sword tighter but didn’t respond to Aliah verbally.
I hated that there was conflict inside of Seth.
I hated that Aliah knew exactly what to say.
But I also knew that Seth had to deal with this himself, I couldn’t fight this particular battle for him. He swallowed and it looked painful. I watched the indecision rage inside of him, pulling him in two very different directions.
Seth faltered for a half a beat more, the cloud of uncertainty settling over him in an oppressive weight that held down his shoulders. He tilted his head away from Aliah to look at me. Our eyes locked, a thousand words and a hundred emotions spoken silently between us. And then his eyes went from pained to brutally determined and I knew which side of his internal battle one.
“You can taunt me all you like, Uncle, but I will never join you,” Seth sneered.
I wasn’t the only one that flinched at Seth’s term of endearment.
“Your sister will be so disappointed to hear that,” Aliah stated simply.
“I warned you,” Seth growled.
“Oh about Seven?” Aliah laughed and then his expression turned cruel and serious. “You did warn me, but I have a hard time taking you children seriously. She is waiting for me though, better not keep her. She has quite the temper on her, feisty little thing. Did I tell you she was the one to end Sidra? She got so angry when Sidra wouldn’t tell her where you were, I’m afraid she just snapped a little bit. Not enough to completely diminish her light, just enough to dim it a little bit.”
“Dim her light?” Seth choked as he and I tried to process Aliah’s explanation. “You’re not telling me that she still….”
But he couldn’t finish his thought out loud. I couldn’t even finish his thought inside my head.
It simply wasn’t possible.
Aliah shot me a wicked smile, his eyes dancing with malice and unrestrained delight. I wanted to turn my head and be sick but I couldn’t take my eyes off his.
“Enough of this,” he announced, still smiling. “End them.”
And then the Shadows descended again, swarming us before we could stop Aliah from leaving. My light flared to brightness and my sword moved before my brain could catch up. Seth mimicked my movements and our heads were forced from Aliah’s parting words to the battle at hand.
The Shadows were everywhere, endless in their attack. I fought against them as best I could but they were simply relentless. My arms moved in practiced strikes, and I was covered with the black tar of their blood. The small reprieve from the icy evil I had gotten during our conversation with Aliah was gone and my blood had turned into the same kind of sleet that fell from the sky outside, it slushed around in my veins making me sluggish and stiff.
“We need a more open space,” I grunted to Seth and then let out a feral cry when the disgusting goop of a kill flew into my mouth tasting like acrid death.
“We have to get out of here,” Seth agreed, pushing back against a solid wall of evil advancing on him.
I turned my fight toward the door but it was completely obscured in the mass of Shadows advancing. I cursed loudly and then wondered how long they had been hiding down here, waiting for us. I wondered how thought out Aliah’s plan was, how deep it went.
I knew whatever happened today would have consequences that rippled for a long time, and I couldn’t help but just hope they included me and Seth…. alive.