by Abby James
I could track how far the blue had made its way up my arm by the cold, now in my shoulder, numbing my arm as it spread fast through my chest and then down to my stomach.
“All in one, Lor,” Amy said as Lorna lifted the glass to her lips.
I watched as she downed it as Amy instructed. Around me others copied, tipping their heads back to finish the last of the liquid off. Once done, everyone threw their glasses into the air and we were covered in a shower of sparks as the glasses shattered into glittering light.
Bile ran up my throat as my stomach filled with blue light and turned to ice. I placed my hand over my abdomen. The cold passed through my skin, shirt, trench coat and into my hand. Amy and Lorna were beaming silly smiles and looking at me. “You’re turn, Samara. Come on, all in one.”
“Do you feel cold?”
“Huh,” Amy said. Lorna was leaning on Amy with a goofy grin and didn’t seem to notice I’d asked anything.
“Are your insides turning to ice?”
The cold dipped down, down and down, then forked left across my hip and down again, funneling to the spot where I had been marked. When the cold touched the place it felt like it had been scorched by a branding iron. I cried out and pressed hard on the mark. Under my palm it burned hot, so hot it was too uncomfortable to keep my hand there.
I crumbled under the pain. Someone grabbed my glass as the cold liquid spilled over onto my hand.
“What’s wrong, Samara?” Amy said.
A groan was all I could say as the burn turned to stabbing pain, vicious in its relentless jabs. I pulled my hand away expecting to see blood, such was the violence of the feeling. Beyond the mark the cold continued turning my leg numb.
“Jesus, Samara, are you all right?”
I leaned into her, breathing in her perfume and feeling the eddies of wind that danced around me by being this close. The eddies funneled in through my nose, across my lips, catching the strands of my hair. Falling into her embrace, the eddies intensified, whipping faster and faster, spiraling around me like a mini tornado, slapping across my lips and cheeks.
“Oh shit, is this the witches’ brew, or am I really seeing this,” Amy said.
The wind increased, grew strong, severe, whipping and lashing at my body, tugging at my hair. The trench coat was ripped open allowing the cold to pierce straight into my heart. Amy’s perfect hair-do, along with mine, the reason we were late to the party, fell apart under the onslaught of the violent wind. Amy shrieked as someone from behind us pushed Lorna aside.
“Keep it to yourself, Amy. You’re disturbing our night.”
Amy had to yell in my ear because the wind was such that it caught her words and swept them away.
“What are you doing, Samara?”
It wasn’t me. At least I didn’t think it was me. All I could concentrate on was the stabbing pain at my thigh. But a new feeling had developed as well. Energy swelled up out of the place of the mark. The feeling reminded me of the first time I’d touched the faucet and received the mark. Thick ooze sludged up through my body, bulging and stretching the veins as it creeped, bringing with it a new sort of pain. The ice of the blue was replaced by a numb feeling, a heaviness as my leg turned to lead. The spread ate along the trail of the blue energy, rendering the area devoid of feeling.
I pushed out of Amy’s arms, and she stumbled backward onto the person behind her. The moment we separated the wind died, but the horrible invasion of my body continued.
Lorna touched my arm. “Samara, tell us what is going on?”
With her touch a sudden gust of wind pulsed around me, grew in speed and funneled down the line of students. Such was its ferocity it blew the students apart. It rushed onward creating a clearing right up to the table and the witches’ brew and blew the table up into the air. The lanterns winked out, and we were left with the glowing blue that shot out of the cauldrons and splashed through the night sky as a shimmering, glowing arc of iridescent blue paint. The wind caught the arc and blew it into a rainbow arch over to the top of the line of students.
Too late, I pulled myself free from Lorna and the wind disappeared. Left with nothing to suspend the witches’ brew and it sloshed out of the sky down on top of everyone below, leaving us covered in a sparkling blue glow.
“What the fuck?” someone yelled in front of us.
“Who let the wind loose,” someone else yelled.
“Oh god, Samara, did you do that?” Lorna said.
All I could do was nod.
“Unintentionally,” was my meek reply.
“Oh shit, we’re not going to be popular,” Amy said.
That was when my legs gave way and I slumped to the snow. My energy was gone, as was the feeling of the ooze moving itself inside my body.
“Samara,” Lorna and Amy shrieked. “Can we touch you?”
“No,” I said. “I’ll be all right. Just give me a minute.”
What the actual hell had happened to me.
“If you guys want to ruin the party, you’d better fuck off,” came a yell from behind us.
No good sitting on the ground. It drew attention to the culprits. I pushed to my knees, then tried to get up on one leg. Thank god my strength had returned.
“You sure you’re all right?” Amy said.
“I’m fine. I’ve got feeling back in my legs. You better not touch me, just to be on the safe side.”
“That sure was some weird shit,” Amy said.
I made it to my feet. The pain where the mark was had disappeared, as had the cold from the blue light.
“I have never been able to control that much wind. I just don’t have that ability yet,” Lorna said.
Amy moved in close, “shhh.” She glanced around to see who was near. “Not so loud, Lor.” Then she stared at me. “Tell us what’s going on. You’ve never wielded our ability with that much power before.”
“I really don’t know what happened. Somehow it was linked to the drink. I felt the cold penetrate deep within me.”
“What cold?” Lorna said.
“Wasn’t it cold to you guys?”
A look passed between them.
“Do you feel any weird effect from the drink?”
Both shook their head. “It’s like I said, each brew is tailored to fit the party. I guess they want us to experience something different to the last party.”
I needed to tell them what was going on with me, anything to off load the burden I felt with holding this secret. It had been a month since I was infected by the disgusting ooze, the sludge moving through my body, branding me the mysterious mark. One month of my throat constricted every time I tried to confess. My body fought against itself preventing me from saying anything. I was scared of what was happening to me, but not even my fear could release the words. And I felt it happening again. The mere thought of letting it out and my throat spasmed into a paralytic crunch, catching all at the base. I swallowed easily enough, but nothing would work the other way.
“Hey, guys, are you seeing this?” Lorna said, diverting my attention.
I turned to where she was looking to see swimming white lights wafting through the air toward us. No, not lights, but apparitions, trailing wispy tendrils like filaments behind them as they moved.
“I see it too,” I said.
“It’s eerily beautiful,” Amy said.
A general buzz broke out around us as everyone caught sight of the strange figures as they descended, ethereal bodies floating toward us. The dazzle of the light made their form difficult to make out, but somewhere amongst all the light and wafting misty trails had to be a Draak student, hidden within an enchantment or illusion, and not something connected to the drink or else why was I seeing them?
The apparitions circled the rotunda, herding us together like cattle. All around us the murmur grew too excited chatter. And perhaps I would feel it too if not for what had happened only moments ago, my violent highjacking of Amy’s and Lorna’s abilities. Tonight was not a good night, and it was
only going to get worse.
One of the shimmering beings floated forward from the rest in the circle, the designated leader for the night. “Tonight is the night of the Revenant, when those that have passed will be again and the veil separating our world and the heavens thin. It is a night for those that do not exist in this world to walk amongst us. The dead shall rise again and the gods shall descend.” His voice boomed out over the crowd with a megaphone effect, sending a tremor of eagerness laced with agitation amping out through the crowd. I’d be swept into the building anticipation as well if I wasn’t already weighted by anxiousness.
Some in the crowd whistled and clapped and many burst into laughter. The chatter grew loud as the bubble of excitement burst.
The leader rose his voice again. “But there are sinners amongst us, those who have strayed from the path, those who question the faith. Sinners condemn us all and prevent the descent of the gods.”
The crowd, whipped up into the building tension and theatrics of the night played their part by jeering and cursing the sinners, whoever they were.
The leader raised a floating, wafting filament, which was likely meant to be his hand, to soothe the crowd. “In order to receive our blessing,” he yelled over the noise, “we must have a sacrifice.”
That single word and the crowd roared with joy. This was the night everyone had anticipated for the whole year and all were now eager to play their role, become one of the characters in Draak’s script.
I glanced at Amy and Lorna only to see both were transfixed as were those around them. The witches’ brew was to blame, laced with some spell or concoction to ensure everyone joined in with the theme.
“We will call forth the sinners amongst you,” the leader bellowed, sounding every bit the orator, using his enhanced voice to sound like a cruel dictator. “Only one shall be given the honor to burn in the flames of redemption.”As he said the word a fire whooshed to life in the center of the gathering. “They will become the vessel through which the gods shall pass.”
The united roar filled the night sky.
The flames of the fire licked skyward, burning a hot blue at the base, then shifting and blending colors as they rose higher, shooting off sparks that formed into intricate shapes, animals that raced through the air, birds that flapped up to the stars. But no heat emanated from the core of the fire. There was no real fire. This was an energetic display, conjured from magic.
The leader lifted his gossamer, shimmering arm and a blazing ball of white light spiraled up from the center of his palm.
“May the luck of the gods grace you,” he said as he threw the ball into the air. It rose then exploded in a ray of dazzling white light that radiated out over the crowd. Splinters of light turned into small shards like shooting darts that arrowed down from above and seared through the gathering. The light darts threaded themselves through the throng of people, wrapping them up in white before releasing them and moving on.
Some darts settled on a guy a few people ahead of me, some settled on a girl further up the row. Once there they multiplied again until the captive students looked like Christmas trees hung with tiny white lights.
When the darts of light flashed passed me, some clung to my clothes. The rest halted, then bent back and surrounded me like buzzing insects before clinging on.
“The gods have made their choice. We have the candidates for tonight’s sacrifice.”
Once again everyone cheered and clapped.
“Bring them forth.”
Like tiny hands the lights pushed me away from Amy and Lorna and into the center of the crowd. I glanced around to see there were a dozen of us that had been chosen.
“So many sinners,” the leader said, sounding dismayed. “But there can only be one sacrifice,” he yelled raising his voice at the end.
A general sound of questioning rippled amongst those behind me.
The leader rose up higher than the other apparitions, up over our heads. “Bear witness, oh sinners, to the hunters.” He bellowed his voice louder than he’d done so far. The crescendo sent the crowd into a raucous frenzy.
I turned to see the crowd of students transforming into beasts. Amy and Lorna distended and distorted to become hideous forms with jagged fangs and hooked claws. Many of the students transformed into statues I recognized from the corridors of Darkwells, the pisa and griffin, the ugly gargoyle from over the door and many more, all mythical creatures molded as statues and now brought to life by the skill of Draak conjuring, snapping their teeth and pawing huge talons or claws along the snow covered ground. Some snarled, some roared, all looked eager to get a bit of our flesh between their teeth.
The leader descended down to us. With a wave of his hand the small white lights disappeared. “And now, my pretties, you must play your part. You will run like the prey you are. But be warned, staying together will only get you caught. Let the hunt begin.”
Us sinners glanced at each other. I could see in the eyes of the rest a real budding fear. One glance over to the horde of hungry beasts and I felt the threads of it too.
“Five….four—” the leader intoned, but he got no further than that before one of us sinners broke. All it took was one and the rest fled, me included, running across the snow covered ground like my life really did depend on my staying ahead.
We fanned out and sprinted across the Darkwells grounds, only it wasn’t the Darkwells grounds anymore. I’d only run a short distance when I found myself in a forest. Not the Darkwells forest, unless the trees in the Darkwells forest had suddenly lost all their leaves. The air was warm, the ground clear of snow. I slowed and spun around. What the hell? Then stumbled backward over a raised tree root. The fingernail of moon revealed the haunted forest of dead trees, gnarled boughs, exposed roots, twisting up from the base of the trunk and snaking along the ground, forming dangerous obstacles for a sprinter to trip over.
I was alone. No sooner had we begun to run than the dozen had disappeared. With no leaves on the trees, I would’ve thought I would see someone moving around, but even the air held still with no sound of running feet.
A snap of twig to my right and I froze. The creepies tickled up my spine and my heart lurched to triple time. I held my breath. The sound that came back to me was breathing, labored from exertion. Heel to toe I inched around the fat trunk that blocked my view, craning my head as far as I could go. A minotaur—a bloody minotaur—stood yards away. Its head disappeared up into the dead branches it was that tall, the trunk the only thing separating us.
I grimaced, breath held, and backed up. What if they had super amazing hearing? I was minotaur meat, or the sacrifice for the night, likely both. With a snout like that he probably had huge fangs.
I inched back around the tree to find I faced a clearing spanning yards across. Hadn’t I been running through a thick dead forest up until now? It seemed even the forest was colluding with the Draak night. A quick glance to either side and I soon discovered the forest was receding, leaving me caught in an island of trees. Behind, the snort of the minotaur loomed nearer. Shit, I had to sprint. Or I could give up. This was a game, an elaborate ruse. Nothing would happen if I handed myself over. But the snap of something broken under foot and the wet slapping of jaws and low rumble of a growl and the adrenaline sent me racing from cover and across the clearing.
Halfway across and I heard a roar to my left. I skidded to a halt, looking along the broad track to see another beast silhouetted against the moonlight. Something big and very ugly. I couldn’t even distinguish what it was.
My legs wouldn’t carry me fast enough through the clearing, but I made it. Finally those seconds of sprinting, which felt like it had turned into slow motion, were over and I burst through the dead trees, trees that offered me nothing in the way of protection. And it grew worse. I’d run from one dead forest of fat trunked trees to this spindly bunch of dead saplings. Bloody Draak where changing the scene as I went.
Behind me the pounding of heavy feet, the laborious breathing o
f a beast fast on the move, grunts and snarls and replied calls from other beasts closed in. They had my scent.
My heart hammered. There was not enough air to draw in. My legs became dead weights, aching from the exertion. I tripped once over a root I swear wasn’t there a moment ago and staggered forward pinwheeling my arms to keep me up. But I lost valuable time. More had joined the hunt, the pounding now a vibration of seismic proportions, rumbling through the ground, shaking the dead creaking trees. I gasped as I tried for more speed, try but there was nothing left in my legs.
I leaped over a log that rose up in front of me, before my eyes I had seen it grow. At the last I caught my foot, lost my balance and smashed face first into the ground with an oomph. The jar snapped my head back and cracked along my spine.
About to push to my feet, something heavy landed on top of me. I flung out with my arm in a useless swing, but hands wrapped around my waist and yanked me up. On my feet, I tried for another swing, to have my fist absorbed into the warmth of another.
“Steady,” came the voice.
The voice cleared my panic, cleared my eyes until I could see like it was day.
There before me stood Luca.
21
“Jesus that was close.” I breathed, my words coming out in short bursts because my heart still raced.
“You should’ve known better than to be a part of this.”
“I didn’t have much choice.”
“Then you should’ve come to the party with me. I would’ve made sure you didn’t get into trouble.”
“Amy would’ve killed me if I didn’t come with her.”
“What happened to the witches’ brew, Samara.”
“You were there the whole time? You saw?”
“Did you think I would leave you to get into trouble all by yourself. I can’t turn my eyes for one moment and you’re creating a drama.”
“I can’t say. I don’t know what happened. It was the witches’ brew I think. It made me do something weird.”
