by Mela Zen
I tried my best to fight it off, but alas the all mighty tribrid is failing miserably.
That is when I feel myself closing my eyes, slowly and slowly each time. My lungs are begging me to breathe but I just simply could not fight it off. With each strangle, I made it worse, made my body weaker.
Then I stopped.
It smiled at its victory.
Just as I was about to shut my eyes, I felt myself plop onto the ground gasping and coughing for the much needed air. I sit up, feeling and seeing my chest rise and fall at a fast rate. I shake my head and look at the being limping itself up.
I follow the streak that is on the ground, tracing it back to my mate looking at his hands at disbelief. Once we made eye contact, he came running towards me, hugging me.
“Was that you,” I ask with a raspy voice.
“Can you believe it?” He chuckles.
“How?”
“I just...got angry?”
“Well, you didn’t turn green.”
“Or got big. You okay?”
“Barely breathing but I am sure I’ll be fine. What about the sword?”
“It’s nearly finished. Anna and Grace can do the rest. Looks like you, Jax, and Danny need some help.”
“Are you willing to fight and use up your energy?”
“Of course. Yeah. Although, there may be a slight problem.”
“Which is?”
I don’t exactly remember how to get that blast.”
“I am sure you will figure it out,” I say as I get up, “Jax and I will try to distract it again. You and Danny try hitting it from different angles. Give it all you got because most of us is running out of energy.”
“Are you sure you are okay?”
“Yes, Elijah. I will be. Just promise me you won’t try to be Mr. Superhero and do something stupid.”
“If you are in danger, I just might.”
“Elijah.”
“Fine. But I will if it gets terrible.”
“Okay. You ready?”
“Ready as I ever will be.”
“Lets go!”
Chapter 40
Elijah
Seeing her dangling from her head in the demons slinky claws, I swear my heart dropped. I pull my hands from the inner circle, ignoring the swears and the scowling from the other two witches, and left the barrier.
“Please, Ancestors, hear my call. Lend me the power that I have in me,” I look up to the sky, feeling the rain droplets hit my cheek.
The energy that Annabelle built up is now coming to me. I feel her energy and my energy joining forces, this overwhelming heat filling my veins.
I walk towards the demon, raise my hand, and flick it to the being. I felt the energy, the heat flowing from the soles to my feet, racing through my vessels and shoot from my hand, this clear yet silver color beam at the demon.
The energy blast hit the demon hard enough to let go of Annabelle and it hit the already broken tree trunk from earlier fights. I am shocked at the amount of power I mustered up, examining my hands. My eyes then darted to Annabelle who is also just as confused as I am.
“Was that you,” She asks as I kneel beside her, helping her breathe a bit.
“Can you believe it?” I chuckle.
“How?”
“I just...got angry?”
“Well, you didn’t turn green.”
Her sense of humor never ceases to amaze me. I pulled some of her hair back, examining her closely, “You okay?”
“Barely breathing but I am sure I’ll be fine. What about the sword?”
“It’s nearly finished. Anna and Grace can do the rest. Looks like you, Jax, and Danny need some help.”
“Are you willing to fight and use up your energy?”
“Of course. Yeah. Although, there may be a slight problem.”
“Which is?”
I don’t exactly remember how to get that blast,” I do but I don’t think I can do it again.
“I am sure you will figure it out,” she shakes her head as she stands, “Jax and I will try to distract it again. You and Danny try hitting it from different angles. Give it all you got because most of us are running out of energy.”
“Are you sure you are okay?”
“Yes, Elijah. I will be. Just promise me you won’t try to be Mr. Superhero and do something stupid.”
“If you are in danger, I just might.”
“Elijah.”
“Fine. But I will if it gets terrible.”
“Okay. You ready?”
“Ready as I ever will be.”
“Lets go!”
Running with Annabelle and Jax made me feel powerful. I thought I would never use this magic, especially the way I am using it now. I slow down my pace, concentrating on my body, my powers yet again in hopes to bring more of that energy. I felt it rise once more and aim it at the demon.
Only this time, it dodges my attack. It came pouncing towards me, only to be stopped by Danny and a few other werewolves. I am surprised that Danny is still here. I guess she wanted revenge for her husband.
“Hanc aquam in glaciem,” I yell, raising my hand and aiming it towards the demon. The icicles did nothing but annoy the demon. It knocked Danny right off, she crashing into the pile of mud and rocks.
Jax then grabs its legs once more, picking it up and spinning it around then tossing it to Annabelle. Annabelle then says some words and punch at it, aiming it towards me. Knowing what this meant, I balled my hand into a fist, closing my eyes to try to slow time down.
“Ad vim patitur mea mihi influunt pugnus,” I state. I mimic Annabelle, holding the same stance, opening my eyes seeing the demon coming towards me. I pull my right hand back and made contact with the demons face, sparks flying and we both pull in opposite directions.
I did not see where it landed, for I was wiping the mud away from my eyes. I see Annabelle and Jax coming nearby, helping me up. I examine both of them, exhausted, beaten and bruised.
“I don’t think I have much longer,” Jax states.
“Yeah me either,” Annabelle sighs, looking at me, “How about you?”
“Barely holding up. That son of a bitch still stands,” I point my chin at the demon getting up as if nothing had hit him.
“ANNABELLE HERE!” Anna shouts, tossing the white blade to Annabelle. Annabelle immediately catches it, holding the end tightly against her palms, seeing the white blade light up against her hand. She examines it and smiles, proud at this work.
“Anna!” Jax yells, racing towards Anna who falls down.
“Need not to worry. She is simply exhausted. Go on, I will take care of her, we are safe in this barrier,” Grace explains as Jax eases.
“You know how to use that thing?” I ask Annabelle who comes up to us.
“We are going to find out. Is she good?”
“She’s good. You?”
“Somewhat. You got any power left in ya, big boy?”
“Enough to get you to stab him, but not enough to keep him down. You got one shot at this, Annabelle.”
“Let’s make it count,” she smiles, facing her body towards the demon, it eyed the blade.
“It knows.”
“Go!” I shout and she does go on command.
With the very little energy I have left, I gather my strength, feeling it rise once more, and aim it towards the being. This time, I held a continuous stream, trying to hit it as it dodges time and time, also dodging Annabelle. Jax now joins in, helping me distract the demon.
Suddenly the demon pulls his arm down to the side, energy blasting from his chest sending all of us flying through the air. Annabelle drops the blade in the process, landing hard on the muddy earth.
“Fuck!” She yells trying to get to the blade but the demon got there first, tossing it far into the bushes.
We are fucked.
Chapter 41
Annabelle
I watch the blade fly into the unknown parts of the woods, landing somewhere far from me. My neck is t
hen reunited with the claws of the being, piercing my skin. I watched it open it’s big mouth, sinking its teeth in me, sucking up the blood I scarcely have. I fought at first, but I remembered the plan and I stopped fighting, allowing to take as much as possible.
Everything is going according to plan.
Then my eyes widen when I realized that too much blood is being sucked. My heart starts to race one more time as I struggle to fight it against it. However, the demon holds its ground, gulping the blood to what felt like gallon after gallon. I felt lightheaded, my breathing went from rapid to deep and slow quickly. That is until I felt the fangs glide across my neck, leaving burning pain.
“Annabelle?! You okay,” Elijah holds me up.
“No, I am not,” I grab my neck, soothing it. My healing abilities are even slower, not healing the big bite marks that are on my neck. Blood continues to drip from the wound.
“Here take some of my blood,” he pulls out his palm, opening it for me. I look at it, my heart dropping, as I see the multiple bite marks on it. I look at him who looks lighter from his original mocha color. I am beyond appalled at how I am using him.
“No, Elijah. You are just as weak as I am. I can’t any more blood from you. You are getting paler and paler by the minute,” I push his hand away.
“No Annabelle, come on. You need some, just take it!”
“Damn it, Elijah, no.”
That is when the ground begins to rumble, rocks shaking and lifting slowly into the air. The water that is dropping begins to make its way back up. I felt the massive amount of negative energy rising, gathering towards the demon.
It’s too strong. I need that blade now.
“What is it doing?” Jax limps towards us, plopping to the floor on his knees.
“Rising its energy,” I sigh, “This is it, boys. We are bruised and beaten to the pulp but we have to use all the energy we have left to fight.”
“Even if we die?”
“Even if we die.”
We all get up heroically, bracing ourselves as the demon finishes powering up. It looks at us as if we were pesky rats, in its way from domination. Now it begins walking towards us, slowly at first but with each step, it picks up the pace.
“We are fucked,” Jax says bluntly.
“You think?” Elijah agrees.
“Let’s go out with a bang,” I say smiling.
Jax and I both went first as Elijah says a few words to gather more energy. I hit it at its legs while Jax aims for the top. With the newfound energy, it dodges us, kicking me first to the side then slamming Jax’s big body down. I immediately get up, wrap my legs around its waist from the back and hold its neck up.
“Elijah!” I yelled.
On cue, multiple rocks and branches hit its abdomen as I hold from behind. I smell its blood from the base of the neck. This is my chance. I stick out my tongue and lick the droplets of blood. I immediately wanted to puke, but I couldn’t because I need this blood to circulate in my system.
That is when I felt the claws grasps onto my shoulders and lift me from its back throwing me at Elijah. I roll off of him, looking immediately at him, making sure he is okay. That is when a shiny speck hits my eyes.
I narrowed my eyes at it, seeing the speck behind a damped bush. My heart beats and that’s when I knew I found the blade. I get up, ignoring the battle and Elijah. Once I reached it, I picked it up from the bush and hold it.
I turn around and hold it to the side, angling it for the brightness to attract the being. And it did. It looks up from Jax, who was getting beat badly and throws him to the side, solely focusing on me.
“We are bound by blood,” I hold the blade tightly in my hands, “My life and yours.”
The demon growls and races towards me, it knew what I meant. I lift the blade and pierced it into my heart, where my soul lies. I heard the screams from everyone, telling me to stop. I dug it deeper, each inch hurting more and more. The demon stops in the middle of its run, screaming in agonizing pain as a bright, piercing light is shooting through its chest, almost mimicking my pain.
As a additive measure, I twist it with the little strength I have left making sure it cuts me good. Both the demon and I fall to the ground, the only difference is that the demon is turning into flames whereas my body lies there, soaking up the droplets.
My eyes look towards the dark skies lightening up. The clouds slowly disappearing and even the dark barrier Maggie left all those days ago. The air begins to lighten up, the freshness begins to blow through. I blink a couple of times, smiling. I finally feel at peace.
“Annabelle,” Elijah picks up my dead body, “Annabelle baby what did you do?”
I continue to stare into the sky, the sun shining brightly. I could no longer talk. I had chosen and accepted my fate. I am just waiting to reunite with my family, my mother, and my brother.
“She bounded her blood with the demon. As soon as the demon drank her blood and she drank it, the blade worked both ways,” Grace explains, “She wanted this.”
“No. Baby we are supposed to be together,” Elijah cries.
“Damn it, Annabelle,” Jax growls.
I let out one final breath, closing my eyes and feeling my soul lift from my body and way to the Ancestral Land.
Epilogue
Annabelle
“It is a beautiful house you have here, my daughter. Just like our old home,” my mom says walking up to me.
“He wanted to live close to the forest but also close to a body of water like the one in Italy. He said it reminded him of the special moments we had,” I replied, fixing up the last latch. I step back looking at my work, proud of it.
“You think he’ll try to revive you?”
“I told him not too.”
“But he will.”
“I pretty much hid all of the books, except the one we buried together. Every single one of them is also bound with a powerful spell that takes up a lot of energy. Besides, he promised.”
“Sometimes the power of love breaks those promises. You guys just got together and briefly marked each other and now you are here and he is over there.”
“I know mom, but I did what I had to do. Well, what I thought I had to do. Besides, I’ll get to see him in the next...oh...maybe thirty plus years. He has a long life ahead.”
“Can you wait that long?”
I pause fixing the other side of the white french double doors, setting down the hammer. Just thinking about those thirty years aches my heart, making it heavy and slow. I shake off the thought and sigh deeply.
“No, mom. I cannot wait. But I have to. I don’t want to come back to life because, for the first time in a long time, I am scared to go back. I am scared that if I step foot on that glorious and hard earth, someone somewhere would want to do what Madeline and Genevieve had done. For selfish reasons, I just want to relax even without him and even if it means waiting a treacherous thirty years.
On the bright side, I get to watch grow into a fine gentleman. It’ll be hard at first, knowing that he is going to go through a lot of trouble to try to revive me and that I will see him sad. It might be rough seeing him start a new relationship if he wants to, which I give him permission too.
Alas, I will stay in this duplicate of a home. At peace, not constantly looking over my shoulder which will be a plus.”
“Wow, you are not as bad as I thought,” my annoying brother’s voice calls out.
Rolling my eyes, I look at him. I shiver a bit seeing him in the same clothes that he died in, my anger boils up. If only I wasn’t so busy focusing on everything else, he would have been alive.
“Stop it, Annabelle. It is not your fault. You didn’t let me died. If you did, that means I let you died when you linked your body to that filth of a demon.”
“That’s different,” I mumble.
“Hmm, not it’s not.”
“So too.”
“So not.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.�
�
“No.”
“YES.”
“NO!”
“Enough children,” my mother bellows, emitting sharp soundwaves. We both look back at her who is rubbing her temples.
“Sorry, mother,” I say.
“Sorry, mother,” my brother copies, but then chuckles, “It has been centuries without you, mother and yet we still bind to your will.”
“That is because I birthed the both of you. Now, I must leave to help other poor souls travel through the afterlife. I trust that the both of you will be okay?”
“Of course.”
“You’ll know when we cause a wreckage.”
“You better not, Ezekiel.”
That is when my mother turns and poofs out of thin air. I sigh, going back to fix my door handle, almost finished polishing the house when he comes home. I still feel my brother’s presence hovering over me, trying to read my face.
“What, Zeke?” I tighten in the last screw.
“Why aren’t you fighting to go back? Why aren’t you like...sad? Depressed?” He narrows his eyes at me.
“I am sad and depressed that I am not in the real world with Elijah, but I am also hella glad that I am finally getting peace. I know, cruel and rude right? For wanting to have peace and quiet? It is what it is. Now speaking of the love of our lives, where is yours?”
“Oh, she is copying you and building up our house across town. What is up with the both of you trying to build up an already perfect house?”
“It’s call passing time. For me anyway,” put away my tools.
“It might happen in a blink of an eye,” he gives me a hug then leaves.
***
Elijah
Thirty Years Later
“It going to be okay, Kenzie. I am going to be okay,” I cough louder this time. Ugh, my chest and headache very hard. All of those years using magic really took a toll on me, but that isn’t what’s killing me.
It is a disease, a rare tumor the size of a golf ball, inside my brain. They found it a couple years later after Kenzie turned 15, a diagnostic I found out after I made my appointment. I didn’t tell Kenzie until a couple days later which prompted a heavy silent treatment from her.
