by Nathan Wall
Maya stuck her right hand around Austin's jaw and clenched it tight. Tiny spikes sprouted from her knuckles and she jabbed them repeatedly into his rib cage. She kicked both feet into his stomach and sent him hurtling back toward Lian, crashing into a truck.
“I am of direct bloodline to an Angel,” Maya yelled, hovering slowly back into the air. “You dare think an abomination such as yourself could compare with all my might?”
“Yeah, well, I gave birth to one,” Aunt Liv yelled, standing in the street to Maya's right. Sanderson stood behind her. “Trump that.”
“Gladly.” Maya smirked, happily accepting the challenge. The deranged spark in her eyes could make the most powerful volcanoes run cold.
Aunt Liv lowered her hands, palms up, and closed her eyes. The veins in her head bulged to the surface as gale force winds surged in, collapsing on the town center. She hovered in the air with light shining in a circle on the palms of her hands. Maya flapped her wings and soared in on a collision course with Aunt Liv. Suddenly, Aunt Liv’s powers swiped a car in from Maya's left, smashing her into a building. Aunt Liv fell back to the ground and Sanderson positioned himself under her in order to catch her.
He fell to the asphalt and gently laid her head back. She was asleep and barely breathing. Blood trickled out of her nose, mouth, and ears. He gently moved her curly hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. Behind him, the cranking of a car being lifted from debris littered the air. Maya slowly walked out of the building through the rubble as her suit stretched back together and repaired itself.
“Consider it trumped, as you say.” Maya smiled, rubbing her hand over the back of Sanderson's head. She looked over to Lian and saw her helping Austin who was back in human form to his feet. “Well, so it seems we have his entire life gathered before me.”
“Stop it, Maya.” Lian raised her hands, focusing on Maya's thoughts. “You're no longer interested in this fight.”
“Foolish girl.” Maya laughed, snapping her fingers and engulfing Sanderson and Austin in a wave of lust. “You cannot compel those behind the protection of an entire starstone. The power of this armor shields me from your abilities.”
Austin grabbed Lian by the hair and slammed her head into the car, knocking her out. He draped her over his shoulder and walked toward Maya.
“I love you,” he said, placing Lian at Maya's feet. He knelt down and kissed her hand. Sanderson did the same.
* * *
Jarrod slammed on the breaks as he drove upon a chaotic scene. He looked over toward Claire, her hand latched onto his thigh. He turned his attention back to the trashed landscape on the other side of the windshield.
Trees, cars, and brick buildings were burning in all directions. Vehicles were overturned. Hundreds of bodies lined the ground, dismembered. Above them, shimmering in a halo glow, were the souls of the newly deceased. They turned, looking to Jarrod, realizing that he could see them too. They started walking his direction with their arms held out, pleading for him to do something.
“Why did this happen?” a woman asked, falling to her knees and swiping at him.
“Where's my daddy?” a little girl cried, sitting next to her corpse with her face pressed into her knees.
“Look at all these people.” Claire covered her mouth as she scanned the ground in all directions. Her vision singled out a mauled man whose torso and arms were nearly shredded apart. “What in the world...?”
“I don't know.” Jarrod shook his head. His hands and legs trembled. Every time a soul reached for him and passed through his body, fractured portions of their deaths scraped across his brain. He wasn't quite sure of what he was seeing as dozens of quick synapses shot into his vision and quickly vanished. He saw a beast tear some people apart while others killed themselves. Then, with his heartbeat slowing down, the visions caught a glimpse of Maya slowly walking toward a man, kissing and draining him of his life force until he collapsed in a ball of dust. “She's here?”
“Mother,” Claire screamed, running down the street and falling down over her mom’s lifeless body. She pulled her mom's head onto her lap and shook her back and forth. Her tears soaked her mom’s empty gaze. A dagger was thrust into her mom’s stomach. “Jarrod...”
He pushed through the souls and they phased through him, each time leaving behind little bits of themselves. He stumbled toward Claire. His eyes shimmered brighter each time a soul embedded into his consciousness.
“Who would do this?” Claire cried, letting her mom go and crawling onto Jarrod's lap. She covered her face and continued to sob. “Oh my God…”
“I'm sorry,” Jarrod whispered, rubbing her head. He looked up and saw the soul of Claire's mom standing over him. Jarrod reached his hand out and a bright light beamed in all directions as he absorbed her soul.
Jarrod grimaced. He experienced the last visions of Claire's mom from a first person perspective. When his head stopped ringing, he saw Lian hand him a knife and then compel him to stab himself. The thoughts of Claire’s mom, cheerfully agreeing to her fate, ran through his brain. The vision ended and the glistening image of Claire's mom disappeared.
Trails of glowing blue energy traveled through Jarrod’s skin. Hordes of pulsating figures stood around him, waiting for their turn. He nodded and stood up slowly.
“What's going on?” Claire asked.
“I need you to drive back to the bend.” He looked at her, kneeling down and squeezing her hands. He dropped the keys in her lap. “If I’m not back in an hour, drive until you run out of gas. Then get out and run.”
“Where should I go?” She pulled at his shirt as he stood.
“Don't tell me,” he said, looking at the souls and nodding to their expressions. “Just go and never look back.”
Claire stood and sprinted for the car. She slammed the gears in reverse and took off, vanishing from his sight.
“Let's do this,” he said, spreading his arms.
One by one the souls latched onto him. His entire body beamed. The visions weighed him down, causing him to hunch over and hit the ground. His knuckles splintered the street as the glowing light around his body shielded him. With each soul he absorbed, a calming sensation came upon him. Each time it got a little bit easier until finally it began to feel good. The last soul entered his body and his eyes were completely washed out with blue light.
He looked over his shoulder and hundreds more of the townspeople and festival visitors stood in the street. They charged in and jumped on top of him. The blue light shimmered over his entire body. Their souls beckoned him. Feeling their energy within his grasp, he jumped up and tossed them all off like ragdolls.
A blue vapor trail emanated from his body, stretching out toward all those in his immediate surroundings. His heart thumped in a menacing panic. The vapor trail slashed through a few of the people, ripping their souls out of their bodies and killing them.
“No,” Jarrod screamed, trying to draw in as many of the blue trails as he could. “It's not their time.”
However, the quick whip-like slash of the blue vapor trails continued to fling out of his body and swipe across people. For every glowing blue whip he corralled, two more sprang forward until all those around him were dead. He collapsed, covering his face. Soft fingers stretched across his shoulders, firmly massaging him. He looked up and saw Maya standing over him.
“It is all right,” she whispered, amused that he fought against his true nature. She wanted to show him how magnificent it would be to accept what he really is. He tried to stand up, but she shoved him back into the ground. “I know what you are.”
“You just couldn't leave us alone, could you?” he said through his teeth, tightly clenching his jaw. “All of this is for what?”
“At first it was revenge, but now I just want to see the possibilities.”
“What possibilities?” Transparent light in the form of blue flames erupted from his hands.
“Of us, of course.”
He swiped her hands away and swung
a left hook. She caught his strike and twisted his arm. Her right hand dug into his throat and squeezed, pressing him into the ground.
“That was uncalled for.” Her maniacal giggle unsettled Jarrod. She stood and effortlessly tossed him twenty yards into the windshield of a car. In one flap of the wings she towered over him. She grabbed his left foot, spun around five times, and hurled him even farther than before. She spoke, her voice boisterous. “This is entertaining.”
Jarrod skidded across the park, digging into the soil. He tried to stand, but Maya slammed down on top of him, driving his face back into the grass.
“Since I cannot control your lust like the others, I will just have to beat you into submission.” She kicked him onto his back and then repeatedly bashed her fists into his face. Each time her knuckles mashed into his skin, the layer of blue light around his body faded. After a few minutes of nonstop bludgeoning, she sat up and yelled in frustration as his face wasn't the pile of mush she expected. “What is wrong with you?”
“I feel great.” He opened his eyes, the blue light illuminating the dark park. He slammed a right jab into her nose, stood up, and drove a kick into her stomach. He flowed perfectly into a roundhouse, spinning her onto her hands and knees. “It's amazing the techniques the aurascales imprints on you.”
He followed with two haymakers into each side of her face and finished with an uppercut, launching her backwards. She rolled across the ground and slowly stood. Blue energy beams quickly grew larger out of his hands. He could feel the several souls he'd collected rush into the light which formed over his fists.
“But it couldn't teach me this.”
He pressed his open palms forward and a massive gush of energy shot out from them, blasting through the air like water from a ruptured fire hydrant. The light-force blew her through several buildings, crashing into the courthouse on the opposite side of the town. The light from his eyes slowly went away as the memories and burdens of the many souls slowly vanished.
Three cars soared toward him. He slid his feet across the ground and evaded each vehicle as they dug into the dirt. When the last car penetrated the soil, he jumped to his left and rolled to his feet. Maya stood in front of him and slammed her hands into his chest like she was swinging a sledgehammer. Jarrod sailed back and bounced off one of the cars. He rolled to his feet and shot three energy blasts out of his hands, but Maya simply soared out of harm's way with a quick flap of the wings.
“I am too agile for you,” she taunted, but a fourth and final soul-fueled energy blast smashed into her, knocking her through a round, bulbous water tower and out the end of the park.
“Spoke too soon.” Jarrod flashed a satisfied grin, countering her boastful nature. He stumbled around for a bit, leaning against one of the pinned cars to catch his breath. The euphoric rush he felt from collecting the souls was now completely gone. He flexed his hands and fingers, trying to shake the tingling numbness from them.
“You are quite impressive,” Lian said, smiling. She walked around a car toward Jarrod. She grabbed him by the shirt and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. “Take me now. Ravage me. I've wanted you to since the moment I saw you.”
The baritone snarl of a wolf captured Jarrod's attention. He looked over his shoulder to see Austin in beast form creeping up.
“Don't worry about him. He has me in the bedroom like an untamed beast,” Lian said, pressing her hand around Jarrod's cheeks, making his lips pucker. “But something about you says it would be a deep and passionate affair.”
“Go ahead, son.” Aunt Liv smiled, walking hand-in-hand with Sanderson. “We're all here for you. I can help give you advice.”
“He doesn't want his mother in the room when he loses his virginity.” Sanderson laughed. “Look at you, afraid to be a man.”
“You're not yourselves.” Jarrod pushed Lian to the ground. Austin snarled, jumping over Lian to shield her.
“Now, why would you go and throw her like that?” Sanderson yelled, pointing a gun at Jarrod.
“You hurt me,” Lian sobbed, pressing her face into Austin's muscular, hairy arm. “Are you going to let him treat your woman like that, Austin?”
“Austin? What?” Jarrod looked confused. Austin slowly walked toward him. His long, sharp teeth glistened in the faint light of the burning town. Jarrod stuttered. “W-what did she do to you?”
“I did nothing,” Maya said, floating high in the air. “He did that to himself. I just made them love me as you soon will.”
“It's not love if there’s no choice.” Jarrod continued stepping backwards. Austin slowly followed. “You can't say love me or die.”
“Why can I not?” Maya circled around Jarrod like a vulture. “It has worked for me so far. To be frank, I did not think you had it in you to kill all those innocent people.”
“I didn't mean to...”
“I witnessed the manner in which you loved tearing through my army. I thought for sure a few helpless people would tame your compulsions, but they did not.” Maya hovered in place. “Perhaps your friends are a different story?”
Austin tackled Jarrod who threw his hands up and pressed them as hard as he could into Austin's throat. With each violent snap, Austin got closer toward tearing Jarrod's face off.
“Stop it,” Jarrod said, rolling his head out of the path of each bite. “Please...”
“If you do not want him to eat you alive, then you will have to kill him,” Maya said, hoping to goad Jarrod into destroying the ones he loved.
“There must be another way…”
“War is not about physical domination,” she said. “It is about taking everything from your enemies and molding them into your pawn. A lesson I was taught at an early age. “
Austin's claws dragged through the ground. Jarrod propped his knees under Austin’s stomach, forcing him up. Jarrod's arms shook from the tension and force of Austin's behemoth wolf body. Jarrod dug his palm into Austin's throat. Hs eyes shimmered. He could feel Austin's soul beckoning him. The blue vapor trail spread out like a slow rolling mist, causing Maya to smile.
“Yes,” she laughed, nodding. “Take him.”
“No,” Jarrod yelled, letting go and lying flat on the ground. “I won't trade his life for mine.”
Austin swiped his paw across Jarrod’s face, splattering blood along the grass. Jarrod went motionless. Blood gushed from his neck as he choked. Maya lowered to the ground and Austin back away. Her brows furrowed as she failed to understand Jarrod’s reasoning.
“Why?” she asked, kneeling beside him. She kicked Austin into Aunt Liv and they crashed into one of the upright cars. “Your death will mean nothing. I will skin them as soon as the light fades from your eyes.”
Austin tackled Maya, tearing her wings apart. Maya threw him off of her and soared back into the air. Aunt Liv slowly sat up, rubbing the back of her head after forcefully hitting it on the ground.
“What is this?” Maya turned around, clenching her fists. “You were a slave to my song.”
“I told you.” Aunt Liv held back tears with a strained smile. The knock on her head freed her from Maya’s grasp. “You may have the blood of an Angel coursing through your veins, but I birthed one. That makes me a hell of a lot tougher.”
Aunt Liv spread her arms, lifting the cars out of the ground. She clapped and all three of them collided into Maya, fusing together and falling to the ground in a ball of flames. She rushed to Jarrod’s side and laid over him.
“Mom,” Jarrod cried, placing his shaking hand on her arm. “I'm sorry…” he coughed up blood. She pressed her hand to his face. “I..love you.”
“Don’t be sorry.” She kissed his forehead. His breathing grew shallow. Lian cried into Sanderson’s chest as they stood behind Aunt Liv, now unshackled from Maya’s control. “Take me and save yourself,” Aunt Liv whispered. “You owe us all nothing. You never did.”
“The…voices.” Jarrod’s words were erratic. “They…me…control.”
“I
have faith you’ll overcome them one day.” Aunt Liv sifted through his hair.
A blue glow surged through Jarrod’s veins, traveling up his arm and out his fingers. Aunt Liv groaned as the beam poured out of her eyes before being sucked back into Jarrod. His wounds closed and his breathing steadied. Her soul absorbed into his body. Her memories raced through his mind, finally understanding all the things she’d locked away inside of him. The visions faded from Jarrod's eyes and Aunt Liv fell over him.
“Sarah…” Sanderson gasped, falling to his knees.
“Claire is at the bend.” Jarrod looked at Austin, crying. “Can you bring her back?”
Austin nodded, shifted back to wolf form, and sprinted off. Soon he was out of sight.
Lian's face went from a frown to a completely blank stare. A glimpse of what’s to come shot through her mind. She pulled Sanderson's head down as a ball of flames exploded from the fused cars around Maya, sending shrapnel tearing through the air.
Maya emerged from the flames. Her wings spread wide and the golden sword shined in her grasp. She looked down at Lian and Sanderson and pointed the tip of the blade at them. A pink vapor trail tore through their bodies, transporting them.
The surge of energy from Aunt Liv's soul coursed through Jarrod. He ground his teeth together and his eyes tore through Maya. He stood, stepped over his mother's body, and lumbered toward Maya. Jarrod evaded a strike of her sword, grabbed her by the shoulders, and slammed her into the ground.
He knelt over her and smashed fist after fist into her face. The blue light pulsated into his knuckles. Each punch was a blast of energy, tearing the aurascales away from her face. She grabbed Jarrod by the throat and soared into the air. She stabbed her sword through his left shoulder and turned it. When the town below nothing more than an ant farm, she pulled him close.
