“Let there be light!” she declared, and then swung her hands out to her sides. In a flash the ring shattered with a loud bang, throwing fiery streaks out in all directions. The scattered shots of flames flew through the air before striking into nearby lampposts that were set around the street, the fires almost seeming to hone in on the candles as they burst through the glass forcibly and set the lamps alight. All around the group lamps were struck with the flying fireballs and lit up, with one fireball streaking past a lamp and crashing through a large window into a building. Alyssa gasped as she looked over to seeing a bakery window shattering and dropping to the ground as fire started to burn inside the building, with Daniel and Triska watching with surprise as well.
“Alyssa!” Triska cried out.
“Whoops,” Alyssa said nervously. The street around them lit up with the glows of several lampposts, with some even being further down the block as well. The windows of all the nearby buildings gave off a soft bloom from the burning lamps while the bakery next to the group cast a large red glow out from within as fire was spreading throughout the establishment.
“Dammit, Alyssa! What did I tell you?” Triska yelled out before she ran over to the broken window. Alyssa whined and looked to Daniel while trying not to cry, the boy turning to her as she whimpered and shook her head quickly.
“I’m sorry, Daniel, I tried, I really tried to use control, honest,” she pleaded.
“Oh my god!” Triska cried out. Alyssa shut her eyes and looked down while straining not to scream.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m-”
“Daniel, Alyssa, get over here!” Triska shouted out. Daniel looked to her then quickly ran over, with Alyssa whimpering before looking around nervously. Even with the bakery on fire and the streetlamps having been lit there was still no movement or sound being heard throughout the village. Nobody was looking through their windows or coming out of their doors, not a soul was checking on the disturbance at all. Alyssa glanced around with a puzzled expression before looking over to Daniel and Triska, the two just staring into the bakery while remaining silent as the building continued to burn inside.
“Oh god, tell me I didn’t hurt anyone, I didn’t mean to do that,” Alyssa pleaded as she ran over to them. She looked inside the bakery then jumped with a gasp, the three of them seeing bodies of women lying all over the floor. The light from the fires showed all the people were dressed in simple villager clothing, had stunned expressions on their faces, and pale facial complexions as they all remained motionless on the floor.
“What happened, why are they all just lying around like that?” Daniel asked. Triska quickly barged through the door, breaking the frame and glass with a shatter, before she raced over and knelt down next to a woman.
“Hey, are you alright? I’m sorry, my friend is just god awful with her magic, she didn’t mean to…” she started before trailing off and looking at the body with wonder. She budged the woman and got no response, then leaned down with her ear next to the woman’s mouth, hearing no breathing from the motionless villager.
“Is she ok? I didn’t kill her did I?” Alyssa asked nervously.
“No, she’s not ok. She’s dead,” Triska said looking to her friends with disbelief.
“What? No, I didn’t mean to, I really didn’t! Oh god, Daniel, please forgive me, I didn’t mean to do that!” Alyssa cried out as she grabbed hold of Daniel and started to cry.
“Hold on, Alyssa, I don’t think you did this, you didn’t even hit any of them,” Triska said looking around at the bodies.
“She’s right; they’re not burned at all. In fact, I don’t see any blood, or wounds,” Daniel said looking around at all the bodies. Alyssa sniffled then looked into the bakery with worried eyes. The humans on the floor had no visible injuries or markings on them at all, and aside from having a pale complexion and being dead they looked physically ok. Triska rolled another woman over onto her back and examined her as the fires spread along the back wall and ignited some of the drapes near a backroom, the teen eyeing over the body as she couldn’t see any visible markings or wounds on the woman. Her clothing even appeared perfectly fine, with not a single cut, scratch, or drop of blood on it.
“What happened, why are they all dead like this?” Triska asked with puzzlement. She looked over the dead body carefully then shook her head as she couldn’t figure out how the woman died like she did.
“There’s no wound at all, it’s like she just… dropped dead,” she said with a shrug.
“Do you think she was poisoned?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know, maybe, but all of them? What could have poisoned everybody like this?” Triska replied while looking around at all the dead humans in the building.
“Triska, get out of there!” Alyssa yelled out, with Triska looking up to seeing fires spreading up along the ceiling, the wood burning and creaking loudly as a few of the beams started to crack and give out. The teen quickly got up and bolted out through the window before the ceiling collapsed down with a crash behind her, with Triska, Daniel, and Alyssa watching as the fires burned brightly from the debris.
“That’s unsettling,” Triska commented as she brushed some dust off of her shoulder. Daniel blinked then slowly looked around the area as Lucky was finally calming down in his demon form.
“I don’t like how nobody is reacting to us burning down a bakery, seems like the kind of thing that should at least warrant threats from the locals,” he cautiously pointed out. The girls looked around slowly as the town, aside from a burning building, was completely quiet and peaceful still.
“Alyssa just burned down a building, how could they all be ignoring that?” Triska asked carefully. The three looked to the burning bakery where the bodies of dead women were now buried and aflame before they slowly turned to each other with the same disturbing thought.
“You don’t think…” Alyssa said softly with widening eyes. Triska quickly ran over and grabbed a burning piece of wood in the window before running over to the neighboring building and kicking the door open. She held the torch inside and looked around in the darkened home before jumping with a gasp.
“Yeah, I think,” she said nodding as she saw more dead humans lying on the floor of the living room, with two woman and a young girl seen sprawled out on the floor with stunned expressions on their pale faces. Daniel and Alyssa looked around with growing concern as Triska ran across the street and kicked open another door, the teen peering inside and seeing three dead women along with a young boy lying on the ground, all of them having the same shocked expressions frozen on their pale faces.
“They’re dead… they’re all dead!” Triska cried out.
“How can that be, what could have wiped the whole village out?” Daniel asked looking around quickly, seeing nothing but darkened buildings all the way down the street with no sign of anyone among them. Triska eyed over the dead bodies in the home before running back over to her friends.
“I don’t get it, there’s no blood or wounds at all, it’s like they all just dropped dead,” she said shaking her head. Alyssa looked over to Lucky as the horse trotted over to her, the animal grunting softly as she reached out and slowly brushed the horse’s nose to soothe him.
“You knew something wasn’t right here too, didn’t you, boy?” she asked softly with concern, then looked around the area carefully and shook her head.
“Something’s really wrong here, that much is for certain. We should go, like right now,” she quickly suggested.
“We can’t go, our caravan is still broken thanks to you, we’re stuck here, remember?” Triska snapped at her.
“Great, stuck in a village full of dead people, don’t suppose this could get any worse, right?” Daniel mused worriedly while looking around.
At that comment a girl’s loud scream was heard behind them, the group looking towards where they had ridden into town from as the scream echoed out again.
“Hold that thought, Daniel,” Triska said dryly as she r
eached for her sword, grabbing the handle as Alyssa peered into the darkness with a sharp eye. Lucky slowly shifted back into his normal form and grunted softly as the group heard another scream, this time sounding closer.
“Someone’s still alive in this town,” Triska said carefully. Daniel watched the darkness closely then looked up and to the side as he heard something landing on the roof of a nearby building.
“What the hell are you guys doing?” Falla called down to them with disbelief. The girls looked up to seeing the butterfly girl holding onto a chimney and looking down at them while waving towards the burning bakery.
“I thought you were trying to get help, not burn the village down!” she yelled out.
“Falla? What are you doing here?” Triska called up to her.
“Running for my life, that’s what!” Falla cried out as she pointed in front of them. The group looked to seeing Specca and Squeak sprinting towards them, with the ant girl leading a stumbling nixie by the hand as they were running as fast as they could along the dirt road. Squeak had her pickaxe slung behind her as she quickly ran while Specca screamed again as she tried to keep her balance from running so fast. Squeak looked behind her into the darkness and squeaked something loudly as they raced over towards their friends, the two girls seeming to be scared to death while Falla ducked down and hid behind the chimney.
“What the, Specca? Squeak?” Triska said with confusion.
“Daniel!” Specca cried out as she raced over and clung to Daniel with fright, the boy holding her with surprise as Squeak dropped down to a knee next to them while breathing and squeaking heavily.
“What are you three doing here? And why were you screaming like that?” Alyssa asked.
“Specca, what’s wrong?” Daniel asked with concern. Specca whimpered and held onto him while trying to catch her breath before quickly darting behind him and pointing towards the dark road with sheer terror.
“They’re coming!” she cried out. The group looked to seeing two figures walking out from the darkness side by side, with the silhouettes then slowly being illuminated by the lampposts to show Jovian and Jacqueline smiling coldly at everyone.
“Jovian? Jacqueline?” Triska asked carefully.
“Ok, what’s going on here?” Alyssa asked looking around at everyone.
“They’re not human! They’re monsters!” Falla called down to them. Daniel, Triska, and Alyssa jumped and looked at the twins with surprise as the two girls giggled in unison.
“What?” Triska asked as she gripped her sword’s handle.
“They’re not human, they’re the flesh-eating monsters we were worried about, they tried to eat us just now; they’re trying to eat us alive!” Specca screamed out as she clung to Daniel for dear life.
“What do you mean they tried to eat you? What’s going on here?” Daniel asked as Squeak quickly got up and brought her pickaxe out from behind her, squeaking while pointing to the twins with a glare. Triska whipped out her sword with a swift swing as Jovian and Jacqueline looked to the burning bakery with their multicolored eyes.
“Oh my, what do we have here?” Jovian mused as they turned their focus back to the group.
“That’s not how you ask people for help you know,” Jacqueline laughed.
“Alright, what is going on here? What’s this about you two trying to eat our friends?” Triska demanded as she held her sword out towards the twins.
“Oh, no no no no, we’re not trying to eat them,” Jovian replied while slowly shaking their head.
“Yeah, we’re going to eat them, along with all of you as well,” Jacqueline said before they started laughing together with wicked smiles on their faces. Daniel and Alyssa looked at the two with surprise while Triska narrowed her eyes at the twisted sisters.
“I don’t believe this, you two are those damned monsters that slaughtered all those lycans? The same ones that killed Emily’s parents? What the hell have you been doing traveling with us this whole time?” she demanded. The sisters finished laughing and looked at the group with amused smiles while resting a hand on a hip each.
“Why, we wanted to help find that poor little girl and the missing butterfly monster of course,” Jovian replied.
“Yeah, the more we had to scream in agony while we feasted on their flesh, the better,” Jacqueline said before licking her lips slowly. Jovian chuckled then glanced up to Falla, with the butterfly girl watching her nervously from behind the chimney.
“Though honestly it’s been rather unpleasant having to wait this long, we had hoped to find those two missing girls by now, but I suppose Falla ruining our little secret came at a good time, we’re both plenty hungry, no need to wait any longer,” she said with a dark smile back at the group.
“Falla?” Daniel asked glancing up to the butterfly girl. Specca nodded while watching the twins with fearful eyes still.
“She remembered what Emily said about hearing her family’s killers, how there were two that always spoke in unison, just like they do,” she explained. Triska and Alyssa looked to her then back to the twins while keeping on guard along with Squeak.
“So let me get this straight, you two are monsters that tried to eat my friends?” Alyssa asked carefully. Jovian and Jacqueline giggled and nodded. Alyssa narrowed her eyes as she held a hand out towards Triska, her focuser crystal glowing softly as did her eyes.
“Ok, then you two are our friends no longer,” she stated before swinging her hand towards the twins, causing Triska’s sword to fly out of her grip and fly through the air towards Jovian. The blade struck through her gut and pierced out behind her with a slick crunch, the girl stumbling back a few steps as she grunted while hanging her head low. Triska looked at her empty hands then to Alyssa with annoyance.
“Hey, I could have handled killing her myself you know,” she snapped.
“No, you couldn’t have,” Specca said shaking her head. Triska looked to her with frustration and clenched her fists.
“What? What do you mean I couldn’t, you think I don’t know how to use my own sword?” she yelled out. Specca whimpered and pointed towards the twins.
“No, I mean you couldn’t have killed her like that, look!” she screamed out. Triska blinked then looked over to see Jovian still standing with the sword going through her stomach, the raven haired girl slowly looking up to Alyssa with a wicked smile while Jacqueline merely smirked at the witch. Alyssa stared at Jovian with bewilderment while Squeak shook her head nervously and squeaked something.
“What? But… how is she still standing?” Triska said with disbelief as Jovian grabbed the sword and yanked it out of her, the wound in her gut slowly healing while blood dripped down her clothing.
“They can’t die! They can’t die!” Specca cried out.
“What do you mean they can’t die?” Daniel asked nervously.
“I mean they can’t die! Squeak struck her pickaxe right through Jacqueline’s skull while Falla cracked open Jovian’s head with a rock, and they just got back up again!” Specca explained while grabbing onto his shirt from behind.
“That’s not… possible,” Triska said while slowly shaking her head. Alyssa stared at Jovian with shock as the raven haired girl held the sword up and tilted it slightly while eyeing it with a dark smile. Jovian then slowly looked to Alyssa and gently shook a finger at her, with the witch’s jaw dropping a bit as she saw that the monster was perfectly unharmed.
“That wasn’t very nice, you made me bleed on my beautiful clothes,” Jovian mocked with a twitch of her eyebrow.
“No way,” Alyssa breathed out. Jovian laughed then started walking towards Alyssa, holding the bloody blade in one hand as she casually wiped some of it around on the steel with a few fingers.
“Now then, I’ve been itching to peel you apart slowly; I just love it when little girls scream as I feast upon their ripe flesh. I want to hear you scream loudly for me, witch, so badly,” she said coldly before suddenly dashing towards Alyssa. Jacqueline laughed and ran towards Triska as
the teen stared at the twins with shock still, stunned that her own blade going through Jovian’s stomach had absolutely no effect on the girl. Alyssa gasped then swung her hand to the side, causing the sword to suddenly strike down into the ground off to the side. Jovian jerked over with the blade before quickly swiping it back up through the dirt and continuing her charge, having recovered almost instantly from the witch’s magical pull. She ran over and swung her sword towards Alyssa before Squeak darted over and struck her pickaxe through Jovian’s chest, the end piercing out of her back with a crunch as the ant girl followed through with her swing. Squeak squeaked loudly and spun the raven haired girl around in the air before stopping and throwing the monster over into a window. As Jovian crashed through the glass into a darkened building and the sword dropped to the ground with a clatter Jacqueline raced over and tackled Triska to the ground, pinning the teen’s hands down with great force while Triska struggled to kick about underneath her. Jacqueline laughed and tried to bite down on Triska’s neck, with the human bashing her head forward and knocking the blonde back with a bloody nose. Jacqueline giggled and twitched her nose as it crackled and reformed from being broken then looked down at Triska with a creepy smile.
“I like it when my food has some fire in them, the feistier the better. Now scream for me!” she yelled out before lunging down to bite at Triska’s breasts. Before she could sink her teeth into the girl’s flesh Daniel raced over and tackled Jacqueline off of Triska, the two rolling around on the ground before stopping with Daniel lying on the dirt and holding Jacqueline from behind around her waist. The blonde thrashed around before Daniel swung her over him onto the ground and tried to hold her down.
“How could you, we trusted you!” Daniel yelled out before Jacqueline kicked behind her right between his legs, the boy yelling out with a painful groan as he felt her attack connecting in the most painful way he deemed to be possible. As he coughed and strained not to cry Jacqueline quickly spun around and grabbed him, dragging him onto his feet while smiling wickedly at the other girls.
Chronicles of Eden - Act 2 Page 54
