Julie nodded. “Yes, and we have to be careful. There are demons here. Demons, who would love nothing more than to kill us. It could be their ticket back into the real world.”
“And the girls?” Jorja asked. “Where are they?” She lifted a hand, shielding her eyes, as she stared across the wasteland, narrowing her eyes. “Wait! I think I see them over there. Josslyn, come on!”
She and Josslyn turned, racing across the sand.
“And just where, do you think you’re going?” Liam asked, one of his metal tentacles flying forward, and landing in the sand in front of them, blocking their path.
“Get out of my way!” Josslyn cried, veering around the tentacle, another one falling in front of her. “I need to get to my girls!”
“Oh, you’re not going anywhere,” Liam told her, laughing. “Because you work for me, now.”
“We what?” Jorja laughed. “We don’t work for you!”
“Doing what?” Julie added. “Look around you, Liam. There is nothing here!”
“But I need someone to gather the rest of the ingredients for my experiment,” Liam said. “And I’ve chosen you four to get them for me.”
“And if we don’t?” Jasmine asked, propping her hands on her hips. “We do outnumber you, you know.”
Liam laughed. “Oh, Jasmine, how wrong you are,” he said, another one of his tentacles swiping out, and grabbing her around the throat. “Because I have twelve tentacles!” he shouted, slinging her to the ground.
“Jasmine!” Julie rushed forward, falling next to her sister.
“I’m okay,” Jasmine said, holding a hand to her throat, gasping for breath, as she glanced over at Liam. “You may have metal tentacles, that could snap each one of us like a twig, but at least I still have this!” She flicked her fingers, frowning when nothing happened. “Ah. What happened to my powers? Joss?”
Josslyn shook her head, flicking her fingers. “Nope. Mine don’t work either.”
“Mine either,” Jorja said, letting out a meek scream. “What happened to our powers?”
“Why, I took them. With this,” Liam said, raising the sapphire. “The stone you so graciously put together for me. Thank you for that.”
“He’s right. That one’s on us,” Jasmine said, eyeing the brightness of the stone. “And now, he’s more powerful than ever!”
“And getting more and more powerful by the moment,” Liam said. “And soon, the whole world will be bowing to me and my power. And the Gods… I’ll kill them all!” He laughed, the ground shaking, as he spoke. “And as for you four.” He jabbed a tentacle at them. “You will gather the ingredients I need, or your daughters will pay the price.” He waved his tentacle, a glass capsule falling on the ground in front of them.
“Oh my God! Jordyn!”
Jorja rushed forward, tears filling her eyes as she stared down at her daughter. “What did you do to her?” she whispered, grazing her fingers over the glass, staring at the white goo that was filling the capsule. “What is that white stuff?”
“Venom. From the beetles,” Liam said. “It’s slowly filling the capsule, and if you don’t do as I ask, it’ll kill her. I’m the only one who has the antidote.
“What! No!”
“So the question is… what are you going to do?” Liam asked, tapping his tentacle against his chin. “Decisions. Decisions.”
“I don’t think we have a choice, Jorja,” Josslyn whispered, locking eyes with her sister. “We can’t let them die!”
“She’s right,” Jasmine said. “I could never live with myself if they all died because we were too stubborn to do what needed to be done.”
“I agree,’ Julie said, holding a hand to her stomach. “But before we go searching, can I at least get something to eat? I am pregnant, after all.”
“Of course.” Liam waved his tentacle, a tray of slop appearing in front of her. “Here.”
“Eww! You expect me to eat… this?” Julie asked, picking up the spoon, and watching the slop drip back into the bowl. “It’s disgusting!”
“If you want to eat, yes,” Liam said, snapping his fingers. The casket disappearing from sight, and he turned, walking away from them. “Have fun searching.”
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” Jasmine shouted, racing after him.
“Jasmine, wait!”
“But I need to know about Sky!” Jasmine shouted, shoving Josslyn away as she tried to stop her. “Liam! What did you do with Sky?”
Liam paused, glancing over his shoulder, an evil grin spreading across his lips. “Oh, Jasmine. That angel of yours is long gone. He’s powerless, with no memory, and in a place you will never find him.”
“You’re lying!”
“Afraid not,” Liam said. “And your love for him, won’t even be enough to save him.”
“No!”
Jasmine dropped to the ground, tears rolling down her cheeks, as a sob rose up in her throat. “Sky!”
“Jasmine, don’t listen to him,” Julie whispered, kneeling next to her sister, and wrapping her arms around Jasmine. “He doesn’t know you. He doesn’t know Sky. He doesn’t know the bond the two of you have. We’ll find him. I know we will.”
“And you will fail,” Liam said, laughing, snapping the prongs of his tentacle, a list appearing in Josslyn’s hand. “And that is the ingredients I need you to find. Summon me once you’ve found them because then we can begin.”
Chapter 5
“Josi, can you hear me?”
“Jessi, is that you?” Josi frowned, the familiar voice filling her ears, as she tried to open her eyes, irritated when they refused to open. “Are you in my head?”
“She’s in mine too,” Jami thought, as she struggled against the glass container she was trapped in. “Josi, Jessi, are you okay?” Concern for both of her sisters filling her.
“None of us are going to be okay.”
The unfamiliar voice sounded in their heads, and they all frowned. “Who’s that?”
“I think it’s Jordyn, Jorja’s daughter,” Jessi thought, her head starting to hurt from the power she was unleashing toward her sisters. “Guys, I can’t keep the line of communication open for long. I’m weakening. We need to find a way out of here!”
“There is no way out of here,” Jordyn thought, tears filling her eyes. “I’ve been stuck here for days, with that monster! In this coffin, with no way out. We’re trapped!”
“But we’re witches!” Josi thought. “There has to be a way out. Maybe if we harness all of our powers together?”
“What power do you have, Jordyn?” Jami asked, wincing, as something sticky started to fill the capsule. What is that?
“I think it’s the goo from the venom,” Josi thought. “Jordyn, do you know what power you have?”
“No, I don’t,” Jordyn thought, thinking back to the past few years. “I’ve barely had a moment to myself the last few years. I’ve been stuck here, with demons trying to sell me! I didn’t even know this kind of world existed!”
“Neither did we,” Jessi thought, as her head started to pound even harder. “But you’ve gotta figure it out, Jordyn, or…” She gasped, her heartbeat thumping insider her chest, blood pooling down her ears. “Ahh!”
She let out a loud scream, the glass in front of her shattering as she fell from the capsule.
“Jessi! You did it!” Jami cried, as the glass to the capsule shattered around her. She winced, glass pricking her skin, brushing the white goo from her body, and spitting the cotton from her mouth. “You got us free!”
“Well, two of us, anyways,” Jessi said, groaning, as she held a hand to her head. “Man, getting inside of your heads really hurts!”
“Well, we all thank you!” Jami cried as she dragged Jessi to her feet. She frowned, staring at the blood oozing from Jessi’s ears. “Here. Let me help you with that.” She pressed her hands to Jessi’s head, a gold hue zinging from her fingers, the blood disappearing from sight. “How’s that feel?”
“So
much better!” Jessi cried, looping her arm through Jami’s. “Now come on! We gotta get Josi and Jordyn free!”
“Well, look at what we have here. A couple of escapees.”
The loud voice rumbled through the air, and Jami turned. Her eyes widened when she saw Liam appear before them, his metal tentacles plopping on the stone ground. “Jessi!”
“I see him!” Jessi cried. “And look!” She pointed upward. “It’s the beetles!”
“We’ve gotta run, Jessi!”
“But what about Josi and Jordyn?”
“We’ll have to come back for them,” Jami said, as Liam rushed toward them. She ducked, just missing his tentacle, grabbing Jessi by the hand as the beetles flew toward them. “Right now, we’ve gotta run! Or they’ll capture us again! Do you want to be part of his experiment?”
“Well, no!” Jessi cried, as they turned, and raced off across the ground, disappearing through the trees as the beetles chased after them. “But I don’t like it!”
“Neither do I!” Jami shouted back. “But we don’t have a choice. Now come on. It’s going to be dark soon and who knows what happens when the sun sets in this place.”
Chapter 6
“Beep!”
What was that dreadful noise? he frowned, creaking his eyes open, startling when he found him lying in the middle of traffic. He jumped to his feet, cupping his hands over his ears, as the car horns filled his ears. Nearby, a shout sounded. Sirens squealed in the distance, and he blinked, the sudden brightness of the sun blinding him.
“Dude! Get out of the way!” someone shouted, honking their horn as they raced past him and he frowned. Where am I?
“Hey, are you okay?” a young, blonde woman asked as she raced forward. She grabbed him by the arm, dragging him through the traffic. “Jesus! What are you doing in the middle of the traffic? Don’t you know it’s the middle of rush hour? You could get yourself killed!” She swung toward him, her eyes suddenly widening. “Sky?”
“What?” He looked at her in confusion.
“Sorry. Never mind. You just look like someone I once knew.”
“Who?”
“My brother,” the woman said. “But he died years ago.” She sighed, stepping up onto the sidewalk and sitting on the brown-colored bench, nodding to the inscription on the back. “See. In memory of Sky. We used to race our bikes down this sidewalk every day on our way home from school, until the accident. After that, none of us could walk past that corner.” She glanced over at him. “But you do look like him. You have his eyes. His chin. Even that silly little grin.” She laughed. “I’m sorry, I’m rambling. What’s your name?”
“I… I’m not sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t seem to remember anything,” the man told her. “It’s like my mind is empty. I don’t know who I am. Where I’m from. Nothing!”
“That’s probably because of that huge knot on the back of your head,” the woman told him, brushing his blonde hair away, and frowning. “It looks like you were hit by something. Come on. I’m taking you to the doctor.”
“Why?”
“Well, so he can make you feel better!” the woman cried, looping her arm through his. “Come on. He owes me a favor. I’m Stella by the way!”
“Stella, I don’t think this is a good idea,” the man told her, as he reluctantly followed her down the sidewalk. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Oh, will you stop worrying? Everything will be just fine,” Stella told him. “And once we’re done, I’ll take you home with me…” she trailed off, frowning. “Hmm. I need something to call you though, what should I call you?”
“Sky?”
“Hmm. Maybe.” Stella frowned. “But then again, if Mom’s at the house, she’ll have a fit if I call you Sky. The sight might even give her a heart attack… again.” She sighed. “Oh well, I’ll deal with it when the time comes. Now come on, let’s go!”
Chapter 7
“Argh! Jade, what did you do?” Shamus grumbled, squirming out from underneath the rubbish and jumping to his feet. He glared at her, brushing the rock off of himself. “That wasn't cool!”
“Like I knew the whole place was going to cave in!” Jade snapped, crawling out from underneath the rock, cocking her head, as running feet sounded nearby. “Someone’s coming. We need to get out of here. Ashwin!” She scurried over to the other side of the room, her heart skipping a beat when she saw him, unmoving underneath the pile of rock. “Ashwin! We need to get out of here!” she whispered, reaching a hand forward and shaking him. He’s not dead, right? she thought, trying to see if he was breathing. But he’s a vampire, he can’t die, right? Although he was human right now, without his powers. “Ashwin!”
“Worried about me, Jade?”
Ashwin’s eyes snapped open, his arms wrapping around her, and pulling her downward.
“Ashwin!” Jade gasped, falling across his chest, staring down into his dark eyes, her lips just inches from his. “What are you doing?” She shoved him away, rising to her feet. “We have to get out of here! The demons are coming!”
“Yes, I know. I hear them,” Ashwin said. “Do you still have the staff?”
Jade shook her head. “No. It got shattered during the avalanche.” She swallowed, glancing above her, at the hole above them. She averted her gaze, picking the book up off the ground and tucking it under her arm. “Do you think you can get out of there?”
Ashwin shook his head. “No. My leg’s stuck.”
“Ashwin…” Jade trailed off, the demons rounding the corner.
“Jade. You have to go.”
“But you…”
“Just go!”
Jade stared at him for another moment, then turned, disappearing into the shadows.
“There he is!” one of the large, gray demons jabbed a finger forward, pointing at Ashwin. “Cease him!”
“But where are the sorcerers?” A small, pink demon asked, as he rushed forward. “And the witch? Where is she?”
“Somewhere. We have to find her! She can’t know about the sorcerer’s plan.”
Plan? What plan? Jade frowned, peering out from the shadows, as the demons raced forward. They removed rock from Ashwin, dragging him to his feet and disappeared around the corner.
“Crap! They took him!” she cried, peering around the corner, then glancing at the leprechauns standing next to her. “We have to go after him!”
“Are you crazy?” Shamus asked, staring at her. “They’ll kidnap us!”
“And kill us!”
“But what about your family?” Jade asked. “Don’t they still have some of them down here?”
“Yes. But we don’t know where!”
“Well, we’ll just have to figure it out,” Jade told them. “Because you do whatever you can to help family.”
“And what about the vampire? He’s not family?”
“No. But he’s a good friend,” Jade said, kicking the staff up off the ground, and catching it in her hand. “Well, it might be broken, but it could make for a great weapon. Come on!” She turned and raced down the path.
“Come on! She’s right!” Shamus shouted, racing after her. “We can’t be spineless leprechauns! Let’s show them what we’re made of!”
“Yeah!”
They raced around the corner, and Jade skidded to a stop. She tiptoed up the steps, peering around the doorway. “Nothing like stepping into the devil’s house,” she muttered, blinking into the darkness, suddenly wishing she’d had her powers for what seemed like the millionth time since she’d lost them. They really came in handy in the dark.
“It was nice of you to show up, Ashwin,” the sorcerer said, as he appeared in a blur of black in the room, nodding to the demons as he tossed him into the chair. “We’ve been hunting you for centuries!” He pulled the string next to him, sunlight peeping downward into the underworld.
“And you think sunlight is going to torture me?” Ashwin asked, grinning, as the sunlight washed over h
im. “Sucker.”
“Wait! You’re a vampire!” the sorcerer cried, staring at him in shock. “The sun is supposed to scorch you! How is this even possible?”
“You tell me,” Ashwin said, wincing, as his hands were tied to the chair behind him.
“Liam.” The sorcerer narrowed his eyes. “Damned God! He didn’t just take the witch’s powers! He took yours too!”
“How do you know about the witch’s powers?”
“We know everything!”
“Nah. Not everything,” Ashwin said, jerking his arm free. The rope ripped from around his wrist, and his arm shot out, grabbing the demon next to him by the throat, and tossing him across the room. “And you might want to teach your demons to tie better knots while you’re at it!”
“Hey!”
Another demon rushed forward, and he swung around. He jerked his elbow back, striking him in the gut.
“Demons! Get down here!” the sorcerer shouted, reaching for his staff.
“Hi ya!” Jade jumped forward, leaping over the banister. She swung the staff left, then right, knocking demons to the ground. She threw the staff forward, the sorcerer disappearing from sight.
“Nah uh uh, Jade. Not this time,” the sorcerer said, as the leprechauns raced forward. “But I’ll be back… for all of you!” He disappeared in a blur.
“Hey! We found some of them!” Shamus cried, racing forward, and unlocking the cage against the wall that held the leprechauns.
“There’s more in the dungeon!” one of the younger leprechauns said, as he exited the cage.
“We’ll have to come back for them,” Jade said, as she cut the rest of Ashwin’s rope free. “Come on, I hear more demons coming. We have to go!”
“Well get over here then!” the leprechauns shouted, tapping their sticks on the ground, a reign of color whirling around them.
“Ashwin, come on!” Jade cried, grabbing his arm and pulling her forward.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere far away from here.”
Anarchy Rising Page 3
