“I’m here!” I ran toward them, so happy not to be alone anymore. “Thank goodness you guys are here!”
“How is a desert island detention? This looks like paradise,” Akela said.
Lucy looked around, “I’ve heard so many stories about this place. I hear your powers are neutralized here, so you become a mortal and it’s almost impossible for any mortal to survive the elements of this island. A couple of months ago a girl named Macy was sentenced to three days detention and when they reopened the portal she never returned.”
“Did they look for her?” I asked.
“Yes, they sent in a search party, but it was too late. She was eaten alive by the alligators. Another student was eaten alive by the sharks that surround the island.”
Natira walked to the edge of the water, she waved her hand over its surface while thinking of the color green. Nothing happened, the water remained crystal clear, she could see the fish and sharks swimming in circles under the surface of the water. She raised her hand to the sun to soak up the energy that she needed to strengthen her powers then she tried waving it over the water again. This time, the surface turned green but within seconds it was crystal clear again. She didn’t have enough strength. Confused, she looked at both of her hands.
“Good try Natira but, Drisdol’s power is stronger than you think. He has harnessed the power of many Gods over the years. He is the most powerful warlock and dragon in the universe, so, he can neutralize any power,” Lucy said.
“But my powers are not of this Universe, he should not be able to neutralize my powers.”
The girls sat on the shore, “Lucy what do you know about Drisdol?”
“Besides him being head council? I know there were three others, but he destroyed them because he wanted all their power. I heard he appointed three council members to take their places, but they are all controlled by him. Duchess is his little minion; she does his bidding at the school and she oversees the army of DOD Agents who keep his army hidden.”
“Hidden for what?” Akela asked, fanning herself with a palm leaf.
“He has been waiting for hundreds of years for a war. There is always preparation for a war. The ring of darkness has never been broken, but the prophesy says that there will be one among us who has the purity to be able to break the ring of darkness. When it is broken, the enemies will come from the valley of Jezerel into the school to destroy it. So, for now, it is protected by the ring of darkness.”
“I wrote about that in my class notes. Got an A on the exam too!” I said proudly.
“Never discuss the ring of darkness out loud. It’s his weakness. It’s one of the only things he doesn’t have enough power to breech alone because he is filled with too much evil.”
“I second that,” I said. “He is evil! All of our mothers have been damned, and we have been made prisoners of his fictional war.”
“We are not prisoners; we are being trained to be able to succeed in the mortal world. It is for our benefit, right?” Akela asked as if she needed an answer rather than make a statement.
No one knew the answer, we all sat gazing into the water in front of us, in the distance small triangular sails in different hues of gray came into our view and swam in circles before just beyond the shore. Sharks.
“Guuuuyyyyys!” Natira said slowly.
We were all mesmerized by the killer sharks that threatened us, “Don’t look back,” Natira said. We all looked back at the same time gasping and shrieking as an army of alligators were marching toward us.
“Run!!!!!” I yelled. We ran in two directions to clear the path of the alligators, who charged at us full speed.
“Where do we go?” Lucy yelled moving backward toward the ocean.
“Not that way!” I pointed toward the water. “The sharks are behind you!”
I watched the alligators march toward her, they were trying to push her into the water.
“Lucy! Run to the left toward Akela.”
Lucy ran as fast as she could to the place where Akela had safely retreated. Natira joined them and they held on to one another, neither familiar with what was beyond the shore.
“Follow me,” I ran into the jungle just as a powerful boom of thunder sounded in the sky above. The sky turned dark and rain began to fall. The rain made the alligators retreat because it was acid rain.
“Ouch!” yelled Lucy. “The rain burns!”
“It’s acid. We have to get to shelter or we will never survive!” Akela yelled.
“I know!” I ran until I found the cave I’d slept in the night before. This time I led the girls even further in until we were safely inside a dry space. The rain continued to fall in sheets outside. No wonder there were no animals on the island, they had all died. The darkness wrapped itself around us like a blanket, keeping us warm and safe from the rain. The walls of the cave were rock and there was only enough room for the four of us to crouch down, as standing would cause us to hit our heads. Within a few minutes the rain stopped, and the sky turned blue again and the sun came out, but we did not leave the cave.
“What should we do next, you think the alligators are still out there?” I whispered, as if the walls were witness to our conversation.
“They are everywhere! Not only that, but there are venomous snakes everywhere too,” I said.
Lucy wiped at a tickling on her arm. Her hand passed over something furry. When she looked down, she could see a black dot moving up her arm. “What is that!”
“Spider!” Suddenly a ray of sunlight illuminated the cave and the girls saw spiders in every space of the wall. Big hairy spiders the size of ones hand.
“So, we are surrounded by sharks, alligators and snakes, and now spiders! This is not detention it’s a death trap!” Akela crouched down and left the cave.
“We have to stick together. We only have one more day,” Natira followed encouraging us.
“Let’s try to see if we can find anything to use for firewood and then find some food, cause I’m starving.”
Outside, the rain had cleared away most threats and made the jungle beautiful. Lush green leaves and brown vines fell from the jungle ceiling and creaking foliage under their feet moved and crunched with life as they walked. Lucy had gone ahead, led by the beauty that stood around her. She grabbed hold of a vine and leaned in waiting for the other girls to catch up.
“Come on guys!” she yelled.
“Lucy, close your eyes!” Akela pointed to the top of the vine. We all looked up to discover that it wasn’t a vine, but a huge brown snake hanging from the tree above. When Lucy heard the leaves rustling around her, she turned her attention to the ground. She gasped when she saw that she was standing in a snake nest. Hundreds of snakes were all around her, moving and squirming in a mass of venomous tangles. The girls backed away looking to each other for answers.
“What do we do?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Natra said.
I looked around us. The thick twisted foliage wrapped itself around various trees. Sticks. No. I looked in every direction, Nothing. We have to help her. The snake overhead started to inch its way down. Wraping himself around Lucy, slithering around her 5’4’ body as fear grew in her eyes. One of the paulownia leaves nearby had acted as a bowl collecting the acid rain. I pointed to the leaves and the girls followed the path of my vision.
We each grabbed a leaf and slowly walked over to the snake nest and threw the acid rainwater on them, there was a mass slithering and screaming noise as the snakes withered away. Lucy jumped out of their trap and fell to the ground in sobs.
“I hate snakes!” she cried. Thoughts of the shadows that visited her at night played through her mind and she became more emotional. She hated her fate. She didn’t want to release her soul to the power of darkness, and the slithering serpent started it all in the garden of Eden. She’d heard the story many times over, the curse that had been placed on mankind since the beginning of time and had been chasing her every day.
“Lucy, you
are safe now,” I said bending down beside her. “We are all here with you.”
Suddenly, Natira fell to the ground, her skin was pale and glowed a soft white and green on her cheeks. She was delirious and spoke in whispers.
“Natira! What is it?” Akela asked, rubbing her arm.
“The cave. My energy, it’s draining. My powers are useless here. I need the energy from the sun.”
“Guys, we need to get her to the shore, she needs sun,” Lucy, please Natira needs you now! Together we lifted Natira and carried her to the shore. We found a spot where the sun was the brightest and lay her on a palm leaf. Her skin still held a transparent green glow. I could see the blood coursing through her veins, it was a beautiful bright green river of water. After we made sure she was safe, we left her with Lucy and Akela and I searched every corner of the island for food but found nothing. Not even a banana on the banana tree. Neither of us had eaten, but Natira was the weakest and needed something as soon as possible.
“If we don’t get her something to eat, she won’t make it, she’s too weak.”
“I think I have an idea,” I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. We walked back to the shore and looked out into the sea. The sound of crashing waves against thorny rock was so much better than the swooshing of the windmills. The sharks had moved a little further out into the water, so now was the best time to go.
“What’s the plan?” Akela asked. Lucy joined us, but she was quiet. She looked out into the distance where the sea and sky met, a bright round ball of light slowly slid beneath the surface of the sea, this beauty made her appreciate HIM.
I watched the gray sails as they moved deeper into the expanse of the water. Be brave Rune. I waded through the water until I was deep enough to dive. I held took a deep breath and went under, it was our only hope. I dove below the surface of the clear water, keeping an eye out for the sharks in the distance. Hoping that my blood was not as appetizing as the others. I spotted a batch of seaweed about 4 feet down. The first batch was easy to get, I brought it close enough to the shore so that the others could wade in to get it. Lucy retrieved the seaweed and handed it to Akela, who waded back to throw it on the sand. That’s when Lucy noticed it.
“Akela, your cut! It’s bleeding!”
By the time Akela looked down at it the wave had already come in and receded into the water. She scanned the surface for the gray sails and then for Rune.
“Rune!” Lucy yelled, wading deeper in. The sharks picked up the scent of the blood and were headed back toward them.
“Rune!”
Natira could see what was happening in the water, her body had warmed enough from the sun so she reached for her necklace, and she could feel its warmth radiating through her fingers. She lifted her hand toward the water again and the gray sails were immediately confused. They swam in circles around Rune but none of them were able to reach her.
“Hurry Rune,” she whispered.
“Rune!” Akela and Lucy yelled. “Sharks!”
I pulled the last piece of seaweed from its roots and burst through the surface of the water for air. Sharks. I looked around for the gray sails and saw them swimming in a circle around me. I could see that Natira and Lucy had been trying to get my attention for some time. What now mom? I whispered. I could see a bright light coming from the shore, it was something Natira was holding that reflected the sun. I looked at the seaweed I was holding. It would have fed us all, but I had to let it go in order to get away, so I dropped it and took a deep breath and went under water; I’d try to swim under them. I swam as far down as I could and then toward the shore. They remained above me and I was able to swim to safety.
I collapsed on the sand trying to catch my breath.
“Are you ok?” she asked. “That was close!”
“I’m O.K,” I panted.
We were able to make a fire from some driftwood we found in the jungle, with it we roasted the seaweed and fed it to Natira. After she ate, she was much stronger.
“What next, I’m exhausted,” Lucy said.
Akela agreed, “I know one thing. I never want to serve detention again.”
“I guess you’re saying you’ve been reformed?” Natira said.
“I’m sorry guys, this was all my fault.”
“No,” I chimed in. “If I hadn’t of mouthed off, we may have gotten level one detention. I wonder what was behind the first door?”
“Don’t want to know.”
I scooped up a hand full of sand and allowed it to fall between my fingers. I had never been to the beach before, my mother had always been afraid it would burn my skin.
“Look!” Natira pointed to the sand in front of us. It was moving in the direction of something invisible. It moved up into a circular form that came into fruition as the sand covered its entirety.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s a funnel, a sandstorm! Take cover!” But by the time we stood up to move the storm and wind had overpowered us so much that we could only lay down where we were shielding our faces. This storm was not an ordinary storm, but the sand was filled with locusts. We hear their screaming as they circled us in a tunnel of rage. We held onto each other as the sand and wind brow beat us, leaving tiny marks on our skin. It felt like we were being pricked by thousands of tiny needles. A few minutes later, just as suddenly as it came it was gone. We wiped the sand out of our faces and hair and looked around.
“What the hell was that?” I asked, spitting sand from my mouth.
“I have no idea.”
Natira’s necklace was flickering in the sunlight, “What was the light you were shining earlier? I asked.
“My necklace,” she touched her necklace. “I was using its power to disorient the sharks. Inside, there’s a map incase I get lost, I’m hoping the sun will cause it to signal home. It doesn’t matter where I am in the Universe, it will always direct me home. She held up the sparkling necklace and we were all mesmerized by the swirling particles of glowing dust. The longer we looked at it the further we drifted into its hypnotic power. She placed her hand over the surface, and we came back to. “It’s dangerous if you stare at it too long,” she smiled. She had no intention of using any of her powers to bring harm to her new friends. They had been the only ones she could trust since she was kidnapped.
“What do you guys remember most about your mothers?” I directed my question to everyone.
No one spoke. Silence. The crackling of the fire could be heard as the waves smashed against rocks in the background.
“I remember,” I spoke first. “That my mother had a disdain for the Council of the Gods. She said that they were not what we think they are. Drisdol is not who we think he is.”
“Is that why you challenged him that day?” Akela asked.
“Yes, Lucy said that there were four original Gods, now there is only one. Drisdol. Why is that?”
“Well, there are three appointed members. So, there are four now,” Lucy chimed in.
“Appointed by who?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” she replied.
“Drisdol has appointed the three Gods.”
“Aren’t they supposed to be appointed by the council?” Akela asked.
“Well, that’s just it, Katherine’s mother has been damned, she was the head Board member. Without her, he was able to decide who he wanted.
We were all arrested by our thoughts again. I noticed something that wasn’t there before, next to the entrance of the jungle were beautiful flowers.
“Guys, look at those flowers,” I pointed to the bell shaped flowers facing the ground. They were pink with beautiful yellow stems. “They look like bells.”
“I love flowers!” Akela said running toward the beautiful flowers. He stomach growled. She picked four flowers from the vines and brought them back to the fire. “Flowers are edible. We can eat these,” she said.
Natira looked at the flowers and could see a dark black dust coming up from them. It was a thick smoke. “Throw tho
se down!” Natira yelled. “They are poisonous. Those are called Angel’s Trumpet Call and they will kill you if you eat them.”
I had heard of the flower; it was pulled from my teacher’s garden after her dog ingested it.
Inside the cave, we lay down and our stomach’s growled like hungry bears. Natira used her glowing skin to light the cave and create a barrier around us so that we could sleep. All around us shadows of spiders as big as a human hand crawled all around us.
When the morning light hit our eyes again, we were in the 4x4 cell again. We looked around. There was no sand, no water, and no jungle. Cement covered three sides of the cell while steal bars covered the fourth.
“That’s it girls,” the guard opened the door and handed us small bags. “Your detention is over, you’ve survived.
Duchess met us outside the cell, “I’m impressed, you know most girls come back and need several counseling sessions just to return to normal life. You four girls are stronger than you think.”
“We shouldn’t have been in detention to begin with. That’s cruel and unusual punishment! Does the state board know that you place your students on death island?”
“Actually, no they don’t and there’s a reason why.”
“What do you mean?”
Duchess held up her wand, “Memorando Reverso Despari!”
“How was detention Rune?”
“Boring, I’m a pro at siting in a room for three hours. I took a nap.”
“You Akila?”
“Boring.”
“Lucy?”
“Same.”
Natira continued rubbing her necklace. She saw exactly what just happened. Duchess successfully wiped their memories clear of the events that happened in detention. What she didn’t know was that no spell in the universe would work on her when she’s holding her necklace, which is made of a rare Zarminian stone dispels the power of any pending curse. She remembered everything.
“How about you Natira, how was detention?”
“I survived.”
“Nice doing business with you, here are your parting gifts, “In the bags you’ll find sandwiches and a change of clothes. You can use the showers in this room.”
Daughters of the Damned Page 10
