Riley's Box

Part 71

The shadow spirit's eyes looked desperately around the alley, as though she was trying to figure out a way to get her out of this mess. She then exhaled harshly through her nose and pulled a bow and arrow out from behind her, which she aimed right at Avidicci. 

He quickly ducked before she could fire it at him.

"Do you really think you can send me back? Good luck," Shadow said. She then raised her hands up and a group of several other shadow spirits appeared all around her. 

"I should have considered that she would use her own magic," Avidicci said. 

"You think?" Ira yelled back, as he got started on firing his weapon at the shadow spirits in front of us. 

We were being ambushed by shadow spirits. It was official. 

Even though my heart was racing, I couldn't let them hurt my friends. 

"Hey, Shadow!" I yelled, causing her to whip around to look at me. 

She started to move towards me, ready to attack, but while she was doing so, Avidicci snuck up on her. He managed to stab his sword right into her back, but it didn't take her down immediately. 

Shadow turned around and grabbed the sword, so she could strike out at Avidicci, causing a gash to form on his stomach. 

Nevertheless, Avidicci had injured her enough for her to start to lose the strength to stand. She dropped the sword to the ground and it landed with a clatter. 

Invidia and Ira advanced on Shadow then and started to use their hands and Invidia's net to restrain her. 

Shadow tried to bite them and attack them in various ways that she saw fit, but it was no use, she had been captured. 

Avidicci turned to me then and called out to me. 

I rushed to his side. 

"Riley- take the sword and kill the others, before they kill you," he said. 

I wasn't about to waste any time. 

Darting towards the sword, I grabbed it from the ground. I was then able to use it to strike out at the other spirits that Shadow had summoned.

Jason grabbed a box that had been left in the alleyway and bashed it over one of the other spirit's heads, causing it to disintegrate into ebony smoke. 

With the other spirits now down, it was time to return my focus to Shadow.

I rushed over to the others and worked alongside Prida, to supply the final hits to Shadow. She released a piercing screech into the alley, before crumbling away into nothing. 

"Where's she gone?" I managed to find my voice, even while my heart pounded in my ears. 

"Back where she belongs," Invidia said, as she started to put her net away. "Back to Hell. She won't try to hurt you anymore." 

I gave an understanding nod and then heard someone cough nearby. 

"Boss!" Guttur yelled, as he rushed to Avidicci's side. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked. 

We didn't need an answer from Avidicci to be able to answer that question, as the wound on his stomach started to close up and heal again. 

Otius rushed over and held his hands up, so the wound healed even faster. 

A few moments later, Avidicci was able to stand up from the ground again. 

"Otius!" Adina yelled in amazement. "You do have powers!" 

"I do? Wait..." Otius voice faded out, as he realised what he had done. "I do! I guess I was a little too lazy to use them before but...I have powers!" 

Invidia walked over to him and elbowed him in the ribs.

Otius stared at her, wide-eyed. 

"Knew it," she said, with a friendly grin. 

Jason glanced around at everyone and finally spoke. 

"Is everyone alright?" he asked, with a kind light in his eyes. "Everyone safe? Is anyone hurt?" His questions only emphasised his care and concern. 

I moved closer to him to bring him into a hug. 

"We're all alright," I confirmed. 

"Yeah! Thank you, you two!" Guttur said and I didn't need to look at him to know that he was smiling. "You guys rock!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm. 

The Sins wandered a short distance away to celebrate their success, while I looked towards Jason when I felt his eyes on me. 

"I'm not great at this..." he trailed off. 

I tilted my head slightly to the side in interest. 

"At what?" I asked him. 

"What you just did, Riley...that was amazing. You're amazing. I love you so much!" he said. 

At that statement, my eyes widened in astonishment. 

"You love me?" I replied. 

"I love you," he said. 

I felt myself smile, but before I could respond to Jason's statement, Guttur started to move over to the two of us again. 

With some nervousness, I took a step away from Jason and gently twirled some of my hair around my finger. 

"I'm so glad that's over! Man, I am hungry. I think we should have cheese toasties to celebrate," he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "What do you say, Riley?" he asked me. 

"Let's do it," I agreed. 

~*~**~*~

After a short while had passed, Jason and I returned home with the Sins. 

We walked back up to my room and Adina was the first one to speak next, with a kind expression upon her face. 

"We did it!" she said, with a grin. "Thank you so much, Riley! The shadow spirits are gone. I can feel it. I have a sixth sense for these things, you know?" 

"Wait...does that mean you knew that the dog was a shadow spirit this whole time?" Invidia asked. Her eyebrows creased together slightly. 

"Well, uh...I thought it would be more fun if Riley got to work that out for herself!" Adina admitted. 

"Adina, when we get back to Hell, I'm so going to kick your butt," Invidia said. She then glanced down to her nails and a small smile of amusement played at her lips. "Maybe." 

Adina chuckled and threw her arms around me. 

"We did it!" she said joyfully.