The Night's Smile

The Burning Blade

Sophie's POV
I haven't seen anything like it. Maya doesn't come out any more. Corinne has been training every second she has. I watch from my place in the trees every minute. The green leaves that smell of the very essence of life itself have calmed me to a point of unconscious. I can't remember the last thing we have ate. All three of us have waited for fifteen long and exhausting hours. Maybe the giant black bird passed. But we can't be sure. I thought of all the possibilities as I heard a rustle in the trees from behind. I turned quietly as a little bird scuttled out from between two oak branches. "Um... Sophie... There is something you should know." I looked at the bright blue bird's feathered wings and my eyebrows quirked up. "What is it? Is something wrong?" I watched as the bird's wings fluttered nervously. "I saw it, the thing. It is on top of the old man's lab. There are people inside now." I heard another rustle but from under the spot I sat. I looked down and saw flowing red hair and a black leather jacket. My sister-like friend looked up and cocked her head to the side. I looked into Corinne's eyes and understood. "Thank you friend, go find a tree to rest in. You have done well." I grabbed a strong vine and swung down to the ground. Corinne threw a rock from hand to hand. Her golden eyes seemed filled with curiosity. "People... There are no other people besides us, right?" I stated and then I looked at Corinne nervously as she looked towards the west. "Only one way to find out." Her eyes shined as she turned and ran. She seemed to turned into some sort of a fire ball. Then she was gone. I breathed in and I exhaled. "Where is she going?" I turned quickly and snapped my fingers. My hair flowed infront of me so I couldn't see the attacker. I pushed back my hair and saw vines clenched around Maya's throat. I gasped and snapped again. Maya's eyes were as wide as the moon on a clear day. "Someone is jumpy." She smirked and leaned on the old oak which I lived. "I just heard that the bird came back. Also I heard people, what is that all about?" I looked into her eyes and saw a flash of something that I couldn't tell what of. "It's not a bird, I have seen every bird in this deathly forest and there is no such bird like it. My friend said people came out of it, so it can't be a bird." Maya's jaw seemed to crash into the ground. "So there are people?!? And you let her go alone!" Maya pushed past me and I looked at her hair as it seemed to flow past me along with her. I grabbed her slim arm, "You are not going after her, she is a big girl, she can take care of herself." Maya ripped her arm from my grasp, "But she is all we have." And she ran. As she ran I turned and sat down. The first tears I have cried in years fell. I could hear Maya's footsteps fade into the distance. After a while my mind began to dream. I couldn't lose them. If they die, I die to. I sniffled and tucked part of my hair behind my ear. I stood up slowly and noticed a shadow grow over my own. "Hello Sophia." I gasped as I felt a needle enter my skin and two wrinkly arms grab my hands. I screamed. I felt my eyes begin to grow heavy and my heart rate slow. I looked back at the man I once hated so much. He looked down on my with scars covering his old but lively face. I can only fall as he says, "Welcome back to hell."

Corinne's POV
I raced to the old lab. I felt my heart beat faster as I got closer. I started having flash backs to the days of terror and hate. I saw a wooden knife made by Sophie when we first got out. I remember how the old man used all kinds of objects to torture us. I shivered and shook my head. No, I couldn't think of that now. I turned my eyes forward and say the first glimpse of metal. I snapped my fingers and a tiny flame grew in the palm of my hand. I saw the black bird on top of the evil place and I stopped. Why did the bird land on this horrible place? Doesn't it sense the evil that has gone on near here? As I questioned the bird's actions in my head, I looked around. The air seemed to grow thinner as I looked toward the old place. I saw a opening in the gray stone fence that lies ahead of me. I felt something hit my back as I was staring into space. I saw a tiny, light brown hand laying on my shoulder. I turned calmly to see Maya standing right next to me. "Maya... What are you doing here. Go back to camp, now!" Maya looked at me with her big, brown eyes and smiled. "Did you really think I was going to let you die alone?" I sighed and smiled a tiny bit. Maya was always so pushy, but I loved her. Even if she sometimes made me heat ponds to make them hot springs. I smiled wider and chuckled. She patted my back as we both took a step forward. I looked over and saw terror flood her coco brown eyes. Yet we couldn't turn back. I nodded as we took five more steps forward. We ducked into the tiny hole and looked into the evil place. It was ghostly and dark, unlike the rest of the lively forest. Vines hung from every tree and metal chunks broke the flat ground's perfect symmetry. The grass was brown and brittle as we stepped on it. How could only a fence separate this nightmare from the forest I love? Maya carefully picked her way over to a cracked window and looked in. Her eyes looked over to me and she mouthed the words, "It's clear." I nodded and started towards a hole in the wall. I remember blasting through the wall and dragging Sophie's almost dead body through the burning rubble. I quickly came back to reality as I started to step through the tiny hole. I grimaced as a piece of metal grazed my skin. I knew I should have worn jeans today. I shook my head and came back to reality. I snapped my fingers once more and the tiny flame in my palm grew to a campfire-like light. I looked around and saw no change in the big room. I saw all the beakers and bottles still smashed and I saw three tiny cages broken in the corner. I sneaked across the room to the other wall and I saw something odd. A bright light, only there for a second, flashed. I stared and waved Maya over to me. "I don't like this Corinne." Maya whispered and slowly walked up the stairs which the light came from. I grabbed her wrist but she shook my hand off. I walked behind her nervously and saw water start to form into a knife in her hand. I snapped and my flame turned into a coal knife. Handy trick I had just learned. My smile disappeared as we neared the top of the steps. Maya looked back at me and turned back. She turned the corner and I heard a loud thud. My heart dropped. I screamed and ran around the corner and kicked the shadowy figure closest to where Maya should have been. I slashed my knife through the air and the coals lit up and my eyes went wide. "Maya!" I rushed over to her. She lay on the ground. I looked up and saw one, no, two people. I gripped my sword tighter and snarled, "You will all pay." I felt my world go dark as the but of a metal object hit my head.

Will's POV
"Really dude, did you have to go and knock both of them out." I sighed as I looked at the two girls on the ground. Keaton smiled shyly, "Sorry, but the first one would have told the other one. I couldn't let that happen." He looked down at the first girl and smiled. I knelt down next to the red haired girl and took her knife. It was made of pure coal and glowed when I touched it. It felt slightly warm like it had just been used to light a fire. I sighed once more and looked at the other girl. "Well, I guess tie them up so they don't kill us in our sleep." I chuckled silently to myself as I thought of girls trying to kill us. I noticed the first girl's sword had melted into a puddle of water.Weird, maybe it was made out of ice. Interesting things to make your weapons out of. I stood up and then looked over at Cole. "Agent Unknown, you okay? She kicked you pretty hard." "Agent Herondale, Will, Mr. Herondale... Don't call me Agent Unknown, call me Cole. Plus, I'm fine." Cole grimaced as he tried to get up. He covered his side. "Don't get up if it hurts, she probably cracked a bone." Cole looked up with hateful but respectful eyes and sat back down. His blond hair was messed up from the ruckus the red head made. I looked back at Keaton as he picked up the 'water woman' up. He brought her to the corner and tied her to one of the many steel pipes. He took out a green laser pen and cut off the part that was not tied in a knot. He smiled down at his work, but also it seemed that he was smiling about something else. What could it be? I pondered as I felt a sharp heat scrap my side. I winced and looked down. I saw a glow come from my hand resting at my side. I swept my black hair away from my forehead as I realized what it was. The coal knife seemed hotter than when I picked it up. Cole looked at me with storm gray eyes. I gripped tighter onto the blade. What happened to these mysterious girls? What happened to the secret beauties that live in the woods? What happened to the burning blade?