The Beacon -Paul Lahote 2-

Chapter 17

Mavis had no idea how she hadn't passed out yet. She felt as if she was dying. Running away was no longer an option. Her ankle was shattered. She couldn't look at the injury without gagging. It would need medical attention soon, or she would lose the limb. However, Mavis knew deep down she wouldn't need medical attention. Melissa was planning on killing her.

She watched the woman as she set candles around the room, mumbling incoherently under her breath. Melissa had already put rows of candles around the building as well. Mavis wasn't sure what the woman was planning but knew it wasn't good. "Why are you doing this?" Melissa glanced at her but didn't speak. "I didn't do anything. I didn't take anything."

"You did," Melissa pointed at her. "And that's the problem." She slowly walked closer. "You don't even realize it." Mavis stared at her. "The power you hold. It's unlike any other." Mavis wasn't powerful. She wasn't anything special.

"I think you have the wrong person," her lip quivered slightly. "I'm not powerful. I'm a nobody."

Melissa smiled at her, but her eyes were empty. There was truly no emotion in them. "You're not a nobody. You're my daughter."

"No," she argued. "No, I'm not. I have a family. A really family who need me-"

She scoffed, "it's ridiculous to stand up for those bloodsuckers." That caught Mavis's attention. How did Melissa know what they were? "They don't love you. They don't appreciate you. I've been watching you for months. I've seen you cry because of them, suffer at their hands. That isn't love. It's torture." Mavis shook her head. "If they love you so much, where are they?"

"They'll come for me-"

"Will they," Melissa taunted. "You've been missing for three weeks." To Mavis, it felt like three years. "Want to know something, sweetie? They didn't even realize you were gone."

Mavis didn't want to believe her, but it was hard. "You're lying-"

"Am I?" Mavis didn't know. "You never belonged to them. It was all an illusion. They never loved you, not as an equal." Melissa set the last candle down. "They never came for you." Tears fell down her cheeks. "Truthfully, you're better off now with me."

She whimpers, "with you?" The woman was planning on killing her. "To die?"

Melissa turns to her, placing a hand on her cheek. "To have a purpose." Mavis didn't believe this was her purpose. "You were holding out hope for them to save you, but they were never coming to save you, darling. This was always going to be your fate."

"You're crazy."

"You don't understand what I am trying to accomplish here." Mavis could feel a sense of dread, a familiar feeling. Melissa smiled at her. "You can feel it too, right? That amazing feeling right before someone takes their last breath. Before they're taken from this planet." Mavis would never explain that feeling that way. To her, it was a horrible feeling, knowing someone was about to die and not being able to stop it. "It's time."

She watched Melissa walk to the table. Someone was about to die, and Mavis knew it would be her. "Please-"

"There are many legends on how to kill a Banshee," Melissa grabbed a blade. "Iron, Gold, Silver." Mavis eyed the knife. "The truth is, anything can kill a Banshee." She twirled the knife in her hand. "But you have to do it twice. Once to kill the spirit and once to kill the host."

Mavis tried to crawl away from her, but Melissa grabbed her feet. "No, please!" She dragged her towards the center of the room. "Someone, help! Help me!"

"No one is coming for you." Everything felt slow. Melissa was right. Nobody was coming to save her. Her family wasn't going to rescue her. She had to rescue herself. "Tonight, I shall reclaim what is mine with the spilling of the sacrificial blood."