Beyond His Evil

Twenty Six

~~~

I shook my head in disbelief, closed my eyes, and then opened them again. To my surprise, I was met with a pair of golden eyes staring back at me. Confused, I took a few steps back, wondering what was happening. I repeated the process of closing and opening my eyes, but the strange golden color remained. I stood frozen, unable to tear my gaze away from my reflection.

What was happening?

Curiosity got the better of me, and I leaned against the sink, staring intently into my own eyes. The golden color was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I moved even closer, convinced that I must be dreaming. It had to be some sort of delusion.

A tingling sensation began to spread through my hands, and I looked down at them. I watched in astonishment as my cut skin began to heal before my eyes. The blood that had been oozing out began to flow back, like time was on reverse and returned back into my skin. The shards of glass that had pierced my skin floated out and fell to the floor, leaving my hands completely healed.

It was as if nothing had happened.

I continued to stare at my reflection in the mirror, and to my surprise, I noticed a strange sign on my forehead. It was a blinding white color. I couldn't even recognize the person I saw in the mirror.

Tentatively, I reached out a hand towards the mirror, and the reflection did the same. So, the reflection was me. As my fingers touched the mirror, I felt a strange sensation run through them. Suddenly, the shards of glass on the floor and the sink began to float off their surfaces and move towards the mirror. In a matter of moments, the mirror was restored to its original state. I was left in shock, unable to comprehend what I had just witnessed.

Feeling overwhelmed, I gasped, and took a few steps back.

I chuckled humorlessly. This was a dream. I shut my eyes, blew my cheeks out, opened my eyes, looked back at the mirror and saw that several other reflections joined mine in the mirror. Men and women with glowing golden eyes appeared, but they didn't have the sign on their foreheads like I did.

A scream ripped out of my throat, and I was about to make my escape out the door when they suddenly materialized in the bathroom with me. My head spun, and my heart raced as I listened to their voices. I couldn't make sense of what they were saying, but they kept repeating the phrase "Another shall come."

Reality seemed to slip away from me, and I collapsed to the floor.

~~~

I slowly opened my eyes and winced as a bright light almost blinded me.
"She's awake," someone exclaimed.
There was movement around me.
"She's awake! Oh my God Kira, you're finally awake," a familiar voice said. I turned towards the voice and saw Evelyn grinning from ear to ear.

I groaned as I tried to make out my surroundings. It seemed like I was in a hut, definitely a hut.
"Where am I?" I asked.

"It's a long story. You've been unconscious for two weeks," Evelyn replied.

My eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

A woman who appeared to be in her fifties approached me. She wasn't a hunter, but she also wasn't human.

"Don't you think she should be taken out of the water now?" Evelyn said to her. It was then that I realized I was submerged in water, naked, in what looked like a combination of a tub and a bed.

"What the hell..." I whispered under my breath.

The woman gave Evelyn a disapproving look and added something to the water. Each time her hand entered the water, I felt a strange sensation pass through me. What was she putting in it?

She walked away without saying a word.

"Evelyn, what is happening?" I asked. I didn't even have the energy to be bothered by my nakedness.

"Okay, so two weeks ago, actually two weeks and three days ago, Kate found you unconscious in the bathroom. You were rushed to the clinic, but none of the doctors could figure out what happened or why you wouldn't wake up," Evelyn explained.

"We even had water elementals perform a scan on your body, but they couldn't find anything either."

Water elementals had the ability to manipulate liquids, which included blood.

Evelyn continued, "Even Devon didn't know what was wrong with you. He was really worried. I've never seen him like that before. Maybe it's because he's your trainer, but he was absolutely..."

"How did I end up here, Evelyn?" I interrupted her. His name brought glimpses of how he had abused me back, along with a splitting headache.

"She's a half-breed," she said, referring to the woman. "Half human, half vampire. She can't speak, but she knows a lot about herbs. The seer located her, and we brought you here two days ago."

I nodded, trying to process everything.

"What's the last thing you remember, Kira?"

I tried to remember, but it only amplified my  headache. "I can't remember."

Evelyn placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay, don't strain yourself. I need to head back to safe land before it gets late."

Confusion filled me. "We're not in safe land?"

Evelyn gave me a look. "Were you not listening, Kira? This isn't safe land. The seer found this place somehow, and we brought you here. It's outside of safe land, but it's pretty safe," she chuckled at her own joke. "Get it?"

"Okay, see you tomorrow," she said when all I did was blink at her terrible joke, turning to leave.

"Why can't I go with you?" I asked.

"You just woke up. She needs to make sure you're in good condition to leave."

"Can she be trusted?"

Evelyn nodded. "If the seer trusts her, then she can be trusted."

I nodded in understanding, and she turned to leave.
"Evelyn."

She faced me. "Yeah?"

I smiled. "Just wanted to say thanks. For everything. I owe you."

She smiled back. "You're welcome. See you tomorrow."

I watched her leave.

~~~

The woman later signaled for me to exit the water. I complied and followed her, wrapped in a towel, to a room that bore a resemblance to my room back at the hut where my mother and I lived. I couldn't quite comprehend why I felt so comfortable around her. It was strange.

She motioned for me to enter the room and handed me a dress before turning to leave.
"Thank you," I expressed my gratitude.
She halted in her tracks.
"For everything," I added.

She turned back to face me and surprised me with her next action. She knelt down and placed her head on the ground.

My eyes widened. Was she praying? Did she want me to kneel as well? What on earth was she doing?

"Um... Should I kneel?" I asked, already starting to lower myself to the ground.

She lifted her head. "No."

I blinked twice. Didn't Evelyn mention that she couldn't speak?

I straightened up. She rose from the ground, gazing at me as if I were some sort of treasure.
"You have no idea how long I've searched the entire universe for you."

"What?"

***
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