The Medallion

Nilla: Counter Attack

"Look what you did," Jace said. "Nilla! Are you alright?"

"It was your fault," Steven exclaimed. "Nilla, I'm so sorry. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking I needed you two to stop focusing on hating each other and start thinking of a way to stop Allison. I can't do it on my own."

"I can't believe he made me stab you," said Steven.

"You are the one who could not control his weaponry," said Jace. "If you were more skilled, she never would have been stabbed in the first place."

"I'm not pathetic, you crazed fish! If you never tricked her in the first place, none of this would've even happened."

"Stop it, both of you!" I said. "The wolves are going to kill each other, and while the two of you are in here bickering over petty nonsense, Allison is getting away."

"She cannot transform without me," said Jace. "Only I have the power and knowledge to give her what she truly wants."

"Well then," I said. "Let's go give her what she wants."

We collected ourselves and looked around the cave. The only place she could've gone was the shadows.

"Allison," Jace called. "I am ready to take you into the ocean with me. Where are you?"

"You're trying to trick me." Allison's voice had a dark and sinister edge as it echoed off the rocks.

"No, I am truly ready to leave this place. Please reveal yourself, and we will be together forever just as you wanted."

"That's not what the orb says. It says you still love Nilla and want to protect her."

"I do, but the only way I can protect her is to take you away from here and hope to make you happy."

Her voice jumped around as if it wasn't coming from the same place twice. "So I'm not good enough for you? I'm not perfect enough for you just because I'm not wonderful and constantly upbeat?"

"I will help you if I can. Maybe you will not be so mean and hateful towards others, but my heart will always belong to Nilla."

"Jace," I whispered. "What are you doing? She won't stop torturing everyone if you keep saying things like that."

"I cannot lie to her," he said. "She has that orb she created. It can read my every emotion."

"And I'm angry about it all," said Allison. "Angry that no one can see what a horrible time I've had at life. Angry that no one feels compassion for me. Angry that everyone is so in love with you, Nilla. Why do you get all the friends? Why do you get all the love from everyone, even my own brother?"

"That's easy," I said. "I'm not an evil little bitch to people and I don't expect others to feel sorry for me when I stub my toe nor would I hurt myself on purpose let alone expect some kind of compassion for it when I do. You're messed up, Ali. You need professional help."

"What kind of friend are you?" Allison revealed herself.

"Obviously not a very good one if I let it get this far without telling you how I really felt about your behavior. Nothing that has happened in your life is that bad, why can't you see that?"

"Even when you say hateful things like that, they still love you. When I try, they all laugh and thing I'm making a joke or something else ridiculous. I'm tired of being someone I'm not. Why can't you see that?"

The orb began to pulsate once more.

"No!" I shouted. "I won't let you hurt them any longer."

I charged at Allison and leaped into the air grabbing her and tackling her to the ground. We wrestled for the orb. Allison was laughing the entire time as if she thought she had control of me with that stupid orb of hers.

"Nilla!" Steven screamed charging in after me.

"Nilla," Jace said calmly. "You must not cause her harm. It only makes the orb stronger."

I knocked the orb out of her hands and continued to throw punches. When the fight started, I was just trying to get the orb, but as the fight progressed, I could feel myself turning vicious. Every hit made Allison laugh, and every laugh made me even more furious. I punched her until Steven pulled me from his sister's body. Jace picked up the orb and it turned blue in his hands.

I struggled in Steven's grip. I had a very strong desire to kill her as she cackled at my anger even with a busted lip. I wanted to knock that stupid grin off her face and fought for Steven to release me. It wasn't until I scratched Steven's arm that I realized Allison was controlling my emotions with that orb. Was she right? Did I not love her as much as I thought? If I didn't care about Allison enough to stop myself, how was I ever going to convince her that love existed in the world?

"I knew you would be jealous of me sooner or later," Allison said. "All I had to do was get a power greater than yours. It's a great feeling, you know, to finally have you jealous of me for something."

"I'm not jealous of you," I said.

"That's not what the orb told me."

"If I'm jealous of anything from you it's because you do whatever you want all the time. I actually consider feelings before I do things. I also do stuff for others. You, on the other hand, are determined to do whatever you want who cares about the people you hurt. You could've gone so far in this life you actually picked a direction to go besides living in your own self-pity."

"Not everyone wants to be a people pleaser. It's actually toxic for you mental health, you know."

The smile almost left her face. I tried to control my emotions better, but it was difficult. I knew there was no way to help Allison in her current condition.