Prisoners of Prophecy

Chapter 2

Xantara - July 10th, 2019; 3:05pm

"Is it really that noticeable?" I asked worriedly, my hand cupped over my right eye as if it would make the terrible change revert itself.
The dilapidated house we were in seemed to close in on us with every passing second. It was getting hard to breathe. The wind blew the rotting door open and closed again, making the shadows around us shimmer and dance. Even though the day was cooling down, and the breeze was blowing through the broken windows, the air seemed too hot and too thick.
"There's not a bit of blue left," the gorgeous girl in front of me muttered, her brows narrowed and her perfect lips pursed in concentration. "It's starting on the other eye now. You know, none of this makes any sense... but you changing into some nightmare version of yourself, which you claim to have happened when you met a friend you're just now remembering, that takes the cake. Because that has to mean that whatever is going on was preordained for us. That whatever is in the basement planned for us all to do those horrible things, just to get us here. However insane that sounds."
Unease bubbled in my stomach like bile. The faint voices in the basement of this very house hadn't told us much, but they had told us to gather together, drawing us here individually until the five of us had grown closer in the late nights we would sneak down into that dark and listen for further instructions. They told us there was one more. One more and we would know what they wanted from us. Why they had followed us for who knows how long, maybe even our entire lives. If they actually existed at all. Considering all of this never made me feel less crazy. And if we weren't all sharing the same odd hallucinations, then anything was possible. And the vast unknown that that brought was terrifying.
"Where are they?" Calypso asked, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
"Why do you want us all together, anyways?"
She scowled at me, and a wave of fear and desire ran through me. Calypso had that effect on everyone. The first time I had met her, I had practically fallen to my knees and bowed to her. "Because you can't hide the fact that your eyes are changing. And maybe they'll know something we don't."
I sighed. "But what if they think of me differently? I mean, I know I'm not the only one that has this otherworldly shit going on, but..."
"They will. But we have to. They'll notice."
     As if that were their cue, I heard footsteps on the front porch and Kai's deep voice calling our names.
     "Finally!" Calypso exclaimed, turning around and heading deeper into the hallway without waiting for them to come inside. I followed her.
     We filed down the hall; Kai, Illisha, and Cato behind us, and down the steps that led into the basement. Even with the front door propped open and the sunlight filtering down the stairs, it seemed much too dark down here; like the room was filled with too many shadows. The silence that fell upon us was thick with our combined anticipation and fear.
     Once everyone had unconsciously formed a circle in the center of the dim room like we had done plenty of times before, Kai spoke. "It better be important. You're going to get us in trouble, having us skipping class like this."
     "You'll be fine," Calypso snapped, and glared at him with her strange pale eyes, silencing him instantly. "And it is important."
     Cato was standing as still as a statue, his eyes closed. I was sure he was listening for those voices. He heard them better than the rest of us. Sometimes I wonder if he was just crazy, and that he was driving us all over the edge with him. But then I'd remember some of those nights, when the whispers were so loud I could hear them inside my head for hours later, when I would be lying awake in my bed.
     He spoke without looking at us, his commanding voice bouncing off of the walls. "And what is it? Have they finally spoken again?"
     "No. Well, not directly, anyhow. But... something has been on Xantara's mind, some memory of someone. And we believe she somehow saw that someone from her past all grown up, and doing something terrible. I don't know what that really means, but it's got to mean something. For us."
     "And you kept that from the rest of us?" Kai bellowed.
     "We weren't sure what to think about it," I responded while his shout was still echoing. "I still don't know what to think. It was like a vision or something, but at the same time I thought she saw me. I mean, looked right at me. And what happened to her friend..."
     "Xantara says that girl was ripped apart. That no one else was around, either. What if it was the other one who did it? If that's possible... she can't be human. I don't care how strong a person is." Calypso looked at each of us as she spoke, her gaze hypnotizing everyone.
     Kai interrupted again, but his tone was softer now, albeit still a bit cynical. "None of that makes sense. She was probably dreaming about an old friend. A fucked up dream, sure. But that's all."
     "Does pulling fire out of nowhere make sense to you?" Calypso growled. "Reading minds? Taking advice from dusty cellars? Because it sure as hell doesn't make any sense to me. Why should this?"
"But what does that have to do with us right now?" He asked nervously, shrinking against the pale fire in her stare.
     "Hm." Cato hummed quietly. His eyes were still closed. "But you didn't see that actually happen to her friend?"
     "I was scared. I didn't like the look in her eyes right before it happened." I said a little shamefully. "It's like I knew something was bad was coming, just because of the way she... changed. I don't know."
     "Yeah," Cato scoffed. "Sounds like she belongs in this freak show we've gotten ourselves into."
     Calypso elbowed me in the side and gaped at me with her eerily stunning eyes wide. "I didn't even think about that! She could be the last one we need. Do you remember anything else about her?"
     I shrugged. "No, not really. It's foggy. I remember helping her one time when we were kids. But I know that was her. My whole life is foggy. There's no telling what else I -"
     There was a loud crash above us. In the sudden silence that fell, there was a distant gasp. "Shit."
     Someone was in here with us.
     Kai took the stairs two at a time, his handsome face distorted with anger. He was yelling before he reached the top. "What do you think you're doing in here? You better get your -" I heard his heavy footsteps stop right outside of the door. "You!" He exclaimed. "Why are you in here? Did you follow us?"
     The stranger mumbled something that I couldn't hear. All of us but Cato, who stood still in the middle of the room with his eyes still shut tight, had gathered around the foot of the stairs, sharing worried glances. Those glances were unspoken questions. Who were they? Why did they come? And, most importantly... What all had they heard?
There were a few light steps before that small voice spoke again, closer this time. "That bracelet doesn't make you guys any better than anyone else." Though she said it softly, there was a tangible anger in each and every word.
A chill ran through my rigid muscles; a chill I was sure I would never be able to shake. I gasped. It felt like swallowing razor blades, and I coughed until I was doubled over, tears streaming down my face. My cheeks burned as if someone had plunged knives into them. I wanted to scream for help, but I couldn't even catch my breath. There was something about that voice, something I couldn't even begin to place through such agony. Would the coughing ever stop? I thought as I struggled to breathe, pleading to anyone listening to make it end.
"Hey, are you okay?" Calypso's musical voice eased the pain, and her comforting hand on my back stopped the coughs that wracked my body. Other than the brief wave of intense desire that her touch caused, it was enough to allow me to be able to swallow a few mouthfuls of air and stand up straight. "Are you okay?" she asked again.
"I don't know," I managed to croak.
At the same time, I noticed Kai was speaking. " - you're talking about. You don't know shit. Calypso," he called. "What do you want me to do with her?"
Before Calypso could respond, the intruder spoke again, this time more confidently. "I do know. I have one. And it's nothing to be proud about."
Calypso glanced at me with realization dawning on her expression, a realization I was beginning to gain in the absence of that sudden pain that had befallen me a moment ago. That voice, how familiar it was. It could only belong to one person.
"Bring her down here for a minute," she called.
We waited, anticipating the visceral reaction she would have meeting with Calypso as surely as it happened with each of us.
Other thoughts of impossible things that have so quickly become possible plagued my mind. My heart raced with a combination of curiosity and unease.
Two sets of footsteps started down the creaking wooden staircase.