The Magic Within: Shadows of Two Worlds

Chapter 67 ~ Jamie

     On Thursday, Kathy made an amazing Thanksgiving dinner, with everything any of us could have asked for. "You know what I'm thankful for?" Kathy started as she sat down at the table with the rest of us. "I'm thankful that you four amazing kids can stay with us. And I'm thankful for what you're doing for the world." I smiled. "Thank you," Ella whispered. "For letting us stay here in the first place." Kathy chuckled. "It was nothing." Amelia, Ella, Lilly, and I all started to protest but she cut us off. "It is time to eat and be thankful." We started to eat our food, continuing to talk to each other. It tasted amazing. I was honestly having the time of my life. It was strange how quickly things fell apart, and what good could come from it. Jake's face flashed in the back of my mind, but I pushed my sadness away. Be thankful that I was friends with him at all. My childhood would have been sad and lonely without him. I reminded myself of that, but it didn't stop the hurt. But when I looked around at all my friends, talking and laughing and being happy, I knew things weren't so bad. "Kathy, you're an amazing cook," I complimented, grinning as I stood up to get seconds. She smiled. "Thank you so much." Everything seemed fine. And beautifully perfect, until I realized that Bill had disappeared for an awfully long time. I frowned. What's wrong? Ella asked. Do you know where Bill went? Her stare was enough to tell me. It seemed Kathy was beginning to notice too. "I should check on Bill. He went outside to water the plants a bit ago," she muttered. Just as she stood up, there was the horrible sound of glass shattering all around us, and I heard the doors fly open. I practically leaped out of my chair. "What's going on!?" I demanded. Hybrid Hunters came running into the room. Bill was tied up and gagged. He was struggling desperately. I sucked in a breath. They had found us. Kathy rushed forward and ripped the gag out of his mouth. "Oh, honey, are you okay!?" She gasped. That was the first time I had heard such pure terror in her voice. Bill shook his head helplessly. "They forced me to unlock the barrier with my hand. I'm sorry. I tried to resist." My eyes widened. I couldn't believe it was so easy to switch it off and on. I looked around wildly. We were completely surrounded. I let my hand catch on fire. "We're going to have to fight our way out," I murmured. We fell into a circle, back to back. "Thomas, Chris, don't use your powers. I don't want you getting in trouble too," I heard Ella whisper beside me. I raised my hand, but suddenly my body refused to move. I heard the footsteps first. And then I saw him.

Jake.

The earth seemed to sway beneath me. He was wearing a black mask that covered his mouth and nose, like the other Hybrid Hunters, along with the uniform. He had a cold, determined look in his eyes, and held up a gun. "Jake...? What are you doing?" Was all that I managed to say, which was the most stupid thing ever, I knew, but I had no control. "I'm sorry, but I have no choice," Jake replied. Simply, as if I were a stranger to him. I felt my eyes water. Of course the Hybrid Hunters would want to use my best friend against me. Take advantage of him to get to me and Ella. My sister reached out and grabbed my hand. Jamie, we can do this. He's not our friend anymore. He's a traitor. He doesn't care about us so we don't care about him. I nodded, forcing my emotions back. Then I steeled my nerves and said, "You're wrong. You're the one with the choice. I am the one with no other way. It's a matter of survival for us." I saw a flash of something in Jake's eyes, but it passed too quickly for me to identify it. I didn't waste a moment. I raced forward and punched the person nearest to me. Her head snapped back, and I took that moment of weakness to take the sword from her hand. Behind me, I heard the loud noises of battle begin. But I was running on pure adrenaline. I blocked someone's sword from stabbing me in the back, whirling around just in time. Then I disarmed them and kicked them to the ground, turning without even looking back. I saw Bill. Kathy was helping to untie him, but he was clearly injured. Injured too much to help. His head was bleeding, and Kathy had to help him walk. "Get him out of the house!" I yelled. She gave me a nod, turning into a deer and racing off with him on her back. I took a quick glance at the battle. Ella was taking people out with water, Amelia in her usual stealthy way, and Lilly blinding people with light. Thomas and Chris were fighting side by side. Best friends. They must have trained together at some point in their lives, because they were too in sync with their movements. They weren't using their powers, but they were strong. I looked over to where Jake had been before, almost instinctively, but he was gone. Just then I heard the sound of a gun shooting. I immediately shot up into the air with my wings, almost slamming into the ceiling while doing that. When I dropped down, I saw Jake, pointing the gun right at me. He still had that stupid cold look in his eyes. I hesitated for just a moment, but not too long. I held out my sword, readying to stab him through the heart, but at the last minute fear took over and I punched him instead. He jerked back, but didn't drop the gun. It gave me enough time to rip it out of his hands, though, since his grip loosened. I held it up to his head. His eyes widened as he stumbled back against the wall. "Jamie, you're not going to do it. You wouldn't," he said. "I'm not afraid to shoot," I stated calmly, almost mocking his actions from earlier. He took a shaky breath. He wasn't sure. He wasn't sure if I would shoot or not. I couldn't believe he had so little faith in his "best friend". I pressed it up against his head harder. "I'm not joking," I threatened. He looked awfully pale, but he took a deep breath and went back to being cold. "Do it, then," he whispered, his voice cracking slightly. "Do it." His eyes narrowed. Suddenly my hand was shaking. I stared at the gun. I couldn't. I couldn't do it. Then I forced away all of my past emotions and connections to him, telling myself I had no choice and then- a sharp pain flashed through my face. I cried out, stumbling back. My free hand flew up to my face. Jake held up a dagger. I gritted my teeth, dropping the gun and swinging my sword. The metal clashed. Usually, I would have been able to unbalance my opponent easily, but Jake had clearly been training. Hard. He pushed me back with all his strength and swung it at me again while I stumbled. I immediately fell to the floor and rolled, heating up the floor underneath us- so hot that it must have burned through his shoes. Jake barely flinched. He planted one foot behind him, then struck out again. I grabbed his hand, on the dagger's hilt, just before it hit me. I started to use my fire powers, and he jerked back in pain, dropping his weapon. He stepped back, leaned down and then... and then he picked up the gun I had dropped. How could I be so stupid? I paled. "Now I'm really not afraid," Jake spat, backing me up against the wall. He raised the gun. I closed my eyes, and I felt tears spilling down them. Then I heard a loud thump. My eyes shot back open. Ella stood over Jake, holding a pan of Thanksgiving food. He was clearly knocked out, but all the food had fallen off the pan. Ella flinched. "Sorry, Kathy," she muttered. I smiled weakly. "Usually you would be saying sorry to the person you knocked out." Ella scoffed. "Not in this case." I couldn't argue with that. The rest of the fight was starting to get more muddled. The Hybrid Hunters were strong. Only the best of the best got in. I took a glance at Jake, lying on the floor. He looked as if he could have been sleeping, like he would at one of our childhood sleepovers, ignoring his injuries. I flinched, looking away. Still, there were less people and less of a strategy. "Everybody, get out of the house!" Ella called. We bolted to the front door. We made sure Amelia, Lilly, Thomas, and Chris all made it out before we slammed the doors shut. "Where did Kathy and Bill go!?" I called as we ran. Everyone was in a panic until we saw the two of them sitting nearby, Kathy tending to Bill's injuries. We raced over to them. "Don't stay for us. You need to go!" Kathy demanded. "But-" Ella started. "It's not a debatable thing," she interrupted. I looked back at my car that had taken forever to get back up to the driveway. "They're after us, not them," I whispered. "I mean, that's true in theory, but that doesn't mean they won't hurt you." Kathy smiled. "Bill's power will protect us. My son and Chris too, as long as they didn't use their powers or do too much," She reminded us. "Thomas and Chris, go with them," Ella said, her voice breaking sadly. "You need to be safe." Thomas looked heartbroken. "Ella-" "Go. Please." All he could do was nod. He gave her one last kiss. I hugged Chris. And then they turned to Kathy and Bill. "There's no time," Amelia said. "We need to go." I nodded. "Everyone in my car." We raced over to it just as the Hybrid Hunters burst out of the doors. I backed out of the driveway at high speeds, then turned the car and sped off into the distance.