Bound by Hellfire

Chapter 23

I caught my breath midswallow as the cold steel pressed gently into my skin, causing my teeth to clench as my head tensed upward! My eyes shifted to my right trying to get a glimpse of the person hidden in the shadows, but the more I turned, the harder they pressed; my neck dripping with blood as it trickled down the collar of my shirt.

"You best turn around--- Go back the way you came."

The voice was a man's. His words sounding more like the crinkling of paper than English. There was a slight shudder in his voice, and his hand shook underneath the spear's weight as it pressed closer to my neck.

I expected my heart to be drumming out of my chest; my mind scouring each thought as I contemplated my last moments, but instead, I remained calm. The heat in my heart slowly inched toward my forearm.

"D-Did you hear what I said, boy?! I said---"

The man stepped closer, shifting the spear as he rearranged his grip on the handle. Then, like a spark of clairvoyance, the fire inside of me showed all of the things my eyes couldn't see. The twist in his posture, the looseness in his grip, every weakness that to the naked eye would have gone unnoticed.

I didn't think. I didn't have to. My body did all the work for me, somehow knowing the perfect time to strike. My hand shot toward the long handle of the spear, fist enclosing the wood as it shattered to splinters in my palm! The steel fell from my neck, tearing away one last sliver of flesh before clanging loudly on the stone floor.

The man fell backward in the shadows, and again my body wasted no time, my arm waving the thread of light in his direction, stopping just before reaching his throat.

I paused for a moment; looking at my hand as it hung in the air.

"Was this my hand?" I thought to myself.

I didn't even know I could move the light I had created, nor had I any intention of doing so. Yet somehow I knew exactly how to. Holding it like a loaded gun at my attacker. My instincts moving faster than my brain.

"Please--- please don't kill me!"

The man's voice popped as he gulped the air. His heavy breaths bounced off the stone walls as I held my hand in place.

My head became clouded as human emotion shot through me. His words striking me like whiplash. I lowered my hand to my side. The stream of light dimming as it inched back from the man's throat, seemingly following my thoughts of non-aggression.

Uriel and Ethan still stood behind me. Not a word was spoken by either of them as they inched closer, faces painted in shock.

Shadow enshrouded half of the man's face as he slowly rose to his feet. My fist still clenched at my side as he stumbled in place. Then it clicked as I replayed his voice in my head. My eyes locked on to the details of his face and the cold stare that looked back at me.

"You're--- the man from the prison!"

"And you're that boy with a deathwish..."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

I turned to look back at Uriel who only gave me a brief side-eye before turning her attention back to the man.

"So... you aren't human then?" The man's voice popped, his eyes, on the floating light.

I matched his stare. Looking back at the line of luminous red, then to my hand.

"I am. As far as I know."

"Humans can't do that, last time I checked."

"So are you human?" Ethan questioned from over my shoulder.