The Pain Thief

Chapter 25

GETTING THERE IN TIME

Zoe felt her heart skip a few beats. It felt like the ground was falling out from under her and she couldn't breathe. The air left her lungs and her mind stopped working, leaving her standing there without anything to lean on. 

Her mind flashed through memories of her parents as she fell weakly to her knees, blocking out everything. Malachi and Reyna circled closer to her, trying to keep her safe as her senses left her completely. 

He was the one... the one who killed them?

She could hear footsteps approaching and looked up, tears in her eyes that were threatening to spill over. For so many years she had been by herself and this man... he was the reason why?

He leaned down so he was on her level. Malachi and Reyna tensed, but didn't attack without an order. 

"Yes, I knew your parents quite a long time ago. How many years has it been since they died? Almost a decade I believe." He smiled coldly, like someone who had to physically practice how to smile. "Why don't I show you what we did." Torr reached out and touched her forehead, sending her vision into darkness. 

Zoe couldn't see. It was dark as images began to flash in front of her eyes, memories that weren't her own. She saw Torr bang on the door to the house she used to live in and heard hushed screaming from the inside. Then he burned the door down and entered. She saw bright flashes of light, heard clanging of weapons, and finally the two dull thuds of bodies. 

Lying in front of her she saw her parents. Her mother was sprawled out in front, blood leaking from a wound to her stomach. Her beautiful eyes were wide open in surprise and her hair was spread out around her. Her father was lying right behind her, his eyes also open in shock and blood dripping out of his mouth. 

Zoe flashed back into her own body, screaming on the inside. She couldn't move or speak as she stared into the eyes of the person she hated more than anything else. This was the man that had destroyed everything she cared about and who was trying to do it again. 

"So you've seen their bodies now huh?" he said with a sigh. "They put up a good fight, but they weren't strong enough. Unluckily for us, they accomplished what they needed to do, which was to protect you. See your parents and I used to be friends, but they were too weak to work for more power. They believed combining with the haze was too dangerous. I however, didn't. We grew apart after they married and had a daughter. I learned of your existence though, as well as the color of your hair, which was the biggest indication of your power."

Torr touched her hair lightly and she flinched back. "You didn't actually have any power yet, but we thought it might be you. The one with the power to take. So we set out to eliminate you and your parents while we were at it. They didn't last long, but your foolish caretaker was able to hide you for some time. Plus your father set us back quite a bit with his own power..." He trailed off. "But now here you are. Ready to die."

Zoe felt her heart speed up as she took in his words. He betrayed them to get to her. It was her fault they were dead... her fault. But what else had he said? Her father had a power too?

Without thinking, Zoe pulled on the arrow embedded in her shoulder, pulling it completely through. She grabbed it in both hands and stabbed Torr in the stomach, yelling as the tears dropped from her eyes. 

Her heart was hurting so much she thought it might break and she tried to push the arrow in deeper. She didn't have the strength though, but she couldn't stop herself. 

Zoe felt heat on her face and a tugging at the back of her neck as Malachi and Reyna pulled her backwards and away from Torr. They fell in a heap a good fifteen feet away.