Tears lull down my face. This pain is unbearable. Where are my friends? Why is he doing this? What does he know about Lily?
"Why are you doing this to me?" I cry out. I try to use static to break the chains. I build myself up with energy and then submit it all into the chains. It backfires. All the lightning bounces off the chain and zaps my body. I end up frying myself. A scream pulls itself from my stomach and belts itself out into the garden. Hot tears pour down my face. Why? What did I do? Did I deserve it?
"The daughter of the most powerful mage ever, Helena Vandenberg," Kenneth sing-songs, "You think Raven doesn't lust after your bands, isn't after your soul?" He claps his hands together and then shoots them outward. The chains become tighter and tug on my armpit. It feels like it's gonna rip, like the seam of a blouse, the threading being ripped and slowly falling undone.
"No! No! It's a misunderstanding!" I scream, "I'm
not a Vandenberg! I stole the name!"
"Dominique!" Kenneth calls out, ignoring my explanation. Dominique materializes herself in thin air, becoming her same sex doll look, but steampunk. A lace corset, black boots, stockings, and her eyes shining grossly in the pale moonlight.
"Start with Soul Snatch," Kenneth commands. Dominique nods, her pupils dilate, expand, and glow. The blue, hazy edges become white and translucent. A sparkle follows them. The bands on my wrist begin to sizzle. Burning, neurons panicking, blood boiling. I can feel myself lose energy. The life drains from my veins, loose and timid, I begin to hang like a limp rag in the chains. I'm at the crossfire, what would I be if I stayed home? Was this worth having my power only two months more, then it being stolen away from me? My doubts become my fears and I'm wishing they'd take me out. I want to hang here, I want to sway in the wind. If there is no love in the world, I have no will. My body floats, limp and sound. Everything is immense pain. I can't bear it.
A Budding Rose A Mother. A Hider. A Free Wolf. An Ex-Convict. A Princess. A Shadow Dancer. A Swordsman. An Active Volcano. A Bullseye. An Unknown. A Tsunami. A Lullaby.
There is a will to live.
"My friends will stop you," I growl, my hair is in my mouth.
"Where are they? I don't see them! The pathetic little girl and a pregnant woman? What good will they do?" Dominique laughs, "Hell's Secret Cove: Retract!"
My chest grows cold, an icy cool blast of unbearable cold flushes into my body. I shake icy. The freeze starts at my toes. The burn in ice, the icy burn spreads itself upward my legs. The cold makes sure to stay slow, allowing me to feel every bit of pain as it travel through me. The ice comes inches away from my heart, my blood, my life. It climbs and shutters and then it ceases. I feel empty. The coldness, the heat, the feeling of tiredness is gone. I look up.
A tall shadow comes behind Dominique, the translucent grey hands squeeze her neck. The blue stones in her eye sockets bug. The veins in her forehead poke and crack out. She drops her hands and her eyes quit their glow. The hands pull her and pin her against the wall of the garden.
"Simon!" I cry out, a faint smile stains my face.
From the pale light of the doorway, I see Simon. And everyone else. Everyone. All my friends, they stand tall and proud ready to fight for me.
"Someone get me out of these chains!" I exclaim. Kenneth and Dominique turn themselves around, surprised at the group of wizards prepared to fight, "Ophelia! Get yourself and Ky out of here!" I scream over the heat of the moment. Ophelia grabs the child and throws him over her shoulders. She flees from the premise, promising all of us safety and closure.
"Aged Lords!" Maude screeches. Her attention gears to me and the chains. She lifts her hands and nothing comes out but silver sparks. She screams and repeats her spell over and over. She becomes enraged, unable to cast her spell over my chains. I stay patient and Maude is the opposite. She is steaming.
