Left Behind (Snowbaz fic)

Chapter: 12

BAZ
   Amara stood over me, her dark eyes boring into me. The dimly lit room casted a shadow over her making her look even more menacing.
   "I told you if you were to misbehave you were going to be punished." She said holding up my handkerchief I had been using to send a message to Simon. I stayed silent and stared up at her through the hair that hung in front of my eyes.
   If her idea of a punishment is tying me up and throwing me in a creepy dungeon then she has another thing coming. She leaned in close to me, flinging her long hair to one shoulder, her soft hair tickled my face as she did it.
   "You don't want to get on my bad side, Baz, I warned you not to try anything."
   I bit my tongue before I said anything I would regret. Even though she didn't look like much I saw a glimpse of the power she had back in the caves and I didn't want to see the full extent of that power.
   "And you!" She spun around on her heels to face Jamie who was huddled up in the corner. He jumped when she pointed her long, manicured finger at him. She grabbed his still bloody hands, bound with rope, and held them up. Jamie tried squirm out of her grasp but she held on tight.
   His fingernails looked like they were barely there. Each one was jagged and coated with fresh layers of blood.
   "You have determination don't you?" She said to him. He finally managed to pull his hands away and held them close to his chest. "I'm pretty sure I have to replace that door because of you."
   I imagined what it must have felt like to claw your way out of a room. I thought of Jamie feeling the same as I did in that room. Time itself escaped me and all I wanted was to know how long I was locked in that room. It made me numb to the outside world and It almost drove me to madness. And I guess, for Jamie, it did. The only way he could feel anything in that room was to gouge the wooden door with his nails. Seeing the blood stream down with every stroke of his hands was the only thing to break the numbness.
   Amara leaned in close to Jamie, closer than she did with me. She held her hand behind her back and I saw the glass orb materialize in her grip. She curled her fingers around the ball, the smoke inside following their movement. Eventually a tiny glimmer of energy escaped the orb it was so small that I could hardly see it. The every lazily swirled around her fingers until it spiraled its way up her arm finally twisting its way into her mouth and nose.
   She took a deep breath and sighed like she was smelling something baking in the oven. Her eyes glowed red for a split second before fading back to their familiar brown. She peered down back at Jamie who was trembling.
"Stay back!" He yelled his fangs hung out of his mouth. He pushed himself into the corner as far as he could go but it would never be far enough. He looked to me for help, I could see the fear in his eyes as they pleaded with me to do something. I fought against the ropes that bound my hands. After a second of pulling the ropes transformed into heavy chains that attached to the wall.
Amara looked over her shoulder and peered out of the corner of her eye at me. She gave a sideways smirk and winked. I pulled as hard as I could against the chains but they wouldn't break.
"Please, no!" Cried Jamie. Amara leaned closer to him, so that she was just inches away from from his face. She then placed her lips on his forehead. The second her lips touched his skin I saw a burst of blue energy erupt between them.
   Jamie let out a short burst of a scream that broke apart in his throat and faded away. For a few seconds he just stared off in the distance. His eyes looked glassy and all the color had drained out of them. After a few more seconds he snapped out of his trance and let out a blood curdling scream. He struggled for each breath and eventually started to cry like I've never heard before. His sons echoed against the cave walls making my ears ring.
   I watched as he fought desperately against the ropes tied around his hands until he gave up and continued crying. I couldn't quite put my finger on what actually happened and I didn't want to find out.
   Amara looked pleased with what she's done and turned back to me. She smiled broadly and knelt down to where I was sitting. I continued to pull against the tight chains even though I knew it was pointless.
   "Your turn." She spoke over the sound of Jamie's cries. I could just barely make out a few words among Jamie's sobs. Words like 'mum' and 'Lily' and other names of people that he wanted to see again.
   She leaned in and pressed her lips to my forehead. I felt like I was being electrocuted by her touch. I blinked my eyes and when I opened them I was in a forest.
I couldn't tell if I was actually here. It didn't feel like real life but it didn't feel like a dream either. It felt like I was stuck in between dreaming and awake.
Tall, looming trees towered over me on all sides. The trunks of the trees were black, charred and crumbling. Like some huge fire had previously raged its way through this place. But at the same time lush green leaves grew out of the charred bark. Like this place was somewhere between life and death. The sun was hidden behind a grey cover of clouds that stretched across the entire sky.
I had a strange feeling like I had somewhere to be so I started quickly walking through the dense twisted trees. I had no idea what I was looking for but I felt it in the pit of my stomach that there was something in these woods that I needed to find. Or maybe it was something I need to run away from?
I continued through the branches and vines, feeling the leaves scratching against my face and arms. The scratches hurt more than they were supposed to. With every slice from the leaves it felt like someone poured pure alcohol on them. Upon closer inspection I saw that each leaf had hundreds of tiny teeth-like barbs coating their surface. The further I got the more they hurt to touch or even look at.
I stopped when a leaf latched itself onto my arm and wouldn't let go. The more I pulled at it the more it dug itself into my flesh. Out of pure paranoia I glanced over my shoulder and saw a dark shape out of the corner of my eye.
A sense of pure fear and dread washed over me before I even realized what exactly it was. In some ways the figure I saw standing behind me seemed strangely familiar. My body wanted to run as fast as I could out of this forest but my mind wanted to stay and investigate the strange shape behind me. My body won and I was now hurtling through the trees.
The leaves continues to latch onto my skin as I ran as fast as I could towards the end of the forest. It was like they were trying to hold me in place so the shape could get me but I broke away from their grasp.
The trees finally broke away into a clearing with a river flowing right through the middle of it. When I was finally out of the leaves reach I glanced over my shoulder to look at the shape, who was on all fours, running just a few feet behind me. Seeing it caused me to fall to the ground just inches from the water. The ends of my hair dipped in the water and I saw my reflecting staring back at me among the ripples.
But it wasn't a reflection exactly. It was more of a memory or like a whisper. Rosy cheeks, bright eyes, and a wide smile was reflected in the water. Staring back at me was my past self before I was bitten. Before my mother had to die protecting her five year-old son.
The lips of my reflection were moving. I could just barely make out fragments of a song being by him.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine."
I thought back to my mother singing me that song before I went to sleep. I could almost feel her arms wrap around me, rocking me back and fourth, as she sang to me. I felt a tear cascading its way down my cheek and into the water.
Suddenly the shape that was chancing me jumped over my head and into the water. My reflection rippled and faded away transforming into the monster I turned into. My skin was grey and colorless, my eyes didn't shine like they used to, and there was no evidence of a smile ever to exist on my face.
As I looked at the water the shape before me swiped at me with wicked claws. I jumped back and crawled away from the creature. I felt the sharp pinch of the leaves grabbing hold of me once again. I realized I was crawling back into their clutches. This time the vines wrapped tightly around my entire body so there was no escape. The more I struggled the tighter they constricted around me. I could see thick blood beginning to soak through my clothes.
I looked at the figure who was inching closer. It was both clear and indistinct at the same time, solid and real but blurry at the edges. I couldn't determine what it looked like because it's shape constantly changed. At one moment I thought it looked like some sort of animal with horns but then it looked completely different seconds later. But the creatures piercing, red eyes stayed the same with every transformation.
   The creature leaned in close with razor sharp teeth protruding from its mouth. It's breath felt hot against my skin and smelled sour, making my stomach lurch. The creature opened its gaping mouth and I saw rows and rows of razor sharp teeth lining the inside of his jaw aside from the ones that were just inches from my throat.
   My heart raced as the creature made a lunge at my throat. It felt like someone stabbed a hot poker into my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a scream. The sensation repeated over and over again. The agonizing burn sliced its way into my throat for what felt like hours.
   When I opened my eyes once again I saw Amara kneeling before me. Her lips twisted into a wicked smile. I gripped my throat, both my hands still chained together, it was still in one peace. I stared incredulously at Amara, trying to catch my breath. What felt like hours of pure torture happened within a few seconds.
   She got to her feet and started walking out of the door.
   "You two are free to go to your rooms. That'll teach you not to test me again."
   The door shut behind her but I could still hear her high heals clicking down the hall. The chains and ropes disintegrated into nothing and faded off of our bodies.
   I waited until she was a good distance away before I even dared moving. I shakily got to my feet and made my way to Jamie who was still huddled in the corner.
   "Did you see it too?" He asked. "That thing?"
   I nodded and gripped my throat once again. The burn lingered and made my throat sting.
   "Were you scared?"
   "Terrified."