Spirit Animals

Chapter 9

     'Do I look like a fighter to you? I can barely say a word to Seth at school. Even when I stayed silent I still got beat up.' I answer Artemis. I'm shocked at her suggestion. I never even took a defense class. It's useless to fight.

     "So what will you do about your friends? They need you." she insists. "Even in your darkest times you have always been a fighter. There is a whole other person inside of you, literally. I wish I could help you but you need to believe in yourself before you can receive help from others." I take in her words as I see Cora and Michael tied up in the corner. I think of all the times in school where I could have done something, and the times where someone could have done something for me. There was always a face in the crowd that saw me struggling with other kids at school, and I can see that they wanted to help me. Just like me, they were too scared to do anything.

     'Why couldn't I do anything sooner? What's holding me back?' I think, searching the deepest corners of my mind to find the answer, but I can feel the fear taking over my body.

     "Are you scared?" she asks.

     'I'm scared for them. I don't want them to get hurt, but I don't know what to do.' I begin to panic.

     "Don't think, for now, just act and I will guide you. Can you trust me?" she asks. Her words repeated themselves in my mind. It's like something has finally connected inside me. My whole life Artemis has been right there beside me, even when I didn't know it. Even though I don't know her very well, I trust her more than anyone.

     With my life

     "I need you to stay calm. Take a deep breath and walk in calmly." Artemis instructs. Normally I would have said she was insane, but I did say I trusted her. So, I take a deep breath, but before I walk in I feel a hand around my arm.

     "What the hell do you think you're doing? They want you dead, how can you just walk in like that without a plan?" Hunter whispers loudly.

     "Honestly? I don't know, but I trust Artemis. It sounds crazy, but if she told me to fall off a cliff and told me I would be perfectly fine, I would." I confess. I sound even crazier saying that out loud, but Artemis is part of me and I'm a part of her. It's hard to understand, even for me, but somehow it makes sense. I take another deep breath and open the door wider. I don't see for myself, but I can feel everyone in the room burning holes into my body with their eyes alone. I stop in the middle of the room and I refrain from looking up at their faces.

     "Is this the dear princess?" a familiar raspy voice, what sounded like the mustache animal from earlier.

     "That's her alright. Did your little bodyguards decide you weren't worth their lives?" the ugly frog says. I feel anger building up just from hearing his voice.

     "Then I guess it's time for a long awaited reunion." the dragon says with a poisonous chuckle. I cringe and I begin to shake. I'm getting nervous. 

     "Calm down. Don't look up just yet. Close your eyes and relax. I'll tell you when you can open them." I hear her whisper. I take a deep breath again and close my eyes, and slowly the nerves in my stomach leave.

     'Just breathe. Just breathe.' I tell myself. I hear footsteps becoming louder as they come closer to me. I feel an abnormally large hand wrap around my arm like a vice and begin to pull me forward.

     "Open your eyes."