The Midnight Flare

A Not-So-Perfect Escape

I immediately let go and start to drop down. As my feet hit the floor, I roll to try to stop most of the pain. I don't break any bones, thankfully. I put a water barrier after I stand and look up. The others are staring at me.

"Keep going! I've got someone else to deal with!" I yell up at them. They all nod. All except Rei. She stares at me for a second. A smile forms on her face as she turns back and starts going up. I sigh and look at Demi. She's dodging fireballs left and right, doing flips and spins all over the place. She looks so graceful. That's when I see the dagger in her hand. She's waiting to strike. I turn to the guards. They're throwing fireballs like baseballs. Does anyone see me? I sneak up behind the group of about seventeen guards. That's when Demi notices me. Her eyes light up as soon as they meet mine. The guards notice this and try to use the opportunity to lob as many fireballs as possible at Demi. Instead, she darts away and joins me behind them. None of them notices her movements. She throws me something. A can of root beer. I quickly chug it. Demi does the same. We look at each other and nod, a smile forming on both our faces. We throw up the cans, which have been frozen, and shatter them. We both direct the shards to hit the guards. Seconds later, all seventeen hit the floor dead.

"Let's get out of this hell hole," I say to Demi, holding out my hand to her. She takes it and I start pushing both of us upwards. I stop at the eight floor, so both of us can rest. That's when I see Wolfe, sword in hand, rushing towards us.

"Hold on a second. I've got a traitor to kill," I say to Demi. She nods. I flip over the rail and land right in front of Wolfe. He swings his sword at me as soon as I land. I roll underneath him and swing my foot behind me, knocking him off his feet. He turns onto his back and tries to jump up, only to be met with a right hook to the jaw.

"How long did it take? For you to see through the lies?" He says. He coughs a couple times.

"As soon as you spoke," I say to him right before driving a spike of ice through his heart. His head goes limp and blood pours onto the spike. I jump back over the ledge. Demi is still there, waiting for me. I grab her and start going back up. That's when I notice none of the others are going up anymore.

I stop at the top and spot the broken staircase. The door to the room is open. But blood trails from the room. I wave towards the door. Demi and I run to the room, making sure to jump over the collapsed stairs. What I see inside shocks me. Rei is in the center of the room. She's staring at the wall opposite the window. In her hands are two bloodstained daggers made of ice. Her hands and mouth are covered in crimson. Leaning on the wall are three figures. Two are corpses. The other is standing with a dagger in his hand. That's when I recognize them. The corpses are Jacob and Michael. The one standing is Blake. He has a large gash on his left arm. Rei was the betrayer.

"Hey, Suicide Susan. Stop fighting him. It's a pointless fight," I say to her. She turns to me and throws one of the daggers. I melt it long before it hits anything. "If you keep trying, you're not going to get anywhere."

"Shut up you fucking shit-for-brained bitch. You don't know what I've gone through," When she speaks, she spits blood. She has a gash across her chest.

"Believe me, whatever wounds you have, you deserve worse. Now, if you don't put that dagger down, you really aren't gonna like what happens next," I finish with a smile.

"I'm not dropping this dagger until it's drawn enough blood to leave mangled bits and pieces of everyone in this room. Now shut the fuck up and die!"

She throws the dagger at me and starts running towards me. I melt it and dodge away. "Demi, go to the window!" I yell out. Demi nods and runs towards the window.

I turn back to see that Rei is running at me. She's formed two more daggers. She reaches me and tries to cut across my chest. I catch the dagger and melt it, then send a fireball at her chest. She goes flying and hits the wall behind her. She gets up and forms two more daggers.

"You don't get it, do you?" She asks. "I never got to choose if I did or didn't kill somebody. I would be tortured to death if I said something. That's why I didn't. I killed instead. And the sight of blood was very delightful. Wouldn't you agree? I mean, I'm sure you know the feeling of lashing out and killing anyone that gets in your way. Right?"

"You know, I was going to sympathize. But after what you just said..." I pause and start to laugh. I laugh and laugh on and on. It's uncontrollable. When it does stop though, I get as serious as possible. "I hope you like hell. I've heard they've got the best torture imaginable. Though, come to think of it, you're about to know what endless pain feels like."

Rei starts running towards me. I snap my fingers and a column of flame erupts in front of her. She takes a step back. The flames encircle her, growing larger and more intense. I create my own ice daggers and close the flames in on Rei. She starts screaming out in pain.

"You're mine," I say before dashing forward towards the flames. I jump and swing the daggers forward. The flames all direct to the exact point where the blades connect. Seconds later, her head falls to the floor. I melt the daggers in my hands and turn to Blake. His arm is bleeding still, and he's cradling it in his shirt.

"Do you think you can last 'til we get to Nytmerius?" I ask Blake. He nods. "Good. Once we're there, we'll find someplace where we can fix that arm." I turn to Demi. "Break the window. It's the only way out." She breaks the glass with a punch.

"Pyrre, how the hell are we gonna get down that mountain?" She asks as she looks out the now broken window.

"Depends. You guys know what a sled is, right?"