Pure Souls (book 1) : Light Withering Away

Q

Lizzie's P.O.V

We came back inside to three kids sleeping on the couch. I dropped my bag on the ground by the door. Jess rushed over and held an index finger over her closed lips, signifying for us to be quiet. She gestured for us to follow her, and we went into the library. "Their names are Graser, Will and Liam. They just showed up at base so we took them in," Jess said.

"So do we have three kids now?" I asked.

"Well, if we all agree to take care of them."

"We will," Joel said. "They're obviously quite young, why wouldn't we?"

"How old are they?" Callum asked.

"Um... Graser's six, Will's six turning seven and I think Liam's eight," Jess replied.

Dang, what were they doing wandering around in the woods at that age?

"Hey Lizzie, can we chat?" Shelby approached me.

"Yeah," I replied.

Shelby took us to her elemental area. I noticed that it was slightly darker, more so grey than white. I looked back to Shelby to see that she was holding her sword. "Okay, okay, what's this for?" I asked, making a protective bubble around myself.

Shelby looked down at her sword in horror, and it dissipated into nothing. She popped my bubble with ease, poking it with a glowing finger. "I'm sorry, Lizzie, I didn't mean... th-that wasn't me, I-I..." she stuttered. She chuckled nervously.

I arched an eyebrow. "What?" I asked.

"There's something about you that my counterpart doesn't like."

Shelby spaced out for a second before shouting, "What, no! She has never done such things!"

I cocked my head, and Shelby returned to reality, her face slightly pale. "She's beginning to get to me, I can't stop her... I-I had to warn you, she wants you gone, she wants everyone gone..."

Shelby burst into tears. Hesitantly, I hugged her. "She's so powerful. You n-need to be on high al-alert..." Shelby whispered. 

"Calm down, Shelby," I told her. "You worrying about it is only going to make her feel proud."

Shelby took some deep breaths, and she stopped crying. I let go of her. "I didn't think it would happen this easily," she said quietly, her lip still quivering.

"The Evil is powerful. The darkness is extremely manipulative. But you have to remember... you don't need to feel helpless," I told her. "The darkness gets through to you, that's what it does. You aren't the only one going through hard times. I almost fell into it myself."

"Really?"

"Hm, yeah. Back before I was in the FAE, probably a couple months before I was, I was getting bullied. It didn't make me nearly as sad as it did angry. The Evil reached out to me, saying it could help. And I was so close to turning evil. But it was at that time that the Gods realised I was a good soul beneath, and people cared for me. And so here I am."

"Wow... but still, my dark side can come for you at any second. I feel that... she's beginning to control my actions."

"I know. But do me a favour and try to calm down?"

"Okay. I can do that."

Joel and I were sitting together under that stars that night. He turned to me. "The stars may be pretty, but... you're prettier," he said.

"W-what?" I blushed as I looked at him.

He tensed. I grabbed his hands. "Do you really think so?" I asked.

"Y-yeah..." he replied.

"Joel?"

"Hm?"

"I love you too."

We kissed under the stars. And I could've sworn I spotted a shooting star.