Dark Vision (Ballad of the Seer, Book Two)

Chapter 39 - Up in Smoke

Lily stared across the way at the girl in the blood red dress who had stolen her face, twisting this way and that to show off for Sebastian. Just looking at the copy made Lily's skin crawl. "Was this your plan all along?" Lily asked, tearing her eyes away from her double to look at Sebastian. He, however, could not seem to look away from it. That's how she had to think of the other her. It wasn't real. It was a facsimile. A fake. A Xeroxed duplicate that wasn't a real person. How could it be? It was just a deeply disturbing magic trick born from an equally unhinged mind.

Sebastian finally turned his gaze away from his creation. "Well, I did try to turn you first, but it turned out to be much harder than I had anticipated. You are unceasingly, interminably good." The word was like a slur in his mouth. It made her happy inside that she could do anything to foil his plans. "After you broke my spell, the first time, I decided to change my plans. If I couldn't have you, then I would make the next best thing. So, I implanted a little dark magic in your mind to soak up some of what makes you so very you. And voila." He held his hands out towards the magical copy. "My very own princess." The clone smiled up at him, reaching up to caress his face. "Isn't she perfect?"

"Ugh," Lily wrinkled her face, feeling her stomach churn. "Y'know, you're even more twisted than I thought," she told Sebastian. "Which is really quite an accomplishment. I mean, how sick are you?" She motioned her hand at the lookalike.

"Don't talk to him that way." The doppelgänger raised a hand to blast Lily, but Lily easily deflected the energy to the side. There was a loud crash as the boards covering the windows of the abandoned store exploded inward. The destruction brought Hilary outside to see what was going on. Jack was right behind her. He was dressed in the t-shirt and jeans that Jason had been wearing earlier - before the hunters had made him change into one of their uniforms. And even though his feet were bare, he didn't pay any mind to the glass, scattered on the pavement that he was walking across. He ran up behind Hilary, picking her up, like she was a doll. He carried her back to the building, out of harm's way.

Lily's attention was drawn back to her replica when it raised a hand again, sending another blast of energy. Lily tried to react, but she wasn't fast enough. Duncan pushed Lily out of the way, taking the brunt of the blow. He grunted loudly from the force of the blow as he was knocked to the ground.

In order to buy a moment to check on Duncan, Lily threw out both of her hands, sending a double burst of telekinetic energy at the smug warlock and her creepy twin. Sebastian grabbed the copy in his arms as Lily knelt down by Duncan's side. He spun around, disappearing into a cloud of dark energy to avoid the assault, reappearing on the other side of them. Sebastian held his hand out, but instead of sending energy at her, he used his power to pull her to him. His fingers squeezed her neck, cutting off her air supply. She couldn't move. Her whole body was frozen in place by some unseen force, unable to do anything to help herself. She glared up at Sebastian as his hand tightened around her throat. Tears escaped her eyes as she struggled for breath. "I'm sorry, princess, but I only need one version of you, and I choose mine."

Lily's gaze shifted to her demonic counterpart as it draped its arms around Sebastian, with a malicious smirk directed toward Lily. Lily couldn't believe that any part of her would ever touch Sebastian in such a familiar caring way. Though, thinking back, she had made out with him in the middle of the frozen lake that one time. Of course, she was under mind control, at the time, so she didn't think that that counted.

Just when she felt like she was about to pass out, she thought she saw Duncan standing behind Sebastian, holding a length of broken pipe. Although, admittedly, she was seriously lacking in oxygen and her vision was rather blurry. Suddenly, Sebastian released his hold on her. She collapsed to the frigid pavement, coughing. She looked up to see Duncan standing over Sebastian's unconscious form. The clone was glaring at Duncan, baring gritted teeth. "I'm going to relish in every moment of killing you." it told Duncan, with words that sounded as if they could have come directly from Sebastian's mouth.