It Lives In The Woods

Chapter twentytwo

The six of them struggled in their chairs, as Noah sat calmly, his eyes trained ahead on his sister. "Whooo goesss first?" Norah hissed, the blue fire turning a burning hot white. She looked at each and every scared face, and turned to Jamie, "No, NO!" Ava screamed, tears rolling down her face as Jamie rose from his chair, being pulled up by some invisible force. "Jamieee, you alwayssss wereeee weak. I never knew how weak untillll I was insideeee you. You areeee patheticccc, you areeee not a man! So I ask, are you afraid Jamie?"She growled, staring him down. Jamie stared back defiantly. "You know what Norah? You were always just a bully!" He snapped, spitting at her from his position in the sky. Norah roared with anger, and tossed him aside like a rag doll, letting the darkness paralyze him in position. "WEAK!" Norah screamed, her voice making their ears bleed. "YOU!" Norah snarled, snatching Stacy up, her shadows searing handprints into Stacy's arms. "Your son doesn't need you! ARE YOU SCARED?!" Stacy's face twisted with rage. "What do you know about my son ?! About needing people ?! You're just a lonely monster Norah, that's not on me!" Stacy remembered all those times she tried to stop Norah from disturbing Blue, how headstrong and horrible Norah had been to them in the end,"You got what you deserved." She said, her voice frigid. Norah roared and slammed Stacy into one of the cave walls, her head beginning to leak blood as she slouched over next to Jamie, paralyzed, left to watch the horror show. "They're too strong!" Norah thought angrily, remembering how weak they'd been when they were just teens, raging at the idea that without her, they had thrived. "Oh littleeee mouseeee, will you beeee my new homeee?" Norah purred plucking Lily up by her hair, the dry hair burning, filling the room with a disgusting smell. Lily's high pitched scream filled the room as she kicked at the air, her foot going through the shadows, not affecting Norah in the slightest. It was so odd, she'd written about this moment in her book, the smaller, weaker character, being prayed upon by the monster under the bed, but it was surreal being in this situation again, it was like a nightmare. "Are you scared mouse?" Norah whispered, the fire in her eye sockets drilling into Lily's brown eyes. Lily clenched her jaw, realizing that the thing about nightmares was, you could always wake up. "No." She whispered back, eyes narrowed. Norah's shadowy head whipped back, like Norah had struck her swiftly in the face. "LIESSS!" She howled, shaking Lily by her scalp, like a rag doll. But still Lily stood strong, she had defied her best friends wishes and became a success, she had raced through these very woods to beat this demon, she was stronger now than she had ever been, with so much life in front of her, she'd be damned if she let whatever power that grasped Norah snuff it out. "I'M NOT SCARED ANYMORE!" She yelled, her small voice booming throughout the cavern like a lion's roar. Norah screeched into the darkness and slammed Lily hard into the ground, her elbow digging into Stacy's ribs, her muffled cry of pain bouncing off the walls. Norah turned and looked at the remaining five remaining options, she knew Tanner was too weak, she could smell it on him, the weakness. All that guilt and shame, all those drugs still coursing through his veins, the thought of giving the power to him made her positively sick. Ava was strong, but the child growing inside her proved a problem, she knew that the power would reject Ava, it valued human life too much to snuff two out at the same time. They were afraid, so afraid, they were losing the game. "WEAK, WEAK,WEAK!" Norah screamed simply waving her hand, sending Ava and Tanner spinning through the air, the dark corner of the room becoming somewhat of a body pile. Of course the pile of bodies were relieved it would not be them to take Norah's place, but still, the panic was strong within them, they feared for their friends lives, they were truly afraid. Norah gripped the handles of Andy's chair roughly, the wood steaming under her grip, bending down till she was face to face with the bleeding man. "Kinggg Andy, you wereeee always theee strongesttt of us allll..." Bee struggled against the invisible restraints, "NORAH STOP!" She yelled, feet slamming against the hard stone of the cave. The demon turned around, eyes burning with rage, "SHUTT UP!" She roared, knocking Bee's chair down with a strong gust of wind, Bee's head hitting the floor with a crack, her vision blurring. "THISSS ISSS YOUR FAULTTT!" Norah screamed, appearing over Bee in a cloud of darkness. She fought back tears, looking up at the beast, searching for some signs of the girl she used to know. "I know Norah, I know, and I'm sorry." She whimpered, letting the guilt she'd kept pent up all these years wash over her. "No, no Bee's wrong, you're both wrong!" Noah cried, trying to draw the attention away from Bee. Norah slowly tilted her head towards Noah, "Wrong?" She questioned. Noah nodded, biting his lip nervously. "Yes, wrong. You're my sister, my twin, my own blood. It was my job to protect you and I failed, it's my fault you're like this now Nor, not Bee's. She loved you, more than most of us." He said, casting a look at the bodies in the darkness, watching helplessly. "That's why, I think you should take me Norah. I'm the one who deserves this curse, not them." Bee struggled against the power, tears streaming down her face as she began to really panic. "NO, NO! Norah please, not Noah, please not him." She pleaded. Despite his betrayal, she still loved him. Love that ran that deep, for so long, couldn't be broken in a mere night, he needed to pay for his crime, but he couldn't do that if he were dead. Norah stared at her brother, her shadows flickering slightly to reveal wisps of red hair. "My brother...." She purred, the blue fire softening, Norah was remembering, remembering all the late night conversations the two of them had whenever she snuck into his room, laying on his cold wooden floor till the next morning, all the beatings he'd taken for her when their father was too drunk to stand and looking for a punching bag. Norah never felt the weight of a grown man's punch, because her brother protected her. He was strong, wasn't he ? "Nooo." Norah moaned, sadness and despair in her ghastly voice. "You areeee weak. You areeee afraid.Weee will seeee who is the oneee."" Norah looked back down at Bee, and loosened her restraints. "Gettt up littleee oneee." She hissed, ignoring her brother's cries of protests. Bee gasped for air, slowly standing up, her head spinning from the blood dripping down her neck. "You tooooo." Noah's tense body nearly fell forwards as his restraints were loosened. "What about me ? HEY WHAT ABOUT ME?!" Andy yelled, panicked eyes staring into Bee's. Norah turned to him, the shadows on her face twisting into a sickening grin. "You will watch. Kinggg Andy, watch your subjectsss fall." Andy groaned, his nose throbbing as he tried, but failed to break free, his brother lying unconscious behind him, oblivious to the horrors happening around him. Noah ran over to Bee who welcomed him with open arms, "DON'T TRUST HIM BEE, HE'S A TRAITOR!" Ava yelled, trying to wriggle out of the pile of bodies that were her friends. Noah grabbed Bee's face in his rough hands, "I'm sorry Bee, I'm so sorry." Bee frowned, the tears dripping down her chin. "Littleeeee oneeee," Noah turned towards his sister and stepped protectively in front of Bee. "Pick." She hissed. Bee frowned, confused by Norah's request. "What?" She squecked, knitting her eyebrows together. "PICK!" Norah roared in Noah and Bee's face, the blue flames turning white hot with anger. "PICK WHAT?!" Bee yelled back, angry with the whole situation, angry at the world. Noah's body went rigid, he turned around and slowly grabbed Bee's shoulders, making her focus her fierce blue eyes on him, "I think Bee, she wants us to pick which one dies and takes her place. You, or me."