Nephilim: Children of Angels

17: Booby Traps

Sasuke grabs my arm, keeping me on my feet.

"Really, Janine!" Miguel yells. "She's gone." He sighs.

Sasuke helps me unimpale my foot at an agonizingly slow rate. Miguel comes over, breaks the spike free and yanks it through my foot the rest of the way. I am too relieved it's out to be mad. He uses the spear to test the tiles ahead, tapping on them to see if it triggers any more booby traps. Thomas and Ambien teleported to the field right after group, leaving just the three of us.

Miguel taps the right one and another spear pops out.

"I could just teleport us." I offer. I've already done it once with Sasuke, so why not? I rest a hand on each of them and focus on an image of the field in my mind. I feel kind of ridiculous and a little nervous, resting my hands on them like this. I can feel Miguel's muscles through the thin fabric.

"Focus!" Miguel barks, hearing my thoughts wander.

My cheeks start to burn. Field, field, field. I repeat in my head.

I am sprawled in the hall, a throbbing ache building in my head. I go to prop myself up and a spike shoots through my hand.

"Fuck!" I scream. I move to pull my hand free and another shoots through my knee. "Why?" I cry in defeat.

"That bitch must have expanded whatever force field she has on the building so we couldn't teleport out!" Miguel deduces, angrily.

"Argg." Sasuke groans. I look over behind me and find he has taken a spear to the hand as well. I move my foot to plant it, to give me momentum to break myself free. I will the tile I am about to place it on to not be a booby trapped one. I am in luck. It is agonizing but I manage to pull myself free. I gingerly make my way the few steps to Sasuke, hoping without hope to not step on the wrong tile. I make it. Sasuke hasn't moved. He has an odd expression on his face that I can't decipher.

"You okay?" I ask, though he clearly is not. I know it hurts but he is acting strange. I try and help him carefully lift his hand off the spear but can't while he is sitting. He doesn't react, as if he is in shock. "Sasuke?" I ask, getting concerned.

He doesn't move, just his mouth. "I need help up." He says, barely above a whisper.

"Okay." I attempt to take his arm from where I am standing and help him up, but he doesn't budge. I have to go around him. Another spike shoots through my foot as I make my way around. I scream, grabbing the thing and breaking it free, out of my foot. Ugh, I feel nauseated.

I get around him, my hands under his arms. I begin to hoist him up, he seems to snap out of it. He screams in agony. That is when I see it. A spear shot up into him, impaling his innards.

"I need your help!" I yell to Miguel. He has managed to get to his feet and is staring at us in horror. He starts toward us and soon finds another trap, a spear sprouting up through his heel. Ahh. I flinch at that one still holding Sasuke halfway up. He crumples and curses but breaks free and proceeds in our direction. He makes it over, a few more spears impaling his feet. We pull Sasuke up, despite his screams of pain. He collapses onto me, once free. Sweat makes his long, beautiful hair stick to his forehead. He looks up at me, his lids partially closed, panting. He looks like a beautiful damsel. It is my turn to carry him princess style. We fight our way the last few steps to the door, emerging quite the sight, I am sure.

"Took you..." Thomas's words die on his lips, noticing our state. "What the fuck happened to you guys?" He asks. Miguel ignores him, falling to the ground he begins to attempt to pry the spear that impaled his heel, out. I wince again. I don't know how he walked like that.

"I'm fine now." Sasuke says, from my arms. I look back at him. I let him down, blushing.

"Thank you." He says, seeming a little embarrassed himself.

"It was my pleasure." I say. He grins at me. Why did I say that? That's weird. It was, though. He looked so pretty. I felt like a superhero or a knight rescuing a beautiful maiden. I know I am blushing out of control, but I just keep smiling stupidly back at him. He just makes me feel safe.

"Finally." Miguel yells, victoriously. "I am going to stab Janine through the eye with this." The spear disintegrates as he utters his threat.

"If you want to fight me, Miguel, all you have to do is ask." Janine says, coming out of nowhere.

Miguel regards her warily, considering his odds of winning a fight against her, I presume.

"Why don't you just let me go, instead?" He counters, belligerently.

"If it were up to me, you would already be in Hell, playing prison guard." Janine counters, stepping closer to Miguel, a mocking, challenging smile on her face. "Doctor Hemsworth thinks she can find a use for your little mind reading trick. If you want out, prove her wrong." She slaps his cheek lightly, then turns and walks toward the field. "Pair up for sparring. Try and pair with someone you haven't fought yet, alright." She orders absently over her shoulder.

Miguel stares after her, the gears clearly churning.

"Come along, Sara. We're going to fight." Ambien sings, taking my hand and dragging me behind her. She stands with her small fist balled in front of her face. She hops lightly on her feet like she is in a cheesy boxing movie. I mimic her stance and wait for her to attack. She seems to have the same idea because we just stand there, staring at each other. I can't help but laugh. That is when she strikes. Ruthless. Her small fist lands a heavy blow. I manage to deflect it, but she quickly lands another, then another and then a kick.

Blow, after punishing blow, rains down on me until I have had enough. "Enough." I demand my blood boiling. She stops immediately, a crease forming between her brows. Her arms hang loosely at her sides. She seems to have lost the will to fight. Oh, thank God.

"You wanna see something?" She asks, turning and walking toward the trees that line the opposite edge of the field. I look over at Janine and find her nose in a book, uninterested in what we are doing.

"Okay." I agree, jogging after her. I follow her to the largest tree. She traces her finger along the hearts and initials that cover the majority of the tree's surface.

"All these kids. They were here, just like us. It happens a lot here. Adversity forges strong bonds and when you're young, surrounded by beautiful angelic people, you're bound to fall in love. I have seen it, again and again." She traces over the initials A and P repeatedly. Is it her and Piper?

"That's good isn't it. Love can't be a bad thing." I say, studying the tree.

"It is just another torture. Another way they condition us to suffering. Each one of these couples were inevitably torn apart." Ambien says, abysmally. Well, if those initials are Pipers and hers, she is the one that tore them apart, right? Thomas and Kali were torn apart but they chose that. They could have been together in Hell. What choices. Hell, or be away from the one you love. I would go to Hell for the one I love.

I look at Ambien, her delicate fingers still tracing the heart around A and P. She's beautiful, especially in the tawny light of the sun filtering through the leaves of the trees. I would go to hell for her. I don't think about it. I won't hesitate again. I take her dainty jaw in my hand, gently lifting her face toward mine. I brush my lips on hers. She kisses me back for a moment, then pulls away.

"You can't stay here with me, and I can'tgo where you have to." She says ominously, backing away, her eyessomehow even wider than usual. She looks terrified. What have I done? She turnsand runs back to the field. I watch her go, guilt and shame heavy in my mind. Ipunch the tree in frustration. The bark where I punch breaks free, someone'sattestation to love, crumbling to the ground. Great, I'm a love- killingmonster.  

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