Into the Light

167

The smug look on Lilith's face pissed me off even more. I wanted to rage, to scream, to cry even. I was done with this. With her. She had to be stopped, no matter what. "Guys," Kat whispered. I was barely able to hear her. "What do we do?" "What we were taught to do," Sam said, holding out his hand for mine. I looked at it, then back up to meet his gaze. I nodded and slapped my palm down into his. "Katrina go wait with the witches," Sam demanded, keeping his gaze on Lilith. "What? Why? No, we're in this toge-" "KAT PLEASE!" Sam yelled sternly. She snapped her mouth closed, but I could see she wanted to argue. Surprisingly, she stepped towards Sam, wrapped her arms around his neck, then leaned in for a kiss. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it was so intense that I looked away, back to Lilith. She watching them with her eyes narrowed. "You're jealous of them," I blurted out, not thinking. She snapped her eyes back to me, a look of pure hatred in them. "Why would I be jealous of them? Because they think they're in love?" she asked, then let out another spine chilling laugh. "No, my dear, I am jealous of their so called love. They are blinded by something that doesn't exist. They make their choice in life based off of being tied to someone else. They don't enjoy their lives the way they could, because they have laid claim to one another. Does that really sound like something I would be jealous of? Love is nothing but a fool's belief, made up so that weak human souls wouldn't be lonely. It's not real. It's never real. In the end, love is always broken, so doesn't that mean that it's not real?" Why was she having this conversation with me? Why was she waiting for Sam and Kat to have their moment? I didn't understand why she hadn't killed us already. I looked down at Ash's body and felt a wave of sadness hit me. He had been the only one who had helped us every step of the way. He had become my friend. Now, he was just another casualty in Lilith's plan. She was taking everyone from me. "You are jealous," I said quietly, looking back up to meet her gaze. "You loved him. The man that looked like me. Or as much as you could, considering you're a psychopath. Then, he hurt you. He was with another woman." "Shut up," she warned me, her voice turning instantly to steel. "You couldn't stand that. He made you feel inferior to a mere mortal woman, but still, you loved him. Is that why you killed him?" I knew I was pushing it but I needed to know this part of the story. I saw Katrina walk away out of the corner of my eye and Sam placed his hand back in mine. If we were going to die, we were going to do it together. "I didn't love him," she spit out, pure venom coating her tone. "I simply enjoyed him. Love is for weaklings. He satisfied me. When he no longer served a purpose, I disposed of him." I opened my mouth to respond but Sam cut me off. "You're lying," he said, tilting his head to the side. "That's why you've been so obsessed with Colby. He reminds you of him. The only reason that would even faze you, is if you loved him." "I DID NOT LOVE HIM!" she screamed, sending drops of spittle flying into the air. "Enough of this. I've entertained your stalling tactics long enough. It's time to end this." "Here we go," Sam murmured and tightened his hand on mine again. I returned the pressure and took a deep breath. She raised her hands at us and black smoke started to drift from her fingertips, driven by a lazy wind that started up. "Love is more powerful than you will ever be. Having a family, having people who care about you, someone you can spend time with or share you day with. Friendship is ruled by love. You can't beat us,' I said, then glanced at Sam. We had to hurry. He gave me a slight nod and inhaled deeply. I followed suit and sucked as much air into my lungs as possible. The sharp stabbing pains in my lungs reminded me that I more than likely had a few broken ribs. I ignored it and focused on the task at hand. Lilith's smoke was coming at us fast. I gripped Sam's hand tighter and closed my eyes. I went back, all the way back. Back to Band Camp, where I first met Sam. I went over all of the times we snuck out to go act up or explore the old abandoned warehouse. I remembered the feeling I had when I realized that he was the best friend I had ever had. All of our accomplishments that we conquered together over the years flashed through my mind, bringing with it a new feeling of love and comradery. Sam was brother. He had been my brother since the first day we talked about how hot the Senior drummer girl was. I needed him and he needed me. We were as different as night and day, but we were also as one. I focused on that, letting the emotions build up in side of me. All of these thoughts only took a couple of seconds. I knew we didn't have long before Lilith's dark matter hit us. I didn't know what it was going to do to us, but it couldn't be good. I imagined that it would be severe torture before it ultimately killed us. I pushed that thought from my mind and went back to thinking about mine and Sam's friendship. I felt his fingers press into my hand, giving me the signal that he was ready. I let the memories flash one more time, and smiled. That was my life and I loved it. It didn't matter what happened in this situation because my life had been amazing. I had found some of the most incredible people to be my family. She wasn't going to take that from me. I felt the power build up inside of me, begging to get out. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. I was safe. I could feel that. I pressed my fingers into Sam's hand, returning the signal. "On three," he whispered. I nodded slightly and watched the black smokey haze send tendrils towards me, licking at my skin. It burned when it touched me, but I stayed in place. "one," Sam counted so quietly, I could barely hear him over the roar in my ears.