The Powers

Chapter Sixteen

Sixteen

 

"Lilac!" I screamed and ran over to the burning wood. I felt Nash grab my shirt and he yanked me back. I was about to yell at him when the ceiling caved in again, right where I had been.
     "Be careful," Nash warned. "I need you."
     I nodded, my heart pumping against my chest as I made my way over to where the collapsed ceiling had fallen on Lilac. Please let her be alive. If she wasn't, I don't know what I'd do.
     I moved the flaming ceiling away from the ground, ignoring the burning in my hands. Soon, I unburied Lilac.
     "Nash," I called, "I found her!"
     He knelt down right beside me, and together, we lifted Lilac's limp body away from the wreckage.
     Please let her be alive, please let her be alive, please let her be alive.
     We carried her out of the Friend Room. A loud crash was heard, and we knew that the Friend Room had been destroyed. Nash and I shared a sad look before continuing towards the front door. We didn't hear any more cries for help, so we hoped that everyone had made it out safely.
     We reached the front door and burst into the outdoors. Nash and I set Lilac down on the front steps, and I ripped my oxygen tank and goggles off. Nash did the same, and we looked at Lilac. It didn't look like she was breathing, but there was always a chance she had survived.
     A very, very slim chance.
     I took Lilac's wrist in my hand and felt for her pulse. Nothing.
     I pressed two fingers lightly against her neck, hoping there was a pulse this time. Nothing. I sat back and looked helplessly at Nash. One glance at my face was enough for Nash to know what the situation was.
     "Any luck?" he asked desperately.
     I shook my head, tears trailing down my face. How could this have happened? Lilac, mine and Nash's best friend, gone from this world. I clenched my fists. This was Phoenix's fault. I know blaming is not the way to go, but he set fire to the school. He forced me to give him the map to the school. He forced me to give away to location of the school. If he had just left me alone, Lilac would be alive right now. The three of us might possibly be laughing over some joke Nash said that wasn't even funny, yet we would laugh anyway.
     I held back sobs and wiped tears from my eyes. It didn't matter, though. They just kept coming.
     "C'mere," Nash said quietly, holding his arms out. I scooted over, and he wrapped his arms around me. I cried into his shoulder, and he gently rocked me back and forth. He didn't say anything, but I was glad. I didn't want any of that "It's okay, everything's going to be fine" crap, because it wasn't true. Nothing was okay, and things weren't going to be fine. Not while Phoenix was still living.
     After a while, Nash said, "We should probably do something."
     "Like what?" I sniffled, wiping my eyes.
     "Either join the battle, or bury..." He didn't finish, biting his lip.
     "Um." I frowned. "I'll fight, you can bury her." I summoned a shovel and gave it to him. "Oh, and if Phoenix finds me again, we're at this old abandoned school."
     "Where?" Nash asked. It suddenly came to me that he needed to have been there, or at least have a picture of where it was, to come and teleport there.
     I pursed my lips, concentrating on a way to somehow give Nash a picture of where the school-thing was, and then he gasped. I looked over at him worriedly, hoping he also wasn't hurt. He looked at me with wide eyes.
     "Did you just see that?" he whispered.
     "See what?" I furrowed my eyebrows, confused.
     "I suddenly just got a vision of where Phoenix was keeping you," Nash said in awe. "How'd that... Never mind. We need to hurry."
     I nodded. "Yeah." I stood up and looked down at him. "See you after everything?"
     Nash nodded. "Definitely, no matter what I have to do."
     I smiled a small, sad smile, before walking off into the battlefield, summoning a knife to my hand.
     I fought as hard as I could for the next hour or so. Those people who came at me had no chance. I made sure just to knock them out, though, avoiding murder. Sometime during the battle, I met up with Ashton. I was relived he was still alive, and we fought side by side.
     "Okay, I'll go over there," Ashton said, nodding in some direction. "You stay over here. Got it?"
     "Got it." I nodded and watched as Ashton ran over to another section of the battlefield.
     I turned around in a slow circle, surveying the area and making sure no one was going to sneak up on me. My ears were peeled as well.
     Just as I finished my circle, I heard a branch snapping. I started to whirl around and face my opponent, but I was too slow. Something hit the side of my head, hard, and I stumbled, falling to the ground as black spots danced across my vision. I fought to remain conscious.
     "No very fun, is it?" a voice I didn't recognize sneered. I blinked numerous times and squinted up at the figure looming above me. When they came into focus, my eyes widened and I scooted away from them.
     It was Abaddon.
     He grabbed my ankles and I let out a yell. Abaddon pulled me towards himself (I fought the whole time, but it was useless), and then grabbed my waist and pulled me up. He pinned my arms against my back, and I try to squirm away, but he clamped the familiar blood red handcuffs over my wrists again. I remembered the knife I already had in my hand, but so did Abaddon. He yanked it out of my grip and threw it to the forest floor.
     Abaddon grabbed the chain connecting the handcuffs together and started dragging me to where Phoenix was. Abaddon let go of the chain, but then Phoenix grabbed it and pulled me to his side, smirking at the school. Abaddon stood on his other side, smiling cruelly.
     A major wave of déjà vu washed over me. This was from my vision.
     Just as expected, Phoenix said, "I said you'd be useful, and useful you were."
     "No!" I cried, trying my hardest to get out of his grasp. Phoenix let go of the chain, putting both of his hands on either side of my head and forcing me to look up.
     Bodies were spread out all over the ground. My breath caught in my throat; these people were dead. Because of me.
     "Look what you did," Phoenix said approvingly. "Thank you, so much."
     Tears burned my eyes, but I held them back. I didn't want to give Phoenix the satisfaction of knowing he made me cry.
     I scanned the bodies. Most of them were too far away for me to recognize them, but I spotted one that knew.
     Carter.
     Valerie was leaning over his dead body. It looked like she was crying hysterically, and my heart ached. I caused all of this.
     I moved my eyes, but then wished I had looked in the opposite direction. A little distance away, Lillie had her face in her hands, her body shaking. I glanced at the ground to see the body of her little sister, Angela, sprawled out on the ground.
     "Felling guilty yet?" Phoenix asked, examining the surroundings proudly.
     I couldn't move my gaze away from Lillie and Angela.
     "I..." I swallowed. "Can I go see someone? Please?"
     Phoenix looked at me doubtfully.
     "I won't run away," I said. "You can come with me if you want. I just need to go see someone. Please?
     Phoenix sighed. "I suppose."
     I glanced down at the handcuffs. "Can you remove these? Just for now. I won't use my power."
     Phoenix removed them reluctantly. "If you do, Abaddon is going to use his power."
     "Okay." I nodded and then hurried to where Lillie was crouched. She hadn't moved, her fragile body still shaking. "Lillie?" I said softly.
     Lillie removed her hands and looked up at me. "Callie," she said softly. "Angela's gone."
     I held back my tears. Lillie's voice was so broken and hurt. I pulled her into a hug, and she started crying into my shoulder.
     "I know," I said softly, rubbing her back. "My best friend is gone too."
     "She was only seven!" Lillie sobbed. Dorian's age.
     I felt guilty and panicked immediately. I didn't even think of Dorian. What if he was dead too? I don't think I would be able to handle that. I pushed away the image of Dorian's tiny body lying next to Angela's motionless one.
     I glanced up to see Phoenix motioning for me to come. I pulled away from Lillie, and she looked up at me with bloodshot eyes.
     "Lillie," I said softly. "I know how you feel. But I promise you, things will get better. Even though it might not feel like it now, because you just lost... someone special... things will get better. I promise you."
     Lillie nodded, sniffling. "Callie?" she said quietly.
     I looked down at her. "Yes?"
     "Promise me you'll defeat Phoenix," she said. "Promise me that you won't let him take over the world, or destroy the Powers."
     "I promise," I said. "I have to go now."
     Lillie nodded. "Okay." She swallowed as I stood up and walked away to meet Phoenix. I kept glancing back to make sure she wasn't looking as I joined up with Phoenix. I didn't want her seeing this.
     "Took you long enough," Phoenix growled, snapping the handcuffs back on my wrists. I bit my tongue to keep from talking. "Time to go home."
     We walked back to the school, me keeping my head down the entire time. Images of the dead bodies, the burning school, Valerie and Lillie mourning; they filled my head, and I couldn't push them away.
     We entered the school, and Phoenix let me down the gloomy hallways. I felt like they were reflecting my mood back at me. He seemed surprised that I didn't put up much of a fight, but I was too engrossed in my thoughts and sadness to even care.
     He led me into the mirrored room, slamming the door before I could get a good glance at which one was the exit. It didn't matter what he did. I noticed a good sized dent in one of them, knowing that that was the door.
     I slid down the wall, landing on the floor. I pulled my knees up to my face and wrapped my arms around them.
     "So, this morning," Phoenix began, his voice filling the room, "you looked quite scared. May I ask why?"
     "You already did," I muttered.
     "Will you answer?" Phoenix sounded irritated already.
     "No," I said.
     "You looked as though you had seen a ghost," Phoenix pressed. "Did you have a bad dream?" I didn't answer him. "So, it was a nightmare?" Again, I was silent. "What of?" No answer.
     Phoenix let out a long groan. "Why aren't you talking to me?" he demanded.
     "Why am I not talking to you?" I repeated, getting worked up. "Why am I not talking to you?! Are you seriously asking me that question? First, you take me captive and force me to show you my power. I thought that was it, but noooo! You had to keep going, didn't you? You had to burn my school, you had to kill everyone I knew! That was my only source of happiness! I had no friends before, and then when I actually make friends and think things are going to be okay, you come along and then kill them!" Tears rose, but I blinked them back. "Why me? Huh? Why me?"
     Phoenix was silent, obviously not expecting my outburst.
     I shut my eyes and rested my head back against the wall. Lillie's voice reverberated around my head.
     "Callie? Promise me you'll defeat Phoenix. Promise me that you won't let him take over the world, or destroy the Powers."
     I was going to try my hardest to defeat Phoenix. He ruined my life, he ruined Lillie's life; he ruined everyone's life. This wasn't just between him and me anymore. This was between every one of the Powers.
     I made a promise, and I was determined to keep it, no matter the cost.