The Realms [Watty 2017 Shortlist]

Rematch - Part 38

"Which hut, Hannah?" Odette is clearly the one in charge, even if Violet's the one with all the power.

I scan the houses quickly and find the dull grey one near the end of the last row. I run towards the house and rush in without thinking. "Maizie!" I yell as I run towards the room with the closet where I spoke to her just hours before. "Maizie?" I send out a mental probe, hoping to get some definitive sign that she's in there somewhere. 

I hear Odette and Violet wandering around other rooms behind me. I can't feel her anywhere; it's as though someone is trying to block me from finding her. As I round the corner and run into the room, I stop dead in my tracks. The Transporter who tried to incapacitate me earlier is standing in the middle of the room. My anger is suddenly a black hole and I'm going to consume him; he won't escape this room intact. I won't allow him to waste any more of my time.

 I charge him, knocking him off his feet, catching him off guard. Pinning him to the ground I punch him repeatedly in the face and yell, "Violet! Odette! In here!" He manages to push me off and I grunt as I fall back. I jump to my feet and assume my old fighting stance, ready to do battle.

"Leave him, Hannah! He's not worth it. He's accelerating time. You have to get Maizie!" Violet's voice is the strongest I have heard since arriving.

"I can't get Maizie. You guys get her while I keep him busy." We're still squared off, neither of us willing to make the first move.

"We can't get in. The room won't let us." Odette's frustrated voice suddenly sounds muffled, as though she's behind a door, but I can see them clearly.

I look at the man across from me and his grin is bloody and toothless. "It's just you and me, Hannah."

"To hell with you." I turn from him and sprint to the closet. I pull the closet door shut, turn the lock and look at Maizie in bewilderment. I hear the Transporter outside the door, pounding, kicking and yelling. I can't hesitate, I have to act. 

Channeling all of my energy into my hands, I press them onto where I envision the binding ties and a magical current of power flows through me so strongly that I almost fall back. It enters through my back, up my sides and down my arms; a shaft of lightening right through me. As Maizie's binding unravels from her wrists, legs and neck, it starts to snake around me, as though it's a living entity. 

I scream, "You cannot bind me! I will not be bound by you!" I resist the tightening by pushing against the invisible chains; they falter. I push harder, straining my muscles, the heat from Violet's power surging through me and I'm blinded by a light that finally emerges out of my skin, illuminating the chains, turning them to wood and then setting them on fire. I watch in fascination as the wood burns without touching me. I turn to look at Maizie who also seems bewildered by what happened.

"How did you...?"

I shake my head. "I have no idea, but we don't have time to figure it out. I think it was Odette and Violet that did it." I look at my hands, checking for burns. "The power, Maizie." I turn wide eyes to her. "The power." I shake my head, unsure; I feel so alive, the world is technicolor. Something on my chest feels hot and I rub it absently while I look at my wrist. "My watch says we have an hour and a half to get to the house and we still have to get out of this room."

I listen for a moment at the closet door, but I don't hear anything. I open the door cautiously and outside the Transporter is scorched wood. I don't pause to wonder what this all means, instead I grab Hannah's hand and race out of the room, past Violet and Odette, trying to get out before even more time is wasted. Once we're all safely out of the house, I turn to Violet. "How'd I do that?"

She grimaces and looks away. "Some things even I don't know. The possibilities on this realm are changing faster than I can keep up. Revelations are everywhere."

I'm not sure I believe her, especially since she was the one to encourage me to free Maizie in the first place, but I don't have time to argue. "We need to go." I check my watch again and panic eats away at the edges of my sanity. "We only have an hour and a half." I push back the tears that threaten to fall, but I don't know if I'm crying for our success or our failure. I look over at Odette and Maizie who are embracing and I envy them the closeness, the love. A pang of longing sears me at the thought of my Second Realm mother. "How long will this take, Violet?"

"We'll make it, but we'll have to act fast once we arrive. We find my husband and we do what needs to be done." She offers me a slight nod and then looks away from me and towards Odette, her face tinged with a regret I can't comprehend. "Everyone brace yourselves; join hands." She gives me a look filled with meaning before she says, "Hold on to each other and don't let go."