Tragic Magic 2: Black Magic [boyxboy]

Chapter Sixteen

I felt frozen.

Not in any way I've ever felt frozen before, like when a teacher calls on me to answer a question except I've been having mental telepathic conversations with my boyfriend instead of listening; or even the kind of heart-stopping paralysis that comes from true fear, like when Axel's dad tried to kill everyone the first time around.

No, this time I felt a numb inability to move, or think, or do just about anything. My brain was frozen. I felt like the air was made of sludge. Even breathing felt like such a massive undertaking that I could barely summon the strength to inhale.

'I can see you're having some trouble deciding what to do,' Axel told me conversationally. 'So am I. So many decisions. Who to kill first? Should it go in order of age? Youngest to oldest? From the one you love the least to the one you love the most? And how to do it? How long should I make it last?'

'You should let him do it.'

This, from Katherine.

Axel and I both turned to look at her and I couldn't figure out which was more remarkable; that she'd managed to unite us in surprise, or that I still had the capacity to be surprised at all.

'Excuse me?' Axel asked her. 'Let him do it?'

Katherine shrugged. 'Yeah. Look at him. He's not stuck, he's angry. He gets that stupid look on his face whenever I piss him off too.'

I could only see the far side of Axel's face but I noticed his eyes narrowing as he considered this. 'Alright,' he agreed. 'Let's put that to the test.' He turned back to where the Darlingtons were trapped in their corner of the room and strolled idly towards them, tapping his fingers rhythmically against his chin as he pretended to consider what was going to happen next, preforming for us, drawing it out. 'Eeny,' he started, pointing at Maya. 'Meeny.' Kaley. 'Miny.' Tristan. 'Mo.'

Annabelle.

'I think I know who we'll save for last,' he confided, as he grabbed the youngest Darlington by the shoulder and manoeuvred her roughly in my direction.

I tried to kick my brain into action, to consider my options, but I was quickly running out of time and even if I could have summoned the energy, I didn't think just completely blowing up would have had the same result with Axel that it had had with Aldrich.

Could I just attack Axel? It seemed pretty clear that I couldn't. Whatever layers of control he was exerting over this place extended to me; he might not be able to kill me, but I sure as shit couldn't kill him either. And anyway I'd only get one chance; once he saw that, despite what I now knew, I didn't really have any anger in me, and no desire to kill a six year old girl; once he realised that I was attacking him and not her, he'd burn my world down and I wouldn't get a second opportunity.

I was starting to realise that I couldn't take anything for granted where Axel was concerned. Sure, Annabelle would come back to life, be born again, in a century or so. So would her siblings and Maya.

But Axel might have my friends. He might have my parents. They could be in the room with us, but he just wasn't letting me see them. And if he killed them, they wouldn't come back, not ever.

'Make it entertaining,' Axel instructed me gleefully, before stepping out of the way.

I hadn't made eye contact with any of the bewitched Darlingtons since Axel's big revelation, but I met Annabelle's now and was once again struck by just how old of a soul she was. She was looking back at me stoically, and after a second her lips quirked into a tiny smile.

'See you in a hundred years,' she said resignedly, and then nodded, giving me permission, telling me to do it, that it was okay.

Axel started laughing. 'You can't be serious.' He looked between Annabelle and I, and then over at the other Darlingtons and back, seemingly genuinely perplexed. 'Why would I go to this much trouble to avenge my dad if he was going to be back around next time?' he demanded, anger creeping back into his voice. 'What sort of punishment would killing you all be if you popped back up like weeds as soon as nobody was looking? I can't believe none of you have figured it out yet.'

He looked around impatiently again, waiting for one of us to speak up, but nobody did.

Except Katherine. 'It's forever, isn't it?' she asked. 'When Cody kills.'

'My little genius,' Axel said indulgently. 'How on earth these bumbling morons know so little about their own breed...' He sighed and rolled his eyes. 'That's why you and I are so similar.' This was directed at me, and Axel jerked his head at Tristan before continuing, 'He senses it, too. The darkness in you. That's why he tries to control you so much. That's why he won't let you out to play.' He smirked. 'Guess he has a type.'

I frowned for a moment, but then it started to slot, slowly, into place.

Axel killed forever, too.

'So, get on with it,' he instructed me. 'Let's see how strong that anger really is.'

I shook my head. 'No,' I told him, and some real feelings, fear and dread and panic, were starting to pierce the numb cocoon that has wrapped itself around me since he'd shown me his memories. 'No, I can't. I won't.'

Katherine sighed audibly and rolled her eyes. Axel looked bored.

'Okay, how about this,' he suggested. 'Either you kill them, as quickly and painlessly as you like, or I do it - as slowly and agonisingly as I can.'

The panic was starting to build for real now, encircling my heart and squeezing. I looked at Katherine, Kaley, Maya, even Tristan for help, for anything, just something to hit pause so I could get my thoughts in order and figure out what to do. I was starting to feel dangerously close to exploding.

'Please.'

I looked at Annabelle; her voice was quiet but somehow it was all I could hear through the rushing in my brain.

'Please Cody. I don't want it to hurt.'

My heart had been racing in my chest and my brain felt like it was on fire, but when she said that everything slowed down. It wasn't quite the pause I'd been looking for, it didn't give me any time to figure out another way, but my thoughts slotted neatly into place and I realised why: there wasn't another way. This was the only way. And I owed her whatever mercy the situation could offer.

I swallowed slowly and nodded, trying to block out Axel's gleeful giggle as he realised I was going to comply.

'I'm sorry, Annabelle,' I whispered. 'I shouldn't have brought you here, this is all my fault.'

'Of course it's your fault,' Axel interrupted impatiently. 'Just do it.'

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes before opening them again, deciding I wasn't allowed to be a coward and that if I was going to do this, I had to see it, I had to watch it. I didn't get to block it out this time.

Realising that my procrastination had to be making it more agonising for her I steeled myself and in as swift and quick a motion as I could, raised my hand and waved it in her direction, not even really sure what I was doing, figuring instinct would kick it like it usually did.

It was fast, I know it was fast, but it felt like it happened in the slowest of slow motion; Annabelle's eyes glassed over and her eyelids fluttered shut as her body crumpled in on itself like she'd gone boneless, collapsing to the ground in a heap.

I guess the trauma of witnessing this broke the other Darlingtons out of whatever spell they were under, or maybe Axel wanted me to see their reactions, because as soon as Annabelle's head thumped off the wooden floor, the air was split by a guttural, ear-shredding scream as Kaley and Maya collapsed on one another in anguish. I couldn't look at Tristan.

Axel crossed the room and nudged Annabelle's body with his foot, and, seemingly satisfied with her expiration, turned back to her distraught family. 'Who's next? What do you think, Cody? Sister or cousin?'

I shrugged. 'Don't care,' I told him flatly; I felt like my soul had been sucked out of my body; the numbness was back and this time I didn't think it was going anywhere. 'They're all yours. I don't care if you hurt them. Annabelle was innocent.'

Axel whirled around to face me. 'You want me to torture them?'

I shrugged again. 'Don't care,' I repeated. 'They knew. They lied to me. I'm out.'

With which I turned and made my way back down the rickety old stairs, out of the lake house, and into the woods.