Drown Under Earth - Shadows of the Night 3

Chapter 26

Hi!

Sorry for not posting earlier, but the easter break had me busy... So, here's the question you've all been asking yourselves: How the hell is Anna going to get herself out of this one? See for yourself...

Let me know if you like it!! Thank you all for reading.

Lara

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Chapter 26

Air particles, small and insignificant on their own, prickled and warmed against my skin. I could feel the touch of different flavors, degrees, and drifts of power as if they all belonged to me. Air turned and morphed into energy. Heat. It accumulated on the palm of my hand, inside of me, everywhere; then raced down my arm. Time stilled, then raced toward that one perfect moment.

Flames burst out of my hand, materializing in a huge window-like shape in front of me. They crossed the space between with ease, licking air currents and razing everything in its wake. I watched oxygen die and wither, explode into energy and heat. It was beautiful. And it felt good.

I blinked, gaped at what was in front of me, then looked at my hand, then back again. I had created a wall of fire. Which in turn meant the vamps were trapped inside the alleyway.

Damn the three witches. I closed my eyes against the rush of power in my system, shuddering.

Then the hollering started.

“Uhh! That one’s fast!”

“Hey! I’ve got AB negative! Want some?”

I jumped and did a ninety to my right. For the first time I recognized where I was. It was the same street we had crossed earlier – the one with the hollering addictive vein openers. The group of teenagers was only a few feet away from me, their eyes fixed on something in front of them. Processing the thought took me too long to latch onto what was happening around me.

By the time I figured it out, I’d lost precious seconds that could have made the difference, given me the edge I needed. My blood pressure jumped up, then plummeted again. Three vampires were coming in our direction. I could be wrong, but I had a hunch that they weren’t coming for the AB-negative.

I pulled all the power and magic I could gather into manipulating the air in front of me again, as I raced across the street and darted into another alley. I shoved air particles aside, racing forward with all I had. I had no idea if the heightened speed would be enough. Probably not.

I did the only thing I could think of and drew up another wall of pressurized air to block the entry. If the walls held, the vamps couldn’t come through. It would buy me some time.

The world shook and moved in my vision as the next intersection of alleys came into view. It took about two minutes before I felt it. Something was wrong with me. I felt sick, incredibly sick in fact. My stomach did a flip, before a feeling of lethargy and nausea set in. Panting heavily, I looked up and down the crossroads of four alleyways. Nothing.

I darted into the right one.

Trying to keep on running proved to be one hell of a task. I had used an element that wasn’t mine to command this night. It had always wiped me out in the past, and so it had this time. My lungs felt like they were suffocating in toxic smoke, felt as if they were on fire. The need to halt and catch my breath was overwhelming. I would give myself thirty seconds. No more.

I stopped and put my palm against the next brick wall for support, gulping in air greedily; glutted my starved lungs with oxygen. What the hell exactly had I gotten myself into? And what were the chances of getting out of it again? Maybe I could slip through the vamps’ net somewhere? Some of them had already left their ‘circle’ to go after me. Sounded like a good plan.