The Most Powerful (The Hidden)

Chapter 5 (Loyalty For One)

"Amber's parents died from a deadly illness. Like some kind of whooping cough. After they died, Amber started to get sick," Cody's body still trembled from the withdrawal. "I had to turn her into something supernatural for her survival. I turned her into a shapeshifter. They morph into any type of animal."

"Cody, stop with the detail. What happened next?" I reassured.

"She hates me. She hasn't learned control, and she ripped into people as multiple different deadly animals." He gripped Coleman's jacket tighter to him for comfort.

"Ethan," I spoke out loud, remembering how I coldly left him for Cody after he slit his wrists (almost to the bone). I arrived at the dirt road, finding where the trail of blood stopped. Dread consumed me harsh enough to gasp for breath.

He was gone.

"That must sting. Leaving him when the only person he cares about cares about someone more." Satan's voice seemed to echo in my ears, as though I was dizzying. "Now let's put your loyalties to the test." I dropped, my friends feet from running to my aid, soon vulnerable to the same trap.

**********

I awoken to Satan sitting on a log near the Manistee River down the road from my house, sitting smug and spiteful.

"Katherine, thank god you're awake. You've just arrived in time to save the day," he mocked, pretending to praise me. "Before you panic," he tumbled to his feet, holding his hands up in surrender as I raised mine to wreak hell upon the Devil. "I timed your friend's deaths. You have just enough time to save one. Cody, overdosing. Which is simple, really. I just put the drugs back in his system. Then there's Coleman, who's falling from the sky. He'll die on impact when he hits the ground at the right time."

"Wait, when? How?" I stuttered, anger overwhelming my fear.

"I'll start when you're ready, of course." I threw my hands forward, trying to do anything I could to him. But he transported, and suddenly his voice was in my ears. "Alex: she's in a shed with a bomb. Leah is under a beheader that will soon come down exactly on time. Ethan's going to drown. And Hazel is going to get her throat slit by me. You have a minute and a half."

"I'm not choosing," I almost screamed, throwing away from him.

"Oh, but you will. Otherwise your friends are going to die. And the Spirit doesn't believe in life after death for you anymore." He laughed. "You could always run away. Leave them behind, and they'll find peace. No more torture. Trust me, death is better than life as a Chosen One."

I almost slapped myself. To think I'd really want that for them, to even consider. Death over living. But in our situation, I myself would choose differently...

"Your time starts now."

He suddenly appeared next to Hazel, the chaos evolving around me. A refrigerator-sized safe plunged into the water. I couldn't see Coleman falling from the sky yet, but I knew I would soon. Leah was near the side of the river, trapped under a contraption, Cody seizuring beside the executing machinery.

I wasn't going to choose. I wasn't going to let them die either. I took a few seconds contemplating who needed to be saved in order. Then I sprung into action, trying to save them all.

I dove into the cold waters pooling from the stream of the Manistee. I unlatched the lever, struggling to open it up with my powers while pulling Ethan from the safe. His weight almost took me under when I came to the surface, helping him onto the rough grounds. After steadying him, I ran to the next, my adrenaline pumping through my veins.

I fell to my knees beside Cody, using my powers to suck the drugs from his system, making the seizures stop. I had no time for comfort, as I ran to Leah, pulling her out of the guillotine after unlocking the locks. Coleman suddenly came falling and screaming from the sky. I caught him with my power, setting him onto his feet.

I lept over tree stumps and long ferns to a worn-down shed on the right side of the river's round about. I slammed open the flimsy door, running Alex out of the metal shed. The bomb went off in that second, exploding the shed into bits. I jumped onto Alex, covering her body the best I could with mine.

I looked up from over top of her, seeing my group reunite with one another. But then I spotted Satan, who stood grinning, Hazel with a blade to her throat. He slit her throat open, the cut gaping as blood poured from it. I gasped, dread and grief taking over. I stumbled to my feet, Satan gone when I stood. I ran for Hazel, followed by the rest of the group.

I pulled Hazel's head onto my lap, as she struggled to breathe through her blood. I shushed her, my hands trembling so vigorously that she only panicked more. I tried to heal her with my powers.

"It's not working. Why isn't it working?" I yelled to the group, as though it was their fault, even though it wasn't.

"Katherine, the blade Satan used was made for witches." Ethan rested his hand in empathy on my shoulder.

"No, she can't die. We have to-".

"Katherine, she's gone."

I met Hazel's eyes one last time, before they became glazed and lifeless, my closest and longest friend gone for good.