Chapter 2: The Fundamentals Of Having My Life Flipped Inside Out
My head rattled against the window of the bus as I watched small drops of rain race each other down the glass. Pain flashed through my head, in rhythm with my heartbeat. The day had left me exhausted, and I had a headache. A headache that was not being aided by the people on the bus. I could hear my heartbeat, the blood pumping through my veins. My irritability built with every throb of my head. Peoples voices sliced through my nerves, like a knife. I could not get her out of my mind. 'my brother is looking after him'. Throb. 'may I see your arm?'. Throb. 'not long now'. Throb. 'we will meet again'. Throb. The noise was too much. The breaks screeched as the bus pulled up to pick someone up.
"Shut up!" I screamed before I could stop myself. It went deadly silent and people were staring at me. A few whispers flew through the air, but the were quiet. A large woman, in her late 40's sat next to me.
"there's no one talking Hun" She said looking straight ahead.
"What do you mean? They were so loud?" I asked her, shifting in my seat. She had red lipstick, exceeding her natural lip end, and too much blush. She did not turn when she answered me, but rather looked right ahead.
"No, they weren't. No one was talking" She was calm. People on the bus were looking at me concerned, a few moved further away from me. I glanced around self-conscious and sunk lower in my seat.
"Oh, there were voices, oh yes. But no one on this bus was talking" She was still not looking at me.
"What do you mean?" I asked, a little more aggressively than I intended. She did not answer me. I heard a slight dripping noise and I looked to the floor. A stream on thick red liquid was slowly dropping to the floor, it was coming from the women.
"Are you ok!" I said worried, she lifted her cardigan sleeve up to reveal a deep gash in her wrist. The colour dropped from my face.
She smiled warmly to me. "Don't worry Hun, I'm ok" she was looking at me now. I was shaking. "This is your stop" The women stood up waiting for me. "off you go now" she said gesturing to the door. I pushed the button, and the doors opened with several creeks. Before I realised what, I had done I was standing in the street. Turning back to the bus, I could not see the women. I frowned and began hurriedly walking home.
One other person had gotten off the bus, a girl around 14 – she had a black hoodie on and wore a black cap pulled over her face covering the two long blonde braids the bounced around her shoulders with every stride. I did not take much notice of her at first. After 5 minutes she had kept the same amount of distance between us. I was 3 minutes away from my house, and she had quickened her stride. I looked back, as subtly as I could, she still had her face hidden from the cap.
It could just be my imagination. The paranoia from the day. But something told me it was not right. I slipped into a fast walk; the girl mimicked my pace. I waited to the last second and ducked down a random street, she followed. Panicked, I broke into a jog, no longer hiding the fact I knew she was following me. I heard her joggers hitting the pavement as she ran after me. Tightening painfully, I grasped my chest and I pushed myself to the limit, sprinting as fast as I could. I saw the girl, easily catching up to me, in the corner of my mind.
I could hear my own ragged breathing quickening as my energy was slowly slipping away. I skidded to the right trying to shake my assailant. Feet slipping on the thin sheet of water that covered the path, I lost my balance and painfully landed on the sidewalk. My hands and knees were grazed, and beads of blood began to drip, the rain stung my cuts.
Scrambling to stand, I glanced behind me to see how far away the girl was, my heart fluttered as I could not see her. For one glorious second, I thought I had escaped her, and I began running. When I swung my head back to the front, I realised my mistake. The girl was in front of me, waiting. I did not have time to stop and I collided into her. She pinned my arms and slammed me into the brick wall. She was stronger than she looked.
"Who sent you?" She demanded, giving me a small shake.
"I. What? Who are you?" I blubbered confused.
"Was it Aries? Or the Serpent king? Answer me" She yelled, I sent a silent prayer, wanting someone, anyone, to walk around the corner.
"I don't know what your talking about" I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
"Then show me your arm" She said grabbing my left arm, I tried to keep her from grabbing it, but she twisted it painfully until I realised it.
"Wait… You're a Pisces? Did you turn?" She asked in disbelief.
"How do you know my star sign. What is wrong with you? I said, aggressive creeping its way into my tone.
"stop the act you know what I'm talking about. You have been branded" She said taking her cap off. She had a pretty, somewhat pale face, dusted with freckles. She looked like she was trying to downplay her beauty. She had small pieces of hair that framed her face, that she hastily brushed behind her ear.
"Branded?' I spluttered. She turned my arm and I gasped in surprise.
On my forearm there was a white 5-point star, that looked like it had been burnt onto my skin. In the middle there were two fishes, serenely swimming around each other. Their tails gracefully swishing, as if there was a current.
"You don't know?" The girl said unsure.
"Know what?" I tore my eyes away from the mark on my arm and met the girl's eyes. For a long moment we studied each other. She was about 15, but her eyes indicated that she had seen many things.
A blood curdling scream came from the sky. The sound threatened to burst my ear drums.
"What is that?" I asked terrified.
"Sephtis'" The girl said worried.
"Seph-whats?" said as the girl realised me.
"We need to go" The girl dragged me along as she began to run.
"wait, stop" I said pulling against her. "Where are you going? Who are you? Who are you?" All the questions I had came pouring out. The girl did not answer but kept pulling me.
"Stop!" I said breaking her grip, she spun around exasperated. "You need to explain what's happening, what are those screaming things?" I crossed my arms.
"Look, I don't know why you were undiscovered, but you are the same as me, we possess a power that very few have, and those screaming things are Sephtis'. They hunt people like us, and we need to go now, otherwise we will die. I will explain everything later, but now we need to run" She kept her tone strong, but I could see the fear in her eyes, and that made me trust her.
"ok" I said, and she gave a small nod. We began running as more screams came, the etched their way into my soul. Reminding me of the most horrible things, the pain was so strong I lost concentration. I began to slow, unable to keep running. The screeches made me want to crawl into a ball and wait for the Sephti to take me.
"No, you have to keep going. Think of something that brings you joy, picture that cling to it, use it as a rope to pull you out of the darkness" the girls voice sounded distance. Pain rippled through my ribs, and I was dragged out of the thoughts the screeching made.
"what was that for?" I snarled, realising that the girl had kicked me in the ribs.
"It snapped you out of it didn't it?" She picked me up and was running again. We sprinted through an abandoned factory as more screeches followed us, getting closer and closer. As we ran through the back door, we reached a dead end.
"If we really are going to die, my name is Azriella Veramouth, and well, it has been a pleasure, kind of" I said, not knowing what to expect.
"Olivia Clearwater, and we are not going to die" Olivia said pulling out a bow.
"Of course, you have a bow. What 15-year-old girl doesn't have a bow?" I said to myself. The bow was silver and carved with intricate vines weaving their way all around the curved part.
"Will you shut up" Olivia said notching an arrow into the string. She fired it directly above them, it sent out a beacon of light.
"Great, now the scary flying things will find us" I said looking at her confused.
"Stop talking, or the next arrow will be between your eyes" She said still looking at the sky. I was not sure if she was serious, so I fell silent just in case.
Behind us rubble fell from the roof of a building. We spun and I saw the most horrible thing I had ever laid eyes on.
The Sephtis was roughly the same size and shape of a gargoyle, with the same features. However, it seemed to be made of darkness that continuously folded in on itself. It seemed to suck all life and brightness from the air, leaving my lungs cold and stale. Its eyes glowed red, reflecting all the horrors id ever imagined., it was like they held all their victims' pain within. Its face seemed to be shifting every few seconds; it was that of a serpent, then a bear, then a gargoyle. All the most terrifying things. I felt my sanity being drawn towards it, sucked into its eyes. I wanted to step back, but I seemed to be locked into place.
"What it that" I breathed.
"That's a Sephtis'. What ever you do, do not look into its eyes. Even if we get out of here, if it reads you it will corrupt your mind and drive you mad. If it doesn't kill you now, you will want to kill yourself later." Olivia warned me, preparing another arrow.
I tried to tear my eyes away, but it was like they were glued to those endless red ones. With all my willpower, I still could not look away. I imagined my sanity, my soul being sucked from me, pulled towards the vortex of darkness. I imagined it was draining me of my life and replacing me with the never-ending shadows. I thought of what it would be like to be an empty shell, to be compelled by something so vile.
"Find your light Azriella Veramouth. Fight the darkness. You are strong enough" The voice of Virgo spoke, as smooth as honey in my ear. It filled me with hope, and strength, and for one second the connection was broken. It was all I needed. I shut my eyes and did not reopen them until I was certain I was looking at the ground. I glanced at Olivia, she was aiming her arrow directly at the Sephtis, she realised it with expert precision. It sailed towards the Sephtis, pointed at its heart, but it caught it, and snapped it like a twig.
"Well that's a problem" Olivia muttered. The 4 Sephtis' sailed to the ground, its giant bat wings made from shadows and darkness, folding by their sides as they landed. They seemed to be chuckling, a deep disturbing sound that came from their throats. I felt like I was so close to falling back into that darkness, like the Sephti were clawing at my heart, waiting for me to crumple.
"ok, new plan" Olivia pulled her bow apart, and it separated into a sword and a sheath. The blade seemed to have an aurora of brightness glowing around it, fighting against the Sephti.
One of the monsters pounced towards us, and Olivia struck her sword. It sliced through the creature, and the blade seemed to absorb the creature. The other Sephti hesitated and looked where their brother was moments before. They began o growl as they realised what happened.
"Cyrus now would be a good time" Olivia yelled. I did not know who Cyrus was, or if he could hear us, but I knew I wanted him to come if there was even the smallest possibility, he could get us out of this.
"No need to yell" a male voice came from behind us and Olivia laughed with appreciation. A middle-aged man in a red suit was leaning in the doorway, observing us. He had dark grey hair with tracks on one side, and a small amount of stubble covering his jaw, he was lean and muscular and had the posture of a military sergeant. The man – presumably, Cyrus – waltzed forward, with the patients of a prowling lion.
"anytime Cyrus" Olivia said, not taking her eyes off the creatures.
"You two need to get ready" Cyrus said, still deadly calm. "We will go directly to the academy" Olivia nodded.
"Wait. No. I have to go home" I said shaking my head.
"You can't. You are on the radar now. The only place to go is with us" Olivia snapped.
"But… My dad, I can't leave him" I said stunned. Olivia looked at Cyrus and he nodded. She dug a phone from her pocket and tossed it to me. It was an old flip phone, but I was grateful none the less.
"I can only give you a few minutes. Liv, you know what to do" Cyrus said, turning back to the Sephtis'.
I began dialling my dads' number, and Olivia started to pour a liquid on the ground.
"hello?" My dad's voice asked.
"Dad" I said.
Ella, Hi, Will you be long? I'm trying to make lasagne for dinner. Emphasis on the trying, it's a little burnt" My dad laughed in the phone. I did not know what to say. I had no idea what was happening, how was I supposed to tell my dad.
"Ella?" He asked. "It's happened hasn't it? You have been branded?" He said, I was shocked.
"How?" I said.
"When you were born, a woman came, and told me that one day you will play a very important part in history. She told be these things, that at the time I thought were crazy. She said that she would come back when you were ready, and you would have to go. I thought nothing of it until things started happening, things she said would happen. And I believed her. Honey no matter what happens, I know you will make me proud" HE said. I was so confused. So many emotions were flying through my head.
"Times up" Cyrus said.
"I have to go" I said,
"I know" My dad said, Olivia snatched the phone from me and snapped it in half. Cyrus stood close to us and clicked his fingers. The liquid Olivia had been pouring burst into flame, it was a five-point star, and we were dead centre. Cyrus was talking but I could not hear him from the roaring of the flames, the heat made me feel lightheaded, and then suddenly we were falling. I landed on hard ground and the world was spinning, I tried to stand but fell again.
"Most people are sick after their first time of fire jumping" Olivia said. She was on her feet with Cyrus, who was dusting off his suit, looking nonchalant.
"Take her to ward. Tell me when she wakes, there is something I must do" Cyrus' voice felt like it was bouncing from one side of my head to the other. My head lolled to the side, and I blacked out.
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