Descending Darkness(16)

“Can you follow me there? Just in case I need help?” she asks Larkin. He nods and walks behind me, waiting for her to finish.

“I don’t like this,” I tell her right as her hand stops moving. She doubles over and grunts in pain. Why does it have to cause her pain? A couple seconds later, she disappears. Larkin grabs the notebook and studies it before transporting out of the room, following Ryanne.

I get up and start pacing, waiting for her to safely come back to me.



*****

I don’t recognize the house I am transported to. It looks familiar, though I’m not sure why. Since it’s dark outside, I can’t effectively assess my surroundings. I slowly walk up to the navy door and knock. Tuning out all the environmental sounds around me, I listen for what is on the opposite side of this door. No one answers, but I think I can hear talking inside the house. I twist the golden doorknob, but it’s locked. The sound of glass shattering filters outside and then someone screams. Larkin blinks in behind me. “It’s locked,” I tell him.

“No problem.” He grabs me and pushes me behind him. Larkin takes a step forward and kicks the door down. It slams into the wall with a loud bang. That’s impressive. I try not to jump at the sudden sound, but I do. Larkin smirks when he sees my reaction. I roll my eyes and look back towards the door.

What I see when we enter the house surprises me. The room is a mess. Broken pieces of glass are all over the ground from the fallen lamps. The couch is overturned and pushed against the wall. I feel my eyes widen when I see the three people in the room. Natasha is asphyxiating Conner and Natalie. She’d attack her own family? Her own twin? Without thinking, I run and tackle Natasha while throwing up a shield around Conner, Natalie, and Larkin. I place a small one around myself. “Larkin, get them out of here!” I yell to him.

“I’m not leaving you here,” he tells me.

“Take them now!” I scream as Natasha shoves me off of her. I do a backward roll and stand up. “Now!” Larkin grabs onto Natalie and transports her out of the room. Conner remains on the ground, coughing, trying to catch his breath. I understand what it feels like as I’ve experienced it a few times myself. Natasha runs for me. She is trying to use her magic on me, but because of my shield, it isn’t working.

I duck her attack and swing around, slamming my body weight into her. Knocking her to the ground again, I try to knock her out, but she throws me off of her. I roll to the side, hitting the edge of a display case. It shakes and sways. I roll out of the way as it starts falling. The case hits the ground with a loud thud and glass from the windows on the doors shatter and fly in all directions. I cover my head to keep from being hit with the fragments.

Glass embeds itself into my forearms and legs. Though my arms are covering my face, I feel a shard knick my cheek. Warm, wet blood starts dripping down the right side of my face. Natasha comes toward me again. I jump back up and swing my leg out, knocking her in the head. She falls to the ground but doesn’t stay there for long.

Larkin blinks back into the room and grabs Conner. He glances over at me but leaves again. I drop the shield around the room, since it is no longer necessary. I call magic into my limbs right as Natasha pushes herself off of the ground and faces me again.

“I’m getting really tired of you,” she tells me while trying to punch me.

I duck to avoid her fist, and then swing my leg out, knocking her off balance. “I’m not too fond of you either.” I grunt as she punches me in the stomach when I stand back up. Without pause, she leans back and kicks me in the shoulder, throwing me into the wall. I hiss as my head cracks against its surface and I slump to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a lamp on a small side table. I blink the dizziness away as she starts stalking toward me again. With my magic, I reach out for the lamp beside me and picture it knocking Natasha out.

I push more magic toward it as she gets closer. “Dravin will love to know that I found you. He’ll be here any minute.” I glance over at the lamp which is now vibrating on the table. Pushing a little more magic toward it, I turn toward Natasha. Since I am focusing so much on the lamp, I drop my shield. Natasha smiles at me as I start to lose my breath. I still concentrate on the lamp. It is shaking more violently now. Why is this taking so long?

I fall to the ground, trying to remain conscious long enough to push more magic toward it. I thrust all my remaining magic at it. Though I can’t breathe, relief floods through me when the lamp leaves the table. It flies forward and hits Natasha in the head. She screams and slumps to the ground. Coughing violently, I call out for Larkin.