Fractured Souls(42)

Just like they would if the portal opened up.
 

Chapter 12
 
I stand in the empty streets as shock seeps into my bones. This can’t be right. It can’t be. Because, if it’s true, then the portal opens up. We don’t save the world or the star and everything ends.
“Gemma.” Nicholas’s voice carries caution as if he can sense something’s up.
I tear my eyes off the frozen streets and look over at him. “What?”
“Are you okay?” he asks, stuffing his hands into his pockets, examining me intently. “You’ve been standing there staring at whatever it is you’re seeing for over five minutes.”
I swallow hard. “I…um…” I don’t know what to say to him.
“What is it?” Nicholas glances around, even though he can’t see anything. It’s a rule of seeing visions: only the seer can see what’s actually taking place.
To Nicholas everything looks blank and I envy him in a way. I want to erase the image from my mind so I can have my hope back; hope that the world can be saved.
The sky is gray and a frost-bitten wind gusts across streets, blowing snow all over the ground. The buildings still stand tall, though they’re glazed with ice and some structures are cracking from the pressure.
“Gemma?” Nicholas says, waving his hand in front of my face. “What’s going on?”
I shake my head and blink. “It’s nothing.”
He raises his eyebrows at me. “If it’s nothing, then why do you look like you just saw someone die?”
I’m about to answer when a loud shriek cuts the air. The sound echoes, vibrating the ice, and my body goes rigid as the fog creeps out from the buildings.
“I think we should go,” I say, slipping backwards as I move away from the fog. “I think something really bad is about to happen.”
Seconds later, a herd of Death Walkers emerge from behind and inside the buildings. Their black cloaks are pulled over their heads, their skin rotting and mapped with bits of muscle as well as veins. Their eyes are like fireflies and their breaths are made of death as they march toward me.
Stay calm. Stay calm. “Can we just go back to the house? Please.”
Nicholas watches me as I walk backwards, trembling, remembering what the monsters can do. “You know whatever’s out there can’t harm you, right?” he reminds me.
I blink my eyes a few times, trying to takes us away, but it doesn’t work. “Nicholas, quit being an ass and just take us back. I know they can’t hurt me, but I don’t want to see them,”#p#分页标题#e#
Nicholas taps his finger on his lip, glancing in the direction of the Death Walkers, his shoes scuffing against the icy road as he takes a step forward and the fog winds around his feet. “I don’t think so. Whatever’s scaring you, I think you should face it. It’ll be good practice for when we go to The Underworld.”
I glare at him, my heart thumping in my chest as the Death Walkers march closer. Fog twists around us, spinning in circles, clouding the buildings surround us. I hold my breath, backing away, but they move faster and end up hurrying by me, one by one. My breath fogs out in front of me as I stay as still as a statue with my arms tucked inward. Deep down, I know they can’t touch or see me, however there’s too much fear inside my body to risk otherwise.
They all manage to walk by me without so much as glancing in my direction and I’m about to let out my breath when two tall men wearing black cloaks step out into the streets. The taller one with darker hair and eyes has a scar in his cheek and I immediately recognize him as Stephan. The shorter one with longer hair and a slouchier posture, though, I’m not sure of.
Their cloaks swish behind them as they stride toward me. Stephan carries something in his hand; something razor sharp and made of shimmering metal… The Sword of Immortality.
“Shit…” I breathe. Nicholas starts yammering about something, but I zone out, watching the vision play out before me.
“I wish you wouldn’t carry that around,” the man says to Stephan as they walk down the middle of the road lined with frozen cars. “It makes me nervous.”
“It makes me nervous when I’m not carrying it around,” Stephan replies, rotating the sword in front of him. “It’s the one thing that could end all of this.” He gestures around at the frozen, desolate street. “And this is what you wanted, isn’t it Demetrius. To end the world and rule it.”
Demetrius. Oh my God. Demetrius and Stephan together. I think deep down I knew this is how things would end up, but the question is why? Why did Stephan end up siding with him? Why did he start seeking the star for bad instead of protecting it? And how can I stop him from making all this happen?