Chosen (17 page)

             
I drug the shell across my skin and began to tear up right away, as an intense burning sizzled up my arm and pellets of blood beaded up from the newly opened wound.  One letter down, eleven to go.  Before I lost my nerve, I made three small slashes to create a lower case letter ‘s’.  By the time the word ‘Isle’ had been carved into my skin, I’d balled up the bottom of my tank top and stuffed it in my mouth to stop any screams from leaking out.  I leaned my head back and took some deep breaths in an effort to ease my heart beat and therefore, the bleeding. 

             
After eight more letters, the words ‘Isle of Slaves’ were scrawled across my forearm beneath a pint of crimson.  The excruciating pain had morphed into a warm numbness that wrapped around my arm and tricked me into thinking the worst was over.  I closed my eyes in relief at what I had done and prayed it would work.  All I could do was watch and wait.

             
A light tickling across my leg roused me from a delirious trance of hopeless exhaustion.  When I tried to use my arms to prop myself up, it became painfully clear that the warm numbness I’d felt earlier was long gone.   A shower of sharp pain shot down my arm, momentarily paralyzing me.  I squeezed my eyes shut and fought through the agonizing pain.  Every movement, every thought, every breath felt like I had been suspended in an alternate universe of perpetual slow motion. 

             
Unfortunately, the three spiders that were currently crawling up my right leg were moving at warp speed.  They scampered forward with short spurts of movement that struck fear in my tired heart.  No amount of coercion would convince my legs to move, and I watched on, helpless as they made it to the tops of my thighs.  Panic exploded in my chest and raw fear took hold of me.  Forced into flight or fight, my groggy mind analyzed my limited number of options.  A thin line of moonlight several feet away drew my attention, and the memory of its renewing energy in the underground cavern trumped any other thoughts.

             
Motivated by a primal fear I could not control, I awkwardly threw my body toward the light; landing on my side and immersing my head and shoulders in the moonlight.  When I looked up to see the horrific sight of more spiders crawling in my direction, I attempted to move again.  That’s when I felt an intense burning pain in my side, as one of the three spiders making their way up my torso bit me. 

             
The spider venom exploded under the skin; causing my muscles to shake violently and cease up. A choking panic settled on top of me, until I glanced up and became caught in the majesty of the full moon’s rays as they shone into the small window.  A cool energy swirled through my mind, calming my nerves and chilling the blazing pain that racked my body.  I lay there unmoving, as the spider venom spread along my stomach and back, hardening my insides to stone. As the cooling sensation washed down my body and inhabited every cell in my prone form, my breathing came a little easier and I was able to think more clearly.  Very slowly, I felt the venom’s potency retreat to only a slight pulsing around the bite site. 

             
The fact that it did not disappear completely weighed on me, but I hoped that with the healing hands of Willow and the magic of Natasha, they would be able to remove it before any further damage could be done.  The three spiders miraculously made their way back down my leg and onto their webs, leaving me relieved and exhausted on the floor while I stared up at the moon’s magical light.  Why did the moonlight affect me in such a dramatic fashion?  Did I have an affinity for the moon?  Was that even possible?  And what did that mean?  My energy was somehow being recharged; my arm was healing at a fast rate and the wound on my temple was closing, leaving only a tender layer of soft skin. 

             
Hoping against hope, I closed my eyes and attempted to return to my body. Nothing.  Whatever enchantment or vacuum Nadia had placed on the room was preventing all of my abilities, no matter how much energy I had.  Crushing disappointment blanketed my heart when the moon’s energizing light disappeared, as the Earth revolved with agonizing speed.

             
I forced myself to think.  I couldn’t just sit around and wait on Finn and my roommates to get here.  I had no idea just how far away this island was from Cyprus.  We could be in the Caribbean for all I knew! Even with Natasha’s conveyance ability, I couldn’t depend on a rescue.  I had been given a sliver of energy from the moon’s light; enough so that I could try to conjure up a plan to escape. But that meant I had to act, and I had to act
fast
. 

             
As an idea, albeit nearly impossible, formed in my mind, I focused all of my attention on the enchanted chains that encircled my ankles.  They were secured into the wall at an anchor point, bolted into the stone.  I spun around and pressed my feet against the wall, gathering the chains in my hands.  With everything I had - I pulled.  And pulled again.  And again.  After the fifth or sixth time, I felt a slight shift and watched as one of the anchors actually budged.   The effort only resulted in drawing fresh blood out of my new arm tattoo, but the little hope of victory pushed me to pull harder.  After one more desperate yank I was launched backwards, landing on my butt.  It had worked!  The anchors clanked loudly onto the stone floor, as part of the wall began to crumble on top of them.  I stared at the wall in disbelief.  Apparently I’d become stronger than I realized.  Evidently, using the energy I had been gifted with by the moon was not the best idea, because now a burning sensation spread across my stomach from the bite, and my arm continued to bleed. I placed a hand over it and cringed in agony.

             
“That was impressive.” A gruff voice chuckled from behind the crumbling hole in the wall, temporarily making me forget about the burning hell I was in.  I caught a glimpse of an eye peeking through one of the small holes that had formed.

             
“Oh my god!” I scampered over to the wall, “Are you alright?  What did she do to you?”

             
“Don’t you worry,” he responded confidently. “It’ll take more than a metal pole to keep this old man down.”

             
“A metal pole!?” I gasped and watched his light gray eye sparkle with amusement.

             
“I’ve been hit by worse,” he responded nonchalantly. “Besides, you appear to be stronger than six of me.”

             
“I didn’t realize I was capable…” I trailed off in confusion and he laughed lightly.

             
“I believe out of all the walls you could have chosen to take down, this would have been the best.”

             
“What do you mean?”

             
“I’ve been using this wall as a sort of calendar. Scraping away at it to mark the days.  I have a feeling its structural integrity has been weakened over time.”

             
“Oh.” I grinned sheepishly as I felt my face heat in embarrassment.  I should have known I didn’t have the strength to take down a solid stone wall.  That’s when the memory of my previous reveries slammed into me.  The room with the marks on the wall.  The window I had peered out of, meeting the eyes of an old man on a beach.  The beach where the same old man had been collecting shells.

             
“You….” I started, unsure as how to explain what I was thinking. “I’ve seen you before.  I’ve…I’ve been here in a…dream.”  I surveyed the room I was currently in.  Of course!  How could I not have remembered?  The room I was in now greatly resembled the stone room that I’d found myself in during my reverie, the first time I’d caught sight of the old man.  The second time resulting in a new trace.  A new trace brought on by close proximity to my past.

             
“I saw you too.” His eye crinkled as he smiled.  I ran a light finger over the eternity symbol trace below my eye, trying to understand the connection. 

             
“Are you…?  Are we…related?”  Before he could answer, sounds down the hallway made us freeze as I snapped back to the task at hand.

             
“You need to go.” His eye darted toward what I assumed was his door.

             
“Are you chained too?” I asked him.

             
“Fortunately not, but my door is as solid as a mountain.”

             
“We can get you out through here!” I exclaimed with excitement, already clawing at the wall.

             
“You must go-” he began, until I started to ramble.

             
“My door isn’t locked!  It’s guarded by a million spiders, but…”

             
“No!” he protested. “Your time is too precious! You need to leave!”

             
“I’m not leaving you here…” I kept clawing at the stone.

             
“Anastasia.”

             
The sound of my name stopped me dead in my tracks. “You know my name?”

             
“You must go.” His unblinking eye told me he was serious, matching his firm tone. “I’ll be right behind you.”

             
“Okay,” I responded robotically.  I didn’t want to leave him.  I would never forgive myself if something happened to him.  After another moment without movement, the sounds down the hall grew louder as voices could be heard.

             
“Go!” he instructed, as I finally found my way back to the present and back to the dire situation I was in.  I glanced back at his gray, wise eyes one last time before gathering up the chains and running towards the door. 

             
I barely felt the silk webs of the bark spiders as I ran through them with little patience for the shivers they threatened to send down my back.  I unlatched the door and wrenched it open, finding myself in a long stone hallway.  I briefly inspected my skin to make sure no spiders had hitched a ride.  Satisfied that there were no lingering spiders and feeling the hot breath of time on the back of my neck, I ran to the left and away from the voices we had heard.

             
In the darkness of night, I stumbled down the hallway and almost fell down an abrupt set of stairs.  After several twisted ankles and one heart attack, I reached the end of the spiraling stone steps and flattened myself against the cool wall to catch my breath.  I had no idea where I was going, or what I was going to do when I got there.  I just knew that I had to stop the three conspirators from infusing the prisoners’ essences, as well as mine, into Keto.  With that power, it would be impossible for me to defeat her.

             
Realizing that now I needed to find out whether all of my essence had been drained or if I still retained my abilities, I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind; in search of the ocean.  The sensation that hit me in the next second was so unexpected, it brought tears of joy to my eyes.  Other times when the ocean had called me, it felt like a light tug; urging me to dive into the arms of the waves.  This feeling was so powerful, I lost all control of my feet as they began to run.  The urgency with which I needed to be beneath the waves was so overpowering, I could think of nothing else.  It was as if my life depended on it.  As the burning in my side grew into a raging inferno, I realized that maybe it did.

             
When my bare feet landed on the sand that led me towards the welcoming arms of the sea, the moon revitalized my soul and helped me make it the rest of the way to the water.  As the burning in my side became unbearable and the world spun out of control, I lost my footing and fell into the shallow waves as they lapped at the shore.  The velvety touch of the ocean sent a frenzy of energy through every cell in my body, and I allowed myself to float farther and farther out.  I closed my eyes and lost myself in the euphoria of the sea’s magnificent power.  It swirled around me and inside of me as I breathed it in greedily.  The coolness of its touch spread through my body; cradling my heart and soul in its nurturing, loving arms. 

             
I didn’t bother to move or swim until I felt a light touch on my side. I snapped my eyes open to catch a three-foot-long gray fish attempting to kiss the side of my body.  As he re-angled himself in relation to my side, I realized that he was no ordinary fish, he was a Plecostomus – a sucker fish - a much, much larger version of the ones we had back in Atlanta.  They sucked up the algae on the bottom and glass sides of the rectangular fish tank we’d had back home.  Once repositioned, he attached his mouth to the red, blotchy spot where the spider had poisoned me.  The burning in my side started to vanish slowly, as he actually pulled the venom from my body.  In any other situation, having a random fish stuck to my side would have been slightly disturbing, but the absence of my intense pain literally extinguished any hesitation I might have had.

             
Apparently satisfied, the courageous fish detached from my skin. I reached out slowly and ran a hand over his scaly body.  One glassy black eye watched me carefully, until it stilled completely and he drifted onto his side; succumbing to the venom.  A wrenching sorrow filled my soul and I cried out in horror, but before I could understand what was happening a wall of seaweed had wrapped around me.  I continued to search for the fish, but the seaweed quickly pulled me to the sea floor.

             
I struggled against its fronds, until I felt the tiny sparks of energy that flowed along my skin and throughout my body.  Their playful spirit surrounded me and filled me with a pure happiness and unabated joy I knew was not my own.  More energy flowed from the seaweed into my veins, clearing my head and revitalizing my drained muscles.  Every cell, every nerve-ending reveled in the sea’s arms as a light melody filled my ears.  I instantaneously recognized it as the sea’s song. She was calling to me, embracing me as one of her own; loving me and healing me with her love and acceptance.

             
After what seemed like an eternity, I awakened to an airy fluttering sensation traveling across every inch of my skin.  Images of giant bark spiders coming to finish me off filled my mind, and fear instantly gripped me.  When I opened my eyes I prayed that it would be a school of sharks, electric eels, or Jonah and his whale - anything besides flesh eating spiders.  Thankfully, it was just a mass of baby sea turtles swimming around me with excitement.  I knew that they were newly hatched from the aura of pure innocence they emitted.

             
“Hello there,” I greeted them warmly.  At my acknowledgment their joy soared to a new level, and I didn’t think their little fins could paddle any faster.  They darted around me, a frenzy of energy and happiness that brought an unstoppable smile to my lips.  Just as quickly, my on-land reality slammed into me and I knew I could hide beneath the waves no longer.  I could already be too late!  Untangling myself from my bed of seaweed, I easily swam back to shore.  I felt as good as new, but was still in shock at the sucker fish’s ultimate sacrifice, along with the sea’s incredible healing power.  I hadn’t asked for it.  I hadn’t even realized it was possible. But somehow it knew and it pulled me in, understanding what it needed to do. And an innocent life had laid down his life for mine.  It was a difficult concept to understand, but one that filled me with an even stronger love for the sea and its inhabitants.

             
With renewed hope and, most importantly, energy, I crept out of the waves with a keen eye for any sign of Nadia, Keto, or Selene. Unfortunately it didn’t take very long to spot them.  They stood between the moon and the sand, all of them shining with an unearthly glow.  They could have been three friends hanging out on the beach, three sisters taking a night stroll, or three ghosts born of the sea and stone.  But I knew who they really were.  I knew what they were capable of and the evil that lived in their hearts.  That point was made even clearer, as one of them began to frantically gesture with her arms.  Her threatening stance and raised chin told me that she was simmering with a slow burning rage.

 
              I darted up behind one of the many boulders that littered the beach to remain hidden, and held my breath as I peeked around the side.  My new point of view allowed me to discern a very pissed off Keto and a defensive Nadia standing across from her.  After a few more terse words, Keto slapped Nadia across the face; sending Nadia crouching down in shame. I watched the evil roll off her like a waterfall just before her eyes lit fire.  Despite her rage, her fear and respect for Keto halted any further argument. I had a good feeling I knew what their fight was about.  A small part of my heart rejoiced, knowing my untimely escape was more than likely the cause.

             
The darkness of night was held at bay by the pale light of the full moon, as it shone down onto the pale sand of the beach; illuminating the rocks and boulders, as well as the foam of the waves.  After Keto’s final gesture, their argument cooled and the three women glided toward the water in unison; their anticipation and greed a tangible force no one could ignore.  The metal click of a door drew my attention towards the cliff, just as a thick wooden door swung open. The line of hostages filed out, linked together by shackles on their wrists and ankles.  They shuffled toward the three women and my heart raced with panic.

             
I steeled myself and scampered silently towards a larger and much closer boulder to the right of the group, in order to get a better view.  The reluctant hostages formed a rough semi-circle around the women and just as my vision prophesized, Selene stepped forward, raised her arms, and threw her head back; sending the hostages falling backwards onto the sand unconscious.  I knew I had to act quickly, but I had no idea what I needed to do!  Before I knew it, Selene began to sing. Keto raised her arms, and the hostages were lifted off of the ground in tandem.  Selene hit an impossibly high note and the hostages’ soul-less bodies dropped onto the stark white sand, leaving their souls suspended and vulnerable.  Suddenly, Selene appeared to falter.  She twisted to Nadia, and I didn’t miss the rage that flashed from her silver eyes.  With a couple of inaudible words from Selene, Keto kept her arms raised while the now furious Selene headed towards the other side of the beach.

             
As the memory of my vision came racing back to me, I mentally kicked myself for not remembering something so critical earlier.  The old man!   He was the one Selene had found sneaking around the boulders in my vision.  He escaped because of me!  He would be killed because of me!  And being on the other side of the beach, I had no way of preventing his untimely death.

             
My limited options flashed across my mind in a split second, as my nerves calmed and energy surged through my body. I could either save the old man by dashing across the beach - leaving me vulnerable to Keto and Nadia - or I could use Selene’s momentary absence to disable Keto and hopefully reattach the souls back to their bodies.  Unfortunately, I never liked doing things the easy way.  My only real option was to do both.

             
I stepped out from behind the safety of the boulder and knelt down; pressing my fingertips into the powder-soft sand, which rapidly gave way to my heightened state of emotion.  As energy flowed down my arm and out through my fingertips, an unseen force rippled outward, just below the surface, towards Keto.  I stood silently, knowing full well I was about to be discovered, but there was no turning back now.  I had committed myself to this fate and I would see it through, no matter what transpired. The racing mound of sand rolled into a massive wave, growing in height and speed as it approached Keto.  The unstoppable power that swirled inside the massive wave of sand washed over Keto before she had even inclined her head.  As she was knocked off of her feet, she inadvertently released the captives’ souls; slamming them back down into their bodies lying below.  However, even after the incredible force of their souls being returned to their bodies, they remained impossibly still. 

             
Nadia’s permanent smug expression changed from surprised to elated in less than a second.  Already gathering my energy for another attack, I commenced to running.  Before making it halfway across the beach, I was thrown sideways and wrapped tightly within the unending black fingers of Nadia’s evil smoke.  I closed my eyes, pulled from everything good in my heart and blew it outwards, blasting the smoke away from my body and allowing me to regain my footing.  By that time, Keto had brushed herself off and stood; shaking with fury I could taste. She zeroed in on me and snapped her fingers.  A large boulder to my right dislodged and roared towards me.   Not wanting to steamrolled by a boulder, I dove out of the way, narrowly missing being crushed to death.  In response I blew a strong wind in Keto and Nadia’s direction, which thrust them backwards and momentarily, stopped their advance.  Not knowing what I was doing, or even what I was capable of, outside of the ocean, I couldn’t have seen it coming.  Boulders, water, and even sand I could handle.  Deadly ball of light?  Not so much.

             
A glowing orb flashed in my peripheral vision before it slammed into me, making the world spin violently. I landed square on my side against a rock, seconds before I heard a sickening crack in my upper arm.  Indescribable pain shot up my shoulder and down my spine, but my surging adrenaline suppressed it efficiently.  I fought to stand until I realized that not only did the orb hit me, it had consumed me! I was actually
inside
the glowing orb, completely powerless to help the innocent hostages who were about to lose their lives.  I helplessly eyed Selene as she carried the old man out from behind the boulders by his neck.  To my relief he was writhing and kicking her in defense, which meant he was still alive!  In the next instance, she mumbled something and his body went limp. Feeling like I had been punched in the stomach, I fought against the invisible walls that contained me, but to no avail.

             
“Let them go!” I cried out in desperation. “You have me!  You don’t need them anymore!”

             
Instead of answering me or even acknowledging me, Keto nodded formally to Selene, who abandoned the old man’s limp form onto the sand. Keto once again raised her arms, threw back her head, and repeated the steps to release the captives’ souls from their body. 

             
“No!” I shouted uselessly, centering my energy and trying anything and everything to release myself from the steel trap of the orb.  Those efforts only bounced my energy off of the walls and slammed them back into me, which knocked my breath away and left me reeling.  The sound of Nadia’s laughter made the hair on my arms stand straight, and suddenly I wasn’t alone in my glowing prison anymore.  The black fingers of evil were swirling around me, occasionally licking at my skin and eliciting a burning sensation so overpowering, that all I could do was scream.  Over and over, the smoke attacked me from every possible angle.  Helpless to save myself or the poor souls that floated above their own bodies awaiting the departure of their essence, I could only feel.  The scorching fire of the black smoke was nothing compared to the agony I felt inside at my failure.  The weight of those vulnerable souls suffocated the very light of my heart; hovering over my own soul and ripping it apart.   Suddenly, a lone melody rose from the beach; it captivated the night and signaled the beginning of the essence-stealing ritual.

             
I fought to see what was happening, but was able to focus on Nadia just as she produced two vials from her pocket and uncorked the first carefully.  A thick, swirling dark liquid billowed out of the vial, becoming suspended in the crisp night air.   The liquid reminded me of a storm cloud, raving and pulsing with power and esteem.  As the cloud of liquid crackled with a magic that almost hurt to look at, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it.  It sparked and glistened a mirage of colors in the direct moonlight from above.  Just as I wrenched my gaze away in fear I would be blinded, I felt
it
.  Darkness.  Warm darkness.  Finn’s darkness.  They made it!  They were here!  My euphoria was quickly squelched by crushing disappointment, as I realized that there were no new arrivals.  No prince in shining armor.  Just me, a glowing orb, and the personification of evil times three.  When the startling truth hit me, I became so nauseous that I almost threw up.

             
The sparkling mass that now hovered in the air above the three women wasn’t just liquid.  It was no different than the sparkling drops of liquid the Nereids had infused into my hand.  Their essence.  Which meant that the dark sparkling liquid under Nadia’s control was Finn’s essence.  And the other vial could be none other than my own soul’s essence; the excruciating evidence of their relentless lust for power.  A veil of violation shadowed my soul, but while I continued to burn on the outside from Nadia’s evil smoke, I burned even hotter on the inside from her never-ending torment.