The Devil's Prey (The Demon Within) (20 page)

The day flew
by, and before I knew it, we were in the last class of the day, which was world history. ‘Ok, students, today we are working on…’ Our teacher outlined what we were doing that day. She was tall and beautiful.  To me, it felt like everyone was in this class. There was Amber and her friends, plus Ethan, Amanda, Perry, Sarah, Amy, and a few other people I didn’t know too well. We all listened to the lecture our teacher was giving us when I heard the voices.

They we
re louder than usual. They were screaming my name. I placed my head on the table to try and shut out the noise, but it didn’t work. They voices kept going and going, getting louder and louder I let out a small moan, but the moment I did, the place went silent. When I lifted my head, I placed my hands on my ears. Everything was shaking and people were screaming. Blood dripped from the board. Words were forming as the voices got louder. By the time the message was complete, the entire class had gone hysterical.

Y
our life will be at an end soon.

The voices we
re now pushing against my head, and I let out the most high-pitched scream in the whole class. Windows started to shatter, one by one, until all the windows had been blown out of the classroom. The light bulbs had shattered, leaving us in darkness. Papers were flying everywhere, and people were screaming. Over the din, I heard Amber’s voice. ‘Summer did this! She wants revenge on me! She is going to kill me- she told me before!’

I may not
have been able to hear much but I sure heard that. Where was Michel when I needed him?

‘S
ummer, you need to stop- and wait, why are you thinking of Michel at a time like this? Was that guy Michel? Summer, how could you? You are with Ethan!’ Amanda had grabbed me by the arm, and was leading me out of the room with Ethan.

‘Amanda
, go help everyone else. I will deal with Summer,’ Ethan told her.

My hands we
re still on my head as the voices faded away into nothing but silent air.

'Summer
, what was all that for? I know you don't like Amber, but there was no need to break every window in class and write that blood message.'

W
e were outside in the cool air, but my blood was boiling. ‘So you are going to believe her over me? I see how it is, but I guess that is what happens when you spend all holiday banging her!’ In my head, I could still hear the voices calling my name.

‘W
hat? Why would you think that? Never mind. I don’t know what to believe anymore, Summer.’ Ethan was looking at me like I was a freak- which he had always said I wasn’t.

'I didn't do it
. I heard the voices, Michel. The voices are back.' I was shaking at what had just happened, and at the message. What it said sent shivers down my spine.

'Michel
? Why did you just call me Michel?' He sounded furious. 'Summer, who is Michel?' He had grabbed me by the shoulders.

'L
et me go, Ethan!' I tried to shake him off, but he had a iron grip on me.

'F
ine, if you won't tell, I will find someone who can. You know what? I don't  even recognize you anymore. Ever since the attack, I knew you would change, but not this much- and when you got back from Italy, you changed again!' He still had me in his iron grip, which was starting to hurt.

'D
o it then, Ethan! Do it! Break up with me if you think I have changed!' I managed to shake him off me.

'N
o, Summer, I won't, because I do love you.’

'Y
ou do? Well, I don't really feel your love. If you really loved me, you wouldn't question who Michel is, and what does it matter to you, anyway? We haven’t spoken in months! You left me alone in the woods, and you expect me to now tell you everything!' I could feel tears threatening to come up, but I held them down.

'I wouldn't care if you hadn’t
just called me by someone else’s name- someone I didn’t even know about until now!'

'Y
ou really want to know who he is? Fine! he is my best friend, ok? He is there for me when no one else is. He understands me. The one time I needed you, Ethan, you were nowhere to be found. Did you even get my twenty thousand voicemails I left you? No, I guess not, because you were probably too busy screwing with Amber!' I could feel the wind pick up, and I knew it was because of me.

‘W
hat? Why the hell do you think I would be screwing with Amber? The only person I have been screwing is myself, thinking that you would come back the same Summer that I met at the beach, the same Summer I fell in love with!’ He took a step closer, but I put my hand out, stopping him from advancing any further.

'W
ell, I guess you were wrong. Do you even know why I called? I called because I had a dream where everyone was dead because of me, and whatever I was doing in my sleep, I was doing for real. Then Liam opened every goddamn horrible memory I had, to see what happened to me- to see how I went into another life. I rang because I needed to hear your voice, to make sure you were still alive, Ethan- and you weren’t there! You never are, Ethan! All we do is fight over nothing, and if we are not fighting, we are ignoring each other.' I felt a tear run down my face, but I wiped it away so Ethan would not see.

'W
hat does Michel have to do with this?'

I couldn't believe I
had just told him such deeply personal information, and all he could think about was Michel. ‘This is what I mean. You don t care about me, and Michel is always there for me. Are you really that stupid? Who do you think was keeping me grounded from going insane? It was Michel. Not you or Amanda. It was Michel. If you don't have the balls to do it, then I will, Ethan! I am sick of you breaking my heart over and over again, ok? So it's over. There is no more us!' I started to walk away from Ethan, but before I did, I turned to face him. 'If you want to know, I didn't write the message on the board. It was someone else, someone who has been sending me blood messages etched into my arm, my leg, and my back.'

I turn
ed back around, but not fast enough to avoid seeing the hurt on Ethan’s face. He looked scared and devastated at the same time. I didn’t know where I was going. I just walked as the final school bell rang. I kept walking until eventually I found my way to the real place I called home. I knocked on the door, but Mum did not answer. I took out my key, but it did not fit. She had changed the locks.

'Mum
, are you home? It's summer.' Still no answer. There was no car in the driveway, so she must have been out.

'Summer
?’

I turn
ed around and ran into Michel’s arms.

‘O
h, come here, Summer.’

I looked up into his blue eyes
, which were gazing down at me. 'My mum has changed the locks, and I broke up with Ethan. I don’t even know why I am upset. It was his fault.' I let a few tears run down my face.

'C
ome on, let's take you home, Summer.' We were about to leave when I felt something hit my head. The last thing I remembered was Michel and me going down.

When I woke up, my head was killing me. I made out my surroundings. I was on a hard floor in an enclosed space. I got up and looked around. It was only me in the room. Where was Michel? I tried to recall the last events, but all I could remember was going home, and I was with Michel…and that was it.

'Michel
, where are you?' I yelled into the empty space.

'S
ummer, where are you?' he responded to my call by yelling back.

'I am not sure
. I am in a room with a door that is locked from the outside. What about you?' I asked him.

'I am the same
. Have you tried to get in contact with Amanda?'

I tried
to call Amanda, but all I felt was a sharp pain in my head. It hurt so much I cried out.

'
Summmmmmer!' Michel yelled.

'I wouldn't try anythi
ng, Summer, because all you will feel is pain,' a voice from behind the door said.

'W
ho are you, and what do you want?' I managed to yell out.

'I only want
ed one thing- your blood.' I heard the person walk away. 'Oh, and Summer, if you try anything, I will kill pretty boy next door.'

I started to feel the wal
ls for anywhere that might be hollow as panic began to set in. ‘Michel, have you tried to materialize yet?' Somehow I knew there was really no hope of that working, either.

'N
ope, none of my powers work. What about you?' We were both yelling at each other. I tried to use my powers, but it caused too much pain. There was no getting past it.

'I tried.
I can, but I am going to have to push against the barrier.' I stood in the middle of the space, preparing to push past the pain, when a gas began seeping into the room. I started to choke on the air around me. 'Michel, the gas!' I screamed in pain as it burned my lungs.

'S
ummer, what is going on?' I screamed out loud at the pain in my arm. The gas had turned into acid, burning me.

'
Summmmerrr!' Michel was screaming in the room next to mine as I cried out in pain. The acid was burning through my skin, right down to the bone. After most of my skin was gone, the acid stopped. I was still screaming out in pain on the floor. The most I could do was protect my face, but my arms, legs, and body had been burned just about to muscle and bone.

'S
ummer, what just happened? I need you to talk to me!' I could hear Michel's voice, but I could not move anything, except for my mouth, which was trembling with pain, fear and panic.

'Acid....skin....gone...' I could
hear Michel shouting again for me to stay awake. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I started hearing the voice, calling my name over and over. 

But then they said,
‘
Heal.’
That was all it said. But how was I meant to heal when my powers were somehow blocked? The worst I could do was try, and fail. The first thing I did was move my hand onto my burnt arm. I screamed out in agony every time I moved my arm. I concentrated really hard, and I could feel the power surge up and through my hand. Instead of healing just my arm, though, my whole body began healing. When it was done, I could sit up. Not all the flesh was fully restored, but enough for me to move without it causing agony.

‘
Thank you,’ I whispered to the voice. ‘Michel, I am going to get us out.’ Because of the acid, the walls were weakened. I started to ram into the wall.

‘S
ummer, what are you doing?’ Michel yelled. I kept running into the wall until there was a small hole.

‘Michel
, can you hear me better?’ I didn’t have to yell anymore. I was just speaking through the hole.

‘Yes. S
ummer, where are you?’

I start
ed to claw at the wall to make the hole bigger. ‘Whoa, this place is so much nicer than mine.’ I stuck my head through the hole. Michel’s room was the same as mind, but with a scrawny bed.

‘S
ummer, step back,’ he said. I did what I was told, and he kicked into the wall, making a space big enough to walk in and out.
‘Oh my god, Summer, your skin!’ He ran his finger along my arm, but when I flinched, he stopped.

‘I
t was worse before. I managed to heal some parts, but others are gone.’ I showed him the back of my leg, which was missing a fair bit of skin.

He looked like
he might be sick. ‘What did they do?’

‘G
as. At first I couldn’t breathe…then acid.’ I could hear someone coming. The footsteps echoed off the walls.

‘Michel
, we need to get out. The person behind it is the person sending me the messages. We are in a torture chamber. They reduce your power to nothing by torturing you. In Italy, I was taught about them and how to escape, but the one I tried wasn’t this strong.’ I walked into Michel’s room to see what we had. ‘Michel, go back into your room. Someone is coming.’ I ran back into my room and lied on the floor, trying to look like I was in pain.

‘I am surprised
, Summer, that you managed to get to pretty boy. There is no need to pretend you are dying. But what I want to know is how you practically healed yourself? This chamber had held many fairies over the years, and not one has had an ounce of power, so how did you do it?’ The voice was coming from behind the door.

I stood up, summoning my courage. ‘C
ome in, and I will show you,’ I threatened.

‘
Hahaha! Very funny. I think not- when the time is right, you will know. Now…’ I felt pressure building up in my head, the same way Lauren had done. I dropped to the floor and screamed out in pain.

‘SUMMER
!’ Michel yelled, and ran into the room.

‘I wouldn’t
, pretty boy. If you do, I will kill her.’ And the voice laughed. It was not high-pitched, but I had heard it before.

‘I
s that the best that you’ve got?’ I rolled over.