Touched by Darkness (Young Creator Trilogy) (21 page)

Cackling in her usual way, she stands with legs firmly planted and reaches her arms out,
away from her sides, electricity crackling in between her finders. I watch in horror as more and
more bodies appear behind her; it looks like she has amassed an army of the undead.

It seems as if there are thousands of them. I see some with limbs missing, and others are
completely covered in dirt and partially decomposed. I swallow down the bile and look around
the cemetery. Other than a few statues of winged lions and graves, the cemetery is completely
empty. I watch as Haddie makes her way closer to us, stopping but a few feet away from me. I
see that the burns on her face are still there, and wonder if she if choosing to keep it that way to
remind her of what was done to her.

“Sister
, how happyI’m to see you in person. Look at all the new friends you have
brought me! They will be a welcome addition to my army.” Her eyes skim over the people in my
group, but when her eyes land on Keagan she spits and her face quickly changes to one of rage.
“You!You’re going to die today, and this time my sweet, sweet sister will not be able to bring
you back. I’m going to cut you into pieces and wear your fingers as a necklace. You took Kia
from me.” She uncurls a whip from around her arm and holds it out. “You see this beautiful
weapon? Well,let’s just say that I went through a lot to gain it and the reward it will bring me is
death that will be permanent.” She lovingly glances down at the whip, and I notice it has wickedlooking teeth all along it.

I take the sword that is in my hand and swirl it
around. “I acquired a nice new weapon,
too.” Haddie’s eyes are drawn to my sword, and I can tell that she is surprised to see that I
succeeded in gaining this particular weapon.

“When I kill you I will make sure to take that sword from you. It suits me
so much better
than it does you.I’m fire where you are the air, but enough talk! Let’s start this game, I’m ready
to get my hands on some more power.” She motions toward us and an army of undead move in
our direction. As soon as the first of them approach me, I start swinging and they fall down, but
get back up. Instead of attacking me, they go for the others. I see Haddie’s red hair in the mass of
bodies making her way towardme. It’s as if all hell has broken loose. Aunt Tisi is launching
electricity balls into the throngs of undead, while the rest are taking off heads—which they
quickly found out was the only way to make the undead permanently dead—with their weapons.
I know that they will need some help; there are just too many of them, and once Haddie reaches
me I will be far too busy to keep the undead from overwhelming my friends.

I remember the statues of the winged lions and turn in their direction. I
’ve never done this
before and really hope that it will work. I know that Aunt Tisi has told me in the past that my gift
was not to be taken lightly, but I really think this may be the only way to make sure they stay
alive. Closing my eyes as the undead pass by me without acknowledging me, I pull the power to
me. I focus it on the statues and picture them full of life. Opening my eyes, I watch as one of the
statues shakes itself and comes to life as the stone shell falls off. It turns its bright glowing eyes
to me and bows. I nod my head and point it in Riley’s direction, letting it know to protect her. It
flaps its massive wings and flies over to Riley, who screams when it lands next to her. The
creature starts tearing into the undead, and when Riley has too many bearing down on her, it
picks her up with its paw and places her on his back. I glance back at the remaining statues who
are awaiting my request and nod at each individual I want them to protect and help. They fly off
to do my bidding.

“So you bring some statues to life and think that that will help protect your friends. Do
you have any idea how many bodies there are in this cemetery?” I turn my attention to Haddie,
who has now made her way up to me. In one hand she is holding a sword, the other wields the
deadly looking whip.

“So how did you get that whip?”
“I stole it from Mother dearest. She is going to be pretty angry when she finds that I have
figured out about the whole stealing energy thing.” We slowly circle each other, studying every
move. I know that the outcome of this will not only determine who will live and die, but also the
fate of the planet. I really don’t know who will be able to stop Haddie if she has my life energy
on top of hers. I wonder if she will be able to control both life and death. The thought really
scares me.
“I’m tired of talking, let’s stop with the games,” I say as I lunge forward and release my
energy ball at the same time. Haddie dances out of reach of the sword, and the energy ball
bounces off her shield harmlessly. Our swords clash together and I manifest a shield with razor
blades on the upper rim. I block the whip that barely misses my face and attack again, this time
grazing her side with my sword. Haddie looks down at the cut and I watch as it heals itself
almost instantaneously.
She gazesat me under lowered eyebrows and studies the sword. “I would have thought
that a cut from that sword wouldn’t heal itself.”
“I don’t know the rules for this stuff,but I bet when I take your head off you won’t be
walking around anymore.” I scan my surroundings and find Keagan, who has the real sword; he
is fighting of a horde of attackers and his winged lion is munching on three or four, all at the
same time. So gross. I become fully aware of what I was doing when the slice of Haddie’s whip
makes its way across my bare arm. It feels like fire and I stagger from the pain. I really hope that
Keagan will be able to break away and end this.
I remain strong and continue battling with Haddie; we have both found that throwing
energy at each other has no effect since force fields are fully up. We are evenly matched.
Thankfully, the bursting moves that Nick taught us are keeping me above water. Unfortunately, I
think that the only way anything will change is if either Keagan makes his way over here or
somehow Haddie gets the upper hand. As if someone heard my silent plea for help, Haddie gets
thrown several feet by a boulder that rolls into her. I look at my Aunt Tisi and nod my head in
thanks, but she quickly has to turn back to the undead army that seems to have no end. I watch as
she shoots electricity at several and their heads pop off. She smirks at me and then continues.
Looking around I see that the rest of the guys are doing good,but I just don’t know how much
longer they can keep this up. Not paying attention,I don’t see Haddie sneaking up on me until it
is too late. She catches me around the neck with the whip.
It’s as if time stands still. As I crumble to my knees, I look into Haddie’s eyes. A satisfied
smirk crossesher face. “Don’t do this,” I plead as I feel my life energy start to flow from me to
her as the whip cuts into my neck.
“Let her go,” I hear. When I look up again, Keagan has Flame to Haddie’s throat. The
whip immediately loosens, but not enough to release me.
“Well, well, it looks like we are at a draw. However are we going to figure this out? You
know, Keagan, if you slit my throat this whip will cut through the girl that you love and we both
will be dead. Nobody will really win. It may solve the problem of Young Creators, but are you
going to be able to live with yourself if Trish dies?” No one is moving; it seems as if all fighting
has ceased and now everyone is concentrated on us. No one knows what the next move should
be. They know what hangs on the line with who walks away alive tonight, and don’t want to
make a bad decision that may cause me to lose my life.
“A family reunion, how nice. I’m sad to see that I wasn’t invited.” I would recognize that
voice anywhere. Its sweet, sugary tone sends chills down my spine as I watch Allecto step onto
one of the stone pedestals that the winged lions occupied earlier. “Oh, how awkward. One man,
two sisters. I don’t know why,but for some reason it all just seems so familiar.” We all look at
Allecto in confusion at what she is trying to imply. I doubt that Keagan would ever be interested
in Haddie. I mean, he had a hard time coming to terms with his feelings in regard to me. Rolling
my eyes, I shake my head, which brings searing pain. I close my eyes as tears roll down my face.
Meanwhile, Allecto floats closer to us in a dress that makes her seem unearthly. It is a
sparkly, black dress, and the top is cut low and glittery, at her hips the dress gently sways in soft
waves. She looks like the goddess that she is, and holds herself like royalty. Her eyes are once
again all black; I hate when they are like that. “Ah, young love.Isn’t it just so sweet? But when
does young love turn into a boring routine… where you barely see the other person anymore and
you can’t help but be bitter to be bound to that person? That is when you will look for an outlet.
Maybe someone that is close to you, like a sister.”
“You are straight up crazy,Allecto. I really don’t know where all of this crazy talk is
coming from. You might notice that my
sister
and I are in somewhat of an awkward situation,
and both of us walking away is probably not going to happen. What are you doing here?” I try to
distract myself from the searing pain that is taking over my entire upper body now. This feeling
is so different than the one on the bridge when Kia was stealing my energy. I was just tired and
wanted to go to sleep, but this is like the worst pain I have ever experienced.
“Well, I figured if my children were going to kill each other, I should at least be there. I
also think that you deserve to know who your father is,Trish.” My father? I really didn’t think
that I would ever find out who he was. I don’t know why this is being brought up now, but I
guess if I have to die at least I will know who he is. I wonder if I know him; is he a regular man
or some sort of mythical creature?
“Oh, Mother dearest, nobody wants to talk about that,” Haddie says, momentarily
tightening the whip around my neck.
“You know,don’t you, Haddie?” I ask over my shoulder.
“It’s really no concern of yours, Trish. Who cares who our father is, wouldn’t you rather
continue worrying about saving humanity?”
“No, I want to know who my father is. Tell me,Allecto.” The smile that comes to
Allecto’s face scares me. Her lips start moving, but before she can say anythingI’m released
from the hold that Haddie has on me, and she is throwing electricity balls at Allecto. I have no
idea what is going on. Keagan and I just stand there as we watch Allecto manifest two wicked
looking daggers, blood red stones on the hilt and intricate designs on the blades. Haddie is
rushing her, whip and sword at the ready.
“What in the world?” I ask in bewilderment, but Keagan just shakes his head. We stand
and watch as the two go at each other. Shortly, we’re joined by the rest of our group and the
winged lions who remain by the person whom I assigned them to. The undead just stand and
stare, waiting for an order from their mistress.
The whip dances in the air as Haddie uses it to try and hurt Allecto, who swiftly moves
out of the way and uses the daggers to counter Haddie’s attacks. It is fascinating watching them,
I can tell that the two must have spent many hours doing this. It is as if they know each move
that the other will make before they make it. I just don’t understand why Haddie doesn’t want me
to know who my father is. Why would she do this, or is this just another part of her plan, are they
trying to distract us? I jump when I feel a hand on my shoulder. Turning, I find Aunt Tisi looking
at my neck. She gently touches it and I flinch at the immediate pain.
“Have you tried healing yourself?” I shake my head, and smile when I remember healing
Hades after his sword wound. I close my eyes and concentrate on having the wounds that I feel
on my neck heal. Immediate relief of the pain tells me that it is working.
“Amazing! You know,I don’t believe there is another that can do what you do. It must
have to do with your ability to create life. By the way,the lions were a welcomed surprise.” I
smile at her words,and turn back to watch Haddie and Allecto. “Why are they fighting?” Aunt
Tisi wants to know.
“Haddie doesn’t want Allecto to tell me who my father is. She was set on taking my life
force, but as soon as Allecto started talking about my father, Haddie refocused and went after her
instead of me.”
“Very strange indeed. However, we need to make a decision here. We came here to stop
Haddie and I think that we need to do that.”
“You want us to join up with Allecto?” Riley asks. Looking her over, I can tell that it was
a good thing we stopped when we did. Riley is covered head to toe with bruises, cuts, and goo.
Taking in the rest of the group,they don’t look much better than Riley and I can see how much
the fight has worn them all down. The piles of dead is astonishing and I’m shocked that a few of
us have caused all of this.
“I can’t believe that I’m going to agree with you on this, Tisiphone, but I think you’re
right. We have to stop the Young Creator. That was the goal here, and I think we should take
advantage of this situation and put a stop to her,” Chris says.
Looking around at all of the tired faces, I know that he is right. We have to take
advantage of the crazy situation that is presenting us with a chance of stopping Haddie without
any bloodshed. Earlier was too close for comfort. I nod my head and we spread out. Aunt Tisi
and I start making roots grow to trip Haddie and the rest are throwing things at her.
“Are you kidding me?” she yells at us, and the next thing we know the undead are
coming at all of us.
“Get into the air,” I hear Nick yell. Suddenly, everyone but Aunt Tisi and I are on the
lions’ backs and have taken to the sky. It is an awesome sight to behold, seeing them in the air on
those extraordinary beasts. The undead are attacking me, but not really causing any harm. I have
a feeling that Haddie is trying to keep me occupied while she deals with Allecto. I just don’t
understand what she is trying to do.
Allecto seems to only be paying attention halfway. When she spots Aunt Tisi and me
helping her, she calls out to us,“Thank you so much for the helping hand. At least I can count on
some of my family to have my back.”
I look at Aunt Tisi and shake my head at the situation. I watch Keagan on his winged lion
approach from behind Haddie, sword in striking position. Just as he is about to take the swing
that will behead her, an undead leaps onto the back of the lion and Keagan suddenly has his
hands full, trying to stay on.
“So, Trish, about your father,” Allecto says just as Haddie swings the whip and catches
her by the wrist. Allecto glances down at her wrist and then at Haddie with a surprised look on
her face. Instantly, her gaze returns to me. “You have already met him. In fact, he is here with us
tonight.”
“Shut up, shut up. Don’t listen to her, she is just trying to hurt you,” Haddie yells, and
with more vigor than I have seen from her so far resumes going after Allecto.
“Like I said, young love gets old. You get bored with the same person, the same routine,”
Allecto continues.
“What are you talking about?I don’t understand.” Both Aunt Tisi and I are just staring at
her now. An evil smile forms on her face.
“You gave it all up for love, decided to protect humanity. What did love get you, sister,
but two nieces that were fathered by your husband?” I’m shocked. Is she saying what I think she
is saying? I look at Aunt Tisi who looks stricken, crushed. The wind starts picking up and throws
my hair into my face. I push it away and take a step closer to Aunt Tisi, wanting to comfort her.
“I told you not to say anything, you stupid,stupid women.” I look toward Allecto and
Haddie just as the whip comes back around and takes off Allecto’s head. The head hits the
ground and Haddie throws the whip down next to it. Lightning strikes a tree in the distance,
which bursts into flame. Haddie quickly sits down on the ground, and I watch as her hair stands
up straight above her head and starts to light up with power. Meanwhile, Allecto’s hair seems to
dull. Haddie’s hair dances around her head as if it has a life of its own. Lightning strikes again,
this time closer, and the wind picks up even more, just as the winged lions land.