MIAWe kept running and plowing through the obstacles that were coming at us out of nowhere, a spiky vine snaked out of nowhere and wrapped itself around my mother and dragged her away from me.“Mom,” I yelled and tried to go after her when a pointy branch came flying in my direction from behind and stabbed me in the back.The impact drove me to the ground and I gritted my teeth in pain, it was my mom’s turn to yell.“Mia,” she ripped the spiky vine apart with her bare hands and rushed towards me, her palms were bleeding but she didn’t care about that. Her focus was on me.Without wasting any time, she dragged the branch out from my back causing me to feel a fresh round of pain.“Get up,” she said and reached out her hand for mine, I took her hand and she dragged me upright, “how’s your wound?” she asked, her face twisted in worry and panic.“It’s okay,” I said reassuring her, “it’s already starting to heal.”“Good we need to keep moving,” she said and without waiting for me to respon
MIAHow was any of this possible? I thought he had been kidnapped by that terrifying figure in the hood but here he was before my very own eyes running towards me along with Bastien and Leo.“Javier!” I screamed in excitement, “Get us out of here, hurry!” at this point, I wished that this was not another wicked illusion conjured by the forest to further torment us, I hoped that the three men rushing towards my mother and I with concerned looks on their faces were really here and not also lost in the forest, dealing with different nightmares of their own.They all caught up with us, Javier was in the lead, and without hesitation, he ran across the quicksand and reached me.“Be careful, it will trap you too!” I shouted in warning but it was too late, he had already reached me and what was more surprising, he wasn’t sinking either.“What are you people experiencing right now?” Bastien asked heading cautiously for Sarcana.“We are being pulled into a batch of quicksand. The fact you have
RYLEE I could feel the protective magic that covered me was starting to lose its efficacy. I had to make a choice, if I decided to make it stronger, I would lose stamina due to continuous usage and who knew what else might be lurking in this forsaken forest. I decided that it would be safer at the moment to drop my protective magic and save my energy. The elder forest was indeed a formidable enemy, it was tougher to get through than I originally thought. I thought it would be very easy to get in, find Sarcana, and finish her off but instead, here I was standing all alone, lost. Olivia and Leo got separated from me earlier, whatever protective magic there was around them would have long disappeared since they were no longer with me. I didn't care much about Leo. He could take care of himself and if he couldn't then he was never fit to run in my inner circle anyway. My major concern was Olivia. That kid was useless without me around. I had to find her and make sure that she wa
RYLEEIt was a paralyzing feeling; it was not every day that I came up against someone who had such a terrifying aura and presence.I took a cautious step back and looked at my surroundings, I had just managed to get through the first ordeal where the forest tried to use my memories as a weapon to defeat me and it failed miserably. Was this the second test? I could tell from a glance that whoever it was would be far more formidable that the mist and voices.The figure took a step forward and crunched on dried tree leaves as it did, even as it approached, there was a powerful gust of wind that came in my direction.It looked like it was doing everything in its power to scare and intimidate me, I refused to me moved. The last thing I was every going to do was allow myself to be terrified of a power I had not yet experienced. Not not I, I Rylee was the one that did the terrifying, I was the evil that kept people up at night and until I was sure that this cloaked figure, whatever it was
OLIVIAThe fear that gripped me as I saw the sword plunging into my chest was more than words could describe, I was visibly paralyzed as the memory in the mist had seamlessly transformed from the point where I was stabbing Javier to the point where I was being stabbed three years ago.The worst part about it was that my fear was doubled, all the fear I felt then plus the fear I now felt combined to freeze me to the spot where I was standing and all I could do was scream as the memory kept repeating over and over again, there seemed to be no end to it.Each time I got stabbed, the Javier in the memory did not look shocked to see me bleeding to death, he did not look mortified to know that his best friend had just thrown away her life to ensure that he kept on living but instead, he had a sly look on his face.I could see the grin tugging at the ends of his lips as he regarded me like one would a comic relief, he looked pleased that I was finally dying and that hurt more than the sword
MIAIt was one of the best, if not the best car ride back to the penthouse, to be able to sit there, resting my head on my mother’s shoulder was the best feeling in the world. All my troubles, anxieties and fears were all washed away, I wished I could stay there forever but unfortunately, misfortune was still hanging around.Bastien pulled into the garage and we all alighted, Leo, Javier, Sarcana and I and as soon as my feet touched the ground, I remembered the situation that Ivan was in and I immediately became sad again.“Don’t worry Mia, I am here,” my mom said and placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed it affectionately.“We have to hurry,” Bastien said and was the first to rush towards the door, followed by Javier, Leo was next and finally, my mom and I.Ivan was still laying in the protective circle where we left him and the sight of him like that tore at my heart and made it ache.“What the hell did that bastard do to him? Why has he still not woken up?” Javier asked Sarca
MIAI didn't know if my reflexes had improved or if it was just dumb luck that Ivan's claws missed me.I leaped back just in the nick of time as it was about to take out my right eye and fell flat on the ground and rolled.The rolling which was at that point a force of habit from fighting a few times in the past saved me from the second attack of his.I hurried to my feet as he leaped at me again, baring both claws and fangs and looking like something straight from a nightmare.There seemed to be no reasoning with him. He was not even giving me the chance to talk, to clear up whatever caused this misunderstanding, he just wanted to gorge out my eyes.The one upside to the whole thing seemed to be that he was not attacking or fighting like the Ivan I knew. Ivan was a skilled fighter and in a contest of pure skill, I knew I did not hold a candle to him."Ivan, stop this madness, it is me, Mia!" I screamed at him but it had no effect.He just charged at me, "Murderer!" he yelled as he ch
MIAThe doorbell caught all our attention at the dining table.It was our first normal breakfast in forever, lots of things had happened over the last few weeks that we had not had time for something as normal as having breakfast.Ivan went to open the door while Javier and I looked on, it was my mom and Bastien who came in.I got up and ran to her and hugged her, “Welcome back Mom, how have you been?” I asked beaming with a smile.She smiled back, “I’ve been good, you seem to be in a happy mood,” she commented.“Uhm, it’s been a while since I have been able to enjoy a peaceful day.”“And you should continue to do so.”“Everything looks great on the home front,” Bastien remarked.Ivan shook his head, “Yes it is, everyone is just glad that we are here in one piece.”Javier got up and walked over to Bastien, “How are you doing with the new place,” he asked.That reminded me of the fact that Bastien’s old home was destroyed.“The new place is alright, not as great as the old but it gets