See How She Awakens (20 page)

Moving deeper into the house, I paused as I passed a mirror. I wanted to be sure I’d concealed the mark on my face. My haunted eyes stared back from the reflection, the darkness swirling within the depths of the blue. I’d woken it up, and now it anxiously waited.  I could feel it expanding within me, preparing itself excitedly for what was to come. 

I stepped away from the mirror and pushed myself further down the hall. The pungent smell of death stopped me in my tracks as I passed a room. Countless piles of ash lay around the intricate circle I’d seen in my vision. Dried blood stained the floor where innumerable Seers had given their lives in the pursuit of the Council’s supposed justice.  No more.  No one else would die for them, for this.

“You are not welcome here, Abomination,” Brutus’s voice shouted from behind me. Seriously, the man needed to get a hearing aid or something.

“I come seeking the truth.” Not a lie. I wanted to hear it from them. Not in some vision, but in person.

“There is nothing for you here,” he sneered.

I let the darkness seep out, letting it take hold momentarily.  I could do this. 

“There is vengeance here. Would you deny me that?” The darkness pulsed in my veins. I could only imagine how I looked to Brutus, but something in his demeanor changed.

“Who are you shouting at?” Damali nagged as she stepped out of Isadora’s old office, pausing in her tracks as her eyes landed on me, calculating. “Why have you come here?”

“At every turn, I’ve been betrayed by those that supposedly loved me. I’ve given everything to maintain the supposed balance, yet here I remain.  So I say, fuck the balance. I want every person that has ever misled me—betrayed me—to feel the pain I feel. I want them all to burn.” The darkness grew stronger with each word. 

You will lose to me, Izzy. Don
’
t fight it, let me in
.

The darkness was stronger than it had ever been. The months of training had done nothing to prepare me for this. When I’d let the floodgates open and poured out every repressed emotion, I’d released something much worse. The vision of what I might become played out in my mind. I couldn’t let the darkness prevail.  I had to remain in control. 

Thoughts of the Seers and Guardians waiting in the dreaming buoyed my courage as I was led into the Council leader’s office. Brutus and Damali both eyed me warily, unsure of what to make of my sudden reappearance. They didn’t trust me. Which meant I would have to let the darkness take hold even more. If I did, I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to fight my way back.

Francesca lounged on a couch, doing that stupid toe thing of hers, tracing circles on the ground, while Eric stood by the fire staring into the flames.  My entry drew both of their attentions.  It was time to put on a show. 

“Why have you returned?” Francesca’s confused look reminded me of a child. “Did we have an appointment?”

So she’d finally gone off the deep end completely.  I knew it was inevitable. 

“I’ve returned for one reason, and one alone. I’ve seen what you are capable of. I saw it the day I absorbed the darkness,” I pressed on, hoping I could convince them of my sincerity.

“What do you mean?” Damali, the obvious brains behind this venture, asked.

“You are the orchestrators of all that is coming. The darkness will rise, it is inevitable.”

“What is your interest in this matter?” Eric’s fingers thrummed against the mantel.

“I want them to pay.” The truth, I did want someone to pay for all I’d lost. 

“So you too wish humanity to pay for their sins, their disgrace?” Francesca asked.

Laughter pealed from me, fueled by the darkness.

“The Order will pay.” I let the darkness take hold a little more. I had to convince them. This was the only way.

“That is not our agenda.” Damali turned to walk towards her desk.  “The darkness will purge the world, bring justice.”

I laughed again, the chilling sound stalling Damali’s steps. “I
am
the darkness.”

The moment the words left my lips, I felt myself slipping. The darkness was taking hold. Panic began to well inside of me as visions of the Revenants rushed forth, their warnings playing over and over in my mind. I wasn’t strong enough. The darkness would consume me; I was powerless to stop it. Laughter rolled through my mind as the darkness snapped itself into place, pushing me to the side.

I warned you. You never should
’
ve fought this. It was inevitable.

In that moment I knew, the whole time I thought I had taken control of the darkness within me was a lie. The darkness had played me. Every step I’d taken, every move I’d made, had led me straight to where the darkness had wanted me to be all along. The world would burn, and I would be the catalyst.

“What do you mean?” Brutus, the dense moron, shouted.

“This body can be used to fulfill your plan,” the darkness replied. “Where other Seers have failed, this one will not. Her soul is strong; it will withstand the change.”

They would sacrifice me, change me into one of those creatures. I would be trapped inside, unable to stop myself from acting. Panic surged forth, allowing me to gain some ground against the darkness. I had to fight. Maybe I’d been led into this trap, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t do something about it. The cost of my failure was too high. It wasn’t a price I was willing to pay. 

Don
’
t fight me, you will not win,
the darkness echoed.

Calming myself, I sought the place where I ended and the darkness began.

One word played over and over again in my mind.
Love
.

Love couldn’t save me. I remembered love; I still felt love, yet the darkness still remained in control. Love wasn’t enough.  Not the memory of it, not the reality of those I loved waiting to come through, none of it mattered. Sonneillon’s grasp was too strong. Love was not enough.

“Prove yourself.” Damali’s even voice caught our attention. Strange that I could feel both the darkness’s reaction and mine simultaneously. 

“You dare test me, Seer?” The darkness roared, red flames flickered across my arms as the fury rose.

“If you are, as you say, true darkness, this will just be a demonstration of your power. Surely you wouldn’t deny us this?” I had to give her props, she sure knew her way around psychos.

“I accept,” the darkness replied, the flames receding.

“Eric, be a dear and grab one of the remaining Seers.” Damali flicked her hand in the air as if she’d asked him to grab a cup of tea instead of a living being.

Moments ticked by as we waited.  I pulled at the darkness, struggling to find a foothold, to no avail. The darkness pushed back. The endless game of tug of war raged on as everyone else stood unaware. 

Screams echoed through the hall as the Seer was brought to the office. Eric entered, pulling a Seer by the hair behind him. As they entered the room, he tossed her to the ground at my feet. Her eyes looked up into mine.

“Please have mercy upon me,” she begged. I knew this Seer. She’d been here when I had taken control. She looked at me as if I were her salvation, but I was just the opposite.

“Mercy?” the darkness laughed, causing her to curl in on herself. “What is this creature doing here? What sort of test do you propose?”

“You say you are darkness. If that is true, then you have the ability to spread that darkness to those around you.” Damali strode forward, staring into my eyes. “Anoint her in darkness.”

“NO! Please no!” the Seer begged. 

My hand shook. I couldn’t let this happen. This Seer would just be the first. If I allowed this to happen, everything would change. I’d lose myself forever.

“You will do this.” Damali’s voice reminded me of the vision. This was the moment. I wouldn’t let this Seer die because of me. 

The fire began to build inside of me as I expanded outward. I would protect her, this poor woman that had been caught in the middle of a battle she never should’ve been a part of.  The heavens had abandoned her, the Council had been tainted, and the world spun on, ignorant of what was coming its way.  In this moment, I was all that stood between her and the fall of darkness. 

The fire grew, the blue flames expanding outward. The darkness slipped.

“NO!” the darkness wailed, my head thrown back in agony as I ripped myself apart, letting the fire consume every bit of me. I’d felt this once before. The battle played out in my mind anew. The demon had ripped the man I loved to shreds. He wouldn’t harm another soul. Never again.

Time stopped around me.  Dust motes froze in their airy dance as time coalesced.  An audible snap sounded as the darkness lost control. 

“Run!” I shouted to the Seer at my feet. “Run, and don’t look back.”  Reflected in her eyes I could see I was no longer even remotely human. I stood, a pillar of flame, my eyes glowed white, no pupil to be seen. Aberto’s markings stood out in the flames a dark pulsing blue.  All that remained of my humanity was gone.  She froze for a moment before racing to the door. 

Eric moved to stop her, only to be met with resistance. Somehow, he’d been frozen in place.  I wondered if those that had come with me were there helping.  Confusion was quickly replaced by rage as he fought against the invisible force holding him in place. 

“Abomination. I should’ve known it was a lie,” Damali spat.

“It was no lie.” My voice sounded strange, a distant whisper. “I am the darkness.” The darkness roiled within me, begging to be let loose, but it would never have control again. It was locked away deep within me, a steel trap with no opening. 

“You are no darkness!” Brutus shouted.

“Aren’t I?” I tilted my head, looking at him. If this had been a year ago, I would’ve had mercy on them. I would’ve exiled them, sent them away. Now, I knew the truth. The only thing standing between total darkness and the future of humanity was us. The heavens fought their own battles. They’d set us up with impossible rules, rules which kept us from ever truly ridding the world of darkness.  An eternal game of chess being played out with generation after generation of Seers and Guardians. 

No more. I was no longer a pawn in their game. This world was mine, and I would protect it.

“No, you aren’t,” Damali said with a sneer. 

Kennan had died because of this woman’s madness, yet she thought I hadn’t been marked by darkness. Every step I’d taken since the battle, every day I survived, I’d dreamed of finding a way to make someone pay for his death. Yet she doubted me. It was time to become the badass Molly believed I could be.  I would use the darkness inside of me, it would do my bidding. 

“Tell me something, Damali? How did you predict this would play out?”

“You are an unexpected inconvenience. A bump in the road,” Damali spat.

“Are you saying you didn’t see me coming?” Aberto hadn’t been able to predict what would come of me after he’d breathed his soul into me, it seemed no one else could either.

“I see all. Just as I see your end looming before you.” Damali moved toward me, stalking me as if I were her prey. Only I wasn’t scared. I wouldn’t bow to her madness.  Not this time.  She pressed on toward me. 

“Do not take another step, or I will burn the ground you stand upon, Betrayer.” The words poured from me, a menacing cadence.  Gone was the voice of reason.  The voice of vengeance rose within me, taking hold.  I was done with questions, with motives.  No more time would be wasted.  If she made a move, so would I. 

With a laugh, she stepped another slow step towards me, daring, taunting me in her approach.

“No more.” The words echoed through the room as I absorbed every ounce of light in the room, only to push it back outward, knocking everyone back. 

This was it, the vision I’d seen play out. At least this portion; I wasn’t sure what would come next.

Francesca rose to her feet, a feral cry ripping from her lungs as she surged toward me. 

Without thinking, my hand lifted.  The blue flames licked against her forehead as I held her in place.  Her arms waved violently as she struggled to reach me, her hands becoming claws as they tried to shred through my arm.  But I was human no more. 

“You want darkness? So be it.” Primal instincts drove me as I pulled from the visions of the Revenants.  If that is what they wanted for this world, let them be the first to pay. 

Francesca screamed as her skin began to char, slowly moving up her arms.  She stopped attacking me; instead she clawed at her own skin.  Her eyes filled with blood as she fell to her knees, chanting over and over incoherently.  As she crumbled to her side, Eric charged. 

Aberto snapped into place, slamming Eric to the ground by the throat.  His eyes were aflame with fury as he looked down on the Guardian that had tried to attack me.  There was no mercy there.  Gone was the Old One that had sought to pay his penance, in his place stood a man hell bent on vengeance. Slowly, Aberto’s free hand disappeared into Eric’s chest.  His scream echoed from the walls, only to be abruptly ended as Aberto tore the soul from his body.