Possessed (7 page)

14
Alana

I remember Jeffrey knocking me out but I was not expecting to be in a cave when I woke up. There are bars like to a cell but no windows and no bed or anything to lie on. I am on the floor of dirt and dried up Demon
blood .

I am about to start calling for someone and demand to know where I am when Jeffrey comes strolling in. He looks a little too happy to have me here. “Where am I? What do you want from me?” I ask.

He laughs at me, a full body laugh that doesn't belong to the eerie smile he had. “You mean you don’t recognize this place? Oh yeah, that would mean coming down here from time to time to get a look at it. And your people don’t like to come down here because their powers don’t work in the Underworld,” he finishes with a menacing laugh that makes me retreat a few steps back.

“The Underworld?
What the heck do you have me down here for?” I say, sounding stronger and braver than I feel at the moment.

“My dear, you and your mate are going to perform the spell that I need in order to get your powers from this stupid doll
and
each and every one of you that is still alive after that nasty fight we just had,” he says, holding up Annie for me to see.

“How did you get her? How am I supposed to do a spell if my powers don’t work down here?” I say to him, trying to get as much information as possible.

“Oh, you see- I’m an illusionist. I can create an illusion to use as a decoy which is what I did as soon as I found the doll. It only holds its appearance for two days, but that is plenty of time to get this spell done. As for the spell: you can cast spells down here, as well as use potions- just no powers are usable,” he answers. Jeffrey walks across the room and opens a cage, throwing in John like a sack of potatoes.

“John!” I say as I run to help him up.

“Alana, please don’t be so naïve to think that I would put you both in here alive. He is dead- or at least on the verge of death. He cannot hear you and once he dies and you return above you will die as well. Yes, I am well aware of your connections to your mates,” he says as he vanishes from my cave-like cell.

There is a lifeless John in my arms.
“Oh no! God, please don’t let him die!" I say, holding him and kissing his forehead as I rock him in my arms. I stop when I hear Rebecca. Is she here? No, this is in my head. My Wolf! My Wolf’s powers work down here! I can send her a message.

“Rebecca, I’m in the Underworld! Jefferey has John and
I in a cell- it looks like a cave. There are no windows and my powers don’t work. He did something to John. He’s weak, almost dead. I need to save him. Help me, what do I do?”
I beg to her, sobbing through the bond.  I hope the bond works between worlds. Please, God, let her hear me. I can’t lose him, I can’t die. What about Destiny?

“Alana? Can you hear me? Alana, we’re coming for you two. Send him to the infirmary with a spell. I’ll heal him before we go to get you," Rebecca transmits back to me.

“Oh my God, yes, I can hear you! Okay, I’ll send him if you're sure it will work. How will we get out of here?”
I ask her, worried that we will be stuck here forever.

“With a potion- Sebastian and Justin are working on it now. Wyatt and Yashira are packing us weapons and other potions to help kill any Demon that gets in our way. Eva and Jorge are checking on all the wounded from the battle and, so far, there are no casualties.”
She pauses for a few seconds and I feel her pain and struggle to tell me what she is about to say.
“Alana, Milissa might turn into a Werewolf. I’ll explain everything after we get you out of there. Use the spell to send home John. I used one to send home all of the wounded that we had at the alley. I have to go and help the others get ready, we will be there to help you Alana, I promise. Don’t give up.”

“Okay,”
I say. I quickly send John to the infirmary with a spell, but I then I yell through the bond:
“WAIT! Check on Annie. It’s an illusion!”
Before I can explain, I feel something hit my head and everything goes black again.

15
Rebecca

An illusion?
How is that possible? Jeffrey is a smart Demon. I figure that he knocked Alana out for sending John out of the Underworld. He was probably hoping that we wouldn't realize that our Wolf powers still work, including the bond. Lucky for us.

John is really weak, teetering on the line of life and death. I put my hand on him to heal him and I feel a spark- it feels like a shock of electricity but I keep my hand in place. I use as much of my energy as I can to get his heart to beat a little bit faster. “Put a spell around the bed to protect him. If he is possessed again it will keep him in control of his own body. The carvings and spells around the bed in my room helped
me
gain control of my body, so maybe it will work for him too; I don’t want to take the chance of him getting possessed again while I’m gone,” I say to the remaining members of my Covenant. I grab my bag and walkout of the infirmary.

In the hall I unpack the gear from the last battle and proceed to shove the necessary potions and weapons into every possible pocket. There are daggers and blades of all sorts on the belt around my waist. I chance a check on Alana and I can tell that she's still alive, just not awake.

Sebastian is in the hall packing with me, too. “She said it’s an illusion. But I don’t understand what she’s talking about,” I say to him as I tie my boots tighter. I grab my knotted, messy hair and pull it back into a tight ponytail.

“Well, conjure Annie, then. Focus on
her,
not
where
she is. The real one will come to you,” he says to me in a soothing and encouraging tone. I love him so much; he gets me, understands what I need. Earlier I needed space, and he realized that. I know it hurt him to not comfort me but he understands me enough to have let me  deal with what happened on my own.

“Okay,” I say, and I focus on her: her eyes, mouth, hair,
dress- every little detail of Annie. I try to call her to me but  it doesn't work. So, I try again, this time focusing more of the memories I had of growing up with her, like when I had to sew on a new eye button because I lost one. I had to find one that matched exactly- to my step-mother's dismay- but she helped me because it helped me calm down. 

The dress that Annie originally wore was old and dirty so I found fabric that matched the type that she was made with. With it I created a beautiful new dress and from that day on I didn’t play with her; instead, I took the time to painstakingly restore her to look brand new.
My Annie.

Remembering all of this, I called to her. Then, suddenly
,  she was in my hands! “Awesome! That took a lot of work. You think it’s because she was in the Underworld?” I ask Sebastian, sliding her into a box and hiding it behind extra blankets in the infirmary closet.

“Possibly- but there’s no way to know for sure... so let’s just hope that they can’t get to her again.”

I nod and say “Let’s get the others. They should be ready by now.”

******

Everyone is waiting for us downstairs. I am surprised to see Clarisse and Sean with the group. I shouldn’t be, though, since they are in better physical condition than most of the rest.

I walk up to Clarisse and give her a hug. “I’m glad you’re coming. It wouldn’t be the same without you,” I say to her and then face everyone else. “I hope you all got enough weapons and potions because we don’t know what we're up against once we get down there. I know that we can still cast spells since Alana transported John to the infirmary, so it is in our best interest to memorize as many as possible. We need every possible advantage."

They all nod and take turns showing Sebastian and I the gear they packed. They surprised me with more potions and daggers than I expected. Good! We need to have our butts covered.

“I have the potions that we will need to get back out of the Underworld since our powers won’t work to bring us out,” Clarisse says, surprising me.

“Thank you! Sebastian and I have them, too,” I say, giving her a wink. She smiles back at me.  I feel warm with love from this girl and this Covenant. I’m so happy I have them in my life.

Wyatt is holding Yashira’s hand; Maia is with Justin; Jorge is with Eva; that leaves me with Sebastian, and Clarisse with Sean. “I’m glad we all have a partner to be with just in case we need to separate. The person you are standing with now is the person you separate with while down there. I would like to have a Werewolf with each group so I can be in contact with everyone, but I know that Wyatt won’t leave Yashira and Sean won’t leave Clarisse. So maybe we go into groups of five,” I say, realizing I should have noticed that before.

“Well, if you knew that then why did you say anything to begin with?” Yashira says playfully. She knows that I didn't realize it until after I said it.

“I know, but hey- I gotta think quickly... and sometimes to process all this and still speak quickly is too much for my brain to handle at once,” I say with a wink in her direction.

“With that being said: Wyatt, Yashira, Maia, Jorge and Eva are one group, and the rest will be in my group,” I say. Everyone nods. “Okay- let's go.” We leave for the Underworld, unsure if we will ever see this place or our family ever again.

*****

When we arrive in the Underworld I am taken aback by what this place looks like. It looks modern and surprisingly un-scary. Sure, there are walls that give the look of being underground, but there are also walls that give the appearance of being aboveground. It must be an illusion, though, because I see New York's Twin Towers through the window... but they don't exist anymore.

“Why would they want down here to look like up there? I mean, if they only want to destroy anything good, why have a picture or an illusion of something that means so much to the very “creatures” they want to destroy?” Clarisse asks us after the shock of how we previously conceived this place to look like and what it
actually
is wears off.

“Honestly, I don’t have a clue; but it could be to get humans distracted by it long enough for them to put their guards down,” Yashira says. We all nod as the reality sinks in: These Demons kidnap people and keep them here against their will before killing them. What for? To have them as pets? Do they feed on them regularly? I read that in a book once, but I can’t remember if it was a story book or a real book... obviously I hope it was a story book because I'm getting chills just thinking that it could be the truth.

“Okay, let’s separate into our two groups; do not separate from each other unless you go with a Wolf. I need to know you are all okay or I will freak out, and since I have probably got a damaged child already due to the possession I would like to not damage him more by worrying too much over your safety,” I say. They seem to have forgotten about my pregnancy; frankly, I don't blame them: I probably would have, too, if my Wolf wasn't constantly reminding me.

“Yes, Alpha,” say the Wolves; the rest say “Okay, got it, Rebecca.”

“As soon as you find something I want to know. Alana said that she’s in a cell that looks like a cave,” I say before they start the search. They nod and the first group starts heading left, so we go right.

16
Alana

I wake up in the same cell. I have a gash on the right side of my head but the bleeding seems to
have  stopped. I try to stand but I get really dizzy and have to sit back down. I glance around the room and see that there is no sign of blood on the ground which means that either they cleaned it up or I’ve been moved.

Willing myself to stand I find that I’m still a little unsteady on my legs. I use the wall as support as I maneuver towards the door. I am almost to the door when I hear something... no not something- someone.

I use my Wolf hearing to try and hear what is being said but all I can get is muffled words. I bet  Jeffrey did that on purpose to make sure I don’t hear them. But how does he know I’m up? Why did he knock me out in the first place? Ugh. I’m getting myself all wound up but I can’t afford to lose the energy.

I’m about to yell out when suddenly there he is in front of me. My emotions are going haywire: frustration with him attacking me; relief that John is home and safe... I transform right there but I don’t even know why.
To scare him? To prove that he doesn’t scare me? Either way I’m baring my teeth at him which makes him back up. I know I’m not a full Wolf which might be why I can't hear him clearly, but have enough in me to prevent me from going down without a fight. If it’s a fight he wants then a fight he shall get.

“Why the hell did you knock me out? What the fuck was I doing that you thought a concussion would stop me?” I say to him.

He stares at me in disbelief and I swear I see a human emotion cross over his face... like compassion or excitement. Granted, he is in a human body, but I have yet to see any real signs of human life in him; what makes now any different?

“Wow. What a sight to see. The prophecy states that '
a Witch who is turned into a Werewolf, but who can’t physically turn into a Wolf, will be the destruction of us all
'. I guess that’s a lie since I have you in a cage and you’re weak and injured... and oh yeah you have no powers down here,” he states flatly.

Is that what I saw cross over her face: excitement at the fact that he captured the "Big Bad Wolf" from the prophecy? “So you think you’ve won? You think you can use me to get to the powers in the doll and then kill me? Well, you've got one thing right: I can’t turn fully, but you will not kill me- not without a fight. And don’t think that this form means I have no powers because I have more than you can ever imagine. Just because I don’t have my Witch powers doesn’t mean I don’t have something else up my sleeve,” I say to him and he backs away again. If I was only human I probably wouldn’t have noticed it, but my Wolf senses him as prey; one more step and I will break this door down and show him what good prey he is.

My head is healing faster now that I’m in Wolf form but nonetheless slower than I would like. I still feel woozy but I'm determined to not show it; I don’t want him to see me as weak, especially now that he fears me. I can smell it. It’s intoxicating and invigorating. I step closer to the cage- a taunt- and even though I’m locked up he still takes yet another slight step backwards.

“Does the prophecy say anything about the rest of this Wolf’s Covenant? Because in case you haven’t noticed: I’m powerful, but together we’re even more powerful... and since we got Rebecca back, we can’t be beat. Yes, you may kill off one of us here and there, but you cannot and will not kill Rebecca or me.”

Laughing, he takes another step back. I’m about to jump through the door and attack him when I stop and realize what he’s doing. He’s baiting me, and I’m falling for it! I rein in my Wolf and I’m thankful that I’m not wearing anything too tight (so my clothes stayed on; they got a little torn but they still cover the essentials).

“I see you changed back. Does this mean you’re ready to cooperate with me? You say the spell to give me your powers and I let you go.
Simple as that. I won’t kill you, not yet anyway. I want to revel in your powers for a while before I come back for you... and I will come back,” he says, an edge to his voice.

I stumble for words. The prophecy must be a lie. Even if I say the spell he won’t let me leave this literal hell... and then he will kill all of my friends and family. No! I won’t say the spell! I’d rather die for not doing what he wants than to have the deaths of everyone I know and love on my hands. “No. I won’t say the spell,” I say, and then I back up to the bed, never taking my eyes off of him. He doesn't say another word; he just stares at me... and just when I think that he is about to say something, he vanishes, leaving me here to sit and ponder; especially the prophecy. I don’t know why but that sticks with me more than him killing my family. Is the prophecy real?