Fledgling: Book 1 (Afterlife) (16 page)

On guard, I turn my head toward the leader. He is still standing close to me, but this time I see a tiny crack in his mask of confidence. He does not let this overtake him. With the bloodied knife remaining in his hand, he reassesses the situation. He looks from at the previous attackers one at a time then sums, “I think you just got lucky, sugar.”

“If that was just luck, then why don’t you come and try yours?”
 

He licks his lips as though he hasn’t had a drink for a while and fiddles with the knife, tossing it between his hands. I watch his eyes. This way I can judge in advance which way he is going to attack. As I stand on the balls of my feet, ready to spring, I see a slight twitch in his right eye. A moment later he lunges forward with the knife in his right hand. I step to the side, enough for the knife to pass by me. I revel in the surprised look on his face, but not for long. As soon as he pulled his hand back, he tried for a strike again. This time it clips my sleeve, narrowly missing my skin.

 
He regains posture and holds the knife above his head trying to thrust it into my heart. I dash to the side and grab his wrist with both hands, helping its natural momentum downward, directing it into his leg. He buckles to the ground screaming in pain, with the knife sticking out of his thigh. He reaches for it. While he does, I see a strange tattoo on the inside of his wrist. It is an upside-down pentagram finished with the details of a goat’s head, inside a circle. It is the recognized symbol of Satan. I don’t know why, but this surprises me for a second. I have a bad feeling about that mark.
 

In this moment of distraction, a pair of arms grab me from behind, securing my arms tightly behind my back. I look to the side and see the teen with the broken elbow charging at me from the side. He should be still crippled in pain. Using my captor's strength, I put my full weight into his hands and kick out with both legs. The broken elbowed attacker involuntarily flies backward as does my captor behind me. Still in his grasp we stumble together until he trips on something, and we land on the ground, me sitting on top of him. The shock causes him to release my arms. I jump up away from his grasp. The leader is limping my way with the knife removed, and blood gushing down his leg, but he still keeps coming. I do not understand how they can keep advancing.
 

In the near distance, I see Ben. He is fighting in his usual confident and strong style. His attackers are covered in blood; one has his whole arm dangling from its socket, and he still continues to lunge forward and attack with ferocity. On the loosely flapping arm, I spot the same tattoo on his wrist.
 

A blast of wind passes my ear. I move sideways away from the pressure. While turning to see where the gust has come from, I see the leader slashing his knife at my throat. I lean back, narrowly dodging the knife. He swings it again toward me. I block it with both arms then slide one hand down to his wrist. Ducking under his upturned arm, I snap it over my shoulder. He drops the knife yelling in pain. My elbow slams into his ribs as I turn and begin to attack his face and throat with my hands. My swinging hammer fist brings a final blow to his temple; I watch him fall to the ground.
 

Before he lands, I feel arms grab me around the waist. I drop to the ground with all my weight and slam a high-heel into the toes. The hands instantly let go from the shock of the pain. I turn to make it my mission to finish this attacker when I see the attacker with the broken elbow coming my way.
 

Grunting, I jump and kick him straight in the stomach, and then up to his head, directly on his face. I hear the crunching sound as the cartilage breaks in his nose. Blood is pouring down his face, yet he begins to regain his balance to try again.
 

I can’t believe it. These teens are relentless. My eyes skim quickly for Yellow. It wasn’t hard to spot her with her yellow colours. She is fighting well, and I feel a surge of pride rise in my chest. I take a moment to study her attackers. One of them has a bone sticking out of his lower leg. When I see him, I feel my mouth drop. He was still continuing the fight, somehow limping forward ready to attack again. Impossible. I look at his wrist. He too has the same symbol. There has to be something that is preventing these attackers from falling.
 

I quickly turn my attention back to my attackers. Bloody nose is still coming my way. Behind me, attacker three is getting ready to rush again, and the leader is also starting to squirm. I have to do this fast. I have to end the fight with these attackers. With my ears on full alert, I hear attacker three approaching very close behind me. I turn quickly, spotting my mark and jump, landing a roundhouse kick straight to his stomach. Following through with the momentum, I place the kicking foot down and spin on it, jumping again and landing the roundhouse kick on the side of his head.
 

He leans to the side with the kick. I am serious about finishing this fight, so I spin backward and let my heel hit his head in the opposite direction. He falls to the ground. This impact would land any normal person unconscious.
 

I turn around ready for my bloody nose attacker. He is almost onto me. I spin and land a fist on the front of his face, right on his already broken nose. He screams out in pain and tears fill his eyes. While he is grasping his nose, I jump and land a kick straight on his kneecap. The sound of ripping tendons and breaking bones sends shivers down my spine. His leg bends in half the wrong way. The look, along with the recent sound of the destruction, almost makes me sick. I mentally push the sensation down and turn to find the leader. He hasn’t quite made it up, but considering a normal human would be completely wiped, he has achieved an enormous milestone.
 

Swiftly, I approach him before he can stand and place my hands on both his temples. There is something about these attackers that makes me not want to see what is in their minds, especially this one. His eyes open wide. For the first time, as I watch the conscience enter him, I notice that they are the colour of a clear blue sky.
 

The battle has drained some of my energy, and I catch my breath while I complete the process. I find it harder to feel sorry for this perpetrator, but as I see some innocence from the past, I am torn. I hold on to the hope that he will not end his life after I have finished, but after what Archangel Gabriel said, I am doubtful. There must be a better way to take the evil from the human.
 

When I retract my hands, he sits, stunned and unmoving. I don’t have time to observe his reactions, as I have to check on the other two attackers. Revolving around, I see broken nose is trying to get up. I shake my head in disbelief. I do a quick check to see if Ben and Yellow are okay. Ben is leaning over his first victim. I can see the white light passing through his hands as he inserts the conscience. His other two attackers are lying on the ground for the moment.
 

Yellow looks to be in control, although all her attackers are still untouched.
 

I reach the guy with the broken nose and push him completely to the ground. I step on his broken knee, hindering him from getting up, and his cry fills the air. He slumps completely to the ground, and I place my hands on both temples. Before I start the process, I look into his eyes. This time I notice not only that the colour is hazel, but also that there is a weird distant look in them. Hearing groans from my third attacker as he regains consciousness, I know I don’t have time to ponder over this look of absence. I release the conscience into his temples. In his eyes, I see my same nightmare again — innocence and kindness wasted. Each time I see this it eats at my soul.

When I have finished, I turn to attacker number three. I struggle with the vision of him standing perfectly straight in front of me. I can see the bruises already forming on his head from the knocks rendering him unconscious, yet there he stands, as though nothing happened. He lunges at me. I twist away and land a low back-kick into his groin. I know it is a good hit. Once I turn around, I see him gasping for breath. It is now I insert the conscience. This time I turn my guilt sensor off and try not to think of what might happen to him later. It helps when I look at their unconscious victim still lying in the rain-soaked grass.
 

When finished, I drop the head gently and look around. Blue is still battling but from what I can see, he is doing fine. I turn my head to look at Yellow. She still has three attackers, and none of them look very injured. Her face looks drained even though she is fighting them well. Keen to round up the fighting, I step in to help her. She knocks one to the ground in my direction. Before he can get up, I grab him from behind and insert a conscious. At first he struggles but gives in after a little while. When finished, I lift my head, and I see Yellow has finished her first victim. Leaving only one left. Knowing she doesn’t need help to finish the last one I stand. Ben is fighting his last attacker, so I make my way to the young lady — our mission.
 

I kneel down beside her. She is a mess. I cannot see her chest rise and fall with the rhythm of breathing, and I begin to worry. I run a hand over her chest area without touching her, sensing her vital signs. Unable to find a pulse the worry intensifies. I inch my hand closer and run it over her chest again. The concern is a tyrant through my body until I find the weakest of beats from her heart. Even though I have found a pulse, she is in no condition to start a celebration. I still do not see or hear any breathing and the heartbeat is getting weaker by the second.
 

I open her mouth, placing mine on hers, and start to breathe some air into her lungs. Her chest rises and falls with my help, but when I stop to see if there are any results, her breathing ceases. While touching her lips, I can feel her heartbeat fading. I become very concerned. We are not supposed to lose a victim, an Innocent. We are supposed to save them; this cannot be happening. I throw my head back in frustration, sitting on my heels. We cannot lose her.

- Chapter Fifteen -

With anxiousness overtaking me, I look down at the young lady’s dying body. I have no idea what I am doing, but my instincts tell me to place my hands on her chest. I do this with my palms down over the area of the heart. I have visions of an electric shock entering my head. I gasp when this vision transforms into reality and a shock leaves my hands, straight into her body. She doesn’t move. I find myself picturing the same vision in my head, and again my palms respond with small bolts of lightning.
 

Her body jumps. This time I can feel more than a brief heartbeat. I can hear it continually beating softly under her ribcage. I breathe into her mouth a couple of more times and watch as this time the rhythm sticks and her chest continues to rise and fall. I exhale a sigh of relief. My eyes scan over the numerous cuts and bruises. I cannot bear to see them on her anymore. Acting on instincts alone, I begin placing my hand on each wound individually. Seeing the sores disappearing slowly with each touch brings a deep joy to my heart.
 

I hear a sound close behind me and gaze briefly in that direction. Yellow and Ben are standing and watching me.
 

“I didn’t know we could do that,” Yellow says.

A smile rises on my face. “I didn’t either. But it sure makes me feel good. You should give it a try.”

An apprehensive look crosses Yellow’s face. “How do you do it?”
 

“I don’t know. It just comes naturally.”
 

She kneels down and touches a sore, and waits. Nothing happens. She touches it again. Nothing. Her shoulders slump forward. “It’s not working,” she whines, the look of disappointment covers her face.
 

“Maybe it is because you don’t have confidence in yourself,” I say, trying to be helpful. “Envision it in your head like it has already happened.”

She reaches out and tries again. Watching with bated breath, I almost cross my fingers behind my back for her. Right now she needs a little booster in confidence; I can feel it. The sore does not heal. Yellow looks devastated.
 

“Hey, it’s okay,” I say. “We haven’t had training in this.”

“But you can still do it.” It almost sounds like an accusation.
 

I reach out and touch her hand while studying her face. “I’m sorry if this upsets you. You do know I wouldn’t want that for the world, don’t you?”
 

She sighs and shakes her head. “No. It’s not your fault. I just wish I could do something special.”
 

“You are special. You’re an angel.” She does not return my smile, so I return to being serious. “I don’t know how I am doing it, but I’m sure you have talents that I don’t have.”

“I hope so.” She places a hand on the girl’s forehead. “It would be nice to have healing powers though.” She turns to look at Ben. “How about you Blue, are you going to try it?”