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I glared in their direction, then took in a deep breath and dove under the water. The bed of the creek was littered with jagged rocks, and I had to struggle in the darkness to find my way around the wood that had fallen from the bridge. I felt something holding my leg back; in my panicked state, I was sure it was the darkness. I turned my body to fight it, and when I did I saw that it was a jagged rock that that had hooked my jeans. I was losing my breath, so I pulled forward, feeling the leg of my jeans tear away from me.

I found the surface and my breath in the next second. I crawled out of the bank, gasping for air. Coughing the nasty creek water out of my lungs, I tried to focus my eyes so I could find my bearings; I had no idea which way to run. I crawled forward and saw feet before me. My eyes slowly rose up to see Britain reaching his hand down to help me up.

“
What happened? Are you OK?” he said in a concerned tone.

I didn’t take his hand – I scrambled to my feet and glared at him. “You need to read the rule book again – I told you to go away – how dare you try to kill me!” I screamed in anger.

“
Me?” he asked in an astonished tone as his steel blue eyes looked innocently over me. I knew that look….and it didn’t belong to Britain….it belonged to Bianca. I tried to focus my eyes, fearing I was in shock and that they were playing tricks on me. “Charlie… you’re safe with me,” the image of Britain said calmly as it stepped closer me. “Listen…it’s silent.”

I looked all around me and heard the silence of the darkness. In my mind, I called forth the sound of my song – I remembered it as loud as I could, flooding the silence with its purity.

“
I hate the silence,” I said through gritted teeth as I felt the song in my mind empower me.

“
You know what your problem is?” the image asked in an amused tone. I knew then for sure that Bianca was behind this image – I could hear her tone laced in the image’s words.

“
Apparently, I don’t,” I said, glaring at this image.

“
I’ll tell you,” the image said smugly. At that moment, I saw her come to life within it – I saw Bianca; I guess she figured out she wasn’t fooling me. “You’re too stupid and blind to see your own power – too stupid to see that not only will I end you – I will end them all.”

“
If you touch them – if you even look in their direction, I will stop at nothing to destroy you – my willpower alone will end the tragedy you bring.”

“’
Tragedy,’” she repeated as she smiled confidently, like that was what she adored: tragedy.

“
Aren’t you the devil - a demon ?” My eyes looked over her in disgust. “No, you’re not the devil – you’re just a servant – too weak to have your own life – too weak for me to even conceive as real - I should pity you, but I can’t; there are too many others that deserve my help.”

She laughed out loud and stepped forward. “You are nothing – do you hear me? Nothing – not anymore.”

I pushed her, and she stumbled backwards, then her image changed back to Britain’s strong image. As his arms encircled me, pulling me against the cold energy, I could feel it in whatever this was I was fighting. At that moment, I saw headlights beam across us; it was Madison. She slammed her car in park and pushed her door open.

The image nodded his head in her direction, and all at once dark shadows consumed her. I screamed in horror as I watched her vanish. I couldn’t tell if she was still here or not. I thought I could hear her saying random words, but there was no way for me to be sure – I was still hiding behind my song in my mind, and my heart was beating violently in my ears.

“
Let her go!” I screamed, pushing against this cold, dark energy that seemed to hold more power than any human could perceive.

“
Why, Charlie? What good would that do me?” the image asked in an amused tone as he let me go.

“
Send the shadows to me!” I demanded.

The image shook his head no. “I’m not a fool…never have been.”

“
Obviously, you’re blind – I wouldn’t submit to you for silence – the only way I’d come to you would be if they heard silence – if they were protected and allowed to live their lives the way they wish – even if meant fighting your kind.”

The image slowly began to circle me; I ignored it. As I stared at Madison, I could see her through the darkness, she was helping – breaking through them. I knew it wouldn’t be long before she’d be at my side. In the distance, I could see headlights speeding toward us – I knew as high as they were that it had to be Draven – that he’d seen my father’s warning in the window of his studio – that he was coming for me.

The image circled in front of me and reached its cold arms around my shoulders. “Go back to sleep…,” the image said as the pupils within its eyes began to expand and contrast just as Draven’s Hummer reached my driveway. The image breathed in, and I felt the warmth of my soul fading – a numbing cold filled every part of me.

I felt a weight come over me, so heavy, so mindlessly numb that I closed my eyes and began to fall. I heard Draven scream my name – I heard Aden scream at the image that reflected Britain, then I heard the whispers hiss. As I collided with the ground, I tried to focus. I saw the shadows overtake Aden; they tried to overtake Draven, but he was saying random words so fast, the darkness was breaking apart before it could reach him.

Draven charged at Britain. I tried to scream, to tell him to stop, that it was an image of a demon – not some shadow that could be talked down - but I couldn’t find the words. I was slipping away. I was losing myself again. My eyes closed, and the only sound I could hear was my guitar.

The darkness started to fade, and I heard my name: “Charlie.” It was so faint that I couldn’t tell who had said it. “Charlie,” the voice said again. I opened my eyes, and all around me there was a white glow; it was warm and inviting, and I felt at peace.

Kneeling beside me, looking adoringly at me was my father.

“
Are you real?” I asked in a tearful voice. “Did I just die?”

He gently reached for my hand and pulled me up. “You are not only alive…your soul is on fire.”

“
Help me stop this – help them fight the shadows,” I pleaded, looking into my father’s dark eyes. I watched as his he carefully looked over every part of my face.

“
The shadows are not the enemy.”

“
I can’t save them fast enough; there are too many memories – too much heart ache.”

My father tilted his head and smiled warmly. “All you have to do is invoke an emotion – one emotion…and the most powerful emotion may be one they have never felt.”

“
Then how can I help them remember something they never felt?” I asked in a pleading voice.

“
Show them what it feels like to have it – let them see it in your life.”

“
I can’t let my shield down – it’s not safe.”

“
My beautiful girl,” he said, reaching to cradle my face. “It would only take an instant – then you can hide behind the wall I gave you.”

He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes and felt the bliss of his presence fade and the coldness of the ground come to life around me. I struggled to open my eyes. Through a blur, I could see Draven and…Bianca, face to face – I could see Aden and Madison still struggling with darkness – I was terrified she was hypnotizing him – stealing him from me.

I pulled myself up on one arm, and in the loudest voice I could manage I said, “Come.”

In that instant, I was surrounded by dark images – and evil taunts. I couldn’t see past them. I had no way of knowing if they were the same ones that the others were fighting or simply more.

Too weak to hold myself up, I laid back on the ground and stared up at them as they hovered around me. “Do you want to feel this?” I mumbled as I let my shield fall and the memories I had of Draven loving me – the way his kiss felt – the way I felt when I heard him say “I love you” came to life around me.

The whispers stopped, and the images that were all around me grew hungry for that emotion. I let the sound of my guitar play in mind and felt my shield come to life again.

“
If so,” I mumbled, trying to hold my eyes open, “fight for the one I love – redeem yourself with this one good deed.”

My eyes closed against my will. When I forced them open, I saw that the images were walking away from me. I rolled to my side and saw that Aden and Draven were side by side and that Madison was running to me.

Bianca looked past Draven to the images of the shadows that were coming to Draven’s side. Madison reached me and pulled my head into her lap.

“
He has to show them,” I said, trying to focus.

“
Show them what?!” she said breathlessly as she tried to get me to focus.

“
Tell Draven to show them us – our memories – that will help them all at once,” I said, pushing her to go to him.

“
Draven!” she screamed.

He looked our way. Madison didn’t say a word; she just let him see her memories – she let him see what I’d just said. Draven furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at me, then behind himself. In that instant, I saw every shadow turn into a light – separate, they were dim - but together, they were near blinding. In that instant, Bianca was gone and Britain was standing in front of Draven – I thought I was going insane – how was that image doing that? Who was Draven fighting? Did he even see Bianca? Was that Bianca who mocked the image of Draven before? My head spun as I tried to grasp reality.

Draven tuned and glared at Britain. “This is over.”

I stared at the image of Britain, waiting for him to say or do something .Then all at once, the image turned into Bianca again – I blinked, thinking my eyes were definitely playing tricks on me; when I focused again, I saw Britain. I started to crawl forward, not trusting anything I could see - as I moved, Britain turned into Bianca and smiled daringly down at me. But before I could scream her name, she turned back into Britain.

The image looked at Draven, and a confident grin came across its face. “No….she’s already asleep…you’re too late.”

Draven charged forward, but the light behind him and Aden was faster than he was – it swarmed around the image of Britain, then a vibration of pure energy erupted, and it was dark again – they were gone. I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer. I let my eyes fall and felt myself drifting deeply into sleep.

I tried to understand who that was…was it the real Britain….the one I thought I could save trapped somewhere and the devil just used his image…or was he the devil himself?

Chapter 18

Somewhere in my sleep, the sound of my guitar began to fade, and I heard a much sweeter voice. I heard Draven scream my name. I tried to answer him, but I couldn’t; I was too weak. I felt his lips on mine – I felt warmth – life – love flowing through me. It was as if I could breathe for the first time ever. I kissed him back, and I felt his arms tighten around me and pull me up. I opened my eyes, gasping for breath. Draven was holding me, and Madison and Aden were at his side…it was silent.

“
Come on,” Draven said, leaning down to pick me up. “Ride with her,” he yelled at Aden as he ran to his Hummer.

He opened the passenger door of his Hummer and slid me in. I looked out the window to see Madison and Aden climbing in her car. I looked back at the collapsed bridge – I had no idea how I had survived the moment it fell. All you could see was the roof lying across the water. Draven climbed in and pulled me closer to him as he sped through the streets toward his house.

“
Where’s my mom – Kara?” I asked as my focus came back to me.

“
My house – your mom wanted to see Nana.”

“
Did you tell them I was in danger?” I asked, fearing my mother was near insane at this point.

“
No…we didn’t say anything; we just ran…Aden called Madison. We knew she was closer.”

“
She should have waited for you…I thought she was gone at first.”

He tightened his arm around me as he drove faster. Once we reached his house, he sped around to the back of the house. I tried to sit up as he got out, but I felt the pain in every single one of my muscles. Draven gently pulled me to him and carried me across the garage.

“
She’s bleeding, Draven – we should go to the hospital,” Aden demanded.

“
It’s nothing – I don’t wanna go anywhere,” I pleaded as I tried to sit up in his arms. Draven held me closer and nodded for Aden to open the door for him. Madison rushed in behind him. As Draven carried me in, I saw Nana, my mom, and Kara around the island in the kitchen. I could see the terror in their eyes and heard the overlapping questions as Draven carried me through the kitchen.

“
Find the first aid kit,” he yelled as he carried me up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, he turned to the right, then into the first doorway. He laid me across his bed, which centered the room. My mother was right behind us.

“
Look at me, Draven – tell me what happened.” He looked over his shoulder at my mother as I felt Kara crawl across the bed and start to look over me.

“
Stop,” I said, pulling myself up. “I’m fine…just a little weak.”

“
Look at me,” my mom said, reaching for my shoulders. “Show me what happened – I think you need to go to the hospital.”

“
I’m not going anywhere – I’m safe here.”