Clara
I squeeze my eyes shut. But It doesn't soften the bolt of pain that rips up my arm as Steph jerks my dislocated shoulder back into place.
"Sorry," She says, not sounding sorry at all. "I'm seriously going to murder him for tricking me."
The poisoned mints.
The cream-colored ones, to be specific, not the white ones that Alister gave me. Those were real candy. According to Steph, who worked for him, mints were something he'd ask for, to poison someone. She really thought they were going to be used on that 'potential stalker' who Alister kept mentioning while being his usual secretive self, as if he was planning a way to get to him. When he informed that Leora can hear and see them and might have a way to contact that stalker, Steph kept her mouth shut about the whole thing so as to not blow cover.
Of course, all that was a fabricated lie that all of us believed. And the poison was for the jerk himself. Even if it was to weaken her, I feel like he is willing to die just so Leora wouldn't be able to control his body.
Steph doesn't know where the antidote is, something she always prepared with her poisons. She said she kept it in a thermos in Alister's car and didn't say anything about it since she thought Leora might hear. And now nobody, except Alister, knows where it is. I know it'll be somewhere in the car, but we can't have Leora walking out to where Micah is.
Which brings us to the other problem at hand. Zach wasn't in the room. Not only did he escape with the Book of Artifacts, but since the car is outside, he hasn't ran away yet. He's hiding. Waiting patiently to see who'll win the fight while holding the book as leverage. Like a vulture, knowing whoever wins in the end, he will always benefit.
Muttering curses under her breath, Steph walks away to her hiding place. The sound of Simon's gun firing fills the room once again.
The bullet stops mere inches from its target, hovering against the faint red shimmer encasing Alister before dropping uselessly to the floor. It joins a scattered collection of previous attempts. Spent casings and other objects we had tested in frustration. Most were hurled by Steph, who desperately wanted to land a hit.
Alister remains exactly as he was. Seated cross-legged, with eyes closed as if in deep meditation.
"Don't waste ammo. We won't have another chance to reload once she's up." I whisper-yell. Simon decided to stay now and while I tried to apologize once again, he simply told me this isn't the time for that conversation. When did he get more mature than me?
This could have been the only chance to carry out the next phase of the plan. Transferring Leora's soul, forcing it out of Alister's body, and sealing it away again. Just like she did, according to Alister, to escape death. It's a cruel irony, using her own method against her. A well-deserved one. I've been revising the spell in my head, making sure there are no mistakes.
But there's one problem. I need to draw a pattern on her forehead in blood. A triangle-shaped marking that will act as the initiator. And for that, she needs to be conscious too. The shield won't let me get close.
Each of us is hidden in spots covering different angles. The moment Leora moves, she'll have to choose a direction to defend against, and that's when I'll strike. She can't block everything. I just need one opening. And I won't miss.
A sudden blur cuts through the air. Barely registered before a scream pierces the room.
My stomach lurches at the sight. Steph, wide-eyed and frozen in place, stared down at the glowing red handle protruding from her stomach.
The Hirudin dagger. Its cursed glow pulses as if alive. Blood wells around the wound, staining her purple shirt. My eyes dart to Leora. Blood dripping down her nose.
When the hell did she move!? As if sensing my stare, her eyelids slowly open.
Blood spills from Steph's lips. And that's when Simon—that fool—breaks cover, sprinting toward her.
The moment he moves, the knife does too. It wrenches itself free from Steph's stomach with a twisting in the air as it turns on its new target. Before it can strike Simon, I shoot it. The bullet breaks the blade into pieces, sending it clattering to the ground.
But Leora is fully awake now. And she snaps her head in my direction. A shiver snakes down my spine as I realize—I've been found out too. I fell right into her trap.
I turn invisible and lunge to the side, away from the empty bookshelf in the corner of the room, as a sofa is ripped from the floor and thrown at me. It crashes into the wall, splintering on impact.
I roll into position and lift my gun. Two shots. Yet, they get blocked.
I hate it when she does that.
Meanwhile Steph's slumped against the wall. Her trembling fingers pressing against her stomach in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. Blood soaks through her hands, spilling onto the floor. She tears off her torn sleeve, pressing it against the wound, but to no avail.
The dagger was specifically made for this.
I grit my teeth and run towards Leora, planning to shoot her from up close. But I notice her ear twitch before she suddenly turns invisible too. I was afraid of that. "Stay alert!" I order, scanning the room. I focus on the dust motes in the air, the way the light shifts, any slight ripple in the environment that could give her away.
"There, by the door!" Simon's voice cuts through the haze. He fires—but the bullet smacks into the molding just above the wall.
I glance down. A sharp blood splatter against the polished wood floorboards. She must be going to the car to find the antidote. I raise my gun and fire three times near the smear.
Leora's invisibility fractures as she stumbles. She's limping now, thigh torn open with a grazing wound. But her eyes. Those glowing red eyes find me instantly.
"You," she breathes. "Reveal yourself, Clara. Or do you want another dead body on your hands?"
I glance at Simon and hesitate. Carefully, I let go of my invisibility, materializing in front of her. I drop my gun, kicking it across the floor, making sure it stops near the staircase, just beside the curved banister.
"Where's the antidote?" she demands.
"If I knew he was going to poison himself, I'd have stopped him. Do you really think he told me anything about this? If you, who kept an eye on his every move, don't know anything, then how can I?"
Leora stares at me, unblinking, as if peeling apart my words and searching for a lie.
"And the book?" she finally asks. Ah, so there must be a healing spell in there somewhere. With time running out for her, I guess that's her best option. Too bad the goblet can't erase poison.
"The book is hidden," I answer. "You can waste precious time looking for it if you want."
I hope this plan works.
Her expression darkens. Behind me, Simon yelps. I spin just in time to see him lifted into the air by his throat. His legs kick frantically, hands clawing at his neck.
"Bring it, then," she says venomously. "Any tricks, and it will cost you precious lives."
I swallow hard before turning and running upstairs. I take them two at a time, rushing toward the room. In the bedroom, I pull out the weapons bag from under the bed. Strapping a spare gun to my thigh, I take a deep breath and vanish. My footsteps are light as I slip back out. After quietly descending the stairs, careful not to make a sound, my eyes flick towards the gun I left near the banister.
Simon's choked gasps claw at my ears. His face is turning purple and eyes bulging.
Leora, despite her worsening condition, stands rigid. Blood drips from her nose and she wipes it away with the back of her hand.
I make my way to where Simon is hanging in the air. Using the blood from my cheek, I scribble something down. Afterwards, I take another careful step, reaching the gun near the staircase. I place it upright on the curve of the banister, adjusting it with a piece of tape just enough so it remains balanced. Silently, I move across the room, positioning myself behind Leora. Bending down, I pick up a tiny pebble and gently toss it near the staircase.
Leora's eyes snap towards the sound. The moment she sees the gun standing upright, her lips curl in a snarl. She drops Simon's limp body to the ground, yanks the gun into the air with her power, and fires into the empty space where she thinks I might be standing.
Without a second of hesitation, I pull the gun from my thigh holster and fire. The bullet pierces her side. Leora staggers, her body jerking from the impact. She turns to face me, her eyes burning with raw fury. Her hand presses against the wound, blood seeping through her fingers. She starts muttering something under her breath.
I sprint to the side, circling her, raising my gun to fire again. Suddenly, a searing pain explodes in my stomach, making me visible again. I gasp, staggering, my fingers wrapping around the sharp end of a blade lodged deep into me.
The broken Hirudin dagger.
It isn't magical anymore, but still. A cold sweat breaks out across my skin as I watch the blood pour out. I force myself to go invisible, swallowing the nausea, raising my gun to fire—
Then I freeze.
A strange, translucent orb flickers to life above Leora's head, crackling with electricity. Thin arcs of energy dancing across its shifting surface. The orb pulses—and before I can react, it moves. Fast.
I throw myself to the side, trying to escape, but it shifts course at the last second, slamming into me with a burst of electricity. Agony rips through me. I don't even realize I'm airborne until I crash through the double doors behind me and sent flying into the room beyond.
The ritual room.
My body feels disconnected. Limbs unresponsive, electricity still crackling through my nerves. I can't move.
Leora staggers towards me. She's also at her limit. The energy blast must have drained her, but still—she's here to finish me off. "If I'm dying," she rasps. "Then I'm taking you with me."
My head tilts slightly, my gaze catching on Alister—on his body, the one Leora is clinging to like a parasite. And suddenly, my thoughts spiral. Words pour into my mind. And I think about everything we should've had—could've had—if the world had been kinder.
"Alister…" I whisper. "There were so many things I wanted to ask you."
There isn't even a flinch as Alister, with his glaring red eyes, inches towards me.
"I wanted to know what you love to eat. Whether you prefer sunrises or you're secretly a night person like me. And if you've...read anything that made you laugh, because I want to hear it." I cough up blood as I smile, my hand slowly moving towards the blade in my stomach.
"I would listen to everything you have to say. Even if it's boring. No matter how long it is. Because...I really want to know everything about you. Even the pieces you think no one would care about." My fingers curl around the blade as Leora steps closer.
Tears well at the corners of my eyes, blurring his face. "I hate that it took this stupid curse and this whole mess for us to understand each other. I hate that our lives turned out this way. And..." my gaze drifts towards his throat. One slice and it'll be over. "I hate that this is how things will end...before they even had a chance to start." I look up at him even as I begin to pull the blade out.
Just then, his body twitches violently. A sharp, strangled gasp rips from Alister's throat as his entire form seizes, muscles locking up before he collapses onto the ground.
Simon stands there, trembling. His mismatched eyes locked onto Alister's body. There's a dark bruise on his neck, and his left arm looks broken. Yet he still grips the taser with the other.
He read my message. Thank goodness.
"Thanks, Simon…" My voice comes out hoarse. "Listen to me. Three things. Just three."
His gaze snaps to mine.
"First, make sure Steph has used the Healer's Goblet before bringing it to us." I rasp. "She needs it more. Second, Call an ambulance." I inhale shakily. "Last thing, go to the car. In the trunk, pick out the petrol canister that is half filled. Bring it back here along with the goblet."
He looks confused but doesn't question it and then turns to leave.
I rip a piece of my dress. Leora tries to move on the ground, dazed but recovering, her fingers twitching as she tries to regain control. I shove it inside her mouth, muffling whatever last-ditch incantation she might attempt. My bloody finger draws the pattern on Alister's forehead. The moment she realizes what I'm doing, panic floods her features. She thrashes.
With a sharp breath, I throw my weight forward, swinging one leg over and straddling his body. Leora jerks, trying to throw me off, but I grab both wrists and slam them down.
Her wild eyes burn into mine. I glare right back. And then I start chanting. The memorized words roll from my tongue smoothly. The lines on his forehead begin to glow like molten gold. Her muffled screams rise in pitch, and her stolen limbs convulse beneath me.
My eyes find the blood mirror a few feet away. I part my lips and blow towards it. Alister's body goes eerily still.
White mist begins to unfurl from his lips, curling upward like smoke from a dying fire. I watch it drift swiftly into the mirror. I let go of his wrists and reach for the mirror. I hurl it at the wall, watching it shatter like fragments of a dead star.
And then, beneath me, Alister breathes. The glowing crimson that had once haunted his eyes is gone, replaced by the warm, familiar brown I've always known.
He pulls out the cloth from his mouth and smiles like everything's normal. "You're really making yourself comfortable here, aren't you?" He tilts his head to the side, coughing up blood while still trying to tease. "Not a bad way to die, I suppose."
Right, his wounds. I'm still on top of him. I instantly scramble off of him, feeling my lips twitch into a grin. "Don't act like this isn't the most attention you've gotten in weeks."
He lets out a strained laugh. "Yeah, well, I prefer my attention a bit more conventional."
I part my lips to speak, but something in my peripheral vision moves. A flicker of motion by the window. The glass reflects the dim interior of the room, but beyond it—outside in the darkness—I see a dark silhouette. The weak, scattered light from the clouded sky fails to reveal anything. But I know it's watching me. Even before I see the glowing golden eyes.
The moment they realize I've spotted them, They jerk back and slip away, vanishing beyond the frame of the window.
"What's wrong?" Alister asks.
The unease wraps around my heart. It didn't look like Zach. It was someone else.
"Clara?" Simon, who I didn't notice, enters the room. His good arm clutches the goblet and a green canister close to his chest.
The question bursts out of me. "Did you see someone outside?"
Simon follows my gaze, brows furrowing. "There's no one out there. I came straight from outside. It's just us."
The words settle uneasily in my chest, but I don't argue. Maybe the blood loss is making me see things. I take the goblet and canister from Simon, quickly opening it. The liquid inside is an eerie green and smells terrible.
"Listen..." Alister says weakly. I can tell he's about to say something serious and dramatic. "I want—"
"No. Be quiet." I say as I pour the liquid into the goblet. "Save it for when you have breath to spare." I slip an arm under his shoulders to prop him up. I force the goblet to his lips. He grimaces at the bitterness of the liquid. The design on the goblet begins to glow in a pulsing manner. Like a heartbeat.
"How'd you know that was the antidote?" Simon asks as Alister's face contorts in pain. The liquid is working, but it comes with a brutal cost.
"He circled the word 'anecdote' in my book in Morse code that spelled 'green' and underlined it with the code for 'half-filled'. It was the only thing that I didn't understand." I say as the goblet's glow intensifies.
We watch Alister's muscles seize as the pain begins to tear through him. He groans, and his right shoulder and left side twitch violently as if the pain has taken full control.
"How is Steph? And is Micah still asleep?" I ask, looking at Simon.
"Steph's ok but passed out. And Zach was in the middle of healing. Micah is still asleep, thankfully."
Good. They're ok.
Alister's teeth clamp down, jaw tightening in an attempt to not scream. I quickly pull the cloth from my pocket and shove it into his mouth. "Bite down on this. It'll help you manage." My own stab wound is a dull, persistent throb in my side, but stay focused. I reach for him and hold him against me. At first he resists, but then his hands wrap around me like it's the last time we'll ever hold each other.
"This is just like before, remember? When you were hyperventilating." I whisper as he grips onto me. "Your clinginess is getting out of hand, you know that?" I try to joke, but the words crack on my lips. A sob escapes instead.
Simon's voice breaks out. "Let go of him! You need the goblet too!"
"Clara." Alister then pushes me away and points weakly towards the goblet. The antidote still inside it. "Drink."
I hesitate, my hand trembling as I reach for the goblet. My vision narrows, and everything feels heavy and slow. And...is it just me, or do I smell something burning?
I hear voices calling out as my grip on the goblet slips. And before I can even hear the sound of it hitting the floor, darkness swallows me whole.