The rain pelted against my skin molding my clothes to my figure. The down pour caused my limbs to feel heavier, my shoeless feet to sink further into the damp sunken puddles of soggy earth. It forced my escape to become that much more arduous a feat, an impossibility I couldn’t seem to avoid attempting. To give up would have been easy, effortless, but to allow them to obtain my defeat without exertion was something I could not live with. Tears blended within the torrent as I gazed into the endless darkness wondering frantically where to turn next. The clap of lightning and thunder above me sounded as if a voicing of disapproval of hell upon earth as I darted clueless towards the front gates. I found myself forlornly praying to whoever would listen that I would not be captured before I reached them, and too scared to gaze at what lied shadowing my every movement beyond my shoulder.

Thoughts of what became of my older sister remained trapped within the furthest indentations of my mind, shoved ruthlessly within compartments of my brain for the moment too traumatic for me to deal with at present. Her words were like a mantra within my distraught mentality, advisement played on a loop forcing my feet to continue moving.

“Help,” I screamed into silence, my words all but trapped within the breeze, buried within nature’s wrath never to be heard by humanity’s ears. My arms waved wildly out around me. My efforts seemed pointless and yet hysterical to attract someone to my aid.

“Somebody, anybody help!”

The street lights remained extinguished, power lines doused within the storm’s crescendo. Trees stretched towards storm clouds while managing to block my view of rescue, their dense foliage aiding ebony’s evil secrets that night forever kept hidden. Never had wealth seemed so muted within darkness’s clutch, mansions remained no longer illuminated and yet its population still lingered safely confined behind their gated fences and ivory towers.

Droplets trickled down my spine, fear intermingling within its path as blindly I raced towards the black bars that enclosed me in nightmares while deterring me from freedom. My feet slid out from beneath me managing to drop me to my knees as my flight altered from mud to the cemented pathway. My panicked sight twisted back towards my lavish prison, tangled curls swinging out around me as I attempted to calm my pounding heart. Frantically I searched the empty entrance, the thunder causing me to start suddenly just as the vision of headlights trickled along the pavement. Desperate to escape while wondering if sanity was quickly leaving my grasp I pushed myself further towards the gates.

I felt the waft of air from the huge collapse of a redwood directly in front of my feet before I actually saw it fall while managing to dive disastrously away from my only chance at a getaway. With hopeless eyes I watched the car continue down the street just as my little sister materialized mere feet from where I crouched.

“Aww Anna, you should really be more careful,” she taunted to my dismay. “You just never know what misfortune lies just waiting for you around the corner.”

Scrambling quickly to my feet I sprinted for the safety of the cluster of trees while attempting to block out the haunting voice of Courtney’s laughter as she simply watched me go.

My legs slid through puddles, my hands gripping earth as I rose back to already dashing feet sprinting away from that ill-fated house. Trees snatched at my curls; pulled at my shirt while ripping holes into fabric as I continued to race through the horde of never ending forestry. My side burned; my heart beat remained rapid within my chest as I rested against bark my eyes on the nearest neighbor’s house. It seemed so close and yet so far away, its lights extinguished and yet the idea of being anywhere but here appealed to my desperation. Lightning once again illuminated the clouds allowing darkness to for once to recede before it plunged back into that unforgiving blackness. Rain blurred my sight and yet still I noticed the way the branches swayed furiously against the wind, the way the shadows began to progress against the earth.

A twig snapped causing my body to twist around at its sound, fear squeezing every ounce of calm from my hammering heart, “Andrea?”

A thick limb snapped plummeting just inches from where I cowered forcing the scream I felt rising up within me to tumble from my lips as what appeared to be shadows slithered upon the earth until they formed into the shape of claws. Hazel eyes remained glued to the growing image as I took several hesitant steps backwards. Unlike watching the formation of Andrea materializing from thin air something about this felt wrong… felt sinister…

And yet still hope like an unwanted enemy lingered within my heart. “Andrea, is that you?”

The image began to grow, its claws extending until blackness receded and like a monster stepping from a horror film its darker outer layer began to uncoil. It unwrapped from its figure until bloody talons appeared while attached to corroded skin of fingers so long I wondered how they could be human. My footsteps increased in my need to flee the rapidly emerging beast just as that unavoidable giggle drifted within the breeze. Panicked my eyes wandered the area for Courtney’s location only to collapse over a fallen branch, my head smashing harshly onto twisted bark.

Breathing heavily I attempted to rise only to feel the burning touch of a claw taking seize of my leg. Its contact instantly seared through the fabric of my jeans melting the skin above my ankle. My shrieks pierced the night sky as I felt its unbreakable grip dragging me closer. My arms swung out around me trying and failing to grab hold of something… anything to halt my body’s movement only for my hands to grip nothing but mud, its earthy coating covering my clothes.

“Help,” I screeched powerlessly, “somebody help me!”

My eyes fell back towards the fiend that held me seeing its figure slowly continue to take form, its razor sharp incisors so white against so much darkness, its red hungry eyes viewing my fear with lustful orbs. My mouth fell open in alarm as its sheer size continued to grow as it leaned over me, the sight of its increasing grotesqueness causing my fright to amplify, its smell of rot turning my stomach. My fingers continued to scramble behind me for something to cling to only to find nothing.

Tears fought to remain within the rim of dark lashes as I openly begged, “please… just let me go.”

The crimson in its eyes seemed to glow in the face of such panic before it hissed, “it… has… been…. a long wait.”

A tear trickles from my enlarged orbs, “a… a lo-long wait for what?”

Courtney appeared behind it suddenly, walking casually towards me as if me cowering before her was as normal for her to see as a person eating breakfast in the morning. “A long wait to see you die,” she answered for it.

I watched her turn towards the beast, a fiend three times her size, and yet within her sadistic eyes I saw not an ounce of trepidation. Stroking its tattered skin, pieces of it falling off within her touch. As if it were a pet she commended his actions, “you have done well.”

My fingers found its way around the roughness of bark, feeling its touch embed within the palm of my hand just as its claws released from my damaged leg. Courtney smirked at the craving deep within its gaze before she remarked, “do not fear my minion. I must be the one to end her, but trust me I will make sure once slaughtered that you will be the first to rip her open for feast-.”

Swallowing my terror I launched the limb towards her skull watching as she crumpled before I leapt to my feet shoving the sharpest point of the heavy branch into the center of her beloved pet’s neck. I felt the limb disappear deep into its skin, blood warm as it oozed along my fingers before I let go. My gaze never left its red irises as I backed away from its gaping wound, watching dumbfounded as it callously pulled the bark from its own skin. Reversing slowly I heard the growl rumble deeply within its chest as it crouched down as if ready to attack. It knelt down towards Courtney’s unmoving form as if awaiting orders as red flickers seemed to rapidly gather all around us. My orbs widened with growing alarm as I finally realized how familiar those glowing scarlet tints encircling me were, how ominous, how …ravenous.

They… were… everywhere…

Ignoring the pain in my leg I twisted away from my captors dashing deeply into the enveloping woods. I heard yells ordering my seizure and yet it only caused me to run faster. Branches tore at my arms, ripped stray curls from my scalp and still my speed didn’t decrease. It was the demon hunkered down in darkness, hidden among branches of a huge oak that finally managed to halt my progression. Its form pounced on my unsuspecting figure, the impact of the collision literally lifting me up off my feet before slamming my body onto the hard ground.

“Get off me! Get the hell off me!” I screamed, my body struggling beneath it. He growled at my attempt to break free while most of its weight seemed content to crush the air from my burning lungs. Saliva the scent of stagnant decaying flesh lingered from its teeth to grace my face. Its touch blazing onto my neck akin to hot wax poured on skin. Shrieking in agonizing horror I only managed to unknowingly feed his growing desire to taste me. His disgusting tongue slithered from his orifice licking the tears from my panicked features. The expression of pure undiluted pleasure on his face managing to only increase my need to escape.   

I could hear the sound of thunder coming towards me and yet I knew this time it no longer came from the sky. No longer could the sound be excused as nature’s display of power, but the horrendous impending arrival of fiends’ hell bent on sampling every morsel of my flesh. Thrashing and bucking beneath my captor I unconsciously managed to slash my cheek upon its teeth, red liquid bubbling up to the surface instantly. The red radiance within its eyes seemed to pulsate at the mere sight of my life-force. He inhaled deeply, its eyes closing as if savoring the sweet scent of what made me… me. The black pupils of his orbs enlarged before I literally watched as desire overruled common sense and orders became secondary to his need to feed. With his head thrown back to release a shriek, a howl of unadulterated yearning towards the heavens I managed a take a shallow breath before ruthless canines descended ravishing my once unblemished shoulder.

The scream that exploded off my tongue was as indescribable as the pain I felt as the sensation of being actually eaten alive consumed every nerve ending in my body. Useless tears trickled from horrified golden lenses as I felt the blood pour from my open wounds. The brute’s neck rose towards the sky as if relishing the flavor whilst granting me a false sense of relief only before lunging forward to rip into me more deeply. My shrieks of misery filled the night riding the gust of air towards saviors my delusional mind hoped. When in reality it only seemed to cause the stampede towards us to accelerate that much faster. Most likely in fear that there would not be much left of me once they arrived.

A gust of power roared upon us literally ripping the beast from my skin while vaulting its huge figure into the base of the nearest tree. I slid helplessly within this newfound control halting a mere feet from where I was once assaulted. Through alarmed eyes I watched as Courtney approached her disobedient follower, observed as he cowered beneath her cruel glare.

“I gave you one order! One command and you couldn’t even do that right, now could you?” she berated as minions eased their way through the forest, along branches, gradually encircling us. They gathered scrutinizing the display as if a show commenced instead of a rebuking of a cohort. Slowly crawling further away I watched as Courtney’s rage captured its struggling form, descending its figure high above her head.

“What exactly were your orders?” she maliciously questioned observing as its red eyes for once emptied of hunger while fear quickly replaced it.

“I- I was remiss in my actions. I,” it squealed a wail of untold desolation as I watched its arm being viciously wrenched visibly further than the bone would allow. I heard an agonizing crack as I cradled my own injured shoulder, rising to my feet as I backpedaled away from the sight. 

“Remiss?” she repeated incredulously, her head jerking uncontrollably to the right as rain continued to pour down all around us. “Remiss? You call almost chewing the life from my goal’s bones remiss?”

I heard the distinctive sound of another bone being pulled apart, the scream that followed unlike anything I’d ever heard.

“You think that what you’re feeling right now is pain?” she mocked cold heartedly. “You think that what I’m doing to you even compares to what the council could do to you or to me if I don’t complete my task?” The painful pop of another bone dislocating from its normal fixture sounded, the hollers following me even as I eased further from within their grasp.

Unaffected by his mournful pleas Court ordered her faction, “his feeble cries annoy me…enjoy him. I can still smell her scent within his veins.”

I watched as she stepped back allowing them access to his suspended form. They crawled over branches, through mud, some leaping over the crowd as teeth sunk into skin tearing chucks of flesh from its thrashing carcass.

Running full speed from the spectacle I cradled my wounded arm while trying not to listen to the distressed shrieks of something being devoured while still confined to this earth to experience every excruciating gnaw. The neighbor’s house came into sight. With relief flooding my veins at the view I scaled the fence while trying not to bawl at the pain using my injured arm caused. I settled back onto my feet, my eyes rounding at the sight of minions crashing out the forest stalking my every effort. I swung back towards the huge Victorian stationed across the clearing, my curls swirling out around my terrified expression, my heart pounding before I dashed desperately towards my only chance at survival. I heard the crumbling of the fence as my feet touched the pathway leading towards the front porch. I didn’t dare turn around in fear of how close they truly were.

Slipping on the wet stairway my knee brutally bashed into the wood as I twisted around in wonderment at the perfect row of fiends standing in a hellish procession as if at attention in an army controlled by Satan. The mass gradually began to part and before she even emerged I knew I needed to get inside this house. Panic-stricken I hastily limped up the rest of the stairs towards the door hysterically twisting the knob in an effort to get its lock to release. Hazel eyes peered back over my shoulder noticing Courtney slowly easing away from the swarm. Hurrying towards the side window I grabbed a small garden trowel off a glass table shoving its sharpened tip of it deep into the window’s edge while silently praying that the window wasn’t locked. I heard the wood give as it glided up while finally allowing the release of a pent up breath of air that seemed trapped within my panicked soul.

Forcing the window further open I dived inside inwardly hoping my arrival would not frighten the home’s tenants. Rising speedily back to my feet I hurriedly slid the window back closed before shoving the lock in place just as Courtney made it to the base of the steps. Through the sheet of pouring rain golden orbs clashed with scarlet watching as they practically smoldered with its need to obtain me. Blinking from within her trance I back tracked from the glass before running as far as I could from her haunting stare.

The hum of the doorbell halted my progression. I could hear shuffling coming in my direction forcing me to slip into the nearest closet. I managed to close the door so that only a slither of light shined in just as an elderly woman approached the entrance, the scent of lilies following her trail.

The door retracted to display the appearance of a sweet heartbreaking little girl, her golden curls drench, her powder blue dress damp and stained with flicks of mud. Her big blue eyes overwhelmed her face, the sadness that clung to them as always endearing to the adults around her. A trail of blood dripped down Courtney’s cheek.

“Oh you poor dear,” the older woman exclaimed bending down to her meager height. Her hand reached out to push away my little sister’s damp curls to examine the bruise along her forehead. “Sweetie what are you doing out here alone?” Worried brown eyes searched behind Courtney as if looking for a parent.

“I- I,” her voice broke into a rehearsed sob. “I can’t find my sister. We were playing at home …and then…” her face crunched as if she was unable to finish her sentence.

“And then what, honey?” The lady asked completely falling into the act of her innocence, her hand already steering the demon child inside. Courtney’s blue eyes scanned the entry, her goal of finding me always at the forefront of her mind.

Movement came from a room adjacent to this one before a man dressed in a red cardigan and brown slacks came forward, glasses hanging from the tip of his nose. “Rose, what do we have here?”

Her brown eyes were troubled, her fingers instantly going to the cross around her neck. “I found this poor child at the door. She says she’s looking for her sister.”

He stooped to get a good view of Courtney’s face, “Where is it you came from, child?”

“I- I live near here. I was with my sister …and then I woke up in the woods.”

“Your sister left you alone in the woods?” Rose answered clearly appalled by the thought.

“I do-don’t remember,” she mumbled pitifully. “I just need to find her.”

The couple shared a knowing look before they steered the small monster further inside the sitting room directing her to a chair in front of the fire.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, we’ll find your sister but first why don’t you let Rose tend to that nasty cut,” he reasoned while his wife was already shuffling from the room. “And I’ll get you something to eat. You just stay right there and get warm.”

The kitchen door closed and at once the charade of tenderness upon Courtney’s face vanished as she rose to peer around the room. “Come out; come out wherever you are, Anna.” At the room’s continued stillness she taunted, “I can practically smell your putrid scent of fear from here. You can make this simple and reveal yourself now… or you can make this hard.”

I observed her clasping a pair of scissors off a nearby table, stroking its sharp edges. She walked leisurely between the antique furniture waiting for some small noise to give away my location. “You do know that what you’re doing right now is called breaking and entering, right?”

Terrified to stay in one place for too long I moved quietly from the closet towards the small darkened alcove, my eyes as always watching her.

Oblivious to my movement Court continued, “I mean at this very moment I bet they’re in there pondering on whom exactly could be so cruel enough to injure a poor innocent girl like me?” Her fingers glided over the sharpness of a letter opener, “wondering who could be so negligent enough to abandon their responsibility of watching me then leave me roving in pain in the center of the woods?”

I slowly backed further away from her taunting voice while too consumed with observing her actions to notice the rack of umbrellas directly behind me until they collapsed to the ground.

 My breath caught…my heart frozen …

The letter opener flew out of Courtney’s hand with the speed of a dart barely missing my disappearing figure. Soundlessly I dove into the corner neighboring my now revealed choice of concealment. My fingers rising to cover my trembling lips as Court stalked towards her weapon to pluck the pointed edge of the letter opener from the now scarred wood. Those ferocious eyes searched the empty space in frustration, small fingers still running along the silver’s pointed edge.

Smiling grimly, my little sister turned back to regard the massive room and entryway, “as fun as all this has been I’ve got a new game in mind for us Annie. It’s called conscience…”

The door to the kitchen began to open just as Courtney disappeared. The husband walked into the room carrying a tray of cookies and milk, his expression growing dumbfounded at not finding anyone there.

Frowning he called out, “Dear?”

Glancing blindly around the room he questioned, “Sweetheart?”

Taking a step further inside I watched as damp waves appeared behind him before gradually furious miniature features began to emerge. In her hand a lamp lay clutched and aimed. My eyes widened as my fingers fell from my lips, my mouth falling open to scream out a warning that never left my lips as her arm pulled back smashing the lamp against his skull. Grinning she watched as he crumpled to the ground, the platter full of cookies banging loudly against the wooden floorboards, the glass of milk shattering upon impact. White liquid pouring out all around his body.

Examining the empty room Courtney’s small mud covered ballet slippers causally stepped over his body before pulling the letter opener and scissors from her drenched dress’s pockets. “Last chance, Annie?”

I remained huddled in the darkened corner trying to distinguish if the poor man’s chest was still rising. At my continued silence she began to circle the body, the tips of her nails trailing the point of the letter opener.

“Which do you prefer? The letter opener would glide through skin like butter if given enough force… but then the scissors once implanted into a wound would make a much bigger hole.” I watched her brutal eyes staring deeply at the shining blade held within her tiny palm. “Can you imagine the pain even a man unconscious would feel once gutted?”

At no response she shrugged indifferently before dropping the letter opener to the ground and walking closer to the motionless figure. She halted before him, her eyes on his pale face. “The thing about the game of conscience is that it isn’t mine we’re toying with. Mine was snatched away long ago.”

Her eyes rose once more to amble around the room before with fingers clutching the pair of scissors she squatted over the body, raising her hands high above her head. “No, there is no moral compass that I follow, Annie. This life here that will be extinguished thanks to your cowardice will lie completely within your own culpable hands…”

The blade began to descend towards the center of his back just as I ran out towards her, “Stop Courtney, just stop!”

At the sound of my screech Rose came scampering towards the entrance. The entry to the kitchen released just in time to view the front door blown open, me standing at the edge of a white puddle, and the unconscious form of her husband lying at my feet.

Distraught at the sight, she screamed, “What have you done!”

Stuttering, my eyes wide overrun with tears, “I didn’t… I didn’t do this!”

Her eyes wandered over the space, “you’re the only one in this room!” She fell to her husband’s side searching for a pulse, her mind too frantic to hear the hint of warped laughter within the breeze.

Her tears dripped down onto his ashen face whispering, “Don’t worry, Frank. I’ll get help!” Her eyes vanished of all warmth as furious coffee tinted irises ascended to glower up at me, “the police will be on their way soon.”

Her body hurried towards the phone as my figure sprinted back to the entryway towards the front door before she could realize I was gone. Racing from what I had foolishly believed would be my rescuers I wandered out of the warmth of their home only to find myself entering my worst fears realized.

My feet halted upon tiled floor, tears dripping from my lashes at the view of my front foyer.

“It’s not possible,” I whispered overwhelmingly. My eyes drifted over the polished tile… the framed photo of Andrea and I still hung along the wall… the trail of blood still marking a pathway towards the door. “No…” I muttered wondering if I truly was going insane.

My clothing remained drenched, my head still throbbing from the fall in the woods, my shoulder still ravaged, my skin still stung from the branches that had sliced into my flesh and yet still I no longer stood outside our neighbor’s house.

No… now I found myself horribly forced back right where I had started.

“The mind is quite a fragile thing…”

Hearing Court’s voice bouncing off the walls caused me to run towards the small darkened space behind the staircase. Panting greatly I searched the empty space for some sign of her whereabouts.

“Such wondrous things the brain can do once skilled to do so… To slip into another’s frame of mind, to unhinge everything you once thought was real, to build the foundation of madness within an otherwise rational mentality.”

The size of my eyes enlarged, relentlessly trying to find what constantly haunted me.

“It’s okay Anna,” Courtney whispered. “We’re going to get you the help that you need!”

I dodged just as the club smashed into the space I once sat in, darting away I watched Courtney grunt in mounting aggravation as she attempted to yank the mangled steel from the damaged groove. Heading towards the back hallway I lunged just in time to evade the minions plunging towards me. I heard their bodies’ crash brutally into the wall behind me, dust from broken plaster rising like smoke all around us. Rolling head first before rising back to my feet I sprinted towards the kitchen. Balls of flames aimed for my rapidly moving form, the feel of heat just missing my skin forced my body to leap over the polished counter before landing crumpled on the hard ground, watching as flickers ate away at melting extravagance.

Trying not to breathe in the air that was now heavy with smoke I inched towards the back stairway, my eyes noticing the fallen drawers all over the floor even as I heard my sister’s angry retort.

“We need her alive, dummies! At least for the moment! God, I ask for assistance and they send my freaking simpletons!”

Grabbing a knife up off the floorboards I scrambled quickly across the singed expanse hoping their reprimands would distract them from enflaming my ravaged figure. With eyes on the smoke traveling up the staircase I entered the upstairs hallway flinching as each open doorway suddenly slammed shut.

“Anna, you can’t outrun me,’ she mocked as I tiptoed further into the corridor.

 You can’t hide forever,” she teased as I watched flames rage at the other end of the front stairway while inwardly wondering if they truly existed or if they were simply images she had implanted inside my brain.

And yet too scared to test that theory…

 “And no one… and I do mean no one can help you,” her voice taunted from what seemed to be all around me.

My fingers clutched the knife more tightly within my grasp as I hastened towards the nearest door trying urgently to twist it open.

“If you give up now I promise you that your death will be quick…”

Dashing to the next door I frantically repeated my hopeless actions to no avail.

“Heck, I’ll even make sure your deceased before I allow them to feast upon your corpse,” she goaded.

I could hear her footsteps growing closer, her voice louder, the tears slipping down my cheeks more abundant. My fingers grasped the nearest knob, my shoulders shaking with unrestrained sobs.

God, where was my mom? Where were the police to at least stop my death even if they were coming to arrest me? Hell, where was Andrea?

The handle gave way at last on the next entryway I tried, and practically collapsing in gratitude I slipped within the dark room before slamming the wood shut and shoving the lock in place. Panting against the cold lumber, my lids closed as I tried to control my overwhelming fear.

“Andrea, where are you?” I whispered hoarsely as my eyes opened to blank darkness, tears blinding my sight. “I need you.”

I felt the pulsating of the wood against my spine well before I actually heard her joy filled voice.

“Did you really imagine that you were safely hidden from me, Anna Marie?”

Backing away slowly from the quaking door, my sweaty palm clung to the knife’s black handle. Her laughter was grating as it trickled in through the cracks surrounding the entrance as I continued to step away from its surface. I heard tiny chinks of what seemed like scratching before a snap sounded into the silence as slowly but surely the wood began to splinter apart. Piece by tiny piece it fell away as if an invisible axe hacked away at its surface.

Her eyes appeared first. Blue lenses delighted to gaze upon my frightened features, elated to witness the hope wither away like embers turned into dust. Several portions fell at my feet revealing not only her small mud splattered form but the massive famished horde surrounding her.

Her red lips tilted slowly as if savoring the sight of my inevitable end. “You know it’s funny.” 

“What’s funny?” I croaked, my voice so thick with unshed emotions it was almost unrecognizable as I continued my slow backtrack away from her.

“That even now you can still harbor the illusion that you can safely conceal yourself within darkness. Don’t you know by now that darkness isn’t your friend, Anna? It has always been my ally, and right now… you are exactly where I want you.”

The lights flickered back to life. Its beam causing me to squint in the sudden harshness of its glow before my vision cleared, and finally I was rewarded with the horrid sight of the wall to wall fiends crowding the room. My mouth fell agape at the horrendous display of such coveting I saw overwhelming their gaze. My eyes enlarged at the vision as at last the full grasp of my foolish decision making dawned on me. I had unknowingly allowed myself to wander into Courtney’s lair, had unwittingly walked straight into a living, breathing, ravenous trap. I had stupidly strolled right into the one room in this house I instantly knew I would never walk out of again.

The wood finally gave way completely, allowing enough room for Courtney to walk through it while I idiotically still backpedaled towards the bathroom. Inside… I found myself inside an empty tiled white room that I had once naively walked into believing that no other living beings occupied it. This room that even now still contained its filled bath water, its bubbles now all but burst.

And that’s how I felt… as if all of life’s bubble’s had burst, and now with eyes wide open to the world’s hidden cruelty I would face death no longer foolishly naïve. I walked back as far as the wall would take me, my fingers tightening around my only weapon watching as Court and Court alone entered the bathroom.

And there single-handedly I stood facing a fight I knew was unjustly uneven, that I knew I could not win and was never meant to. My breath caught, my body gasping for air suddenly denied. My orbs widened, my hazel lenses peering strangely at trembling tanned palms before rising back to that doorway.

I squared my shoulders and planted my feet firmly, my body primed into defensive stance as I watched her approach.

She stepped further into the room, that nauseating grin still lingering upon her lips, “cute, you actually think that you still have a fighting chance.”

The door behind her slammed shut blocking her minion’s excess to their leader. Her damp waves twisted towards its wood watching as their pounding did nothing to unravel its surface before she turned quickly back towards me. That smile now morphed into an enraged grimace, self doubt finally managing to creep inside her once unshakable confidence.

Her head shook in denial, her eyes wide with disbelief even as she expressed her own reservations, “you are not my sister! What have you done with Anna?”

With a tone unlike my own I stated, “Just equaling out the playing field, Sweetie. Anna may not know what to do with her powers, but I sure as hell do…”

A tanned palm rose before Courtney could respond, power bounding from the tip of my fingers tossing her tiny form directly into the glass mirrors. Huge shards of glass rained down upon her marking her skin like stitches on a quilt. I took a step closer peering at her unmoving form before my sight ascended to clash with my reflection. There along the broken shards of glass cerulean lenses easily superseded hazel, my features slowly revealing Andreas before shaping back into my own.

A beam stole upon my lips as my mouth whispered in a tone finally identifiable, “don’t worry, little sister… I got this one.”

…………………………………………………………………..

(Sorry that this is shorter than usual but I wanted to upload what I have so far. I am so close to the end and yet still not there yet. I hope you enjoyed this chapter whoever is still reading this. I’ve been writing this story for almost two years without even realizing it! Oh well as long as I don’t quit…)

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