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Chapter 4:

Lonely. Cold. Hungry.

Cold. Hungry. Lonely.

Hungry. Lonely. Cold


The cold concrete dulled the pain from the dampener shocking her. But the ghosts were here. She could hear them. Cold. Hungry. And Lonely. They all died down here. She snorted. Obviously, they had no idea that they had ghosts. But she did. She knew they had let other kids die down here. Where no one would find the bodies. Where no one would find HER body. Yeah. That was fine.

"Little god? What are you doing?" She was back. Of course, she was back.

"You shouldn't be here."

"Neither should you."

"Why not?"

"Because you survived. You were allowed to live. Remember?"

What?

"You are at school. Another of those heroes did something to you." The way she said 'heroes' was the same way Dani said it. With absolute disdain.

'She's got the power of illusion.' She remembered Chris.

"Illusion."

"Oh. That's easy enough to break."

"How?"

"Pain."

"I don't want to go back there." As she said it the cell flickered to a darkened basement. Her breathing got faster.

"Breathe. Little god. Not that kind. A kind you're familiar with."

Dani's breathing relaxed and the cell solidified. "What?"

"Just a broken bone or two. No one gets back up from a broken bone quite like you."

"Help."

"Of course."

Dani took her left index finger in her right hand.

"Just let go."

SNAP


Dani stood up while bending her finger at an awkward angle. The pain shot up and cleared her vision of the cell. Even in the dark, she could still see. The illusionist was freaking out from the lack of light and the water boy was still focused on approaching Chris, and if Dani thought Chris was freaked out before, she was definitely terrified now.

"Call them."

"Need blood."

"Make some."

"Billy." Her voice was no more than a whisper, but the zombie appeared next to her all the same. She offered him her left arm, it was already hurt, a little more wouldn't kill her. "Bite. Only enough to draw blood." The zombie's mouth split into a broken smile, cheeks ripping where they attached the jaw to the head. The growl at the back of his throat would have been enough to make any grown man shake in fear. Hot breath on her skin, and then his teeth sinking into her flesh sent pain through her. She thought her eyes would burst, it hurt so much. Then as blood spilt down his mouth and onto the floor he released her arm. He was a good boy after all.

"Now. Call them."

The blood began to bubble as she poured power into it. "I summon the two devoid of flesh and blood. Made of bone and steel. Loyal to me, and only me. I summon you. My Bone Knights. I summon you by the names I have given. Leon. Bartholomew. Come to me now." The blood opened a black void. It smelled of death and dirt. The beautiful smell of graveyard brought her an unrelenting calm, as it always did.

The Bone Knights rose from the ground, kneeling, rusting swords in front of them. Always ready for battle. Her loyal knights. They looked up and her and their jaws rattled. She smiled, "I missed you too, but we'll talk later. I have a job for you two. Do you see them? The illusionist and boy? Restrain them." Their jaws clattered, "No, she's mine. But those two? Give them hell. Let the boys know too, okay? And boys. No killing." They stood. They clattered a complaint but rattled away when she waved her hand dismissively.

"What now?" She asked the ghost.

She felt a hand ghost over her cheek, "Do what all gods do. Toy with the mortals. Make them scream. Make them cry, until you're satisfied."

"How much time do I have?"

"Enough to make them suffer a hundred times over."

"Good." She walked towards the boy. Bartholomew and Phillip were already toying with him. Phillip let out a long guttural moan and Bartholomew ran his fingers down the boy's neck. The boy was holding out surprisingly well. Well, he was until Bartholomew quickly appeared in front of him and clattered his jaw with surprising speed. The boy screamed, and she swore she smelled ammonia, as he collapsed to the ground. Poor thing must have reached his limit. She smiled. Better put him out of her misery.

Bartholomew noticed her approach and went about restraining the boy. Although there appeared to be no reason. He tried to fight free but failed. She stood over him and he glared at her. He said nothing but tried to stare her down. She, in turn, raised an eyebrow and took his face in her hands. He began to struggle in earnest now. She tightened her grip on his face and he made the mistake of making eye contact. Her eyes widened and he began sinking into the darkness. She watched as his face contorted into pure fear as she became the last thing he saw before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and the screaming started. She smiled and took a deep breath. There was nothing more delicious than a terrified soul.

"Finish it. He's ripe for the picking."

She looked up at the voice. "He's innocent. There's no need to." She looked at Bartholomew. "Come." Bartholomew let go of him and he fell to the floor. The screaming didn't stop.

She began whistling This is Halloween as she looked across the arena to try and find her next prey. She spotted the illusionist trying her best not to give in to the fear, despite Freddie and Leon's best efforts. She linked her arm with Bartholomew's and led him towards them. "Restrain her," Dani told them when she was close enough.

Billy joined the two and forced her down despite her best efforts. If natural fear wouldn't work, Dani could force it. The illusionist looked up, with absolute hate. And the darkness started to turn to concrete again. Dani bent her broken finger at an awkward angle again and the darkness returned.

The illusionist's eyes widened, "You broke…" She looked at the Skeleton standing beside Dani, "You're not…What the hell are you?"

Dani chuckled, "I wonder." She grinned. "Maybe I'm the one hiding under your bed?" She stepped closer, "Maybe I'm the one hiding under your stairs. Perhaps I'm here with a flash and then gone without a trace?" She approached and ran her fingers over the illusionist's cheek. She twisted a lock of her hair between her fingers, "Maybe I'm the wind blowing through your hair?" She paused, "Or maybe I'm just angry?" The enjoyment drained from her face. "You made me remember something unpleasant." She took the illusionist's face into her hand, gripping her chin tightly enough to bruise. "But let's forget all this nastiness and let me be the shadow on a moonless night filling your dreams to the brim with fright." Dani leaned in close enough to whisper into her ear, "You know what I am." The illusionist's eyes widened with fear, "Say it."

Her voice trembled, "Soul Eater."

"Good girl."

Their eyes made contact but the illusionist's eyes didn't finish rolling back into her skull before the screaming started.

Dani smirked, before looking towards the citizen and, in turn, Giselle trying to figure out how to get the doll down. "Have you tried pulling?" She called over the screaming.

"I don't want to scare them!"

"Well, then you're not going to like this." She held her hand out to Bartholomew and he gave her his sword, which she tossed towards the ghost. Giselle caught it and began sawing at the rope. "Don't let them fall." Once the rope was frayed enough, Giselle threw the sword back towards them before helping the citizen to the ground. Bartholomew caught the sword and he and Leon knelt in front of Dani, awaiting their next assignment. Dani cradled both their faces, "It's time for you two to go." They rattled in protest, and she shook her head. "The Council doesn't know about you, and it's safer for all of us if it stays that way." This time, they sank back into the ground without further convincing. She looked at the other three, "Time for you three to go too." They went without complaint. Dani looked around at all the damage she did, even Chris was unconscious. Poor kid. "I'm probably getting arrested again."

The darkness began to recede as Dani sank to her knees and placed her hands on the back of her head. "That's okay. I'm here with you." Giselle wrapped her arms around her.

"Thanks."

Once the darkness had completely receded, the gym was completely quiet. Until Boomer shouted, "HE'S ALIVE!" The Suits burst in as the cheers started and they forced Dani to the ground.

The gym went deathly silent again.

Dani resisted the urge to scream as they bent her finger while putting on power dampening handcuffs. "My ankle dampener is in…" The muzzle was shoved onto her face, and if she could have frowned, she would have, instead, she settled for grinding her teeth against the bar in her mouth. She was lifted to her feet and escorted out of the gym to the detention room.


She stood on the stoop, in front of the reddish-brown door, looking at the Suits. She rattled the cuffs, "I'm home now, you can take these off."

"We can't remove them until your legal guardian signs for you." One of them knocked on the door.

"Oh, so we're going to be here all night, then." She paused, "Are y'all hungry? Cause I could eat. And Christian would rather die than sign for me." The suit knocked again. "Yeah. That's not opening. Because it's Christian, and he's a dick."

The suit knocked again and this time the door opened, much to Dani's surprise. "You really can't help yourself, can you?" He stepped aside, and the Suits escorted her inside.

"Are you Christian Holden?"

"Sure am."

"We need you to sign for her."

"Uhh. No. I have a flight to catch. Our mother can sign for her when she gets here." He took his suitcase and walked out.

Dani kicked the door shut, "Jack ass. So...anyways...Pizza anyone?"


Authors Note:

Short chapter!

Short chapter!

Short chapter!

Anyways. This was a peek into Dani's full powers.

Fun fact: Dani's powers are based on my City of Villian's (RIP) character. So if her powers seem like bullshit: Just blame video games and move on.

Anyways: Thanks for reading see you next chapter