Chapter 2- Lethal Reunion
The room grew deadly silent, as everyone looked on as Angelia struggled to pick up her friend. The dead weight of Phoebe's body was too much for Angelia to handle alone. So, realizing she isn't strong enough, she shoots a dirty look at Mark. Mark noticed the look and proceeded to help her carry Phoebe without saying a word. The other bystanders clear a path to one of the vacant bedrooms. The bedroom was very lavish and fully furbished. The mattress is way bigger compared to Phoebe's bed in her dorm. Angelia and Mark carefully place Phoebe's unconscious body onto the Queen-sized mattress.
"We should let her rest. It's been a stressful few months," Angelia states while leaving the room. After staring at Phoebe for an extra few seconds, Mark follows.
Mark and Angelia leave their friend to rest and join the others waiting in the living room area. No one says a word for a few moments as they all process what they saw. Suddenly Cry speaks up.
"Okay what the HELL was that?! Why did she break down screaming? Like the fuck man!" Ryan shouted out of both frustration and confusion.
"Yeah what was that? Does she need medication or something? I wish you would have told us that we were rooming with a crazy person Mark!" Felix replied sarcastically. "I mean a warning would have been nice. I would have brought my straightjacket,".
"For the last time…she is NOT crazy! Obviously, this was just a mini breakdown, I assume. So just quit jumpin' to conclusions." Angelia yelled back at the doubters while rubbing her temples. The questioning of her friend's sanity was making her angry.
"So, while she rests her…mind, do we just pretend this never happened?" Jack questioned. Mark just shrugged his shoulders and Jack sighed.
"Oh shit! I gotta go get the panel ready! Cry you promised to help with the setup this time. We better hurry over there," Felix muttered nudging Cry. "We'll see you guys later and hopefully this whole issue gets settled. Then Felix and Cry were out the door and on their way to VidCon. As the others left, Angie, Jack, and Mark contemplated what to do next.
"I'm gonna go out and get some migraine medicine and some food for Phoebe and me. Her breakdown could be because of her lack of food," Angie stated. She swiftly grabbed her purse from her luggage that was near the door and left. Mark and Jack stood their weighing their options. Do they interrogate Phoebe or let her be?
"Mark…we have to do somethang. We sense it, I know you do as well," Jack calmly stated as he began pacing the floor with his hands on his hips.
"Stop pacing and I know! I just didn't expect it to happen so fast. The ride here was nerve-wracking as is. He knows she's there. This is getting dangerous," Mark replied with an annoyed tone. "Now we wait for Phoebe to wake and hope it's Phoebe".
Meanwhile Phoebe's body still lays unconscious but her mind is back in that nightmare realm. Phoebe walks around the foggy realm feeling followed once more but not as terrified as before. She walked around through burnt ruins examining them. After close examination, she realized that burn marks may not have been caused by a random fire. The chilly breeze from before had returned chilling Phoebe to her bones once again. "Why do I always come here! Why can't I have a normal nightmare or something!" she mumbled to herself. She continued walking. She was surprised that the woman had not appeared yet. Phoebe hoped that she was gone but she knew it was wishful thinking. Growing exhausted, Phoebe sat on a large piece of stone that was buried into the ground. Before she could relax, the woman came flying towards Phoebe. Her wings left a trail of fire behind her burning the remaining trees to nothing. Phoebe sat there in utter shock, petrified and unable to move. Right before the woman hit Phoebe, she stopped an inch from her face.
"Hmp, did I scare you dandelion?" the woman questioned. Her Cheshire cat styled grin appeared on her face once again. Her wings faded away as she lowered herself to the ground.
"I... I want answers! Who are you? Why are you here? What is this God forsaken place?!" Phoebe demanded stepping closer to the woman. Phoebe's face was turning red with frustration. Without realizing in, Phoebe had begun poking the woman in her chest. The woman let out a low laugh and grabbed Phoebe's hand.
"Look mortal the answer for what I am is not comprehensible for you right now. However, I will give you the decency to know my name. I go by Phoenix and only Phoenix," she calmly stated. Yet Phoebe was not happy with that poor excuse of an answer. Hearing every word this woman was saying only made Phoebe grow angrier. Once Phoenix finished her sentence, Phoebe raised her hand and quickly slapped Phoenix.
"Answer my fucking questions! You're in MY mind and MY body! You don't have a choice but to answer me!" Phoebe yelled back. It took her a few seconds to realize what she had done but she did not care. She was too livid to care. Phoenix stood there touching her face laughing.
"They know not for what they do," Phoenix chuckled looking at Phoebe's frustrated face. Her laughter grew louder and more insane. Hearing the laughter quickly changed Phoebe's feelings. She felt terrified again and began to run towards the never-ending ruins. Phoebe ran faster than she has ever ran in her life. She could feel her legs aching with each step. She felt like something was pulling her back. It's making it hard for her to breath and run.
Phoenix broke from her insane state and began to dart after Phoebe. She picks up speed getting faster and faster until her flaming wings return and she takes off. Phoenix quickly closes the gap between herself and Phoebe. Instead of outright catching her, Phoenix summons up a wall of fire to block Phoebe's path. Realizing her fiery obstacle, Phoebe stopped in her tracks immobile. She was frozen with fear but slowly turned to face the attacker. Phoenix slowly glided down in front of Phoebe just barely hovering above the ground.
"Did you really think you could place your hand on me in that manner! This body may have belonged to you originally but I'm here now and this is MY WORLD!" Phoenix shouted in front of Phoebe inching closer and closer to her. "You want to play rough…I'll show you rough!". Phoebe stood there in horror. She made a serious mistake and now is about to pay the price. Before Phoebe could try and run, Phoenix commanded the flames from the wall to form chains and wrap around Phoebe's wrist holding her in place. The flaming chains tighten around her wrist causing 2nd degree burn marks.
"ARRRGGGGHHHHHH!" Phoebe let out a bloodcurdling scream. She kept squirming to try and get away but to no prevail.
"Oh, I'm not done yet, don't move or this will really hurt," Phoenix calmly stated pulling up Phoebe's blue t-shirt revealing her smooth stomach. Phoenix raised up her hand, brought flames around her finger and began marking her stomach. She made an outline of a bird that covered most of Phoebe's stomach. The more she continued the branding, the more frantic Phoebe squirmed. "Hold still dammit!" Phoenix commanded but to now prevail.
Meanwhile in the opposite room Mark and Jack wait impatiently for Phoebe to wake. Almost an hour has passed since the she passed out. Jack is growing rather impatient and can't stop pacing. He is worried about what can happen when Phoebe wakes up and walks outside.
"GAH! I'm sick of waitin'! I'm going to check on her. This is killin' me Mark," Jack shouts back storming towards the bedroom door. Once he reaches the door, he hesitates. After a moment of hesitation, he swallows the feeling and walks in. To his horrid surprise, Phoebe is twitching uncontrollably. Jack runs to her side and notices some other odd things about her. Her wrist appears to be badly burned. She is covered in her own sweat and tears. Slight mumbles can be heard coming from her mouth.
"Holy shit! Mark get in here!" Jack screams at the top of his lungs. Without hesitation Mark rushes in. He sees Phoebe's body shaking and does the only other thing he can think of. Mark begins to try and shake her awake. "Come on damn it…WAKE UP PHOEBE!" Mark yells.
Jack is standing at the bedside freaking out not knowing what to do next. Worried that Mark could cause more damage, he tries stopping him but to no prevail. Suddenly, Phoebe grabs Mark's arms and gestures him to stop. Mark complies and ask, "Phoebe are you okay? What happened to your wrist?". Phoebe doesn't say a word but smiles instead. Her smile turns into a low laugh which grows louder and more insane. The grip Phoebe has on Mark's arm tightens and begins to burn. The flames immediately eat away the fabric and begin burning his flesh.
"Ow! What the fu-oh no! Jack…RUN!" Mark shouted yanking his arm from her grasp. Jack shook himself out of his shocked state and bolted for the door. Mark quickly followed staring back at "Phoebe" before finally exiting the room. "Phoebe" slowly rose to her feet facing the door, her laughter getting louder. She took in a deep breath and blew a fireball at the door disintegrating it.
"Damn, it feels good to be back!" She growled. Just then, ashes began to flow from the now disintegrated door onto her back. The ashes slowly formed her flaming red wings again. Once they were formed, she creepily walked into the living room area. Her bright red eyes staring down both Mark and Jack. She took a few steps closer in Jack's direction. Jack did not know what to do. He's never met/seen a creature so angry so violent. She looked at him like predator and prey. Mark realized the danger his friend was in and intervened. He stopped in her path but that did not stop her. She let out a low chuckle and preceded to kick Mark in his stomach causing him to heave over. She pushed him aside and darted for Jack. Jack soon found himself short of breath, his vision was leaving him. "Phoebe" had a tight grip around Jack's throat. He was being held in the air against a wall.
"Gak…what…do ye…want…bitch…" Jack tried saying gasping for air.
"Don't act like you don't remember me Anti! Come out so we can settle this score!" she growled holding back a laugh. With Jack not doing as she wanted, her grip grew tighter and tighter. Right before she could finish him off, she felt someone grab her shoulder tightly. The next thing she knew, she was being thrown across the room. Before hitting the wall, she flipped her body to have her feet hit the wall instead.
"Hhaaaa, you are such a disappointment Phoenix," the man spoke. He looked Mark but with clear differences. The man wore a black suit with a red tie to match. His eyes were a shade of garnet. They stared Phoenix down in utter disgust. "Even in this realm I must teach you your place," he spoke back calmly reaching down to grab Phoenix by her neck.
"Gak…mmm…am I supposed to fear you here? Try me" Phoenix coughed back. She felt almost helpless but didn't want him to notice.
"Oh, you want me to try you? Gladly!" he spoke back with confidence. Right before Phoenix could say another word, he chokes slammed her onto the tile floor. He knocked the wind out of Phoenix leaving her to gasp for air. Next, he proceeded to punch her repeatedly in the face to pound his dominance in.
"You still take orders from me! No matter my form or realm we are in, you answer to me!" he shouted. After finally catching his breath, Jack rushed over to try and defuse the situation.
"DARK! I think she got it! You're hurting the vessel!" Jack shouted at the top of his lungs. Thankfully Dark grew tired of this scene and retreated leaving Mark to deal with the mess. Mark came to and quickly let go of the woman. He could not believe he let Dark take control for that long. He stood there hovering over Phoebe's unconscious body horrified at what he'd done. Phoenix seems to have retreated already leaving Phoebe there. Phoenix seems to have tried healing some of her wounds after she retreated.
"Damn damn FUCK!" Mark shouted as he started pacing frantically. "We have to wake her up, if not Phoenix will get stronger while Phoebe's out". Jack stepped in front of Mark, put his hands on his shoulders firmly to hold him in place.
"Mark…I don't think Phoenix will be back for a while. When Dark threw her, she was terrified like she saw a monster…" Jack stated staring back at Mark yet Mark could not look his friend in the eyes.
"It's still my fault, Jack…it's still my fault she's laying on the ground…It's MY fault, Jack!" Mark was shouting in his friend's face swatting his friend's hands away. Jack looked away with a sigh. Mark left the room leaving Jack with the duty of moving Phoebe. So, Jack bent down and began pulling Phoebe towards the couch. He positioned her on one of the armrest. Mark quickly came back with a pot of water and a towel.
"What the fuck is that f-?" Jack was not able to finish his sentence when Mark threw the water on Phoebe's face. With the cold water being thrust upon her, she quickly jolted awake but remained silent and stiff. Her blue shirt was soaking wet; it was almost see through. Before anything can be seen, Mark threw the towel over her.
"Phoebe…do you remember anything? Anything at all?" Mark asked quickly stumbling over his words. Phoebe sat there for a minute before speaking. She spoke slowly at first.
"…I…remember everything…I remember the pain, pain, PAIN! What is she?! What is he? What are you? Either of you! I sensed your demon creature Jack inside her nightmare hell! What is going on!"
Jack and Mark both signed and stared at each other.
"Phoebe, get comfortable. It'll be better to understand if you're comfy," Mark spoke softly sitting next to her.
"I'll get the alcohol…she may need it." Jack stated as he got off the couch and headed for the kitchen.
Sorry for the LOOOOOONG wait. I'm a full time college student so yeah. Go ahead and tell me what you guys think. I've already started chapter 3 so the wait won't be this long! Ciao!