Okay, so this chapter is going to be a little different. It takes place in Mel's time and is gonna jump POVs a little bit. Enjoy!
Priscilla
Never had I feared anyone the way that I feared him. No one had ever had such power over me. No one else had ever been able to turn me against my true love. Or, the man I thought I'd loved.
"Priscilla, how nice of you to come," he said, stepping closer to me, running his long fingers through my hair. "I was afraid you wouldn't show."
"Don't I always?" I replied, refusing to meet those endless black eyes.
"Yes, you are quite obedient, although the stakes have changed," he said, his eyes roaming my face. "They're higher now, and I wasn't sure that you would be willing to rise to the occasion."
"Of course I am," I replied obediently.
"Good, Priscilla," he said. I always hated that serpentine way he said my name, sending chills down my spine. "You don't disappoint. You know what I want you to do, correct?"
"Destroy them," I said.
"Yes," he replied, smiling now. "Destroy them, but not until you figure out how they broke through my spell. If we can't figure out how they sent Mel to the past, we'll never be able to retrieve her. Do you understand."
I nodded.
"Good. Don't come back until the job is finished," he said, sending me away.
I made my way to the attic door, wanting to escape as soon as possible. However, as I reached the door, I felt his hand on my arm, turning me to face him.
"And Priscilla, do be careful. I'd rather not have to bury you next to Penny and Patty," he said, his lips curving up into a sneer. "I love you."
I yanked my arm from his grasp. He knew how much he hated it when he talked about them. I glared at him before turning and heading for the exit. Before I left, however, I found myself stopping one last time as a tear trickled down my cheek. I found I couldn't stop myself from whispering, "I love you too." I could practically feel him smile.
Peyton
It's too dangerous. You're too young. You might get hurt. We're just looking out for you. It's for your protection. I'd like to show them what I think about their protection. I'll take it and shove it up their...
"Peyton, what are you doing?" Oh, great.
"Making a potion to vanquish some demons I'm not allowed to fight," I said, rolling my eyes in irritation.
"I know your mad, but he's just trying to protect you."
"I don't need protection, Ty," I said, ignoring the urge to slap him. It wasn't fair. Everyone could do whatever they wanted, but I was treated like a four-year-old. "Here's you damn potion," I said, tossing him the vial.
"We'll be back in an hour," Ty said, pocketing the potion. "Don't do anything stupid while we're gone."
Clearly, everything I did was considered stupid. That's why I wasn't allowed to vanquish demons and was forced staying back with the sick, injured, etc. Sometimes I wished I could just cast a spell and blow this whole hellhole to smithereens. Of course, I'd probably just screw that up too.
I packed up the potion ingredients and stored them away. They were of no use to me now. All I could really do was sit around and obey everyone's orders or Mel would have my head when she came back. Once everything was back where I had gotten it, I got up and left.
There's something about the Fortress that's really comforting. It's all really one building, but the architecture and furnishings make it seem almost like six different buildings with gardens in between. That, of course, means that even though I'm not allowed to leave the grounds, I can still take a calming walk to get rid of any stress and still feel like I'm outside.
I miss the outdoors. I miss playing soccer. I miss the old rendezvous spot under the old oak tree just behind the school. I miss watching the clouds and listening to the neighbors dog barking his head off at the cars driving by. I miss hanging out with Mel, laughing at her every time her cheeks flushed when she saw Ty. I miss my parents. I miss my sister. I miss feeling like I'm worth something. I miss having a reason to live...
The hour having come and gone, I'm bored. I know I should be concerned that someone got hurt or something went wrong or they got stuck in orbing traffic, but mostly, I'm just bored. People are always saying that there's so much to do around here, but there really isn't. There's work and cleaning, and every so often you can convince a couple people to play pool or poker or even karaoke, but mostly, everything was just boring. I really wished Mel were there with me. Things just hadn't been the same since she left.
It was almost two hours since Ty and the others had left, and now I was getting anxious. What if they just decided to leave? I knew it was ridiculous to think since there were still injured people here to take care of, and Preston would never just get up and go, and if they did want to run away, they'd have to come back and get their supplies, but I worried anyway. I couldn't stand the thought of staying here alone. Bored. So bored...
"Hello, Peyton."
Every time I heard that voice I wanted to punch a wall. I would say there was something about Priscilla that made me sick, but the truth was, I hated every single part of her down to the core. I didn't care what Mel or Preston had to say, I didn't care that our job wasn't to punish the guilty, I didn't care she was stronger, faster, smarter, and more agile then me, and I sure as hell didn't care that blood supposedly flows thicker than water. All I cared about was that knife she held in her hand and the terrified girl that had lost her life because of it.
"Murderer!" I screamed, throwing myself at her. Common sense would have told me to use telekinesis and take the knife. Of course, common sense was the last thing flowing through my mind right now. I was overcome with my conflicted emotions. Anger most of all, then guilt, regret, fear, and pain.
I'm not sure how I did it, but soon enough, I had her pinned to the ground, her knife skidding across the floor.
"Wow, Peyton, you've grown," she said mockingly. "What are you, five foot now?"
Pain. All I felt was a searing pain as my body flew across the room, smashing into an old couch and knocking over a lamp.
"Let's not be stupid, Peyton," Priscilla said, rising to her feet and approaching me. "I have no orders to kill you, and therefore, I can let you live. I'm just looking to make one kill tonight."
"Go to Hell," I spat, finally allowing thought to beat out impulse and using my telekinesis to send her into the far wall.
She was on her feet in seconds, and before I could even think to react, she was on me, pushing me to the floor. My face connected with the carpet, and I could feel the warm liquid pouring from my nose. "Maybe I will in time," she said, "but your hell begins now."
I didn't know what she had planned, and I hadn't even thought it might be an option, but soon she had the place lit on fire.
"No!" I screamed, trying to put it out, but soon I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head and everything went black.
When my eyes opened again, it couldn't have been much later, but apparently I had been out long enough for the whole room to have caught flame. I screamed for help to find that no one would be coming. Next, I tried orbing. I wasn't sure what Priscilla had done, but I couldn't do that either. I was going to die in a burning building that had for so long been my home. I was ready to accept that.
Soon I felt the smoke filling my lungs, the heat enough for me to want to explode. I wanted it to end, but I couldn't see an end in my future. 'This is what I wanted,' I told myself. 'Soon everything will be okay.'
But it wasn't. Soon the searing pain against my skin was becoming five... no ten times worse and my lungs were so filled with smoke that I couldn't stop coughing but they couldn't be cleared. I gagged, knowing that if the flames didn't kill me, there were only about one hundred other ways I could die in here, none of them pleasant.
And that's when I felt the fear take over. Stronger than anything I had felt in a long time, I was afraid. Would there be a heaven for me? How long would it take? How badly would it hurt? Soon, I simply couldn't take it.
'Air,' was all I could think. I needed air. That's when I heard it in my head, words I had never heard before in my life. But they held a comfort to them, a sense of security and I felt my lips forming them with the last of the oxygen in my body.
"Desperate times, desperate measures
bring to us the hidden treasures
give me strength to search and find
a place of safety and peace of mind."
And before I knew it was I free, fleeing into a world of beauty that I had no right to be part of. My home was gone, I was a coward, and soon, I'd have to face the music.
I'm not trying to sound conceited, but I'm really proud of this chapter. I thought it was pretty good, so tell me what you think. Please? It'll make me happy. :)