Chapter 34: Demon Call

It was Nudge who was the first out of the group to realize what I was staring at. She let out a scream before slapping both hands over her mouth when her eyes took in what was in front of her.

Gazzy was next. He ran to Iggy's slumped body with his already bloodied hands, yelling his name and telling him to get up. The tears that he had held back for his missing sister were now spilling out without any signs of stopping.

Nudge eventually brought her hands from her mouth and, with slow staggering steps and shaking hands, she made her way over to Iggy and unceremoniously dropped to her knees, sitting in a stupor and unable to utter a word.

I on the other hand was paralyzed; unable to say anything or even twitch. My eyes were completely still; I was seeing it, but at the same time it was as if I was looking right past the spot where he sat.

No. No, no, no.

Iggy's stained shirt covered in crimson red, the blood that was spattered on his face as if a two year old had thrown paint at someone, and his limp rag-doll body…it was almost too much for me to take in.

Blood…so much blood.

My brain began to pulse; slightly at first, to a point where I didn't even notice its presence over the shock of Iggy. Then it became more of a constant nuisance.

Without warning, the pain increased dramatically, causing the edges of my vision to blur until Iggy's body was replaced with that of a stranger; his face was burnt and disfigured, his mouth hanging open and dripping with the crimson liquid, with a large gaping hole in his chest. I didn't know where I was or what was going on, but I knew that I had caused the person to die. I looked down at my reddened hands, feeling the dried blood crack as I flexed my fingers.

So much blood…so much…too much…

"Ember…Ember! Snap out of it!"

The image of the clearly dead man immediately disappeared, and in its place was Fang's pale face in front of mine, with his hands on my shoulders, shaking me and forcefully bringing me back to this dreaded reality. I blinked, trying to refocus my eyes on Fang. He wasn't crying like Nudge or Gazzy, but his eyes were empty. I couldn't look at them.

"Well, look what we have here," called a voice from somewhere above our heads. Our eyes shot upwards, searching for where the voice came from. We didn't have to look too long; the sound came from a small girl sitting on a high branch of the very tree that Iggy was leaning on. She smiled and waved at us cheerfully, as if it was an everyday occurrence to find a bunch of kids mourning over their bloodied friend in a forest. My eyes narrowed, which only made her giggle.

How the hell did she get up there?

"Who are you?" I demanded with my voice on edge and my body ready for anything.

"I'm just a girl," was her simple answer, and she beamed at us again when Nudge and Gazzy moved closer to Fang and I with nothing but wariness written on their faces.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

"Long enough," she said sweetly.

And how long is long enough? Did she see us land? Did she call 911 for Iggy or something? I highly doubt that…

"Little girls like you shouldn't be here," said Gazzy, trying to sound tough to hide the fact that he had been bawling his eyes out moments ago.

At this remark, the girl let out a loud laugh that sent unpleasant icy chills down my spine. Without another word, the girl dropped from the tree limb that she was on, and to my displeasure, she landed so gracefully on her feet next to Iggy as if she were landing in a field of cotton. Her smile was still there, but there was something sinister lurking in her eyes.

"Little boys like you shouldn't act so tough. They could end up getting hurt," she crooned. That fake smile was still planted on her face, but just by looking at her, I knew that she was bad news.

Really bad news.

I slowly stepped in front of Gazzy; Fang flanked me from behind. "What did you do to Iggy," I said menacingly, knowing that she had something to do with the way he was now, if not the cause of it.

"Oh, you're being big and bold now, aren't you?" she mocked.

"Don't screw with me. What did you do to him? And what did you do with Angel and Melody?"

"Relax. They are perfectly safe…for the moment, anyway. As for him, he isn't dead. Just unconscious. I chose to play nice and not kill him. You should thank me for restraining myself. And did you know that he had such a high regeneration rate? It's incredible." She rambled on as she walked towards his still body. "Oy. Wake up. Your job is done," said the girl as she nudged Iggy with her foot. Gazzy raised his voice in outrage, and I had to hold him back before he charged at the unknown enemy.

She eventually stopped, and her smile widened into something cruel as she stared down at the lifeless body. "Fine then, go ahead and ignore me," she whispered and she instantly grabbed a handful of Iggy's shirt in her hands, lifted him into the air and, as if he wasn't twice her size and weight, she threw his body toward another tree trunk at least 30 feet away.

"Iggy!" cried out Nudge.

My stomach lurched, but seconds before my body could respond, Fang bolted from behind me with his wings outstretched, and was just in time to have Iggy ram into his chest so hard that it made Fang slam into the tree that only moments before was meant for an already beaten up Iggy.

"Aw, you just had to ruin my fun, didn't you?" the little girl asked as she pouted. I shot her a violent look.

"Why you little piece of-" I began, ready to pummel her, but was interrupted from doing so when someone began coughing violently. I looked over to where Fang was, only to see Iggy slowly opening his eyes.

Gazzy yelled Iggy's name as we all ran to his side, temporarily ignoring our present threat. Nudge collapsed on the ground and awkwardly grabbed Iggy around his neck and embraced him into a tight hug while burying her head into his shoulder, causing him to cough up some blood before he spit it out on the ground.

"Nudge. That hurts, get off," mumbled Iggy as he struggled to sit up from his uncomfortable position in-between Fang and Nudge. She unwillingly obliged and Iggy could finally take a small breath, only to have Gazzy cling onto him as well. "Ugh. You guys should have left me here while you had the chance. She only kept me alive as bait."

"Don't be stupid," said Fang simply.

"Yeah, there's no way we would just leave you here," added Nudge, overjoyed with the fact that he was still talking in the first place.

"See? I told you that I didn't kill him. And even though this is a very touching moment, I have stuff to do, so let's wrap this up," said the little girl impatiently. I gave an inward growl and turned to face her.

"Don't," Iggy silently mumbled, but I ignored him and narrowed my eyes at her.

"What do you want? Why did you want to draw us out of hiding?" I asked through clenched teeth, anger rolling off of my shoulders in large waves.

"Oh, you don't know? I thought it was pretty obvious," said the girl nonchalantly. "Actually, I came for you specifically. Jake demands for your presence, although I don't understand why he would want such a disagreeable person like you. As for your friends…well, let's just say they're mainly going to be our playthings."

"You won't even come close to touching them," I replied in a dangerous tone. "And I think I'll decline his very 'kind' invitation, as tempting as it may sound."

"Oh, so you're not going to come quietly." I could hear the expectancy and anticipation in her statement, as if she wanted this exact answer to come from my lips.

"Hmm, let me think," I said as I prepared myself to attack.

I can take her. She's small, not even bigger than Melody. She may talk a big game, but she is way too overconfident in her abilities. I need to take her down a peg…okay, make that several pegs, and that won't be any harder than tying my shoe.

Those were my initial thoughts.

How easily crushed they were.

Before I could take another breath, she was right in front of me. Her speed was unnatural. Her arms were on either side of me, boxing me into a small perimeter, and I could vaguely make out something shiny out of the corner of my eye.

"You thought that you could actually take me on, one on one, didn't you," she mumbled before giving a dark chuckle as the click of a loaded weapon rang in my ears from behind me. "You obviously have no idea who you're dealing with."

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