Clara
I was ten when my uncle finally convinced my father to let me tag along to the shooting range.
It was windy that day. Strands of my hair whipping into my eyes. I still remember the way the rifle felt too big and heavy in my hands. But I wanted to impress Dad. I had to.
He stood behind me as his presence loomed over me. "Hold it steady. No shaking." But my defiant arms refused to listen. "If you can't handle it, don't bother."
Shame burned in my chest, but I gritted my teeth. I raised the gun, aimed at the paper target, and fired. Miss. I tried again. Miss.
His sigh cut through the air like a blade. "Useless." he muttered. The word hit harder than any bullet ever could. I blinked back tears and took a deep breath. This time, the bullet hit a corner of the paper. I turned to him, desperate for approval, for even the smallest nod of acknowledgment.
He barely spared me a glance. "Finally." That was all he said before moving to see how everyone else was doing. And somehow, that hurt more than missing.
Now, lying on the cold marble floor, my body aching, I feel ten years old again. That same crushing disappointment, that same weight pressing down on me. Because this time, I didn't just miss a paper target. I missed when it mattered.
Leora's taunting laughter rang through the air as Steph's sharp voice cut through the fog in my mind. "Focus! I noticed something. When Leora held the bullets in the air, her grip on us vanished. Incoming bullets make it tricky to focus on anything else."
I blinked, my vision snapping back into clarity. She's right. There's a weakness.
She pushes herself up with a fierce determination. "I'll give you another chance, so make it count." She whispers before gripping her gun and shooting Leora a look. The kind that only someone used to fighting for their life could pull off as she took a step forward.
I don't waste a second. My legs pumped beneath me as I bolted toward the nearest cover—a dusty wine-colored sofa. But as soon as I moved, Leora's red eyes locked onto me, and I knew she was about to strike.
Before I could even duck fully behind the couch, Steph's gun rang out, and Leora's focus wavered. The next thing I heard was the whizz of bullets flying and Leora stopping them in midair. I activated my invisibility while both Steph and now Simon kept shooting at her.
My eyes quickly scan the room looking for any potential surface.
A glint of metal caught my attention. There. A curved sconce, fixed to the wall behind Leora. The angle… the curve… Almost perfect. My pulse quickened as the numbers started forming in my mind.
I climbed atop the sofa and adjusted my stance.
Leora's hand then shot out and fingers curled. She grabbed the barrel of Steph's gun using her power, yanking it upward to get it away from her and probably shoot her with it. But her fingers held tightly to the weapon. Her body was lifted higher into the air, dangling like a ragdoll, still refusing to relinquish control.
I squeezed the trigger.
In the split second, the bullet hit the sconce and ricocheted towards Alister's body, embedding deep into his right shoulder.
Leora yelled, dropping her arm while the other pressed onto her shoulder, where a big crimson stain bloomed.
Steph dropped too and landed on her feet. I quickly shift my aim to Alister's other shoulder and shoot. But her eyes snapped in my direction, The bullet freezing midair, trembling against the force of her power. Not surprised, But, she was focused on me now—on the floating gun in the air, held by invisible hands.
She failed to notice the rapid blur of movement closing in.
Steph struck like a viper. In a single fluid motion, she surged forward. Before Leora could react, Steph's grip tightened around her empty gun, and she swung with all her strength. The solid handle cracked across Alister's face with a brutal impact, snapping the head to the side.
Leora barely had a second to register the pain before Steph twisted, using the momentum of the strike to drive her leg up in a spin kick. Her boot connected hard with Alister's chest, sending him crashing to the floor.
She then pointed her gun directly at Alister's stomach. But before she could fire, Leora's voice rang out. "Enough!"
The single word reverberated through the air, and a violent gust of wind slammed into us, ripping the gun from Steph's hands and sending both of us hurtling to the other end of the room.
My back smashed into the far wall of the grand hall with bone-crushing force. Pain detonated through my ribs like an explosion, knocking the breath from my lungs. Beside me, Steph groaned, her body crumpled against the base of the wall. My chest ached with every shallow breath. A rib. Probably bruised or broken.
As the pain settled in, my concentration shattered. The invisibility I'd been maintaining flickered, then dropped entirely, revealing me slumped against the wall, vulnerable and exposed.
"Alister! You're still in there aren't you!?" I yell, knowing this possession isn't like before. "How long are you going to let this woman control your life!? Just grow up already!"
Leora scoffs as she pushes herself upright, her head tilting slightly. Blood dripped down her arm, but she didn't seem to care. A cough escaped her lips. She doubled over and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the floor.
She stared at the dark red streak for a moment in confusion, as though the sight of it didn't make sense to her. Then, with a shaky breath, she straightened, her expression hardening as her gaze turned cold.
"Simon." she calls him out "I'm going to give you a chance to bring the book to me. In return, I'll let you, and only you along with that brat in the car, leave."
"L-let the others go too!" He stutters as he stands up from where he was shooting from, hidden.
She smirks, raising a single finger and tracing a slow circle in the air.
Something unnatural grips our wrists, pulling our arms up into the air along with our bodies and holding them there. Like invisible chains have locked us, letting our bodies dangle limply beneath them.
"You're still concerned about them? When everyone was just using you from the start."
Oh no...
"What?" He says. I can practically feel the hurt in his cracked voice.
"Despite knowing how things will end, Zach, wherever that idiot has gone off and died, still didn't stop you from joining. Your oh-so-trustworthy Alister, who is a serial killer by the way, has been using each and everyone of you like a pawn. He lied about the bounded ones being cursed. He just wanted to use your skills, and everyone knew about it except you." She grins as she sees the devastated look on his face.
"Is...that true?" He mumbles, and he doesn't need to look at me for me to know who the question is for.
"I..." I begin but words catch in my throat. I should have seen this coming. Should have anticipated that Leora would do this. But instead of anger at her, all I can feel is guilt. I should have told him the truth. "I'm very, very sorry, Simon. We didn't mean to hurt you or put you in danger."
He swallows and frowns at the floor, fists clenching tightly.
"He even used this feral girl." She nods her head at Steph, who just glares at her. "Your connections, your loyalty to do anything for him. It was helpful. And you..." She finally turns to me, and her grin widens. "Oh, he enjoyed fooling you the most."
Her words feel like a punch to the gut, yet I keep my head held high. This is all part of her tactic. I'm not going to let it get to me. I hope the others know it too.
"If..." Simon finally looks up at Leora with a hard stare. "If I give you the book, you'll let me and Micah go? You won't hunt us down?"
My heart aches, the rawness of it choking me as I realize what he's about to do.
Leora nods her head in agreement. And with that, he runs off into the left hallway where the room with the book is located.
"What the hell are you doing!?" I shout as I thrash against Leora's hold. This isn't the plan. This was never the plan.
We were supposed to save Alister.
Steph is right there with me. "Simon, don't you dare!"
A few minutes later, Simon emerges at the top of the staircase with a tear-stained face and the bag slung over his shoulder. His posture is stiff, and he doesn't look at us.
No.
"I have the book." he says. "Now let me go."
Something in me snaps.
"Stop it! I know we weren't honest, but what in the world makes you think she's to be trusted!?" I shout at him.
Leora just ignores us and watches him with mild amusement, like a cat toying with a trapped mouse. "Show me."
His trembling fingers reach into the bag and slowly pull out the book.
Something is wrong. The color is a bit off, and the size is somewhat big.
This isn't the Book of Artifacts.
What is he doing!? Is he trying to fool her? I'm glad he's not betraying us but still, that's insane. She's not an idiot. She'll know the second she sees it.
I look at Leora, expecting her to lash out. But instead, she stands still. Her gaze not narrowing in anger, but in concentration.
The realization is almost absurdly laughable.
Alister's terrible eyesight.
His glasses were lost since our underground fiasco, and he was struggling to see clearly. And now Leora, trapped in his body, is dealing with that same impairment.
And Simon's taking advantage of it. Does he realize how thin this gamble is?
"No!" I shout, making sure Leora hears every word, as they both turn to look at me. "Don't give her the book!" I see Simon's hands twitch as he shoves the book back into the bag.
Steph, who must have caught onto the situation, joins in too. "Why do you always have to mess everything up, you coward! You should have run away with it or destroyed it like we asked you to!"
Leora smirks as I feel the force tightening on my wrist, making me wince.
The bag slowly rises from his hands, drifting through the air like a leaf in the wind. My heart races as I watch the bag glide effortlessly toward her.
She catches it smoothly with her left hand. Her right arm, still hanging limply by her side, clearly injured from the earlier shot. Still, she doesn't flinch as she places the bag on the ground before her. With an almost lazy flick of her wrist, the book floats out of the bag, hovering in the air.
Her smirk vanishes. Her fingers tighten around the book, and I see it. Her face twists in realization, then anger.
"You really thought you could—"
But before she could finish, the canister that Simon had thrown while Leora was distracted by the book finally hits the ground. A roar of hissed pressure fills the room as a thick plume of white smoke bursts outward, swallowing everything in seconds and turning the world ghost-pale.
The surprise seems to have broken Leora's hold on us as we plummet to the ground. Steph landing on her feet once again while I fall on my stomach.
We cough as the smoke curls around us, stinging our eyes. But this is our chance.
I sweep across the ground until my hand closes around the gun Leora ripped from her moments ago. I don't waste time getting up and sprinting toward where I last saw Leora standing.
But just as I'm about to turn invisible to sneak up to her, something like a rope loops around my ankle, and I stumble down.
I look down and almost scream when I see a shadow-like tentacle gripping my leg tightly. I try to shoot it, but the bullet simply passes through. More dark whips surround me and quickly wrap around every limb of mine, making me lose the gun. Holding me in place. The angry screams and frightened cries tell me Steph and Simon are caught in the same predicament.
Suddenly, the smoke around us begins to move ahead. As if being called upon. The dense white clouds that had given us cover pull away from my face. Through the clearing haze, Leora stands with one arm raised, fingers curled in a command. The smoke coils into her palm like obedient serpents, wrapping around her hand and spiraling upward, forming a little tornado.
Her lips curl into a snarl. She flicks her wrist. The tornado snaps outward and disperses.
I glance around in horror, seeing Simon is fighting against his restraints, his face twisted in a grimace as the shadows lash at him. Steph's eyes are wide, her fists clenched as she tries to wrench herself free, but they only tighten around her.
Leora levitates our guns from the ground. They float in midair before aiming their barrels at us.
"You really thought you could stand up to me?" Her voice drips with amusement. A cruel mockery. "All your rebellion, your little plans… nothing but futile attempts to—"
But then something changes. Her breath catches. She coughs violently. A streak of dark red stains the lips as blood drips from the corner of her mouth.
Her hands shake as she tries to steady herself. A tremor runs through her arm, and her grip on the guns falters. The shadows in the room seem to waver, as if unsure whether to follow her lead.
She looks down at her hand, confusion flickering across her face. "No…" she breathes, almost too softly.
I watch her in a daze, something stirring deep within me as I try to piece everything together. It could be the side effect of using the power. But it doesn't make sense. When I used my ability, I didn't have breathing problems. With the gem gone, there was no backlash. But that's Leora. Why is Alister's body reacting that way?
And then, it hits me.
Like a tidal wave that drowns every other thought. A sickening chill that paralyzes me as the truth unfurls like a horrific vision.
We're on a time limit now.
All because Alister, the idiot, had poisoned himself.