Chapter 2

Stone collapses around me and screams fill my ears, but I don’t see anyone, all I see is a huge hole in the towering wall where it once sealed us from the outside world. But now sunlight fills the complex and everything seems to still. Untill someone bumps into me and I fall to the ground, I pull my hands out to catch me, and my palms scrape against the concrete, beginning to burn. My body trembles as gunfire shoots through the air. Crawling to a still standing pillar, I huddle into my body. I finally see the chaos in front of me, soilders in our dark green attire open fire at men and woman in dark suits that jump from the broken gap in the wall. Pushing to stand, I force my body upwards. What is happening? Letting out a shallow breath, I steady myself, then turn back around to the kitchen. I have to get to sera, she could- something explodes from above me, and I have only a few moments before something solid hits my shoulders. I crumble to the ground, my body folds in on itself, and every noise disappears, all that is left is a ringing of agony. I feel almost numb for a moment, but then a throbbing pain shoots up my spine and shoulders. I try to move my body, but I gasp as more debris falls across my back, burying me deeper in concrete. I can’t breath. Air leaves my lungs and my body fails to move anymore. I feel my lungs collapsing inside me, I try to take in air but none is entering them. Stilling my body, I blink back tears and try to focus, closing my thoughts of pain. I haven’t reached for the elements in a long while, it hurts, but it’s the only way to survive and get to sera. I reach out for that energy, its so faint but I find it and force a barrier around me pushing the powering blocks off me. My head hurts, but I continue untill I am no longer burried. My Tired lungs finally expand with air, and my ears are continue to ring. Shaking, I relax against the ground, letting the elements go bark into my body. Everything do use to reach for them I did it with ease, but since I hid them for years, unused, it hurt like hell. The now constant banging was proof lf that. I look upwards at the now collapsed pillar, inoring the pain radiating throughout my body. A wet liquid pools around me, blood, my blood. I don’t know how much I lost, but I don’t care, I have to get back to sera. I try to move my body and a sound like the cracking of bones fills my just now stilling ears. I grunt in pain and my breaths come out uneven. I have to get up, I have to move, I have to get to Sera, to Ryan. Pushing myself up and I bit my lip to hold in my groans of pain. My mouth floods with a metallic taste. I push myself from my knees to my feet, and sway. But I stay standing. And I stop, body’s lay around me, people all in green attire, as men and women in those black suits surround the concrete circle I seemed to have created. Fuck. “Cherub Blackwood?” Someone says, a deep voice says, and my eyes focus on a large figure. God my head hurts and everything is so blurry, he, if it is even a he, looks like a blob, My body begins to sway again. I can’t make out any words, I just stare at the figure as people start to move around me. He repeats himself, but I don’t awsner, instead my body drops to the ground, tired and dead, it can’t hold me any longer. And I rather rest now, my eyes close and everything disappears.

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September 3067 (5 years ago)

I’ve never been more scared in my life.

Strangers move around me, seemingly to ignore us. I hold my 9 year old sister tighter in my arms.

She’s still unconscious.

I don’t know when they druged us, or what they gave us, I don’t even remember when I awoke.

All I know is now I’m huddled in a small room while people argue around us their accents so strong I can’t make out any words. My body trembles with tears that stream down my cheeks, making contact with my sisters blue blouse as I hug her tighter. she hasn’t awoken up yet. And I’m afraid for her, for our parents that were left behind in that burning house, and for myself. A door opens and light shines into the dark room from the hallway. The room goes silent,the crowd parts, and we are shoved in the center of the room, I collapse on the floor as someone from

Behind me pushes me harder, but I cradle sera in my arms, and turn so my back backs contact on the tile floor. The world starts spinning, everything hurts. I breath, but that doesn’t help. My sisters body slips off mine as my hands fall from her and pile at my sides. I’m sore, so sore, everythidng pains me. I blink up at the chaindiler, the light seems to brighten, and I make out 2 figures hovering over me. “This is her?” A man starts, his accent is lighter than the others. But his voice is so stern, and so is his broad face. His dark eyes look almost black, his jaw sharp as bone. He seems so tall from this angle on the floor, he looks so wicked. “And who’s the other?” He sneers at my unconscious sister on the ground. I try to move, I have to protect her, but my body won’t cooperate. “That’s- well she was with her sir.” A man coughed out somewhere around me, but my eyes stayed trained on the tall man. “She only had one child, get rid of this one!” He yells at the man his head snapping up at him. I finally moved, my body ached, but I moved. I wrapped my body around my sister, power moving around us forming a barrier. “Oh shit-“ someone yelled and people moved around us, trying to get past the shield. but as soon as they got close enough they flew back against the wall. Everyone seemed to scramble away from

Us except for the man, he didn’t move. “Don’t, touch her.” I tried to keep my voice calm, but I knew I failed.

I watched the tall Man smile down at us huddled on the floor, amusement in his eyes. He was smiling down at me like I was entertaining. I focused my energy on him, focused my anger, but everything felt so draining, my eyelids started to droop. No..no, I tried to keep them open, but my body collapses again on the tiles, and everything blacks out except for his words. “Your going to be very useful miss blackwood, very.”

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My body shifts under me, but I am not moving it. Voices come from around me, but I don’t hear them. I can’t feel anything anymore and I’m okay with that. I’m no longer in pain, and I feel relived. I probably took Amara’s pain medicine she’s been pressuring me to take it for awhile now. But now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t know how she even convinced me. I don’t even remember anything, except- everything comes back to me in a flash, and my eyes fly open, my bodying snapping up in a -bed? Where am I?. A steadying hand is placed on my shoulder and I shift away quickly and stare up at a pair of brown soft eyes. “Sorry to startle you- I was just adjusting your pillow.” She smiles down at me and turns to grab something from a side table. I watch her movements, but I say nothing, who is she? “Are you thirsty?” She asked turning back to me, a jar of water in her outstretched hand. I stare at the glass, my dry lips part, and I finally realize how dehydrated I am. I quickly grab the glass, I don’t care if it’s drugged at this point, I just need something to relive the burning in my throat. The woman smiles as she adjusts her blonde bun. “I’ll go send for him now, and tell him you finally awoken.” I set the now half filed glass in my lap my hands wrapped around it. “Who?” I finally say, it comes out scratchy, but I don’t care, I finally look around and I take in the room. It’s a bedroom, a pretty large one, but simple. A large dresser is aligned against a dark blue wall, a small vanity on the opposite side, it was a pretty yellow color and piles of papers laid on top of its surface. I switch my attention to the rest of the room. Two side tables are settled on each side of the bed I am in. A lamp on each. The bed consists of a simple comforter and pillows that pile up behind me. I adjust against them against a thin nightgown I am wearing- a nightgown? she finally awnsers me, intercepting my thoughts, and walking away from me, towards a wooden door on the opposite side of the room. “Hell be here soon.” She smiles at me one last time before she opens the door open slightly, and slips out the door clicking close behind her. I stare at the door, waiting for it to open, for anyone to enter, but for what it feels like many minutes pass and I give up and fall back against the soft pillows. I stare at the ceiling, at the canopy I didn’t notice before. It’s a silky white color, I reach out and touch it, the material moves between my finger tips. I’ve never felt something so smooth, I tug against the material, and it rips, almost pulling the wooden berms holding it together with it. I breathe out a harsh breath watching the fabric in my hands, and I shove it under a pillow. I must still be using the elements- but I thought I turned it off? I close my eyes and focus on that energy again, until it disappears behind a shadowed barrier. The door flys open and I sit up sharply the elements I just concealed springing to life. “no need to get all defensive, darling.” A man enters, the same figure I saw briefly before, except I can see him fully now. He is tall, and is packed with mussels that shows beneath his tight black long sleeve. His dark blue eyes seem to study me as I take In the rest of his features and he steps closer into the room, the door still open behind him. I stare at the door, how will I escape? Can I over power him? I realize he’s talking to me and I snap my eyes back to his face. “What?” I say, it comes out as a whisper, and I stare back down at my hands piled on top on the blanket. “Are you feeling okay?” He stares at me- I realize I still have the elements up, but I don’t care, I don’t trust this random man. I don’t amwser him, “Where am I?” My eye turn back to him, he’s not staring at me anymore, he’s watching the small window on the opposite wall. I didn’t notice that either I must still be delirious. “Your safe, that’s all that matters.” I watch his movements as he runs his fingers through his short brown hair, safe? I’m safe? Why does that- sera. I shoot up from the bed standing only a few feet from him now on the wooden tile. “Where’s my sister? What happened to the complex?” I breath watching him, he steps back- I formed a barrier of energy around me, he watches it closely then shoots his attention back to me. “Sister?” He looks confused

“Angela didn’t have two children.”I didn’t know how he knew my mother name, but I didn’t care, fire burning in my eyes “Where is she. ” I say more sternly but he just shakes his head “You need to calm down.” I stare at him and then the door- I have to get out of here, I have to find her. My body starts moving but his voice stops me, “you can’t leave.” “Yes I can.” I turn back to him “I have to get back to her.” He smirks “she’s not your sister cherub.” I breath, how does he know my name, who is he? I stare at him, I know fire burns in my gaze, but he doesn’t faulter. “If there is someone you need us to find, we will find them.” What about Ryan? My gaze goes to the room again, last time I saw The complex it was collapsing, what if he? I breath and shake my head. “I have to go now.” “No your going to sit down, and listen.” Something pushes me back to a sitting position on the bed, and struggle against it but it’s like a burning chain. I hiss at the burn up my arms and legs as I struggle. “I wouldn’t do that, it stings.” “What is this?” I growl at him, and don’t listen as I continue to move embracing the pain. “Your not the only one with magic tricks, darling.” I stop moving and stare up at him, I realize this shield collapsed my elemental barrier and left me defenseless against another weilder? “What?” I breath out “not impressed?” He grinned down at me, I ignore his batter and just examine him “who are you?” He smiles at me and then looks lower, I look down at his direction, the sheer nightgown fell inches off my shoulder revealing my cleavage, crossing my arms I wince at the heat that burns along my arm from the shield. He looks back at me “Carson ledger” he says simply “I’ll send for Lara to set a bath and some clothes for you.” He steps back and the chains disappear, I gasp as I fall forward and onto the ground, my arms barley shielding my fall. “I’ll be back for you later.” He walks out the door and doesn’t look back.

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