Hunting the Monster
I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up as chills ran up my arms. I sucked in a breath, tensing and grabbing onto Luke. “What do we do?” Oh, my goddess, I was such a girl.
I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up as chills ran up my arms. I sucked in a breath, tensing and grabbing onto Luke. “What do we do?” Oh, my goddess, I was such a girl.
The best I could tell, it took time for the soul to move on, but once it did, it was gone. I could bring a body back from death. It just wasn’t always whole. It wasn’t possible for me to pull their soul back once it was gone.
I put my hand on his arm and asked the question we were both thinking, “Did I make zombies?”
I tilted my head to the side, thinking. “Since I can turn people into stone, do you think I could turn other things into stone?” I had never experimented with what I could do before.
Just as I was about to release my power, lightning flashed through the windows, and thunder shook the building. A very girly and utterly embarrassing scream escaped my lips before I could stop it as I lost my balance and fell over.
I had been hiding in an old cemetery when she found me. The sound of heels clicking on the stone floor brought me out of the shadows. She trailed her fingers lovingly over a broken pillar of the once beautiful mausoleum as she moved throughout the room. My snakes hissed, and I ducked behind a crumbling piece of wall.
I woke up slowly, keeping my eyes closed and tried to roll over, but Luke was lying almost on top of me, his legs tangled in mine. I cracked open one eye and found him watching me. “You’re thinking too loud. It’s keeping me awake,” I groaned.
I placed my hands on the smooth scales of Sayeh’s back and took a deep breath. As I let it out, I tried to call back the stone that ran over her body, but it resisted. I pulled harder, fighting against an unseen force. Her body had been wrapped in the stone for too long, and it didn’t want to let go.
They still saw the illusion, and I had a feeling no matter how many times they walked across the bridge, they’d end up at the beginning. “You have to trust me. I think this is part of a test. We have to trust each other and have enough faith to get through each challenge.”
Why shouldn’t I have it? I’ve been through so much, didn’t I deserve a little good luck and fortune for a change?
I landed hard on my knees, my snakes hissing and striking at the air in a frenzy as I went down. I screamed in frustration, stood, and pushed my way through the remaining passengers.
Goddess, please don’t let her be here to curse me. I didn’t want to lose my humanity again. I wouldn’t survive.
I could feel pain radiating from Sayeh, such a bone-deep pain that I felt like I was being crushed under the weight of it. I hoped Artemis wasn’t able to feel this.
I think you’re exactly who you’re supposed to be. Maybe that just wasn’t your time, and you were brought here now because this is where you belong.
We climbed out of the pool in Luke’s backyard, sputtering and coughing. Luke glared at me, and I felt lucky he couldn’t turn me to stone because it sure looked like he was trying.