Carnage.
Absolute carnage. That’s what surrounds us at every turn. Gabriel runs as fast as he can, but with me in his arms, it’s barely half the speed of which he’s actually capable. He’s clumsy as we make our way down the paths carved into the cliffs. The Descendants surround us, like a human forcefield, sealing us off from every possible threat. Be that a Hunter, their blades, their bullets or simply their hands.
I struggle to see much of anything and that is more than likely Gabriel’s intention, to protect my eyes from seeing it all. I’m held almost painfully close to his body and each time I attempt to lift my face to see where we are or what nightmares surround us, he presses me even closer, forcing my face into his chest. The more we run and the closer we get, the louder the chaos becomes. I even start to smell it.
Sweat. Gunfire. Blood.
Gabriel barks orders. I can barely hear his specific instructions over the din, but I make out the odd compulsion he delivers.
‘SHOOT THE HUNTERS! DEFEND US AGAINST YOUR OWN!’
I also hear the furious yells of those he takes control of, livid at their sudden inability to act on their own sick and twisted need to slay any who don’t wear their mask.
Explosions echo around us. Sand, rock and blood rain down on us like hailstones. I peer up, stealing a glance at my surroundings through the thick mess of my hair and see a wave of white masks descending. I see machetes being raised. Guns being aimed.
I see death coming for those I am trying to save.
‘Close your eyes!’ Gabriel instructs me.
He gives me the courtesy of not using his magic on me. His words are a suggestion. A plea. One from love and a desire to preserve what little innocence this small and fragile adolescent body has.
Shamefully, I squeeze my eyes shut. I’m not sure that my heart can take watching this and I know for a fact that I will not be able to refrain from trying to help them. From tapping into my dwindling resources of strength and magic to protect them all.
The bigger picture, Lilly.
I know I must heed those words. Or else, what is this all for? Why come back here? All these men and women are dead in the future. Children and mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters.
Murdered.
My face nestles further into Gabriel’s shirt as I try to blot out all that surrounds me. To stop from succumbing to my desire to try and save them. But I know that if I do, I’ll fall unconscious. Or worse, I’ll die. My body is failing with every passing second. Slipping further and further towards the darkness.
‘Stay with me, Beautiful!’
I jolt back to consciousness. I hadn’t even realised I’d fallen unconscious. I lift my head, looking behind us as Gabriel continues to fight his way ahead. We’re in the belly of the beast now. Our circle of protection is crumbling. Huge gaps, littered with bodies, surround us. Soon they’re filled with those faceless figures of white porcelain. I catch a glimpse of Collins, doing what he does best with his extreme strength. Even now, I’m amazed at the force he wields. A single punch twists their heads around and their bones snap and splinter, ending his victims lives in an instant. A hit to the chest causes blood to spew from their mouths and they can no longer breathe as chunks of ribcage bury deep into their lungs.
I hear a feral roar. One all too familiar. From above, Hendrix leaps towards us, soaring clear over the heads of those standing between him and us. Gabriel doesn’t notice.
‘GABRIEL!’ I scream. ‘BEHIND YOU!’
He spins, just in time to see Hendrix and his teeth fly our way.
‘Shit…’ Gabriel has no choice. He throws me from him so that when Hendrix slams into his body, I don’t take the brunt of the giant beast.
I roll several feet. Every inch of my body hits the ground over and over and over again until I land face down in the sand. As I cough, I realise that blood has splattered on the ground. Little droplets straight from my lungs.
Not good.
Not important!
I swallow down the pain and the blood, forcing myself back up onto my knees, instantly searching for Gabriel. He’s fighting Hendrix and the two of them are a blur as they battle. Fists and legs and Hendrix’s teeth. I would think Gabriel a beast too, the ferocity with which he fights the oversized man. In the sand is a gun. I reach out, pick it up and aim. A steel-toed boot kicks it from my hand and a hand digs into my hair to yank me to my feet. I howl in furious pain as chunks are torn from the root and my feet momentarily lift from the ground before being slammed back down. I’m face to face with a Hunter. On the mask, still wet and dripping, is the word “Never” written in blood.
‘There you are.’ He pulls a large black gun from his jacket. It’s too big to be a pistol. When he fires it, he shoots upwards. A stream of red smoke soars upwards and lingers thickly in the air. It’s a flare-gun. ‘Everyone knows you’re here now. And exactly where, too.’
In the sky, the helicopters all divert and head towards us as the Hunter throws me over his shoulder and takes me away. I soon lose sight of Gabriel, buried under a violent wave of black leather coats and blood-splattered masks.
‘LILLY!’ Gabriel calls in desperation as I’m carried away, my head bobbing up and down with each step. ‘LILLY!’ His voice starts to fade as I move further and further into the crowd.
There’s a long, drawn-out yell. One I think I recognise. The Hunter carrying me is body slammed not once, but three times. I end up under a pile of people, crushed under the weight of them all. As I claw at the sand to drag myself out, two assailants start raining down fists on my would-be kidnapper as another takes hold of me from under my arms and starts pulling. I look up to see a young Connor Quinn beaming down at me. He must be in his late teens. There’s a cut on his eyebrow and dirt smudging his face, but he looks thrilled to see me.
‘Connor?’ I gasp as he drags me further from the bundle of fighting people. ‘How are you here?’
‘Visiting my grandmother in Bristol for a few days. Lucky, huh? Not as lucky as you. We got less than an hour to get you to the Bloodstone. The shooting star is on its way. C’mon.’ He looks to the two individuals still beating the Hunter who falls still with a final kick to the head. The two rescuers are older, but their features are unmistakable.
‘MUM! DAD! I GOT HER!’ Connor calls to them both. They nod and rush over, helping me to my feet.
‘Your mum and d-dad?’ I stammer, looking at them all one by one.
‘Lilly, meet-’
‘Mama and Papa Quinn,’ I gasp.
‘Hello, dear,’ his mother smiles sweetly, despite having a bloody nose. ‘I’ve heard a lot about you.’ Without flinching, she shoots a man approaching me from behind, her motherly smile still firmly in place. I guess, to be a Descendant, you have to learn how to protect yourself. ‘Let’s get you back to Gabriel. Can you walk?’
I am filled will happiness, despite the death and suffering at every turn. Connor has his parents back! I can see the utter joy of it on each of their faces. The way they stroke each other’s arms and take an extra look at each other, as if to check that they’re all still there. Still together.
A chorus of screams erupts from the right. From the end of the beach.
A fleet of black jeeps are racing towards us, and they don’t look like they plan on stopping as they reach the crowds.
Connor takes my weight with a firm arm around my waist and his parents stand either side of us with a gun in each hand.
‘Time to go,’ his dad declares.
We run. Well, they run. I struggle to keep my feet from just dragging behind me. In the crowd ahead, I see the faint blur of Hendrix’s wiry hair rushing through the multitude of people. He searches amongst those who have their hoods up. Seeing that they are not me, he grunts and shoves them to the floor. Connor repositions my hood, lifting me as I slide down his arm.
‘Almost there,’ he encourages quietly, diverting away from the vampire. But as we move, people start getting thrown aside like pins on a bowling alley being ploughed by a bowling ball.
Connor quickly halts as a figure charges towards us, his hand outstretched as an invisible force bulldozes through the crowd, knocking them clear from his path as he descends upon us. Even in this chaos, he still dons a perfectly crisp black suit. His white shirt is splattered with blood. His jacket open and billowing as he speeds forwards. His face is bruised and grazed. But that dark smile is still there and his eyes are firmly fixed on me.
‘It’s Grayson.’ I start pushing Connor away, desperate for him not to be anywhere near me when that specific monster reaches me. ‘GO!’ I tell him. But he refuses to leave me and instead pulls me to the side and starts sprinting away, dragging me with him. His parents block Grayson’s path, but Grayson tosses them aside without even looking at them. For that, I’m glad. If he had seen who they were, I suspect he would have killed them just out of spite. I return my focus forwards, just in time to see Hendrix land directly in front of us with an impressive leap. He takes hold of Connor’s throat and squeezes, baring his teeth and growling.
‘Fairy. Good to see ya again. Feels like only yesterday I was gouging out your eye and breaking all your bones.’
‘Fuck off… half… breed…’ Connor gasps under his hold.
Hendrix’s eyes narrow and I know his intention right then and there. Before he can crush my friend’s neck beneath his palm, I sink my teeth into his hand as hard as I can. His foul-tasting blood drains into my mouth as he roars angrily. I tug at Connor and shove him away.
‘RUN!’ I scream at him as he lands in the sand.
Hendrix wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me in close to his face.
‘Little Witch,’ he greets. His eyes dance briefly to my chest and then back to my eyes. ‘You know you’re dying, right? That heart of yours is really struggling to pump your delicious blood around that young body you have now. I can hear it.’
‘Let me go.’
‘Nah. Don’t think so. We got a second chance now, Little Witch. And I will not let you fuck this up for me again-’
I send out a wave of telekinetic power. One which sends him hurtling into the mess of fighting behind him and me to the floor.
I could honestly just sob. I truly don’t know how much more of this tossing and dropping and running I can take. This is pain and exhaustion beyond anything I have ever experienced.
Hendrix is right.
I’m dying.
But there’s no time to acknowledge this pain. To give in to the overwhelming need to just lay down and fall into a sleep from which I shall never awaken.
I roll over, yelling as I force my body to comply, and I get myself back onto my feet. I hold my own weight and look straight at Grayson as he continues to charge forwards, that grim sneer that promises pain, shines brightly, but not as brightly as the lightning that shimmers on his hands. He glances to his right and his grin grows. I follow his gaze.
He’s not alone.
He’s with Theo.
Both walk steadily towards me. Father and son still united it would seem, and coming for me.
I dig my feet into the sand and push myself off, fleeing as best as I can, weaving between the fighting and the dying. My attempts to escape may be weak. But the only way I stop is if I die.
Just keep going. One foot in front of the other. Don’t stop. Don’t look behind you. Just ahead. Keep running, Lilly! Keep. Running.
I pass Jessica. She spins as a Hunter slashes at her. Her wide eyes look straight into mine as her throat gushes blood. She falls to her knees and watches me as I run past her. I scream that I’m sorry as I leave her to fall and die in a pool of blood.
I keep running, tears blurring my vision and sobs clawing up my throat as I leave her behind. A sudden wind blows my hair across my face. Above, two helicopters pass over, firing down calculated shot after calculated shot. Hitting only those whose faces they can see. Keen not to kill their target or those who are still linked to their master by the immortality spell. I lower my head and keep my eyes on the blood-soaked sand beneath my feet, hating how warm it feels as my toes sink into it. Ahead, a flare shoots up. A red flare. Again, the Hunters divert their focus to the smoke, which signifies my location. But the smoke rises from the opposite end of the beach. Not anywhere close to where I am. As the masked murderers head that way, followed closely by those desperate to stop them, I pull my hood closer to my face and stagger towards the sea stacks.
More blood spills into my mouth from some sinister injury within. I swallow it down. Mouthful after mouthful. From another location, still at the far end of the beach, another flare signals the lie that I am there, drawing more and more people away.
Keep running. It’s temporary. It’s t-
BANG!
A hot searing pain explodes on my side. I manage a few more steps before I come to a halt, panting and gasping. Fretfully, I look down. There’s a hole in my hoody. Red travels warmly past my thigh. I touch my side and pull my fingers close, inspecting the blood that coats them in a thick layer. Everything goes fuzzy and starts to spin.
I’ve been shot.
I look up at the stacks in the distance, tears spilling one after the other down my cheeks as I realise, at this moment, that I’m not going to make it.
On uneasy legs, I turn and look at the third shot of red smoke that rises upwards. And also, to the two figures that walk steadily towards me.
Theo and Grayson.
Of course, they were not fooled by the ploy to pull the enemy away. They had their sights on me as I fled and they didn’t take them off me for a second. They simply followed me. There’s a smoking gun in Grayson’s hand, the bullet of which has torn through my side.
‘Stop now, Miss Hooper. It is most certainly time for you to stop. Or I will put the next one in your leg.’ Grayson points the gun in a warning.
I hear the chorus of death and violence. I feel pain in every atom of my being. The grief and self-hatred of my failure. The anger at all those around me who blindly hate and kill.
My magic flickers like a dying ember inside my chest. A dying ember that catches a small breeze. Not much, but just enough to encourage it to reignite. It whispers to me, a gentle and soothing sentiment.
You can do this. This is what you were created for. To save them. No matter what the cost.
I close my eyes. My arms fall still by my side. And I slump with a tired sigh.
‘Good girl,’ Grayson chuckles as he carries on getting closer.
That small little flame of barely recognisable warmth starts to spread. Across my chest. Down my arms. Past my legs.
‘You’re done now, Miss Hooper.’
As he draws closer, the heat within me intensifies. Hotter. Hotter. Hotter! Until it reaches a sudden and explosive peak. One that makes my nerves tingle and my heart thump painfully in my chest. A tremendous pressure fills my head in a sudden wave and stays there.
I realise, right then, at that moment, I’ve manifested. That I can sense them both. Sense their magic. I twitch my fingers and feel the distant enticement of the Bloodstone deep beneath the sea stacks. But that’s not all I feel. There’s something else. Something more primal. Something ancient. Something Arcane.
I look down, at the blood-soaked sand sprinkled over my feet.
It clicks. All of a sudden, I see it. A deeply hidden, instinctual understanding of my own power. Of the connection I hold with the Arcane realm and its boundless possibilities. Why I was able to command the power to restore Gabriel’s arm after it was severed back at the museum. How I was able to transport us to safety, miles away, before I even knew the spell in which I needed to command that power.
‘Blood…’ I whisper, wiggling my toes. Even Hendrix’s words echo in my ears. The words he shared with me long ago when I thought for the briefest moment that he may have been a friend.
“Magic ain’t in stuff, Little Witch. It’s in blood. It’s all about the blood. That’s where magic really lives. The Bloodstone? Your brand? All of it was made with your blood. Otherwise, the Bloodstone would just be a pretty rock and the mark on your arm would just be a burn. Blood is the source of the power you lot have. And it’s the source of life for my kind. To share blood, that’s real power.”
It’s the blood that I could sense in the Bloodstone Grayson made with me. The blood in the three stones made to create the Bloodstones linked to the Arcane Realm. Blood that courses through the veins of the witches around me. But now, as I stand on the precipice of defeat and death, I understand. I feel it. Surrounded by this much blood. The blood of Descendants, whose blood contains a connection to the Arcane realm.
Blood that I can sense now with my Sensativa.
‘I will never give up,’ I warn Grayson, swaying a little as I attempt to sound threatening. ‘Not till I’m dead and even then, I’ll claw my way out of hell to finish what I’ve started here.’
He stops to survey me, throwing up his arms in amusement.
‘You can barely stand. What the hell do you think you can do-’
‘I don’t need to stand.’
I fall to my knees and bury my hand in the sand.
‘I’M THE FUCKING ARCANE WITCH!’
The ground trembles and jolts violently as I send out my power to the blood that stains this beach with enough force to equal a goddamn bomb. I stretch out my fingers, and when I do, a sonic blast hurtles through the beach, tearing it up from beneath. A wave of sand spreads outwards, knocking those in its path to the floor and engulfing them in a sandstorm of stinging specks of minuscule stones. One by one, bodies are dragged below, pulled downwards until only their hands protrude from the surface.
All but those with magic in their blood. They only need to shield themselves from the sudden sand-storm that rages around them.
I throw my arm over my eyes to protect them from the lashing sand. But as Grayson has magic in his blood, he isn’t sucked below and charges me with a furious roar. He’s met with a sudden fireball aimed at his feet. The black and white flames wrap around his legs, burning with ferocity and making him fall on his front. As he tries to extinguish the fire, Tobias runs at him and delivers a kick straight to his face.
But it will take more than that to stop Grayson.
The two brothers start fighting. Tobias’s flames meet Grayson’s lightning. I want to help. I do, more than anything. But my last flicker of power is keeping the sandstorm alive. The two men disappear as I wipe yet more blood from my mouth and wince against the wound on my side.
I look over my shoulder, to the sea stacks.
And I start to crawl.
I get a few feet before I gag and thick dark blood oozes from my mouth.
A pair of boots stop before me. I almost don’t even dare look up.
But what do I have to lose now?
I raise my head, blood dripping in clumps from my chin, and I let out a sob.
‘Daddy…’ I cry, reaching out.
My dad falls to his knees and takes me in his arms, pressing me to his chest and holding me.
‘Buttons. My sweet Buttons. My girl. I’ve got you.’
‘You’re alive,’ I wail, gripping at anything I can get hold of. His shirt. His arm. His back. His hair. I paw at him, desperate to be as close to him as humanly possible, needing the comfort and protection only a father could ever provide. ‘You’re here!’
‘Where the hell else would I be?’ he sniffs, kissing my head and stroking down my hair as I judder with desperate sobs. ‘You’re bleeding, Buttons. Christ. You’re hurt bad. Real bad.’
He looks at the blood soaking his hand and then notices the stump at the end of my wrist. I literally see the blood drain from his face.
‘The Bloodstone,’ I insist before he can say another word. ‘I need to get to the Bloodstone. I’m dying. I need to get to the Bloodstone to heal, or I’ll die. We’ll all… die…’
Determination replaces his initial reaction of horror and he lifts me in his arms before running with all haste to the stacks.
Nothing slows him down. Nothing distracts him. Even as masked men start appearing from the still raging sandstorm, he simply avoids them and carries on. I’m amazed at how light he is on his feet and I watch his eyes as they focus entirely on his surroundings. We dodge five Hunters and have three in pursuit when a streak of fire shoots past us and hits those on our heels. Tobias joins us and runs close by, his black and white fire still on his hands and just as focused as my dad on possible attackers who could launch themselves at us from the sandstorm.
‘Shall I signal?’ Tobias asks as we run.
‘Signal!’ Dad confirms. Tobias sends up a vast ceiling of fire above us, bright enough to be seen through even the thickest parts of the storm.
As we run, he sends more and more fire and others join us.
Nomads. Traitors. Anyone on our side, they surround us, defending us and stopping those who give chase.
‘There you are. You alright?’ Tobias asks. I look and see Connor has joined us.
He nods, despite his ripped shirt and the blood spilling from his shoulder.
‘Where are the others?’ Tobias bellows.
‘My folks are just behind us, fighting,’ Connor tells us. ‘I don’t know where the others are, but I know we need to get a move on. The star is close.’ When he sees the state of me, he curses silently. ‘Fuck… Lilly…’
‘What the fuck is going on with this storm?’ Tobias calls through the turbulent and howling winds. ‘I can hardly see!’ He steals a glance at me. ‘It’s you, isn’t it?’ He gasps when he realises my condition. ‘Jensen… she’s bleeding out!’
‘Not if I can help it. Where’s that fool son-in-law of mine and Collins?’ he snaps back. ‘Tobias, another signal! She needs to heal before she bleeds to death! She needs Collins or to get to the Bloodstone now!’
Tobias shoots up another stream of fire.
I start to cough as blood slowly fills my lungs. My fingers no longer have the strength to keep hold of my dad’s collar and they fall limp on my chest.
‘Don’t you dare close your eyes, Buttons,’ he warns, looking down at me briefly. ‘Don’t even think about it. We’re almost there, look.’ He nods ahead. I look and see the base of the stacks coming into view.
Gabriel sprints into our path up ahead, clutching his side as he scans our small group running his way.
‘HAVE YOU GOT HER? WHERE IS SHE?’ he shouts over to us. He shields his eyes from the sand whipping around him as he runs closer. A look of anguish sweeps across his face and he clasps his heart. ‘No. No, no, no. Oh Jesus,’ he says painfully as he stops in front of us. ‘Let me take her, Jensen. Please. Let me take her.’ Gabriel doesn’t look good. His face is a mess. A deep gash has been carved into his skin from the ridge of his nose, across his cheek and past his jaw.
‘Where’s Collins?’ Dad asks as I’m gently placed in Gabriel’s arms. ‘She needs to heal. Now! She needs his power. Is he with you?’
‘At the stacks. Do you have your Sensativa now, Beautiful?’ Gabriel asks me hurriedly as my blood seeps onto his skin. He glances around him. ‘Is this you? This storm?’
I manage a nod before he turns on his heel and sprints to the stacks.
‘COLLINS!’ Gabriel calls desperately. ‘COLLINS! WHERE ARE YOU? WE NEED YOU!’
As we approach the base of the stacks, we see Collins pushing a large boulder. One that blocks an entrance. Slowly, he’s edging it across the ground, opening up a small tunnel hidden behind it. Everyone ducks as a shower of bullets chases us, hitting the sand and the stone ahead.
‘HURRY!’ Collins calls, waving us over as he creates a gap just big enough for us to fit through.
Collins steps aside as we all pile inside. It’s pitch black until Tobias steps through and sets his fire alight on his palm. Then, we hear the grinding of stone. We turn, just in time to see Collins disappear as he slides the stone back across the entrance, sealing us inside.
‘COLLINS!’ Gabriel yells desperately.
‘GO!’ Collins calls back. ‘I’ll hold them off for as long as I can. Finish this and get us home. He won’t kill me. He can’t! GO!’
The entrance thuds closed and we fall into horrified silence, listening to the army of Hunters descending on Collins.
Gabriel shifts me in his arms and swallows dryly as he nods.
‘Okay. Okay. Let’s go.’
‘But Collins!’ Connor argues. ‘We can’t just leave him out there! And Lilly needs-’
The ground around us trembles as something explodes beyond the entrance.
Collins releases an agonised roar which makes Gabriel flinch violently.
‘Stone.’ I whisper. ‘Get me.. to… the… Bloodstone.’
