Chapter 60- Whispers In The Wind

Jeanette scanned the streets. Her people ran in untamed fear. What had Crystal done? Grabbing Katie by the arm she asked the girl, “Have you seen Crystal?” Katie who looked somewhat clam compared to the screaming mob answered, “Hugo took her into the forest,”
“What?” Jeanette almost shouted.
Katie shrugged and ran across the street. She had no choice, creepy Demon girl or not she had to go into the forest. Her future depended on Crystal. She hated that. Her life was in the hands of a child, an unpredictable one at that.
Stepping into the dark forest momentarily robbed Jeanette of her sight. Yet it heightened her other senses. It was disorientating to be almost blinded but given the ears of a wolf. Even the rustle and snapping of the twigs felt heavy in her ears.
The sense of smell was sensitized; the decomposing leaves made the atmosphere seem close and thick.
The blackness nurtured a sense of claustrophobia inside her, even though the woodland stretched unbroken for miles.
The narrow path which was made uneven by the knotted roots that crossed it branched off at intervals.
Jeannette didn’t know where to look. The forest spanned the whole covens, and he could have taken her anywhere. Yet she had a feeling she knew exactly where he had taken her. The vortex.
For the first time, since the day that Crystal was three years old and showed the signs of the great power, they needed to open the doorway, she was worried. She could see her plan crumbling in front of her eyes. Yet what irritated her the most was that she could do nothing at all about it.

***

Darkness was suffocating Crystal’s body like damp, a musty thick blanket that covered every inch of her body like skin.
“Where am I,” she whispered into the black void. Her head answered her with a monster headache. She touched the back of her head where the pain was coming from and felt a sticky substance. She couldn’t see, but she had a pretty good idea what it was. Blood.
Crystal’s breath became ragged and harsh as the trial flooded back to her.
Drake. It must have been Drake. He had knocked her out then kidnapped her. Silly stupid girl she told herself. You should keep your guard up at all times. Haven’t you learned nothing?
The voice inside her head berated her and she wanted to dig inside her own brain and remove the offender. Yet the voice was right. She was too busy showing off her power to check for any signs of an attack.
Her hands trembled at her sides, and she jammed her fist into her mouth to stifle the scream. She'd heard it coming, the soft susurration of its footsteps, like a threatening whisper. It didn't seem to come from any direction, just a sound that encapsulated her inside her cocoon of despair and hopelessness. She probably wasn't going to make it out alive. Her legs were frozen into place, so she crouched into a crawl and dragged herself towards the edge of the room, gasping and choking.
A bright flash lit up the small limestone room. Her jaw dropped in a silent scream of horror. The thing lunged at her, a dark shape latching onto her back.
She throws herself to the floor as whatever the monster was, clawed at her back. A stone door that blended into the darkness was thrust open and the thing let go of her back. It scuttled towards her, a girl with no legs, Teke Teke, she coked her head to the side her black iris that held a glint of red stared into her own.
“Mine,” she whispered in her child like voice and disappeared. Crystal let out a breath and turned to see a shocked Hugo.
He was the last person she expected to see.
“Hugo!” she screamed his name with excitement. She had never been so glad to see him. Scrambling to her feet she ran to the teen she called her friend, probably her only friend.
He shoved her away harshly. His eyes taking on a look of that of a maniac, his eyes were wide and wild, with hate clearly written across his facial features. A look that chilled her to the bone, she took a step back.
“Hugo,” she whispered his name, hoping he would come to his senses and snap out of the murderous look he held on to his face.
“What was that?” he asked, his eyes staring into the place that Teke had vanished.
“Teke,” she whispered, afraid to say the child demons name out loud in case she returned for her.
He nodded, yet Crystal could see that he didn’t know who she was referring too. The look of confusion made her take another step back until her back was pressed against the stone wall.
Hugo was a goody two shoes. A know it all, he would know who she was, after all he had taken the demonology class with her. Something wasn’t right.
His face erupted into a smirk. He rubbed his hands together in that classic way only villains do. Crystal gulped as he took a step towards her.
“You girl are a fool,” it wasn’t Hugo’s voice anymore. She knew that voice. It was one she would never forget. Echidna. The half woman half snake lady, who was the one to banish her kind. She was the mother of all monsters.
She transformed in front of her eyes; her sleek black hair took the place of Hugo’s blond surfer locks. Then her face morphed onto his followed by her hideous scaly snake lower half. What had Levi ever seen in such a monster? She wondered as she took in her appearance. Sure, she had a pretty face, but that didn’t disguise the rest of her monstrous look.
“You child will stay here for the rest of your days,” with a hollow laugh she slammed the door encasing Crystal into darkness once more.