Chapter 86- Into The Thorns

Levi glanced at Crystal. He was afraid that he was losing her. She looked lost, and withdrawn. Her feisty attitude had all but vanished, like she had given up. “Sometimes the right path is not the easiest one,” he whispered to her. It was word’s his own mother had ushered to him many times before. Until now they had never held any meaning to him. Now those very words, echoed in his mind. They gave him a glimmer of hope, in the impending doom that seemed to be closing in around them.
“When did you get so smart,” she asked him without moving from the window.
“A very smart woman once told me that,”
“Margon,” she whispered.
She was right, Margon had always told him crap like that, she was more like his mother than he had ever realized. Just little hints to make him believe in himself. He just wished she would spill the beans. Tell them what they needed to do. He was at a loss and he feared that the world was coming to an end. He didn’t know how to stop what was happening. Perl was right. The only way to stop The Lady Of The Forest from rising was by killing those that had the power to set her free. But how could he ever go through with such a thing? A few months ago, he wouldn’t have had a second thought. Now every fibre in his body wanted to protect Crystal and keep her safe. If she rose, they would all be dead. But at least he wouldn’t be the one responsible. But in another way he would. He would have let it happen. Was it worse to stand back and let pure evil rise, or stand up and do what he knew needed to be done. Slamming his hands on the wheel he gritted his teeth together. His own mind was driving him over the edge. Both choices he was faced with, they both seemed wrong. They had to be another way. A loophole.
“The wheel hasn’t done anything to you,” he looked at Crystal and sighed.
“No, you’re right,”
“You don’t think we can get through this do you?” she asked him and he smiled at her. At times he didn’t think they would. Then he looked at her. He wouldn’t give up. Crystal deserved more than the horrors she had been given in life.
“Yes I do, whatever this is, we will make it. Do you want me to tell you why? Because I have faith in you, in us, and together we will change the future and make it a better place,”
“And if we don’t?”
“There is no doubt, we will succeed.”
“I hope your right.” Taking her hand in his he gave it a slight squeeze before returning to keeping his eyes on the road.
As they turned into the dark country road that led to the Midnight coven he slowed down and then came to a stop.
“What the….” One of the girls said from the backseat.
“Look, the lights, they’ve all gone out,” Perl pointed out and Levi uttered a curse under his breath. The road was filled with the angry ghost blocking their path.
“Whatever happens, do not let them into your mind,” he told them all and then sped down the road towards the ghosts. What else was he to do? Turn around? It wasn’t an option. They had to face their problems head on and hope the outcome left them all alive. That is what their life had become in a few short months. A battle of survival.
The air became brittle, as cold licked at his face and crept under his skin. The biting cold chilled his fingertips into a clumsy numbness. His grip on the wheel loosened as the cold tuned his whole hand numb. His legs and feet sized up and the car manoeuvred off the road and barrelled down a steep banking, crashing into a mountain side.
His head hit the wheel and the air bag knocked him back, his lungs ached for oxygen as the air bag took his breath. Bright lights flashed before his eyes, before he was surrounded with blackness, an eerie silence replaced the buzzing in his ears.
“Do you know the tale divided?” a soft unknown voice asked out of the darkness.
“Who are you?” he reached his hands out into the nothingness.
“Who I am is no concern. The tale of the divided holds the answers you need. Balance to the human world must be restored…” another bright flash of light stung his eyes and he shielded his face with his arms.
Screams low and only just adudiable penetrated his mind, every second becoming louder. Then it hit him. Those screams belonged to the girls. Opening his eyes, his head spun as dizziness rendered him imoblie. Crystal was suspened in the air. Her face turning blue. With clumsy hands he rummaged in the glove box and retrived a torch. The battery was dead. Hitting it nurmerous times on the dashboard it finally came to life. He shone the light in Crystal’s direction and she fell to the floor with a sickening thumb.
As he made his way towards her he shone the light in every direction. Crystal was out cold, scooping her into his arms his gaze met Perl’s.
“They are stronger now,” she voiced.
“Run!” Emerald yelled. As the Ghost reformed behind them. With Crystal in his arms he ran towards his village. Opal tripped and Perl pulled her to her feet as the ghost’s closed in. The gates to the Manor came into view. When a large beasts appeared in black smoke.
“It is time,” the demon said.
“No, no! Not now!” he yelled.
“You have been called. Your debt must be repaid,” there was nothing he could do as Crystal was ripped from his arms and the black smoke surrounded his body.
The last thing he saw was her fragile body withering on the cold ground a few meters from the manor door.