Chapter 54

A shocked gasp gets my attention. I look down at an overly large leather book and see myself staring back in sketch form. The sketch is a perfect likeness of me, right down to the shape of my nose and my high cheekbones. At the side of the picture are written the words, Hulk the dark one that captured me chanted.
‘In every generation, a girl will be born, until the girl who bears the rose’s thorn. Rules will be disobeyed that were made to be sworn. The girl will rise through light and dark. She will bear the mark. Hell will be opened. Evil will be welcomed. The child from earth and light will bear the fight. She will end the war. With her, they will fall. The sky will turn red to mourn the dead.’
I quickly realize it’s me the words are describing. I am the girl in the prophecy. Pieces start to click together. Do I run? Should I hide? My life has changed again, this time with a twisted fate. I’m the one to blame for the evil roaming the world. ‘The sky will turn red to mourn the dead.' That can only mean one thing. A lot of lives will be lost. My blood opened the portal and allowed the darkest of demons to roam free. I feel doomed, and I’m going to be taking alot of innocent lives with me.
There is another passage in a strange text. I am surprised I can make out the words. It tells me how to close the portal. The ‘How’ scares me.
My body tingles: a bright flash momentarily blinds me. I blink rapidly as my vision blurs. After a few minutes, my vision clears again. I find myself standing in the middle of a dark and dense wood. It couldn’t be any darker in a coffin six feet under. I can just make out the outlines of the trees. My body screams at me to run. But where to? The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I sense someone, or something, watching me.
The darkness nurtures a sense of claustrophobia inside me and spikes my fear. Slowly, I spin around, looking for any sign of danger. There is no sound, no birds or animal noises, just silence. The musty scent of leaves after rainfall surrounds me.
I strain my eyes to look deeper into the woodland. The vague outline of the trees is all I can see.
The rustle of leaves makes my head whip around. The rustling grows louder, like it’s coming from all directions. I spin around in a panic, and it stops.
The woodland becomes silent again. The only sound is my rapid breathing.
I take a couple of steps back. I don't know where I am or how I got here. Looking around, I try to judge the direction I should take. I step forward, deciding to keep going straight ahead.
Red glowing eyes flash in the darkness. Soon they surround me. The eyes change to growing embers of fire. It burns brightly behind their irises, like the king’s.
The fiery eyes have no body as they descend toward me.
I can’t breathe or move. I’m completely paralyzed. The more I think about running, the harder it is to try and move. Dread owns me pushing against my will power like an invisible pressure, locking my stomach uptight.
The eyes move slowly closer as if they’re teasing me. Something icy wraps around my neck and lifts me off the ground. Sharp razor like claws dig into my flesh, and a warm liquid runs down my bare skin, bringing along the coppery smell of blood. A burning sensation assaults my wounded skin.
I thrash like a crazy woman, clawing at an invisible body.
One minute I am fighting with everything I have, the next, I’m sailing through the air at a rapid speed.
My back hits a tree with a loud crack. Pain shoots down my spine, and my legs go numb. I try to move my feet but to no avail. I can’t move from the waist down.
The fiery eyes descend upon me once again. Dozens of them dance in the open blackness.
My head feels light, and my vision becomes disoriented. I try focusing on my surroundings in the vast darkness as my heart accelerates. My breathing becomes rapid and fills the hollowness that existed before. I scream, but nothing comes out.
The eyes flash in my vision, so close they’re almost touching my face. I try to scream again, but it’s like I have no voice.
My body shakes violently. A sharp slap to my face burns and stings, distant voices ring in my head but they’re too hard to make out. They sound like they’re underwater.
Pain shoots down my entire body. My surroundings fade in and out. I welcome the darkness with open arms. With the darkness, there is no pain or fear. There is nothing.
“Kayla, open your eyes,” I hear a panicked voice say. I squeeze my eyes shut tighter. I don't want to open my eyes and greet the darkness and fire burning eyes.
Someone shakes me. Pain sears down my spine like a hot branding iron. My eyes shoot open as I scream in agonizing pain.
Everyone looks at me. Misty, Justin, Chris, James, and Cole. They look at me as if I have lost my mind. Chris inches closer. I look at them in a shocked daze, and then at the cabin living room. Justin’s brown eyes take on a faraway glance. He has been acting strange with me. I don’t blame him after the things I have said. I never told him it was the king controlling me.
“What happened, Kayla?” Chris asks.
I focus my teary eyes on him. “I…I don’t know,” I stutter as the terror consumes me again. The pain running down my back is making it hard to focus. My head feels light, like I’m floating.
“Do you hurt?” James steps forward and looks at me with concern.
“My back,” I manage to say through clenched teeth.
“Let me look.” Chris holds my shoulders and begins to lift me into a sitting position. I scream in sheer agony, and with remarkable strength knock his hands away.
“Sorry, but I need to see where the pain is coming from before I can heal you,” Chris tries to reassure me.
James adds, “Once you're healed, we need to know what happened. One minute you were sitting looking at a book, the next you were screaming and throwing yourself around like someone possessed.” He crouches down on the opposite side to Chris, and they both grab an arm each and lift me to a sitting position at lightning speed.
A tidal wave of pain shoots down my spine, taking my breath away. Blood rushes to my head, and dizziness overwhelms me. My eyes become heavy, and my head pounds. White lights flash before my eyes then darkness surrounds me.