The light from the sword faded, as the last echoes of Astrea’s voice bounced off of the walls.
Amanda almost fell over again. She levered her weight on the sword, using it like a walking stick. She pressed her hand to her chest where the gash had been and panted heavily.
For a moment, no one moved. Then Austin, drawing in a breath yelled, “Hey, Amanda!” And he went charging across the room to his friend. Troy wobbled and fell on top of Daniel; Crystal had let out a breath that she didn’t know she’d been holding.
Teenagers weren’t meant to handle things in the normal perspective. Crystal had just seen her supposedly dead aunt posses the body of one of her. And she’d just seen someone die hideously and right now there could be two of her friends dead or dying. And they were in a strange building that was encased in ice and obviously not in the world they had once been in.
But right now the biggest of worries on Crystal’s mind was, “Hey…don’t we have a test tomorrow in History?”
“What?” Troy said.
“Oh, no,” Daniel moaned.
Across the room, Austin slapped Amanda on the back with enough force to make her stagger, “That was great! Where the hell did you learn to do that? You’re a regular bad ass!”
Amanda wobbled unsteadily. Her skin was clean of blood, but she still looked like she could use a hot shower. Or two or three, or maybe five thousand showers.
Crystal, Daniel, and Troy came over. Crystal said, “Austin, darling, we’ve got a test tomorrow in History. Did you study?”
“Me? Study? Hell, no; I was going to copy off of Amanda,” he slapped her back again, affectionately.
Amanda said, “I think….”
“Don’t think, save it for the test,” Troy said.
“Guys, don’t copy off of her,” Crystal said, “She’s had a hard day.”
“Yeah, her answers could be wrong,” Daniel said. Crystal smacked him.
“I think…I…I think I’m….” Amanda panted.
“Scared, dramatized, angry, sick, PMS-ing?” Daniel supplied helpfully.
“OUCH!” Troy screamed.
“What?” Crystal asked.
“He bit me!” Troy shrieked, pointing to the floor.
“Well you were standing on me!” Sam shouted back, sitting up. “I tried to scream but my mouth was full of your foot.”
“Well, its gonna be again if you don’t-” Troy began.
“Christ man,” Austin yelped. “I thought you were dead!” He helped Sam stand.
“I thought I was too,” Sam said. He examined the bloody wound in his chest only to find that he didn’t have one. The blood was still there and the holes in the shirt, but there wasn’t so much as a mark on his skin. He rotated his shoulder a few times in wonder.
Crystal had an idea, “Hey? Is Amanda healed too?”
Austin grabbed the edges of the black vest that Amanda was wearing over a long-sleeved black-cropped top, jerking her chest up to eye level. He poked at her in a way that Crystal would’ve found violating to feminine barriers, and apparently Amanda did too, because she reflexively smacked him, though she still looked dazed. Austin let go so fast, Amanda almost fell.
“I think I’m gonna…. I think I need to…” she said, between gasps for air.
“What?” Austin asked, “Pass out?”
“Don’t mind if I do,” she said, collapsing. The sword clattered to the floor beside her.
“Sissy,” Austin said. He bent to pick up the sword.
“Don’t!” Crystal suddenly shouted.
Austin froze; everyone stared at her.
Crystal looked at them all. “Don’t touch that sword,” she said in a voice that couldn’t be doubted.
She knew, somehow she knew that no one but Amanda, Kaine, or herself could touch that blade. When Crystal picked it up, she understood. The blade tingled fiercely in her grasp, not enough to hurt, but enough to make her feel like her hand had fallen asleep. A voice…or rather a feeling tickled on the edge of her awareness. If Crystal could put it into words, it would’ve said, “Don’t touch me, unless you want to die.” It was a warning. Crystal wondered if Amanda would experience the same thing if she tried to pick up Crystal’s scepter.
Crystal studied the sword. It really was quite beautiful, with glittering internal facets, causing a prism effect on the floor. The hilt and hand guard were made of the same material and besides the dull leather strap wrapped around the hilt the whole blade sparkled. And it was so heavy; Crystal couldn’t even lift it the whole way off the ground. She sighed and let it thud back to the floor.
“We’ll have to wait here, until Amanda comes around,” she said. “We need to take this bitch to Kaine.”
“Who? Amanda or the sword thingy?” Sam asked.
“It’s not a sword thingy, it is a sword, dear,” Crystal said. All this dealing with males made her want to pass out. “I was talking about the sword. Amanda has to be the one to carry it. Besides, she’d kill Austin if he touches her again.”
“Hey, it’s not like that,” Austin said, suddenly defensive of his friend’s honor.
“Yeah, they’re bonded,” Daniel said. “Just like us,” he continued, slipping his arm around Crystal’s shoulders. She rammed him in the jaw with her fist. “I was being sincere,” he whimpered.
“Sorry, force of habit,” Crystal said. “We are good buddies.”
“Great, can we start a campfire and roast marshmallows?” Troy asked, chaffing his hands.
“Whatever you want, dear, whatever you want,” Crystal said, settling herself down in a sitting position. This was going to take a while.
Daniel sang, “Koom-by-ya, my Lord…. Koom-by-ya…Koom-by-ya-“ Austin smacked him over the head.
Well, its happened, Kaine thought. It took a little longer than I thought, but it’s happened. Kaine saw with his inner sight, six teenagers gathered on the floor of an old office building floating through the gap between dimensions. One of the teenagers was now possessed with the spirit of a 3,000 near-deity. Kaine wondered if Amanda was really Amanda or had Astrea taken over her completely. I suppose I’ll have to ask her, whoever she may be.
Join us…
“Piss off!” Amanda shouted at the nameless voices. She backed up against one of the walls in her nightmare, her face pouring sweat.
She had been dreaming this dream for a while now. She would see things, horrible atrocities, sickening murders, and a black clad woman in the center of it all. She would’ve been beautiful if she did look so hostile. Her long black hair was pulled into a long braid that went well past her hips. Her skin was dark olive in complexion and she looked sickeningly thin. But she was so powerful, like a coiled spring. Her watery, pale blue eyes watched Amanda like a hawk as Amanda stumbled aimlessly around in her nightmare.
The voices that spoke to Amanda were many in number, and all of them spoke in shrieks and moans of pain or horror. Somehow Amanda knew that these were the voices of the people that that woman had killed. They were trapped inside the crystalline walls of the sword. Amanda hadn’t seen the sword in her nightmare yet, but the voices followed her everywhere. She stumbled around in her shadowy prison, knowing that if she stopped moving, it would catch up with her. She didn’t know what “it” was, but she didn’t want to find out. Her skin burned with fever and her eyes were streaming tears. Her mouth was hot and her tongue felt to big for her mouth. She panted as she stumbled into yet another dream wall. The voices, sensing her weakness, came closer.
Joins us…
“Please,” Amanda whispered, squeezing her eyes shut, “Please just go away….”
“Pathetic,” said a voice.
Amanda opened her eyes. Had the woman spoken? Amanda could feel a hand, long and bony and ice cold brush across the back of her neck, giving her a chill. Go away…
“Give me a break, my head was bleeding….”
“It ‘ain’t bleeding, now….”
“Well, it was a while ago.”
“You were dead a while ago.”
“I don’t get that, either…”
“Guys, let him finish.”
“Yeah, let the man speak!”
“Yeah, c’mon, Sam, what happened?”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Yeah, we want to know…”
“WELL, IF YOU GUYS WOULD SHUT UP, I’D TELL YOU, ALREADY! So anyway, I heard a noise up the corridor and I thought I saw Amanda running up the back stairs so I followed her but I got really dizzy….”
That was Sam’s voice. He was alive? Was she alive? Was this all some big nightmare?
Yeah, that’s it, Amanda thought, I just fell asleep in Biology and Sam is bragging to Troy about something he did last weekend.
But she wasn’t in Biology and she wasn’t asleep. She was awake and staring at the up at a ceiling encrusted in ice. And she could still feel the chill of the hand at the back of her neck.
“And it wasn’t her. It was some demon and something hit me in the back of the head and that really wasn’t good for my brain…the next thing I knew, I was staring at some guy beating the hell out of Amanda….”
He wasn’t beating the hell out of me, Amanda tried to say, but her lips never formed the words. All that came out was a wordless groan. Immediately, there was a lot of movement around her. Someone cradled her head and shoulders in their lap, helping her to sit up; shadowy figures crowded around her. Please don’t let me be dreaming again….
Amanda’s vision cleared and the first face that came into view was upside down. Amanda frowned; unable to comprehend why she was seeing Crystal’s face upside down. Then she remembered where she was and most of what happened. She sat straight up only to collide with Crystal’s head. Both girls fell back with painful exclamations.
“Women…don’t they know how to resuscitate someone?” that was Austin’s voice.
Rough hands seized her shirt collar and pulled her up. Austin smacked her in the face once, twice, three times before Amanda came around fully and punched him in the face.
“See?” Austin said, rubbing his jaw, “I told you.”
Amanda groaned again and gripped her aching head. She dropped suddenly to her haunches on the cold metal floor. She felt nauseous and drowsy; maybe she had a concussion. She put her head between her knees and breathed deeply.
“Great, she’s awake, can we go now?” Troy asked eagerly.
“What’s the rush?” Crystal asked, “You in a hurry to flunk History?”
That’s right, Amanda thought with the first trace of sanity she had had in a while, we have a history test tomorrow.
“We don’t even know how to get out of here,” Daniel said.
“Try the front door, genius,” Sam said, scathingly.
“We told you, it’s encased in ice,” Crystal said, “Besides, we don’t even know if we’re on Earth or in space.”
Sam heaved an irritated sigh as though the answers to all of their problems were obvious. “Get me my laptop and I’ll find out where we are and how to leave,” he said, gesturing imperiously.
“We told you that, too,” Crystal snarled, “Nothing works. No phones, no clocks, and no computers.”
Austin and Troy looked at Sam to see if he would burst into tears, but he just smiled and winked, “My computer can do anything.”
Amanda stared at the floor. These words meant something but she couldn’t remember what. She was supposed to be feeling and thinking a certain way, but she didn’t. She felt nothing, and all she could think of was how much she wanted to lift that sword up again. Lift it up and pierce somebody’s heart with it…
“Whoa, time out, time out,” Sam said.
Amanda blinked. Murderous impulses could wait until later.
“What’s the matter?” Troy asked, “Is the Pentagon sending you harassing E-mails again?”
“No, but somebody’s IM-ing me,” Sam said, frowning.
“Who would IM you, Sam? No, offense, but you’re not exactly the social type, even on the Internet.” Crystal shot Austin a glare; how could he say that to his friend? Not that it wasn’t true….
“Who the hell is Priestboy2000?” Sam asked, completely ignoring Austin and his cold-blooded remark.
Crystal gasped, “It’s Kaine!”
Now everyone stared at her. “Don’t ask,” she said. Crystal elbowed Sam aside and snatched the glowing laptop out of his hands.
The screen read:
Priestboy2000: … Wouldn’t believe the line for batteries
ToshibaMaster: Kaine? (It’s Crystal!) Where are we?
Priestboy2000: Crystal? Long time no see *gives Crystal hug*
ToshibaMaster: *Punches Kaine* Where are we?
Priestboy2000: In a gap between dimensions.
ToshibaMaster: What?
Priestboy2000: I’ll get you out. Is everyone okay?
ToshibaMaster: Amanda’s hurt I think s/t possessed her. She’s got on all black!
ToshibaMaster: Hello? Kaine?
ToshibaMaster: HEEELLLOOO???? Ne1 there?
Priestboy2000: Sorry, give the computer back to Sam. Spread the love. *Throws peace sign*
Crystal handed the laptop back to Sam obediently. Sam sat down on the cold hard floor and immediately became absorbed into a kind of trance typical of that of computer geeks. Crystal knew it was going to be a long time before this was over.
She turned back to the others, only to find the boys edging a steady retreat away from Amanda. The other girl had buried her head in her hands and was shaking with silent sobs. Crystal, being the natural comforter, moved forward to embrace Amanda, but she froze in place when Amanda’s dry-eyed, angry gaze fell on her.
“Don’t touch me,” her voice was barely above a whisper, but Amanda’s eyes held enough malice to make Crystal wince.
“Now calm down,” Crystal said in a soft voice. “It’ll be okay.”
“No, it won’t,” Amanda said flatly.
“Of course it will,” Crystal said.
“I won’t,” Amanda said.
“You’ll be all right. You just need some time-”
“I DON’T WANT ANY TIME! I WANT TO GO HOME,” Amanda suddenly screamed, jumping to her feet.
“I know, sweetie, but-”
“NO, YOU DON’T KNOW. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE…YOU CAN’T HEAR IT! YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!”
“Can’t hear what?” Crystal asked, reasonably. She knew coddling Amanda wouldn’t work, so maybe she could rationalize with her.
Or…maybe that was a bad idea. Amanda shook from head to foot with barley contained emotions. Her hand gripped the hilt of the Crystal Sword so tightly that her knuckles were snow-white. For a second, Crystal thought she’d actually swing it at somebody. By now, the boys, save for Sam, were on the other side of the room. Crystal wouldn’t have minded joining them, because Amanda looked entirely unstable right now.
Amanda stared at Crystal a moment longer as thought she wasn’t really sure of what she meant, herself, but suddenly, her face twisted and she spun around as if to hide some forbidden emotion that was controlling her features.
“Amanda,” Crystal began, but the other girl bolted away into the shadows of the room. Crystal heard the door in the far end of the room open and slam abruptly. Crystal started after her, but suddenly, Austin laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Let her go,” he said.
Crystal looked at him in surprise. Austin’s face held a grim expression; he had seen this before.
“She doesn’t want you to see her cry,” Austin said, knowingly.
“But-” Crystal began.
“Oh, leave her alone for a while,” Sam said, reproachfully, surprising everyone. He had come out of his computer trance and was glaring at them all. “It’s not every day you die and get a huge sword. You can’t ask her to go around killing people with that thing, either, like Kaine’s going to do. Let her decide to do it on her own.”
Everyone stared at Sam.
“Whoa, somebody’s being Mr. Sensitive,” Troy said, mockingly.
Sam just shrugged, “Hey, dying will do that to a guy. And would you guys please keep it down? Kaine’s talking about some weird stuff.”
Amanda didn’t have very far to run before she realized that there wasn’t anywhere to run. The ice had grown all the more thicker since Austin had melted it off of the staircase and the topmost floor was now almost entirely sealed off. Amanda stopped outside of the door through which she had come and sank to the freezing floor, letting tears that she had been holding back shake her for the first time. Rarely did Amanda cry, especially for anything trivial; but Amanda decided that this could fall under the massive trauma category. Even so, she cried quietly, as though ashamed of her tears.
But why should she be ashamed? None of this was her fault. She certainly didn’t ask for it. So why should she be afraid to cry? Its what happens when someone’s hurt, scared, or lonely, and Amanda felt all of those things pretty acutely right now.
But Austin never….
Amanda shook her head angrily. She needed to stop comparing herself to the boys, or anybody else, for that matter. She was not like most people, she was exactly as she was and that was all she needed to be.
Amanda scratched at the collar of her shirt. She certainly didn’t feel like herself in these clothes. Amanda studied the new attire she was wearing, gaining curiosity about them for the first time. All in all, it wasn’t that odd. The outfit was composed of midnight-black fabric that had been cut into slacks that were slung just below her belly button and went just a little ways past her ankles--very chic. The fabric breathed well enough but it felt like sandpaper against her skin.
She was no longer wearing her old tennis shoes with the frayed silver lining; instead she had on military style boots that were mostly concealed by the wide cut slacks. A slight heel to the shoes kept the fabric of the pants form brushing the ground. The shirt was the coolest part, Amanda decided. It was knit in a different texture than the rest of the clothing. Instead of being smooth to the touch on the outside, it was rough as though hand-made. It had long sleeves that gave her room around her shoulders, but clung to her skin at the forearms. The part that made it really appeal to a teenage girl was the fact that it ended just short of her pants, causing a crop-top effect. And should your average teenage girl not want to display any part of her tummy; there was also a vest that reached all the way to her hips.
The only fault with the clothing (Other than the fact that it wasn’t hers, she didn’t know how she got it, and she wanted her old clothes back.) was that it was scratchy and had no pockets.
Oh, well, take the good with the bad….
At that thought, Amanda looked down at the sword still clutched in her hand. Until now she hadn’t even noticed that she’d been holding it. It seemed almost weightless in her one-handed grip. Amanda lifted it from the floor. The length of the blade was not as awkward as Amanda thought it would be. Using two hands, she swung the sword parallel to the ground for measure. The blade followed the motion of her hands smoothly. It whistled as it followed the path her hands set. The sword’s song had a seductive, elusive quality that made her want to swing it again to be sure that she heard the sound. Left, right…. Right, left…Amanda pushed the hilt upward, making the blade’s tip graze the ground in an outward movement. Instead of hearing a screech of metal and feeling the tip glance off the ground, she only heard the sword sing louder and felt only the meekest of resistance from the metal.
Now Amanda stood to swing the sword more completely, forgetting everything around her. She only wanted to hear the sword’s song. Though her body was not quite done growing, and her muscles needed to be further developed before she could use the sword masterfully, she handled the blade as smoothly as if she’d been using it all of her life.
It was almost as if the blade were moving her hands, as opposed to the other way around….
Amanda dropped the Crystal Sword, suddenly. It clattered to the ground, its edges cutting deep nicks into the floor with its simple rocking motion. She backed away from it, frightened by what she’d done. She’d just been standing there, swinging the sword around in blind ecstasy, slashing deeply into walls, floors, ice…anything that got in the way. Amanda stared at the Crystal Sword, thinking.
A whispering moan filled her ears. Amanda spun around. There was no one there. The moan grew louder. Amanda swallowed, trying to get a grip. She looked back at the sword on the floor, gleaming dangerously. She could still feel the urge to pick it up again. Her blood sang and her hands tingled as though itching to hold the sword one more time. But she mentally refused. All at once the moaning became an outraged roar. Thousands upon thousands of voices shrieked in her ears, all anguished. Amanda spun around again, but there was no one in the isolated hall. The voices were inside her head?
No…they were the voices inside the sword.
The siren song was broken, and Amanda could see the sword for what it really was. This wasn’t just some toy or object of any kind. It was a prison. It held real power that could tear apart anything that got close, but it was also a drug, an addictive thing that Amanda wasn’t sure she could resist. It also held the voices of all those who had been killed by Astrea. Well, not really killed, but their weren’t among the living exactly. A vampire sword that allowed the wielder to feed off of its opponents…
That’d be kind of cool for a video game…
But it wasn’t a game. And it wasn’t a dream. The temptation to use the sword was been powerful; Amanda could still feel a tingle in her fingers, longing for the smooth touch of the hilt, but Amanda was now on her guard against it. And all that screaming was beginning to put her off as well. After all, she didn’t care about absolute, unquestionable power…she was a teenager and already believed she was immortal. And who the hell needed a sword in the days of the M-16 and 9 MM automatics?
But something inside of her knew that the Crystal Sword belonged to her, now, and she’d have to deal with it. Sooner or later.