Lily was finally back at school weeks later. Her burn marks were almost gone. She also had to get over the feeling that she was in a dream. It took her a while to believe that “the gifted ones'' existed. Lily and Jason’s relationship also grew. They got to know each other more. Jason and Lily both loved to write. They also loved to draw. Lily loved to draw anime characters when Jason drew more realistically. They drew together a couple of times while Lily was healing. They put their sketch pads on the ground and did drawing contests or portraits of each other. At that moment, Lily stood alone on the road to her school. She was waiting for Jason to show up. She didn’t know why, but she was afraid to go to school. Something was going on there, something odd. Her house was completely destroyed and she had nowhere to go. Luckily, Jason had her stay at his apartment. She slept in the room while he slept on the couch. She felt bad, but Jason being the mind reader he was, told her he had much worse, which left her feeling confused and bad about what happened when he was younger. Jason was seventeen and Lily was sixteen. She was really happy that she finally found someone. Someone who cared about her. Someone who took care of her like her mother once did. There was something she wasn’t sure of though. Her mother she loved, but Jason’s ability to make her laugh and cry was something else. It was like he cared, but there was more. Lily never got the chance to love. She wondered what love was like. She wasn’t sure if this was it. If this was love.
“Lily! Where have you been?” Elle ran up to her and panted. She looked up and tears stung her eyes. “I’ve been worried sick! You’ve been gone and you’re not answering your phone!”
“Yeah… umm… about that…”
“Hey!” Jason walked up from the other direction. Lily’s heart jumped; she wasn’t used to him leaving her alone. If something happened to him she didn’t know what to do. He walked up to Lily and smiled. “Don’t worry. I was just getting us some chai latte’s from Moonbucks.”
Elle was silent, she and Jason were staring at Lily.
“Elle, I’m sorry…” Lily said.
Jason put his finger up, “No, don’t apologize.” He turned over to the other girl. “Elle, tell her.”
Elle stayed silent and stared at Lily. “Wha… Tell me what?”
“I’ve already revealed myself.” Jason stated. “You know what happened and you know that her powers are activated. We no longer need to hide this from her.”
“Wait what…? What’s going on?”
Elle inhaled sharply. “My name is Elle Starflight. I am part of the B.O.M.B. the ‘bureau of magical beings’. Yes I know that spells bomb but it’s the name they chose for some reason.”
“Wait… You’re a magical being too? This is confusing…” Lily turned to Jason, “There’s a whole bureau of us?” She asked him. “Are you a part of it too?”
Jason stayed straight-faced and nodded.
“So what is your goal?” Lily was confused, two people who were not who she thought they were.
“We were sent to protect you,” Jason said
“Protect me? Protect me from what?”
“There is someone after you, someone we need to protect you from. He took your mother, and we believe your aunt as well as your English teacher. Now he’s after you.” Elle stated.
“After me…? But who…?”
“Lucifer.” They said together.
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“Luci…… Wait what? WHAT?” Lily was horrified, what would this Lucifer want with her? What did he need her for? What was the point of this? “I don’t understand what’s going on… Doesn’t he live in hell or something?”
“He did…” Elle said.
“Did…? As in, past tense?! Oh no… I’m screwed…” Lily ran her fingers through her hair and started pacing. She stopped and looked at Jason. “Lucifer. As in the KING OF HELL. The so-called KING OF ALL DEMONS.”
Jason had that “oh no I shouldn’t have said that” face. He nodded.
She started pacing again, feeling the dread of being alive. But there was a reason, wasn’t there? A reason for her to be alive? Her lungs were being weighed down by a thousand pounds. Lucifer… The king of demons… wants to kill me…
“Well…” Jason said. “We don’t exactly know what he wants with you. We just know that he wants to get everyone out of his way.” He reached out and grabbed Lily’s hand. Redness made its way up to her face.
“I…” She stammered. She couldn’t concentrate with him doing this.
“You don’t have to concentrate. Just let Elle and I help you. We are strong, we both have powers, and we are trained in combat.” He lightly stroked her upper hand with his thumb.
Lily pulled her hand out of Jason’s grasp. “And let you DIE for ME? NO. It’s not worth it.” Lily crouched down and dug her fingers in her hair. “It can’t be… It’s not real…” Jason looked at Elle. She just sighed and nodded. He kneeled down next to Lily and rubbed her back softly.
“You know. Your aunt was one of us too.” Jason smiled softly.
The poor girl looked up with tears covering her face. No part was dry. Jason felt dread running down his back. “Really…?” her voice cracked. She wiped her eyes with her dress sleeve. After the house fire, Jason bought her new dresses. Ones that she really liked. A lot of them were in her favorite color, blue. “Wh….” She looked up. “What was her magical ability?”
“It was telekinesis.” Elle stated.
Lily looked up at Elle. “What… What about yours?”
Elle looked at Jason who half smiled and nodded. She looked back at Lily and smiled generously. Lily has never seen her smile like that before. This is a weird new Elle. Lily thought. What if she can read minds too? Oh no, I can’t have two people knowing everything I think about…
“Don’t worry.” The mind-reading boy looked at Lily and grinned. “I can read her thoughts but she can’t read ours.”
Elle’s face turned beat red, “YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO READ MY MIND.” She growled.
Now that’s the Elle I know. Lily thought.
“So…” Lily started. Jason and Elle turned and looked at her. “If it isn’t mind reading…” She looked at Elle. “Then… What is it?”
Elle sighed and smiled again. “It’s Ice, and I have another one. Healing.” She looked at Jason who was still grinning. “And this guy.” She punched his arm.
“Ow! What was that for?” He looked mildly annoyed.
“He has a dangerous power.” Elle narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you.”
“Wait… You have a dangerous ability?” Lily looked eager to know, and she was.
“Yes.” Jason said while rubbing his arm. “I rarely ever use it. It’s useful, but it’s very dangerous.” He stayed silent.
“Well.” Elle said. “What is it, and what’s so ‘dangerous’ about it?”
Jason let out a very annoyed sigh, “It’s telepathy. It’s dangerous because every time you use it, it damages the brain of the person you're trying to communicate with.” He was still rubbing his arm. “Dude. That really hurt.”
Elle rolled her eyes.
“Wait… damages the brain?!” Lily felt fear edging up her throat.
“I’m sure he told you,” Elle said.
“Told me what?”
“She’s thinking that I told you that good powers have consequences.” He said still annoyed.
Elle's face, once again, turned red. “Will you STOP READING MY MIND?!”
Jason grinned, “But it’s so much fun! Annoying you is the best!” and he laughed.
Lily smiled, Jason was the best at making jokes. He also was very caring. That must have been a nice trait to have. He looked over to Lily and raised his eyebrows. God, he read my mind again... She thought.
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*****
The bell rang and class started. Lily under the AC vent, Jason next to her, and Elle behind Lily. Only this time it was different. They were no longer who people thought they were. They were from another existence, ones where demons and goddesses lived. Lily was filled with fear, and so were her friends. Because the most feared demon of all was after her… and probably her friends as well.
Mr. Mattews walked into the room, a smile pasted on his face. He always smiled. It was odd and nerve-racking. He raised his eyes and stared at Lily. His eyes were sinking into her soul. She quickly looked away.
Does she even know? She doesn’t suspect a thing.
Lily looked up. Did someone just talk? Or was it a voice in her head? But… it sounded so real… She looked at Jason who had no facial expression, his eyebrows were raised and he was staring off into space.
Who is this new teacher? He only pays attention to Lily, it’s like he doesn’t notice us at all.
That sounded like Nadya’s voice, the popular girl in the class. What’s going on? Lily thought.
I wonder if she suspects me yet.The booming voice said.
I wonder what we’re doing today. A student wondered.
She’s so ignorant.
Who was that booming voice. It was loud and deafening. It made Lily’s thoughts race.
Geez, English class is so boring.
I wonder if she knows who her father is.
Why aren’t we doing anything?
No, I have to wait a little longer to reveal myself.
Why is he just staring at her?
Why is he just staring at her, why is he just staring at her, why is he just staring at her.
“L- Lily?”
She looked up. She didn’t realize she covered her ears and tears ran down her eyes.
“Lily…? Are you okay?” Jason looked at her with concern. She looked around the room and everyone was looking at the teacher while he was explaining synonyms.
“Jason… Am I going crazy…?” Lily whispered.
“What happened…? Are you okay?” Jason placed his hand on her back.
“I heard a voice… no… thousands of voices… all from the classmates around the class…” Lily looked at Jason. “What’s happening to me?” She gripped her desk, turning her knuckles white. There was this one voice though. It was someone unfamiliar. He was… She looked up. She gripped the table harder, it burned, the table was burning her.
“Lily… Lily!” Jason whispered.
She looked down, her hands sank into the table. She lifted them up, and two black scorched handprints burned into the table. Her hands had more burn marks spread across the palm.
It’s her. I know now. The voice sang in her head.
Lily’s pupils shrank. “He’s here. I know he is.”
“Stay calm,” Jason whispered.
Lily and Jason looked up, Mr. Mattews was staring at all three of them. His gaze was hard. I can’t wait to meet her and make her mine.
Lily inhaled sharply and held her breath. The world was spinning. She couldn’t breathe, it was terrifying. The air suddenly went cold. All that existed was Mattews. A murderer was her teacher, he killed her parents and her aunt, as well as her actual teacher.
She got up from her chair, feeling sick. Then she ran, ran like her life depended on it, and it did. Leaving Jason and Elle alone with him. Him. It was him. He was him. He was the murderer. He was the demon.
He was Lucifer.
Run all you can Lily, but you won’t be able to escape.
Voices surrounded her head. Voices of all the children. Everyone in the school. Panting, she got out of the school passing the security desk. The air went dry. She couldn’t breathe. I have to keep running! She thought. I have to or he’ll catch me.
Rain clouds covered the sky, the darkness was surrounding her. She couldn’t escape.
Suddenly something grabbed her arm and tugged her to face him. Lily screamed, closed her eyes, and scratched his arm. She started running again. This time he grabbed her waist and tugged her toward him again. Lily tried to get out of his grasp, but he embraced her. His arms surrounded her.
Lily scratched, hit, and begged, but he just wouldn’t let go. She couldn’t hear anything. Rain fell from the sky. Covering her in its darkness.
A muffled voice came from the man. Slowly the world came back into focus. She could hear him talking, he was saying her name.
“Lily! Lily! Lily, stop! It's just me!” Lily looked up. Burned scratches surrounded the boy’s chest.
“Jason…?” Lily looked around. “But… I thought you were…”
“Mattews? No.”
Lily lightly touched the scratch marks on his chest. He winced. “I’m sorry…” She looked down. “I was panicking. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She started sobbing. Rain drenched her hair and dress. Jason pulled her closer to him. Lily sobbed and cried in his chest. She didn’t think she could handle any more of the world. It was too stressful.
“Lily….” Jason breathed. He knew where her thought process was going. She was getting depressed. Too depressed…
“I’m sorry. I really am… I didn’t mean to hurt you….” Lily wept. She pressed her head into Jason’s chest. “I’m just scared… I’m really scared….”
Jason pulled her away from him, leaned forward, and pressed his lips on Lily’s. Her lips tasted salty from her tears. Even though they were salty, they were soft. Lily wasn’t pulling away. She was actually leaning in closer. So, Jason wrapped his hand around the back of her head, lacing his fingers through her hair. He hoped he was helping her calm down. The kiss calmed him down. He just hoped it would do the same for her. Jason saw that Lily’s eyes were closed. He wanted to give her a moment before he pulled away.
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