Monique kept screaming, and then her nose—blood gushed from it, pouring over her lips and cheeks. Her head jerked tothe side as if someone had slammed into her, and her mouth opened, blood and a bit of tooth flying across the floor. She turned and crawled away, crying and sobbing.
And then?—
I saw her dress rip, and flesh parted in her back, a cut so deep I could see bone as dark blood poured out. She collapsed to the floor. “No, please, no,” she sobbed, desperately trying to crawl away.
Kenneth’s whole body stiffened as he arched back, his arms flailing wildly. Then he slapped onto his back, his eyes wide, unmoving—he just stared at nothing as if nothing was something. He grunted. His stomach—his stomach parted as if an invisible blade was being dragged through his gut. His intestines spilled out like wet serpents. Bile rushed to my mouth, and I had to choke it back.
Two witches held their hands in front of their mouths and blew. Clouds of thick red exploded through the room, coating everything.
Karson roared in fury as he dragged up one knee, but when he tried to stand, his leg gave out. And his shirt was dissolving, being eaten away before my eyes.
And his flesh—oh God.
His flesh blistered and bubbled as if he was being burned by flames.
If I used my power, I could throw the witches, but he was between me and them and I’d throw him straight into them.
“Karson, get down!” I cried, the sound muffled under my arm. Karson dropped flat to the floor. His back was a mess of angry red blisters peeling away at his skin, his flesh, his muscle. The sight of it horrified me. I whined in the back of my throat as I threw up my palms, holding them high so I didn’t hit Karson or the others. My powers roared with a rush of wind. A cloud of redstreaked backwards, slamming into the door and rebounding back.
Fuck.
The chanting increased. Through the blood-stained haze, a witch in the front drew into focus. I recognized her; she was the witch I’d seen in the bar. The girl with long dark hair, pale skin, and brown eyes, but tonight her eyes were opaque blue, seeing nothing of this world, conjuring things that lurked in the murky depths of hell.
She clutched a knife in her hand.
“Eric,” Kenneth cried. His arms by his side, his stomach still gushing blood, he tried to crawl to his friend, his hand shaking as he reached out, but he was helpless to move.
Eric’s skin began to blacken as if he was rotting, and the rot was spreading fast. He gagged, clutching at his neck, black foaming from his mouth.
Karson’s body trembled wildly as he pushed up onto his hands and knees. The flesh on his back was eaten to the bone. But the pain, or their words, or whatever was in the powder, held him down, and he couldn’t stand. Panic and terror overwhelmed me. I wanted to run to him, to drag him out, but if I stepped into the dust I’d drop too.
“Where is he?” the dark-haired witch shrieked as she stalked closer, her knuckles white where they clutched the blade’s handle. If she got to him, she’d stab him.
My lungs began to scream for air. I gritted my teeth and urged my power against the doors. A sharp pain struck my head as my powers surged. The doors rattled, then exploded open. Red streaked outside and the mist thinned.
My eyes tore back to Karson, and stars dotted in front of my vision. The witch raised the knife. He flattened to the floor in what could have been a show of fear but wasn’t. It was a strategic move.
Pain shot like a knife’s blade in my head as I redirected the surge of power. The witch flew across the room.
Crack!
She cried out, a high-pitched sound, as her body hit the wall, and her arm snapped like a twig. The knife clattered to the floor.
My lungs were going to burst. I didn’t want to breathe, but my body instinctively sucked at the air. It was like gulping down thick smoke. My powers waned as my windpipe closed over. Coughing and spluttering, I staggered, slamming into the doorframe, desperately wheezing in breaths. My head thumped with a raw, ugly pain, sweat running down my back as my muscles shook violently. I could feel my power draining like water seeping from a well.
Two witches on either side of the room blew more powder in.
We were looking all kinds of fucked.
It formed a giant cloud directly above Karson. His back was nothing but a pulsing mash of bubbling flesh.
He was burning and burning and burning.
He didn’t scream. I didn’t know how he didn’t scream, except maybe his throat was choked over, like Eric’s.
My eyes shot to him. Eric lay completely still, face down on the floor. Was he dead?
No, no, no.
