I glare up at him. “No. I have no idea what that was.” I bristle. “If I knew I had that inside of me this whole time, I would have freaking used it sooner.”
“Jeesh. I was just asking.”
I know I’m not being fair, but I just watched a bunch of my friends get sucked into a crack in a cliff, found out I have powers, then saw a crap-ton of souls escape that same hole in the rock and head to town to do God knows what. Plus, I’m cold, confused, scared as heck and in need of a foot rub.
Only a few street lamps dot the streets in front of the downtown buildings that make up the meat of this town.
“It’s like a ghost town.” I whisper feeling more uneasy with each step we take. We turn the corner, seeing Diablos coming into view. Worries about Salem wash over me as I remember how effervescent and carefree she looked the night she performed with Walker.
It’s then that a low rumbling can be felt under our feet. I grip onto Lukas’s arm to hold me steady. Diablos is enveloped in flames within seconds, the heat of the blaze is palpable washing over my skin like an unholy baptism.
“Holy fuck!” Lukas exclaims breaking his silence for the first time.
“I hope no one was in there.”
Howling fills the night air as piercing screams begin to echo around the empty streets. It sounds as if it's coming from every direction. We look frantically around seeing no source for the sounds.
“I don't like this.” Sloan says, his feet backing away from the spreading inferno. The building next to Diablos has caught fire. The flames crackle along the vinyl siding circling the glass windows until they shatter.
A cackling laugh flitters along the wind wrapping itself around us like a deranged tornado of emotion.
“Skye! Watch out!” Lukas says, pulling me back from a surge of fire. It nearly misses us, engulfing the space where I was just standing.
“We need to move!” I cry out, noting the false front of the building starting to give way. The wood creaks and cracks, threatening to squash us at any second.
My body acts on pure instinct. I’ve seemed to have tapped into that internal flame, letting it roam free. I feel my feet leave the ground as power flows out of me, sending out a barrier between us and the fire right before the building comes crashing down, splintering against the shield I’ve created.
It’s unnatural, this power I’m wielding, but nothing has ever felt so right. Having done it once before, I’m more prepared for it when it floods me.
“How the hell are you doing that?” Sloan asks.
“I have no idea!”
“You’re literally floating in the air, Skye!” Lukas says, his eyebrows furrowed with worry.
A loud siren like scream pierces the air as a swirl of souls circles us like a heard of blood thirsty sharks.
A beam of light shoots out from the center of my chest, chasing the souls into the shadows. They shriek as if they’re in pain, but as suddenly as my power came on, it sputters out, making me crash to the ground. My feet hit the pavement hard, legs crumpling beneath me in a twisted mess.
“Skye!” the guys all call out simultaneously, rushing to my side.
“I’m fine.” I say with a groan, trying to brush myself off. My knees and wrists burn from trying to catch myself as I fell. Wincing, I grab onto Lukas and Sloan as they hoist me up.
“We need to get out of here.” Graham says, looking at the burnt embers of what used to be Diablos. The building gone in a matter of minutes. Fire still blazes along the back end of the building. I look down and see a perfect circle outlined by charred boards and ash.
The fire department should be here at any moment, Graham is right, we need to get out of here before they think we had anything to do with this. I glance around the empty looking town trying to track where the souls could have gone, but it’s no use.
I hate to retreat, but I’m completely tapped out. I can feel blood dripping down my shins and the use of my new power for a second time has my legs feeling like jelly.
“Skye, baby. Let’s go. We can’t do any more tonight.” Lukas urges.
“Do you think it’s safe to go back to the house?” Sloan asks.
“I don’t think any place is safe right now, but that’s our best bet.” Lukas responds.
I feel the crushing weight of failure settle over my tired body. I’m not sure what I expected us to accomplish by coming here, but I thought we’d be able to dosomething. All that we did was watch these things fly around and set fire to a beloved building. Who even knows what else they can do? I’m not exactly proficient in nefarious souls 101, and I’m pretty sure they don’t teach that at Kildale.
“Let’s at least leave a note at Madame LeRoux’s, filling her in on what happened. Maybe she can help us.” I say, wanting to make use of coming out all this way.
