Losing Battle

Ch. 27 Aftermath

I coughed as I staggered toward my mother. I fought against the smoke threatening to consume me as I grabbed her arm. I struggled to drag her from the room. I sighed before deciding to risk the pain of teleporting her. We landed on the sidewalk outside the building as hunters rushed from the building. I knelt next to my mom checking for a pulse.

"Thank god," I murmured feeling a pulse. I spotted a hunter approaching him. "Help!"

"Stay still!" He ordered me. I held up my hands as he grabbed handcuffs. I didn't resist as he put them on me.

"Help her," I pleaded as he turned to her. He picked her up facing me. I heard the scream first. I turned to see a little girl crying out for her mother. The little girl was trapped inside. I tried to teleport but the cuffs shocked me. I winced facing the man. "Let me help her!"

"Ugh fine but come right back!" He snapped pulling the cuffs off. I teleported to her only to freeze seeing Lake.

"Hello love," he said flashing me a dark smile. I held my breath as he caressed my cheek. "Let's burn them together."

"Lake she just a kid," I said pulling away from Lake. I approached her as his darkness begged for entry into my soul. I felt the darkness buried deep inside stirring. I shut my eyes picturing my family before rejecting the magic. I ran to the girl taking her into my arms. "Shh, I got you!"

"Can you really save them all?" Lake mocked me as I looked at him. He motioned to the other children and I knew the only way to save them was to sacrifice myself. I couldn't possibly teleport all of them and myself.

"Sweetie be brave okay?" I said calmly before calling my powers to me. I began teleporting them as the smoke filled the room. Lake watched me and laughed at my efforts. My vision blurred as I stumbled from child to child. The last child an infant. I hoped the kid would be okay after all the smoke. I faced Lake as he hit me with his magic. I fell to the ground coughing as more smoke floated around me.

"You should have listened to me," Lake's voice called through the darkness. I dragged myself toward the window as he followed me. "You're pathetic and weak. I don't see what my mother saw in you, what I saw in you."

"Sorry to disappoint," I spat as my lungs screamed for air. I thought of James as I pushed myself up slowly. I gripped the desk steadying myself. I couldn't use magic as saving the kids drained me. I looked out the window and saw the man staring up at me as Lake grabbed my neck. He pushed me against the wall his eyes filled with rage. The darkness radiated off him as he embraced the power.

"I wished you would join me but I'll settle for your death," he said before shoving me out the window. I gasped as my body plummeted toward the ground. Before I hit the concrete I slipped into unconsciousness...

I opened my eyes to a bright light. As my eyes adjusted I quickly realized I had woken on a gurney. This must be a hospital. The cool air nipped at my skin as I sat up carefully. My body ached as I tossed the sheets off. I had scrapes and bruises but my neck hurt the most. The nurse must have cleaned the soot off my face. I winced as I moved to push the call button. A nurse came in to check on me.

"What happened?" I asked as she paused unsure what to say.

"We are unsure how you didn't die during the fall. A fall from that height should have killed you," she said as the hunter walked in.

"Excuse us," he said as I sat on the edge of the bed. The nurse left the room quickly as my eyes stared at the hunter. "You save twenty children, twenty we couldn't reach."

"Are they okay? They aren't hurt too bad?" I asked him my voice cracking from the smoke damage.

"Yes that are. Why did you save them?" He asked his eyes surveying me with caution.

"They were innocent," I said firmly before continuing, "and it was my responsibility to help them."

"I have never met a witch willing to die for us," he said. "It feels weird to speak to you like a person."

"How's my... Ms. Jones doing?" I corrected myself.

"She's better," he said as I looked at him.

"Can I see her?" I asked softly. Even if she didn't believe me I felt a need to be near my mom.

"I'll take you to her," he said before helping me to the wheelchair. I locked my jaw holding back a whimper. He pushed me down the hall into her room.

"How come I didn't die?" I asked as he stopped moving.

"You just stopped before hitting the ground. You were floating when I grabbed you," he said before wheeling me into my mom's room. She lay on her bed her eyes closed. I looked at her dark hair reminding me of my own. She looked so much like me and yet she couldn't see the resemblance. I felt my magic swirling inside me as I reached out to heal her. I watched the small cuts fade as they healed. Her blue eyes flew open landing on me.

"What happened?" She asked the hunter as he motioned toward me.

"She saved you. The witches got their magic as set the building on fire and she saved as many as she could," he said as she stared at me. "She saved the kids and almost died doing so. She fought the leader."

"What happened to Lake?" I asked though I knew the answer.

"He vanished," he responded. I felt Lake's power but couldn't get an accurate location from the magic. Fear rushed through me, what could he be planning and would he come for me?