Prey for the Devil's Bloodied Angel Wings

7

I bobbed to the surface and heard our therapist say I lost. Ya, I know, jackass. I flipped him off when he turned around. I then sadly watched Acacia briskly walk off. I swam to shore and ringed my hair out. My goal was to race after Acacia, but Ellio and Vera beat me. They pulled her arms and yanked her towards me.

"Let's all go on a hike!" Ellio excitedly stated.

"We don't have any sh-" Acacia stopped when Vera held up hiking boots for us.

"Vera also had us bring these." Ellio handed us jean shorts.

"No tops, V?" I smirked and put the shorts on.

"Nope, bikini tops away!" She shook me. "Ready, Cia?"

"Where are we going?" The four of us walked.

Ellio and Vera skipped ahead. Ellio picked up a stick to help him walk. He tossed another one at me, so we playfully fought. Ellio and I laughed as we ran around. I then jumped on his back, so he turned in circles until he made himself dizzy. Ellio and I screeched as we fell down.

"We're going up the mountain." Vera pointed ahead.

"It looks like a volcano." Acacia stretched.

"It is!" She stopped mid-stretch.

"What?"

"It's supposed to be inactive though." Ellio picked me up.

"Supposed to be doesn't sound reassuring. It can become active at a moment's notice." Acacia pointed out.

"We'll be fine." Ellio dismissed her. "And if it erupts, Zena and Vera can do some magic thingy to stop it."

"That's not how it works. V, did you know about this?" I faced her.

"The concierge said it was fine." She shrugged.

"Great. You know Pompeii was supposed to be inactive." Acacia passed them. "But, it devastated an entire civilization. You know archeologists struggled to find the town because of how high the-"

"Look at that!" Ellio ran by her.

"Wow, a bird." Acacia rolled her eyes.

"A seagull." Vera connected our arms. "You smell like salt water."

"You can blame her for that." I pointed at Acacia's back.

"Ahh! Give it back!" We turned to find Ellio running after a seagull that stole his sandwich. "That's mine!" It then pooped on his head. "Hey!" He tried to remove the poop.

"Poop is said to give you good luck." Acacia smirked.

"Ya, right!" Ellio gagged. "That's nasty!"

"And you're a sandwich down." She added.

"Man!" We all laughed at him.

I spotted a rock and sprinted to Ellio. I leap frogged over him and continued running. Ellio turned and chased after me. The two of us climbed up the hill and used the vines to aid us in our climb. Ellio and I kept kicking each other's leg. Ellio's vine snapped as I lost my grip. The two of us tumbled down. Ellio landed first and I crashed into him.

"You two are idiots." Acacia crossed her arms.

"Was there a reason we couldn't use the trail?" Vera flicked her head.

"Guess that's what we'll be using." I helped Ellio up.

The four of us trekked up the mountain. Vera slipped on the loose stones, but Ellio quickly caught her. We climbed up the volcano and reached the top. There were other tourists taking selfies. Ellio revealed his camera and began taking pics of Vera. Acacia took my arm and guided me away from my cousin and best friend.

"We really have issues, don't we?" She released a nervous laugh.

"More than I thought. I didn't realize you had more issues. You're still scared I'll hurt you because my inner beast is unpredictable." I sighed. "Should I keep my distance?"

"No!" Acacia gripped me tighter. "I don't want to lose you. I guess it's the same with any relationship. Every person is capable of hitting the other, but you trust that they won't. I trust that you won't hurt me."

"I wish I had more control." I looked down and bit my quivering lip. "I really want to make you happy."

"You make me happy by being yourself. So please don't sacrifice your happiness for mine. You're equally as important."

"Aqua, I love you." I held her hands. "I really do."

"We should communicate more. I'll tell you more if you do."

"I'll try." I whispered. "It's hard to open up, but I'll try... for you." I smiled.

"Thanks." We embraced.

"Smile!" Vera held up the camera.

We posed until Vera's smile fell. Acacia and I turned to see black smoke rising from a crack. We then felt the ground shake underneath our feet. Fuck! The four of us ran as the volcano erupted. We sprinted down the path, with other other tourist, as smoke bellowed into the air.

"I thought you said it was inactive!" Acacia shouted at them.

"That's what they said!" Vera shouted back.

"Fuck!" Ellio screamed.

"Ahhh! The smoke is surrounding us!"

"I can't see!" Ellio complained.

"I can't breathe!" Vera coughed.

"Is that lava?!" Acacia shrieked.

I turned to see lava racing towards us. Oh, no. I quickly turned and stopped. I held my hands out and knew my eyes were glowing. I grunted as the lava slammed into my invisible wall. I gritted my teeth and tried to contain the lava as best as I could. Vera ran to me and mimicked my actions. The two of us slowed the lava and redirected it back inside the volcano. I then did magic to seal the volcano shut. I bent over and panted.

"Will it erupt again?" Ellio peeked from behind Acacia, so she elbowed him. "Owie!"

"It should be fine." Vera sat on my back, making me crumble to the ground. "Ouch."

"Huh, so can you take our picture?" Acacia grinned.

I love how Zena is so gentle with Cia, but then Cia like beats the living crap out of Zena 😂