the Bleeding Crown

Fox and the Lightning; Part Two

January 13th, 2014

Los Angeles, California

Juliet and I flipped through the air, my stomach was starting to turn so I put my head against their back and started to breathe. There was a chime and then the masks artificial voice hummed to life.

"You have one unread message from: connected device, Sydney's I-phone. Would you like to read the message?" Shit, I forgot about Sam. The Seraph was all that I could think about for the last day.

"Open." I said.

Sam: Hey, it's Sam, Sydney, right?"

Me: Was wondering if you were ever gonna message me.

Sam: You are a very intimidating person, I had to hype myself up. I told my best friend about you, and he told me I didn't have a chance.

Me: Careful Sam, he might get jealous.

Sam: ...

Sam: So there's a party someone at my school is throwing, wanna go?

Me: Straight to the point, you're learning. Can I get back to you about that? I have to make sure I'm not doing anything.

Sam: For sure.

Juliet landed on a rooftop and then dropped me from their grasp. They stretched and then sat down on the ledge. "I'm getting too old for this." they said.

"Aren't you physically twenty seven?" I asked.

They waved the question away. "Something like that, but it's more of a mental exhaustion. Two hundred years of non-stop Seraph hunting takes its toll." they pointed at a building across the way. The sun was setting on the city, curious, wasn't it just morning.

"So, what do you want me to do?" I asked.

They peered off the edge of the building, we are thirty stories up. "So you don't have your powers yet?" they asked.

"No, Alistair has tried everything to get them to manifest."

They looked at me, "there's nobody below us, the whole block is empty."

"I don't like the implication." Suddenly Juliet appeared behind me and grabbed me by the back of my vest.

"It's time to sink or swim, worst case scenario you have a few broken bones." I tried to pry their grip from my vest but they are much stronger than me. They picked me up, and I thrashed around as they carried me towards the edge. "Alistair isn't as creative as me, he's kind of lame." They held me over the edge of the building. "If you wanna fight a Seraph you'll need more than the base of Bloodling ability, you need magic. And not just any sorcery will do, you need the gifts of the Witch Queen." they said and dropped me from the ledge.

I plummeted towards the ground, the concrete was coming up fast. My body felt like it was catching fire, I could feel my blood rush through my body like a current of electricity. Fear had no place in my mind or heart, but it was there.

The world slowed around me, my heart drummed in my chest, the timpani roll of death filled my soul. This was it, my moment to prove myself. I closed my eyes and let the energy flow through me. I wasn't falling, I was flying.

I opened my eyes, the pavement was ten feet away, but my descent had stopped. I looked down at my body and white hot static crackled around me. I was floating in the air above the street. I had become lightning.

Every strand of hair I had was standing on end, every nerve firing on all cylinders. In a gleam of shattering light Juliet appeared below me. I was tense, my body began to lock up. It was overwhelming.