The Black-Hearted Ninja (The Dark Triangle #1)

It Will Work

Cole's P.O.V.

Cole thought he saw everything coming. But as he watched Nya kiss Jay's cheek from the shadows, he realized he should have kept a more careful watch on the annoying blue ninja. Cole knew Jay was researching, of course, but he underestimated how much Jay would learn.

"Lies! All lies!" The evil voice, the one who had persuaded Cole to kill in the first place, scoffed. "They don't know the first thing about us!"

"It's true." The second voice agreed. "They think they can defeat you. But they are wrong. They're not powerful enough. Have you seen the 'full extent' of the blue one's power? It's practically nothing!"

"Don't assume that Jay is worthless just because he is weak. He has powers he has not even begun to imagine, but there is no chance he'll ever unlock them. And Nya...well, let's just say she also has more power than she ever thought possible." The first voice said cryptically, silencing the second. "But yes, those two will never be able to take us. They don't know what they are capable of. We can continue with the plan we agreed on."

There was a silence and then, a small sound came from the corner. A kind of sad moan, a whimper more than anything else.

"Should we do something about that?" The second voice said, motioning to the corner.

"Leave it. It will die soon anyway. Then we will really be able to cause some damage." The first voice answered. It was eager for the time "soon". This one had hung on longer than others, but was fading fast now.

The thing the two evil beings had mentioned was withered, emaciated, more bones than anything else. His body was ravage and it took every ounce of his energy to even make a sound. Black hair that used to fall perfectly over his forehead was faded, flat, and had lost its sheen. His skin was sallow, and the dark circles under his eyes looking almost like bruises. In his once sparkling brown eyes, there was only pain, regret, sorrow and something else, a darkness that hadn't been there before.

Cole, the good side of Cole, had seen everything.

He'd been forced to watch as his evil self and the demon took over, injuring and eventually killing his friends. He'd felt his claws rip in to their skin, heard their screams over and over, even when he was resting. He'd screamed out when Nya defended him, saying "You're right! Help me! Get me out of here! I'm begging you!" but his mouth didn't move and his vocal chords didn't make a sound. Cole wanted to lose himself to the joy of the power, the excitement of murder, but that one little part of him was hanging on. As soon as he let go, there would be no more control, no more holding back. Only death.

So the tiny sliver of good left in Cole's mind held on. It was the only thing he could do. A tiny part of the villain was rooting for his opponents to win.

But that part wasn't big enough.

Nya's P.O.V.

Jay finding the release spell may have been a bit too easy, but performing the spell itself is a lot too hard. I suppose it would be, I mean, we couldn't just say five words and be done with it, could we? I shouldn't complain. At least we have a way to get the demon out and send it back to the cursed realm. But neither Jay nor I have ever been trained in magic. I found myself wondering if I should just go stab Cole but got out of that mindset as quickly as I could.

Focus on love. Focus on Jay. Hate and Cole won't get you anywhere. I need to remind myself that constantly. As long as I'm keeping my promise to Jay, I won't let the hate take over. If I ever want to get anyone from the long list of dead friends back, I have to do this.

So now I'm learning what to do from unclear markings in an ancient spellbook that was last used by an evil dude, and Jay, who I felt the need to kiss on the cheek, is sitting next to me, and I can't focus, and I just want this to be over. It's now or never. I'm not hungry but that doesn't mean Jay and I won't starve to death. If Cole doesn't kill us first. From the stories, the demon has no problem murdering its main two targets when they don't go along with the plan.

"Do you think this would be pronounced eh-zeel or ee-zeel?" I say, frowning at a word on the page. I know this is an ancient language and not jibberish like Jay so fondly referred to it, but it sure is hard to understand. Jay squints as he leans over, conveniently leaning into me. I don't protest.

"Eh-zeel. It sounds more magicky." He replies. I raise one eyebrow. "What? From what Kai said, when those Anacondrai cultists were reading the transformation spell, they mispronounced a bunch of stuff and it still worked! I figure, just try your best. The power of positive thinking, right?"

Hearing about Kai hurts, but I know that wasn't the point. I nod and wrap one arm around Jay, who has stayed leaning into my side, I guess hinting he wants a hug. "Okay. That makes me a little less stressed. I guess let's go through it one more time and then try to lure Cole out?" I say. Jay's finger twitches when I say "lure Cole out" but I don't think he notices. He nods.

"It's gonna work." Jay reassures both me and himself.

"Yes. It has to." I agree.

"But if it doesn't..." Jay lays his head on mine, making our position even more intertwined.

"It will."

"But if it doesn't, Cole's going to kill me. You have to promise you'll still fight him."

"It's going to work, Jay."

"Just promise!"

I sigh. He won't drop the subject until I go along with it. "Yes, I promise. But don't worry about it. We have conclusive evidence that says this is going to work!"

"Thank you. Now I'm a little less stressed."

A silence falls over us again. The gears in my mind begin to turn.

"If it doesn't work..." I start.

"What?" Jay says, perking up a bit from his place next to me.

"I wanted to tell you, I-" My voice peters out.

"You can tell me, whatever it is."

I open my mouth again. But it soon shuts and I find myself looking at the spellbook, and thinking of Cole, once again. "Let's go do the spell."

Jay's a bit disappointed for a second. Then, he says, "I thought we were going over it one more time."

"We aren't going to get any better at it. I say end it now." I say. The spark to fight is igniting again. Although I wouldn't mind staying on the floor with my arm around Jay forever, I untangle myself from him and stand up, then offer my hand to help him up. "Come on."

Jay shrugs and takes my hand. I can tell he's nervous but trying not to show it. "Yeah, let's go." He replies. I start to gather notes from the floor, what I wrote down to remind myself exactly what I need to do. "Nya?"

"Hm?" I look up.

"...Nothing. I'll get in position."

"Okay. Be right there." He starts to leave but I stop him by saying something else. "We aren't going to fail. We have to succeed."

"I know."

And it's time to lure Cole out into the open.

This chapter was supposed to be the spell but of course I took too long on the Cole part and the dialogue! How are you liking the story so far? Does everything make sense? Anything need explaining? What do you think Nya was going to say? What do you think is going to happen? Tell me in the comments!

Your friend,

The Author