Stuck With You

Part 14

Chapter 14

The images in front of her distorted, making her head look ten times the size of her body.  Her hand reached out, ready to grab her image, when it was snatched back.

“I know this is the first time in a carnival for you, but you shouldn’t touch anything,” Aidirian mumbled in her ear.

Her eyes flickered around, trying to see where Daryn and Antonio had gone off too.  As soon as they had exited the limo, they had taken off into two separate directions, but Aidirian was right, this was the first time she had been in a carnival.  She had never thought her first time would be quite like this though.  It was abandon, that was obvious, but why they would stay in a place like this was beyond her.  “Have they found any Nephilim?”

“No,” Aidirian said with a sigh.  “It is completely abandon, no creatures here whatsoever.”

She knew he was wrong though.  There was someone here, someone with strong energy, someone who shouldn’t be here.  Ignoring Aidirian, she ran through the maze of the fun house.  The ground swayed in places, images of clowns were on the wall, but she ignored them all.  She needed to find the energy.  Mirrors were everywhere, making her confused.  Had she just went down this path, or was it a different one. 

Stopping, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.  What was it that her father always said, if she can’t trust her eyes, trust her other senses.  Right now, she was relying on her magic to take her to where she wanted.  Her footsteps were sure as she turned corners.  Finally, when she knew she was in the right place, she opened her eyes.  The room spun, making her hold onto the guardrails of the walkway she was on.  It took her a minute, but she slowly realized that it wasn’t the room itself that was moving. She wasn’t moving; it was the walls.

Neon paint was splattered against the wall, and every time the it turned, she could see it glow in the black light.  She felt as if she were in a tunnel, one that was rolling down a hill, and no matter what she told herself, she felt like she was the one rolling.  If she closed her eyes, the feeling would go away, but I she closed her eyes, she wouldn’t be able to see the man standing on the other side of the metal walkway.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, blinking in attempt to make his image clearer.

He shook his head, or she thought he did.  “Do you honestly have to ask, Celeste?  I’m here to help you.”

“You can’t,” she protested. 

As he took a step forward, she had to force herself not to retreat.  She wasn’t afraid of him, but she knew that he could talk her into doing what he said.  “Celeste, I want to help.”

“You can’t,” she repeated, her voice lower than it was before.

Someone’s hands rested on her shoulder and the walls quit spinning.  “Leave her alone.”

The man on the other side of the walkway let out a sigh, and it was then that Celeste realized his image was still unclear.  Whatever was going on, he didn’t want her to see him fully yet.  “I’m here to help her,” he said.  “The mission she was sent on is a difficult one.  I can’t leave her to her own devices.”

“Yes,” Aidirian said from behind her while tightening his grip on her shoulders, “you can.  She has a lot of people lending their help.  She will be fine.”

“If she dies, I am blaming you,” he whispered, and Celeste knew he wasn’t lying.  The man took a step forward, and his image became clear.

She could feel Aidirian tense behind her as the man’s wings extended, showing off the biggest pair of wings known to all kind.  Normally, the white would have shone in the light, making them unbearable to look at, but now, the black light made them purple.