Seventeen
"Time to wake up," a voice sang, and then I was drenched in water.
My eyes flew open and I sat up, shivering. Phoenix loomed over me, holding a bucket that I assumed used to hold the ice cold water until it was poured over my head.
"What do you want?" I asked through chattering teeth. I was usually cold enough as it was; add some cold water, and I was absolutely freezing.
Phoenix rolled his eyes. "It's not that cold," he said scornfully, but a ball of flame appeared in his palm anyways, heating up the room and me.
I was about to thank him, but I bit my tongue. He's the bad guy, I scolded myself. He kidnapped you, burned down your school, killed Lilac, killed Angela, killed Carter; killed many people. You shouldn't be thanking him.
"What do you want?" I grumbled, hugging myself.
"To find out what your other power is," Phoenix said, and I raised my eyebrow.
"How do you know if I've even got a second power?" I questioned. I guess I hadn't considered my visions powers until now. They just seemed like... I don't know, not powers.
"I can sense it," Phoenix explained. "People like us can sense if a person has a power or not, and I can sense that you've got two, possibly even three."
"How are you going to find out my second power, then?" I demanded.
Phoenix smirked. "I'll find a way." I swallowed. "Come on; get up."
"What's wrong with right here?" I inquired.
Phoenix looked around. "I'd rather we go to another room, so it's either you come with me by yourself, or I get Abaddon to use his power. Which one?"
I got up reluctantly, and Phoenix grabbed my arm. I scrunched up my eyebrows, thinking. There might be a way I can make Phoenix let go of me, and then I can escape. This might not end well, considering I've got handcuffs on, but it was worth a try.
I lifted my elbow and hit Phoenix in the face, hard. He let go, and I made a run for it, but he stuck out his leg and I tumbled to the ground. Phoenix picked me up, and I felt a cold metal against my head.
A gun.
I froze, and Phoenix chuckled. "You know, I should just kill you," he said, digging the gun deeper into my temple. "But you're useful, and I like seeing you scared."
"I-I'm not scared," I lied. I heard a click, and winced. Phoenix snorted.
"Yeah, right." I could practically see him rolling his eyes. "Now, walk." I didn't move. "I said, walk. Unless you want a bullet going through your arm or leg. I'm fine with that."
I started walking quickly, and Phoenix laughed. I entered a room, and Phoenix shut the door behind him, leaving just him and I in the room.
"So," Phoenix said casually, leaning up against the wall, "what's your second power?"
I snorted. "You really think I'm going to tell you?"
Phoenix shrugged. "No, but it was worth a try." He scrutinized me. "Hmm. What should I do to make you tell?" An evil smile formed on his face. "Would torture do the trick?"
My eyes widened. I did not want to be tortured. "No!"
"Then tell me," Phoenix said. "Tell me your other power, and you won't get tortured."
I bit my lip. "I'm not telling."
"Very well." Phoenix pulled his gun slowly out of his pocket, giving me time to be terrified. "If that's how you want to play, then so be it."
"Don't," I said as he aimed the gun at me. I backed up, but just ended up hitting the wall. "You said it yourself; you're not going to kill me. I'm too 'valuable.'"
"Who said I was going to kill you?" Phoenix lowered the gun, pointing it at my leg. "Now, are you going to tell me?"
I eyed the gun. I didn't want to tell him, but I didn't want to get shot, either. I wasn't sure what to do, so I stayed silent.
"Well, don't say I didn't give you an option." Phoenix shrugged again before pulling the trigger.
I can honestly say I was not expecting him to actually shoot me, but it hurt. A LOT.
The bullet entered my thigh, and I screamed out in pain. My leg gave way, and I crumpled to the floor, watching blood pour from the wound.
"Well?" Phoenix demanded, putting the gun away in his pocket and coming over to stand above me. "You going to tell me?"
I gritted my teeth, not giving up that easily despite the agony I was in. "No," I said.
Phoenix raised an eyebrow. "Wow, tough. Usually other people would be spilling their tiny little hearts out, and then I'd dispose of them." My mouth fell open a little bit. "Oh, don't worry," Phoenix assured me. "I'm not going to kill you. You're useful." I wasn't sure whether I should be relieved or even more scared.
I didn't say anything, trying to stop the blood flow. I didn't have anything to make a tourniquet with, so all I had were my hands. That didn't work, and I could already feel myself slipping from the real world. I struggled to stay conscious.
"Come on," Phoenix said, bending down to pick me up. "Let's get you somewhere else." He moved me, and I cried out. Black spots clouded my vision, and I strained to push them away, but Phoenix began dragging me, and I couldn't hold on anymore. My eyes fluttered shut, and I blacked out.
ෆධෆ
I slowly, reluctantly peeled my eyes open. I glanced down at my leg to see that it was bandaged up. Surprising for Phoenix.
I tried to stand up, but something yanked me back. I glanced behind me to see chains attaching me to the wall. I attempted to make something, anything, appear in my hand, but it didn't work. Darn.
"Good morning Callie," Phoenix's cool voice said. I turned my head to where he was, and glared at him. My thigh was still throbbing.
"What do you want?" I growled.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay," Phoenix said innocently.
I snorted. "Yeah, so you could use me to take over the world."
Phoenix grinned. "Exactly. You've helped so far to kill most of your classmates-"
I didn't give him a chance to finish. I lunged, or at least tried to, at him. I hated him with every fiber in my body at that moment. It was technically my fault that Angela, Carter, and Lilac were dead. Although I didn't kill them directly, I gave Phoenix the location of the school, so it was basically my fault that they were dead. Phoenix kept bringing it up, and I know he was just trying to both me, but it was working.
The chains tugged me back, and I stumbled to the ground again, my thigh aching from putting pressure on it.
Phoenix looked shocked at first, but then he sneered at me. "Aww, am I bugging wittle Cawwie?" he asked in a baby voice, bothering me even more.
"Stop!" I screamed at him, straining against the chains. I hated this, I hated him.
"Phoenix stuck his tongue out at me. Oh, very mature. "Well, I'm going to leave you alone for now. Let the guilt eat you up." He turned on his heel and left the room, closing the door with a loud boom that echoed throughout the cell I was in. I put my head in my hands and closed my eyes.
I wonder how Nash is. I wonder how Dorian is. Is he even alive? I wonder how Lillie is coping. Even though I don't like her, how's Valerie? What about Ashton? How many people survived? How many people does Phoenix have left? Why does he have to be such a jerk?
I groaned, shaking my head. I had to stop thinking of questions and stressing over everything, even though I was great at that. It only made things worse and me more anxious.
From outside, I heard a small pop, a gasp, and then a thump. I furrowed my eyebrows, thinking of what could be going on outside.
I heard a click of the door unlocking, and then it swung open to reveal...
"Nash?" I gaped at him.
"Calypso." He looked relieved as he walked over to me. "Are okay?" He spotted the bandage around my leg. "What happened?"
"Oh, it was nothing," I assured him, although it was far from nothing. "Came you get me out of these?" I jingled the chains around, and Nash pulled a saw from him belt. He came prepared. He started sawing away at the chains encircling my wrists, and soon, then came off.
I stood up immediately and then stumbled. Nash caught me and looked at me, concern clear in his eyes.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Um, yeah," I said, nodding. "Come on, let's get out of here."
We started running through the hallways; well, Nash running, and me limping quickly behind him, me wincing at every step. Eventually, Nash just picked me up and carried me down the halls.
"Can't you just teleport out of here?" I questioned.
"Phoenix put some kind of magic around this place that prevents me from teleporting in and out of here directly," Nash explained. "I can teleport to the front lawn or somewhere else around here, but not exactly inside."
I nodded as we arrived in the front hall. Nash came to a stop, and I looked around. Phoenix, Abaddon, and some other people were standing there, blocking our way.. Nash glanced around at them cautiously.
"So," Phoenix said, stepping forward. "Thought Prince Charming could just come rescue his princess, and they'd live happily ever after?"
"No," I said.
"Well," Phoenix said, advancing closer. "You won't get away."
"Yeah?" I taunted. "I'd like to see you try and stop us."
"Is that a challenge?" Phoenix inquired.
"It is," I answered.
"Challenge accepted, then," Phoenix said with a smirk.
"Calypso," Nash whispered in my ear. "What are you doing?"
"Just trust me," I muttered.
A smoke bomb appeared in my hands, and as Phoenix started to pull out a sword, I threw it. Instantly, smoke clouded the hallways, and there were some screams of astonishment.
"Go, quickly!" I said to Nash, and he started running towards what he thought was the exit. He was right, and we left the front doors. Nash took another step, and then we were deep in a forest. It looked like Hushwood Forest, but I could tell it wasn't.
"Where are we?" I asked, looking around.
"The place we're staying for a bit," Nash said as he walked into a camp. I looked around, noticing that our numbers decreased greatly.
Everyone looked up as we entered the area. Many glares were sent my way, and I hung my head. They knew it was my fault, and they hated me for it. I couldn't blame them.
Lillie rushed over, and Nash set me down on a log. "Heal her leg," he instructed. He looked at me. "What happened?"
"Phoenix shot me," I said quietly.
Nash looked shocked. "Why would her do such a thing? That evil little-"
"I don't know," I interjected. "He's the bad guy; it seems like something he'd do."
Lillie pressed her hand gently over my bullet wound and looked at me. Nash left for a little bit, and she opened her mouth to talk.
"They're saying it was you," she said quietly. "You led Phoenix and his people here. I told them that it wasn't true. It wasn't true, right?" She looked up at me expectantly, but when I didn't say anything, she gasped and backed away from me. "They were right. You led them to our school. You killed my little sister!"
I stood up, putting as much pressure as I could on my injured leg, but it didn't hurt anymore. Lillie had done her job.
"I didn't kill her," I mumbled, but Lillie turned and ran. My heart practically broke in half. I had betrayed her. Even though it wasn't my fault, at the same time, it was. Now Lillie would never trust me again.
I took a deep breath and looked toward the exit. I knew what I had to do now. No one here liked me anyways. Might as well not bother them with my presence.
I started walking quickly towards the exit, turning into a run. I wanted to get away from there, get as far away from it as I could. I couldn't stand staying there when I knew I had caused them so much grief.
After a while, I slumped down on a bench and started to cry.
I had messed up pretty badly.