"Build walls and secret corners. Crying out in solitude. Storms come in without warning. Trying to black out my view." - Ilse DeLange
--xxxxxx--
Christina was lying on the floor of the cave with blood running out from her body. The cave was dark and cold, as it always was. There was a flicker of light as Belial paced back and forth outside the cage she was in. He turned to smile at her occasionally as she felt the sting of another cut appearing on her body. 'Christina, they're coming.' He said cheerfully.
'Who's coming?' Christina whispered back.
'Your sisters.' His grin widened and he clasped his hands in front of his body. 'They think they can save you.'
'They will.' Christina said certainly.
'No, no one can save you. You're always going to be mine.' He growled.
'You're wrong.' Christina winced as a long scrape formed on the inside of her forearm.
'I'm never wrong. And now you get to watch them all die.' He said just as Katherine walked into the cave. He sent out a blast of power and it went right through her, leaving a gaping bloody hole in her chest. Christina screamed and watched as Katherine fell to the ground. Amy walked in next, but just as Belial was about to kill her, Christina felt something else. She was being shaken.......
......Awake. She opened her eyes and looked up at Amy. They were in her room and it was dark. She was sweating. 'Aimes?' She said groggily.
'You're okay.' Amy assured her. Christina pushed herself up and scraped the hair from her face. 'You had a nightmare.'
'Tell me about it.' Christina laughed.
'You were scared.' Amy said. 'Really scared.' Christina lifted her eyes to meet her sisters and felt a pang of guilt when she saw the pained look in them.
'Yeah, I was scared.' Christina admitted. 'Belial had just killed Katherine right in front of me. He was about to kill you too.'
'We're fine.' Amy assured her. She crossed her legs on the bed and took Christina's hands. Amy thought for a moment before carrying on. 'You need to talk to someone, anyone, Christina. It doesn't have to be me but you can't keep brushing these things aside. You've got some trauma and your brain is telling you that you need to deal with it.'
'I know.' Christina smiled.
'What? You're not going to argue with me?' Amy asked.
'Nothing to argue about Aimes, you're right.' Christina said. 'And I do want to talk about it with you, but maybe not when we're in the middle of something like this okay?'
'You'll talk to me when this is over?'
'Yeah.' Christina promised. Amy smiled and pulled her into a hug.
'Want to try and go back to sleep?' Amy asked.
'Will you stay with me?' Christina requested.
'Of course.' Amy smiled and crawled into the bed. After a moment she heard Christina's breathing even out and was able to relax herself, falling into a deep sleep.
xxxxxx
They were driving across town to the warehouse Denzi said Lex would be. Christina had actually managed to get a better nights sleep with Amy by her side and it showed in her mood. Amy was just finally glad Christina was letting her help. 'We're looking for a place that used to fix watches?' Dani asked, looking out of the window.
'Yeah, or clocks.' Katherine said.
'What about that place with the picture of a clock in the window.' Dani pointed out.
'How nice and obvious.' Lauren said sarcastically as Katherine pulled the car to a stop in the road.
'Remember, don't get too close to this guy.' Christina said as they filed out of the car. Lisa stood and looked up at the building, shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked to the very top.
'It's a tall building.' She pointed out. 'Do we know which floor he's on?'
'I'd guess the basement.' Amy said. 'Demons are weird.'
'Hey, don't write off the basement until you've tried it. It was quiet down there.' Lisa said as Amy nudged her playfully. Katherine went up to the door and looked at it. There was a padlock on it.
'Looks like this guy is more paranoid than the others.' Katherine said, puling on it. There was something magical about it but she wasn't able to figure it out. 'It feels reinforced with a spell, but not a forcefield, something else.'
'Can we open it?' Lisa asked. 'I mean, without Chris' beam to blast through it?'
'I have an idea.' Dani said, stepping forwards. 'Chris, can you push the door in with your telekinesis and I'll pull the lock outwards with mine.'
'That's a great idea.' Christina said, standing next to her. 'On three....' They both prepared themselves. Everyone else stood back and out of the way. 'One, two.... Three!' Christina said, as she sent her power into the door. Dani pulled away as hard as she could and the padlock came flying towards them. They ducked and it crashed on the floor behind them. They looked at the wide open door before looking at each other.
'Nice.' Dani grinned, waiting for a high-five which Christina returned.
'I'm pretty sure Lex heard that though.' Katherine said.
'Let's go find him then.' Dani said, walking confidently towards the building.
xxxxxx
They had started in the basement but it was empty. As was the ground floor and the first floor. They entered the landing on the second floor and looked around. There were two rooms, one on either side and both doors were closed. 'Which one first?' Lauren asked.
'That one.' Amy said, pointing to the door on the left. 'There's an odd feeling coming from that room.' She told them.
'Okay.' Christina said. She put her hand on the doorknob and turned it cautiously. She pushed it inwards and took a step into the room. The others followed in and took notice of the many jars lined up on several shelves on one of the walls. They were filled with orbs of varying colours and levels of brightness. Some sparkling, some had little bursts of electricity.
'They're all powers?' Lisa whispered.
'I guess so.' Lauren responded. Christina got to a bend in the room and looked around the corner.
'Shit.' She sighed, her shoulders deflating.
'What is it?' Lauren asked coming over to her side. They all gathered and looked at the back of the room. There was a man slumped over a desk. He was dead. They walked towards him and Amy went over to get a better look. She put two fingers on his neck and confirmed that he wasn't breathing.
'Is that Lex?' Dani asked.
'We have to assume so.' Katherine said. 'This looks like where he stored powers.'
'What killed him?' Lisa wondered as Amy looked for any injuries.
'I don't know. There's no obvious wound. Without an autopsy I couldn't tell you.' She said.
'Well we lack the time and skill to give this guy an autopsy.' Lauren said.
'Let me try and get a vision.' Katherine said, walking over and taking a deep breath before putting her hand on his shoulder. She inhaled sharply and was transported back.....
.......Lex was running away from something. She could see him jumping up the stairs two at a time until he came into this room. He closed the door but something forced it open from outside. He was thrown to the ground and began scrambling back on his heels. 'No, no please!' He begged, hands out in front of him. The next thing Katherine heard was his scream and she could smell burning. Then she was brought back to reality.
'Katherine?' Lauren looked at her. She blinked a couple of times and remembered where she was.
'Yeah.' She said. 'I'm good.'
'What did you see?' Christina asked.
'It was more about what I could smell.' Katherine said. Dani gave her a strange look but she turned back to Lex's body. She looked him over but saw no signs of burning, until she went to his other side and pulled up the sleeve of his jacket.
'I can't believe you're touching him that much.' Lisa said, holding her stomach.
'Look.' Katherine said. She held up his arm and they saw a marking. It had been burned into his skin.
'He's been branded.' Christina realised.
'Like farmers do to cattle?' Dani asked.
'Yeah, but why?' She wondered.
'I think the better question is who.' Amy said. 'If we find out who the brand belongs to, we'll probably find the person attacking witches.'
'Was Lex killed because he was getting in the way, taking powers from witches before this guy could get to them?' Lauren suggested.
'We're assuming this is one person. It could be a group.' Katherine said.
'It makes more sense that it would be a group, especially if they have their own brand.' Lisa said, she had moved closer and was studying the brand. Her brow furrowed in thought.
'What is it Lise?' Christina asked.
'I don't know. I feel like I've seen this before.' Lisa admitted. 'But I can't put my finger on where.'
'Can we talk about this at home.' Dani said nervously. 'The dude is dead, we can't really do anything else here.'
'She's right.' Amy said. 'Let's go.' They made their way out of the building, but failed to spot the pair of eyes watching them from under the staircase. They got in their car and started their journey home, with a mystery figure right behind them.