The Storm

Within all of us there lives a seed of darkness; it is up to each person to decide whether they will let that seed grow into something that may own day fester and consume them whole. It has been said that those who choose to give into the darkness will be granted immortality to continue doing the bidding of evil. Make no mistake, it is not a gift but rather a curse. The girl of water formerly known as Bethany lived hidden away in a cabin surrounded by trees. The day she gave birth to the prophecy was the very same day she slaughtered her soul along with any of her humanity. It is true that her choice to follow the path of darkness rewarded her with great power beyond her wildest dreams yet this power came at a cost; because she had offset the balance of the universe she would feel the searing pain of the damage she had caused for all eternity. Every day, every hour, every minute she would continue to feel crippled until things were somehow made right. She had been living like this for nearly two centuries. The thought had often crossed her mind of killing the prophecy children off as well as their parents. This would not only prevent everything from evolving into complete fruition, but perhaps it would also put an end to her suffering. Often she would find herself fantasizing about how, when, and where she would do it. These were the only simple pleasures in her life. That and causing torture to small defenseless animals: ripping wings off of butterflies, turning up the acidic level on lakes and streams to burn alive the creatures inside, knocking baby birds out of their nests. If even for the briefest of moments it allowed her to deflect her own misery onto something else. Regular pilgrimages were made to get supplies at a nearby town where she was known as the ugly evil crone. No one knew her real name and she preferred it that way. Everywhere she would go crowds would part to let her through, mothers with small children crossed the street to get away from her, no one dare speak to her unless she addressed them specifically, and everyone avoided direct eye contact. A small smile crept upon her face at this power she held over people without using any actual power. Although days when she was feeling particularly foul she had been known with the flick of her wrist to cause slight havoc amongst unsuspected by-passers: the little girl's ice cream cone instantaneously melting to a pile of mush, the young lovers tripping and falling face first onto the pavement, the teenager getting a third degree burn where her cell phone had rested along her face. Once again it was the simple pleasures that made the days pass by with a little more grace. Bethany had chosen the life of solitude many years back, a lonely life, yet the only one she knew. After she turned herself over to darkness her family shunned her and in turn Bethany shunned the rest of the world. There was a barrier spell placed so no animal or person could enter within the one mile radius around her home. If they tried they would receive an electrical zap much like the invisible fence some people have for their dogs yet much stronger and painful. While sitting on her front porch one afternoon enjoying the quiet the day had brought upon her, she perked up at the vision of a young woman coming towards her. How did this woman pass the barrier? Upon closer examination Bethany saw this was no ordinary person, she was a child of the elements more specifically of earth. Bethany stood up fists clenched at her sides, "You are not welcome here." The woman smiled, "I mean you know harm." Bethany belted out a cackle, "Mean me no harm? Obviously you don't know who you're dealing with stupid stupid girl!" The woman looked her defiantly right in the eyes, "I know exactly who you are after all I came to seek you out." "Then if you know who I am you must know what I am capable of. Its not me who needs to worry about being harmed." "Perhaps you should think twice before making idle threats to someone born in earth in an area surrounded by an abundance of trees. How do you think I got past your barrier spell?" Bethany thought for a moment. It had been a long while since she had come across such a bold and daring person. In reality the very last person had been her brother and that seemed like another lifetime ago. Bethany sat back down then motioned to the chair next to her. She surveyed the girl from top to bottom fully taking her in: the large brown eyes, the long braided hair, the round feminine curves. She was the epitome of life and beauty which was everything Bethany was not. "How did you find me? I took great measures to make sure no one knew who I was or where I was." The young woman sat down hesitantly and cocked her head to the side, "For the past couple of weeks I have been sending messages through the trees. I wasn't sure if you were still alive and if you were alive just how willing you would be to help us." She shook her head, "I don't make it a habit of wasting my energies on actions that will serve someone elses best interest." "Really? Even if it meant an end to the prophecy and your suffering?" "Who said I was suffering?" The young woman motioned to the trees around them, "Don't you know trees are notorious gossips? Now tell me am I wasting my time?" Bethany scratched her chin, "You have my attention. Now what is it exactly that you had in mind?" ********** Adam and Athena sat cross legged across from one another on the ground. Since his arrival they had begun doing daily transference sessions in order to give Athena a small taste of Adam's power which was only continuing to grow as the days progressed towards his twenty-first birthday. She had become an addict jonesing for her next fix, but everyone knew Adam had the upper hand since transference only worked between two willing parties. There would never be a scenario where she could just outright take from him what she had been craving most all these years. Additionally since Adam initiated each transference session he alone controlled just how much of his own essence went temporarily to her. Athena's eyes glistened, "And you think we can get Evan here too?" Adam nodded, "He'll come looking for me, but not before I'm ready to let him know where I am." Athena's boyfriend paced impatiently back and forth, "And why would he walk into an obvious trap?" Adam stood up and stared him down, "I already told you that Evan is weak and simple minded. He's also impulsive and careless. If he suspects I'm in danger he won't hesitate to come find me because I'm his brother and he loves me." He wouldn't back down, "And why should we trust you? By that same logic he's your brother and you love him." "Are you deaf or just dumb? Evan is a loose cannon with powers far beyond what he can control. My loyalties changed when he nearly burned my girlfriend to death recently because they got into a heated argument. I don't even know if she'll awaken. He is dead to me, or soon will be." Athena jumped up giddy with excitement, "Will we really be able to drain his powers?" Adam nodded, "Yes, just let me facilitate things. You get your power, I get my revenge, we both come out ahead." ********** It was mere hours before Evan turned twenty-one, yet he could already feel power surging throughout his body. At times it was intense he felt without a release he would literally go out of his mind. Thankfully Layla was with him to help keep him grounded. A couple days back they had received a cryptic message from Calla that put them on a twelve hour train ride then a two hour hike to exactly middle of nowhere Virgina. Armed with backpacks and a compass they kept on traveling East. Calla had mentioned they would know when to stop. Neither Layla nor Evan was sure exactly what that meant, but they trusted her. They had made their way from a plain field into a heavily wooded area. Then as the sun was beginning to set Layla grabbed Evan's arm, her eyes widened, and she gestured with her other hand "Look, it's Adam." Evan's jaw dropped. There was his recently estranged brother alongside their completely estranged mother and a small entourage of ten people with them. There was something different about Adam in the eyes, a part of him that Evan didn't quite recognize. And a horrible thought crossed his mind as he wondered if this is where he had been all along, with her. Did he still hold empathy for Athena even after all he had taught Adam about her? They all stopped when there was just a few feet separating them. Adam broke the silence, "I assume you got the message?" Evan merely nodded in response. Layla squinted her eyes. Athena grinned as she motioned for her people to step back a bit. Then she turned to Adam, "How are we going to do this?" Layla stepped forward, "Do what exactly?" Adam looked Evan directly in the eyes, "You are going to give to do a transference with Mom because you are a complete menace especially after what you did to Calla." Evan looked confused, "Calla? But she's...". Layla put her hand on Evan's chest to stop him, "No Evan, Adam is right. This is something that needs to be done." She turned to him, "You lack focus, discipline. I have tried so hard with you, but this is a moment made of dreams. It needs to all go away." Suddenly all was understood between them. Evan, Athena, and Adam each held hands while shutting their eyes. Layla stepped back fully aware that things were about to get ugly. Athena opened herself up to receive the power although she got far more than she expected. At first she was filled with a warm power surge greater than those she had previously experienced with Adam. Then he face began to crinkle in confusion, pain, agony. Tears streamed down her face for the first time in her life as she began to scream. She couldn't break the connection between them because the two of them were too strong for her. She was in a transference lock down. Adam was flooding her with the emotions of all her victims while Evan was flooding her with nearly twenty one years of the pain she had caused him with all his night terrors. As her allies tried to rush forward to help her Layla summoned a giant tornado that pushed the allies together and pulled them away; far enough to not disturb what the boys were doing with Athena yet close enough that Layla could still maintain control. Layla saw two more people approach and just as she was about to sweep them up too she stopped when she realized one of them was Calla. She was unsure who Calla's companion was yet she sensed the old woman was more friend than foe. Slowly Layla reigned in her forces releasing Athena's allies as they all dropped to the ground unconscious. Shortly thereafter Adam and Evan let go of Athena, she collapsed to the ground burying her face in her hands crying. Adam rushed over to Calla pulling her into his arms so tightly, "It was so hard being apart from you, but you were right that it would be worth it in the end." Layla questioned, "All of this was your idea?" Calla nodded bashfully. Then she explained, "It's not over yet and we don't have much time. This needs to get done before you turn twenty-one and come into full power. You need to meet someone, this is..." Before she could finished Calla abruptly pushed Adam to the ground and took a giant fireball right to the chest. Her face lost all color as she fell to the ground. All eyes looked up searching for the source to see that Athena was back on her feet, unsteadily, but with a darkness painted all over her face. "I will NOT be made a fool of, certainly not by some half wit children and their parlor tricks." Her words were barely above a whisper clearly a sign that she was still very weak from what Adam and Evan had put her through. Before anyone had the chance to retaliate the large tree behind Athena grabbed her dragging her against the base of the tree and with one swift motion snapped her neck. Adam crawled over to Calla pulling her still body next to his own. Her began crying so hard he was having trouble breathing. Layla and Evan rushed over to them. The old woman stepped towards them, "It's not over yet." Layla was angry, "Who the hell are you?" "It doesn't matter who I am, only what I came here for." She placed her left hand on Adam's back, then her right hand on Evan's back. As she closed her eyes she began chanting odd words none of them understood. Both boys heads shot up as a visible ball of energy left them. "The prophecy is over." She began to walk away. Layla shouted after her, "What have you done to them?" But the woman never responded. When her back was towards them and she was only a few yards away she dissipated into a black mist. The three of them exchanged glances then finally all rested their eyes on Calla's tranquil face.