Sabrina's Attack

Sabrina's Attack
Elara's POV

Kaiden's fist crashed into Alaric's jaw before I could even scream a warning.
The sound made me sick - not just because Alaric stumbled backward, but because I could see in Kaiden's bright purple eyes that he wasn't really there anymore. The witches were controlling him like a doll.
"Kaiden, stop!" I shouted, but he didn't even look at me. His face was blank and empty as he threw another hit at Alaric.
Alaric dodged this time and grabbed Kaiden's arm. "Fight it!" he yelled. "I know you're still in there somewhere!"
But Kaiden just smiled with someone else's cruel face and twisted away. More pack members emerged in the doorway, all with those same terrible glowing eyes.
"How touching," Sabrina's words echoed through the hallway, getting closer. "The little omega thinks she can save everyone."
I pressed myself against the wall, trying to stay out of the way as Alaric fought off three mind-controlled pack members at once. He was strong, but he was trying not to hurt them too badly. That was going to get him killed.
"You can't fight them all," I said desperately. "There are too many!"
"I know," Alaric grunted, blocking a kick from one of the pack fighters. "But I won't leave you."
That's when Sabrina finally appeared. She looked totally different now - her hair was floating around her head like she was underwater, and her skin had a weird gray color. Dark power swirled around her hands like smoke.
"Hello again, Elara," she said sweetly. "Ready to come with me now?"
"Never," I said, surprised by how strong my own voice sounded.
Sabrina laughed. "Oh, but you don't have a choice anymore. You see, I've been very patient with you. I could have taken you at any time, but I wanted to do this the easy way. Now that you know our secret, we'll have to do this the hard way."
She raised her hands, and purple lightning shot toward me. I barely had time to throw myself to the side before it hit the wall where I'd been standing, leaving a smoking hole in the wood.
"Stop!" I heard Kaiden yell, but his voice sounded weird and far away. "You said you wouldn't hurt her!"
"That was before she started causing problems," Sabrina snapped. "Now hold still while I collect our prize."
Another bolt of purple lightning came at me. This time, I couldn't dodge fast enough. The magic hit me in the chest, and pain burst through my whole body. It felt like being struck by real lightning.
But something strange happened. Instead of taking me down, the pain made me angry. Really, really angry.
"You want to see magic?" I said, getting to my feet. "Fine. Let me show you what real magic looks like."
I didn't know how I knew what to do. It was like something inside me remembered, even though I'd never done it before. I held out my hands, and silver light poured out of them like water.
Sabrina's eyes went wide. "Impossible! The sentence should be-"
My light hit her power, and the whole room exploded with brightness. I heard wood cracking and glass breaking, but I couldn't stop. The silver light was coming out of me so fast and strong that I felt like I might burst.
"You cursed me as a baby!" I shouted over the noise. "You made me think I was nothing! You made me suffer for years!"
"It was for the greater good!" Sabrina screamed back, sending more purple magic at me. "Your power belongs to us!"
"My power belongs to ME!"
Our magic crashed together in the middle of the room, and everything went crazy. The walls started shaking, pictures fell off their hooks, and I heard people screaming from other parts of the house.
But I wasn't scared anymore. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing exactly what I was meant to do.
Sabrina was getting pushed backward by my light. Her beautiful hair was messy now, and she looked scared.
"This isn't possible," she kept saying. "You're just an omega. You're nothing!"
"I'm not nothing!" I yelled. "I'm a Luna Priestess, and I'm done letting you control me!"
I pushed harder, sending more silver light at her. She stumbled and fell, her purple power flickering like a dying candle.
That's when I heard the most beautiful sound in the world - Alaric's voice, clear and strong again.
"Elara! The mind control is breaking!"
I looked over and saw that the pack members' eyes weren't glowing purple anymore. They looked confused and scared, but they looked like themselves again.
"What's happening?" one of them asked. "Where are we?"
"Sabrina was controlling you," Alaric explained quickly. "But Elara's power is breaking the spell."
I felt hope rising in my chest. Maybe I really could save everyone. Maybe I really was strong enough to stop the witches.
But then Sabrina started laughing.
"You stupid girl," she said, still lying on the floor but smiling like she'd just won a prize. "Did you really think it would be that easy?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"This was never about controlling your mind," she said. "That was just to keep you busy while the real spell took hold."
"What real spell?"
Sabrina sat up, and I saw that her eyes were now totally black. "The one that's been spreading through your body ever since I gave you that shot. The one that's going to turn you into our perfect tool whether you want to be or not."
I felt something cold and awful spreading through my chest. "You're lying."
"Am I? Tell me, Elara - when was the last time you felt totally like yourself? When was the last time you didn't hear those little dark words in your head?"
My blood turned to ice. She was right. Even now, even while I was using my silver light to fight her, I could hear faint voices in the back of my thoughts. Voices telling me to hurt everyone in the room.
"The injection wasn't medicine," Sabrina continued, getting to her feet. "It was a special kind of dark magic. One that works from the inside out. And in about five minutes, you're going to lose control totally."
"No," I whispered.
"Oh yes. And when you do, you're going to kill everyone you care about, starting with your precious Lycan King."
I looked at Alaric, who was staring at me with increasing horror. The pack members were backing away from me, fear clear on their faces.
"I won't let that happen," I said strongly.
"You won't have a choice," Sabrina said. "The spell is already working. Can't you feel it? The anger getting stronger? The urge to use your power to hurt instead of heal?"
She was right. I could feel something dark and hungry rising inside me, fighting against my silver light. And it was getting stronger.
"Elara," Alaric said softly. "Whatever happens, I want you to know-"
"NO!" I screamed, and my silver light exploded outward so forcefully that everyone in the room was thrown backward.
But when the light faded, I realized something terrible.
I couldn't stop it anymore.
The darkness was winning.