Chapter 28 — The Fear Within

It was almost midnight in High Town City when a large group of Chadwick’s followers thought it was best to flood the city and wreak havoc at night.

Susan stood invisible in mid-air, her vision like that of an eagle as she looked through every part they came from.

“The night will remain still,” Susan said.

Fire from Susan consumed most of the smaller groups, briskly turning them into ashes, Susan faced the larger groups which were in three, and they were closing in on the city.

Splitting her form into four, she ordered the three to stand before the group.

In an instant, they materialized before these groups, which paused in surprise. Susan’s original self watched from mid-air. These beings that had come from Susan said nothing, and did nothing, but were ready to kill only if she gave the order.

Susan felt she had had enough blood for tonight, so she used the wind to try to stop these people, and it worked.

The wind lifted the three groups off the ground, the three forms of Susan returned to her and became one. Susan caused the wind to spin and clash these people in mid-air till some either felt nausea, fainted, or died due to fear.

She let the wind take them high above the clouds, and upper still till the air began to feel thin. At fifty thousand feet above the ground, Susan caused the wind to disappear, and so did Chadwick’s followers.

Slowly, she descended, till her feet graced the ground. She walked on one street, but she was on all streets. She saw the deeds of the dark, the about to be theft, and murders, the people sleeping peacefully in their homes, and she thought as time froze, it wouldn’t hurt to demand more blood.

It would be demanding more blood, she thought. No. It wouldn’t. She would be selective. Why she really wanted to face the Red Haux to know how powerful they were, she didn’t want them coming due to her use of power. That alone could attract her mother.

True her sisters said she was now stronger than her mother, Susan very much doubted it. Her mother, the queen of the blood sea was a true conqueror. It was because of Susan’s mother that all other lines of powers feared the Hills. Nobody could challenge her mother. And even Chadwick who made these advances from the grave, was no match for the Queen of the blood sea.

They had never come face to face in an open confrontation before because Susan knew her mother would destroy Chadwick in an instance. Her mother was a queen. And she was the princess of a powerful being. And a weapon.

What if mother had conquered these lines of powers when her grandmother was queen, Susan thought. What if mother was as frustrated as she was? Surely, if she was able to conquer so much, she must have been with the blood curse then. How many did she kill?

Susan’s mind returned to reality, and before she would unfreeze time, she looked through the hearts of the murderers and the thieves, and killed those with the wrong intents, while leaving the pure who had come to revenge a wrong deed to stain their hands, letting them bear the guilt of blood.

Then she unfroze time.

The commotion happened at once, all without anyone noticing who had done it, and it would take till dawn before the sirens of emergency vehicles would begin to blare.

Susan returned to her house, and met Vivian sitting outside on her front steps.

“What are you doing out there in the dark?” Susan asked, and paused before her sister.

Vivian whose gaze was to the ground met Susan’s reddish-brown eyes. “Looking after you,” she said.

Susan cocked her head to one side. “You really think someone could sneak up on me?”

“Chadwick could send another spirit after you. Unless you can see those.”

“You’d be surprised. What do you know about mother wielding the blood curse?”

“Not so much. Only she used it to bring order, and challenge Eleanor.”

“I disagree,” Susan said. “I think mother needed the power of Eleanor, and that battle was inconclusive. Eleanor probably ran away realizing she had cursed the Hills with a power that was stronger than hers. One she didn’t understand. Mother fears her, and you know this. Eleanor is the only one whose power can make one escape the blood sea.”

Vivian shook her head. “No. Not everyone can use that power. Mother probably hates it because it’s the only power outside her control. You are able to use it because of Eleanor’s curse which you carry. And I fear that Eleanor has given you all her powers so that you could indirectly solve her problems when they come for her.”

Black fumes left Susan’s nostrils. “She intends to use me as a weapon, doesn’t she?”

“Most likely. Mother had no sisters. All she had was herself, and that’s how she was able to be the most superior among our species. Even better, making the powers of the bloodstones matchless to any line ever created.”

“Everything can be challenged, Vivian,” Susan said. “I already have a weakness. And he’s a human. I could make the wrong decision tomorrow. I wish to kill him, and I wish to protect him. How’s that? I fear if I kill him, I’ll be lost for good. I fear if I don’t, he would be used against me. Someone out there is preparing someone against me. I made Chadwick’s followers disappear today, and I didn’t intend it. I let nature take them far above the clouds, and that was it. They never reached the ground. I kill every day. I am preparing for something that may injure me, or wear me out. And the fact I do not know what it is, or who it is, sure does offend me. Eleanor said my greatest adversary may not be Chadwick. I am scared, Vivian.”

Vivian stood, walked up to her sister, she placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’re not the only Hill that’s feared. Come what may, we’ll be there to defend you.”