Earth Angel (The Kamlyn Paige Novels) (25 page)

“I don’t have time for this. I’ll deal with you
later,” she said as she rolled her eyes and walked over to where the other girl
lay motionless.

My eyes followed her as she knelt over the girl she
had called Ashley. As she rested her hand on Ashley’s stomach, I could see it
move up and down with small ragged breaths. It wasn’t too late to save her yet.
I walked over to where they were, planning to start the battle I’d played out
in my head so many times. Before I could take three steps, Mia had whipped
around holding her hands outward towards me as if signaling me to stop. She was
trying to do something, I just wasn’t sure what it was. I didn’t feel anything
strange happening to me. She squeezed her eyes closed tightly, really
concentrating on making this something happen. I took another step closer. She
opened her snake-like eyes and I watched them grow in fear as I continued to
make my way closer.

“Why can’t I stop you?” she whispered to herself,
just loud enough for me to hear. She made one last attempt to immobilize me
before I reached her. “What are you?” she asked, bewildered as she continued to
kneel by her victim.

I stopped just inches from her, kneeling down to
look straight into her eerie, dark eyes. The corners of my mouth curled up
slowly into a deranged smile. I’d never felt more in power than I did at that
moment.

“I
was
a mother…but now I’m the one who’s
going to kill you,” I growled, never taking my eyes off Mia’s disfigured,
discolored pupils.

Her facial muscles twitched as soon as I finished
speaking. Sitting there on the floor, she opened her mouth wide as she belted
out her wicked laugh. In the position we were in, it seemed to me I had the
upper hand, but she continued to shriek with laughter. I stood up, towering
over her.

“You know, it’s always all about the poor victims,
but what about me?” she asked, trying to look defeated. “I was a mother once
too.”

She lowered her face as she let what she said
settle in with me, as if I would put aside what she did to my son and relate to
her. I wasn’t buying it, though. Her sympathy for the devil act was not going
to work for me. I felt nothing but hatred for the young girl in front of me. It
was hard to picture such indescribable beauty could be the same hag I had seen
in Danny’s room, but no doubt she was the same monster. She may have power over
most people, but she had nothing on me.

“My children were murdered too and since I couldn’t
kill the one responsible I killed others in a blind rage for revenge, just like
you. You and I aren’t so different,” she said, sniffling back her tears.

“We are nothing alike,” I responded through
clenched teeth, furious she could even see any resemblance between us. “You
kill the innocent…I don’t.”

“How can you be sure everything you’ve ever killed
was dangerous? What if they were just misunderstood? You couldn’t find me to
kill me so you took it out on everything different or weird you came across.”

I shook my head, not wanting to hear another word.

“When your children died, you had a choice; use
your experience to do good and help others so they don’t have to feel the same
pain you felt or do evil and cause despair,” I said, narrowing my eyes.

I stared down at Mia, letting her think about what
I’d said. Her eyes shifted in all different directions as she pretended to give
a damn about the people she’d killed.

“You made the wrong choice,” I said, baring my
teeth in anger. “And now you’re going to pay for it.”

Her laughter echoed once more throughout the
auditorium, coming back at me from all angles. I took a step back, slightly
fearful of her next move. She stared directly into my eyes as she cackled with
insanity.

“I don’t think so, mommy,” she stopped laughing
abruptly and furrowed her brows once more.

Moving quicker than I could keep up with, she stood
up and whipped the back of her hand across my face, sending me flying
backwards. I slid across the floor from the force of her blow, smacking the
back of my head on one of the wooden sets. The pain was worse than anything I’d
ever felt. My vision blurred as I tried to stand up, but it was too much. My
knees buckled and my face hit the hardwood floor. I could hear the sound of
heels clicking in the distance, coming closer to me.

“Ouch, sorry about that, but you were getting
ridiculous to listen to,” Mia said as she knelt just inches from my face.

I coughed hard, causing more pain in my throbbing
head as her putrid breath filled my nostrils and lungs. When I had smelled it last
in Danny’s room, I had been an entire’s room length away, but forced down my
throat as it was then made me never want to breathe again. It was as if someone
had nearly strangled me to death and I was left to fight for air as my body
tried to shut itself down in defense. I could taste the decaying rotting eggs
her breath mimicked as it consumed every sense I had left working.

To my relief Mia stood up, clicking her tongue as
if it were a shame to see me give up so easily. She drove the sharp black heel
of her shoe into my stomach, shooting the pain straight up into my head.
Another fit of coughing and it was all too much for me. I curled up into a
ball, sure this was the end of me. There was no way I could stand up and fight.
All I could do was lay there and try to stay conscious, even as the darkness
started to creep up around me. I forced my eyes open and turned my head upward
to look at Mia.

“You just won’t give up will you?” she said,
putting her hands on her hips.

I was just as surprised as she was that I had held
on this long. I rolled over onto my stomach and planted the palms of my hands
on the floor. I pushed myself up slowly with all the strength I had left to
rest on my knees. My head spun in all directions. I closed my eyes as I tried
to steady myself. Danny was counting on me to set him free and that was exactly
what I was going to do. I opened my eyes again, focusing on the angry goddess’
face. I attempted to rise as Mia laughed. She took her shoes off and placed
them on the ground next to her. As she took a few steps closer to me, her body
swayed as if she were dancing to some unheard music.

One more smell of her foul breath would surely
knock me back on my ass. Little did I know, rancid smells were the least of my
worries. With greater force than the back of her hand, she kicked me in the
head with all she had in her. As I was mid-air, my body decided it had taken
all it could handle. I never got the chance to see if I landed back onto the
ground. For all I knew, I was still floating there.

Nothing could be seen in the blackness surrounding
me. All I heard were voices in the distance. I heard Danny, panicking, wanting
his mother to get up. I heard Sari, confessing his love and pledging the rest
of his life to me. And I heard Mia, roaring with laughter at her victory over
another no named worthless no one. My eyelids were heavy, unable to open with the
normal force I usually applied to the simple task. I put all my concentration
into it when I felt the weight lift, letting my eyes flutter open.

I tried to move my arms, but they were tied
together around something. My feet were bound as well, unable to move at all. I
turned my head with ease, still feeling the powerful throbbing of my brain as I
did so. The wooden and cardboard sets the two girls had been working on were
behind me, holding me in place. I struggled harder, sure that the college-made
carpentry couldn’t hold against my strong will to live and desire to kill the
evil before me.

“Well, look who’s up,” Mia said casually as she
strolled over to me, her heels clicking on the hard floor once more. “I was
beginning to think I’d accidentally finished you off.”

She smiled, revealing a glistening row of rotted
pointed teeth. She ran her tongue over the brown and yellow stained fangs as
she continued to smile maliciously.

“You like?” she asked with a giggle. “It’s how I’m
able to rip apart these worthless meat sacks to get to their juicy souls.”

The image filled my head of her using the jagged
teeth bared in front of me to find her way to my core. There was no way I was
going to let that happen. I had to get out of this somehow. I had to defeat her
for Danny and all the other kids who were trapped under her power. Fear filled
every muscle I had as she slowly opened her mouth, moving her head closer to my
helpless body. It was too late.

“Hey!”  I heard a familiar, deep voice growl and
echo through the large auditorium.

Mia backed away and whipped herself around to come
face to face with my beautiful guardian. Sari towered over the goddess’s small
frame, his eyes burning with rage. For a second I actually thought I saw fire
roaring in his irises, but decided it was due to the sharp blow to my head.

“You think you have any power over me?” she asked.

Mia took a few sauntering steps towards Sari as her
crooked, deranged smile overtook her beautiful face. Sari didn’t budge.
Instead, he stared down at the now haggard woman with his own smile of
insanity. The sight of me in such peril seemed to have actually driven him
crazy, which I appreciated.

“There’s nothing you can do to me…” she told Sari
as she licked her lips.

Before she could finish her threat, Sari extended
his arm into her sternum so quickly and with such great force that she flew all
the way across the stage and into the brick wall in the back. The wall crumbled
where she hit and pieces fell out, landing on her as she lay on the floor. As
she struggled to get herself back on her feet, Sari ran over to me.

“Bu-bye,” Mia said, just as Sari got his hands on
the ropes confining me.

Right before my eyes, Sari vanished into thin air,
unable to free me. To my horror, the badly bruised goddess snapped her dislocated
shoulder back into place with a grin. Her broken foot dragged behind her as she
made her way over to me once more.

“What did you do with him?” I yelled in a whirlwind
of fury.

My chest felt heavy as I tried to breathe. The
tears were welling up in my eyes as I thrashed back and forth, trying to break
free.

“Don’t worry, precious hunter, he’ll find his way
back…sadly, it will be too late to save you, though.”

She pulled something small out from underneath her
shirt. She opened the tiny matchbook and pulled one out, ready to ignite.

“Shame I have the power to make your darling savior
disappear, huh?” Mia laughed, scraping the small stick against its packaging,
causing it to light with a hiss.

I closed my eyes and felt the warmth of the match
at my feet as it landed on a piece of strategically placed cardboard and roared
to life. I concentrated on what she had said to me last, drowning out
everything else around me. My head became blank and all the pain I was feeling
was gone. My muscles relaxed and my body felt as light as a feather before
returning to its natural state. I stared at the back of my enemy’s head as she
stared in shock at the burning, empty space in front of her. I could feel the
anger in me boiling, ready to pour out of me. Mia turned around to find herself
inches from my face.

“How…” she stammered, taking a few steps backwards
before tripping over the toolbox she had left in the middle of the stage.

She immediately regained her footing, crouched on
the floor and ready to attack at the first move I made. I walked towards her,
never looking away from her fierce, dark eyes. Time seemed to slow down as we
stared at each other, waiting for the other to strike. The tension in the air
was electric as our eyes locked onto each other’s.

“What are you?” she growled, demanding an answer
from me.

“I’m nothing like anything you’ve ever met,” I said
just before shoving my foot out with greater force than I ever thought I had,
contacting with the rotting hag’s face.

Her head whipped back as she fell to the ground, a
few of her decrepit teeth lying around her in pieces from the impact. She
pushed herself up onto all fours, blood flowing in a small stream from her
mouth. She turned her head to look at me, narrowing her eyes before spitting
out the last pool of red. There was nothing left to say. Now was the time to
finish this.

I screamed from the rush, running at her with full
speed. I extended my leg once more for another blow, but she saw it coming and
grabbed my ankle, throwing me to the side with one hand. I heard a snap as she
let go, sending me through the air before landing on my side with a loud thud.
Every bone in my body ached, but the bones in my ankle were the only ones that
were completely shattered. Knowing there was no time left to worry about the
pain, I jumped to my feet and charged forward again. If I could just get my
hands on her, this would all be over.

Our bodies collided and I caught her fist before it
pounded into my face. I used her own attack on her and threw my own fist into
her jaw. In a fit of rage, she gnashed her teeth together before opening her
mouth wider than humanly possible. Her broken, jagged teeth came down on my
shoulder. She stuck to me for a few moments of agonizing pain before ripping
away, taking a chunk of my shoulder with her. I screamed with all I had in me,
not being able to contain myself. The wound was expelling blood quickly,
soaking through my clothes. Forcing my head into hers, I knocked Mia to the
ground once again, only to have her bring me down with her.

We both scrambled away from each other, working to
get back onto our feet. As she kicked and fought her way away from me, the
demon goddess drove the heel of her foot into my face, catching my fragile
cheekbone and eye. No snap this time. I crawled over to where she was pulling
herself to and turned her onto her back. I climbed onto her stomach,
restraining her hands as she struggled to break away from me.

“It’s over.”