The Chosen - 4. Secret of the Soul

[Chapter 4]

I stared into blue eyes so like my own but not since mine sparkled and practically glowed, in my own humble opinion. These eyes were cold and evil, like the eyes of a demon. Mom looked back and forth between Morgan and I as we engaged in our staring match.

Did this hellspawn think she was going to cause me to look away first? I don't think so. Why were we doing this exactly? No reason. We happened to meet eyes over the breakfast table and it snowballed from there. I was stooping down to her level but damn it I had my pride, and the princess of darkness already thought she had bigger balls than me. No way was I going to give her something to gloat over. The little hooker would never let a weakness go unexploited.

"Are you two done?" Mom asked with a bored tone as she cut into her eggs.

Morgan blinked and looked at mom. Boom. That's what I thought. Smugly, I shot her a smug grin. Mom pinned me with a flat stare and the grin slipped from my face. You win this round, Mom. But the battle is far from over. I mentally slapped myself. I had to lay off the Syfi channel for a while. I was monologuing like one of their bad Friday night movie villains.

Sunlight streamed in through the window throwing golden oblongs of sunshine on the kitchen floor. Sunday mornings in the Summers household was always spent at the kitchen table. We usually never ate together except for this day. It had been two days since the day I faced my first preternatural creature alone. You would think seeing a decapitated zombie would have given me nightmares. But it didn't. And that worried me. Maybe in my past life I was this ruthless warrior who killed and felt no remorse but I wasn't like that. I didn't want to be like that. Being a sociopath was so not attractive.

"Do you guys have any plans today?" Mom asked, biting into her French toast.

Morgan shrugged. "Me and Hailey plan on catching up on Youtube MUA vids. We missed a few uploads because of drill team practice."

I rolled my eyes. "Please. You guys are on a middle school drill team. How can your practice sessions run that late into the evening?"

"If you participated in anything athletic," Morgan snapped, eyes flashing. "I'm sure you would understand how hard practices are. Wait I forgot. You have your little nerd meetings after school, don't you? Do you guys discuss the meaning of cool and how you lack it?"

I shook my head. Sad, sad little girl. "You honestly have no idea how a high school works." I looked at the ceiling, smiling wistfully. "They're going to eat you alive next year." I smiled darkly. "And I can't wait."

Mom slapped her hand down on the table. She glared at us. "Stop it! You guys just stop it. Now apologize to each other."

I gave Morgan my patented go to hell smile. It was bright and empty as a light bulb. The key is to smile like you meant it but to think fuck you in your head, and project it through your eyes. I tried teaching Kevin how to do it, but he always managed to just look extremely friendly and outgoing. He was a lost cause. Morgan looked away and mumbled an apology. I tilted my head, still smiling, but my eyes said all the things I was thinking loud and clear.

"I'm sorry, too, Morgan," I said with fake sincerity.

Mom sighed and rubbed at her temples. "You kids are going to be the death of me."

We kept the remainder of breakfast drama free to save Mom the stress. And it was indeed stressful dealing with the two of us. Kids were definitely not in my future. Especially if they behaved anything like us even on a good day.

I excused myself from the table at the sound of the doorbell. No way was I going to be in the same room as Morgan and Hailey. Those two together were like characters from Mean Girls, but substitute mean for bitchy and you have a pretty good idea as to what they were like. I jogged up the stairs to my room, plopped down on the bed and closed my eyes. Weariness throbbed from my very bones. I was exhausted. The constant training was starting to take a toll. Before I realized sleep took me away into slumberland.

I was dreaming again.

I could tell it was the past because I felt more like a witness than a participator. Once again I was my previous reincarnation dressed in flowing white robes, standing on a balcony that overlooked a glistening silver city of tall spires and towers of glass. I looked to the horizon and was surprised to see the blue ocean going on as far as I could see. The moon was in the sky and stars were bright and shining in the black folds of space. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. A hand touched my cheek and I turned.

A man dressed in red robes smiled at me. My heart pounded and I felt dizzy at the sight of that smile alone. I knew this person, this man. He was my other half, my soul mate, and my everything. For some reason, I couldn't make out his face. It was fuzzy and unfocused to my eyes but everything else was perfectly clear. I racked my thoughts to recall his looks, but they were gone and that was why my mind couldn't construct his face.

"The others are concerned for you, my love," whispered the man, cupping my face with his gentle hand.

The me of then sighed. "I know this, my heart. I have a worrying feeling that everything will come to a final end soon. Whether it be for good or
ill I know not."

"Let us not think on that."

I looked into his face and felt a wave of reassurance. My past self leaned in and kissed the man lovingly. Then suddenly the ground beneath our feet rocked and there were screams.

And I woke up.

"Holy shit." I was sweating and my heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest.

I had no idea what had happened next in the dream after the earthquake and screaming. I don't think I even wanted to know. I swallowed trying to force air back into my lungs. I didn't see what happened next but the emotions I could feel were of sorrow from loss, pain, despair, and a grim determination.

Sighing, I ran a shaky hand through my hair. It had started off so nice too. Who was that man in my dreams? I felt like I knew everything about him and at the same time, nothing came to mind. I racked my memory for any bit of information; already the details of the dream were fading away like sand slipping from my fingers.

"Oh God," said a voice from the door.

I looked up and Kevin entered the room closing the door behind him. He leaned against the door dressed in deep blue shorts and a teal polo. He looked like he got lost on the way to a frat party.

"Did I interrupt you masturbating?" he asked fearfully. "I really don't want to have to go to therapy after seeing your hand wrapped around your dick."

I pretended to laugh and then suddenly stopped. "I thought it over and decided that wasn't funny."

"Ouch," Kevin replied, sliding into the chair in front of the computer. "You bucking for Bitch of the Year Award or something? What's up?"

I smiled slightly. "Sorry, man. I just had a really bad dream."

"Want to talk about it?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. It's all good." He shot me a look that clearly said yeah right but I ignored it and changed the subject. "Why are you here anyway? Not that I'm not happy to see you."

Kevin laughed. "Nice save. I saw this ad saying that Robert Stein was going to be signing his new book at Barnes & Noble today."

And that meant what to me exactly. "Okay..."

"I was thinking that with my mom's birthday coming up in a couple of days I could get her a signed copy of his book," said Kevin, finishing with a clap of his hands and an eager smile.

I narrowed my eyes at him. Who did he think he was fooling? Kevin Montero voluntarily does something nice for someone else without a gun held to his head... I don't think so.

"Be for real, Kevin," I said, rolling my eyes. "I'm guessing that when she sees your gift she'll be so touched that she'll be extremely lenient when you handover your report card."

Look for it. And there it was. The full on hooker pout, right on schedule. "Must you really demean my attempt at being a good son."

I just stared at him. No words were needed. We had been friends since elementary school, sometimes only a look was needed when one was dealing with the both of us. I crossed my arms still staring at him. Finally, Kevin sighed and the pout was replaced by a sheepish smile that had his brown eyes twinkling.

"Damn," he said, half smiling. "I would have got away with it, too, if it wasn't for you meddlesome punks and your little dog."

A snort left my mouth before I could stop it. That was all it took before we were both rolling around laughing our ass off. The situation was just hilarious if you stopped to think about it. I mean really what kind of person has the plans and plots swirling in their mind the way Kevin does.

It was just like the time last year when Kevin found out Nicole Brooks was cheating on him. He went into all out plan mode which involved us sneaking out in the dark of night, dressed in all black, to egg her house. Halfway into it, the front porch lights came on and we bolted. As we were hopping a fence Kevin lost his footing, fell, broke his leg and screamed bloody murder, waking up the whole neighborhood. I signed his cast Nice plan bitch. Love, bro. He had devious plans but I didn't say they all were good ones.

It was Sunday afternoon and I was bored as hell so why the hell not. I changed into a pair of blue jeans and a fitted yellow shirt. It hugged my chest and arms nicely, showing off my lean muscles. I slipped into a pair of Nike's with blue swooshes, applied some hair goop to brush into its usual style, which was a neat look with only the front spiked. I winked one eye at my reflection in the mirror.

Kevin sat on my bed reading an Ultimate X-Men comic. "If you look into that mirror one more time, I'm leaving right now. I swear." He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "Are all gays so conceited or is this just a personality defect of yours?"

"I personally would use the word image conscious," I sniffed, turning up nose head haughtily.

Kevin stood up and stretched like a cat. "Anyway in other news, I think its time to go."

"Wow, great news story. Someone call TMZ." I replied, grabbing my keys from beside my computer.

We said bye to my mother before leaving the house and I promised to be back before eleven. Barnes & Noble was on the opposite side of the highway from East Mall. I exited Legacy Boulevard, made a quick loop, and sped into the Borders parking lot. What could I say? I had a heavy foot when it came to the gas pedal.

The inside was huge. Think of your local bookstore, but on steroids. It was two stories and filled with shelves upon shelves of books. Near the back was a section for music and movies, smaller when compared to the rest of the store's inventory. Also, a Starbucks was off to the right. People stood in a small line for their espressos or whatnot. The roundtables were occupied with people reading or typing extremely loudly on their MacBooks when we all know they were just on iMessage.

The cool breeze of the central air hit me as we entered. Immediately, my eyes were drawn toward the lounge section, which was currently roped off. People loitered around in the section, all of them holding a hardback book with a bright blue cover. A small line was formed in front of a table where a single man sat, glasses perched on his hooked nose. All the way from here I could hear his loud, rolling laugh as he chatted with a woman who was first in line. I didn't have to be Nancy Drew to guess he was Robert Stein.

We didn't take so much as two steps in before we were rushed by a pretty dark skinned girl about our age with braided hair, thick glasses and a bright smile that had me wishing for a pair of sunglasses.

"Welcome to Barnes & Noble!" She said brightly. And a little over eager. "Can I help you guys with anything!"

My eyes lingered on her chest. Not for that reason. Her nametag said 'Hi, my name is Samantha, I'm new'. Beneath that was a pen drawn anime doodle of a smiling face of a girl that I was guessed Samantha had drawn herself. I swallowed to fight back a snort. I looked at Kevin and I almost groaned. The bastard was smiling charmingly and Samantha's eyes glazed over.

"Why yes you can," Kevin said in his suave voice and I gagged. He read her nametag. "Samantha." He pronounced her name almost like a caress. "I was wondering if Robert Stein was still here. I wanted to get a signed copy of his book."

Samantha nodded so hard that I was surprised her neck didn't snap. "He's still here. You already missed his reading and Q&A and the signing's almost over. I think there are only a couple of people still in line. Do you need a copy of his book? I can ring one up for you!"

Poor, poor girl. No female had the power to resist Kevin when he was in full flirt mode. And when he wanted something that could be acquired by flirting ladies look out. She led us to the checkout counter. A display was next to the counter with less than a dozen copies of Flight of Icarus by Robert Stein left. He snatched one and slid it over the counter.

I shot him a look. Must you really, I tried to tell him with my eyes. He winked and did one of those Gallic shrugs that meant nothing and everything all at once. Samantha's smile was as bright as Time's Square as Kevin made small talk while she scanned the book.

"It's going to be $9.89," she chirped. Yes, chirped.

I quickly scanned the book price on display and my eyebrows rose. The book was over twenty bucks, so what was she talking about. I nudged Kevin and nodded at the display. He noticed too and smiled at Samantha.

"I think you priced the book wrong," he said with fake innocence. I detected it right off the bat but Samantha was smitten. Poor girl.

She smiled, eyes twinkling. "I gave you my discount."

"You really didn't have to do that," Kevin said modestly.

I rolled my eyes. I did that a lot whenever I was around Kevin. If the eyeballs were a muscle then these bad boys would be the strongest in all
of California.

Kevin smiled and took the book, brushing their fingers together. "Thank you, Samantha. I appreciate it and hope I see you again."

"Me too," she said, practically swooning.

We walked toward the lounge in the back and I waited until we were out of hearing range. "Did you seriously have to go and flirt with the girl just for a discount? Now you've gone and given her hopes up. She thinks you really like her."

Kevin shrugged. "She was cute as hell and it's not like I told her I wanted a date. I just flirted a little." He looked at me. "And its not like you've never done the same thing. I seem to recall that speeding ticket you tried to flirt your way out of."

"Keyword is tried," I muttered.

Kevin blew on his nails and wiped them on his shirt, smiling superiorly. "You just don't know how to work it. I would teach you but teachers get paid."

I couldn't resist the smile that tugged at my lips though. "Kevin, I swear that if we weren't in a public place I would smack you right in the teeth."

He grabbed his heart, shooting me an exaggerated wounded look. "That hurt. My cold dead hurt is wounded."

We made it in line and the person ahead of us was done as soon as we got there. Then it was our turn. Robert Stein was a man in his mid fifties with thin white hair and ruddy brown skin of someone that saw plenty of sunlight. I founded myself instantly warmed and at home when he smiled and gestured for us to step forward.

Kevin, ever the extrovert, quickly began babbling, "My mom's a huge fan, Mr. Stein. I was hoping that I could get this copy of your book signed for her. It's her birthday and this would just blow her mind."

The author laughed at his overeagerness. "It would be my pleasure."

I scanned the store while they talked. I wasn't familiar with his book so felt a little out of place. There sure was a lot of people here. I had never seen it so busy. This guy must be popular because more than half the people here carried a copy of his blue covered book. I shivered suddenly and rubbed at the goosebumps rising on my arms. This central air was no joke. I know it was warm outside but there was no reason to have the air set on North Pole.

I felt my bladder stirring and so made my excuses to use the restroom. I practically kicked open the door in my rush to make it to a urinal. A sigh left my lips as the weight on my gut lessened and evaporated. I finished up and washed my hands, then tapped the air-dry machine. I tapped it again. Then once more. It was broken. An out of order sign would have been great, but hey what can you do.

The door swung open and I looked up as a boy about my age entered. He was taller than my height of 5'9. I guessed that maybe he was 5'11 or so. He had straight black hair that fell like a curtain around his head with the fringe swooping to the side and falling across his gray eyes. He wore a pair of thin glasses with a button down shirt, tucked in, and a pair of tan chinos. I cocked my head. He was cute in a nerdy Clark Kent/Harry Potter kind of way.

He gestured at the machine. "You have to slap it first, tap it, and then press the start button," he explained, half smiling.

I followed the suggestion feeling a little stupid. But hot damn he was right. The dryer kicked to life and wheezed its hot air from the short cylinder. I grinned at the mystery boy.

"Thanks. How did you know how to that?" I asked, turning over my hands to let the air hit my wet palms.

He shrugged a shy smile on his lips. "I worked here last summer."

"Well you sir are my hero," I said, walking toward the door. "See you later."

I left the restroom and found Kevin in the sports section standing next to Ben and Brad Cohen. They were identical twins with buzzed brown hair and light green eyes. Their stocky builds were attributed to playing most of the sports our school held. Kevin and I both played soccer and that's how we knew them. They were two years above us and the soccer season was usually the only time we interacted.

"Hey guys," I said strolling down the aisle. I slapped the twins a five and read the book title held in Ben's hand, You're a Jock. Now What?

Ben caught my stare and grinned. "The title sounded funny so I thought why not."

Brad slapped Kevin on the back. "I'm almost looking forward to football season being over so we can get back into soccer. We need to teach you a few of our infamous moves since this is our last year."

"I forget you're seniors," Kevin said. "You act younger than us sometimes. Like that time during practice, Ben asked me how to spell ball. And Brad tried to tell me it was spelled baall"

The twins laughed exactly the same. They were practically a mirror image as they threw back their heads and laughed loudly. "We didn't go to sleep the night before so we were running on empty that day, dude."

I snorted. "Uh, huh. Excuses, excuses."

The boy from the bathroom passed us on his way to another section and I waved. He nodded back and his eyes suddenly darted to the side when the other guys noticed. Wow. He was really shy.

"Hey, that kid is in our English 4 class," said Brad.

Ben nodded. "He's only a sophomore like you guys but he's supposed to be really smart. Like Enstied or something."

"Einstein," Kevin corrected with a snort.

I followed the kid with my eyes as he walked toward the science fiction section. Centennial High was a huge school. There were people that went there that I hadn't seen since middle school. If you didn't have classes, lunch, or athletics with someone then there was more than a fifty percent chance that you would never see them during your high school career. I learned that during freshmen year when our middle school group of friends drifted apart since we never saw each other.

"What's his name?" I asked the twins.

Ben scratched his head looking kind of ape-like but I refrained to comment since I was the one who made him engage in a thought process. Brad bit his lip and looked up heavenward, he too racking his brain for a name. Kevin shook his head silently chuckling. He looked down at the ground to hide his grin. I stepped on his toe to get him to stop. No luck. All it did was earn me a kick in the ankle.

"Don't rush on my account guys," I said sarcastically, a little bored of just standing here. The cold was really starting to bother me. I kept rubbing my arms but wasn't getting any warmer.

Ben snapped his fingers. "Ryan," he said finally. "His name is Ryan."

"Spencer," Brad added. "Ryan Spencer."

I rubbed my forearms harder but the friction wasn't providing warmth. I glanced at Kevin and was startled at the sight of his blue tinged lips. I opened my mouth to say something and gasped at the sight of the white air that blew out. What the fuck. My teeth chattered as the temperature plunged a few more degrees.

"What in Elphaba's flying monkey's is going on?" Kevin asked as he rubbed his arms like I was doing.

I side eyed him. "I knew you liked Wicked."

We looked around the store and it was just a mass of confusion everywhere. I sneezed as a harsh, icy cold wind blew through the store making books fly from their shelves and papers go swirling through the air. People rushed for the doors and the store buzzed with a chaotic energy, as they pushed and pulled, but the doors wouldn't open. Kevin and the twins leaned against the shelves in the aisle, their faces turning white from lack of warmth even as air ghosted out through their lips. They appeared exhausted suddenly as if they were about to drop at any moment.

"Guys what's wrong?" I asked, holding Kevin up. He was cold to the touch. "Kevin, come on buddy. Are you okay?"

His head lulled to the side and he looked at me through half-lidded, tired eyes. "I feel so tired, Chad. I just want to sleep."

His eyes closed and he slumped as all energy left his body. The wind picked up and blew with a frightening intensity, throwing more books from shelves and knocking down displays. I looked at the twins and they collapsed as one falling to the ground unconscious. I checked Kevin's pulse and sighed feeling it beat steady but it was weak. I reached for my cell phone then cursed realizing I had left it on the charger at home. All around the store people were collapsing like Kevin and the twins. They just fell to ground where they stood. My heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest. What was going on?

Then I felt it.

My head snapped up toward the information desk. Tiny globes of white light flew around in a cyclone. It was beautiful yet fear-inspiring to behold. A tingly feeling went down my spine and I knew what was happening. Why it took me so long to figure out I don't know. I was new at the superhero business give me a break. I honestly thought super virus before something preternatural.

The feeling got stronger and I shivered harder as the temperature dropped even more. There was a flare of light from the globes as they coalesced and formed into a being. A man appeared slowly appeared as if fading into focus. He wore a billowing black robe that shifted in the currents of the wind. His long ragged black hair flew out behind his bowed head.

I took a step back as I felt his power. This bastard was strong. I suppose that zombie that broke free from the Ever After was just a lightweight. I looked at the man and shuddered. His body was transparent in some places. Was he a ghost or some kind of spirit? It suddenly clicked and I knew what happened. He had sucked the energy from everyone here to crossover and to give himself corporeal form. That was not an easy feat. I was in trouble.

His head lifted and I swallowed as his eyes opened. They were a fiery red that was like the colors of the setting sun. He gazed around the room with a detached air as if the fallen bodies of the unconscious people were nothing but insects to him. I swallowed as those eyes suddenly landed on me. His head cocked to the side, a spark of curiosity appearing on his face.

"What year is this, spawn?" his voice was hard and unyielding like a king speaking to a subject.

I opened my mouth and it took a couple of tries to find my voice. "It's 2016."

He gazed around the room again, dismissing me. "Your reckoning has no meaning to me. It has been many years since I have had form." He stretched out his arm and clenched his fist. "This body of the human diminishes my former strength but it shall do for now."

I admit I was scared at first but this dude was getting on my nerves. He stole energy from everybody here and now he's talking like one of those Goa'uld from Stargate. And when something talked like a megalomanic parasite it needed to be killed. I settled into a fighting stance and glared. Time to clock in. Let's get to work.

"Look, bitch," I said, my voice ringing out through the store. "I don't know who you are but you need to leave. Now."

He sneered. "My name cannot be pronounced by your tongue," he said in that superior tone that was grating on my nerves. "You may call me Abholo."

"I know what you are," I said boldly. "You're a creature from the Ever After. This is not your world anymore. You and yours lost purchase of this realm. I banish you back into shadow!"

That last bit was unexpected. I didn't let the surprise show on my face. My past self sprung up at the most random of times to assert himself. It came from inside flowing from my lips as if I was on autopilot. I clenched my fists and glared. Abholo was in for a big surprise if he thought he was just going to come into this world and deal death without a challenge.

Abholo narrowed his red eyes. "You speak as if you know the battles of old... No matter," he said, waving his arm, uncaring. "I am here to prepare this world for the Coming. You shall be the first soul I quench. Feel honored, spawn."

I reached into myself and called on my power and clothing shifted as the uniform of the Chosen replaced my civilian outfit. Warmth flooded me again as the suit warded off the seeping cold. I lowered the hood from my head. I had a feeling that this was going to be a real fight and the hood would be a hindrance. Surprise flickered on his face and recognition in his eyes. Abholo floated down from the counter staring at me, hate slowing building in his gaze until it filled his eyes making them glow hot, angry, accusing.

"Your garments are different but I know who you are," Abholo spat, his lip curling into a sneer. "I know a Chosen when I lay eyes upon one of destiny's servants."

"And Bingo was his name-o!" I snapped. "Look, bitch. I don't know what the Coming is. But I get the feeling you're trying to pave the way for something bigger than you." I stretched my arm forward and bent my knees. I flicked my fingers in a bring it gesture ripped straight from the Matrix. "I'm going to send your ass crawling back to the Ever After to lick your master's balls."

He grinned coldly as he cracked his knuckles. "It has been too long since I have beat upon your kind. You broke so easily when we played with you."

"Save the cute stories for your TED talk," I said, rearing back my arms. "Fireballs!"

I swung my arms and lauched the balls of lethal flame downrange. Abholo batted one away and it blew a hole in the wall. The other he merely sidestepped and it burned another hole in the wall behind him. Shit. I summoned the wind and the heavy bookshelves lifted up and flew toward him. He slapped them aside as easily as he batted away my fireballs. This was definitely not good. Fuck.

"Freeze motherfucker!" I brought my hand to my face and blew across my palm. The icy wind roared from my hand faster than he could react and it covered the being in a thick sheet of ice. I smiled and pumped my fist into the air. I almost did a jig but I figured that maybe that would be too much.

"What's going on?"

My head snapped around hearing the voice. My mouth dropped open in shock. Ryan Spencer was standing to his feet holding a shaky hand to his head. He looked around in confusion with a lost expression. I went over to him. Please let the glamour in these suits really work. I prayed he wouldn't recognize me. I grabbed Ryan's shoulders to steady him.

"Kid, are you okay?" I asked, making my voice deeper just in case. I'm sure the glamour worked with voice patterns too but I was a little paranoid.

He nodded slowly. "I-I think so." His gray eyes widened behind his glasses and he shoved me out of the way.

We went soaring back and I landed on my side before skidding into a bookcase. Shards of ice flew through everywhere at once. I looked at Abholo and cursed. The bastard was breaking free from his ice prison. I looked into Ryan's eyes and I felt something tug at my thoughts. Those gray eyes locked with mine and I fell into them.

Flicker.

I gasped as a vision played out in my mind. I've seen this before but now it was rewound to an earlier point. I recognized the battlefield and the demons marching against us. Smoke filled the air and my comrades, my fellow Chosen stood beside me. Their faces were as always obscured and unrecognizable but one face suddenly cleared. The mist faded and familiar gray eyes belonging to a man in his early twenties grinned at me.

"You ready for this, Warlock?" he asked.

I nodded at him, smiling. "I was born ready for this. Let them come!"

A cheer was echoed from the other Chosen.

Flicker.

Without warning, I was thrust back into the reality. I gaped at Ryan and he looked at me in confusion. I couldn't believe it. I actually found another Chosen. One look at him and I could tell that he didn't remember. He didn't see what I saw. I knew what to do. Nathaniel trained me for this. I had to work quickly before Abholo completely broke free. Already I could see the rapidly ice cracking, its final layer almost completely gone.

"Ryan, would you like to help?" I asked hastily.

He looked at me, baffled. "What? I don't know what you mean. What's going on? I don't understand any of this!"

"You can understand," I replied soothingly. "Would you like to?"

He nodded.

That was all the permission I needed. I touched my index finger to his forehead and whispered, "Remember."

I charged my finger with power and sent it spiraling into his mind, letting it soak through his body until it touched his very soul. I broke the barrier that kept his powers bound and with it I knew his memories would come back slowly but surely like mine were. I rose to my feet and he stood up on his own, his eyes glazed over as power and bits of familiarity filled him. I kept one eye on him but my full attention was on the struggling being breaking free. I couldn't use dark magic here in this enclosed space. I would take this building down with me and I had a feeling that my light spells didn't mean jack shit to this bitch.

I pushed the still dazed Ryan behind me and charged toward Abholo as soon as the last layer of ice shattered. I surprised him with a kick to the chest, while he stumbled I thrust my arms forward and my hair and cloak billowed in a sudden wind.

"Butterfly typhoon!"

A tornado appeared between the two of us and sucked Abholo in. He went swirling up in its hold. I controlled the tornado to flex and the wind launched the being through the air before he crashed into a bookshelf, another one and another one until he impacted the wall. The foundation shook as the wall dented in and cracked up to the ceiling. I levitated until I was ten feet off the ground. I wrapped a hand around my right wrist aiming my palm at the recovering being.

"Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury," I shouted. Pinpricks of blue light began gathering before my palm, forming a sphere of rainbow colored energy. "Uranus, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto. Powers of the Sol System come to me." The sphere grew bigger until it was the size of a beach ball."Planetary Crescendo!"

The sphere shot forward in a dazzling beam that left me breathless. It split the air at the speed of light battering into the demon with the force of a comet. The building shook and plaster fell from the ceiling and the ground melted, as the energy scorched and melted tile beneath it. Shelves were blown apart or knocked away by the blast. I quickly cut off the beam for fear of endangering civilian lives still in the building. I dropped to the ground landing on my knees. That attack had enough power behind it to completely liquefy a person. Breathing hard I strained my sight to study the blast zone. The area was completely blackened by the power of the beam as everything in its path had been scorched or turned to ash.

I winced as clapping filled my ears. From the devastated area, Abholo emerged brushing bits of plaster and dust from his robe. He grinned at me maliciously. I swallowed. All I had done was piss him off. I was dead.

He stalked toward me and I had no energy left to stand. I had expanded myself more than I was used to with that last attack. I needed more time than I had to recover. This was it then. Abholo limped a bit as he stalked toward me and I inwardly did a victory cheer. At least I hurt him. But how in the hell had he survived that attack?

"I have a natural immunity against your magic of the lighter forces," Abholo said, unknowingly answering my question.

I glared at him using my remaining strength to stand up. "Do you want a cookie?"

"Your incessant chattering tires me," he reached me at last. His hand snatched out and grabbed me around the throat. "Your soul shall know torments that will become legendary."

Spots flashed behind my eyes as his hand squeezed tighter. There was a smacking sound and Abholo was thrown away from me. I coughed as air rushed back in my lungs. Stumbling I looked at up my savior. Oh. This was new. Dressed in a black suit like my own was a tall boy, wearing a long black duster that trailed at his ankles, he flexed his fingerless gloves and grinned at me. I took in his black hair and gray eyes. I fixed my hands into two circles and overlaid them onto his face. It was Ryan Spencer. Without the glasses he looked...different. Stronger, confident, heroic.

"The champion of soul has awakened," Ryan said, gripping my shoulder.

Relief filled me with renewed strength. "And I'm glad as hell. I don't think I'm up for dying today." I looked at him and mustered a tired grin. "What do I call you while transformed?"

He closed his eyes for a moment then opened them and smiled, "They used to call me the Executioner. Let's see if it's still true."

A desk went flying at us and I jumped to the side landing heavily on my arm. Executioner did a barrel roll that was impressive and had me a little envious. Dammit. Figures I would be the one in the group sucking at the grace part. Abholo launched himself at Executioner with a speed that I could barely follow with my eyes. But what was shocking was that the Executioner was matching the otherworldly speed. He blocked a blow and dodged another one, which impacted a pillar completely decimating it. My jaw dropped. Abholo roundhouse kicked him in the face and he went flying away. A blow that would have put a man in a coma was shaken off and returned with one of equal strength.

"I haven't done this in a while," Executioner said conversationally to Abholo. "But it's coming back to me."

He reared back his arm and landed a solid punch to the demon's head followed up with a kick to the chest. Executioner landed a serious of fast strikes to his gut then swept his legs from underneath him. Abohlo landed on his knees and I sensed him gathering power even as lights flickered and the floor began shaking. His aura flared to life around him, black and inky like a living cloud of evil. I recoiled at the dark energy that swept across the room like a wave.

"Not today," Executioner snapped, stomping him in the back. He grabbed Abholo's head in a chokehold and then twisted his arms, making the move seem effortless. I heard the sicking crack of Abholo's spinal cord severing and watched as the light fled his eyes and his body fell forward, dead.

"Well that was effective," I said into the silence.

I felt a little sick again but swallowed the urge to vomit. It wouldn't be good to throw up in front of a fellow Chosen warrior. I knew I was a wuss everybody else in the team didn't have to. I launched a couple of fireballs at the body and watched as it quickly imploded in a roar of purple flames. I wasn't leaving that body for some CSI to find. Then they might get an idea to launch into yet another spin off that lasted ten seasons.

I met Executioner's eyes for the first time since he turned into the lovechild of Buffy and Captain America and kicked Abholo's ass. "I can see why we use to call you the Executioner."

"Why don't I feel any regret? Am I some kind of monster now?" He stared down at his hands with both bewilderment and horror warring in his eyes.

I shook my head, answers to that I didn't have. "I feel the same way."

He nodded as if coming to a decision within himself. "I did the right thing. I can feel it here," he said, pointing at his heart. "It had to be this way."

I couldn't argue with that. I willed away my uniform and he detransformed too. I was startled to see his glasses reappear on his face as if they never left. Better to just let it go. Magic had a way of mystifying me every day it seemed. Already the air was rising back to its normal temperature and I ran to where Kevin and the twins lay. I tried to keep the battle to the unoccupied parts of the store and I was thankful that no blood was shed. Groans and murmurs of confusion filled store as people came awake.

Ryan helped me stand Kevin up. The boy winced, holding his head gingerly. Disorientated, Kevin leaned against the bookshelf behind him and stared around. The twins were helped up too, both looking bemused, but I wasn't sure if that wasn't just their normal look.

"Kev-kev you okay?" I asked, rubbing his back.

He nodded slowly. "I-I think so. Man, what happened?"

I opened my mouth and then stopped. Oh shit. I was horrible at lying. I stuttered trying to think of a quick excuse but words failed me. Ryan came to my rescue.

"We don't know. There was suddenly a mass blackout," Ryan answered, lying smoothly.

Ben and Brad surveyed the destruction around them. They had a whispered conversation between them. "You guys think terrorists did this?" asked Ben.

Kevin shrugged with a wince. "Maybe. It looks like a bomb went off in here." He looked at me, strain showing in his eyes. "Can you take me home? I have a really bad headache."

"Sure, Kev," I said instantly, more than ready to get the hell out of dodge before the cops came. I looked at Ryan and he looked lost and so afraid. With his glasses, gone was that confident hero that had killed a magic immune demon. "Hey, Ryan you want to come with me? You can come over to my house."

Ryan nodded. He read the silent message in my innocent question. We had to talk. Big time. Still, deep down I was happy as I walked out of the store amongst the mass of people. I had someone else fighting with me now. I wasn't alone anymore. My comrades were coming back. That was enough to keep me moving.