Friday

It had hit him like a ton of bricks. Not only had this been going on for God knows how long, but he never got informed. Eli was torn at the fact Destiny had to go through all of this, nobody was there to help her, even if they cared it sure didn't show.  

Overwhelmed with too much emotion, he stood up and walked out of the room, making sure to gently shut the door. He heard Destiny begin to sob, his heart wrenching and head screaming to get back in there and make her feel better. Make sure she knows how much he cares. He decided that taking a walk around the neighborhood would be wise, it should burn some off the stress and hate off.

As he walked down the hallway of the second floor, he looked down and saw that his fists were still tightly balled. Unfurling his fingers, in his palms were half moon indentations that were a bright red. Taking in a deep breath, he began descending the staircase, giving Willow's mother a tight smile and curt nod before opening the front door and stepping out into the gray afternoon. 

The clouds gradually darkened, as if matching his mood as he walked a steady pace. Deep down Eli knew that he shouldn't be aimlessly wandering the street as he had the tendency to get a bit -upset when he was approached. He knew he should call up Damian, but all he would've done was tell him not to do anything stupid and try to reason with him. He decided it wasn't worth his time and stuffed his hands into his pockets. 

He turned several corners before coming upon JD's, a small convenient store he used to go to all the time before he moved. "Thought they'd be closed by now," he muttered. "And I thought you would've forgotten about this old town, kid." a gruff voice retorted. 

He whipped his head around to search for the source of the sudden voice. A middle-aged man appearing to be about 50 years old emerged from the door of the store, which was slightly cracked open. He gave a half smile and walked up to Eli. "This town missed ya, kid," He placed a large hand on his shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze.  His smile broadened. "Welcome back.

☆☆☆

Willow was glad when Destiny stopped crying, she felt as if the previously dampened mood was lifted a bit. She couldn't help but to feel guilty that she couldn't do anything to ease her pain besides giving her aspirin and muscle relaxers.

 She placed a careful hand on Destiny's shoulder and she turned to face her friend. "Des, how do you feel? You need anything?" She already knew that she wasn't okay. She let out a shaky sigh. "Time. All I need is time. " Time to heal Willow assumed. 

"Do- do you think Eli's okay?  I mean like not doing anything stupid. Do you think we should call Damian to ya know, check on him?" Willow figured Destiny would worry about Eli like this, she'd always been like this. "Don't worry about him. If anything, you should be worried on how to deal with my mother. She hasn't seen you in a while anyways." A light chuckle escaped both of their lips. 

"I guess you're right. Where are you going?" Willow sat up and hopped off of the bed in a rather quick manner. "Getting food, duh." she stated in a rather obvious tone, twirling her car keys around her finger while Destiny rolled her eyes. 

She practically skipped out of the bedroom and Destiny laid back, sprawling herself across the canopy bed. She'd always been jealous of her best friend's bedroom. It was so spacious and everything had a dark plum and white theme to it. It was calming in a way like gray skies or raindrops splattering onto windows. 

Danielle, Willow's mother, waltzed in the room with a smile that could win Oscars. She was a sweet woman, like a second mother to Destiny. "Hey hun, how are you feeling? Willow told me you weren't feeling too hot. I just came to check in,". She moved over to where Destiny lay and sat on the bed beside her. "I'm feeling a bit better, not my best though," 

Danielle placed the back of her hand to Destiny's forehead and let out a hiss as soon as her hand made contact with her skin. She frowned and tried the other hand; the same a the first. A dark look passed across her youthful features as she tightly gripped Destiny's wrist. As the seconds passed, her grip got tighter and tighter, slowly cutting off circulation. Destiny gasped as the pain, it was a searing white pain that spread up her arm throughout her entire body.

 She looked up to face the woman who was grabbing the life out of her wrist and saw that her eyes were completely white. No pupil or ocean blue irises to be seen. Too frightened to make a sound, she began viciously slapping Danielle's hand in an effort of trying to get her let go. Her other hand shot out and grabbed her other wrist. 

Destiny became deathly pale and went still, afraid to make any movement. Suddenly, Danielle let go of both her wrists and placed both of her hands on either side of Destiny's head, directly on her temples. Another blinding hot flash of pain seared through her head. Danielle began to mutter incoherent words, her hands still clinging to her head.

Danielle's words began to get louder and Destiny was able to gauge what she was saying. It wasn't in English she was certain but maybe something old, Hebrew or Latin. 

"Diabolus puer est scriptor." she said. "Diabolus puer est scriptor!". 

Danielle repeated this phrase over and over at least 5 times before her voice ceased. The pain went away for the most part and Danielle fell back onto the bed. Destiny sat there for a while and went into the bathroom to splash her face with cold water, trying to clear her mind and analyze exactly what the hell happened. She shivered slightly as the cool liquid came in contact with her skin. She took a deep breath before looking at her reflection. Everything seemed to look the same, her hair just a bit frazzled up but for the most part she was fine. 

"Just go out there, act calm, don't do anything stupid. Be rational about this Destiny." she told herself. When she opened the dark purple door of the bathroom, the was faced with Willow's mother as a very pregnant silence filled the air. 

"Danielle, what did you do to me?" She motioned to the bright red finger shaped marks that decorated her wrists. "What happened, why did you grab me? You started whispering things in a different language and then screaming those same words." Danielle started to get up but she saw Destiny back away timidly and decided to sit back down.

"I honestly have not a single clue what happened. It scared me too, it really did. I wish I could tell you what happened but I'm as in the dark as you are..." she began to trail off. Another pregnant silence. "Well if you figure anything  out, could you please let me know?" A small smile appeared on her face. "Sure, hun. I'll get going now," A sort-of smile graced Destiny's face as Danielle exited the room. She sat back down on the canopy bed and tried to remember what happened. 

The white flashes of pain weren't real, they were virtual in a way. 7 shadows lurked, each emitting a different colored aura that outlined their figures. 3 looked to be female while the remaining 4 were male. 

They were in a circle, inside it was a girl; it was hard to make out it definitely was a girl. The only thing that was visible were her eyes. They flickered from hazel to red to violet in a cycle. Her eyes reflected off of the bright flame that surrounded the seven shadows, wide and afraid. 

The hot, dry wind causing her hair to wildly whip around, hitting her in the face. The circle of shadows began to part as a looming silhouette of a man entered and advanced towards the middle where the girl was sitting on the rough dirt-like ground. 

His face was a shadow as the rest of the people. He extended a hand towards the girl, she in turn viciously shook her head and crawled backwards on her hands and feet. The man seemed angered, yet no one in the circle spoke. 

The man shot his arm out and grabbed the girl's wrists and tugged a bit, trying to get her to stand. She tried to defy the movements but her body wouldn't listen to the silent protests she screamed in her head. She was almost face-to-face with him when the man finally spoke out, his voice echoing as if they were in an endless cavern or something. 

"Come to me," he boomed. "Come back to where you belong, right at my side. Either way, I will have you, Destiny." The hot wind picked up speed and the flames grew higher and higher until they swallowed the man and the shadows surrounding them. The girl was left alone in the dark with the words of the mysterious man still ringing loud and clear in her head. 

Destiny's eyes opened with such urgency. Her breath coming and leaving her body quickly as a sweat dripped down her face. Only it wasn't sweat; they were salty tear from her eyes. 

There was something so hauntingly familiar about the man's voice, so familiar, it scared her to her core. She hoped it was a wild daydream, but she knew that wasn't it. Deep down, she knew this was a warning. A warning of what; she didn't know.

☆☆☆

WHOOP WHOOP. I finally finished another chapter after writing it in different intervals. I had to type out the plot separately so I didn't accidentally change it. I started this book at the end of summer vacation last year in about August, took a loooong break, and resumed in March. Now that it's June and I have some freetime, I'll be dedicating most of it to this here book.

Stick around and give me some feedback on how I'm doing? That would mean a lot!

Until the next chapter!

Updated 6/28/17