Aelen

I watch Ivelisse in ghost mode; the interdimensional beings can't pick up where I am at. She's hiding under a bed in a little girl's room, waiting for the perfect time to pounce. I'm tired of them making her teleport from place to place. The perk about being a daemon is that I can trace from very far away. I do not fear Ivelisse's possession one bit. Daemons were not born to be ruled by fear, but rather by our own sense of duty. What our duty is will lead us to the path of loyalty or outcast.

I take out my phone and dial Ella. Human telepathy is not fully developed and needs improvement before they can hear me at a distance. Therefore, a simple phone call is the easiest thing to do. They can't hear me making the call either.

It's my choice to be with the coven. The first member I met was Rick long before the coven was formed. He was in the one wrong crowd when he was a kid. They were a type of sneaking in and doing parkour. There were quite a few of them that actually did it for the media's attention, desire to become famous for all the wrong reasons. Some were addicted to weed and vaping. One night, they snuck into a construction site with five-story heights. The ringleader of the crowd thought it would be thrilling to reach the top. Before Rick could leave the house, I froze him. He was startled that he couldn't move and tried to fight it, but failed. That's when I whispered into his ear, "Are you sure you want to go there?" He yelped in fear, but he made the right decision to listen to me. The area in the building that wasn't fully stabled collapsed. Three of the kids got critically injured and one of them died. A court case happened. Since there were No Trespassing and Danger signs on the property, the company was not at fault. The company also pressed charges against them. Their parents and the kids not only have to pay for their injuries, but also the damages and fines. Rick took this as a sign to change.

I do not agree that the Children of the Full Moon wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Rick. Ella was the one who made it with Blathnaid and Jonas. Rick joined and filled the high priest role. Dominique, Renin, Lucas, and Ivelisse joined after hearing the coven advertised on a social media platform.

I alert Ella, saying that Ivelisse is at the place where she was babysitting a child a week ago. I know this was coming because where is the fun when teleporting to the portal near the woods? The woods near the house. The sadistic entities want to have fun, feed off of fear from the people. The distance between them and this place is twenty minutes away by car, but the snow will certainly take them longer to get here.

The little girl enters the room. Ivelisse stays hidden under her bed. She grabs her toy before exiting the room. The door slams shut on its own, startling the little girl. Ivelisse growls like a ferocious animal.

She crawls out from the bed and goes to the door. The girl backs away against the door, crying in fear.

"Maddie," Ivelisse says distortedly before laughing sickly, "Do you wanna play with me?"

I walk to the door, standing beside Maddie. I don't reveal myself. My goal is to hold her off as long as I can.

Maddie's cries become more audible. The entities decide to take it to a whole new level. Ivelisse's mouth expands with teeth growing all around, screaming at the little girl. Maddie screams in pure terror, preparing for the worst.

I pick up Ivelisse by the neck, she squeals out before throwing her across the room. Maddie turns around and bangs on the door, begging for her parents to let me out.

Her mother opens the door without restrain. "Maddie, what is going on?" She asks in a scolding tone.

"Mommy, there was a monster crawling out the bed!" Maddie answers frantically in tears, "It almost ate me!"

The mother does an eye roll with a petty exhale. Ivelisse disappears the moment she enters the room. "Maddie, there are no monsters under the bed. You just imagined it."

With the cries of pure terror upon the girl's face and you still dismiss it as imagination. You know it's not totally nighttime. I folded my arms at the nerve of this woman.

"But mom, I saw her!" Maddie fusses.

"I don't see anything, Maddie," she dismisses her again, "Come on out. Your father is waiting."

Maddie is in tears as she complies with her mother. Her mom turns off the lights as they leave. Ivelisse appears again, but looking around, trying to find the one that blocked them from eating the girl up. They don't find me.

"Whichever one of you is doing that," the possessed growls in a warning, "Is going to perish into nothingness for your bitter betrayal."

I love to see you try that. If you annihilate me, you will initiate a war with the daemons, Gods, and also the coven as well. I am aware Naomi and Markus are extraordinary but not in the Children of the Full Moon, yet I mostly see them as good assets for the coven. For everything they have done, especially Naomi, should be cherished.

"Lights out," Ivelisse whispers and power goes out.

I teleport to the living room, where the family fusses about the power being out. They think it's from the blizzard. I watch them and wait for Ivelisse's next move. Ivelisse teleports and makes herself visible in the hallway. The blizzard takes a heavy turn outside, raining large amounts of ice and snow.

"You got days off now and then days off for Christmas break, Maddie," says her mother while looking out the window, "Excited?"

"Yes," Maddie nods with a smile.

Maddie turns and screams in a delayed sequence when she spots Ivelisse on the wall. The parents look at where she's looking. They finally see their child earlier. Beings left Ivelisse's body, forming shadowy masses. She laughs wickedly as the shadows slam her parents into the walls, securing them in place. The shadows pull the little girl off the sofa, amused by her fear. They restrain her on the floor. Her parents beg for whatever it is to let their daughter go and leave them alone.

Ivelisse ignores it, getting stronger by their fears. "Oh my! It will only be a little pinch!" They ridicule as Ivelisse's mouth stretches and the all-around teeth return. She crawls to the child. Her dreadfully slow walk gives off more dismay from the parents and kid. Her mouth chatters as she anticipates to bite. Her body expands and shrinks in size repeatedly as if the possession is taking a full swing, but it can be a sign of a power struggle. She stops once her body completely shadows Maddie. Saliva pools from her mouth as she wants to bite.

This is when I make my move. Maddie screams beyond what's capable for a human. I use my telekinetic powers to slam Ivelisse into the other end of the apartment. Ivelisse let out a high-pitch screech while she was thrown. I teleport before Ivelisse can recover from the attack. I finally reveal myself to Ivelisse and the household.

"We damn knew it," she barks before snickering, "We know you were never human."

"Use your next move wisely," I warn them.

She laughs before easing her head back.

"What tickles your amusement?!" I snap.

The parents shriek in pure pain before I can immediately spin my head around. The shadows turn into spikes upon the wall. A human will have a hard time seeing what I am seeing because of the darkness. What I see is the spikes going through their bodies while they are still conscious. Blood oozes from their bodies.

"You were too late for that!" Ivelisse rubs in from behind me.

I glare at her out of spite. I go invisible again before throwing her like a ragdoll. I know that it won't hurt them inside of Ivelisse. She doesn't look like who she is anymore and the little girl doesn't recognize her babysitter. The dark spikes fade into dust, leaving the parents' bodies limp. I ignore Ivelisse's screams before holding her down with brute strength.

"You're gonna kill your friend," they sing with malevolence.

I don't reply with anything, continuing to hold her down until my friends get here. I wait and wait, still no sign of them getting near. I can feel the next hour coming on. I also sense that someone else came by before leaving.

"Let go of us!" Ivelisse sneers menacingly, multiple voices coming out of her. The lights start flickering. Thunder and lightning occur outside, which is rare for thundersnow. The spirits inside her lose patience and start to put up a fight. Her body turns more awfully pale. The branches from her head begin to expand onto the floor, infecting everything it touches. A snake-like branch comes out of her mouth and wraps up against my throat, attempting to choke me.

"You will die and your friends will find you with this house as nothing much, but branches from oblivion," they tell me. They don't need Ivelisse's mouth to talk.

Bring it!

The branches wrap tighter and tighter, closing off my airway to breathe. I may be a daemon, but my physical body can still get hurt. I am gifted with telekinesis, flight, teleportation, immortality, and being free of ailments. I can hear Maddie crying and screaming as the branches spread.

"Give in, Aelen," they chant.

I continue to resist, keeping myself calm.

"Give in, Aelen, it's all over. You and your friends lost. I already killed your scholar and Markus. Naomi and High Priestess Ella will soon fall too!" Her mouth opens very wide and the teeth appear. She roars at me while the grip from the branches pulls me towards her mouth. The size of her mouth is able to devour my head off.

Maddie's whimpers come closer as the dark branch lifts her up in the air and pulls her closer to Ivelisse. Ivelisse fiendishly chuckles before looking up at the girl with wild frenzy eyes, not saying anything. I continue to resist the pull, pushing against her body tighter and tighter. The more I resist, the stronger the branch wrap becomes.

"Just let go, Aelen," they taunt, "Don't worry. You will unite with your friends soon in Hell!"

That doesn't scare me one bit, looking around, trying to find a way to break through. More branches come out of Ivelisse's mouth, tying against my hands and back. The force is starting to overpower me. I need to think fast. I use my telekinesis powers to pull a drawer and pull out the sharpest knife that my abilities can grab. It lands in my hand. Using my strength, I break my hand from the branch's grip before slicing the branch from my neck with one swing. Ivelisse screams out of frustration. The branch turns into ashes as I cut up the other one.

I can see dark mini branches crawling around beneath Ivelisse's skin. I look at Maddie and decide to take her far away from here while tracing Ivelisse in case she teleports. I use the knife to slice the branches, setting Maddie free. I reach her.

"We need to get out of here-" I say. I pick up sirens closing in again. Cops won't be on the roads for a blizzard, but only in case of an emergency. I admit that this place did have abnormal screaming and we are in an apartment complex. I guess the neighbors called the cops without knocking on the wall or door, wondering if we're okay.

Ivelisse disappears again with the dark branches turning into nothing, leaving me and Maddie alone. I can still feel her presence. The cops knock on the door. I put the little girl down and whisper to her, "Yell for help or don't answer." I went back into ghost mode. Maddie looks very scared and she walks to her parents' corpses, in tears.

Her cries alert the police. They break the door down. They investigate and they see the dead bodies. The apartment went into total lockdown. They are baffled by what they see, thinking a double homicide has taken place. They interview the little girl. She is silent, still shaken up on what she saw.

I honestly felt bad for her and felt worse for not saving her parents. I don't want the little girl to be suspected of murdering her parents. I take a deep breath and show them the little truth about what happened here. I don't want to traumatize the girl any further, but it can help vindicate any suspicions on her. I use my abilities to flicker the lights erratically. Maddie cries more so.

"No, not again," she whines.

I violently close and open the doors within the vicinity. I need to look strong enough to kill two people. The bookshelf close to them falls down like it has been pushed. Heavy objects are nothing to me. That's when Maddie and the cops start to become really unnerved.

"Get out," I gutturally growl.

The cops are ordered to leave the apartment complex, along with the tenants living in there due to a dangerous situation. They have to stay in hotels or relatives for a little while until investigators deem it safe to return. Police offer them rides even in a blizzard at the night. Some snow plowers are getting paid overtime for this.

Ivelisse reappears, looking furious at me. "You're trickery suits your kind," she seethes.

"What are you going to do about it?" I retort, "Your little playthings are gone."

A deafening high-pitched sound shrieks out of Ivelisse's mouth. The lights flicker crazily and I am sure that the windows from the entire complex shattered. Porcelain items shatter too. The lights fully go out, plummeting the apartment in darkness.

She stops screaming and sprints towards a window on the other side of the building. I chase after her, only to pause once she drops out the window. The apartment is four stories up. I watch her body slam against another passing vehicle that looks familiar, but it's not the vehicle that the coven owns. The car skids into a halt. I know their energies, which makes me feel relieved.

It's the coven.