Chapter 20 Infiltration

It had been about half an hour since Iris had closed her eyes. Cheryl desperately tried to break her out of her sleep. It was a futile attempt for she was already deep under, regressed into the memories of the past.

Iris watched as a silent observer. A man who looked exactly like Dixon, sprinted through the grassy plane on a hilltop at night. Trees surrounded him and he glanced in every direction as if looking for someone. There was a kind of darkness in his eyes, as if no longer himself. His scythe was gripped tightly in one hand, stained with blood. Fresh blood still dripped down the edge of the blade.

"Where are you?!" he yelled out in anger. His voice was a lot heavier than Dixon's, filled with pride.

Something glowed in the dark, something white. It lit up the trees as it approached him, like a firefly wandering about at night. She had long, silver hair that drifted with the wind. Her ocean deep eyes stared down at him with disgust. She was an older woman.

"Finally!" he shouted, angling his scythe, and jumped into the air. Shadows squirmed out of him like dark beams, aiming straight for the lady. She simply twitched an eyebrow and they all ricocheted against an invisible wall.

The man descended with his scythe in the air, a black flame protruded from the back of his weapon. It came crashing down with a bang. A blinding light filled the entire forest. A dark fire emerged from within, followed by the lady's scream. As the light faded away, the lady was gone. Instead, there lay the same man with his own scythe punctured into his chest.

'I loathe you. I will never let you walk as long as my power lives on.'

Those were her last thoughts before she perished.

.

"You dare face me after murdering my sons?"

Iris gasped, realizing where she was all of a sudden. She turned around to see the king of the shadow realm eagerly seated on his chair. It was a rocky chamber which opened up into the skies. What had she been thinking to have ended up here?

"He was out of control by then, no longer himself… at least that's what I saw," she said, quickly defending herself, replaying the scenario inside her head.

The king smirked at her.

"That is why this time I will use your power to save him… Isn't that why you're here?"

Iris looked down at her trembling hands. It took everything in her just to stand there in the shadow realm. She was dying and she knew that. She would have been dead a long time ago if it hadn't been for Dixon. It was because of him that she got to live as long as she did.

"A life for a life…" she murmured.

It wasn't like there was much for Iris to live for. She didn't have a home, or a family. She would be dead within hours. It was now or never. Iris slowly nodded,

"Do it quickly. I won't be here for long."

.

Either I was seeing doubles, or there were too many Jons in sight. He'd mastered his powers to the point where he could raise an army of himself. I watched as each of them scampered around, splitting up into curves and alleys to look for Cheryl and Iris. There wasn't much to the place except it was a giant hallway of prison. I couldn't imagine how many people were kept as prisoners. I assumed, most of them were just kids.

I walked a bit faster than my usual pace, still able to feel her with me. Guards spotted us approaching from a distance and readied their rifles.

"Let me take care of this," Edward was saying, marching ahead of me with guns in either hands. A red dot of light appeared inside his pupil, blinking away as he locked on using his powers. With both guns aimed towards the guards, he fired his shots.

The bullets went through the rifles, breaking them from the inside, making them unusable. The impact made them drop their weapons to the ground. With their guard down, black wings sprouted and I sped towards them. A gust of wind blew past, throwing them to the side as I shot through.

The hallways were surprisingly bright, lit up by lights at intervals. I swiped a corner, gliding sideways. The wind pressure dented the wall around me as I turned. A second later, I was thrown back into the same wall. It cracked behind me as I fell to the ground.

I looked up. There was only a single door at the end of the large hallway. I could feel Cheryl's presence. I let my eyes focus on the person standing in the way. It was a tall lady, wearing a long red dress, smiling at me with menacing eyes.

"Dear, you look awful," she was saying. "These new ones are amazing. Can't believe that brat was never able to harness this much power when I needed her to."

I wasn't sure what she was talking about but I didn't care. I did, however, recognize her from the many descriptions I'd heard. She was the one, the main culprit. I knew I was glaring at her when she laughed out loud.

"My, what an ugly face… the name's Scarlet. And you are?"

I pushed myself back up, swung my shoulders around a little to check if everything was in place. Shadows were already crawling about, spreading around to surround her. Without a warning, I was rushing towards her once again. Multiple shadows jumped at her, wrapping around, blocking her vision and movements.

She let out an even greater laugh. I stretched out my hand beside me, my scythe appeared. Rotating it around I swiped it, dark flames ignited from the back of the blade.

"I can see you…" she said in her snake-like manner.

This time, I saw it coming before I could attack. Her fingers twitched ever so slightly before an invisible wind lashed out at me. Instinctively, my scythe went up to deflect it. The wind hit the blade with a jerk and I was pushed back a few steps. Holding my ground, my feet slid across the floor. I breathed out.

"Futile… When I heard someone broke in, I told them I would deal with it myself… but this is too easy," she said.

Another swipe of wind came in from the side. I released the shadows that were around her. They bolted at me, circling around like a shield to block the incoming attack. Within an instant they dissipated and the attack slipped through. I swiped my blade just in time, absorbing half the impact before getting thrown off into a wall to the side.

I felt a crack in my ribs. Pain shot across my chest as I squinted at the ground. I could hear her casually strolling towards me.

"I ordered them all to leave. You won't find anyone here," she said.

With my feet I pushed myself up, letting out a pain filled groan. I heard another crack and rocketed to the ground with a thud. From the corner of my eye, I could see someone rushing up from behind.

"Stay back!" I ordered, trying hard to breathe. Jon appeared before me, with his back towards me. More appeared within a split second, gathering around like an army, surrounding her from all sides.

A viscous smile slid across her face.

"More treats for me," she said before flicking her fingers. With a single swipe of wind, most of the Jons were sent flying into the walls. I noticed some of them remained close to me, as if shielding me from her vision. It wouldn't work since she already knew where I was… then it hit me.

I craned my head a little downwards while lying on the ground. I could see the silhouette of a single person, slowly approaching from the shadows behind me.

'Edward!'

More of the Jons appeared and he cowered behind them. I tapped my finger on the ground, signaling my shadows to carefully make their way towards him undetected. They slithered up the wall, twisting themselves around the lights, dimming them just enough to camouflage him.

Scarlet was distracted, trying to swipe at the multitude of Jons that attempted to get close. I watched her calm expression transform into annoyance as she gritted her teeth, growling at them.

"Die already!" She kept yelling, taking a step back.

'Now.'

Edward narrowed his eyes, a single dot blinking in one eye while he closed the other one. With a gun aimed for her heart, he fired the shot with a loud bang. Scarlet swiped her hand at Jon, the same time the bullet sped towards her, piercing into her flesh.

I heard Edward curse behind me. She screamed out in pain, gripping her left shoulder where the bullet had penetrated instead of her heart. With rage filled eyes, she looked up, tears streaming down along with her mascara. An ugly sight.

"You!!" she spat with anger, letting out a raging storm, a force so strong it knocked all the Jons away, crushing their bones. They all disappeared and the unwavering power aimed straight for Edward.

"Run!" I yelled a second too late before hearing his bones crack as something invisible hit him in the stomach. Thankfully my shadows took most of the blow, forming a shield in front of him. Saliva flew out of his mouth with a gasp as he was sent flying into the wall behind which I'd previously cracked.

I watched him with terror filled eyes as his body limply fell to the floor.

"Edward!" I yelled out to him. It was no use. He was as still as a rock. I breathed hard, my chest heaving in a panic. Pain shot up and down my body as I pushed the ground hard with my arms, getting to my feat.

The Jon illusions had all completely vanished. There were traces of blood on the walls where they had last been hit. It was Jon's blood. Wherever he was, he probably sustained some of the injuries. The stronger his illusions, the more chances of their injuries passing onto him. Had they been weak, he wouldn't have been able to protect me just now.

With one hand on the wall for support, I glared at her, my chest burning up from the inside.

"It's now or never…" I said to myself, calling the surrounding shadows for help. They moved, obediently, all converging beneath my feet and up my body, layering it in a thick shadow. My skin turned completely black as if I had become one with the shadows. I'd learned this little trick a while back when I was being healed by Damon.

I moved with ease, melting down into a shadow, slithering across the floor and appeared next to her. I swung my feet in the air, landing a kick to her side. She faltered back, lashing out in a mental swipe but I dodged it, sinking back down again. I swiftly moved to where she stood, gaping hard at the floor. The minute I emerged, her eyes found me, throwing me back a few feet, unharmed.

"Why? Why won't you just die?!" she screamed at the floor. she grabbed her own hair and pulled it hard out of frustration. Blood dripped down the side of her elbow, blending into the red of her dress.

I disappeared again, slithering past her feet and emerged from behind. I swung my scythe around in one swift motion, only to have it jerked out of my hand.

"I told you," she said, "I don't need to see you to-" It was followed by a scream. Blood gushed out of her back where I'd stabbed it with a small pickaxe. I hadn't used this one in ages. With a mental swipe of wind, which I was prepared for, she threw me back towards the door of the cell behind. It didn't hurt as much since the shadow provided me with extra armor.

"Dixon?" Cheryl's muffled voice escaped from behind the metal door.

"I'm here," I assured her. "It's going to be alri-"

I broke off mid sentence as my hands began to shake. All of a sudden, the armor of shadow tightened around me, as if trying to suffocate.

"Dixon? What's going on?" her anxious voice traveled through the door.

My body forcefully hunched down, choking me as it did. A twisted set of wings sprouted from my back. Their size was concerning. They blanketed their way across the passage, darkening the path ahead till there was not a single light remaining. All the bulbs drowned out under its power.

'Is this… the power trying to consume me?' I shed the thought.

"Damn it… not now…" my words came out in squeaks as the grip around my throat began to tighten.

Scarlet turned around with a threatening scowl, unhinged by the darkness. All of a sudden I felt her wind swipe at me. My body moved before the wind even touched me and I was slammed into the wall to my side. She stared in confusion for a second.

"Is this some kind of trick? Trying to distract me again?" she was yelling.

I kicked my feet against the wall, propelling myself towards her in an attack. My body suddenly jerked back, pulling at every muscle. As I stumbled, struggling to keep my feet on the ground, another set of wings sprouted out, uneven and partially broken. Black feathers floated down to the floor, submerging into the darkness. I winced in pain as it shot through my broken ribs making me gasp for breath.

"Listen to me…" I whispered to myself in a hard voice. I could feel my throat seizing up. Veins popped out the side of my forehead. My body burned from inside and out.

"I do not… plan to die… right now…" I grinded my teeth, feeling a taste of blood in my mouth. My body suddenly weighed a hundred extra pounds and my feet began to give in.

"Damon," I called out in a whisper. There was a sharp pounding in my ears, along with a little blood that trickled down my earlobes. My eyes searched for him but he did not show.

"Die you rotten…. o.. t.." Scarlet had begun to say something when mid sentence her voice became very muffled. Then something hit me with force, sending me rolling over to the side. My face scraped across the floor and all I could hear was a faint reverb mixed with a deep rumble beneath.

I could see a red, blurry figure taking long strides to cover the distance between us. I closed my eyes for just a second, feeling the heaviness overpower me, then let out the breath I was holding. After that, all sounds faded out.