Over the next two days, just as Amara had predicted, Trinity's control began to take a turn for the worse.
Amara kept a closer eye on Trinity the following day, never leaving her side or giving her a moment alone. She continued trying to teach Trinity control, but it just wasn't working.
With each new test that she performed, it seemed that Trinity was capable of controlling it less and less, and she wasn't entirely sure why this was the case. Usually with practice, the person would gain control, not lose control.
As she woke up the second day, she found her father shaking her awake, while he held a hand to his forehead as if he were in pain.
"Dad?" Trinity looked at him with concern, wondering what was wrong. She quickly sat up in bed.
Her father motioned with his hand up and down, in his attempt to request that she lower the mental projection she was emitting. Although no matter how much she tried, she couldn't seem to reduce it low enough to stop broadcasting her emotions.
Apparently, the plateau she had hit the other day was no longer the case. She was now broadcasting her emotions with greater intensity than she had been before.
Amara was called over to place up a mental barrier around the house, so that no mental projections would pierce through the barrier. However, that meant that she was now under total house arrest, and not even allowed to leave the house.
As her father started cooking breakfast for the two of them, she entered the kitchen to help her father. Although he immediately stopped her and asked her to please wait in her room. The mental pressure bearing down on him was at least lessened somewhat with a bit of distance.
Trinity reluctantly went back to her room. She understood the reasoning why. However, she hated herself for the fact that she was hurting him, and she wasn't able to do anything about it to help him.
When breakfast was ready, trying to be considerate of her father and what he was putting up with for her sake, Trinity decided to eat in her room. She ate the sausage and eggs in a hurry, but tried her best to savor the buttered toast. She still felt hungry, but she assumed that was most likely due to the fact that she had eaten too fast.
She rubbed her fingers against the temples on her forehead. She was starting to develop a small headache that annoyingly, didn't seem to want to go away.
Letting the slice of toast hang from mouth, she grabbed her phone and dialed Rachael's cell phone number. Grabbing the slice of toast, she bit down and chewed while she sat listening to the phone ringing on the other end. She was just hoping that Rachael would be able to answer, seeing as it was close to school starting.
"Hello, Trinity? School is about to start. Is everything ok?" Rachael answered as if she were trying to keep her voice low.
"Rachael! I'm glad you answered. Is Jessica there with you?" Trinity asked in a rush.
Rachael looked over at Jessica who stood beside her. "Yeah, she's here. What's wrong?" She could hear the urgency coming from Trinity's voice, and she was worried. She sounded panicked.
"I need to ask both of you a huge favor. I need you to ditch school today. I'm under house arrest right now because this is only getting worse. I need you to find Zyxel. He's the only one who can help me fix this."
"Trinity, I'm sure that Amara can help you every bit the same as he could have done, if not better." Rachael argued.
"You don't understand!" Trinity shouted.
A loud shatter of glass was heard in the kitchen. Her father must have been doing the dishes when her emotions escalated.
She focused on her breathing as she tried to calm down. She needed to remain calm so that she didn't hurt her father, mentally.
"You don't understand." Trinity repeated, this time much calmer. "Amara isn't able to help with this. Only Zyxel can. However I cannot leave right now. If I take one step out of this house, Amara and everyone else will know it. I can't control these broadcasts anymore. And if I can't locate Zyxel then this whole thing will result in my death."
Rachael didn't know if Trinity was being truthful or if she was overreacting. "Did Amara confirm this?"
"That I'm dying?" Trinity asked. "Yes, she has already confirmed that my cells are becoming unstable and are beginning to break down. She cannot help me. The only one who can, is Zyxel. I need you both to find him now! It cannot wait any longer."
Rachael was nervous of what Trinity was asking of her. Yes, she had agreed to help Trinity find Zyxel this weekend. But that was before all of this had happened. Plus, Zyxel didn't know them. How would either of them be safe if they went out looking for him?
"Trinity, I don't think this is the best idea!" Rachael whispered.
"Please!" Trinity pleaded. "I know I am asking a lot of the both of you right now. And I will forever be in your debt! Just please, I need you to do this for me!"
Jessica had been listening in to the conversation. Her eyes were wide and bulging like saucers, and she was rapidly shaking her head back and forth. Pleading with Rachael not to agree to this.
Rachael sighed. If it wasn't for the desperation and panic in her voice, there would be no way she would have agreed to this. "Fine! Just tell me where I should start looking."
~*~*~*~*~
Rachael and Jessica were walking through the heart of downtown in the city, when a loud clash was heard from behind. Jessica quickly jumped from the sound.
Turning around, Rachael could see that an orange tabby cat had knocked over a metal trash can. She let out a sigh of relief. Although she wasn't as physically jumpy as Jessica was, right now, her heart was racing with panic simply due to why they were out here to begin with.
"You didn't have to come with me." Rachael commented, trying to keep her voice calm. If she could appear calm, it would help to relax Jessica. "I didn't mind going alone."
"No way that I would let you go off by yourself for this!" Jessica shrieked, while her lip quivered. "I will be alright. You don't have to worry about me."
Rachael couldn't help but smile at Jessica and her bravery.
"Are we sure we can even trust this demon?" Jessica whispered quietly, afraid that someone might overhear her.
Rachael shook her head. "We can't be certain of anything right now. But Trinity trusts him completely, and right now she feels that he is the only one who can save her. I don't really fully understand why. But if she really is dying from this, I want to at least make an effort to follow through with her request. On the small chance that she may be right."
"Still, even if we don't find him. This still isn't safe! This is a school day, which means we will be the only kids out here right now. If we run into any trouble, it won't be from a peer! It'll be from someone much older than us." Jessica muttered.
"I'm trying not to think about that." Rachael answered.
They walked through downtown, peering carefully into each alley before passing by, to check for any sign of trouble. Or even the demon himself.
'Zyxel.' Rachael shouted in her mind.
Trinity had said that Amara and Zyxel could hear their thoughts, so she told Rachael to shout out his name in her mind, and that would help him to find them easier, if they couldn't find him.
Rachael's heart beat rapidly as she was afraid of what might happen if he really did show up.
'Zyxel.' Rachael shouted mentally, once more.
~*~*~*~*~
Zyxel was flying through the air after having finished cleaning himself of the blood, from his feeding routine. A few more days and he would be ready to take on Amara. Although this current hour was usually pretty quiet in the city, he still kept an eye out for anything going on.
However, he hadn't been expecting to hear someone shouting his name in their thoughts.
This intrigued him as very few people knew his name that were on this earth, currently. A mischievous grin spread across his face as he silently dove down and perched on the rooftop to get a better glimpse of who was calling his name.
He saw two girls walking skittishly down the sidewalk. One of them had blonde hair and green eyes, while the other had brown hair and amber colored eyes. The girl with the blonde hair seemed the more frightened of the two. And while he could tell the other girl was equally frightened, she put on a good show to hide her distress in front of the other. She was putting on a brave face, to act as the support that the other girl was needing.
Silently, he crawled over the rooftops, studying and watching them from above. They seemed familiar, but he didn't quite remember where he had seen them before. Why would two girls who were as frightened as they were, be calling out for him?
He glanced around in curiosity, expecting to find Amara nearby, waiting for him.
While he was deep in thought as to why these girls might possibly be out here looking for him, he failed to notice the direction they were heading in until they were already up on it.
Nearing one of the alleyways, was the opening to a little run down shack that one of the city's gang members took residence in. Three of its members were outside in the alley as they noticed the two girls walk by, seemingly all alone.
One of the men began to follow them, and the other two followed silently behind. Each of them with a sadistic grin on their face.
An angry roar behind them made all five of them turn around. The two girls suddenly saw the three men who were following them, and behind them, was the red demon they were out here searching for.
Rachael and Jessica ducked down quickly, not knowing who he was after. Rachael peered up to watch the man who was closest to them, suddenly get yanked away as a red tail wrapped around his throat.
Zyxel swiveled around and flung the man in the opposite direction, as he grabbed the other two men by their throats. His eyes glowed red with anger. "Leave this place!" he roared, as he shoved both of the men down hard onto the ground.
The three men scrambled to their feet and ran away without a moment's hesitation.
Eyes still glowing red, he turned to face the two girls, who were both cowering in fear.
Noticing that Zyxel was now standing in front of them, he seemed a lot more menacing in person, than Rachael had imagined. She pulled Jessica behind her, determined to protect her at all costs. But her knees were so weak and shaking, she didn't know what she would be able to do.
Studying the two girls, Zyxel finally recognized where he had seen these two girls at, before. They were the same girls who were putting up those flyers from before, who were searching for Trinity.
He cocked his head to the side in interest. What reason would they have for being out here, looking for him, of all people? And where was Trinity? He looked around, but he couldn't sense her nearby. It would make sense if she didn't want anything to do with him anymore. Still, this scene in front of him intrigued him and he was interested in knowing why these girls were out here.
Grinning with interest, Zyxel took a step forward, as the two girls clung to each other in terror.
__________________________
(Questions in the Author's Comments below!)
Books I am currently writing:
- The Forbidden Luna
- Divine Banishment