Chereads / Maleficium / Chapter 3 - Peace

Chapter 3 - Peace

For a door as large as that, it was rather a surprise that it made no noise. The plants made no movement but Amy had the spray bottle pointed forwards like a gun just in case. She slowly moved towards a plant and then she sprayed. She waited unbreathing. It slowly wilted and then it fell to that ground. That's when all hell broke loose. The falling branches made a noise that would have been appropriate for a small truck. The exact thing that she was afraid might happen, happened. All the plants leapt towards them. She felt Alex fall to his knees next to her. She had a split-second to think and then it came to her. She unscrewed the spray bottle and flung it upward. All of its contents fell upon them like a water fall and on the plants as acid rain. At first their tips wilted and then the wilting spread and soon… All the plants fell to the ground with the longest and loudest set of noises she ever heard.

They were alone again but this time it was a good thing. She almost cried with relief. She was so tired but she knew she had to keep moving she got up and took the spray bottle from her brother. Neither her anger nor his shame could be explained at the moment. They made their way to the next door. The monster was right behind it. She knew there was no other way. She walked to the door and pulled it open.

The room was barely recognizable. Every inch was covered was covered in vines and grass. All the furniture was still there but it was all green. They reached the middle of the room. It was completely silent except for the crackling of the fire and…. A strange sound. She couldn't quite place it. They were whispers but they sounded like hisses and …. Was she imagining it? A sound like a snake slithering in the grass, hidden and its voice a warning and an attack on its own. She looked around frantically but saw green blending in and out of the dark, the fire being the only source of light. Then there was another sound. A high pitched note of music. It was there for such a short time that she doubted that she had even heard it.

She felt something pull at her spray bottle. It was Alex. "Lemme see that for a sec." He said in an energetic voice completely devoid of any energy. She loosened her grip and Alex pulled it out of her hands. "What..." She said confused. Alex walked towards the fireplace and stood there for a minute, then he dropped the bottle into the fire. "NO!" She screamed. She ran to the fire and pushed her brother to the side. The bottle melted immediately and the liquid started oozing out she tried to save some it by cupping it in her hands but it kept falling out. She didn't give up she kept trying to scoop it up until all of it had evaporated. She drew her hands out. Her hand were burnt and blistered so badly that you couldn't see any normal skin. Even after having been taken out of the fire Amy's hands were cold. She thought she would cry … but she didn't. This was beyond tears. She felt cold even though she was sitting in front of the fire. Her only protection gone. She had no idea what to do. What could she do? She was so tired. She was aware of the slithering getting louder but she was too exhausted to do anything. A pair of hands pulled her up and grasped her hands behind her back so tightly that it hurt. She didn't need to guess who it was. She recognized Alex's rough hands anywhere.

She looked up at the horrendous creature which threatened their lives. She wanted to stop fighting and go to sleep. She would have too if at that moment that creature hadn't opened its eyes. Those eyes filled her with such an anger she had never thought possible. She would kill that creature or die trying. She knew that whatever happened, she wouldn't go down without trying. She struggled against her brother's grip. Boy was he strong. He went to the gym five times a week. "Great!" She thought savagely "The boy has one good habit and it's going to be the death of me!" She thought frantically. The serpent creature drew his face nearer to hers, Then everything, as it normally does, happened all too quickly. She lifted her leg up and kicked her brother right in the crotch. He let go and fell to his knees, whimpering. The monster hissed and brought its face closer so quickly that Amy instinctively slapped the monster with all the force she had left. The monster hissed and slithered back. A red handprint where it had been slapped. She was confused but then it hit her. She had the weed killer on her hands. The burning from the fire had probably infused the weed killer in to her hands. She had a second of relief when something else hit her, with a much larger amount of force. The serpent's tail hit her with a rib shattering crack and sent both her and her brother flying. They landed with dull thuds on the green floor.

"Enough nonsense." The creature hissed, "Where is my essence! My beautiful bottle …all empty" Her mind was empty then it raced. "Beautiful bottle? Say less." She thought. She looked at her brother's limp body and frantically tried to take his shirt off. The monster looked confused. "THE BRAT ALWAYS WEARS SUCH TIGHT SHIRTS!" She thought in a rage. Finally she took the shirt off and saw the Essence the monster was talking about. Apparently so did the monster. It tried to lunge at it but Amy had already thrown it into the fire the monster immediately started burning as if it was set on fire it screeched and screamed. She saw that the fire wasn't strong enough. She frantically looked around and saw an oddly familiar lump in the vines. Her perfume! She tried to break the vines with her burnt hands to get the perfume. It took a while but she made a hole in it. It was an air-compressed metal container so it slipped out easily. She threw that into the fire too. Nothing, well almost nothing. The monster was back and it looked angry.

It was still burning but it seemed to be managing the pain well unlike her, it felt like her chest was filled with glass. It grabbed her throat and started strangling her. She felt like her lungs were burning. Everything started to darken. Then the container exploded and the remains of the shirt burned away and thankfully so did the monster. It burned like a piece of paper in a flame.She blinked and the room turned back to normal.

She lay there in the dark room and was about to pass out. Then suddenly her Gramma said "It's alright, you're ok now." Then she passed out.