Chapter 49

The fight scene before her wasn't like what you see in the movies.

There wasn't any intense music playing in the background. It wasn't at all like when Jessica Biel in Blade Trinity killed all the vampires while wearing headphones and moving incredibly fast. Well at least the moving incredibly fast part was right.

There wasn't any witty repartee or caustic banter. The villains didn't stop to tell them their Machiavellian plans to take over the world.

Just the sound of weapons making contact, and a lot of it, the grunts and groans, echoed off the three walls that penned them in.

The guys had shoved her against the brick wall at the end of the alleyway. She had a second to be insulted, but then she was immediately grateful. Sure she'd spent three years training in hand to hand combat and she had her Fae speed and strength, but she was no match for this crew.

They were literally out of this world strong and fast and they wielded fire and ice and teeth and claws.

At first Lauren thought that these guys would see they were outnumbered seven to five, but they weren't intimidated, and now she knew why.

Whitey, who was apparently an Ice Elemental or something, had transformed into an ice sculpture of his human glamour and was throwing spears of ice at her friends as fast as he could form them, and that was hella fast. The only one of them that could withstand the brunt of the blows was Travis, their lovable mountain Troll. He had turned himself in to stone and was boxing with the guy to keep him busy.

Then came little miss red head, who was most likely a fire demon, she was throwing fire balls and shooting flames out of her hands at the guys. They would have been done for if not for Ray. Thank God for their resident Japanese Dragon. Who was apparently immune to fire?

He promptly shifted and snaked his huge three clawed serpentine body between her and them at the opening of the alley which essentially cordoned her away from everyone else. He was currently fielding all the flames and fireballs she could throw at him. It was beginning to look like a crazy Ping-Pong match. She was immune to the heat and flames as well so there was a sort of stalemate that occurred, but he had mitigated the threat.

Then came the shifter, the lean African America guy took the form of a Jackal and at this very moment he and Quinn were literally fighting tooth and nail or more accurately claw. Unfortunately, Quinn was smaller than the jackal and slower. She wished someone would help him. They were growling and biting each other while tufts of fur were flying everywhere. They were nothing but a snarling ball of aggression, and she couldn't even begin to figure out how to breaking them up. She sent out a mental prayer: please lord let Quinn be alright.

That left Zach, Kelly, CJ, Ryan and Connor to face off against the remaining two. Which she had to admit looked like pretty good odds in their favor that was until the big African American guy started casting.

He waved his arms around muttering under his breath and every shadow cast from the glow of the security light above the door seemed to get sucked into the vortex he was creating as he whirled his arms around in a circle. Then he unleashed the giant ball of blackness and they formed into individual shadow combatants --Nearly two dozen of them.

Kelly using her superior strength, speed, and fighting skills had ripped two of the bars from the back window of the club and was now wielding them so fast she was doing a pretty good impression of helicopter blades. Six of the shadow men had broken off from the pack and converged on her, apparently they judged her to be a bigger threat then the others. And they weren't wrong. When you're a descendant of Freyja the Norse God of War and Death you end up with some mad skills.

Connor had ripped off the drainage pipe that had been dripping madly earlier and was using it to fend off the Giant bat that the little Asian girl had transformed into. He was wielding it like a Louisville slugger. But anytime she got within three feet of anyone and looked them in the eyes an eerie translucent substance would start seeping out of them towards her, and she would suck it back with glee. The person would immediately stop fighting and just stand there. When she did it to Connor, Zach seemed to clue in that it had everything to do with eye contact, so he dove at him knocking him over to break her hold on him.

He grabbed the pipe then and took over for Connor who was now trying his darnedest to stand up, but failing miserably. Lauren guessed she must have been sucking his chi or life force from him, and as a result he was too weak to stand.

Ryan, the Arabic Jinn, was using his smoke form to evade the half dozen shades he was sparring with. Every time they lunged for him they got nothing but air. He would whisk around them and strike them from behind with his bare hands. Apparently they were pretty evenly matched until Ryan realized that if he dove into the gaping black holes that were the shadowmen's mouths while in his smoke form, and if he then took on his physical form while still inside them, then they would shatter into a million pieces like tiny black shards of glass. It was disgusting, but effectual and she had to applaud his ingenuity.

They would be winning now if not for the fact that for every combatant that was dispatched the arrogant leader just dispatched a dozen more, and soon they would be utterly out numbered.

Thank heaven for CJ. He had been spending the entire time using his telekinesis. At first he was just throwing things out of the dumpster, but when he realized that was an unsuccessful strategy, he started wielding the dumpster itself, tossing it back and forth around the alley driving it into the shadow figures and the African American guy who was commanding them. Lauren saw that it was working too, but only as a distraction. Any time the dumpster came near --what she guessed to be --the leader of the group a black disk would appear around him like a gigantic shield.

She also saw that the ground was breaking up at CJ's feet and that his opponent was muttering an incantation again. She yelled to warn him, but it was too late giants roots shot out of the ground and began snaking around her friend's legs. The vines travelled up his body and around his torso. It happened so fast she barely had time to register that they were crushing the life out of him. She had to do something.

She ran for CJ and grabbing on to the roots, she sent them a mental message over and over again. She just kept petting them like they were a cat and saying: relax, relax, relax in her head over and over, until CJ's color went from an alarming purple- blue to a more normal red, and then finally he sucked in a huge breath looking at her like she was a miracle from heaven. She just kept petting the root and telling it to relax until it receded back into the ground.

She locked eyes with the dark Fae thinking he'd be mad given the fact that she had bested him, but he just gave her a cold as granite smile and started to mutter . . .

. . . All of a sudden Lauren was in her bedroom at home curled up safely in her bedcovers. The sun was shining through her open window and birds where singing in the trees outside. Then she heard it: her mother's voice.

"Lauren if you don't get up we're going to be late. I've made your favorite. The banana pancakes are getting cold. "

Lauren could hear the voice getting closer. She shot straight up in bed when her door knob turned and in walked her mother looking just like she remembered. She sucked in a shocked breath which her mother mistook for having startled her awake.

All of a sudden her mother had her in her arms and she was saying, "I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to startle you. I forget sometimes how heavy you sleep."

Her mother clutched her shoulders and drew her away from her to look her deep in her eyes and said with concern, "Are you alright honey?"

Lauren just squealed and said," Oh my gosh yes! I'm more than alright. I'm fantastic. You're out of your room!

Lauren leapt out of bed and did a little happy dance.

"Oh Mom I've missed you so much! I've got so much to tell you!"

*****

Lauren wasn't aware that she had been befuddled with an illusion spell and that the fight raged on around her, and as it did she stood stone still and unaware. She was utterly vulnerable to attack. Zach was madly trying to get her to move as he fought off any threat to her, but she just stood there like a statue.

*****

Lauren was now sitting at a little kitchenette in their immaculately clean kitchen. The house was different too. Potted plants were everywhere. Every surface was dust free and clean, comfortable furniture was spattered around the place. It actually looked like a home instead of an abandoned mausoleum. The pancakes smelled great and tasted even better. Suddenly, she thought of something and to her mother's dismay she actually tore off for the front yard in her PJs.

She tore through her front door and down the front steps to their front yard. Tears started to stream down her face when she turned to look at their house. The front porch was painted a bright white and the front of the house was a gorgeous sunny yellow hue. The front yard was a riot of plants and flowers of every description, and the windows even had flower boxes attached to them.

That's when she realized it.

She

had

been

confounded

Spelled!

She sank to her knees on the vibrantly green grass and let her fingers splay through the blades, before turning to her mother who was now looking at her with mock concern.

"What's a matter dear?" Her mother said in a male voice, and then she began to laugh a menacing laugh.

Lauren tore to her feet and dove for her illusory mother, but she disappeared before she could make contact. All of a sudden the grass began to yellow, the sun went away and it started to drizzle a cold November rain, she ran up the front steps as the paint started to fade and chip, in her haste to get through the front door the stupid screen came right TF off, she tore up to her mother's bedroom, but the door was closed as usual . . . but was it really?

When she looked closer she could see that it was ajar. She threw the door wide and walked in. It smelled like a grave in the there -- all must and decay. The room was in shambles, the curtains where closed, the thin stream of pale sickly light that streamed in at its edges reflected the dust that she'd stirred up at her sudden entrance. The only light that illuminated the room came from the open door. Lauren tried the light switch but it only clicked uselessly. She squinted her eyes to see better in the dim light, and was rewarded with a better view of the entire space. There in the recesses of the room farthest from the door sat her unmoving mother in an old rocking chair. At least she thought it was her mom, she couldn't see her face.

Lauren stepped hesitantly forward. Her overwhelming fear made each step harder than the last.

"Mom," she croaked her throat strangled with terror.

"Mom, answer me."

She inched towards her.

All of a sudden the blinds chose that moment to fly up and reveal a long dead corpse wearing her mother's clothes. Spider webs covered her body. The corpses mouth was wide open like she had died screaming. When a giant spider crawled out of her mouth, Lauren shrieked.

The corpse started talking in the man's voice again and said, "What's a matter dear? Come give Mommy a hug" and the macabre thing stood and started walking towards her.

That was when Lauren realized her feet were stuck, she couldn't move.

She screamed a scream that tore at her vocal cords till they bled.

*****

In the real world when Lauren went from smiling, to frowning and then screaming bloody murder. Everyone converged on her. Oh the fighting never stopped. It's just that everyone circled her protectively, and started insisting someone do something.

They knew whatever was happening to her had everything to do with the Fae at the other end of the alley, but try as they may to take him down they could never seem to get close enough to knock him out and break the spell.

Even when the rest of the gang burst from the club and took a protective stance between the helpless Lauren and the Night Schoolers somehow they still couldn't get the upper hand, and the vulnerable non magical creatures were dropping like flies. It was beginning to look hopeless.

Then it happened.

Zach roared -- like literally roared.

Everyone including the dark Fae had to cover their ears, it was so loud. And then his ethereal wings spread out to an impossible distance away from his body, and grabbing Lauren in his arms he wrapped her entirely within their feathery softness, and he began to glow. A white hot light cocooned around her and the screaming stopped. She lay limp inside the nest he had made for her with his wings.

When Zach started walking towards the dark Fae with fierce determination and a murderous look on his face, never letting go of Lauren as he did so, and easily deflecting everything the Fae threw at him with the bright light that emanated from within him.

Everyone began to realize, including the Fae, that his dark power was no match for enraged Zach.

But even that did not wipe the cocky grin off his face, he just sneered at Zach and put his fingers in his mouth and whistled.

The red head dove over a startled and confused Ray, while he was still in dragon form, all the others gathered around him and once they were within shoulder distance of each other a portal opened up and they all easily stepped through.

But before it closed the dark Fae leader said, "Oh yeah before I go. Tell my sister to say hi to Mom for me." And with a wry grin, he inclined his head towards Lauren in Zach's arms as the portal gate closed.

Tune in tomorrow to find out how Lauren reacts to the news about her brother.

********************THANKS FOR READING***************

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I Didn't know this would Happen by Stellar_Reads

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