Infinite

Quinn

I felt like collapsing.

But my feet were rooted to the spot.

So I swayed, shocked beyond belief.

I couldn’t accept it.

I wouldn’t accept it.

Not after everything we’d faced.

Not after all the obstacles we’d conquered.

Not with all the dreams we still had to fulfill.

Jax couldn’t be dead.

My mind refused to accept the possibility.

But my eyes told a different story.

So did the sharp scent of lightning.

So did the hollow feeling in my heart.

Tears didn’t come. My eyes were too shocked to shed them.

Sobs of despair lodged in my throat.

My mouth hung open, unable to release them.

The horrified gasps of the petrified crowd faded as I sank into a pit of despair.

It felt like a piece of me had died.

In fact, a piece of me had died.

But my numb shock was shattered when a sharp pain shot through my body.

A groan of pure agony echoed through the room.

It was unbearable.

Inescapable.

My veins felt like they were on fire, as if they’d been cut and were bleeding internally.

Every nerve in my brain felt like it was burning.

My life was shattered in an instant.

My will to live, like Jax, disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“Now then,” Jodie said, scanning the room, “any other heroes tonight?”

All the men shook their heads. My aunt had terrified them into submission.

Except for Anthony.

“Go to hell, witch!” he yelled. He bent down and scooped up the knife Jax had dropped in one smooth move.

He hurled the weapon at Aunt Jodie. The blade buried itself in her shoulder.

Jodie screamed.

Members of Vulpes screamed as they watched their powerful leader in pain.

The pain must have made her lose control of her powers.

Because the moment the blade hit, my feet were no longer stuck to the floor.

I didn’t hesitate to use the chaos to try and escape.

But just as I started to run, Anthony yelled to his men, “Grab her!”

Two burly soldiers stepped forward from the crowd and seized me by the arms.

I struggled as they forced me to stand next to Anthony.

But it was no use. I wasn’t strong enough to break free. And my mind was so clouded with shock and despair that I couldn’t think of any spells to fight back.

I watched as Anthony walked over to Jodie and yanked the knife out of her shoulder.

She fell to her knees and blood started to pour from the wound.

The crazed Alpha spat in her hair and then turned to me with murder in his eyes.

He pressed the bloody blade of the dagger against my neck.

“I tried to reason with you, witch,” Anthony said, his voice shaking with rage, “now, you’ll watch this pathetic Luna die before I kill you.”

“Arrogant pup!” my aunt shouted, “If you think you’ve beaten me, you’ve got a lot to learn.”

“Enough!” Anthony yelled, pulling his knife back to stab me in the throat.

And then the blade hit me.

My mind went blank.

All sound disappeared.

As if reality had sucked my consciousness into a black hole.

The last thing I remembered was seeing Aunt Jodie clutching the moonstone around her neck and mouthing words rapidly.

Then, the figures around me vanished.

Fort Vulpes disappeared.

Even my own body disappeared.

There was no darkness.

There was no light.

There just ~was.~

Until…

***

I thought I saw the universe.

For a moment.

A moment is all you need to understand infinity.

If you dwell on it any longer, your perception might be clouded by the paradoxes of your surroundings.

Suddenly, I saw everything.

And I knew everything.

Everything that mattered and everything that didn’t.

I saw that there was little in the vastness of existence that mattered.

In fact, it became clear that there was really only one thing in this infinity that truly mattered.

Love.

For people. For creatures. For life.

I saw that everything in this reality was a result of love, or the absence of it.

This realization hit me like a divine revelation.

But in a moment, it was gone.

Eternity faded to darkness.

And there I was.

Still.

Silent.

Senseless.

I didn’t know who I was. I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know why I was.

All I knew was love.

No other thought crossed my mind.

Not until a dull sound broke the silence.

At first, it was distant and unrecognizable.

But then it grew louder…

And louder…

Until it was deafening…

The harsh noises echoed in my ear, shaking my skull.

Their tone was rough and guttural. Their rhythm, frantic.

It sounded like a horrifying chant straight from the devil himself.

As my senses started to return, I realized that my first impression wasn’t far from the truth.

I recognized that voice.

It was a voice I had once trusted.

A voice I thought had my best interests at heart.

A voice I thought belonged to family.

But it belonged to a vile manipulator.

Aunt Jodie.

Soon, the darkness started to fade into a terrifying swirl of dark blues, sickly greens, and ominous grays.

In the midst of the swirling colors, I could see Aunt Jodie’s face. It was twisted into a mad smile as she continued her strange chants.

I tried to scream, but no sound came out. It was as if I had been silenced.

When I tried to move, my muscles wouldn’t respond.

When I tried to make a fist, I could only manage a slight bend in my pinky finger.

I was still in Jodie’s chamber—the same room where I had passed out.

Now I was lying at her feet, completely paralyzed, while she performed a spell over me.

Her hands were moving over my body like a whirlwind. Her eyes were rolled back in her head. Her words were gibberish to me.

I didn’t know what she was doing.

All I knew was that I probably wasn’t going to leave this room alive.

There was no escape.

~Just pain.~

Jodie was ripping me apart, piece by piece, sapping all my strength.

I was helpless, left to endure it.

Beyond Jodie’s wicked grin, I stared at the ceiling, its tiles a deep, bloody red, adorned with gold. I wished the whole thing would just collapse and end this nightmare.

~What a fool I’ve been!~

I’d thought Jodie wanted me to reach my full potential, but she only wanted to use me. A pawn in her scheme against our shared ancestor, the revered Moon Goddess.

She made me turn my back on my family.

My friends.

Even my mate.

Now that I knew her plan, I doubted she’d let me live much longer.

But death didn’t scare me.

In my time as Jodie’s apprentice, I’d learned there were scarier things in this world than death.

I was more afraid that Jodie would unleash her powerful fury on Jax and my friends. And then, on the Moon Goddess herself.

I felt like I might be the only one who could truly protect them.

I yearned to break free and run to their defense.

Jodie saw it. She paused her chanting to taunt me.

“You took quite a fall out there trying to save your friends,” she said, pretending to care, “A novice like you should know better than to challenge me.”

~Funny how someone so powerful couldn’t dodge a knife thrown by a crazed Alpha!~ I thought.

Her eyebrows raised in surprise, as if she’d heard my thoughts.

My own mental comeback startled me.

~What am I thinking?~ Nothing like that had happened. At least, I didn’t remember it.

But I was sure I’d seen my aunt skewered by a knife, clinging to life as it seeped out of her in a red river.

I suspected I’d met the same fate.

I saw a flicker in my aunt’s eyes, as if my words resonated with her too.

This paralysis must have messed with my senses.

But this felt familiar.

Like I’d been here before.

Experienced this sensation before.

Every move my aunt made, every word she spoke, felt like a repeat of something she’d done or said before.

“Don’t worry, my niece,” she laughed cruelly, “I won’t keep you here long. It will all be over soon.”

~What would be over soon?~

And why did her words echo in my mind before she spoke them?

My aunt closed her eyes and started mumbling to herself.

Her words were jumbled and unintelligible.

She was mind-linking with someone.

~But who?~

The only words she said aloud from the entire conversation were, “Yes, my lord. It shall be done.”

Jodie opened her eyes and looked back at me.

“Alright, my dear Quinn,” she said, “I’ve had enough of this lying around.”

She knelt on the floor and whispered in my ear.

“You’re probably wondering why I’ve kept you alive. Well, it turns out that, whether you like it or not, you’re still useful to Matheius and me.”

Jodie placed her long, thin fingers on my body, closed her eyes, and started calling out to the heavens.

“With our combined powers, I summon the power of the Great Moonstone through the realms of time and space,” she cried. Her face began to twist.

It looked like her skin was about to tear off her bones.

“Together, we will use its mystical abilities to add another to our nexus of cosmic power. Another descendant of divinity.”

~What is she talking about?~

~What is the Great Moonstone?~

My question was answered instantly when Jodie’s empty hand was suddenly holding a bright, glowing orb.

I gasped.

The object was small, but I could feel it held power beyond my comprehension.

But I didn’t have time to think about it because suddenly, I could move again.

Jodie’s eyes were still closed as she cradled the stone in her hand.

This was my chance—my only chance to escape.

I regained control of my muscles, gritted my teeth, and forced myself up onto my shaky legs.

They felt like they weighed a ton each.

But I managed to sprint out of the room and down the hallway before Jodie snapped out of her trance.

As I stumbled down Fort Vulpes’ corridor, a feeling in the back of my mind told me I’d done all this before.

Like a severe case of déjà vu.

Or as if, somehow, time had reset itself.