17 Chapter Seventeen

She was tired of it. The voices berating her constantly in her head.

You did something wrong! Remember that embarrassing moment? Who would ever want you? Your school is filled with beautiful girls, who would chose you over them? He certainly would not. Why don't you act like your sisters? Why would you trust someone with your pain? They'll probably mock you behind your back, and then he'll know. Why don't you just give up?

She wanted the voices to stop. She felt silent tears streaming down her face and watering the sorrow buried in her heart.

Ugly.

She stared at her sister, cuddled up with her boyfriend and giggling. Her mother and her stepfather dancing in the dark and her older sister coddling her baby. Her husband sat lovingly next to her.

Fat.

She wanted to feel that too. Clutching the book to her chest, she felt envy well up in her chest. She wanted a happy ending like her family-- a high school romance. Something concrete, something real that made her feel beautiful for once.

Stupid.

She could not tell her family her troubles. Everytime she does, they deflect it to another issue. Call her a drama queen, call her over dramatic, and tell her that she's young and should not worry about romantic encounters.

I have the appeal on an onion…

She stood up and began to walk up the old steps in an attempt to get away from the pain.

"Where are you going?" Her mother asked and caused her to pause on the steps. She began to cringe on the inside. She loved her family, but the pain she felt they would never understand. She wished that they would, but they showed no intention of changing their perspective. She just wanted a light in her life, to feel a love that came without pain. That was taken away from her when the first man in her life had taught her nothing but pain, making her too scared to take that step and feel the light on her skin.

"I'm going to my room." Her voice was bland as she carried herself up the stairs.

"You never hang out with your family anymore! Elizabeth and Ivan are here, stay down here." Hannah sounded convincing, but she knew that as soon as she sat down they would only ignore her. Anytime she would talk she would be cut off, and then called annoying later for not wanting to say her piece for the fourth time. So she kept walking and ignored their protests. Inside her room she knew they were there. When she opened the door it was a simple astral projection-- their real body stored away in another nightmare. The figure looked up at her and shifted her robe back into place. Grinning manically on her bed she pointed to the book resting on the nightstand.

"Time to get back to work." The voice that came from under the hood made her blood turn to ice and her back burn in fear. The figure glittered for brief second before disappearing altogether, leaving the girl to collapse to her knees.

I just want to be happy. Can I just be happy for once?

You can't.

Gabriel watched as Michael recklessly flung himself into battle with Arachne, the others trying to catch up with him. Michael was a hurricane of black, silver and blue that thrashed wildly against the spider. The spider was using it's armoured legs to defend herself from his furious attacks. The others joined the fray; Red shooting a barrage of arrows, Lilith lobbing balls of shadows at her rump and Mitch slicing at her legs with his pink rapier. None of their attacks even fazed the creature. It continued to swipe, clawed and shot silk at them, it's thick skin not being bothered by their blows.

"Hey angel-boy, I'm gonna break the cocoons open. Catch the bodies," Oz brought him back to the task at hand as he stood under the bloodied cocoon. He followed close behind in annoyance and took his place under the shell. Oz began to mutter something incoherent as Gabriel took a stance under it. Distributing his weight equally so whoever feel would not cause him to topple over. The shell began to glow and crack, a little trickle of blood running out. A sickening crack ran through out the warehouse as a massive rip tore through the shell. A wriggling and screaming body fell out, covered in red and black. Gabriel braced himself as the body fell into his arms and the weight pulled him forward as the body went limp in his arms.

"Carina?" He gasped at the ragdoll of a girl in his arms. Her eyes were closed and her breath was shallow. Gabriel's heart was about to explode in his chest as he eyed the stitched up girl. Her stitches were red and puffy and they were all over her body. Blood leaked from her wounds and onto Gabriel's arms.

"I'm… alive…." She gasped in his arms as he gripped her closer.

"Carina?" Oz muttered and turned back to battle.

"Hey, Frankenstein!" He barked at the battle. Atropos glanced over and scowled as she sliced at the monster's face.

"That's not my name!" She called as Arachne lunged at her. Twisting her body back with her weight she flipped back and landed crouched, her blade resting on her shoulders.

"Get your ass over here!" Atropos shot him a freezing glare before backing away from the fight.

"What is it you flying monkey?" She ran over to see the bleeding girl in Gabriel's arms.

"Can you help her?" Gabriel's voice sounded weak as his legs began to tremble. Atropos shot a bitter look at Oz before kneeling on the ground.

"Put her down." Atropos ordered over the screaming. Gabriel gently placed her on the ground and rested her head down on the iridescent girls lap. Eyeing the makeshift stitches she had lined around her shoulder the girl started to cringe outwardly. Arachne had grown more agitated at her release and began hitting harder at his friends, screaming in outrage.

"You insignificant little brat! I'm going to rip down your head and piss down your throat!" She bellowed as Michael attacked harder. Gabriel saw that her upper torso was exposed to the cool air and lifted up the hem of his own black long sleeve and grabbed her unharmed wrists. He slipped the warm fabric of the shirt through her wrists as he dressed her like a child and pulled the shirt over her head to cover her. She gave him a weak nod as if to say 'get back to work lazy bones, I'm fine'. Gabriel gave her one last look as Atropos buried her blade into the concrete floor before he ran to finish his rounds.

Carina hurt in every way imaginable-- physically, mentally and emotionally. Her physical pain was obvious with her stitches digging and pulling painfully at her skin. She had a pounding headache and her vision had doubled. Her brain was fuzzy and distorted enough to make her head spin, Her mental pain had to do with issues pertaining to home while her emotional pain had to do more with Salayria. Where was she? Carina desperately wanted to get up and find her, but she had used the last of her strength to scream as she fell-- an event that had surprised her. Through her pain and woozy state she could still make out the sounds of battle echoing through the warehouse and the cracking of shells. With every crack came a ceremonious screech from Arachne that started to sound like an eerie song. She managed to crack her eyes open and saw her prison hanging above her, stained with her blood. Hanging beside was an uncracked shell that was swaying violently back and forth. Her heart fluttered in her chest. Her friend had to be in that one. She tried to motion for the girl holding her but she only managed to gurgle weakly. She tried waving to Gabriel but her arms felt like lead and she only managed to twitch her fingers. She was trapped in her own body; unable to do anything to help Salayria. She wanted to scream, to jump up and down-- to save her friend-- but all she could do was speed up her breathing and twitch her fingers. The girl holding her noticed her accelerated breathing and discomfort and called out for Gabriel. Carina deflated as he rushed over to them, kneeling down beside her and unconsciously lacing his fingers through hers. If she had enough blood in her, she would have flushed. Gently touching her cheek as he peered at her, unfamiliar faces came into view-- three boys and one girl. The white haired boy's hand was encased in flame, marking him as a fellow Guardian. The others followed different ethnic patterns-- a dark-skinned man in a army jacket, a caramel girl in a silk sari, and a sharply dressed Latino boy with a comb over.

"What's wrong?" Gabriel cooed as he grasped her hand. She could not point to the cocoon with her hands, so she noticeably stared at it. Gabriel's eyes followed her line of sight and saw the wriggling shell.

"Is that where Salayria is?" Gabriel asked softly, his calming hand never leaving her face. Carina had grown more and more drowsy from her blood loss. She finally managed to mutter one last word before her eyes forced themselves shut.

"Yes."

This was my worst nightmare. Being stuck twenty feet in the air with a monster spider crawling somewhere around me was a nightmare for me. I had sworn I had heard Michael calling for me and started to flail about the confined space, accidently bending some of my fingers in the process. I could hear voices and prayed one was Michael. It was like they could not quite hear my screaming no matter how loud I screeched. I felt my body suddenly push down as a crack resonated in the confined space.

"Oh no." My stomach started to churn. The cracking got more frequent and my body sunk lower.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" I chanted and began to grasp at the soft prison. I was afraid of falling but fate had decided to push that fear. There was nothing underneath me in a mere matter of seconds and I began to plummet to the ground below. I shrieked as my body was a rock in the air, my body parallel to the ground. Two strong and soft beams caught me before I hit the ground. I heard a rough grunt and realized that it was not beams, it was arms; and those arms were attached to Gabriel I was shaking uncontrollably from the fall as he gave me a cheeky grin.

"Hey there kid." He chuckled and gently set me on the ground. A shadow jumped out from behind Gabriel as he did so and gripped my shoulders painfully.

"So you're the Star-Blood?" An unfamiliar boy with poisonous eyes inquired. I had saw three more unfamiliar figures cowering not too far away.

"Is this really the time for that?" The rational part of be burst forward as I glared at him. Just behind him I saw a vaguely familiar figure gripping onto and unconscious Carina. Guilt weighed in my stomach and I felt the stings from the glass catching up with me finally. The shards were embedded in my stomach, thighs, chest and arms. The fragments dug deeper with pressure. The boy whispered something under his breath and the pieces fell out and bounced around me, not creating a sound. If they had in the first place it was drowned out from the sounds of fighting. Small pinpricks of pain caused me to wince, and other that the twisted fingers I received from my struggle I was fine. With my legs as weak as Jell-O I stood up, clad in my battle uniform of a shredded shirt and pants as I gazed at the horrifying monster. She did not even look harmed at all, just angry at the flies buzzing around her. She swung her legs around and the others dodged. Everyone was getting sluggish but the beast only appeared to be getting faster; shooting out silk from her rump to pin everyone down.

Silk. Rump. Hospital. Spiders. Fire. Monsters. Books.

Arachnoid. Arachne. Skin as hard as iron, silk as flammable as gasoline.

"What's their weakness?" I screamed as Carina jolted further. Through the crack I saw another large spider behind the first which looked like a brown recluse waiting behind it's companion.

"Fire! But I'm not good at pyromagic and Carmella is a necromancer! We're a little short on fire magicians here!"

"Michael!" I screamed, causing the black head to whirl around. Relief softened his aggressive features when he saw me. I began to animatedly talk, waving my arms around in a manner as I tried to explain myself.

"Silk! Rump! Arachnoids! She's an arachnoid!" I screamed and furiously flailed about. He raised an eyebrow and elegantly dodged a strike.

"What?" He yelled as he furiously dodged like a seasoned gymnast. I sighed in frustration as it bubbled in my stomach.

"In the book you gave me! She challenged a angel and won! Her silk became her weakness!" I realized my explanation was vague at best, but I had no idea how to word it properly.

"How does that make any sense?" He yelled back. I was starting to grow enraged at my ability to communicate, and for the first time in years I finally snapped.

"For fucks sake! Her weakness is in her silk! It's highly flammable! If you set the bitch's silk on fire her rump will explode!" I cursed as I tugged at my hair, Everyone seemed to grow uncomfortable with my foul language but no one spoke up. Realization dawned on Michael's face and he shared a look with Lilith.

"I can't do fire spells!"

"Oz!" Michael yelled at the white haired boy beside me. Arachne froze and locked all eight of her grotesque eyes on me. She screamed in rage and pushed past Lilith, sending her sprawling to the ground. Oz stood protectively in front of me, his hands bathed in green flames. Time seemed to slow as Arachne lunged at the two of us, her fangs dripping with a menacing black venom. It was like I was in the cocoon again with my body trapped in place. Voices sounded like water swirling around my ears but I swore I could hear a faint murmur over the roaring noise. There was a flash of heat mixed with an ear splitting scream that brought me from my trance. The smell of burning ants perforated the area as my gaze focused once more. I gasped as Arachne began to writhe in pain with her rump washed in golden fire. Her rump began to bubble like something was trapped in it and was trying to escape. As the bubble began to travel up her thorax, legs and waist her screams grew louder. She stomped her feet of the grew and her skin began to blister and ooze. Oz had stepped to the side and started walking towards her in disturbing interest. She looked like a pimple ready to pop. As if she read my mind her screams were cut short by a loud and wet popping noise, her body tearing itself into shreds. Like a balloon full of paint being popped on a canvas her innards went flying and painted everyone in a fifteen metre range instead of the canvas. Oz was too close and the pressure sent him flying back. Oz, Michael, Lilith, Red, Mitch and I were coated red and black with blood and poison. A long chunk of slimy intestine had wrapped itself around my throat like a vulgar scarf. It was wet and warm and sticking to my skin with a disgusting mucus. My stomach churned and throat burned as bile rose. I had been mostly blinded from the rest of the horrors from the pieces coating my glasses but that did not stop me from noticing the organ slowly slip from my neck and land at my feet with a sick wet sound. That was it for me and a handful of other people as the chorus of vomiting filled the area. The metallic tang of blood, bitter smell of poison and burning flesh burned my nostrils as I did so. The force had cause my glasses to fall from my face and onto the floor, narrowly missing my stomach contents. I saw the blood on my body, the pink flesh and organs and other various gory parts I never wanted to see. I felt a small hand gingerly touch my shoulder. I glanced at the side to see a familiar red skinned goblin grinning up at me with sharp teeth and coal eyes glittering in happiness.

"Ignis," I croaked and affectionately rubbed his head. "How did you get here?" He did not say anything, but just looked over at Carina. She was half conscious with her hand resting on a sloppy pentagram painted in blood on the floor next to her. Not hers though, Atropos had a trickle of blood running from the palm of her hand. A sudden and rough force yanked me against a wet and solid chest. Michael cradled me against him with my feet not even touching the ground. I had to wrap my arms around his neck to assure my safety with his one arm wrapped securely around my waist and the other holding up my back and tangling in my hair. He was shaking slightly and I knew it was not from my weight from his incoherent muttering. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself that I was real. My heart wretched as I clutched onto his shirt, realizing that tears were rolling down my cheeks.

"I was so scared." I cried and felt his grip tighten.

"I'm so sorry." He began to chant those words over and over again as if they were a spell that would reverse this entire incident.

"I would kiss you, but we're covered in blood and I just puked." I joked as I attempted to pull a Carina and lighten the dreary mood. He nodded and buried his face in the crook of my neck.

"Just… Just let me hold you a little longer." He muttered and squeezed me a little bit I did not argue and stayed there. We stayed like that in silence, holding each other as the light began to fade.