House of the Night Children

“Meet me. In the library. Tonight.” His mouth struggled to move from the gashes across his face. I stared in horror. The more I looked, the more it seemed to fade away.

I inched closer to the library, the events of today fresh on my mind. The dark hallways kept me deep in thought, even though I was only prolonging the torture of my now inquisitive mind.

“I will explain everything.” Black smoke shuffled across the room. “Now go.” Tears in his eyes, he fell to the floor bowing. He looked back up at me pleadingly. “Go!” His eyes glowed red. In an instant, I backed away and ran while the black smoke consumed him.

Frozen still in my tracks, I was brought back to reality with a startled gasp. I shut my eyes tight for a second and shook my head off of all the frighteningly gruesome thoughts that accompanied my shivering body.

With a deep breath and my head high, I walked straight to the library and stopped outside the door. I was afraid to enter. Afraid of what I was going to find next. Laying my hand on the door handle, I struggled to force myself forward. I needed answers; why was I so anxious to find them?

A cold grip found its way to my hip. “Enter, my dear.” An old and creaky voice spoke into my ear. The air grew chill. “Don’t be afraid.” The voice said again, breathing against my neck. I turned around immediately to find no one there. “Go ahead, dearie.”

Freaked out, I quickly opened the door and shut it behind me. “Quiet! The girl’s here.” Blue light flared in the room. "Where are you going?" A man's voice called.

I followed the voices and the blue light, finding a man and three boys standing around what seemed to be a podium holding a blue gem. I held in my shock as I stared at the blackened and torn wings that scarred their backs.

Silence filled the room for a good moment or two while we studied each other. The old man stood at the far end of the room, his red eyes studying me, up and down. The three boys I recognized almost immediately. We were classmates. Aaron, one of my best friends, was one of them. Jake, a student who graduated last year, and Tony, current football team captain and heartthrob.

" Come forth, girl." The man said with an intense look. Frightened, but steady. I approached the partial pentagram they had formed. The man came up to the podium as well. " Your hands, my child."

He gestured for me to place my hands on his as he held out his hands over the gem, I laid my hands over his. A red spark enflamed, while the small crystal turned a fiery red. Red flames emerged from the gem, making the both of us flinch and back away. My eyes widened in horror.

“Can someone tell me what’s going on here?”

“My girl. You are born of the fire.” The man said, after regaining his composure. “Alex, you were right about her.” He moved away, as if I wasn’t there, confused as ever. He started pacing among a few bookshelves, frantically looking for something. “We do not have long. Jake, you must get ready to initiate her. Tony. Now that we know of her, there’ll be others coming for her. I need every protection guard up. Alex, please help him.”

In an instant, they all started scrambling around, looking for things around the place. Were they completely oblivious to my presence in the room? “Can someone please tell me what’s happening right now? What initiation? What protection? Why -”

“Hey, hey, hey. Kara. Calm down.” Alex said, running to my side.

“We don’t have much time.” The man said, pulling out a book. “My name is Silas. The short explanation - we are what’s left of the Nephilim blood. That blue gem in the middle right there -” He pointed at the gem in the middle of the room. “- is the lifeblood of creatures like us. During the day, this is a public library. And after closing, it is home to all creatures of the night. We are in a three-way war with angels and demons, and we are losing, girl.”

He opened the book, flipping through until he landed on a page. “But not for long.” He looked at me. “You will help us win and end this war once and for all.”

“Me?”

“You are a child of fire.” The man said, looking back down at the book. “And a child of fire shall be born in the midst of heavenly chaos. The child shall be embraced and protected by the fire. On accepting the child’s nature, she will bring peace to the unseen creatures - dead and alive, standing high and low alike. The fire child will bring justice to the hybrids and will keep the peace, bringing back the power of the Phoenix.”

He looked back up at me, with pity. I didn’t know how to respond. I still don’t understand. “Jake, are you ready?”

All eyes suddenly fell on me. “Ready for what?” I asked in sheer terror. These people are crazy.

“Silas. Here? Are you crazy? We’re in a library surrounded by books.” Alex yelled.

“These books are protected by a magic that’s equally powerful to what she’s about to release.”

Magic? Release? What is happening here?! Tony pulled me to an open area of the library and taking the rope that was already tied, bound me to a pillar. “Hey! What -” Jake, who was already there, took my other hand and tied me to the other pole. I struggled to get free. The rope tightened. 

I could see blackened veins that ran along my arm. From the palm of my hand, the darkness spread to the rope and then the pillar. “It has begun.”

“Wait. No! No! I don’t want -” No matter how difficult it got, I tugged on the ropes, trying to get free. I don’t want to be a part of whatever this is.

Tony forced me to my knees and I swear I could see the smirk on his face. I paused. I looked around at the candles in the room. Everything was getting darker. I was losing my sight. “I-I can’t see anything.”

“It’s okay, Kara. This will be over soon.” I heard Alex’s voice near me. He cupped my cheek. “You will be fine.”

“Unless she’s not the one.” Tony remarked.

“W-what?” I asked. My hands started burning as if I was on fire. My feet soon followed. Then the rest of my body. I was holding in screams of pain that were slowly escaping my lips through mere moans.

“What do you mean?” Alex asked. “Silas, you said -”

“Quiet!” I heard footsteps walking towards me. A cold liquid brushed my forehead. The liquid dripped down my face. Fingers moved across my face yet again, forcing the liquid in symbols. “With the spilled blood of the angels and the willing blood of demons, you shall reveal your true nature. Child of light. Child of fire. Breathe your last mortal breath. Set ablaze through hellfire and help our forces through the night.”

I screamed. The pain clouded my mind. “Kara. It’s going to be over soon. Just a little longer. Try to think of something else. Maybe after this is all over, we could -” Alex pleaded.

“Oh, shut up.” Jake snorted from behind me. He pushed my hair past my shoulder.

“He was only trying to ease her pain. You might need it for what’s coming next.” Silas said. I heard metal clank against the wood and in an instant, felt a sharp, searing pain on the back of my neck. I screamed so loudly that my ears started ringing. Flashes from a dream surrounded me. 

A woman with long, red hair in a frilly gown. Her face covered in blood. “It’s you, my child. You will remember when it’s time. Until then, you must not tell a soul. You hear me?” She gasped. Blood dripped from her mouth as she fell to the ground, lifeless.

I screamed with all my might. And it stopped. While the pain slowly retreated, I didn’t know if I was conscious or not. I began seeing light again. “It is done,” Silas said, sighing. “And now we -”

I could see again. My sight was clear again. My head was clear again - free from the pain. The ropes released and my body gave in to the stress. The smell of burning flesh - my burning flesh -  surrounded me. I dropped face down, trying to get up.

Alex came by my side. “Here, let me help you.” He touched me and flinched, flicking his hand. He turned and said to Silas. “She’s burning.”

One hand after the other, I got up. First onto my knees. Then taking support of one of the pillars, I got up, turning around to face the clear glass window. I saw my reflection and gasped. My skin healing itself from burn marks. My face and hair were showered in blood. My eyes glowing bright red and a pair of burning, fiery red wings weighing on my back.

My wings slowly retreated. And I could see Alex staring wide-eyed in the reflection. Alex took off his jacket and came towards me. And after I looked back at me, I could see why. My clothes were slowly succumbing to the flames being created by my body. They were burning away. Alex laid his coat on me and grasped at its ends, covering myself and turning around to face him. My now glowing-red eyes were pleading and fearful.

“What have you done to me?”