uncured

Emma,no....

My throat felt lined with sandpaper, breaths coming in shallow, frantic wheezes. I could feel a strong current flowing unevenly within my body, like I was about to burst.

Shit!

I shouted as I used a small knife to cut my palm. I was trying to gain control through external pain. To my surprise, it actually worked; I regained focus and suppressed the power. Blood began to drip from my palm. I clutched my arm, gasping at the sharp sting.

This wasn't the time for nonsense. The air seemed to shatter around us, plunging the room into chaos before I could even blink. The demons lunged, pinning me to the floor. Not one, not two, but five demons were swarming me. They opened their mouths slowly with a loud, clicking noise. I thought I was about to be eaten, but they were doing something worse—they were drawing my soul out of my body.

I could feel my spirit drifting apart. My hands were turning blue, my pupils dilated, and my body went ice-cold as my internal heat vanished.

I have failed. This is my end, I muttered to myself.

Suddenly, Max pulled a gun from his bag. “You aren’t dying tonight!” he yelled and fired. The bullet hit the lead demon straight in the head, but it barely did any damage. However, it was enough to distract them. The demons left me and turned toward Max. I collapsed, gasping, my soul only halfway returned to my chest.

“Oh s**t! Run, run, run!” they shouted.

We scrambled out the back door, sprinting for our lives. They piled into the car while Max jumped into the driver's seat. I was sprinting toward them, my heart racing faster than my legs. I was so close—I reached for the door handle—but then I felt a jerk. I looked down and saw a dark, shadowy rope attached to my leg.

I fell hard, my chin slamming against the concrete. I was being dragged away into the darkness.

“Leave him! He’s good for nothing!” Henry shouted from the car. “We can’t save him anyway! It’s him they want, not us!”

“Max! Max! Drive! What the hell is wrong with you?” Henry slapped Max hard across the face.

“You guys drive! I’m not letting him die!” Max shouted back.

Max jumped out of the car to help me, and Henry slid into the driver's seat and drove off without a second thought.

“Are you just going to leave Max to die there?” Emma screamed.

Henry just gripped the steering wheel. “It’s his fault for being dumb!”

Back on the ground, Max was shooting continuously. The demons let out terrifying screams, but they were unbothered by the bullets.

“Come on, you pieces of s**t! Come and attack me! Are you f**king scared?” Max roared, moving in circles. But the demons didn't care about him; their only goal was to consume my soul.

Then, out of nowhere, the car Henry was driving roared back and hit the demons head-on.

“Are you going to keep standing there?” Henry shouted out the window.

“That’s what I’m talking about, man! You came back!” Max yelled.

“Just enter the f**king car, you dumbass!”

We scrambled inside and Henry floored it.

“Thanks, man. You saved my life,” I breathed to Henry.

“Sure. I didn’t do it for you. I did it for Max,” Henry snapped.

His words were bitter, but I stayed silent. I looked at the side mirror and saw a different kind of demon pursuing us. The first ones were ghost-like figures with five eyes and two mouths; this new one was a nightmare—half human, half horse, and half dragon. It had one massive eye, wings, and a head full of teeth sharp enough to bite through metal.

“Henry! Hit the gas! We're being chased!” Elizabeth screamed.

Max looked at the mirror and his eyes widened. He helped Henry push the car to its limit, but we couldn't lose it. The demon used its sharp claws to tear at the trunk, but Henry drifted into another street, barely keeping us on the road.

“Do something, Oliver!” Emma cried, clutching my arm in terror. “Do something or we’re all going to die!”

“I… I… I don’t know what to do!” I stammered.

“Then use your magic! Use your powers!” Max replied.

“But… no. I can’t. I don’t want to.” I looked at the floor in fear and shame.

“Why?” Emma asked.

“I—I—”

“Shut the hell up! We are all going to die because you’re too much of a coward to use your powers!” Henry yelled. “I knew this was a trap! You set us up! I never trusted you right from the start!”

I looked at them, but they all stared back with pure disgust.

“I’m sorry, guys… please…”

They ignored me. Suddenly, the roof of the car was torn open. The dragon-demon was above us, while another demon stood in the middle of the road, ready to stop the car dead.

“This is bad,” Max said, his hands shaking.

“Check the time! Check the f**king time!” Henry yelled. “They always disappear at dawn!”

I checked my watch. 4:32 AM.

“Damn it! Twenty-eight minutes left! If we can stay alive for just twenty-eight minutes, we survive this nightmare!” Henry shouted.

“At the count of five, we jump and run into that abandoned warehouse!” Henry commanded.

I sat there, feeling useless and heavy with guilt.

“Five!” Max started.

“Four!” My heart was pounding.

“Three!” My palms were sweating.

“Two!” I looked at my reflection in the mirror, seeing the blood on my forehead.

“One!”

Max slammed the brakes. We bolted into the warehouse. We hid in the shadows, Max holding his gun, sweat dripping onto the floor. I could hear everyone's heart thumping. I looked out a broken window and saw the sky starting to turn a pale grey.

4:55 AM. Five minutes left.

Suddenly, the horse-demon lunged from the rafters and dragged Emma away.

“Help me! Help me! Ahhhhh!”

Emma’s screams echoed through the warehouse. Max kept shooting, but it was pointless. Then, her voice just… stopped.

Another demon jumped down, landing right on top of me. I screamed as I looked into its massive eye. It felt like my blood was turning to ice.

Then, exactly as the clock hit 5:00 AM, the demon began to fade into mist. The weight lifted off my chest.

I lay there, looking at the first light of the sunrise. I let out a ragged shout. “We made it! You motherf**kers!”

But when I stood up, the others were looking at me like I was a psycho. They weren't celebrating. They were looking at the empty space where Emma had been taken, feeling helpless and full of hate.