Broken Soul

"Danielle, control it! Don't let it spread! The whole forest will burn down!"

"I'm trying," she said as she lowered her hand to attempt to lower the flames that stood only a few yards away from her. "This is advanced techniques, I don't think I'm ready for this..."

"Alright, I'll help you," Erick offered and stood beside her and together, they killed the fire. It burned out and a faded away leaving little traces to show that it was ever there. "We got lucky on that one."

"I'm sorry, I thought I could have handled it," she apologized. "I was wrong..."

"You made fire, Danielle," he reminded her. "You did that perfectly. Sometimes demons have trouble controlling them, even our own. For a first attempt it was good."

A confident yet modest smile rose on her face. "Thanks."

"Now I suppose I'll teach you how to summon your strength." Erick stepped in front of her and demonstrated a firm stance. She mimicked every movement he made and followed his orders exactly.

"I think you're ready to try it," he announced. "Stand in front of that tree."

Dannie wasn't sure of what he was going to ask her to do but she didn't argue. She wondered if he'd make her pick it up by the roots and throw it. She laughed at the thought inside of her mind. She couldn't be that strong....could she?

"You might want to take your shoes off for this," Erick advised and Dannie kicked her heels off. Sharp grass blades and small twigs poked at the bottom of her bare feet and she didn't even cringe.

"Now, do a back kick on it. Like this." He demonstrated for her but without hitting anything with his foot. Dannie wasn't sure she could do it but had to try anyway. She took a deep breath, remembered everything Erick had just told her and lunged toward the tree. She jumped onto her left foot and turned around on her heel and kicked the tree with her right foot. The tree broke away from its roots and moved almost 20 feet back without even fully rising above the earth and was still standing upright. Dannie stood there, staring if the deep pathway of dirt it had left. She couldn't believe it. "Did I... Did I really just do that?"

"Yes you did," Eric replied. "Now with your mind, lift the tree up and move it as far as you can."

"The poor thing's been through enough, don't you think?"

"Danielle..." Erick sounded like he was growing a little impatient.

"Alright..." Concentrating, Dannie cringed her fists and stretched her arms out toward the tree. Her fingers extended and slowly, she moved her hands upward. The tree stirred and shifted a bit and then finally started levitating. It rose about 10 feet in the air before Dannie turned her body and threw her arms to the left, hurling the tree as far as it could go. It crashed onto a few other trees in the middle of the woods almost an acre away. Once again, Dannie was in awe. "I had no idea my telekinesis was that strong..." she muttered with disbelief. "Do I really want to know what else I can do?"

Before Erick could answer, Evan appeared out of nowhere from behind them. "There you are!" his voice roared, making Dannie jump in surprise and spin around to see him. "What are you doing out here? We have to get back inside now."

Dannie started to explain. "Erick and I were just-"

Evan didn't wanna hear it. "I really don't care Danielle, let's go."

Dannie picked up her shoes and slipped them back on and the three of them began walking back to the house.

Evan continued lecturing her. "You know, the reason I brought you here was so I could keep my eye on you. I can't do that if you sneak away like that. Did you know that the moment you step off of Leighton's property, you and the rest of us are no longer under his protection and anyone could attack us?"

Amanda was waiting for them at the terrace and had heard what Evan had just said. "That forest is just passed his property line. I really hope Leighton makes an exception for you."

Just then, Leighton happened to step outside and joined them. He noticed the intense expression of worry on Dannie's face. "Is there a problem?" he asked with concern.

"It appears that your guests here have stepped into the woods," Amanda told them.

"You left the property?"

"Well, yes, but we didn't know-" Dannie was cut off once again by Evan.

"It must have been a mistake. I think it's time for us to leave anyway." He clasped his arm around Dannie's and started guiding her around to the front of the house. The rest followed and Eric spoke up. "October brought Myra here."

Evan hadn't been informed of that prior to this moment. He looked at Eric like he was insane. "They're here??"

"Yes."

"How could you not tell me??"

"I thought October was going to."

"Let's just get them and get out of here."

* * * * *

The room Myra was resting in was completely still. She was sleeping soundly and dreamlessly. A black mist appeared right outside the window and seeped in through the cracks of the panes, silently flowing into the room. It hovered above Myra, sensing that Leighton's protection charm had broken. The demon lowered to Myra's face and she unknowingly inhaled the mist inside of her. She opened her eyes and rose up from the bed and started walking toward the door. But she stopped when she sensed that someone was on the other side. October was guarding the hallway, unaware of what just happened to Myra. Not wanting to attract attention, Myra crept over to the window and pushed it open. She looked outside and saw Dannie and the rest of the group and knew she had to get to Dannie before Erick or October could stop her. And as quickly and she could, she climbed out of the window and jumped onto the lawn below. She had to figure out how to retrieve Dannie's cross necklace without attracting attention to herself. A distraction was imminent.

Myra ran through the dark side yard and noticed an empty guest room on the first level. It was only a few rooms away from the ballroom. With her mind, she opened a window and slipped inside the room and when she crept out again, a roaring fire was spreading. She stood out in front watching and waiting for the commotion to rise. It didn't take long.

The fire was discovered and it was too late to stop it, the vampires couldn't do it alone. Leighton heard his guests' screams and he hurried inside to try to help them.

"Oh, god," Evan said with dread and stared at the smoke rising from the building. "Myra!" He was about to run inside and Dannie shouted, "Evan, no! October will get her! I'm not going to let you go back into another burning building!" He didn't stop and she kept screaming at him to come back but he wouldn't listen. She stopped yelling at Evan when Erick took a hold of her arm to get her attention. "Danielle, I'm going to find October and maybe she and I could put out this fire together. You stay here."

"It's another demon fire, isn't it?" Dannie asked. "Maybe I could help-"

"No, Danielle," Erick opposed. "You can't handle fires yet, you could get hurt. Just stay here where you're safe." Without another word, he vanished into the house after Evan.

Dannie felt helpless as she watched all the other people run out of the building, some with burns or blackened clothes. Demon fire was one of the few things that could actually harm vampires. Dannie hoped Evan and Leighton would make it back out again. After the last guests had scrambled out of the house, Dannie saw a figure lurking toward her from the corner of her eye.