Dark Dance

The first thing I noticed as I was pulled through the mirror was the biting cold. It stung my skin, feeling like thousands of tiny razors piercing into my flesh straight through to the bone. I landed hard on my side, pain shooting through my arm and shoulder as I hit the thick snow. I raised my head, already shivering and covered in goose flesh. Marlaina, Savannah, and Branna were sprawled in the snow near me. I struggled into a sitting position, glancing around wildly, trying to do anything to keep moving so the cold didn't seep into my bones and trap me there on the ground. My breath caught in my throat as I saw them. Marlaina's dance partner, Alan; Tyson and Gerald, who always danced with Branna and Savannah; and lastly, his eyes glinting like chips of ice, was Caleb.

The fear that lanced through me then increased my violent shivers tenfold. He stepped forward and lifted me roughly from the ground, and I flinched as his fingers dug deep into my skin, which had taken on a startlingly pale hue; it looked almost blue. My sisters tried to crawl towards one another, their lavish dresses soaked through. I was wearing dark jeans and knee-high boots, since I had refused to go to the dance tonight. But my shirt was nothing but a thin pink tank top.

"Let me go!" I gasped out. My teeth were chattering so hard my jaw was cracking.

"I'm afraid not, little princess," Caleb sneered. "In fact, I'm never letting you go. You belong to me, and you're going to help restore me to my full powers."

"Not likely." I tried to jerk free of his iron grip, but my limbs were heavy and my movements sluggish. Suddenly Caleb threw me to the ground, and knelt beside me. He pinned my arms to my sides and leaned down, pressing his lips against mine. I thrashed and squirmed, trying to break free. He breathed ice into me, my blood and heart freezing over inside me. I screamed, wrenching my face away. Caleb slapped me hard across the face, and my cheek felt like it would shatter.

"Stop struggling," Caleb commanded, his voice hollow and terrifying. "You're mine, Leila, and I'm going to have you. Body and soul."

"No you're not!" I shrieked. The frozen wind swirled wildly around us, sending a white spray of snow over me. Heavy flakes fell from the sky, blurring the outline of my sisters and the other warlocks. Suddenly Caleb's weight was gone. I sat up, pushing my hair out of my face. He rolled through the snow, stopping several feet away from me. There was a ripple in the air, and suddenly Sam was there. His eyes were blazing, and I half expected his gaze alone to melt the hard-packed snow.

"I suggest you keep your filthy hands off of her," he growled. I received a smug satisfaction out of seeing the perplexed look on Caleb's face. I struggled to my feet, going to my sisters. The other warlocks advanced on us then, shoving me away and dragging Marlaina, Branna, and Savannah to their feet.

"Let go!" Marlaina sobbed.

"Shut up," Alan snapped at her. Something pelted her in the face and she cried out. I felt something hard hit me on the head, and glanced up to see bits of hail nearly the size of a fist falling from the sky along with the flurry of snowflakes.

Warlocks of natural disasters... I remembered. Caleb was the personification of blizzards. Alan must be hail, I thought, wincing as more of the huge balls of hail rained down on me. Despite my limbs and mind being slowed by the cold, I still took a step forward and swung my fist, catching Alan in the jaw. He took a step back, and I seized Marlaina's hand, trying to pull her free of him. Caleb was back on his feet, and staring daggers at Sam.

"And just who are you?" he spat.

"You don't remember me?" Sam asked coolly. Their voices were slightly muffled by the raging wind. Caleb's eyes widened slightly as he remembered the night Sam had tripped him in the ballroom.

"So you're the miserable peasant trying to steal away my Leila," he said, his tone dangerously soft.

"Your Leila?" Sam scoffed. "That's not how she tells it."

Caleb's lips curled into an ugly grimace, and he gestured to Tyson. The fair haired man nodded, and waved his hand towards the deep blue lake. There was a faint rumbling as the water pulled away to the far shore, then gathered into a giant wave. It headed straight towards us. My sisters' and my screams were carried off on the wind as the water surged over us. Then it froze, crystalizing into a sheer wall of ice poised above us. We all stared at is, dumbstruck. I heard the first crack, and my heart sank out the bottoms of my feet as I realized what was happening.

"Run!" I shrieked at my terrified sisters. Their dance partners didn't hold them back this time as I started trying to shove them away from the ice wall. They figured we had nowhere to run.

"Run!" I repeated, pushing my sisters toward the stand of trees farthest from the lake. "Sam!" I looked around frantically. Then he was there, beside me, his hands gripping my arms and guiding me as our half-frozen, half-blind little company struggled toward safety. The cracks grew louder and closer together as the ice splintered. I could hear Caleb laughing behind us. I shoved my sisters to the ground inside the shelter of the trees. Sam knelt in the snow beside me, covering my body with his. The wall of ice finally shattered, deadly fragments of ice rocketing through the air. I could hear and feel Savannah screaming and crying beside me. I buried myself against Sam's chest, keeping my face shielded. I heard several ice swords thud against the tree we were crouched behind and I felt frozen tears on my own cheeks.

Something sharp tore across my right shoulder, but I could barely feel it my skin was so numb. When the sounds of flying ice ceased, I dared a look at my arm. My head swam. There was a deep gash, oozing blood, which was freezing as soon as it formed. A loud crackle made me whip my head around. There. Through the torrent of snow, I could see the golden forest. All the trees were blazing torches. I could faintly hear my sisters screaming. My heart clenched. I was momentarily sure that I was about to break and collapse into madness, but then I had an idea.

"We have to get Caleb to the golden forest," I whisper-choked to Sam and my frightened sisters. They looked at me like I was crazy, but Sam had a thoughtful, knowing look on his eyes. He nodded.

"Come out, little princess," Caleb sing-songed. I heard his boots crunching over the snow. Before I could change my mind, I sprang up from behind the tree and stumbled into the open.

"My, my. You certainly are a sight." Caleb tsked. "Your pretty lips are a most unbecoming shade of blue, my little Leila."

"I'm not your little Leila!" I said, curling my numb fingers into loose fists. "My body and soul are mine, and you'll never have them!"

"I don't think you have much choice. You and your precious pet and sisters are mere minutes away from death."

"You want us, Caleb?" I whispered, knowing he could hear me. "Then come and get us."

I turned and sprinted for the golden forest. The snow storm picked up again, making it nearly impossible to see. But I could see enough to keep my eyes trained on the flaming trees. I prayed that Caleb was desperate enough to get me back that he would follow. I felt the earth tremble beneath my feet, and glanced back to see nothing but a wall of white hurtling after me. Avalanche. I willed my feet to move faster, stumbling and almost falling several times. Then I felt a brush of warm air across my face. I staggered into the sudden brilliance and blazing heat of the golden forest. Priscilla, Penny, Terra, and Christina were surrounded by a ring of fire. They were sobbing and whimpering, and I could see that their lips were so dry they were cracked and bleeding. Blisters were starting to form along their arms.

I felt someone brush me from behind, and I turned to see Sam, along with Branna, Marlaina, and Savannah shedding the invisibility cloak that Sam had used to follow us. Caleb and the others were close behind, following just ahead of the avalanche. Alan, Tyson, and Gerald faltered when they saw we had entered the fiery forest, but Caleb kept coming, murder in his eyes and snow building around him. By now even Gerald, who controlled the avalanche, couldn't stop its course.

I dashed towards the warlocks of fire and heat, leading the avalanche with me. I was its intended target, and it roared behind me like a monster.

"No! Caleb, stop!" Alan shouted. But it was too late. My body shuddered in protest as feeling rushed back into my nerves. I ran right for my trapped sisters, summoning a strength I didn't know I had to jump the flames. Heat licked painfully at my feet and I crashed to the ground.

"Come here and get down!" I ordered, just as the snow met the fire, and we were buried beneath smoke and ice.