Charlie
It all happened so fast. One minute I’d been dealing with my father. Then the next Ebony was passed out on the floor, and the devil walked in and shot fire at my mum. She fell to the floor, smoke pouring from her eyes, ears, mouth, and nostrils.
“Muuuuuuuummmm,” I screamed.
Satan spun around.
“Charlie, babes. We’ve not met. I’m Satan. Not the one whose body I currently inhabit, although I have to say it's not bad. Not bad at all. But the one who had a bit of beef with your mother. Think that beef is well cooked now, don’t you?”
My father ran to my mother’s side.
“Oh look, how sweet. Little Theo running to his newly barbecued wife’s side. Probably too late, Theo, mate. I can do a two-for-one deal if you like?” Flames threatened at his fingertips.
That was it. The coffee shop erupted and every single person in the room began to surge towards Satan. Using my wyvern powers I froze them all in place, looking at them in mid-step: my family and friends. Every single one of them, with the exception of Ebony and my mother, were prepared to battle on my behalf. I felt the power surge through my veins as I embraced all of their battle cries and powers. Every single species, supe and human alike was joining the battle and their power sang in my veins. I waited to turn into my wyvern, but instead a brilliant white light sank into me, and white feathers fell as if from the sky, falling to the coffee shop floor like a carpet of snow.
Satan’s eyes widened. “Nice party trick." He shot out flames at me.
I caught them, turning them to ice with the power of the sea. Then the sirens call came through me as I sang a melody that brought Satan to his knees, his hands over his ears. “Stop, stop it.”
A clawed fist, a gift from the shifters appeared, and I walked over to Satan and swiped across his abdomen. He screamed a gutteral unearthly scream as a slash appeared in his skin. It filled with the bright, white light.
Words appeared in my mind, a spell, my witchcraft heritage. I began to speak them.
“Oh son of darkness
Creator of destruction
Now it is time to heed my instruction
Every atom
Every cell
Come to me as I weave my spell.”
Satan’s mouth opened and with a silent scream he began to disintegrate from the inside out. I continued.
“Each single particle
Travel far and wide
Never again to assemble side by side
One in each kingdom
One in each realm
Locked within the bark of an enchanted elm.”
The red cells he had broken into danced before me and turned white and then they shot through the walls. One small cell remained and although it should not have been visible to my eye, it was suspended in the air and magnified so I could see it.
“The last of you
The evil one
Shall stay in heaven until time is done
You will never escape
Your time here is ended
Now balance will restore
As Fate intended.”
With that the feathers swirled up from the ground, wrapping around the final cell and they disappeared through the ceiling. He was gone. It was done.
The freeze on the room lifted as people surged forward before realising that he was no longer there. Then they looked at me and dropped to their knees.
As I looked down at myself I saw that I was glowing with a white light from the inside out. I heard the words ‘My Queen’ fall from everyone’s lips.
Then the white light slowly dimmed until it was no more, and Ebony and my mum came around with large intakes of air.
My father took my mum straight to the caves. Frankie, who used to be a physician, checked over Ebony to make sure she was okay. My grandparents, Dylan and Margret, came rushing towards me, Kai not far behind.
“Charlie. Are you okay? My goodness. It was so strange. We came to help you and then it was like we froze. I could see and hear what was happening but I couldn’t move a muscle.” My grandma said.
“Granddaughter, you were simply amazing. You must conserve your powers for the next couple of days, let Kai look after you. Come, we will drop you off at the farmhouse as I’m sure your parents will wish to see you soon as your mum is discharged from the caves.”
The door opening made us all jump. Samara stomped through, a fawn coloured whippet at her heels. The dog immediately ran up to Maisie and barked its head off.
“Oh my god, every time we see a cat it’s the same. Johnny, you are driving me insane. I’ll have to put you in a kennel if you can’t behave.”
“You could try putting it on that lead you’ve got in your hand. That might be a start in getting him to behave.” I told her. “Anyway, why have you called your dog the same name as your husband? That’s got to be confusing.”
“That’s because it is my husband.” Samara yelled. “It’s part of my stupid punishment for not being a good Cupid. Apparently, the managers don’t believe I should have a happy love life when I’m not working hard enough to make sure anyone else is. Therefore, they have turned Johnny into a whippet and he won’t turn back into my husband until I have done their stupid training. Now, what does a girl have to do to get a drink around here because I’ve had a really difficult day.”
I couldn’t help it. I burst into laughter, and within a minute the whole cafe was laughing along with me.