The Forgotten Island

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:

MOM (PART THREE)

-Maria-

With practiced movements I let the earth’s energy flow through me. Vines shot forward and grabbed the demons by their legs, pulling them to the ground and wrapping around them. John and Mike broke through them easily, tearing the vines with claw like hands. I jumped to the side to evade the struggling demons, grabbing a leaf from one of the vines on the wall. I held the leaf in my hand as the two demons stood up and threw the last of the vines from their bodies. Facing me, Mike spoke again. “You have run out of tricks, witch. We are here for the girl. We wish you no harm, but if you keep forcing my hand, we will hurt you.”

I sneered at him “Is that so, you big bat? How about this trick?” I held my hand out for them to see. Taking the bait, they leaned forward to look at the small pothos leaf I held in my palm. Mike smirked, arrogance coming off him in waves. It seems he was unimpressed with my leaf. John peered from over his shoulder curiously, seeming amused at the whole situation. My sneer turned into a smile as we stood like that for just a moment, each assessing the other. “Gentleman” I said, “Say hello to my little friend.”

The joke was lost on them entirely as they looked around the room in confusion to see who I was referring to. Rolling my eyes I gave a short shout, throwing the leaf at the monsters. Halfway to Mike’s face the leaf sprang to life, sprouting two arms, two legs, and a nasty attitude. With a high-pitched battle cry it landed right on the bridge of Mike’s nose and bit down. Mike’s eyes went cross-eyed as he swatted at his nose, the little leaf holding on as it was swung around from its hosts movements. The room which I had previously filled with pothos vines came alive as thousands of leaves dropped from the walls and ceilings to attack. With mouths filled with tiny razor-sharp teeth, they bit and clawed into the demon’s flesh. Mike and John roared in aggravated pain as they were completely enveloped with my green warriors. As they both thrashed around my kitchen, breaking anything within arm’s length, I ran back towards the living room. Mike grabbed handfuls of leaves at a time, throwing them from his body; but for every one he managed to remove, three more replaced it. Using the distraction, I turned to the shattered dirt cocoons on my living room floor. Infusing the earth with my essence, the two piles molded into one. Like the leaves, it grew two arms and two legs, as well as a head that seemed a little too small for its bulky body. Even without eyes, I felt it watching me, waiting for what I would say next. I motioned to the two demons demolishing my house “Get them out!”. The mud monster lumbered towards the kitchen with heavy footsteps, leaving trails of dirt in its wake. Grabbing each struggling demon by the tip of a wing, my creation dragged them through the house. Obscenities crashed from the mouths of the two intruders as they were unceremoniously thrown from the house, still battling the army of leaves. “Come back here again, Diablo” I shouted at Mike “and I will kill you myself!”. With that final warning I slammed my front door shut, the hinges promptly breaking off, causing the door to sag in its frame.

I stood victorious in my home, my chest rising and falling rapidly from adrenaline. Almost every piece of furniture was damaged in some way. My mud monster, named Fred since I first created him as a child, stood guarding the entrance should they return. I turned to look at my living room and assess the damage, walking through the rubble to the center of the room. I sat on what remained of my couch and let out a long breath. At least I was lucky enough that Renee didn’t come home during chaos, I had a feeling those two men didn’t put up as much of a fight as they could. How was I going to explain all this to the insurance company? It was going to be months before this house would be Airbnb ready again. Tiny leaves started flowing back into the house via broken windows, their happy chatter of clicks getting louder as they crowded around at my feet, their return confirming the threat was gone. Bending forward I picked up a handful of the little guys who all stared at me with adoration. “Thank you, mis amores” I murmured to them “Rest now.”. The leaves all made their way back to where they came from on the vines, settling in as if going to sleep; little yawns could be heard all around the room as they returned to their original form. I was pleased that I was able to remove them from the home, but I had more questions than I had answers. What did they want with Arya? Why did they give up so easy? I didn’t have a scratch on me despite all that had happened, something was off. A knot of dread started to develop in my stomach. Maybe they hadn’t given up that easy. Maybe they left because they got what they wanted. Jumping up I moved quickly to the kitchen, Fred paddling along behind me. I glanced around the kitchen, searching through the fallout for my last hope of finding my daughter.

No. This can’t be.

Frantically throwing debris out of my way, my face grew paler as I realized it was missing.

“Fred! Find the rose!”