Chapter 12: The Terror Bracelet's 'Terrible Wonders'

CHAPTER 12:

 

“Just keep going.” Michael urged as I lay exhausted on the couch. It’s already been an hour since I started Night Charm training and it’s like I’ve been running 30 laps even when the only movement I’ve been doing was pacing around the room or jumping up in surprise.

“How much…longer?” I sighed, gritting my teeth as the images kept going. I was still wearing the bracelet. Back when I was alone in the bedroom, it was much harder for me to cope. Frankly it felt like I was going insane.

 

 

The room was spinning, my heart felt like it was about to burst out of my chest as I flinched at every tiny movement and threatened to scream bloody murder all the while.

But when I decided to stay with Michael, everything was much easier. my heart was calmer and it was like this demon boy was radiating a nice warmth.

Also, it turns out those all white clothes weren’t just for show.

 

Apparently during my training I could faintly see Michael in the background of all the horrors that were either flying to my face or running or clawing up to me with their gory details at full HD.

You see, the bracelet distorted my surroundings.

Now it seemed like the room was covered by a mirage making everything shimmer and seem blurry while the scary stuff seemed more solid and alive. That’s what this pretty accessory does-scare the hell out of you and make you hope you don’t go crazy.

I gritted my teeth, trying my best not to scream when a woman looking too much like Samara from The Ring appeared at the door and just ran towards me.

Now that I’ve experienced this, I’m wondering what would happen to a normal human if ever one of them got a hold of a Night Charm. If I’m a Rogue-someone born to withstand horrors, what about normal people who go pale just because of a person jumping at them inside a horror house?

I cringed at the thought, and focused on my own suffering, trying not to rock back and forth like a real crazy person.

 

After the episode of me tearing up, Michael decided to sit right next to me and without me knowing, my hand was in his.

From the corner of my eye, I saw him look up at me, his eyes serious and calm.

“Just a few more minutes.” He said, checking the clock above the TV.

I nodded hard, gritting my teeth after hearing a wolf’s willowy howl from outside the door.

“This is all not true. This is all just training. Hallucinations” I thought.

 

When I started, I thought I had to keep this bracelet on until morning and wait for Michael to find me scurrying underneath the bed, crying. But thankfully, Michael said Lukas was only joking with us (Yeah, not really funny.) and told me I just had to keep it on for thirty minutes.

“Even though you’re a Rogue, the brain can only take so much.” I remember Michael saying.

 

I took a long breath and looked past the small group of people all in torn up, black clothes standing in the corner behind Michael. My eyes ran to the clock to see I just had to wait two more minutes until 12:30.

After a while, my surroundings shimmered again, making me flinch in surprise.

1 minute.

Right then, I turned to Michael and froze to see his face had changed. As I saw him, I resisted the urge to scream or probably even beat the thing he had turned into to death.

 

Instead of seeing those light, red eyes and worried face, he now had blood shot, pure black eyes. Apart from that, his skin seemed to be peeling off and shedding like sand as his teeth turned longer, sharper.

Soon, I was faced with a creature with its mouth wide open, darkness inside that seemed to consume me.

I gasped, struggling away from the creature and all of a sudden, I felt my right hand heat up to a painful sting. I whimpered, feeling my skin burn while a feeling at the pit of my stomach bubbled, pumping blood faster into my heart.

Right then, the creature gripped my arms tight, making me gasp and practically scream as I shut my eyes and growled at the same time, feeling like my hand was about to melt.

“CYREEN!”

 

My eyes shot open as I panted, seeing smoke coming off from somewhere as the sweat trickled down my cheek. In front of me, Michael held my arms, holding me up while I grasped his own muscular arms.

Blinking, I realized my surroundings were slowly going back to normal, the mirage enveloping the room slowly dissipating like fog.

“Hey…” Michael called then pulled up my chin as my head bobbed down.

“Hey! Keep it together.” He urged, pulling my head up again when it bobbed once more.

 Looking up, I groaned to see the room spinning and the furniture doubling. Heck, there were two demon Michaels here and seeing that double evil face just made me want to curse.

“My head hurts.” I groaned weakly as Michael got up to go somewhere.

After the headache started, all thoughts of monsters and scary ghouls and actual demon Michaels were swept away along with the spinning chairs. And now, I had trouble keeping myself sitting up.

 

After a few seconds, Michael came back with a glass of water that only had probably two inches of the fluid.

“Well, that’s a little too much…” I trailed off enthusiastically, sounding like a drunk person as I carefully shook my head, pointing at the glass with a wobbly finger.

Michael suddenly smiled a bit at me, looking amused as he pushed the glass onto my lips.

“You’ll feel tipsy so just, keep still alright?” He said. “It’s the after effects of seeing that much of Solaris’ creatures.”

“You mean, I’m drunk?” I asked, lazily keeping one eye open.

Michael chuckled, pulling his head down to hide his laughter and nodded, gently pushing me back as I threatened to fall off the couch.

He explained something about how the after effects of wearing the bracelet are either falling right into sleep or feeling and becoming drunk. Honestly my attention span was a little…little presently so I just took a tiny sip of water from the glass.

 After a while, I started feeling light both in body and head. Oh, this isn’t good.

I’ve heard about how people feel like when they get drunk. My older cousin told me it feels exactly like this. To be honest, I’ve wanted to try and drink just to know the feeling as long as I was with family or people I trust but, my dad still got mad at the thought and sometimes yelled:

“If you drink, I’ll disown you so much you’ll forget I was your father!”-a sentence/ threat I honestly find amusing for some reason. Or maybe it’s just my drunk part talking. Anyway, why did this happen to me?

 

As much as I say I want to get old enough to get drunk, I regret that thought. I must look like a clown right now.

“Ohh..grod.” I groaned, saying a weird word that combined the other two words “god” and “great”.

Rubbing my eyes with my palms, I wondered, why did this effect have to happen? Can’t it be that you end up seeing flowers or stars floating all over the place? I’d rather choose that than get drunk.

Michael suddenly chuckled, seemingly having fun with my current self.

“Shut up.” I growled, glaring up at him. But maybe I just looked ridiculous since the demon cracked a smile and started laughing into his palm.

Right when I was about to throw the couch on his face, someone knocked on the door.

 Michael looked up, seeming a little ticked off someone ended his amusement but snapped his finger anyway. Instantly making the symbol on his hand glow on the door and pull open, revealing Lukas.

Once I saw him, I had to muffle a laugh.

 

Currently his red hair was a complete mess, looking as if a tornado went through it. Either that or a little kid played with his hair with gel and put bits of ripped up paper in them for decoration. Apart from that, his clothes were all pulled in different angles and seemed like they were pulled by someone.

“So…” the red head trailed off as he carefully walked into the room, trying to look dignified. As I looked at him, I just wanted to say:

“Bro, we both have our pride stripped from us, give up already.”  But I just chose to smile like a goof ball.

 

Michael bit down his lips to keep in his amusement but I on the other hand sighed loudly.

“Haaa….haha.” I laughed weakly before carefully slipping down the couch and falling expertly to the carpet with a soft thud. Despite my current undignified condition, I knew exactly what these two goons were talking about.

“So she got the drunk state too huh?” Lukas asked, staring at me with slightly amused contempt. He’s probably thinking: “Is this kid really a top Rogue’s daughter?”

I’m honestly thinking that too now. Especially since I’m seeing a little yellow and slightly brown Cubie (that’s what Lukas calls them) running into the room, making me knit my brows together.

“Spongebob?”

            The Cubie seemed to look up at me and stare for a second then with a squeak, it bobbed its tiny legs up and down looking as if it was happy to see me.

While I bobbed my head along with the happy Cubie, Michael nodded once at Lukas, a wide smile on his face, staring at me with absolute happiness. “Which one of yours got drunk?” asked Michael.

Lukas sighed heavily, muttering: “These kids are hard to take care of.”

“It’s bad luck that Christian fell asleep and Skye’s drunk.”

Michael cringed and so did I.

“Right now I got him strapped to a chair since he kept jumping on the bed and falling right off.” Lukas growled as he crossed his arms, looking totally pissed.

I smiled inwardly. Well, he is my brother.

 

Michael suddenly knit his brows up, tilting his head to the side before pointing up to Lukas’ paper littered hair. The red haired Rogue flinched, growling.

“The kid tore up my report about the Shifters. He thought it was sticking a tongue out at him and decided to beat it into a pulp.” Lukas said as he took a piece of shredded paper and stared at it with sadness.

 

Michael finally lost it at the torn up paper and just laughed silently as he teasingly pointed his finger at Lukas’ face, making the older guy growl and quickly hit the back of Michael’s head in a blur.

I laughed, the sound like that of a very tired and slow “A-hahaha!”

Michael then glanced at me and I stared at him then quickly stuck my tongue out at him, making him chuckle.

 

“Stop laughing at her.” Lukas warned as he pulled out a small, blue pouch and put it on my forehead. Once it touched my skin, I smiled at the relaxing coolness while the sound of ice scrambled inside the pouch.

“If you keep yourself amused, she’ll remember and kick your a*s tomorrow.” Lukas said, heading back to the door. “Anyway, keep her safe alright. She’ll need a good sleep.” He said before I heard the door click.

 

I sighed with content, snuggling the back of my head into the soft pillow while Michael came into his room and came back with a blanket.

“You’re being nice to me.” I mumbled under my breath as the cool pouch whistled cold air onto my face.

From beside me, Michael plopped to the carpet, a book seemingly about supernatural creatures already in his hands.

“Hey, what’s gonna happen tomorrow?” I groaned, pulling my arm up and hitting the back of his head that went double all of a sudden. Michael froze from under my hand and sighed heavily.

“Real training, dummy.” He said, glancing at me from the corner of his eye and opening the book.

I knit my brows at him, feeling exhausted but still wanting to annoy this guy. “Give me tips for tomorrow.”

Michael blinked at me then quickly whipped his head back, his brows knit at me with a troubled look under them as if I were a very big problem he can’t do anything about.

Talk about multiple personalities. Just a few seconds ago he was really nice and laughing.

Michael sighed once more at me, shutting his book and fully turning to me as he leaned closer.

“Just go to sleep.” He said. Right when I was about to yell a very big insult, he placed his index and middle finger on my forehead and before I knew it, I’ve blacked out.

 

I sighed heavily, feeling the back of my head throbbing. But it didn’t come from outside but inside my brain.

“What on earth happened?” I thought, squeezing my still closed eyes and trying to recall what happened last night.

All I remember was the horrible creatures flying at me, the night charm, Michael’s annoying face turning into a scary creature and also us drawing on each other’s faces. But after Michael’s face turning into something else, I couldn’t remember anything but everything going hazy and blurry.

After my head giving another painful throb, I Groaned, tossing under the warm blanket and turning to my left side and throwing my right arm out.

Oddly, it landed on something smooth, the texture like that of satin. I knit my brows, trailing my hand up and down, marveling at the smoothness and weird warmth.

I just thought it was some kind of body pillow with built in warmth so I just kept snuggling into it.

I sighed dreamily, slowly wrapping my arm around the pillow and felt one side slowly rise up then slowly pull down.

….wait, what?

 

I pulled my eyes open and froze up, feeling my face heat up and my body quiver as I saw what I was actually feeling.

Lying right next to me and sleeping soundly with his dark hair all messed up was none other than the demon Michael.

“Holy crap!” my consciousness screamed as I slowly pulled my hand away, staring at his closed eyes.

 

As I did, I froze up, finding myself staring at this guy. There was no window in here to show the sun was up or anything, but it seemed like this guy’s face was glowing.

“Whoa. His lashes are so long.” I thought, staring at his seemingly flawless face that held a slightly pointed nose over lips that had those amazingly attractive upward curves at the edges.

If there was any other way to describe him, it wasn’t like seeing an actual David, but instead, it was like seeing one of those very cool and pretty cosplayers that just made me want to snag them, bring them home and marry them.

As I felt my eyes soften, I froze up again and slowly felt my eyes widen as my face heated up even more.

 

Why the hell am I thinking this guy looks like a cool anime guy?!! I can mentally see my inner self gripping her hair and screaming with wild eyes.

There’s nothing attractive about this b*****d!! He drew on my face last night!

Right then my jaw fell as my head felt like it got stabbed by a butcher’s knife. Groaning once more, I carefully pulled my arms to my chest, tearing up.

“Damn this. Damn that stupid bracelet.” I muttered under my breath. It suddenly occurred to me this must’ve been the after effects of using the Night Charm- Excess Insanity.

 

“Pervert.”

I blinked, pulling my eyes open and feeling my heart stop as I saw those two light red orbs shining and staring into my own eyes, looking bored and a little amused.

Quickly, my annoyance from last night came rushing back like a tsunami. Well, turns out that before I like this guy, I’ll end up hating him first.

“What?” I growled back, glaring at Michael who was now lying on his stomach, leaning his cheek on one palm and staring at me with narrowed eyes, looking at me as if I committed a crime and lied about it.

Michael clicked his tongue making that “Tsk, tsk.” Sound as he slowly and disapprovingly shook his head.

“For a girl to jump a guy is just absolutely sad.” He said.

 

My eyes widened again as I gritted my teeth so hard, I could probably crack a walnut. Quickly, I sat up, throwing the blanket off myself while Michael slowly pulled himself up, sleepily rubbing his eyes all the while muttering something like: “You look like a nightmare.”

I resisted the urge to yell the same thing at him and instead growled deeply, going back to the subject of me apparently being a perv.

“ME?! JUMP YOU?!” I yelled with disbelief as my fists clenched into balls. “You wish you were that irresistible!”

“I am.” he smiled proudly as he ran his fingers through his messy bangs, smoldering his eyes at me and giving off that gleaming and shiny aura.

For some reason, I felt my face heat up before the edge of my mouth twitched and I hurriedly crawled out of the blanket and away from this madman.

 

As I wobbled on my legs, I suddenly found Michael right next to me, holding me up by the small of my back and my forearms.

“You alright?” he asked, looking alarmed and worried all of a sudden. But then he smiled a close eyed smile.

“Pervert.” He finished.

I flinched in his arms, feeling as if I was a stone statue cracking into a million pieces. Quickly I jumped away from him, growling.

“Oh, yeah?! If I were that, why’d you just let me do that huh?! YOU ARE THE REAL PERV IN THIS ROOM, MISTER!” I yelled, attempting to growl like a feral wolf but ending up sounding like a baby cartoon puppy.

           

After a second of the messy haired boy staring at me with a blank look, I felt my brain shake in my skull like it was doing some kind of cha-cha. I groaned and gasped, wobbling around the carpeted floor before completely wilting down.

“Cyreen.” Michael called, making me look up. Big mistake.

I looked up to see the angel named demon’s face inches from mine. With a mischievous smirk on his face, he blew air on my eyes, making me yelp and fall on my back like a failed bullet and hit my head on the carpet with an audible THUMP!

“Owwww…”I groaned, rolling up into a ball as I teared up.

This bully. I hate this guy. There’s no way I’d like a guy like him. He’s no cool anime guy. He’s a b*****d demon. Worthy for his name to be changed into Satan.

 

“Don’t you remember anything about last night?” Michael suddenly asked as he appeared over my eyes, a smug look on his face. The edge of my mouth twitched.

Something in that annoying look….sorry, annoying face of his tells me that the story of last might is not something I’d like to hear.

I growled at Michael, still on the floor. “No, and I think I’d rather forget.”

In reply, the demon boy scoffed at me and headed off to his bedroom.

“Whatever then.” He said as he disappeared into his room and came back, holding a square of all black clothes and throwing them to me.

“Better get ready. After you’re done changing into suitable clothes, it’s time for training.” Michael said and pulled his hand up, showing the Night Charm twirling around his index finger.

“Want it?” he asked. I quickly shook my head as I backed up. The boy smirked at my reaction and threw the terror bracelet to the couch.

I stared at the thing, shuddering at recalling the scary Samara hallucination the bracelet gave me. For once, I didn’t want to touch anything scary. Now that I became part of this crazy mess, I learned to respect the scary stuff and not snub my nose at them. If I did I might get killed now.

 

I then called my attention to the black clothes in my arms. Unfolding them, I oohed at the new set of clothes. They looked good and exactly my style but I guess looking good in them had to wait ‘till I got a shower.

“Where are we training?” I asked, looking up at Michael who seemed to be staring at me. He blinked, then sighed.

“At the Training floor, of course.” He replied. “Take a bath.”

Before he went into his room, he turned back to me as if remembering something then smiled a close eyed smile.

“Miss Perv.”

I flinched then growled at him, ready to throw the clothes at his face but he got away by shutting the door on me. With a sigh, I stared at the clothes.

“Training huh?” I muttered, running my hands over the smooth clothing. With a sigh, I headed to the bathroom to get a good shower, feeling my face heating up as I wobbled. Before I got into the bathroom, my memory of last night came speeding back into my head.

“I never want to touch that Night Charm again.” I muttered before shutting the door behind me.

 

 

Author's Note

Hope you guys review this story~