Read IM03 - Pandora's Box for Free Online

plastered herself against the wall to avoid being caught in the middle of the scuffle. “Somebody do something!”
    Nicholas bolted to Lysander’s side. He frantically tugged at his arm, trying to wrench it from the invisible grip. They looked like a very odd pantomime, and neither appeared to be making any headway. Lysander’s shirt ripped at the shoulder and Nicholas fell backward, taking the scrap of clothing with him as he toppled over the futon. With a growl he jumped back to his feet and shoved the furniture out of his way so hard it crashed to the wall near Fallon. She screeched and cringed as it narrowly missed her.
    I ran to her side to get out of the fray and pushed the futon away.
    The invisible force lifted Lysander higher into the air. He hung by his arm like a puppet pulled on a string, legs kicking wildly as he dangled, his free arm swatting at the air above him. A large gash appeared down his forearm. His eyes squeezed closed and he grunted in pain. Blood trickled from the new wound and then vanished as if being licked away.
    “It’s drinking his blood,” I shrieked. I wanted to help, but I had no clue how to fight back. How can you fight something you can’t see?
    Rozaline jumped into the fray without a second thought. She grasped Lysander around the waist and pulled with all her might. Nicholas still had hold of Lysander’s arm and looked as if he too would rise up into the air.
    For a brief moment, I saw something. The figure materialized. It was the same man who had swarmed me moments before. Blood coated his pale, almost transparent face. He looked down at Rozaline and smiled, revealing a row of razor-sharp teeth. A blast of air whooshed through the room. Rozaline shrieked. The three of them tumbled and collapsed in a heap on the floor, as if the spirit had given up on them.
     I rushed to Lysander’s side. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do. Are you okay?”
    Nicholas and Rozaline untangled themselves from the pile on the floor. When Rozaline stood, I saw four evenly spaced deep scratches marring her pale face. Blood oozed from the wounds and dripped down her chin.
    “Are you okay?” Nicholas asked, a mixture of horror and rage flashing in his eyes. Rozaline was old and could certainly take care of herself, but that didn’t stop Nicholas from being protective of her. He still made it a point to remind me of how I had accidentally burned her with a flamethrower when we first fought with the Acta Sanctorum.
    “Yes, just a scratch. I think—”
    Before she could finish the sentence, her body jerked upward, her head cocked to the side, and she let out a guttural moaning gasp.
    The man again appeared before us, slowly taking physical form, becoming a pale, frightful hulk. His head was bent into the crook of Rozaline’s neck. He held her in a crushing grip, and together they rose into the air. A rivulet of blood rounded her neck and disappeared into the collar of her shirt. Though I couldn’t see the ghostly man’s face, I heard a sickening slurp as he siphoned away her blood.
    Terror held me frozen to the spot, watching helplessly as this thing devoured her.
    Rozaline struggled under his cage-like grip, but made no progress to free herself. Just as a human was powerless against our kind, so was Rozaline in the grasp of this thing.
    Nicholas and Lysander sprang to action, flinging themselves at the rising pair, trying to grasp on to some part of its body before it lifted out of reach. They were too late, and couldn’t take hold.
    I looked to the ground for anything that might be used as a weapon. A broken bar from the damaged futon lay at my feet. It wasn’t much, but at least it was something. I picked it up and swatted at the floating figures. When I couldn’t reach them with it, I chucked the bar, hoping to at least annoy the creature enough to make him drop her. Nothing was working. It bounced off him and landed with a clang on the floor.
    Rozaline, still struggling, screamed as