The Chosen Path

Chapter Thirteen

He slung an arm around her shoulders and held her close as they fought through the wind and the water striking them.

Jake heard deep evil laughter in the wind. Jake pulled Emily onto the beach.

"He's just trying to scare us." Emily yelled to Jake.

Thunder boomed and made Emily jump. She turned around and starting yelling in some language Jake couldn't make out. Jake heard the laughter again.

Jake saw figures running down the path, and he could make out that it was the rest of his friends: George, Raven, Ray and Tony.

George and Raven held their arms up in the air and looked like they were yelling as well.

He believed that it was Ray, tossing tree branches, that had fallen and blocked their path, into the air and away from them.

Jake was amazed to see Tony was physically moving the huge tree trunks as if they were only sticks.

The group met up at the edge of the beach. "Give me your hand, take Raven's," Emily yelled to Jake.

"Everyone, join hands," she yelled to the rest of the group. "Jake, you have to help me," she told him.

"How?" he asked.

"Take him in your mind," she told him in his head.

"What?!" he asked, surprised.

"It's the only way. We can't fight him here. You can do it. We'll be here to help you, but you got to get him out of this world,"she told him.

"You take him into your mind, I'll take everyone else into mine, and then bring everyone into you," she explained.

He looked at her, unsure.

"Do you trust me?" she asked him.

"I trust you, Aurora," he yelled to her.

She smiled. "It's time," she said with a nod.

Jake closed his eyes.

The demon burned at his legs. He felt fire around him. He envisioned the smoke surrounding him, taunting him, laughing at him.

He pictured the room he was in at Emily's parent's house the night of the fire. The first place he was confronted by the demon.

He opened his eyes. It stood in front of him, floating in mid air, its red eyes glowing at him in anger. He heard it hiss "die".

Jake continued to stare it down. "If anyone's going to die, it's going to be you," he told it angrily. It laughed at him. It slithered towards him. The vision went dark.

Sunlight appeared. He looked around quickly and saw he was on his farm in Iowa. He stood behind the swing where Aurora sat on the swing.

"Are you going to push me or what?" she demanded.

"Yeah. Yeah," he told her.

Now, what was he doing? He pushed her higher and higher. He admired the way her blonde braids flew back as her small legs went up.

She turned and smiled at him, and he smiled back. "You like me, huh, Jake?"

"Of course, Aurora, you're my best friend," Jake told her.

"That's good, Jake. I like you to. And if you like me, you'll do what I want right?" she asked, jumping off the swing.

"Well, I guess, Aurora. What do you want?"

"Come with me, Jake. Come with me over there," she said, pointing out to the corn field. No sunlight was hitting over there. It was a dark as night.