72 Pillar

I sat, looking at the smile of an old man who obviously knew more than he was letting on.

I just hoped his little secrets weren't going to get me killed. Well, apparently they were. I mean, he literally just said that he hoped I was going to survive the experience, whatever that meant.

It was then that a delicious smell caught my nose, drawing my attention to one of the open doors that seemed to lead into the kitchen. It was there that I saw the butler from earlier holding a plate of pancakes that absolutely made my mouth water.

"A stack of four pancakes, sir," the butler said, walking right beside me and placing the plate down in front along with a fork, knife, and a bottle of syrup.

"Um, thank you..." I said, looking up at the butler, finally realizing that I didn't even know his name.

"Carter, Mathew Carter, sir," the butler introduced himself as he smiled kindly at me.

"Thank you, Mathew," I said, returning the smile.

"My pleasure, sir..." Mathew said before backing away.

I looked down at the stack of fluffy pancakes, and quite honestly, I wanted to cry. They were so beautiful.

I grabbed my fork and knife and was literally about to dig in.

"Let me see it..."

I stopped my fork and knife only a few inches away from my pancakes.

"Hm?" I responded, looking at Madelyn's grandfather, Mr. Adams, confused.

"Let me see your power," he said.

I didn't have time to respond before I felt something as hard as a rock slam against my face. My vision became a blur as I flew away from the table and slammed against the wall, not stopping but going through it. I hit the ground hard, rolling as I did so.

Coming to a stop, I soon found myself outside, in some kind of wide yard filled with trees and bushes, as well as a small pond filled with fish.

My cheek hurt like hell, heck, it was swollen. I looked up at the open wall that I had flown through and couldn't help but tear up. "My pancakes," I thought to myself.

Madelyn, her right hand clenched into a fist, soon stepped out of the huge hole in the wall, and it was then that I realized what had hit me. It was Madelyn's fist.

"What's happening?" I asked, trying my best to stand upright, but my legs were wobbly, probably from the impact of being punched and hitting the wall. Honestly, I was lucky that was all that I was suffering from—wobbly legs.

"Your body has changed," Madelyn said as she stepped fully onto the sand-filled area that I was standing on and faced me, her eyes serious.

"My body?" I asked, looking down at both of my hands, hoping that they didn't sprout into tentacles.

"It's become more sturdy and strong," she clarified. "That's good," she said, her tone making it sound like anything but. "But that won't be enough," Madelyn continued. "Fight me and show me your will!" she yelled as she rushed towards me, her fists raised. "Show me your conviction!"

Her fists flew forward, fast but not too fast to follow. I raised both of my arms, holding them over my chest as Madelyn's fist slammed against them.

I winced in pain as I was once again forced back, off my feet. I dug my fingers into the sand as I did my best to stop my little flight backwards.

"Damn..." I said in pain as I looked down at both of my arms, which were now bruised and shaking with pain. I didn't have time to worry about my arms though, because Madelyn was once again rushing me, her fists raised and ready to punch me again.

"Mercy..." I said as a single tear fell from my eye.

I jumped backwards, barely evading the bone-breaking fist, and you know what? I began to run for my life.

I couldn't help but scream as Madelyn chased after me, her fists raised.

"Um, could we talk about this?!" I yelled, slightly turning my head to the right, hoping to catch a glimpse of the woman chasing me.

"No."

I quickly turned my head to the left, hearing an all-too-familiar voice. I just barely caught a glimpse of a blur before something fast and strong hit me in the face again, sending me rolling onto the ground.

I slowly began to rise, my body yelling at me to stay down, yet I decided to remain stubborn.

"Do you think you can continue to run?" Madelyn asked, walking towards me. "You cannot." Her eyes were cold as she said those words, as cold as the time she fought that demon. "This won't end. This won't end until you decide to fight back!" she yelled as she took up a fighting stance and rushed towards me.

I was on my knees, trying to catch my breath. I looked ahead at Madelyn, who was running towards me, ready to punch the hell out of me again, and you know what? I wasn't as afraid as I thought I would be.

Time seemed to slow down, and the world itself almost seemed to fade away, leaving only Madelyn, whose form was clear.

I thought back on my life—my school life, my home life. None of those moments could amount to this, none of those moments could ever make me feel this excited!

I began to smile as I rose higher and higher until I was standing on both of my feet.

I looked ahead as time seemed to speed back up. Madelyn's fist was raised as she drew closer, and this time I wasn't going to run, for I could feel it—the cold that came with the darkness, emanating from deep within my chest.

I raised my open hand, catching Madelyn's fist with ease. I was forced back only a few feet, but I was still able to hold onto Madelyn's fist.

My body was covered in a dark energy that flowed around me, making me stronger and feeling as if I had taken at least 50 steroids. I smiled, loving this feeling more and more.

Madelyn smirked as my grip tightened around her fist. "That's more like it

***

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