Julia Lelieveld and the battle with the underworld

I woke up and felt Renzo’s warm body next to me. I looked up and saw him sleeping peacefully. He looked innocent.

For a moment it occurred to me that we were in my bed. I looked shocked at the alarm clock, shit, it was two o’clock in the morning. That meant my father knew we had fallen asleep, but he hadn’t intervened. Would that mean he agreed? I tried to take my mind off it as I snuggled up against Renzo and fell asleep again.

In the morning we woke up smiling side by side. How good this felt. I was so glad we said it. At least talk?

I checked to see if my father had gone to work yet. It would be weird to run into him in the kitchen while Renzo and I were coming downstairs. But he had already gone to work. So we had the house for us alone. We got dressed, had breakfast and went to school by motorbike.

Very coincidentally, Eva arrived right away with us. She looked at me smiling. I smiled back. Oh dear, she was going to hear me out when she got the chance.

The day passed peacefully. During the break I went to the library. I wanted to learn more about what was known about the elements. I saw the rest of the circle regularly read in thick books and also wanted to have more knowledge. Now that I became more and more familiar with the feeling that it belonged and it became more and more part of myself, I wanted to know more about it. How I might become stronger, although I had the impression that that was already happening over time. Because when we were practicing in the shed recently, Rob and I noticed that I had become stronger. And that without extra practice. I approached Rob and asked him for research material and he was only too happy to give it to me. Even though we were in the same circle, I had less contact with the others than they had with each other. Perhaps that was also because they were in the same class and therefore had the same schedule. And maybe also because I joined them later, when they thought they were already complete. Because a circle actually consisted of 4 practitioners.

I was reading a book about different techniques to apply the fire element. I must honestly say that it was very interesting and educational.

I was so engrossed in it that I hadn’t heard the bell. Rob came to me and asked if I had a break, I didn’t. shit!

I rushed to Biology, but there was no point anymore. I got a yellow detention note from the teacher and continued the rest of the lesson.

At the end of the day I said goodbye to everyone. Renzo went home. Eva started playing volleyball and Bas started training with football.

Luckily I could have done all my homework during detention. Thankful I was the only one today. I walked to the large hall that led outside, once on the school steps I saw the dark clouds form a big thick blanket and I had to cycle through it. It wouldn’t be long before the rain would start. Luckily I had my rain suit in my locker in the gym’s changing room. I turned and walked back into the school down the long hallway toward the locker room. Once in the locker room, I walked to my locker. I was startled, I heard someone on the other side of the lockers. Immediately my instincts were on edge, could this be evil? The very first time I stood face to face with evil was here in this locker room. The shivers still ran down my spine when I thought of Simone and her possessed eyes. Cautiously, I walked to the end of the row of lockers and turned gently so I could see around the corner.

There were two people, I saw them from the side and they were kissing deeply.

I quickly turned back in shock. I let what I saw sink in for a while. Because I know those people who stood there so dearly.

It was the coach of the volleyball team and Eva. Oh my gosh, so that’s why Eva never said who she was in love with. It was her coach, if anyone knew this they would both be in trouble.

Quietly I grabbed my rain suit and walked quickly towards the bicycle shed.

The weather somehow made me gloomy. Something didn’t feel right, but what was it? I couldn’t figure out why I suddenly felt this way. I got on my bike with a shiver through me. I turned the corner at school and saw that the street was closed. Shit, I had to make a detour in this weather too.

I turned around, then via the old industrial estate. The environment was already calming down, the deserted part of the city looked gloomy. Suddenly I was startled by a loud bang, I looked around me in shock. I didn’t see anything, but before I was even a few feet away I realized it. I had a blowout. That too. Then my feeling wasn’t wrong after all. It still gnawed at the back of my mind. Something didn’t feel right. Tired, I got off my bike and continued walking. I was already soaked by now. As I walked down the quiet street with the old factories on my right and the forest on my left, I felt the elements around me. And suddenly the fifth element was very much present. Panic set in, no this was not possible. The fifth element made me feel that Evil was near. So that meant the feeling I had at school, only it was much more intense now. I parked my bike against a factory and looked around. Nothing. I focused on every sound around me, hoping to discover something. Still nothing. I hated it, my feelings told me that Evil was around, but I couldn’t detect anything. Was I in trouble?

I left my bike for a while and continued walking. I turned the corner and the feeling got even worse. This was not good. I decided to go back to my bike and quickly cycle back to school with a flat tire, hoping I could avoid it. But when I turned the corner again, I saw a dark figure standing maybe 60 feet away. My instincts were on edge and told me to run. I turned around again and started running, as fast as I could. The puddles splashed in all directions under my footsteps. I turned another corner and there was also a dark figure in the distance. Shit, I was trapped. I looked around and saw a man with a wicked smile walking towards me. I immediately put my palms forward, because I felt all that there was evil in this man.

I stood with my back to the factory and spread my arms out so that a palm was turned to each man. How did I end up here, why didn’t I realize it sooner? Immediately panic set in, what if the Elders were right after all? What if this were the end?

The other man was now standing a few feet away. Evil was in him too.

“What do you want?” I tried to ask in as firm a voice as possible.

They started laughing.

“What do you think? We’re coming for you.”

“For me?” I asked.

“The boss of the underworld wants to see you, the Evil of Evil. He is very interested in you and now that I see and feel you I can understand that very well.” And he raised his eyebrows.

“You’re not fully developed yet, but I’ve never felt anything like it before,” said the other man, taking a step toward me.

No this wasn’t going to happen. I focused on fire and felt my body burn like it had never burned before that it almost hurt. All the energy went to my palms and with a thrust in both directions the large fireballs hit the two men.

Without even looking I started running again, not long after I heard them running after me in the puddles. Shit, they were faster. I quickly turned, hoping to get rid of them. But instead I had run into a dead end. No, this couldn’t be true! I am really trapped now. I walked to the end of the alley, hoping I had misunderstood and there was still a passageway somewhere, but it ended in a large stone wall.

I broke out in a sweat. I turned back so that I was standing with my back against the wall and looking at the only opening there was. But before I could do anything, the men had already appeared. “That wasn’t a nice joke,” one shouted. And as he said so, he took a large knife from a holder in his belt. I swallowed, this was new to me. What could I do against a knife? I had to get out of here somehow. I focused on the elements and especially on the fifth element. Hoping I would know what to do. The other man pulled out a similar knife. “What you can do, so can we.” And he laughed again.

And before I knew it one guy started running towards me and he was fast. I felt the fire build up again and before he got to me I fired a ball at him, but he cleverly dodged it and suddenly he was standing in front of me. I felt air come forward and with that feeling I let a ball of air be fired at him, but at the same time I still saw him take his knife out at me. He was thrown off balance by my orb, but before I knew it I felt a stabbing pain in my thigh. I felt my pants get wet and warm. This all went wrong. The man was bent over on the ground, the air ball had hit him hard. I hopped around him, but the other man was already standing right in front of me, with his knife ready. “You’re not going to get away from us,” he said in a certain voice.

I started to get angry. Air was still there, pressing against my palms. He took another step toward me and raised his hand with the knife and looked at me with concentration. No!

I fired the ball, but I was too late. This time I felt a stabbing pain in my side. I flipped myself forward and put my hand on my side. I immediately felt it get wet and warm. I looked around quickly and the man was also bent over. He was hit too. I stumbled towards the opening. But I saw the other man get up again. As I passed the other man, I grabbed his knife he had dropped on the floor and tried to get away from them. But that was not easy. In my leg and in my side I felt a stabbing pain that overpowered everything. I couldn’t quite keep up with it. Everything was drawn to that pain. No, I couldn’t do this now. I had to move on. I had to fight. I wouldn’t give the Elders there right.

I heard some shuffling behind me. The man who attacked me first I saw with difficulty standing up. He held out the knife again. Shit, this wasn’t good. The other man also began to get up again. I tried to take my mind off the pain and focus on the elements, on the fifth element. And just as I got the protective shield around me when Kate attacked me with earth, I now felt what I had to do again. Without hesitation I let go of the knife I had in my hand, it floated in the air in front of me. And with only my thoughts I could control it. I released the knife on the men and it flew at high speed to the nearest man, he had just stood up. And without mercy and without hesitation the knife cut deep into his right breast. I heard a loud scream. Only realizing when this one was over that it was me.

I was so shocked. But before I could think about it any further, the other man became furious. He came yelling at me with his knife on the attack. And before I could hesitate, the element took over again.

The knife in his hand became his own enemy. I felt fire running through my veins and without any contact with the blade I could make it glow with fire. The man let go of the knife, cursing, and looked incredulously at his burnt hand.

“You bitch!” he shouted.

Fire gave way to air and the knife flew into the air. The man did not see it, because he was almost standing in front of me. And just before he could touch me, the knife hurtled through the air, stabbing his back.

The man had already held out his hands to me, but lowered them. His eyes widened and his eyebrows converged. His puzzled look ended in a painful look before closing his eyes and he fell to the ground in front of me, face down. The knife sticking out of his back.

I felt the fifth element seep out of me and the panic grew inside me. This couldn’t be true, my stomach turned and I started gagging. I had never seen anything like it. Such a terrible thing.

The alley was littered with blood, the smell made me so sick. I turned and looked into the dark infinity. Not a soul in sight.

How did it come to this? How could this have gotten so out of hand? I turned back and looked at the two bodies in front of me. Did I really do this? It wasn’t my intention to do this at all. But they left me no choice, right? It was them or me. I dropped to my knees and buried my head in my hands. I felt the tears running down my cheeks, the salt of my tears pricked a wound on my face. At that moment the numbness of my body seemed to disappear and I felt a cutting pain in my side and leg. I felt on my side and my hand got warm and wet. Startled, I pulled up my sweater and saw a deep cut, the blood dripping out. Shit, this wasn’t good. Trying to ignore the pain, I took off my scarf and tied it around my waist, hoping to calm the blood. Carefully I felt my left thigh, the same story as my side. A deep cut across the entire width. This time I put my belt around my thigh. I had to get out of here fast.

I looked around and saw the bodies, I couldn’t just leave them here, could I? And with that thought I saw the man move with the knife in his chest, his head lifted up and he gave me a mean smile. “If I were you I’d leave quickly, I can feel more coming. It’s no fun when you’re so easy to catch, we’d rather chase you, put in a little effort, you know?”

Without hesitation, I got up with great difficulty and walked out of the alley. I looked around, where should I go? I felt like I was heading north, hoping this was the right direction. After a minute of walking I heard a motorbike approaching in the distance. Shit, he was right, more were coming. I quickly hid behind a large garbage can, hoping they wouldn’t find me. The pain was now unbearable and I felt myself getting weaker, my scarf was soaked with blood. The engine was quiet and I heard footsteps coming my way. I tried to sit as still as possible until I heard a familiar voice.