The Devil's Apprentice by Patrick Stewart (polar express read aloud TXT) 📕

red, his body felt warm and powerful. But something was missing. He wasn’t as strong as he could be, nor was he as fast. And the warmth that filled his body, it was more like that coming from the remaining embers of a once raging fire.

Just as Alex thought he was going to die, there was a crushing sound as a sword came out of Jamie’s chest. The demon had been impaled from behind. Jamie’s eyes widened. His head dropped and he stared at the shiny sword covered in blood. His mouth hung open, but no words came out. Blood trickled from the corners. The sword began to retreat back into his chest. As it disappeared, Jamie’s limp body hit the ground.

Karen stood behind him. “What happened?”

Alex glanced around the room. Karen had dealt with the remaining demons before coming to his aid. “Thanks,” he said.

“What the hell happened?” Karen asked, frowning. “You killed a Krumier but can’t handle Jamie?”

“He’s tough,” Alex protested.

“Not as tough as a fucking Krumier,” Karen said, before her gaze turned onto what lay behind him. Emily was still hanging from the ceiling by her arms, the dagger buried in her stomach. Chrissy sat on the floor beside the invisible barrier, her face in her hands, she stared silently at her sister. “What’s that?”

“That’s Emily, Chrissy’s sister,” Alex said. “We have to help her. There’s a barrier around the circle of blood. I can’t penetrate it.”

Karen stepped forward, blades in hand, she slashed at the air above the red line of blood. Her blades should have crashed into the barrier, but instead, they sliced through as if there was nothing there.

“It’s gone?” Alex asked

Chrissy crawled forward, hope in her eyes, she crossed the line of blood. A little cry escaped her lips as she charged up and pulled at the manacles that bound her sister’s legs. Alex jumped into action and entered the circle. He sliced through the metal that fastened around Emily’s ankles and wrists and caught her body as it fell.

He laid Emily gently on the ground. The hilt of the dagger protruded from her stomach. It was covered in blood. There was more blood on her left leg. Emily was pale. Her eyes were closed, but she was still breathing. Chrissy stroked her sister’s hair, crying softly.

Karen examined the blade and the wound. “She’s going to be okay,” she determined. “It’s an ordinary dagger, not a poisonous one. She hasn’t lost too much blood. If we can get her to a hospital, I think she’ll make it.”

Alex gently collected Emily in his arms and stood up. He carried her to the door, Chrissy in tow. Karen hadn’t followed after him. Instead, she was kneeling by the line of red blood and body parts, staring down at it intently. She dipped her fingertip in it.

“Ew,” Alex grimaced. “You’re not going to taste it, are you?”

Karen looked up at him. “It’s warm,” she said softly. “I think the spells been completed.” She stepped back suddenly. “Something’s happening.”

The red line of blood and gore began to change colour. It was no longer dark red. It had changed to an orange shade that rose and bubbled, like fizzing liquid sparks. The ground begun to shake and cracks appeared on the walls. More cracks appeared within the circle. Lines of fiery light shone through those ones.

“We need to get out of here,” Alex said, urgency in his voice. “The building’s going to collapse!”

Karen was way ahead of him. She grabbed Chrissy’s slender frame in her arms and ran past him and down the corridor. Alex followed after her with Emily in his arms. They made it to the stairs when parts of the ceiling began to crack and fall down.

On the first floor, they were joined by many others, humans and demons. Some stood in the corridors, uncertain, panicked looks on their faces. Others joined him and Karen as they ran down the stairs for their lives. Alex slowed his pace, his eyes on the terrified women that stood with their arms against their chests.

“We can't save them all,” Karen said, her voice ringing over the falling bits of cement, wood, brick and dust. “This building is going to collapse any moment now!”

“Don’t be heroic, Alex,” the voice said. “She’s right. We can’t save them all.”

“Fancy you coming back in the nick of time to save yourself,” Alex muttered. 

“Yeah, sorry about earlier. Had a lapse… but the good news, my memory is coming back! At least some of it. We need to survive. I don’t mean to over exaggerate my importance Alex, but in the coming war, the world needs me!” 

Alex was about to argue back when he felt the sudden surge of warmth and energy flow outward from his chest. The falling dust, chipped cement and brickwork didn’t bother him anymore. He began to run without willing it. He moved fast, over taking the demons and humans. As the stairs began to crumble beneath him, he leapt from the step to the bannister, then kicked against the wall and dived through a gap between the collapsed wall and what was formerly the front door. As he landed outside, Alex felt the building collapse behind him. He heard hundreds of demon and human screams of terror.

Out in the dark, Alex stood on the grassy front yard with Emily in his arms. Karen and Chrissy came to stand beside him as he faced the rubble. The house had maintained its structure, but the walls, ceilings and roof had collapsed. A few demons and humans managed to escape, but most were trapped under the rubble.

Chrissy tugged at his arm. “We need to get my sister to a hospital.”

Alex’s focus returned on Emily. Still in his arms, he was relieved to see her chest rising, relieved to feel the warmth from her body. But