Julia Lelieveld and the battle with the underworld
~24~

“Julia, wake up.”

I felt Lucas gently tap my cheek. It hurt, I was hit in the face a few times. I moaned and he stopped. “Come on, open your eyes, we’ve gotta get out of here.” I opened my eyes with difficulty and saw that we were in a dark room. I got up carefully. “Where are we?” I asked Lucas.

“They took us to a cabin further up the mountain in the woods. We’re in the basement. The only exit is that hatch there.” He pointed to a wooden hatch in the ceiling. No ladder or anything like that, it was at least 10 feet high. I sighed. “Are you okay?” Lucas asked concerned. I nodded. “Yes, and with you?” He nodded too. “They closed the hatch with a big iron bar, we can’t get through that without your powers. And when we get through, there are 6 more possessed men waiting for us.”

I looked around again, this space was made to lock people in, the hatch and hinges were made of solid metal.

I didn’t know if my powers were strong enough to get through that. I closed my eyes and focused on the elements. Nothing. Shit, not now. I concentrated harder, but I didn’t feel anything. I was too weak. I sighed.

“Julia?” Lucas looked at me questioningly. “What is it?”

“I don’t feel my powers anymore.” I heaved a deep sigh. Lucas moved even closer to me. He grabbed my hands and looked straight at me. “Talk to me and don’t leave your thoughts to yourself, we need to get this sorted out. We can’t get out of here without your powers. Maybe we can replace a way to get your powers back?”

I stared into his endlessly dark eyes, which looked at me with concern.

“Have you had this before? That your powers are gone?”

I thought, yes, I’ve had this before. When I was attacked in the alley and Lucas found me. That he had brought me to Renzo and stitched up my wounds. When I woke up I had lost my powers too. I got them back when I kissed Renzo. Our bond, the special feeling made them come back to me.

“Talk to me,” he said in a whisper.

“I’ve had it once before, when I was attacked in the alley and you found me. When I woke up I didn’t feel the elements anymore, just like now.”

“And? How did you get them back?”

I looked straight at him again. Should I tell him?

It would only work if he was on my side. If he had turned his back on his faith. If he would surrender completely to his feelings, to me.

No, this was not possible. Of course Lucas had changed. We were traveling together, for a different purpose, but we worked together. And he showed more feelings, he admitted that the feelings felt nice. That he had never experienced this before. He had never set an example either. Logically, he didn’t know how to react to certain situations. That he had been brought up to believe that an e-warrior was right. That he had every right to stop, even kill, a practitioner. That’s how he learned it from his father. That it was a good thing. But once he had to follow me for Evil and realized that life was different from what he had been taught all his life, he began to doubt his faith. That was his first step in the right direction. He began to express feelings and emotions. Something I wasn’t used to from Lucas. But honestly, he’s been very understanding and sweet lately. And the special thing was that he dared to express himself more and more often. More often made his feelings negotiable. Feelings that hadn’t been expressed for 18 years because he had simply learned that it was normal to be numb. To treat people who weren’t e-warrior as enemies.

“Julia?”

Lucas looked at me inquiringly. “How do your powers come back?”

“When I lost them in the fight in the alley, they came back because Renzo kissed me. Because of our bond, our touch is so over-sensitive that I feel intensely happy and I think that gave me my powers back.”

He looked at me intensely. “What now? Should we kiss?” he asked awkwardly.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“I do not know. It didn’t work out so well last time, remember?”

He nodded. “It was different then.”

He was right, then he attacked me. He wanted to destroy me at that moment. Still completely in its e-warrior way. He then wanted to take me out and he almost succeeded. He then kissed me on the mouth and the moment his lips touched mine I got a terrible headache. As if it split apart. That kiss alone had already knocked me out.

What if I had such a violent reaction again? That would only make me weaker and that was the last thing we could use right now.

But he was right, it was different then. Now I had the feeling that he was on my side, because his feelings were there. But such a reaction as Renzo’s was impossible, right?

He picked up my chin with his right hand, forcing me to look at him. “I won’t hurt you, I promise. It’s really different now. I feel different, especially when I’m around you.” I looked deep into his eyes and saw that he meant it. I nodded very softly, but his holding my face made him feel every move I made at that moment.

Gently his hand moved from my chin to my cheek, his warm touch felt good. I closed my eyes for a moment and rested my head in his hand. We stood like this for a moment and then I felt his thumb on my cheek. It was strange, at that moment I felt safe. Was it because of Lucas’s loving gesture?

I opened my eyes and he looked at me with a tense jaw. His hand ran over my hair, his other hand he placed on the other side of my face, so that he held my face lovingly. Slowly he came closer. I didn’t flinch, my powers had to come back somehow. And this was the quickest way to replace out if it was going to work. I automatically stood on tiptoe. I felt his warm skin and breathing on my face and before I knew it our lips met. And the moment our lips touched, time stood still. How could this be? My feelings raced through my body. My abdomen was on fire. Instinctively I moved closer to him and at the same time Lucas did too. So we were completely with our bodies against each other. My heart beat faster and I was sure Lucas felt it too. I hardly dared admit it, feeling guilty towards Renzo, but it felt great. In another indescribable way as with Renzo. I didn’t know this existed. Sometimes I still couldn’t believe how I felt when I was with Renzo. But now there was also another way that I could hardly believe. Can’t believe this happened to me now. Lucas had grabbed me tightly, we stood so deeply in the underground space. He ran his hands from my back over my buttocks until he rested on the back of my thighs, he grabbed them and before I knew it he lifted me up. By feeling I wrapped my legs around his waist so that we were now literally entwined with each other. And suddenly something changed. I felt even more alive than before. Yes, my powers came back. The forces made the feelings I felt earlier even more intense. I couldn’t contain myself. I ran my hands down his back and tousled his hair. After all the misery, this felt so very good. I felt Lucas loosen his grip and carefully set me down. I struggled to free myself from him and opened my eyes. His eyes seemed black, they looked so intensely at me. A small smile appeared around his mouth. I followed his lead. He gave me another small kiss. “What was that? I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Me neither. I mean, with Renzo it’s very special too, but in a different way.”

“So you felt it too?” he asked me expectantly.

I nodded. “Quite,” I admitted, a little embarrassingly.

“And? Did it work? Are your powers back?” he asked seriously.

I sighed with relief. “Yes, they’re back.”

I closed my eyes and focused on the elements and felt them sink in and they became more and more powerful. That’s how I felt the forest in which the house stood, the wind through the trees. The fire burning in the fireplace in the room above us. I felt the presence of 6 people. I also felt a waterfall coming down next to the house. The water raged through the river, but also through an underground river. I felt it walk beneath us. A glimmer of hope ran through my body. What’s our chance of escape?

I focused on the river and on the water, yes, this could work. The river had a strong current, so we would end up somewhere. Maybe even by the river that flowed past the cabin. I looked expectantly at Lucas. “What is it? Do you have an idea?” I nodded. “There is an underground river running below us, the hut also runs along a river, I hope this is the same. I can make a hole in the ground and we can escape through the river.” Lucas nodded. “That could work.”

I walked around the room until I was at a point where I felt the water most powerfully. I focused on earth and water and the earth split open into a hole about three feet wide and below that I heard the water flowing. Lucas came up to me, he looked surprised at the hole and shook his head. “It remains special.” I laughed and took his hand. “Are you ready for it?” He nodded and we jumped into the hole. It didn’t take long before we fell into the wild water. The first thing I noticed was that it was freezing cold, I immediately felt my muscles harden. With all the strength I had I tried to hold Lucas’ hand, luckily he helped. Once we surfaced and took a big breath, we grabbed each other tightly. It was black before our eyes, we couldn’t see anything. “Hold me tight,” I said to Lucas. He clung to me and I concentrated on water. I felt a strong current and I felt how I was mastering it. I steered the current further into the river as quickly as possible. Fortunately, because I had control, things went a bit better, we could hold each other well and stayed with our heads above water. Suddenly I felt a change in the water, I didn’t really understand. But when I heard a crushing sound, the penny dropped. Shit, the waterfall. I grabbed Lucas a little tighter and he got the hint. We clung even harder and when the sound was around us we fell down at high speed. We landed in the water with a loud bang. We kicked up and took a breath. We were out of the cave because it was light outside. Lucas grabbed me again and I focused on the current again. And with all my strength I carried us further down the river as fast as I could. After 10 minutes the forest was less dense and I recognized the hut we had been in earlier. Lucas saw it too because he squeezed my side for a moment. With the last bit of strength I had I led us to the side we climbed wearily. We caught our breath as Lucas helped me up. “Come on, we’ll talk later, we have to get out of here.” I nodded and quickly followed him. We looked for his bike which was lying on its side next to the path. Oh, please let him do it. Our bags were a few meters away, so I quickly grabbed them and put on my helmet. I gave Lucas his helmet which he put on and put the bike back down properly. He wanted to start the engine, but couldn’t. He messed with his key and other switches and tried again. His bike came to life, he jumped on it and I followed suit and we drove off quickly. I don’t know how long we drove at these great speeds, but I think we stopped at a gas station a few hours later. Like our routine, I walked in and grabbed some food and drink and we settled everything. Lucas had asked if there was a place nearby to freshen up or rest, the man behind the counter had indicated that we would encounter a town 30 miles away. He nodded and we started driving again. It was not comfortable, we were both completely numb. We had immediately started driving from the cold river, but we really had to hold on for a while. After half an hour we came across the signs, I noticed Lucas that he was saying something, but I didn’t hear it. Ten minutes later, he stopped in front of an old mansion and parked his motorcycle in the alley next to the house so it wouldn’t be noticed. With difficulty I got off the bike and took off the helmet. “Are you okay?” Lucas asked. I nodded and looked at him. If I looked like him, I knew he wasn’t doing well either. “Come on, we can probably get a room here. We’re in the city I meant.” “The city with the answers?” I asked him. “I hope so.”

I followed Lucas into the mansion. There was a small counter in the dining room. He pressed the bell and a young woman came out from the kitchen to meet us. She smiled and Lucas indicated that we would like a room. I looked around, the room was full of old photos and paintings. Without realizing it I walked to a large painting with a family tree, there was a photo of a girl that looked very familiar to me. Before I could take a closer look, Lucas put his hand on my shoulder. “Are you coming?” I nodded and followed him up the stairs. It was a simple but fine room.

It contained a double bed, a chair and a wardrobe. Furthermore, you had a small bathroom, but everything was complete. With a sigh I dropped my bag on the bed and sat on the edge. I rubbed my eyes. My face and body ached from the blows I had taken and my muscles were all stiff. Lucas groaned as he sat down and held on to his leg. “What happened?” “During the fall of the motorcycle my leg misaligned, I heal quickly.” And he shrugged. I nodded, luckily I healed myself quickly. We looked at each other. “You go take a shower first, I’ll wait a while, I can immediately replace out where we can go tomorrow.” Gratefully I smiled at him and disappeared into the bathroom with my bag. I was shocked by my own reflection. I was pale, my jaw was blue, and I had a bloody spot near my temple. I turned on the shower and when I undressed I saw that I had several bruises, the largest on my back. I got the biggest hit from the energy ball when we fell off the bike. Fortunately, the hot shower relaxed my muscles a bit. I didn’t want to stand under it too long, afraid that Lucas wouldn’t have hot water later. I put on shorts with a shirt and came back into the room. I felt that Lucas had turned on the heating and had already put his clothes over it, he was sitting on the bed in his boxers. I quickly hung my wet clothes over the heater and sat down next to him. His leg looked quite burly indeed. His head was bloodied. He looked at me. “They’ve got us pretty good, haven’t they,” he said, gently touching my blue jaw. I nodded and closed my eyes for a moment. I was really very tired. He quickly let go of me and disappeared into the bathroom. I looked at my phone. Due to all circumstances and hours of driving it was already 4 pm. I grabbed the food and drink I had brought and put it on the bed. Lucas came out of the bathroom again and sat down. We ate and drank in silence. I cleaned up everything and went back to bed. “Jesus Julia, your back, that really doesn’t look good.” “I know, it’ll get better after I’ve had some sleep.”

He nodded, but seemed unconvinced. I went to brush my teeth and Lucas followed suit. We lay in bed and looked at each other. “This was really close. I heard those men talking while you were still out. They had already sent a message to Evil that we were here. He knows what we’re up to.” I let it sink in for a while. “We no longer have that advantage,” I said. “It’s important that we stay off the radar and that they don’t replace us.” “Easier said than done, you said yourself they can feel me from afar.” Lucas grabbed my hands. “We’ll get through this, it’ll be fine.” I nodded and hoped I could believe him. “Can you feel me right now?” I asked him. He looked at me uncomprehendingly and nodded. “I can feel you very well, you are very close to me,” he said with a small smile. “Why do you ask that? Is there something wrong with your powers again?”

I nodded. “I seem to be losing them faster and faster. I think it’s because of the fatigue and the attacks.” “That could well be, I’m also less sharp when I’m tired.”

We looked at each other for a few minutes. Lucas’ hair still dripped a little after showering. His dark eyes looked at me intensely. I was reminded of the kiss we had in the underground room. I should feel guilty towards Renzo, but somehow my instincts indicated it was right. Without that kiss we would now be in the hands of Evil. It was so nice to have those happy feelings for a while and not just have to be sad or have to look over your shoulder. “What are you thinking about?” Lucas asked. “Honestly? Our kiss. How it saved us from Evil.” “I’ve never experienced anything so intense and pleasant,” he said honestly. “I know, it’s indescribable.” He nodded in agreement. He let go of my hands and his right hand rested on my left cheek. Carefully he stroked my lips with his thumb. A shudder went through my body. Automatically I moistened my lips by running my tongue over them. And before I knew it, Lucas pressed his lips against mine.