章節 22: Compulsion
Hunted.
The Locust that was relentlessly pursuing Charm was different from the others not just in size but in attitude.
At one point he had her cornered and the giant locust nearly gave her a heart attack when it first spoke.
"Come to me."
It's voice sounded raspy but alluring, it was irresistible to her ears and at first Charm unhesitantly took a few steps towards the giant locust.
These locusts were intelligent and highly adaptive, if they could already use the human language what else were they capable of?
The Locust General could sense her fear as he tried to ensnare her body with the lull of his words.
His hold on her mind was tenuous at best, he felt when it snapped like a thread when he got too impatient.
She was definitely different from the other human beings whom he only saw as prey.
Her intrinsic power seemed to be leaking out from her body.
This prey seemed unaware of the danger she presented as a source of fuel and tasty morsel.
Snap out of it Charm.
One minute she had been running for life the next minute she was smiling broadly and walking towards the General Locust like it was no big deal.
She wavered, stopped in her tracks, ignoring the chaos around her.
Feeling confused and that's when the General Locust tried even harder to trap her in his thrall.
Just a little bit closer and he would behead her where she stood.
Charm regarded the Locust General adoringly, her eyes took on a sleepy look as it glazed over.
"Why are you here?"
Charm asked the Locust General gently.
"What do you want from us?"
A creepy smile came to its lips and Charm shivered in response.
Unlike his insect drones, this human was resisting his commands and speaking coherently, he felt his rage grow from deep within.
He had not ingested enough spirit power and was very weak for this would not have happened to him had he been in peak condition.
A low level locust flew too close to the Locust General and he commanded it by saying loudly, "Kill yourself."
Right then and there the underling took its own right claw and stabbed itself, it spasmed, gasping for air before it took its last breath.
Charm's jaw fell open in shock, that was all it took for her to know that what the Locust General was doing to her was completely wrong.
It took every fiber in her body not to scream, watching his compulsion being directed at another living being intensified the misery of the situation.
Such a creature would not want someone disobedient like her with a high resistance to his compulsion to continue to breathe the same air that this tyrant did.
Charm brought her hand up to her mouth and bit down on it hard, enough to cause pain but not draw blood.
Feeling the excruciating pain, was enough to pull her out of the trance and help her to fully regain all of her senses.
"Master, why did you kill our comrade?" questioned another locust.
"Did I give you leave to speak," shouted the Locust General, his booming voice reverberating and causing fear and panic amongst the locusts.
Wisely, Charm used the distraction to quietly slip away before she started running again.
When she tripped over the body of the dead locust.
Losing her balance and unable to stop herself she nosedived right in front of Miss Francis.
Who unfortunately happened to be running straight towards her.
Unable to see what was happening around the corner.
Neither Charm nor Miss Francis could stop themselves in time to prevent a fall and the two young ladies collided.
Still feeling dizzy from the fogginess of the compulsion in her brain, it was Miss Francis who helped Charm to stand on her own two feet after they untangled themselves.
"Thank you," said Charm politely. The older woman was a stranger to her despite her kindness.
"We can't stay here," said Miss Francis. The only thing on her mind was getting to the auditorium.
"We can't stay here," Miss Francis repeated while slowly backing up.
"Wait!" Charm raised her voice. We can't go that way, "it's swarming with locusts."
Stretching out her hand Miss Francis offered it to Charm. "We have no choice, if we stay out here we die, come with me please."
"There must be another way," said Charm obligingly, Miss Francis' facial expression gave the impression of a genuine and caring human being, surely she could trust her.
The throbbing pain at the back of her palm reminded her that time was of the essence they needed to move before the Locust General remembered her.
Charm kept feeling dizzy from the compulsion, so Miss Francis half pulled and half dragged her along.
Many times she stumbled saying to Miss Francis, "just leave me behind, don't let me slow you down."
Perhaps it was her guilty conscience for leaving the Principal and Security Team behind that made her not want to make the same mistake twice and abandon Charm.
Even though Miss Francis was unable to move as quickly as she wanted she refused to let go of Charm.
It must be her penance to have to stop and catch Charm a few times to prevent her from falling.
Even though they were currently not being chased, the route they took to get to the auditorium was much longer and both women struggled with their anxiety.
They expected something to jump out at them at any moment.
"We have no weapons, what are we going to do if we get caught by the locusts again?" asked Charm.
"They won't, you see that building up ahead, that's the auditorium, we are almost there," answered Miss Francis.
Charm could hear the relief in the young woman's voice but in her opinion they were still too far off, anything could happen in the stretch between them and the building.
Maybe she was a fool but here was another adult she could potentially trust, she wanted to have faith in another human being and hope swelled in her heart once more.
A loud booming sound, something exploded nearby and the sky darkened.
"Did you hear that?" Miss Francis cried out incredulously, up ahead the auditorium was on fire.
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