Julia Lelieveld and the battle with the underworld
~1~

I heard talking in the distance around me.

The voices looked familiar but I couldn’t place them. I felt myself lying on a bed with my sore body. I tried to sort everything out. What had happened? And like a switch, everything came back to me.

I felt how exhausted my body was, but that had nothing to do with the feeling in my head. Like I was completely empty. I no longer felt any strength.

The voices became clearer. It’s as if they’ve only really dawned on me now. I heard it was Rob, Leo, Sara, Max and Kate. Leo, Sara, Max and Kate were practitioners just like me. Like me, they had the power of an element. Leo could practice Air, Sara Water, Max Fire and Kate Earth. And for two days I knew that I was also a practitioner. And this morning I was told that I could practice the fifth element. Which meant I could control all four elements. I hardly knew anything about it, because it was very rare. And Rob is our mentor, also known as Elementor. He is trying to guide us through these forces.

“And? Have you spoken to them yet?” asked Leo.

I heard a deep sigh.

“I haven’t learned anything at all. I really need to hear from Julia what happened and whether it worked.”

I heard an exhausted Rob talking.

“Is there any progress yet?”

“No, they look exactly the same.”

“Can’t we do anything for them?” Sara asked with a concerned tone in her voice.

“Guys, am I the only one who doesn’t trust Lorenzo? He was there too and we found out that Lucas is an e-warrior, so why shouldn’t he be!?”

This time it was Kate, I could hear some aggressiveness in her voice.

“You didn’t find them Kate, you don’t know what they were like when I found them.” It was Max. His always sure voice sounded worried and tired now.

“Yeah, stand up for her again.” I heard a loud shuffling of a chair and footsteps that sounded farther and farther away.

“Stop the jealousy Kate, you had better help!” shouted Max angrily.

“I know it now!” Kate called back and I heard a door slam shut with a loud bang. The tension was to die for.

I knew why I was lying here on the bed. My eyelids felt heavy and my head was pounding. But how on earth did I get here?

Max had probably found us, as he had told Kate.

I remembered Renzo and I taking on Lucas and the possessed boy and girl. How we had both collapsed and been injured and now I had woken up here.

Geez, we survived. It was that Leo, Sara and Max had tied their strength to me, otherwise I really wouldn’t have made it.

Renzo and Lucas were brothers and both trained as e-warriors. An e-warrior is one who takes on a practitioner and is trained to destroy a practitioner. Only Renzo has turned his back on this fate and fought alongside me against Lucas, who was still an e-warrior.

I was with Renzo when it went black before my eyes.

Renzo!

I felt a shiver run through my body. He was in really bad shape. I knew he healed quickly, just like me, but still.

Slowly I opened my eyes. Grateful that the room I was in was not brightly lit. I blinked a few times to get a clear picture. I looked at a wooden ceiling with wide beams running across it. There was a large chandelier in the center of the room that was only half lit. As far as I could tell, the room had an old-fashioned decor. I tried to move gently and felt my body protest. Slowly I raised my head. It was a large room with high ceilings and tall windows. It was a combination of a living room, study and library. I myself lay in a kind of bay window with the curtains drawn. I looked around but saw no other bed where Renzo could be. I felt a twinge of pain in my chest. I did see four people standing with their backs to me, because of the light movement I made the bed started to creak. Immediately someone turned around.

A boy with black medium-length hair, strong good looks and brown-orange eyes looked at me with concern. It was Max. His otherwise self-assured look had turned into a worried face. With relief in his eyes, he took quick steps towards me.

“Julia!” The emotion on his face echoed in his voice.

Immediately the other three turned around as well. I saw Rob, Leo and Sara looking my way with anticipation.

“I’m so glad you’re awake, I was so afraid it wouldn’t happen.” He stood a little uncomfortably next to my bed.

I tried to smile, but everything ached and my face immediately turned into a painful grimace.

I cleared my throat. “Thank you, I’m glad I’m awake too.”

I saw a faint smile on his face and he looked really relieved now. Rob came up behind Max and led him away from my bed.

“How do you feel?”

Rob looked at me inquiringly.

“Tired.” Was the only thing I could come up with so quickly. I didn’t know exactly how I felt. I had been through so much lately that my feelings were all mixed up.

He nodded. “We have to talk.”

I tried hard to nod back.

I could no longer postpone the question that was the most important to me. “How’s Renzo?”

I saw Rob draw his eyebrows together and his gaze rested on me for a moment.

“Rob?”

I felt the fear spread in my body. I felt how everything got cold. It wouldn’t be, would it? A lump started to grow in my throat and my eyes started to sting. He was in bad shape, but not that bad, right?

Rob let out a deep sigh. “He’s in the next room. He’s hurt, but I think he’ll be okay. I think he’ll heal quickly like you.”

The relief came over me like a warm blanket. I caught myself letting out my breath that I had been holding in.

“May I infer that he’s on our side?”

He looked at me with suspicion.

“Yes.” I said louder than I meant.

I didn’t understand how they could doubt him. He almost gave his life for me.

I looked away from them for a moment. I didn’t want them to read the emotions on my face. They didn’t know what happened between me and Renzo right before we were attacked. We kissed and it was indescribable. I think it was because he was an e-warrior who chose to protect me, a practitioner of the fifth element, with his life. Lucas had kissed me too, but that was a torture of pain, but the kiss between Renzo and me was the opposite.

“Sorry Julia, but I had to ask.”

I nodded and looked at him again. What is going to happen now? Concern was evident on his face. What would he have to say?

“Will you leave Julia and me alone for a while?”

Rob looked at Leo, Max and Sara. I saw confusion on their faces.

“Why do they have to leave? They fought along. I wouldn’t have made it without them.”

I looked at them gratefully one by one and I saw relief in their eyes.

Rob seemed to hesitate for a moment.

“They can still hear us, even if they’re in the next room.”

“Good.” he finally said.

He grabbed a chair and sat down at my headboard and the rest followed suit and circled the bed. I just looked at them all. I had to ask. They really should wait.

“Rob? Can I please go and see Renzo?”

“I think it’s better we talk before you go to him.”

I looked at him hurt. It seemed like he didn’t trust Renzo.

I shook my head.

“I want to see him first.”

“You’d better stay in bed until you’re better.”

I looked at Rob in disbelief. As if I had time for that. If I understood correctly, I was like a magnet for evil, so it wouldn’t be long before they found me. Although I didn’t even know where I was, that wasn’t important right now. I was with people who wanted the best for me and whom I could trust.

With great pain and effort, I pushed myself up and gently let my legs slide off the bed. I let the blood flow to my head for a moment so I wouldn’t get too dizzy. Rob said nothing but his look told me enough. He didn’t support me doing this. If I could trust Renzo, then they could trust him too without me having to give a detailed explanation?

Slowly I pushed myself off and stood on my feet. My body was on fire. It hurt a lot. I was also completely exhausted. I just ran out of power.

“Come on, I’ll take you to him.”

It was Max, he gave me his hand.

Gratefully I took his hand and automatically leaned my weight on his arm. As if he didn’t feel anything, he led me to a large door at the side of the room.

He stopped at the door.

“He’s behind this door.”

“Thank you.” I looked at him gratefully and squeezed his hand.

He gave me a small smile, released me and walked back to the bed where the others were sitting.

Carefully I grabbed the brass handle of the large wooden door and got it open with great difficulty. The room looked the same as the room I was in, only smaller. Softly I closed the door behind me.

My eyes were already used to the dark environment, so I could easily see a bed with Renzo’s profile in it. I slowly walked to the bed. I tried to walk as gently as possible so he wouldn’t be startled by me.

Once at his bed, emotions raced through my body. His face had a large head wound and abrasions. His arm was in a sling. If he didn’t have his wounds, you’d almost say he was peaceful.

Carefully I sat on the edge of the bed and gently held his hand. I felt a lump form in my throat. How could all this happen?

Why me?

I gently brought his hand to my face and kissed him gently. I felt how he reacted to that. His grip tightened and I felt his fingers wrap around mine.

Relief surged through my body.

I looked at his face and saw that he opened his eyes slowly and looked at me lovingly.

“Hi,” he whispered.

I felt a smile appear around my mouth.

“Hi,” I said, relieved with a big sigh.

“Did they get away?” he asked seriously.

I nodded. I was very disappointed, especially now that Lucas will not stay away from me.

A strange thing had happened, just before I collapsed myself, that a very important person from the underworld had entered the boy who had also been possessed and had given Lucas an assignment. After he tortured Lucas, he demanded from Lucas not to hurt me, but to keep an eye on me and report back to him.

I saw a dark glow come over Renzo’s gaze. He was probably disappointed.

“The important thing is that we both made it out alive.”

He looked at me intently. Emotions howled over his face. His dark blue eyes looked black.

His eyes had been this color when we kissed. I had never experienced anything so intense.

After we looked at each other for a moment without saying a word, he averted his gaze. I saw annoyance on his face.

“What is it?” I asked him.

He looked at me again, this time sadly.

“I’m afraid if we stay together I’ll only put you in more danger.”

I looked at him uncomprehendingly. What was he talking about? That he would leave? No he couldn’t! Not after what we’d been through. He just saved my life.

“What are you talking about? I would never have made it without you!”

He looked away again and seemed to be thinking about something.

“Renzo?”

He let out a deep sigh and looked back at me.

“It’s Lucas. Now that he has seen us, he will never rest to destroy us. I should never have behaved like that.”

“No Renzo. I need you.”

I looked at him intently.

“And.” I wasn’t sure if I should continue. Would I tell him about the assignment Lucas had been given?

“Julia?” He looked at me expectantly.

“Something happened just before I got to you.”

His eyes widened. “What then?”

“The possessed boy was possessed by a leader of Evil. After he tortured Lucas, he made him promise that Lucas should keep an eye on me and report back to him.”

I looked at him dubious. I watched him tighten his jaw and swear under his breath. His eyes changed completely. I had looked into Lucas’s eyes when he was going up against us and it was scary, but the look Renzo had in his eyes now was terrifying. I had never seen him like this before. He seemed unbeatable.

My stomach made a weird twist at the sight of his reaction. I knew he had renounced being an e-warrior, but now that I saw him like this, I really hoped he wouldn’t pick up his old habit. He probably saw my reaction because he quickly turned his face away from me and looked around the room and was silent. I just didn’t know what to say.

After a while he looked at me again. This time his gaze was calmer.

“Sorry,” was all he said.

I nodded, knowing what he meant.

He tried to get up, but his face twisted in pain.

I put my hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back onto the bed.

“Just get some rest. You’ll need it.”

I bent over in great pain and kissed him gently on the mouth. He answered him more forcefully than I expected. I gave him a small smile and walked cautiously to the door. When I looked back I saw that Renzo had closed his eyes again.

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