Three chernos were seen not too far from the two girls. One of them was stroking Elaine's hair, and whispered something in her ear. The naive child giggled and her chubby cheeks popped more when she smiled out of delight . It was her first time seeing a floating man, and it amazed her. "But I thought magic isn't real," she had said. Henry, on the other hand, was terrorized with fear. Being two years older than Elaine, and slightly had better morals, he knew that they had to get away. Fast.
He kept wanting to pull Elaine away but she wouldn't budge--she was too interested upon knowing these 'magical men', and curiosity got the best of her. When one of the chernos noticed what Henry was trying to do, it growled at him in a beast-like manner--a low, croaking sound; something a human cannot possibly make. The frightened boy's breaths were hitched when the cherno's face, or whatever that was left of it, moved closer towards his', and whispered, "Your soul is cleaner than her, but both of you are pure."
It was the most disturbing thing that Henry had ever seen; blood-shot eyes that were almost popping out of its sockets, an empty space where a nose was once was, high, bony cheekbones on each side of its face, and when it talked, their thin, crooked mouths weren't in sync with their voices.
Henry prayed, hoping that someone would come find them. He knew that it was a bad idea to leave the mall premises without anyone knowing, and the fact that the flower garden wasn't near; Elaine was too stubborn--she had wanted to pick flowers. Henry had tried to convince her to stay but Elaine kept refusing, so he had no choice but to go with her. He closed his eyes and once again, prayed under his breath. He felt his pants getting slightly wet.
"There is no god," a cherno grumbled near his ear, "There is no more."
Emelie started to sweat buckets even though the wind never stopped blowing today, but that wasn't the reason why she was frozen in place. It seemed that her feet were buried in the ground. Her body felt two times heavier, as she lost the strength to move a muscle. She was trembling with horror, and endless of disturbing thoughts and bizarre assumptions were running in her mind. She wanted to flee, yet she also wanted to sprint towards the kids with no hesitation. She could not make up her mind. Her sense of hearing was also failing--Paige's voice became fuzzy in the background.
"Ramsey! Matteo! T-There's--" Paige's voice was hoarse and unnatural, like a shrill of terror. Her lower lip trembled before she shouted again, "The kids!"
Emelie's eyes watered as she had forgotten to blink, but when she did, a blurry figure appeared in front of her, and wondered for a moment whose back she was staring at. The man then walked towards the chernos and the kids swiftly. She gasped when she got to her senses, and came to the realization that it was Doug. She suddenly felt a heap of courage, a loud snap inside of her, and suddenly, her body jolted. Without thinking, she jogged after him, but made sure he was the one in front. She looked back at Paige, who was already running back to the mall.
"Stay close," Doug told her.
The chernos turned slowly towards them with no surprise, almost as if they were expecting him to come.
Henry released a wave of air that he was trying to hold for the past few seconds. They were lucky that Emelie and Paige took a different turn going back.
"Doug! Emelie! You're here!" Elaine chirped.
"Elaine, Henry--come quick!" Emelie demanded. Henry immediately sprinted towards her, but Elaine was left behind, because a hand was on her shoulder lightly.
"You wish to know more about us, child?" A soothing, mother-like voice asked Elaine. It sounded so much like her own mother, and she looked up to expect a woman staring down at her, but she was wrong. It was just one of the chernos with male-like features. Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach, as she knew how unsettling the situation was.
"Leave them be," Doug snapped. He took a step forward towards it.
"You," it said, cracking its thin neck to look at him, "I've heard you were here to take a vacation." It was still using a pleasant woman's voice.
"I am not on vacation," he replied, looking closely at Elaine. He looked behind her, where two more chernos stood their ground, grinning without rest.
"Oh, this?" it asked, and pointed down at Elaine, who was shuddering in fear. "This young little one? Is it because she's too young to die?"
"You can't take her anyway," Doug smirked, "You can't make her have those kinds of thoughts."
"Can't I?" it said, "Can't we?" The other chernos behind croaked and chuckled with excitement. "They're more tastier that way, having their own will to take their life."
"You cannot do that," Doug repeated himself, more seriously this time. Loosing his tie, he added, "Unfortunately, you cannot interfere with their thoughts like that."
The cherno grinned, and unlike the old man that Emelie had seen before, it had no teeth this time, only a black image. Emelie started to panic, why didn't it seem like it was scared of Doug? It looked confident, and it looked hungry.
"And you can? You think we don't have any idea on what you did to that human beside you?" it looked at Emelie, and the color was instantly drained from her face. "Let us do the same, and we shall call it fair," it added, its voice echoing around their surroundings this time.
"I refuse," Doug stood tall.
It pulled Elaine back, "But we're hungry--" its eyes seemed to pop out more, "--aren't you?"
There was a long pause before Doug held out his arm and folded his long, black sleeves back. Without looking at Emelie, he said, "Go back inside. Tell the others to stay put. . ." he paused again, this time, seeming to search for the right words, "I'll deal with this. . . and I'll get the kid."
All the chernos in return, stretched their lips from literally ear to ear. It looked too peculiar to be called smiles.
"But, Doug--" Emelie blurted out, but a small hand held her sweaty palm. Tears flowed down Henry's half-opened eyes, and suddenly, Emelie's racing heart was tamed--she wanted to protect this young child instead.
"Emelie," Doug whispered, at this point, he sounded like a ghost--for his voice was airy and distant, "Please." It almost seemed like he was begging, Emelie had thought.
She didn't want to leave Doug, but she somehow knew that he could handle the chernos. She bit her lower lip and held Henry's shivering hand tightly. They turned around to walk back to the mall.
After a few steps, Emelie heard a croaking sound once again, followed by a hushed voice, it was almost as if it was right next to her, "You'll be next."
Once again, her body felt heavier, almost as if her legs were going to give out, but Henry didn't let go of her hand, like he was also aware of what had happened. They both stopped in their tracks, and with a pounding head, Emelie slowly peeked behind her, in search for Doug--but he wasn't there anymore. Instead, a dark, clouded mist surrounded the chernos--and Elaine was nowhere to be seen.
The chernos looked like they were in pain. They stood on the ground now, twitched aggressively, and finally kneeled down, with their black mouths wide open.
"Emelie, we should get the others!" Henry pleaded, pulling Emelie's hand. "A-Are you okay, miss?"
Emelie looked back at the worried boy, and it took everything in her to force a weary smile, "Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry--we should hurry now," she continued, almost to herself, "I'm sure he'll be fine."
"Matteo!" Henry almost screamed at him as he ran into his open arms.
"Hey, kiddo, what happened?" Matteo asked, stroking Henry's damp hair upwards. Ramsey gave little attention to the kid as he was writing down notes.
"E-Elaine, she--she!" Henry had finally given in to the sob that he had been holding back as he bursted into tears.
Emelie was panting when she arrived, and she stopped as she tried to catch her shaky breath.
"Em--Goodness! Where's Paige?" Penny ran to her in concern, and patted Emelie's bony back.
"P-Paige?" Emelie asked between her breaths, "I-I thought she. . ." she shook her head, figuring why the hell she was concerned for Paige at this moment. She stood straight up. "The chernos! You've got to come with me, quickly! They're over there by the garden of flowers. . .They got Elaine, a-and--"
Ramsey stomped his feet loudly as he got up, "Where the hell is Doug then?"
Emelie limped towards Ramsey, "Doug's with them--"
"Crap! I knew that bastard was one of them!" Ramsey grabbed his shotgun from the table and shove his boots on his feet. Matteo grabbed his own shoes and followed Ramsey like he was trained to do so.
"No, he's not--" Emelie tried to explain, but her voice was barely heard, her body had become weak, and all she wanted to do was to lie down and catch her breath, but she managed to choke out, "Doug's not one of them, I say!"
"We've had it with your damn lies!" Ramsey shouted back at her, his hazel-brown eyes stared intently to her, not looking away. Emelie gathered her courage to return the stare, and to defend Doug. "I'm sick of this whole--mysterious crap going on!"
Matteo grumbled something under his breath and ran outside without Ramsey, and Penny, with Henry now clinging onto her pants, followed behind but she stopped just a few feet from the front gate of the mall.
Ramsey turned around but Emelie reached for his tense shoulder, and with all her might, pulled him back. "Listen to me!" she shouted with her dry mouth. She knew that Ramsey had to get there quickly, but she was concerned for Doug's safety more, "I know that this all seems very strange and doubtful, but if you ever think about shooting him--or even hurting him, I swear, you arrogant sod, t-that'll be the end of you--" she tried to speak quickly, "--He has done you no wrong, or to your family and he will continue to do so, you understand me?" Her voice was unnaturally loud, and it almost surprised Ramsey, but he was too concerned about other things right now.
"Piss off!" he snapped.
"I asked you if you understood me!" Emelie punched a side of his chest, but for Ramsey, it was only a tap, so he was barely moved. Instead of feeling angry, he felt pity for the trembling girl instead. He didn't know what to say to her right now, so he made no response.
Emelie looked at the gun in Ramsey's hand, "Please," she whimpered, still wanting to land another 'punch' but Ramsey caught her arm and pushed it to the side, and the girl was almost tipped over. He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he turned around and jogged away, his shotgun bouncing on his back as he lifted one leg after another.
Penny and Henry went back inside after Ramsey had left. Seeing the troubled girl, Penny wrapped her arms around Emelie, "Shh, it'll be alright," she said quietly, ignoring whatever it was that was stuck in her throat. A sob inside was building up fast.
Henry sniffed and wiped his tears, and he found himself wanting to comfort Emelie, "They'll be okay. . .and--" he looked at Penny, whose lips were pulled back, silencing a sob, "--and Elaine will be okay. She has to be."
After a few seconds, Penny whimpered, and was followed by a quiet cry of despair.
"Ramsey--" Matteo called out, as he panted, "What's the plan? What if Doug is a--"
"Doug's not our concern right now," Ramsey cut him short, "It's Elaine. She needs to be safe. I swear, if that man hurts her in any way. . ."
Matteo gulped and kept his mouth shut.
The two men ran across a small, gushing stream, and when they only just jumped out of the cold water, they saw Doug carrying a little girl in his arms, walking towards them.
"Stop right there!" Ramsey immediately pulled out his shotgun and pointed it at Doug once again. He obeyed, and a sense of familiarity was felt by him, as he wondered why Ramsey had always carelessly pointed a gun towards other people.
Matteo examined Doug--strangely, he had no scratches, no wounds, nothing. The only thing off about him was that his hair was messy, and his coat was almost hanging off on one of his shoulders.
"Is. . ." Ramsey inhaled, "Is that Elaine?"
Doug nodded once, "She's only sleeping. She's perfectly fine."
Ramsey lowered the gun slightly, but his grip was tighter, and he held his breath, "What the hell happened? Where are the chernos?"
At this moment, Doug didn't know what to respond, but after a brief silence of thinking, he replied, "They. . .only visited. I chased them away." He had no signs of worry once again, but his mouth was almost shaped like a frown.
"You lying bastard," Ramsey grumbled under his breath. He pumped the shotgun, readying to shoot.
Matteo, who started to form beads of sweat on his forehead, slowly wrapped his fingers around the shotgun's barrel. The metal felt cold in his hand. "Calm down, man," he stuttered out.
"I'm not lying to you, Ramsey," Doug said, still unsure on how to pronounce his name, "Please put the gun down, this girl needs to lie on a warm bed."