Terror. It was all I felt. The man effortlessly lifted Jaden up from his feet. I could feel his consciousness was slipping away from the lack of oxygen. And the only weapon I could produce was worthless before my enemy. Then the guy pushed Jaden towards the wall while looking at me.
Then out of some sort of instinct, I clasped my hands together quickly, and bits of my shadow below me shot up into the air and hovered around my body. The small "orbs" of shadows quickly morphed into daggers. And I knew instinctively that the blades would all pierce him simultaneously on my command. The guy suddenly had his eyebrows raised, and he was obviously flattered with the turn of events.
"Very well," he said. Then the guy gripped Jaden's neck harder, and the former had his head tilted lower. He had lost his consciousness. I, on the other hand, was filled with a sudden rush of overwhelming anger. The daggers that hovered around me grew bigger, and the edges suddenly had a jagged pattern. I wanted to rip the guy apart, but I was holding back. "Relax, I just had to put him to sleep. There is no need for a fight here. I don't want anyone eavesdropping either."
"W-Who are you?" I almost said in a growl. "What do you want from us?"
"Well, this boy I am holding is of no interest to me." He replied. Then he gently put Jayden down. Once he was on his feet, he fell sideward since he had no consciousness, so I had to catch his body. It was a good thing that he wasn't all that heavy. Otherwise, he would have fallen over me. I lost control of the hovering daggers, and they fell on the ground. All of them quickly dispersed back into my shadows. "What I came here for is you, Israfil."
"My name is not Israfil." I gritted my teeth. My eyes were spitting daggers towards him. And I wasn't caring anymore if I would be able to kill him.
"True. Your name is Chance Valentine." He replied coldly. And his eyes were observing me carefully. It was as if he was analyzing what I would do next. I think he knew I was preparing an attack. "But the soul that resides within you is Israfil. And he is my little brother. So, I suggest that you come with me and we can do this peacefully."
"No. You already hurt my friend, so I don't care what you want." I stated. My mind was almost blank. All I wanted was to rip him apart. "There's no reason for me to trust you. Not a single one."
"I suppose that's just fair." He said almost softly.
I then slammed my hand on the wall, and my shadows extended all over like tentacles on the pavement. Bits of my shadow flew and hovered around me. They quickly turned into daggers and jolted towards him. The man was able to promptly avoid each of the blades. But I was acting on some kind of instinct. I clasped my hands together again, and the tentacles extended to the walls. The alley was relatively small, and my shadows were all over it. Then I commanded the tentacles to morph a spearhead and shot towards him simultaneously.
The man then clasped his hands together as well. Suddenly, my attacks 'evaded' him as if there was some sort of force field. It was pretty evident because my shadows warped around him as if it was hitting something. They simply spun around as if the man was inside an untouchable spear. Then he slammed both of his hands to the ground. All of my attacks were dragged downwards in a snap. My shadows dispersed into nothingness. The alley was suddenly clean of my shadows.
"You pretty much fight like Israfil, too." He smiled, almost saying the statement like a compliment. Then he stood up again as I cradled a helpless Jaden in my arms. I was effortlessly beaten. "You are simply accessing his abilities through instinct. It may be possible that you have the blood of a Vladimir."
"Sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about." I replied. Then suddenly, a chill went up to my spine. A different kind of presence suddenly appeared.
"Hmm, I could sense a demon nearby. It's probably of a higher rank." The man suddenly stated. "It's a shame that I have to end this meeting shortly. But I don't want your small town to be some sort of battlefield. I will come back for you, Chance Valentine. And you better keep this between us. Otherwise, your friend over there would be involved in this."
For some reason, I trusted those very words. It made sense. And I don't want to bring Jaden further. The man had the same powers as I am. Instinctively, I knew that he knows more than I do. I felt that was he in control of the situation.
Then shadows erupted from the ground and suddenly consumed him.
"Just at least tell me your name." I asked.
"Maybe next time." The man almost said in a chuckle. With that, the shadows dispersed into the ground. And no trace of him could be found.
I was dumbfounded at the encounter. Jaden was unconscious, and I was still frozen in place. There was no way I would be able to comprehend anything at all during the first few seconds. It was crazy, and it was weird, even for the likes of me. But before I could think of what to do next, Jaden started to wake up. From the looks of his face, he obviously wondered why he was sitting at the side of some dark alley.
"What on earth happened?" He asked, scratching his head. "Why on earth am I sitting on the ground? The last time I remembered, we were talking about the movie we just watched."
"Oh, about that, Jaden, you suddenly lost consciousness." I lied. It was the first excuse I could think of. And it was kind of a lousy one. "Then you woke up before I could even get help. It was a good thing I caught you before you fell on the floor. Otherwise, you would have had a nasty bump somewhere. You can thank me later."
"Yeah, right." He scoffed with a frown on his face. Jaden wasn't sure whether he could trust what I said or not. I know that he trusted me, but I can't help the feeling that he knew my excuse was too stupid to believe. "As if I was going to fall on my own. I know that I'm careful. Duh. Don't forget, we still have to attend your uncle's party next month."
"Well, while we were walking, I already noticed you were weirdly looking at me. Maybe, you were already dizzy before you even noticed it yourself." I tried to justify what I have said. It wasn't much help, really. But if he knew what actually happened, then it is bound to have some sort of consequence. Just as the man had said. There was no way I was going to involve Jaden with such. He shrugged as I helped him back on his feet. Then we started walking towards home. "Do you feel okay?"
"I'm fine to begin with, Chance." He grumbled.
"Suit yourself. Just don't fall over me again. Because I won't try to catch you this time." I warned him. He jabbed my shoulder lightly and smiled. "Just kidding. You think I am going to let something bad happen to you?"
"Maybe." He quipped. "I feel too fine. Are you sure I fainted?"
"Wow, I can't believe you still doubt me over that." I rolled my eyes, and he seemed to take the bait. He just shook his head in disbelief. "Are you really sure you are still going to call me your best and weirdest friend despite doubting me by that much?"
"Fine. I fainted. But I feel fine." Jaden was quite the stubborn guy. But it was also a strength of his. "If I did faint, then I would have felt something weird, right?"
"You're weird all the time that it's normal. There's no way you would be able to feel if your body is acting out weird." I laughed at him. "Plus, I was able to catch you, so I was pretty sure you didn't hit your head. Anyway, we both better go home and take a rest, especially you."
"Okay." He replied. "I don't think I need to go to the hospital, do I?"
"Well, we can do that." I said. "But your mom is going to be worried. You said it yourself that you feel fine. And I trust you with that. Maybe you just got yourself too tired or something. Just tell me, are you sure that you're fine?"
"Yeah." He responded with almost a gasp. I can't believe my plan to use reverse-psychology on him worked. And I can't think I would actually make up a big fat lie to one of the people I trusted the most. "Here's my stop. I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you." I answered back. "Any plans for tomorrow?"
"I don't know." He said. "We can figure something out."
"Surely, you will." I chuckled. "You are always full of weird and crazy ideas, so I know you can think of something. I know you don't like letting your Saturday be wasted by just moping around. Goodnight, Jaden."
He just snickered at my comment. "See you later."
With that, he went inside his home, and I went on my way. Telling myself that I just had a strange day was a big understatement. I couldn't even put it into words. It went way beyond that. It was supernatural.
"Hey, you want some dinner?" My mom offered and greeted me when I passed by the kitchen with her usual and enthusiastic smile. "I left some for you."
"Sorry." I declined. "I think I had too much popcorn a while ago."
"You're spoiling your stomach, dear." She said, shaking her head. Well, it almost sounded like a rant. But she made sure it also sounded gentle. "Are you sure you don't want some?"
"I know, sorry. And no thanks, I'm fine. I'll just go eat a big breakfast tomorrow morning." I hugged her, and she hugged back. "Well, the movie was great, though. I'll surely look forward to the sequel next year."
"That's great." She chirped. "How is Jaden, by the way? You know, I just can't say no to that kid for some reason. Even his voice had some sort of puppy-dog-eyes effect on me!"
"Well, Jaden is being Jaden." I replied. "And I guess we should call that the Jaden effect. I am not even sure why he is so irresistible. Everyone is just drawn towards him, no matter how weird he can get."
"I'm sure he will encounter at least one person in his life that can resist his boyish charms." Mom smiled. "Most likely, that person can be a potential partner for life."
"Yeah, probably so." I said. "Anyway, I think I'll go hit the sack early. It was kind of an exhausting day. Goodnight, mom."
"Okay, sleep tight." She piped. "Goodnight, dear."
As soon as I got on my bed, I fell asleep from the exhaustion. What happened that day and the discoveries I have made took a toll on my body physically. Mentally and emotionally.
Suddenly, I was in front of the mirror. And when I looked at the silhouette that should have reflected me, I saw another boy who had his back on me. Based on his body, he was about my age. He had the same dark hair as I do and almost the same height. And he had some sort of weird clothes.
"Who are you?" I asked. But the boy didn't reply. He didn't even flinch. The person in the mirror was seemingly frozen in place. "I know you could hear me."
Again, there was no response. Suddenly, I was back in my bed and woke up in the middle of the night. I pulled my blanket over me to get a warm and cozy feeling. It was a Saturday, and every kid would want to stay in bed a little longer.