It was now night time. The stars and moon coming out to embrace the creatures of the night. Living in a beautiful forest was amazing at day but terrifying at night. Apart from the Apocrypha, wolves, mountain lions, bears and other dangerous predators lurked in the shadows. It was ill advised to venture out of the house once the first star became visible in the sky.
The only issue with this heavenly house was the fact that there was no electricity. It was pitch black at night without a spec of light. Not even the moon and the stars were allowed to let their light in, as they had to pull the curtains shut to discourage Apocrypha that anyone was home. Not that they expected the Apocrypha to just leave if they found the house, but they were at least a little hopeful they would.
Zane laid in his upstairs room staring at the ceiling in the pitch darkness. For some reason he found it hard to sleep. He felt tired but his eyes continued to reopen as soon as he closed them. He noticed he was a little worried about their situation. They had been living in this house for a week now without a single Apocrypha encounter. How much longer would it take for the Apocrypha to find them? How bored would Apollo become realizing they were all just staying in one place the entire time? Was it even a good idea to wait for the Apocrypha to find them? That would be like just waiting on death to find them.
A sudden knock then came through Zane's room door startling him from his thoughts. He jumped in shock staring at the door.
"Who is it..?" he asked, a little worry in his voice.
"An Apocrypha!" said a female voice playfully from behind the door.
Zane sighed, "What do you need Layla?"
"You"
"I've had enough of your teasing for one day... leave me alone."
"Nah, I'm just gonna let myself in." she declared as she opened the door.
Layla then slowly closed the door turning the lock. She then ran over and dived into the bed beside Zane. A pleasant smile drawn across her face as she stared at him. Her head laying on the soft mattress.
"Why aren't you in your own room..? Your new roommate is Ellie, it's not me anymore" proclaimed Zane.
"That Ellie girl is high-key creepy... I don't wanna be in the same room as her."
"That's fair enough..."
"Where's Elio though..? I thought he'd be in here with you. He's your new roommate right?"
Zane gave an unamused look, "Honestly no idea... He doesn't talk to me much. If Ellie didn't join us, he would still be roommates with Nick. Now Nick has to be sleeping in the couch downstairs..."
"And now I'm forced to leave you here to sleep with Elio. But since Elio's not here I guess I can sleep with you for a while."
"I honestly hate sleeping with you..." stated Zane bluntly.
A cute frown found its way to Layla's face, "Why??"
"You tease too much. It's not healthy and I'm not enjoying it."
Layla chuckled as she slowly climbed over to him and wrapped her arms around him. Slowly she moved her head closer to his neck delivering a small peck.
"Layla stop. I'm serious. If the only intention you have is to play around, then I want nothing to do with it."
"Then what if I do this..." Layla climbed on top of him and placed her hair behind her staring down in his eyes. She slowly paced her hands across his chest going downwards. To her surprise, Zane kicked her right off him resulting in her falling off the bed with a huge 'thud'.
"Zane! What the hell??"
"Oh, did you think I was gonna fall for that too? I may be dumb but I'm not that dumb. Remember earlier when we were in the couch? You deliberately let me place my hands on your chest, even going as far as to moving your blouse down. Then you suddenly kicked me off the couch when you were the one leading me on! If you're gonna try to gaslight me then take it somewhere else."
Layla frowned, "How did you know I didn't mean it this time? We're in a room im the dark by ourselves. It's the perfect setting."
"Because you're not the type to allow yourself to get touched like that. Not unless you really love that person. Possibly even go as far as marriage before you allow yourself to be taken. That's what my intuition tells me about you."
Layla giggled, "You know me so well. But..." She paused as she climbed back onto the bed. "But I don't mind it being you."
Zane froze for a short moment before he replied, "W-What do you mean by that?"
Layla wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest affectionately. She closed her eyes with a smile on her face as she allowed herself to be consumed by sleep.
"Night... I'm tired."
Zane watched as her breathing became less controlled. Her head laying stagnantly on his chest as she slept like a peaceful angel. He decided he should allow himself to do the same. He felt much more comfortable knowing Layla was now with him. His eyes slowly shutdown as he drifted off into deep slumber. His chest rising and falling with every breath he took alongside the head of Layla.
Little did Zane know something was about to happen. The reason he was kept awake was because his intuition was trying to tell him something.
*****
As he fell asleep, he heard Elio's voice echo inside his head. He was having a very short and strange dream. The dream only contained Elio and himself walking through thick darkness. Suddenly, Elio came to a stop and turned to face him. A very unamused look came across his face staring into Zane's eyes.
"Elio..?" called Zane softly.
Elio took a deep breath before he finally spoke, "I'm bored."
*****
Zane flew up out of his nightmare with a fright. Layla just as startled as she wondered what was wrong with him. Before she could ask what was wrong, there came a knock on the door.
Zane and Layla looked one another in the eyes with nothing but confusion.
"Who is it..?" asked Zane suspiciously.
No one answered, whoever it was just continued knocking on the door.
"Um- Hello..?" called Zane once again.
There was still no answer. Only continuous knocking on the door. Zane and Layla both began to feel extremely creeped out as the knocking continued.
"Could you please not disturb us? Me and Zane are getting busy in here." declared Layla.
Whoever was knocking seemingly did not like what Layla had just said. Instead of answering, they just knocked on the door even harder. The door rattled with each hit. It was more like the person was now punching than knocking.
"Okay this is getting really annoying... I'm coming to the door, but whoever you are you're getting greeted by my foot." cursed Layla.
She carefully got herself off the bed and paced herself towards the door. Zane did the same ready to offer his support. Layla put up three fingers signaling him as to when to open the door.
"One... Two... Three!"
They flung the door open to see Ellie standing before them smiling.
"Hi!" she exclaimed in a happy voice.
Rage boiled inside Layla as she went to slam her foot into her stomach. Zane had to grab onto her arms pulling her backwards.
"Damn it! Why the hell did you disturb us??" cursed Layla.
"Ellie! You don't do crap like that!" supported Zane. His tone also a bit upset.
"I'm sorry... I was scared in the room by myself. I heard a few muffled screams coming from downstairs so I decided to come sleep with you Zane."
Zane and Layla froze like statues. Did she just say muffled screams? They did a double-take between one another before rushing through the door. Almost as soon as they got to the staircase, they heard blood-curdling screams echoing through the house. Zane's intuition spiking sending shivers racing through his body.
They swung their heads around in all directions. Every other bedroom door was open and completely empty. It was almost as if the entire group was taken. Not even Anastasia was present.
"Down the stairs!" cried Ellie in a brittle voice.
Zane and Layla didn't even waste a second. They dashed down the staircase alongside Ellie. The living room was a complete mess; tables were turned over, glass scattered on the floor and even the couches were ripped to shreds seemingly by sharp teeth.
They looked forward to see the door to the entrance of the house completely ripped off. A strong feeling tugging at them to see what had happened.
"Serenity! Deandre! Everyone! Where are you??" shouted Zane, worry stealing his soul.
The three weren't thinking properly. The shock and apprehension that overtook their bodies were driving them forward without them stopping to examine the situation. Zane ran through the door into the open. His eyes flung open in horror to what he saw next. Layla and Ellie came rushing to his side with the exact same reaction.
Their bodies trembled and their feet threatened to give out under the weight of their bodies. Just right in front of them, the full moon shining down in all it's glory illuminating each and every one of the group members placed on their knees at the edge of the cliff. Their hands tied behind them and rags tied around their mouths muffling their screams and cries. Somehow, even Anastasia was caught. Her eyes screaming 'RUN' to the three.
Before they could even utter a sound, they saw a dozen male doll-like creatures representing ten year old boys marching around the group of captured friends. They marched like soldiers circling the captured. Their knees raised high with each step and their arms swinging forward in a legit military-like march. To make it even creepier, they were dressed in boy scout uniforms singing 'Laaa' like Opera Soprano singers. Their voices like a trance as their eyes made contact with Layla, Zane and Ellie.
The three fell to their knees as if hypnosis was seeping into them. It however felt lighter than usual. Almost as if they weren't trying to hypnotize them completely. The hypnosis seemed to only suffocate their movements. Zane then looked up to realize something extremely odd. Out of all the group members present, Elio was not among them. Where was he?
"Oh my... no... you're lying!" suddenly screamed Layla.
Zane wondered what she was screaming about. He traced her glance to see Elio standing before them completely unharmed. A sinister smile placed across his face as the full moon stood behind him for a terrifying scene.
"E-Elio..? What's the meaning of this?? Untie us now! There are Rank 4 Apocrypha right behind you!" warned Zane desperately.
"Oh? Are there now? Do you think I don't know that... Zane?" his voice was different than usual. It sounded similar to a sinister voice he had heard before but he couldn't tell whose.
"What are you talking about bro??!! This isn't the time to be acting crazy!!"
"Zane, something's wrong with him! Something about him is different!" yelled Layla.
"Poor humans... how fun it was staying with you all for the past two weeks. I've however grown bored and have decided to add another stage to this game."
Zane's body trembled like an earthquake. It was as if his body was glued to the spot.
"What are you talking about Elio?? You're a human too!!"
Elio smiled, his smile literally touching his eyes. "Am I now?"
They watched in horror as Elio's eyes became like that of a snake. His skin slowly turning into brown fur. His height decreased to five and a half feet tall. He became like a brown monkey. His lips disappeared revealing a row of shark-like teeth. Four arms protruded from his side, each baring fingernails the size of pencils.
Layla and Zane couldn't even produce enough energy to cry as they stared up into the sinister eyes of Apollo. They felt sick wanting to release every thing they had eaten from their stomachs. Apollo slowly approached them and placed his hand's on their heads. His snake-like eyes staring at them deviously. Slowly he opened his mouth as he released the last words Layla and Zane wanted to hear;
"Now, time for the games to begin."