Horror, shock, fear, and disbelief. These were the emotions that attacked Zane, Layla and Ellie. The one that had saved them back at Ellijay was actually their worst enemy. Elio, the person that had saved them and assisted them countless times was none other than Apollo under disguise.
His sinister eye-touching smile and entertained gaze creating a bone-rattling scene with the moon standing behind him. His hands slowly stroking against the hair of Zane and Layla as if they were his precious pets.
"Now, let the games begin!"
Layla almost choked on her spit as she tried to force the words from her lips.
"B-But how..?" she asked, her voice as brittle as a dried leaf.
Apollo gave a weird chuckle, "Hehehoo! What do you mean how? I've been with you since the day you met me as Elio back in Ellijay!"
"This makes no sense! You saved us!! You even helped us kill other Apocrypha! It all makes no sense!!" screamed Zane. Desperation stealing his voice.
Apollo quickly placed one of his long pencil-like fingernails on Zane's lips. His smile still much evident on his creepy face.
"Shh! Hush down now... I don't need my fellow Apocrypha over there to know that. If they find out because of you then I'll have to kill you two putting an end to this game."
Layla clenched her teeth. Her heartfelt extremely heavy as if it were trying to fall into her stomach. She took constant deep breaths in hopes of soothing her anxiety. It now made sense as to why he hesitated to kill the Rank 4 Apocrypha a week ago.
"But why help us..? The Apocrypha would have won the game right then and there! It all makes no sense Apollo!"
Apollo slowly removed his hand from the top of their heads. He went down on all six limbs like some sort of spider-monkey and sat himself down on the cold ground wagging his tail.
"Well, you see... I like winning as much as any other Apocrypha or Chimera, but if I don't get to enjoy myself before that win, then it becomes meaningless to me. When I heard you both got caught, I was pretty disappointed. So I turned myself into a human and purposely let those townsfolk capture me. Once I did this, I was put into a position where I could observe you both from a close distance without anyone knowing who I was."
"So you helped us because you didn't want to win the game yet? That's absurd!" cursed Zane.
"Well, I was also testing you two. I wanted to see if you were worth keeping alive. If you were worth my entertainment. Layla earned my respect by displaying just how cool and smart she could be for a human. So I decided not to kill her. As for you Zane, I wanted to kill you many times and I had planned to until you revealed your 'intuition'. Seeing how sharp it was on picking up danger, I decided to spare you since you weren't completely useless."
Zane hissed in rage hearing Apollo's words. He was sick of him treating their lives like a game as if they held no importance.
"Shut up! Stop acting like humans are inferior to your dumbass species! You came for us before we were ready and that's the only reason you're all winning! You're nothing but cowards!"
Zane was caught by surprise when he suddenly felt Apollo's tail wrap around his neck. It was furry and soft but had crazy strength. It slithered around his neck and began constricting like a snake. Zane could hardly breathe. His windpipe slowly being crushed by the power of Apollo's tail. A death stare from Apollo's sinister eyes glaring at him.
"Insolent and disgusting human! We act superior because we are! Before you even go off about inferiority, why don't you stop and think about the animals here on Earth that you slaughter for food? Don't humans eat them without a care? Don't humans treat their lives like it's of very little importance? Don't humans act superior to them? My species might be seen as bad but if there's one thing we don't have in common with humans, it's their hypocrisy!"
Zane was gagging and choking. The sound of air being squeezed from his throat with each passing second. His eyes rolling into the back of his head-turning white.
"No! Please don't kill him! Anything but that! He spoke out of context and I'm sure he's sorry! Please don't kill him!!" cried Layla desperately. Her body was still unable to move due to the hypnosis cast over her.
Apollo's snake-like eyes drifted over to Layla with an extremely cold stare. Her heart wanted to jump out of her body and run away as fast as it could.
Layla expected to be greeted with some sort of pain but instead, she saw a pleasant smile cross over Apollo's face. Calmly, he released his tail from around Zane's neck obeying Layla's cry.
"You're quite lucky Zane. I've told you this before and I'll say it as many times as I want until I see you dead. You're naïve and soft. Dumb and make way too many mistakes putting the lives of those around you in danger. Simply, I dislike you and really want to kill you." He paused for a moment as he looked back over to Layla. "However, on the other hand, we have Layla. Smart, cunning, and lets her brain do the talking instead of her heart. She's the definition of an intelligent being and I personally would love to simp for her. If it weren't for her, you would have been long dead by now. Sadly, her one weakness at the moment is you. I should just kill you to set her free of those emotions but that might have the opposite effect which I would like to avoid."
Zane coughed as the air began flowing through his windpipe once more. He swallowed and looked back up onto Apollo.
"Aren't you just gonna kill us anyway? You have us caught and completely outsmarted. It's your perfect chance..."
"Hehehoo! You're right about that. In total, the Apocrypha could have killed you three times now in the space of just two weeks. I gave you immunity to the virus and allowed you to gain protection under human soldiers but it seems it was still not enough. Humans really are inferior creatures. I overestimated you."
"So if you're not going to kill us then what are you planning??" demanded Layla.
Apollo picked himself up and gave a short bellow to the other Rank 4 Apocrypha. Exactly on queue, they grabbed the arm of every other group member inclusive of Anastasia, and dragged them over to him. Their bodies lying flat on the wet grass paralyzed by hypnosis. They could only produce muffled screams which were heartbreaking to hear.
"What are you planning to do with them???" bawled Zane.
"I'm going to make this game a tad fairer. I was waiting until you had ten other members in your group exclusive of me. Now that you do, I will inject my blood into each one of them allowing them to share the burden you two carry."
They watched in horror as Apollo walked around injecting his blood into the others one-by-one. Their bodies began shaking like they were having seizures and their eyes rolled over in the back of their heads. The only one left untouched was Anastasia given the fact she was also an Apocrypha.
Slowly, they all began to breathe again as Apollo's blood circulated within their veins. Sweat washing their faces and their lungs crying for more air. The pain they had just felt was not comprehensive when compared to the pain they were used to.
"And then there were ten! Hehehoo! The rules haven't changed. At least one of the ten of you must survive 2020. Failure to do so will result in the annihilation of all humanity."
"But why involve Serenity and Deandre! They're just small teenagers!" argued Zane.
"Hehehoo! Does it look like I care? Food is food, whether young or old. Death comes for all no matter who you are."
Zane clenched his teeth in rage. He was alright with the others becoming main targets but he hated how Deandre and Serenity had been forced into this.
"If anything, you should all be grateful to me. I'm easing some of the burdens from your shoulders and increasing the odds of humanity's survival. Just one of you needs to be alive by the end of the year and you win. You even have additional information you could use against us. Our greatest weaknesses to be used in your favor." continued Apollo.
Zane and Layla had no choice but to be quiet and accept what Apollo had done. Another outburst could potentially get them killed.
Apollo then turned to face Anastasia who was restrained more than any of the others. Both her feet and legs were tied together tightly. Her mouth covered with cloth and her eyes baring nothing but fear. Before she even knew it, Apollo used his long nail and sliced through the cloth on her mouth.
He stared at her with a neutral face that was even creepier than seeing him smiling.
"Anastasia, what a waste of a Rank 4 Apocrypha like yourself. To think a Rank 4 Apocrypha like yourself would actually allow emotions to dictate your actions instead of the intelligent brain you have."
Anastasia remained quiet. Her eyes were afraid to meet Apollo's gaze. She even reverted to her Apocrypha form as if trying to show her respect for Apollo.
Apollo laughed like a devilish monkey. His voice was loud and shrill. "I'll give you two options; One, you can go with the humans and continue to run as an outcast of the Apocrypha for the rest of your traitorous life. Or two, you can offer me your brain to take back to the King as forgiveness. Which do you choose?"
Anastasia shook like an earthquake. Her life was surely over. She had expected this to be the case if she had gotten caught and thought she was mentally prepared but she couldn't be any more wrong. The apprehension that seeped through her body was like water to a sponge. Even if they were to somehow win against the Apocrypha, in the end, humanity would never accept her knowing what she was. There were only two paths ahead of her, both with dead ends.
"I'm waiting for an answer Anastasia." declared Apollo.
She closed her eyes as she was ready to accept death. She couldn't bear the stress of everything around her. Even the humans that she helped still didn't completely trust her. It made no sense to put herself through any more pain. She opened her mouth ready to give Apollo the go-ahead to take her life but was then stopped by Zane shouting as loudly as he could.
"Don't give up! I know what you're thinking! I know you think it's over! But don't give up! Even if humanity doesn't accept you for who you are I will! You sacrificed everything to help us and I intend to honor it! Once this is all over, you can take human form and live with us! So please don't give up!!
Anastasia looked up. Her eyes dazzling with hope. Zane's words forcing encouragement through her. He wanted her to live on even if she was nothing more than an Apocrypha. She clenched her snowy-colored white hands and hardened her face as she looked up into the eyes of Apollo.
"I'll help the humans"
Apollo smiled, excitement obviously making itself known within him. "Fascinating choice! Fine then, I shall let you stay with the humans but all other Apocrypha shall know of your betrayal. Your head shall be hunted just like the rest of these humans."
Apollo then picked himself up and paced back over to Layla and Zane. He placed his dark nail underneath Layla's chin not liking how quiet she had been.
"What's wrong? Are you not satisfied with what I've done to help you? I eased your burden, saved your lives, allowed Apocrypha secrets to be spilled, and even allowed you to gain your personal Apocrypha. Is that not enough?"
Layla frowned, her eyebrows narrowed in rage, "I won't be satisfied until all of you are dead! You may be right that humans are a terrible species but the Apocrypha are no better! The same goes for you filthy Chimera! We'll win this and make you sorry for underestimating us! I swear it on my life!"
"Hehehoo! Just ensure you have a life to swear it on when it's all said and done Layla. I just like how feisty and smart you are! If only you were a beautiful Chimera like myself then I'd probably choose you as my next bride!"
"Sorry, I don't do monkeys. I would have to hang myself if it came down to that."
Apollo just continued to laugh as he picked himself up. He bellowed to the other Rank 4 Apocrypha around him, signaling them to release their hypnosis. The group of friends instantly felt the strength in their bodies return to them. They groaned and cried as the numb sensation disappeared.
Apollo began to walk away disappearing with the Apocrypha into the darkness. As he disappeared, his voice echoed back towards them;
"I'll be taking my leave now... but Zane, you need to become more sage. Your unwise decisions will surely get someone killed. The game resumes in the morning. Good luck to humanity because you've all seen nothing yet."
Those were the last words they heard as Apollo disappeared into the dark. The full moon still gazing down at them setting the stage for what was to come.