It was dark and hollow, as mysterious silence fell upon the surface of the wood. All was still and calm, not a sound was heard.. not even the chirping sounds of the crickets was heard in the still hollow woods.
A light breeze began, waving the trees gently as they brush past them. Not long... Before a heavy storm came forth, twisting and bending the trees.. almost to breaking point. The forest began to illuminate as a bright light and whooshing sounds sprang forth, and a voice drowned by the storm came out slightly.... Like there was a fight....
BOOM...
An impact aroused from within the light, then the intensity began to die down.. it revealed a shadow and a young individual. He was staring at the shadow, slightly out of breath, the young individual emitted another beam of light and increased it to the size of the moon the moment the shadow attacked the him.
"Get going you guys...." Reece cried out. "Leave this to me."
His comrades watched him battle the shadow alone with his light, Miss Wade watched for few seconds.
"Jayden..."
"Yes ma'am.." Jayden answered.
" Take Delia and Freda with you... Find the driver while the spectre is distracted." She commanded.
" Roger..." Jayden said.
He bailed out of the scene with haste, with both girls following him closely leaving Miss Wade and Neil behind.
Neil had been covering his eyes due to the fact that he transported one vessel for two others, his breathing irregular as he squatted.
"How are you feeling?"
"Not that good..." Neil replied. "I can sense am getting closer..."
"Closer to what?" She asked.
He turned his head towards her direction.
"My limit...."
They diverted their attention towards the fight, the shadow was having the upper hand and Reece was losing.
Neil stood up to offer help... He felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Miss Wade restraining him from moving.
"Why?"
"Reece had been hiding for too long..." Was the answer.
" Meaning?" Neil asked.
Silence.
Neil looked back at the fight. It hurt him to see his comrade risking his life against the specter. He didn't know why he was restricted but he knows that Miss Wade has a reason... Hopefully not a stupid one.
Reece spinned around, twisting his arms in the air before bringing the hands closed to his chest. They lay slightly above each other, he began to extend the distance between his arms to release a beam. Without further hesitation, he thrust it towards the shadow like a Canon, it hit it squarely before dissipating.
Fear crept up Reece's sleeves as he took a step back, the shadow gave out an eerie cry and struck out with a spear like tentacle... That seemed to be aiming for his chest.
SLASH..... SPLATTER.....
.
.
.
"Told you we will make it out..." Ned remarked.
They had been in the air for few minutes, now they had successfully landed. There was a large sigh of relief from everyone the moment they touched the ground, they all have had another rough day.
"Guess our vacation has come to an end..." Jade queried.
" Yeah..." Glen spoke sadly.
Ned looked around them and noticed someone was missing amongst them.
"Where's Sandy." He asked.
"And Lyn..." Jade added.
" Don't you guys worry..." Glen walked straight to the bus. " They will be fine..."
"And how would you know.?" Cheryl asked.
" I can her screams already." He pointed to the sky.
They all turned around towards the direction he was pointing, it was faint and they couldn't notice anything. Not long before they spotted a sparkle amongst the ray of the sky, Jade smiled and walked away shaking her head in pity.
"Their scream... You meant?" She asked.
"Precisely...." Glen agreed.
"Then you should have said so."
Sandy landed with his leg slightly opened wide, he let go of Lyn as she drooped with a thud. He swayed to the left and to the right as he made his way towards the bus like a rat that had been electrocuted, Lyn shot a nasty stare at Sandy as he left her on the ground.
"Why did you drop me off like that?" She queried. "Can't you be more gentle...."
Sandy just kept walking without looking back at her, his red hair has gone spiky and his body emitting fumes.
"Hey.... Am talking to you."
"Why should I be gentle?" Was the reply. "After all you put me through... I almost died, you know ."
He turned around and lifted his arms in the like a convict would, he definitely looked like a mess.
"I should thank you... And guess what.?" He taps his ears. "I can't hear anything.. except the aero_whats_so_ever.... Word that you kept repeating echoing in my head."
" Point of correction.." Ned spoke up.
Sandy lifted his finger in front of Ned to shut him up, he waved the fingers and clicked his tongue in disagreement.
"Don't even think about it..." He warned. "I don't wanna hear it."
He turned again and walked towards the door, he opened it and swayed into the bus without uttering another word. He tossed himself into the chair and lay flat on the chair, lettimg his legs dangle on the floor.
"And he said he couldn't hear anything..."
Cheryl walked towards Lyn and helped her to her feet, she smiled suspiciously. Lyn observed it and nodded, to everyone's surprise... They giggled, making everyone dumbfounded.
Someone amongst them drew Ned's sleeves, he looked down to see Chiyo.
"How can i be of service?" He asked.
"Ummm..." She looked down. "The tires aren't fixed yet.."
Ned observed the vehicle and noticed the front tire was flat, he adjust his specks to fit his face. He walked towards the bus and observed the fault in the bus, his matrix scanned through the bus. The matrix observation showed the structure of the bus in his head as he contemplated, not long enough he spotted it.
"I guess it there..." He murmured.
He walked to the front and squatted, he went further down to inspect if his theory was accurate enough.. He smiled just after he observed it.
"Glen..."
"Yeah.."
"I need your help..." He adjust his specks.
Glen walked towards him as he brush off dirts from his clothes.
"Help me manifest this structure of mine.."
He portrayed a hologram of a big car jack...
" Huh...?" Glen looked at him with a questioning face.
"Draw them out..." He smiled. "How long does your sketch last?"
"Long enough..." Was the reply. "But what do you intend to do?"
"Not me.... We." Ned smiled
" Hmmm..." Glen thought. " What do you want me to do?"
"I need someone else too." He lifted his head. "Sandy..."
" What..?" Sandy cried out.
"Guess your abilities is going to be needed to get this bus fixed..." Ned answered.
There was movement inside the bus, then it halted... Sandy came into view with his hand on his waist, he looking angrier than ever. He hopped down the bus and squinting his eyes a bit as he looked at Ned.
"What do you need me for?" He asked.
"We have to get this bus working again...." Ned said extending his hand for a handshake. " What say you."
"I guess this is why I was let off the hook by Miss Wade.." He thought. " Guess Neil was smart after all."
Sandy smiled and nodded in agreement to help, and shook Ned's hands.
.
.
.
The silence in the woods was a hushed one, the only thing that had sound was the wind and a splattering liquid. The rusting leaves portrayed blood dropping on top of it, the blood from an individual that has been stabbed.
Reece opened his eyes in Surprise as they quaver in fear, he just couldn't believe what is happening... It was in a blink of an eye that everything happened, too fast for his visuals to catch.
"Blood...." He whispered as he looked down in horror.
The blood trickled down from the shadows spear, he looked up again still not believing the whole issue.
"But why?" He asked.
"My heart kept telling me your needed a push...." A voice replied in his head.
He was looking at a person who had saved him from the shadows spear and got stabbed in the shoulder, the person lowered his head and panted. He lifted his head and smile at Reece, before grabbing him by the shoulders.
"Stop holding back..."
"Neil.." Reece cried softly.
Reece conjured a light spear, he swung it to break the shadows spear. Neil fell on his shoulder, he grabbed Neil by the waist and hopped backward.
Miss Wade dashed towards them as he lay Neil to the ground, he was bleeding excessively.
"And why do that?" Reece asked in tears. "Why do you keep sacrificing yourself..?"
"That my friend..." Neil lifts his hand to the air. " I can't explain... Stop fighting it... And embrace it."
The hands dropped to the ground, Reece watched it in horror. His eyes quivered heavily as he cried inwards.
"Not again.... Not again .." the words repeated in his head.
The weather began to change, it went dark almost Instantly. Dark fumes began to evaporate from Reece's body, Miss Wade halted halfway the moment she saw the dark auras Reece emitted. It was far dense and heavy than that of the shadows, his once bright uniform suddenly went dull because of the blueish black aura he emitted.
There was frown on his face as his eyes closed tightly, a large gale filled the horizon... Twisting and bending the trees, rusting leaves waved in the air as the gale storm lasted. Reece stood up slowly, his once beautiful grey hair has become nothing but blueish black. The whirlwind around his body was toxic and black, and his bright eye colour had become... Evil and dead purple.
The shadow gave out eerie screech, it hit out wide with a tentacle that aimed for Reece's head. Reece lifted his head towards the sky, there was no trace of life or light in his eyes. The shadows tentacles came close to Reece's body, and evaporated into thin air leaving nothing behind.
Reece looked at the shadow with his cold dead eyes, eyes without remorse...
"So this is the thing he feared the most." Miss Wade thought as she covered her face with her hands to prevent tiny sticks and leaves from reaching her face.
Reece turned towards the shadow and swayed towards it, it released more tentacles.. but the same thing happened, he moved closely towards the shadow and halted.
He lifted his head and looked at the shadows, it gave out a loud cry as it struck from the left. Reece lifted his fingers to his left and the shadow evaporated, it did the same from the right. Reece turned his stare towards it and it evaporated, he looked at the specter with his head tilted to the right.
He lifted his hand towards it's direction, before pointing at it...
"You have no powers here..." Reece voice became dark and scary. "Return to the buttom of the abyss and never return..."
The shadow cried out as it contracted, it was shrinking as the gale became more intense for one to endure. Whooshing and cracking sounds were loudly heard, the cloud was uproarious. Lightning and thunder moved instantly as a typhoon began to surface....
"So..." Miss Wade thought. "This is why he was afraid of his powers... And preferred to remain calm over everything that came his way."
She moved her left leg, then the other as she slowly walked towards Reece.. this time with her hands no longer covering her face. She walked towards Reece, she had no fear on her face.. but her face expressed something else.... Satisfaction...