ZOOM
"Is everybody okay... Please everyone be okay."
Silence..
"We are okay.." Ned adjusted his specks.
"Phew .."
Freda walked into the bus with her eyes closed, halted all of a sudden as she sniffed. She opened her eyes and stared at them in horror, like she spotted a demon amongst them.
She looked from one seat to the other, her eyes quivering heavily. She was in shock...
"It can't be.... Could it be..." She thought.
It couldn't be...
"Where's Neil...?" She finally spoke out.
She looked at the floor and spotted a drop of blood on the floor, the same one she perceived in the woods.
She looked at Sandy as he smiled mischievously, she looked at the blood again... This time the fear on her face has been noticed by the rest of the cliques, her mouth quivered but nothing came through.
With haste, she dashed outside and yelled one name....
"Neilllll....."
There was no response... She panted heavily as she contemplated, she turned around to fall into... An open arm.
The embrace was calm and familiar, she redirected her eyes from the chest to the face.. Her eyes suddenly went bright as a smile spread across her face, a tear fell of her right eye.
"Why are you crying?"
"It was your blood..." She spoke as she pushed Neil backward. "wasn't it.?"
"Ummm..." Neil scratched his head.
"When would you stop being careless Neil..." She barked.
"I don't know..." Was the answer. "I guess when you guys stop being careless actually."
"What did you just say..." She barked angrily.
She thrust her fist towards his face and waved it in front of him, Neil lifted his arm in total submission and chuckled uncontrollably. Freda blabbed words that weren't understandable, like she was speaking another dialect. She lifted both her hands in the air as she bellowed, everyone in the truck burst into laughter... Except Delia of course.
Neil felt a sudden harsh energy surge with killing intent, an extremely dark aura antagonistic to nature itself...
With quick turn, Neil looked around himself.. trying to figure out the location of the one emitting the infectious toxic auras. But it seem to be coming from all directions. He decided to use the help of his other eyes to track down the location of the aura, he closed his eyes tight for few seconds before opening them.
Freda looked at Neil with surprise, then stepped back two paces from him the moment she laid her eyes on his eyes.. as it's colour shifted from gold to purple with black patterns taking the shape of a spiral. Then it portrayed a black flower before the pupil, he inhaled heavily as he shut his eyes closed.
A great wave spouted from his body pushing Freda backwards the moment he opened his eyes, his visual prowess on geographical view expanded beyond normal. He looked around himself as he scanned the horizon, he was tracing the surge to it's source when he noticed a black shadow standing amongst the trees on the hill side of the forest. He tried to enhance his sight to see who the shadow was, the shadow emitted a wave of its own that pushed his visuality backwards. He felt the wave entering his own body and it pushed him backwards a bit, he withstood the wave with a large amount of stamina.
He looked up again towards the shadow, but it was no where to be found... He reached out with his senses trying to find the surge again but... It was gone. Like there was nothing there in the first place, he looked towards Rory with questioning eyes.
"Did you feel it.." Neil telepaths.
"Yes I did..."
Both of them decided to meet in the middle, they were few meters away from each other. Unfortunately the surge came again. This time, it was more intense than the first strike, it's intensity was powerful enough to bring everyone in the vicinity straight to the ground Like they were under the effect of gravity, Miss Wade stood up with difficulty ... She felt herself being pulled under the weight but she was able to support herself enough to oppose the weight, after few seconds of struggling. She stood up with her eyes closed, and walked towards Neil.. she resisted the gravity as she approached Neil...
"Neil..." She called out. "Neill..."
To Neil, it was like he was in a dark place, his name echoing loudly like he was in an empty room, then he felt a firm grip on his shoulder.
He winced.
"Neil... Get a hold of yourself.."
Neil opened his eyes to meet the shocked and concerned faces of his friends, they had gathered around him.
"What was that...?"
"You fell under a trance, with the rest of us." Miss Wade explained. "And it seemed especially effective on you. You can relax now. It's gone."
Just then, before he could even take a breather, Neil felt an eye on him which made him jump to his feet. It was the shadow, but this time he could see it's eyes.
The eyes were like his, only darker and more complex.
The spirals had a leaf pattern circulating it, and the flower had six petals close to the pupil. It was like staring at his own eyes in an advanced mode that he had yet to discover.
It only lasted a second, before the shadow vanished, leaving only an afterimage.
Then reality came back to him to again that he was still at the middle of the road, Miss Wade gestured at him to return to the vehicle.. It was already noon and as far as everyone knew, the excursion was over and they had just missed the timeframe of the event they were headed to.
They entered the bus, this time with a complete crew, on their way though Neil couldn't stop himself from shaking.
After a while he calmed down as he recollected the information concerning the eye patterns... And the difference between his and the unknown wielder.
"Who was that person?" He asked no one.
.
.
.
Titan stood at the top of the hill and watched the bus depart from the area, his eyes had mad excitement in them that one could easily notice. He grinned maniacally as he held both of his hands together, then he let out a devious laugh... Before inhaling heavily, appreciating the fresh air.. Then he exhaled heavily with his arms outstretched.
"This is gonna be an exciting adventure for me.." He laughed loudly. "And am gonna make sure I enjoy it."
Suddenly he became silent and his expressions had faded of his face, he looked towards the sky with a bit of suspense on his face.
"But... What was that surge earlier..."
.
.
.
The buses returned to the school yard and halted before the water fountain, the students climbed down from their buses, quickly making groups to talk about what they had witnessed. Many discussed about all they had seen, some of them queried about the short term visit and wished they have had more time at the excursion.. Kai jogged and apprehended Sandy as he walked towards his dorm...
"I didn't see you guys at the excursion today..." He began. "What happened?..."
Sandy sighed as he placed his hands on Kai's shoulders, he smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder twice before letting go. Then he walked away leaving Kai behind... Kai watched very closely as he moved along the staircase to his dorm.
" We are going to get there at almost the same time as everyone else. Remember.. no one has to know that we did not attend the excursion.." Sandy recalled Miss Wade's warning. "It will only arouse suspicion."
Sandy walked straight to his room and pushed open his door, without further delay on what to do next... He shut the door close.