Dark energy clouded her mind like fall leaves covering the ground. Beautiful to some, like the shadows. However, gruesome to others, like the defender trying desperately wake Kathryn from her dark abyss.
Unfortunately, Kathryn didn't want to wake up. If she did, she would have to face the fact that she didn't bring Angel along with her. She let her best friend go into the jaws of danger, even though she recognized something was off about him.
While the battle between darkness and light raged within her, Basel fought off Jasper and Denmon alone, while simultaneously trying to grab her attention.
As she fought off her assailants, Basel wondered why she didn't ask for backup. Schools and hospitals are where most defenders and shadows are born, and when she sensed a possible defender in both Jasper and Kathryn, she took on the role by herself. Now she realized she made a grave error.
"Angel!" Kathryn screams, the darkness taunting her. It shows her visions of her mutilated body, lying helpless in the hospital. Not just Angel, but if her other teammates, slaughter for Jasper's and Denmon's amusement.
It laughed at her, goading her on, it's dark talons begging her to join the darkness and be freed from grief and pain.
Just as soon as she almost gave in, a voice reached her ears.
"Kathryn!"
The commotion in the kitchen stopped, Kathryn's parents standing in the doorway. The feeling of guilt left, relief replacing it. Suddenly, she was no longer alone. She remembered that even though she was adopted, she was still loved.
Just as the anger melted away, midnight struck the clock, and Kathryn's decision had been made. The darkness would not have its way with her.
Basel eyed the clock. How long had they really been going at this? Then she remembered the night she had almost given into her own temptations.
It began to feel like a never ending cycle.
"Kill them!" Denmon ordered Jasper.
They both took off in different directions. Denmon went after Basel, and Jasper went after Kathryn's parents.
"Not a chance in hell!"
Taking off at a speed she didn't know she had, Kathryn met Jasper before he reached her parents, landing a right hook on his cheek.
Not knowing her own strength, Jasper's head was flung in the opposite direction, sending it reeling through the kitchen wall, and out of the house.
Horrified at the sight, her adoptive parents looked at her with utter disgust.
Blood spattered on the floor, as Jasper's lifeless body laid unmoving.
Kicking Denmon to the side, Basel grabs for Kathryn, making a run for it, as her foster parents dialed for the police department.
Her heart sunk. The Gibson's had been kind enough to take her in when her grandmother became ill, even visiting her when Kathryn was busy. Now she had made a bloody mess of their home, and had taken someone's life.
The two drove in silence as Kathryn replayed the events over and over in her mind, not too sure on what to think about the situation. She needed to know what just happened, what was all of this about the void, and why did she nearly lose her mind to this dark fog? What did it all mean?
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions." Basel announced, cutting into the silence.
"I just- that's such an understatement right now."
Kathryn looked out the window at the passing scenery. Images of trees, buildings, and the school she would now be leaving behind. Fond memories of her slaughtered friends invade her mind, tears threatening to break the surface.
"Tell you what, we can talk more when we're off the road."
Putting her head against the windshield, the exhausted teen agreed, her eyes closing, hoping that when she opened her eyes again this would all just be a terrible nightmare.
"Come on," was all Kathryn heard as she was rudely awakened from her nap.
"Hey, be gentle!" Basel warned.
"Sorry boss, she wasn't moving. Kid was sleeping like she hadn't had any sleep in years."
"Sorry I made it so difficult for you," Kathryn grunted, before walking away from the unknown woman that had woken her up.
"Sor-ry princess," she responded before walking away herself.
"Alright ladies, that's enough. Let's go inside, I'll show you around, help you get cleaned up, and then I'll ask any questions you may have."
Nodding at her now former volleyball coach, Kathryn follows her inside the abandoned building. Part of her wondered if she was brought here to be murdered.
"I know it isn't much, but thanks to everything that went down at the school, and your house, we can't exactly go back to our homes. It gruesome, but it's also our reality at the present moment."
The words she spoke vibrated between the two of them.
"I can never go home." Kathryn responded with a pause. "Did he really do those things to Angel?"
"He did break her spine, however, he didn't butcher her. He didn't have the time, I walked into practice late, so I couldn't protect them the way I should have. That was my failure. Still, Angel is tough, and with surgery she could pull through."
There was a bittersweet relief that washed over her. On the one hand her best friend could possibly make it out of everything okay. On the other, the team she had spent years bonding with were dead. Slaughtered like cattle, all because Jasper and Denmon wanted to get to her, and flew into a rage.
"What was all of that? Why is this happening?"
In reality, it felt like she was asking herself that question, rather than her mentor.
"Come, walk with me, and I'll tell you all about it. A long time ago, back when humans had finally begun to evolve, and think, their developing kinetic energy began to collect into another dimension called The Void. All those guru books that talk about you creating your own reality, let's just say they aren't completely off. The energy in The Void would amass every so often, in a peculiar manner, and a gate to The Void would open unleashing some of its energy. Good or bad, it didn't matter, some humans were affected more so than others. Those like yourself, and Jasper.
The energy itself is neither good or bad, but rather, it feeds off the energy of its host. Those of us with naturally pure hearts turn into Defenders. We protect those of regular society, typically from themselves, but also from Shadows. Those who have been tempted into darkness by their most base and horrid desires."
"The voice in my head, was the The Void?" Kathryn asked, needing answers.
"Yes and no. Twenty four hours before your eighteenth birthday, if you have been effected by The Void, both Shadows and Defenders get desperate in trying to sway them to their side. The energy itself is neither good nor bad, but rather affected by those that hear The Call. Before you heard about Angel being injured, you were not too affected by life, and you were more inclined to be a good person. However, when he told you what he did, and his intentions, all you could think of was revenge. It was a catalyst to you hearing The Call in a more ominous light. I am honestly amazed you managed to fight it off, so close to your birthday. Not too many people would have been capable of resisting after experiencing that much rage."