*Sniff* *Sniff*
The sound of sniffs could be heard in the forest nearby, like hungry wolves tracing a path to a wounded rabbit.
An eyeless creature emerges from the forest, continuing on the scent trail. It makes a purr-like sound before dashing forward. It sits in front of a tent and paws gently at the door.
Someone in heavy dark boots clunks their way to the tent, opening the door with ease and looking around in the dark. Upon finding who they were looking for, they dropped a canister, closing the door behind them and allowing for the smoke to put everyone inside to sleep.
It was Cal's tent, where Kai, Michi, Markus, and Cal all slept.
The person then re-entered with their dog/cat-like pet. They picked up Cal and vanished into the forest, leaving the door wide open.
***
"Tracks?" Instructor Miko asked, brushing his finger over some large clawed tracks. "Pathogenic animals... used by that... cult? How did they get in here?" It took him a moment, but he realized he needed to check on everyone.
Everyone was still there... except for Cal, whose bed remained empty and messy.
***
Within hours, everyone was in different search teams to branch out into the forest in a rescue attempt.
Meanwhile, however, Cal resided in the forest unwillingly. He struggled against his restraints and burnt his own wrist with friction in an attempt to make it slip off.
***
"Calibrum, oh dear Calibrum. So beautiful you are... look at you! Do you remember gifting us your blessings!?" A man yelled.
"What a psycho..." Cal whispered. "Who are you?" He asked, now louder.
"Hm? Do you not remember us?" The man asked, looking around to the other cloaked figures lingering nearby.
The pets were in cages now, sloppily eating raw meat and growling. The figures walked around Cal slowly, the sound of dangling chains filled his head.
"What do you want?!" Cal asked, feeling a little panicked now.
"Mother." The group whispered in sync. "Our offering is the boy himself."
Cal tried moving. He couldn't. Fear filled his body. An offering? Was he going to be sacrificed?!
"Take the boy and live again! Be free from your restraints! Do to them, what they did... to you!" They continued in perfect unison.
"Stop it!" Cal yelled, slamming his chains onto the ground. Everyone went silent and was broken out of their ritualistic trance.
"How dare you defy the ritual! How dare you speak during it! Trash! Filth! Garbage!" The man yelled, kicking Cal with each insult.
Cal fell onto his side, blood leaking slightly from his nose. He couldn't get himself back up, so he just laid on his side.
A blade being unsheathed was an audible sound nearby. Cal could soon see a jagged blade. A sacrificial blade.
"Help!" He begged, he felt his eyes water, how could he be so weak in such a desperate time? Where was the strength from before?!
"Calibrum." The voice inside spoke. It was as if time around Cal froze in its place.
"Want to get out of this alive? I could always help." It said, laughing in its distorted voice.
Cal was tempted to decline the offer but had no other choice at the moment.
"Fine! Help me!" Cal begged the other side of himself.
"Deal."
***
When I awoke, I was at the fence of the camp. The memories of what my other side had done was slowly coming back to me.
First, he broke the chains, using it to whip the legs of the nearby members, sending them onto their backs, but as he ran, a horn of sorts was rung and over a hundred members appeared from the trees.
I----No, it... attacked some people, taking them down, with some being killed.
The first words I even said to it were, "You didn't have to kill anyone."
It replied as coldly as ever.
"You've killed soldiers with family before. What I did was actually good compared to yours."
Its words rang true, but were not what I wanted to hear.
"Just... listen to me. You are not in control. I am. Do what I say and stop killing people!" I yelled, maybe a little too loud.
I entered with my ID and quietly crept back to my tent.
Markus was awake, holding his head.
"Cal? Where have you been?" He asked, squinting his eyes in pain.
"Just the bathroom." I said.
I didn't even know why I didn't tell him the truth. I must have just been too tired.
***
The next morning, some others had headaches, most likely from the stuff that knocked us out, but it seemed nobody else remembered, which was fortunate? Maybe unfortunate?
I ate and crept around the fence, making sure I wasn't being watched. I wasn't, yet the feeling of eyes being on me was just too intense.
After the search, I returned to my tent and just sat on my bed, thinking to myself about the people who took me.
"Yes!" Someone exclaimed from under their blanket, the sound of a level being cleared in a game rang out as well.
"Kai?" I asked, but with no response at first.
"Just beat that really hard level!" He yelled.
I smiled, he'd been mentioning the level for a while now.
I decided I wanted a more... private place, so I left the tent and went near the fence. I sat down on a nearby bench and thought to myself.
"I can tell you are sad." A voice spoke. I turned my head in surprise and could see a boy smiling at me.
"You can?" I asked, seemingly frozen in place.
"Of course. I can read anyone like a book." He sat down and smiled once again. He tilted his head back and stared at the bright morning sky.
"Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break." He said, smiling even wider after saying it.
"Did you come up with that?" I asked, curious of the choice of words used.
"Nope. William Shakespeare did. Not many people know that quote." He said. He looked over at me and leaned closer while smiling creepily.
"Hey. What's your name?"
"Cal."
"Oh! You're the Full Pathogen one we learned about?"
"erm... no. That would be Markus."
"Ah, so you must be the Half-Pathogen one?"
"Yeah." I looked at the ground.
"I think that's cool. Nothing to be ashamed of!" He said, continuing with a quote that actually made me feel better.
"When you're playing someone else, it sounds so negative to say you want to erase yourself, but part of the joy of it is you get to not be yourself." He said.
I smiled.
"Tavi Gevinson." He said. His smile faded a bit. It was my turn to make him feel better. "You sure know a lot of quotes. Your memory is crazy!"
He laughed a bit and said goodbye, even bowing before leaving.
The boy had short black hair, blue-ish eyes, and a strange clothing choice, although it matched him well. His long green shirt and long black pants were just his style. Like an old timey bard or something.