For the one who wishes to see in the darkness, One must obtain a light of some sort whether it be figuratively or literally. But for the ones who decide to let the darkness show them the truth and reveal its secrets, One must only require courage.
"It's begun." Nyla muttered once more as the atmosphere around her was completely different, causing chills down the group's spine from the shift of atmosphere. "What!? What has begun! Nyla snap out of it!" Sabrina shouted in major concern, continuously shaking Nyla by the shoulders. Jaxson on the other hand, was particularly calm, and went to place a hand on Atlas' shoulder making sure that he's okay, "Hey man, You alright? You need some water?" Jaxson's hand got static shocked when he got close to him, quickly pulling his hand away, grunting minorly. Atlas looked up at Jaxson giving him a friendly yet, exhausted smile, "Sorry bout that, I would like some water though please. That'd be great." Jaxson's body shuddered a bit when Atlas looked up at him, being in shock upon seeing something unknown to Atlas. Jax gave him a quick nod before standing up and heading out of the clubroom to the cafeteria.
Nyla was struggling to get Sabrina off her as Atlas stood up, stretching out his body which felt like he was moving a body within his flesh, "Woah... I feel weird, and woozy..." his brain felt delayed causing him to get motion sickness. He rushed to the trashcan and puked into it, which caused the ladies to stop what they were doing. Nyla, not answering Sabrina, rushed over to Atlas patting his back and Sabrina handed him a handkerchief when he was done. Atlas wiped his mouth and noted that the trash had no scent, having all of them look within. Piles of black goop coated the inside of the trashcan, moving and twitching with electricity circulating through it like a sentient creature. After a minute of sloshing and mild shrieking released by the substance, The trio realized that it stopped moving with its sounds and electricity fading out along with it.
Jaxson walked back into the room and saw the group huddled around the garbage, as he slowly approached Sabrina and tapped her shoulder. She squealed loudly and jumped away, seeing that it was just Jaxson. "Why you- Don't sneak up on me like that!" She exclaimed, slapping his shoulder. While Jax and Nyla were laughing at the situation, Atlas seemed to be in his own world, "I think I'ma head home." Atlas spoke while grabbing his bag and straightening his white, Grey and Black pixel bomber jacket. "See you guys tomorrow." He waved and left abruptly before the gang could say anything back, being worried for him.
"You think he's gonna be alright?" Sabrina asked, looking over to Nyla hopefully for her psychic advice. "Let's give it time, He did get struck by lightning after all." Nyla replied, "Yeah but, He didn't even take the water I got for him." Jaxson spoke standing there with a bottle of water. They all sighed in unison as Jax shrugged, drinking from the bottle.
Atlas walked out of school campus to his house, Thinking about the man in the forest and that vision over and over again, questioning if he was crazy. Was any of it real? He didn't feel any pain upon getting hit so he was convinced that this was all a dream, but what if it wasn't.. He stared at his hand, focusing a little as nothing happened for a moment. Atlas was about to brush everything off until he saw streaks of purple flash around his veins, making his nerves feel jittery and numb. He shook his hand to try to retrieve feeling in his fingers again, trying to believe that this would all be gone by tomorrow after a good night's rest and a nice hot meal however, the same thought haunted his mind from separate voice within, "But what if it won't.. what if this is permanent, what if this is your life now." The voice spoke in his mind over and over when Atlas tried to deny that this could be real.
He let out a sigh and as if on cue, His phone vibrated alerting him of 3 new messages from Nyla. The messages read, "Hey Atlas, Call me when you get home, we have a lot to discuss." Atlas' heart started to quiver after reading it as he stopped his stroll, staring at the phone. "Why do I get the feeling that this call won't go as expected.." Sighing in confusion and exhaustion, Atlas made it home.
He opened the door and was welcomed by nothing but darkness, He remembered that his family were gonna be out til 8 and his older sister was out with her boyfriend for the night. He glanced at the godfather clock while taking off his shoes as it was ticking towards 5:17 P.M. All of a sudden, The sound of footsteps came from the top of the stairs with the sound of jiggling keys accompaning the footsteps. This shattered Atlas' belief of being home alone, Looking up at the steps seeing a faint silhouette in the darkness. There was a moment of silence for a few seconds between the two that felt like decade, the silhouette rushed down the step rapidly, running into the sunlight peering through the window as it was his black Siberian Husky, Tempest. He pouncied onto Atlas greeting him, causing Atlas to fall onto the floor laughing and petting Tempest, realizing the sound came from his collar. "Hey buddy, I missed you to-" Atlas' sentence was interrupted by Tempest's scent and loose fur, coughing and spitting out hair. "Bleh.. You need a good bath and a good grooming not-so-little buddy." Managing to get muffled words through the fur, Tempest licked his face and barked, agreeing on the shower.
After Atlas took his own shower and got accommodated back home, He got Tempest's shower ready, scrubbing him. Atlas pondered continuously about today as Tempest barked at him as if asking what's wrong, "You're worried about me bud? Fair, I'm worried about me too. I got struck by lightning today, and it wasn't even raining.." Atlas replied, sighing to his own words continuing to scrub the fluffy and stinky beast down. "Then there was this goop, and then this forest with magical creatures and a person. I don't know how to make any sense of it all.." He explained, washing the soap off Tempest and drying him off. Atlas noticed black currents circulating both of them as he pulled the towel off Tempest, seeing his fur puffy and standing on end from the static in the air. He laughed, walking to his bedroom with Tempest as Atlas refilled Tempest's bowls, groomed him down and finally plopped face first into his bed.
Atlas rolled onto his back taking a deep breath, as Nyla called him, "Is this girl watching me or something, that's the second time- Hello?". "Hey Lightning rod, Seems like you made it home safe and sound. Thought you got struck by lightning again." Nyla chuckled but her laughter felt like it was hiding something. "Ha-Ha, we got a comedian here. Spill it, what did you want to discuss? I know you didn't call just to make fun of my pain." Atlas could see past the facade, and hoped this conversation would go the way he wanted. Was she gonna say it? Was Atlas' hypothesis true? "As if you were even hurt but. We need to talk… about that gift of yours." Nyla's words rang through Atlas' head as he was saddened that it wasn't what he had hoped, yet this did answer his other question and now knew that there was a lot more to Nyla than what meets the eye. "The lightning bolt? I wouldn't exactly call it a gift but-" "No, it is a gift, and a curse if misused." Nyla interrupted him and sighed before continuing, "That lightning bolt, was a symbol of an energetic awakening, another form of Kundalini awakenings if you will.". "Kundalini… what are you talking about?" Atlas stammered as his head started to feel heavy, "Atlas, you've been awakened by the darkness."
To be continued…
(Sorry this took an extra week to get out, Been dealing with a lot. Production will still go so stay tuned!)