XX.XX.XXXX?
When Ethan and Carmen returned back to the van, the cold followed them inside. Still, the inside was way warmer than the outside. They both were so soaked to the bone that the clothes had grown on weight.
"The rain can't be that bad," Velvette said as she watched the water dripping from each loose point of their attires.
"We could literally swim there," Carmen responded.
"I can't swim," Ethan mentioned.
"Neither do I," said Elodie and Velvette, along with Victor sympathizing based on the slight nod they did almost simultaneously.
"I can," Alex joined in. "Y'all are losers".
It was evident from his voice that he was being sarcastic, though Elodie, in spite of, was still exasperated, "Kill.Your.Self," she parted each syllable to convey her frustration.
"That was literally a joke," Carmen broke in. "Can you two stop arguing? ".
"Yeah, whatever," Alex gave up. "Anyways, I waited for the both of you to return," "Yeah, whatever," Alex gave up. "Anyway, I was waiting for you two to come back," his eyes met Carmen's. He was staring right at him, completely ignoring Ethan next to him. Not that he had a problem with Ethan, it was the very force that made him only look at Carmen. It was as if everything around him had become a blur, except for Carmen. "so I don't have to explain twice," he added. "Carmen," Alex began without breaking their intense eye contact. "Remember the strange monster we found in that cave?".
"Uhm…Yeah," Carmen hesitated before he recalled.
"So I did some research and I think it could be really important," Alex finally broke eye contact. With his gaze shifting, his voice shifted too, in a way that it didn't sound like it was just a conversation between Carmen and him. "I gave it the name 'shadow born' because it seems to be a creature that evolved throughout the years so much that its appearance had ultimately changed. It could, perhaps, be one of the first creatures ever forming. I believe if we defeat it, it wouldn't come to waste and could help us with the cure".
"Jesus, you really talk a lot…," Velvette chuckled. "Anyways, I don't understand a thing. Even so, I think that it's a great idea. I'm in".
Alex smiled at others' looks of agreement.
They waited for the sound of raindrops to cease before beginning the journey. Its sound eased in a few minutes but when they opened the door outside, the rain had slowed down significantly, although it hadn't completely stopped. Its downpour wasn't so hard anymore, yet still slightly running over them. So slight that it couldn't be heard. They were stuck in complete darkness—like always, only the stars guiding their path. As far as their hearing could reach, silence lingered, broken only by their own words. And the coldness. This world just kept getting colder.
"Is it just me or does anyone else feel like there's ice forming on their own clothes?" asked Ethan. Due to his clothes being soaked, and the climate cold, it indeed seemed that the water had freezed on him. He couldn't even feel his fingers. Yet, beneath that numbness, there was a sharp, throbbing pain that seemed to come from nowhere. It was like a cold knife was slowly slicing through his fingertips. If Theo was here, he would offer him his hoodie. But he wasn't.
"I think you're alone on this one," said Velvette.
"Not even you?" Ethan glanced at Carmen, "Carmen," he added in a desperate way with a hint of sarcasm.
He nodded in denial as a response.
"We should split up. The cave we're looking for is somewhere in that forest," Alex gestured to the forest using his chin. "The woods aren't spreaded out and the cave wasn't far. Also, if we scream, we'll hear each other".
No one had an objection, so they all—together headed towards the forest, where their path split up. The twins went together, and Alex was accompanied by Carmen, leaving Elodie and Ethan with each other. That didn't bother them, they spent days—even a few weeks, chaperoned only by each other's presence when the rest of Team C passed away.
Carmen and Alex were walking together throughout the paths of the forest, making their ways in between branches, bushes—anything in their way, when Alex dropped a sudden question, "Have you ever dated someone?".
"Yeah. I had a girlfriend".
Alex moved away a branch for the both of them, "Girlfriend?".
Carmen looked at him with a gaze, not so sure about what surprised Alex that much.
"I thought you were…".
Carmen cut him off, "No, you dumbass. I had a girlfriend".
"Well 'had', what happened?".
"I really liked this girl and one day I caught her cheating on me, while we were dating," Something itchy in his throat made him cough. "Sorry. Anyways, I was quite sad about it, you know?" it sounded like a question, though it wasn't. "But then I was like 'Fuck this girl', so I kissed the guy she had cheated on me with…In front of her".
Alex bursted out laughing.
Carmen chuckled, "The best part is that he didn't even pull away".
"Why'd you kiss a guy if you're not a man kisser though".
"I'd kiss anyone if I really liked them," Carmen sounded proud with his words. And then, as they kept moving forward, Carmen tripped over a stump in the middle of the path. The exact same one from before. "Shit," he screamed in shock.
"You two okay?" a voice that belonged to Velvette echoed loud enough to get to them.
"Yeah," Alex yelled back, then he burst out laughing again, "Isn't that the same stump you tripped over before?".
Carmen laughed too, "Hey, but that means we're getting close".
"Good point," Alex extended a hand to help him up. Standing, none of them let go and there was just this awkward moment while they stared into each other's eyes, unable to record the eye color. Now closer, even in the darkness, at least their appearances came into a focus.
Meanwhile Elodie and Ethan were also wandering through the forest's sprawl when Elodie suddenly mentioned, "Are you feeling better? You stopped crying".
"No. I physically can't cry anymore. That's why".
"Oh," her braids swirled as she moved her head up to the sky, gazing at the stars while walking.
The sky had cleared up, revealing the stars again. The view was beautiful, yes, but it was starting to get boring after those long months spent in darkness. She desired to see the vibrant blue sky again, the sun slowly setting—or rising, and observe how the colors mix into a painting of nature. "Were you crying because of the fact that he's gone or because he really isn't and is just suffering?".
"I was crying—and I will be because I tried so hard the entire time I had spent in the orphanage to make sure he never got hurt, and, well, I fucked it up. Why were we so stupid? Of course Mrs. Agnes had lied. She only tells the truth if it's good for her use," he sighed. "And I was crying for the other two reasons too".
Elodie turned to him, "Maybe it will end up well…we-". She wanted her voice to sound hopeful, yet despite her wishes, it only sounded filled with the complete opposite.
Ethan cut her off, "No, it won't. He's dead. Get over it".
"Shouldn't I be telling you this?".
"Maybe I was talking to myself," his words trailed off with rain's disappearance.
Finally, Carmen and Alex found the cave. But in front of its entrance laid a surprise; a dead human body, seemingly attacked by a creature. The corpse was still quite fresh—about a day old. The blood had dried and the insides were eaten, leaving only numerous holes in the body. It was a disgusting view because the face was scratched to the flesh—and even deeper. One would doubt that it used to be a human being in this state.
"Woah…," Carmen shrieked at the sight, almost stepping on the corpse. "How did that happen?".
"I don't know. But I know that I definitely don't wanna end up like this,"Alex fretted. "We should call the others".
Carmen nodded.
"Y'all we found it!" Alex screamed.
"Where are you?," fortunately, Elodie yelled back.
"I don't know. Follow my voice!".
"Then say something!" Vevette joined in.
"Bread!".
"Seriously? Bread," Carmen chuckled.
Alex rolled his eyes, "Uh…," he hesitated over choosing a random word, because in that moment, as if all the vocabulary he knew had disappeared in a fleeting instant.
"Potato!" Carmen screamed instead. A few seconds later he added, "A sponge that rode a donkey during Big Bang!". He coughed again, "Okay, I can't anymore".
"Are you sick?" Alex asked, concern evident in his voice.
"No".
Before the conversation could proceed, the others had found them.
Elodie approached the corpse, almost tripping over its being, "What the hell!" she squealed. She had a flashlight on hand so she illuminated it and its true features came clear.
"We've seen way worse," Ethan mentioned, scanning each wound, each bite on the body, each bone that scattered out of the body. He kneeled down, "This isn't from a regular creature, this was caused by something bigger".
Alex kneeled next to him, "I agree. Regular creatures leave most of the corpse alone".
He was right, a regular creature would kill its target, wound it, scratch it, bite into the body and eat a part of the insides, a part of its flesh, drain the soul and leave. But this. This corpse was basically just leftover bones and wounded skin. Like everything inside of it was sucked up, including the soul. Like a water bottle without the water.
"And the 'something' may be what we're looking for," Alex added.
"Let's just head insane…," Velvette changed the topic that made her uneasy. Sick to the stomach.
Inside, nothing had changed. Same old boring cave. Same old metallic scent of dark matter. The closest its scent was to was fresh blood. Though unlike blood, the scent of dark matter wouldn't change as it grew in age.
Elodie was illuminating the path but the more they proceeded, the more rapid her breathing came, "Okay, someone take the flashlight, even I am scared of this".
"You act like you're not scared of spiders," Ethan mentioned.
"Shut up," she whined.
Alex offered to take the flashlight and moved to lead the way. The cave, now illuminated, wasn't anything special either. Except for the fact that there were stalactites hanging above their heads, whose presence could be potentially dangerous. These things, deposited over time by dripping water, made the atmosphere even more eerie.
As they were moving they encountered the part of the cave where Carmen and Alex left off. The creature-like monster looked like it hadn't moved at all ever since the last time. Its true appearance came into focus now. It was a creature, just enormous and way more disgusting. This thing looked like it had been evolving for ages, perhaps decades. Its limbs were long, and its figure slim but with all this dark matter envelope, it seemed like the complete opposite.With the dripping dark matter, it appeared to have several arms, mirroring the build of a tree if it was placed upside down. It didn't even look like one creature anymore, more like if it had absorbed several of them.
"I don't want the flashlight anymore," Alex said as he spotted the horror in the deam of the flashlight. The moment his voice was still echoing, he threw the flashlight back to Elodie's hands, who responded with a frown. Though, the fury was exchanged by fear barely a second later when Carmen couldn't help but cough again, which, unfortunately, made the creature arise sooner than they had wanted. With its rise, the stalactites started shaking, shaking until they eventually began to fall. Even in that chaos, Alex still noticed the stalactite right above Carmen. In a fleeting instant, he jumped at him to push him away and they tumbled onto the ground, the distance between their faces a speck of dust. The stalactite fell barely an inch from where they had landed as both of their hearts were racing with fear.
Their eyes met, Carmen could feel the burning heat of his face turning red.
They stared at each other, it felt like it was just the two of them alone, but with the sound of the monster's growl, Alex reluctantly pulled away.
Meanwhile, in protection Elodie aimed her arrows towards that monster. Since she got it, she's always carried the bow and arrows on her back, especially when she's outside. She drew the bowstring back with her left hand, still holding the flashlight in the same hand. With her hands steady, she released the bowstring and the arrow flew towards the shadow born. As her arrow hit the target, Victor pulled out his gun—he only got one thanks to the job, and tried to shoot it.
"Be careful. Don't damage the heart!" Alex joined in, finally returning from whatever that was—no one spotted them.
"And where the fuck is its heart? I can barely recognize the head" Elodie yelled.
"It's where a human heart would be placed. Whatever. Just distract it," with that Alex put down his gun and was about to go towards that monster when Carmen stopped him with his words.
"Alex," he paused, waiting for his attention. "Don't forget that they're blind. Go slowly," it almost sounded like he wanted to say something else but in the last moment changed his mind.
Alex nodded. He took the way along the walls, so he wouldn't be noticed. His steps were utterly silent, though even if they weren't, they still wouldn't be heard in the sound of gunshots absorbing all the silence. He was getting closer, and fear waved him over the closer he was. Standing in front of that monster, the gunshots ceased as he blocked the way. He stuck his hand inside the creature through the dark matter barrier and it growled. Regular creature's growls were like nails screeching down a chalkboard, a cacophony that grated on the nerves. But this monster, its growl was deep, showing how old it was.
He searched through the insides of the monster, dark matter sticking to his arm, an uncomfortable envelope. It wasn't even hard to find the heart, since they didn't have any other organs. Infact, if it's one of those creatures that transform from a human—well, that's most creatures now, they swallow up their organs from an appetite that never leaves. They don't eat out of hunger, they don't feel that. They basically eat out of boredom.
What caused Alex trouble was the protest that grew rapidly in that monster, and how it seemed to notice his presence now.
Elodie tried to distract it with more arrows, careful not to hurt Alex, yet the creature moved and Alex had to stretch to grab the hearts, which caused the arrow to actually slightly hit his arm, tearing his skin apart. Luckily, the missing heart was the end for the monster and it fell.
"Alex!" Carmen screamed, noticing his state, rushing to his side. The others joined them and Elodie immediately apologized. "I'm so, so sorry. I…".
Alex cut her off mid-sentence, "It's not your fault, I'll live. And we've got what we need so…". He tried not to show it, but his voice was tinged with the hurt he was experiencing anyways.
"Let's just get out of here," Velvette stated.
"Can you walk?" asked Carmen before they left.
"Yeah. It's just a scar. I have tons of those".
Carmen was upset with that information, though, still managed a weak smile in response.
Outside, they were surprised with an unusual wonder of this world. Clouds had conceded the sky again, yet this time it wasn't raining. It was snowing. In may.
That seemed not to apply to this world though.
The snow had already painted everything in white.
Their eyes widened at the sight.
Their hands almost trembled at the snowflakes touching their skin.
It lacked sense.
Then, suddenly, Alex fell to the ground, appearing to lose strength, the blood that dripped from his arm staining the pure white into an intense red. Everyone turned to him and Carmen crouched to the ground with him, his heart racing, his shoes sinking deep into the snow.
"Hey everything-," he wanted to continue, yet, with a sudden twist, Alex threw a snowball right in his face.
"You asshole, I thought you were dying!" Carmen, without hesitation shoved his face into the snow. Deserved.