Chapter 2:
Thanks to a bit of preplanning, Samantha had several oxygen masks for everyone on the bus, including Ellipsis, whom never needed one on the account she doesn't need to breath. But nevertheless she had one just in case. Nyssia on the other hand didn't need one either. But it wasn't from a lack of blood flow or a lack of necessity to breathe oxygen. She simply refused on the basis of 'It's more fun to try and hold your breath before you die.' This boggled Samantha but simply allowed the crazed bus driver to have her way. After all, traveling through space and time in zero gravity can't possible last more than a minute before they reach their destination. Right?
The new enhancements that Samantha had added to the device she made earlier in their encounter, allowed for a smoother passage through space and time. The landing on the other hand was just as rough as ever. Not knowing where you're going to end up or what you're going to run into is extremely dangerous. Exhibit A; Busbus popping out of nowhere and running into a solid brick wall. Busbus came to a sudden stop as it collided with the wall, tossing everyone on board all around. Samantha fell back and landed in front of Nyssia who ran into the steering wheel. Ellipsis was way in the back and wasn't tossed at all but more like ran into the seat in front of her and toppled over it. Io did the same except she landed back first on the ground, while Jane fell over the seat as well but only half way and hung over the seat face down.
The first one to wake up was Nyssia. It didn't occur to her in the beginning of her adventures with Busbus that airbags were a thing. It also didn't occur to her that seatbelts were a thing as well. She woke with a stir. Then a grog. Then a belch. It was dark outside. She leaned her head over and observed the casualties. Everyone else was asleep or dead. This didn't bother her one bit. The bus had stopped for some reason and that intrigue her curiosity even more than the safety of others. She flipped her lights on and only saw the wall in front of her. Outside the window she could see barely anything. A street, perhaps. Time to investigate she thought to herself. She tip-toed her way through the bus, trying not to wake anyone up. A few flares, some sticks of dynamite and a pistol with a flashlight was all she needed.
Exiting the bus a strange odor hit her nose. It was a harsh smell. One that would normally burn the inside of normal people's noses but instead tickled hers. There wasn't much to look at really. The bus had crashed into a solid brick wall. Some bricks were scattered nearby. She stared at the bricks. A smile came to her face. She picked one up and looked around. No windows to break or cars to hit. Not even a sign. She instead threw the brick in the air and watched it fall. It crackled as it hit the ground. The sound echoed through the street. The cool air hit her face. There was nothing in this world. Looking back at the wall she noticed that the wall was attached to a building. Shinning the light all around her she noticed that she was surrounded by buildings. Yet there was nothing here. Why it took her so long to realize this, no one, not even Nyssia, will ever know. Suddenly, from the darkness, a brick comes. It landed right next to Nyssia. Nyssia jumped a little in fright. This was something she didn't expect but now here she was all alone in the darkness and something is out there. She shinned her light in the direction where the brick came from. Nothing. This chilled her blood. She ran back to the bus and slammed the doors shut in a panic state.
This sudden, violent action woke some of the others up from their slumber. Io poked her head up along with Samantha. Nyssia was seen turning the keys of the bus. The engine didn't make a sound. Not even the lights turned on. Nyssia's hands became nervous. Fear crept up her spine. She let out a shriek when Samantha popped right up beside her. This holler woken the rest of the party up.
Samantha just stared at Nyssia fumble with the keys. "Are you okay?" She asked, concern as ever. This was the first time she had seen Nyssia scared of really anything. She usually had a smile or a grin on her face in most situations. But this was different. This was fear. "They're out there!" She yelled. The leys slipped out of her hand and fell to the ground. "Who?" Asked Io.
"The Marmalights! They're here!" She said as she scrambled to get the keys. Jane looked at Nyssia with a confused look on her face. "What is a Marmalight anyway?" Jane asked. She's heard the word before. Frankly the only person who ever said it was Nyssia. "They are out there! They things. Things that you only see in the dark. Things that creep up your spine when you are alone. You think you're alone but you're not. They are there!" Nyssia was consumed by fear at this point. She curled herself up into a ball on the ground. She stared at the doors of the bus. "They will come for you when you least expect it. They are already here. They're watching us. They see us. But we cannot see them. They are the things that nightmares are made of." She fell silent at this point. She remained still. Staring off into the distance. Io looked outside the window. "Can't see a damn thing."
Samantha grabbed one of the flares that Nyssia had dropped and walked outside. Lighting the area around her she saw the wreckage of the bus and the wall. She saw the bricks scattered around and the one lone brick in the middle of the street. She placed down the flare and lit a few more, lighting the entire area up. Ellipsis and Io walked out of the bus, while Jane stayed behind. As soon as they stepped out into the darkness, the foul odor hit them like a bucket of solid lead. They staggered out, holding their noses. It was bad. Ellipsis knew right away what the smell was and this made her skin crawl. Samantha had already taken the initiative and wrapped her bandanna around her face, covering her nose. The area was lit. They were on a street and the bus had crashed into a building. The streets were damped and the air was muggy. No one said anything but they all felt that they were being watched. Jane soon stepped out of the bus by herself. "Hey Doc, what's wrong with Red?" Io asked.
"She appears to be experiencing some sort of induced panic attack. She keeps talking about the Marmalights and how they are out there." Jane said as she sighed and place her hands in her jacket pocket. "Maybe she's not far off." Whispered Ellipsis as she picked up one of the flares. "This place seems a bit too dark." And with that Ellipsis quickly threw the flare into the blackness. A horrible shriek was heard as shadowy figures were revealed by the red glow of the flare. Their long skinny figures swatted at the flare as they backed away. Their faces covered in shadow with white eyes could be seen and on top of their heads were horns. They immediately scattered in multiple direction.
"Fucking Christwagons!" Io shouted as the sounds of the creatures faded off in the distance. "Back in the bus, now." Ellipsis said as she backed up slowly. Meanwhile Io took off running back to the bus accompanied by Jane. Samantha picked up one of the flares and backed up slowly as well. The scattering sounds of their visitors could be heard off in the distance. As they both got back to the bus it was suspiciously quiet.
Nyssia didn't say anything instead remained on the floor in a comatose state. Io ran to the back and checked every window up to the front to make sure there were no more of them running around. Samantha ran back to her seat and whipped out her journal and began writing. Ellipsis hopped in the driver's seat and tried to get the bus to turn on, it did not work. Jane on the other hand was in a panic state that she was trying frantically to find ammunition for one of the handguns that Nyssia had lying around. The atmosphere was a bit tense. When the flares had died down and gone out the sound of scattering was all around them. Then what sounded like nails on a chalkboard pierced their ears. And then silence. It was a dead silence. One that shivers up everyone's spine. Fear gripped them. It was as though the entire Universe itself had shut off the light and they were left alone in the darkness. That would have been the case completely though if all of a sudden they didn't hear a loud roar coming from the sky. It came in from above them. Then a bright white hot light shinned above them and all around them they could see that the bus was surrounded by the little creatures. Some immediately ran away from the bright light. Others who did not, turn to ash and puffs of smoke. The heat from the light warmed the bus. Then the light focused elsewhere. Jane fumbled with loading the pistol as a few bullets slipped through her fingers. Io looked out the window with curiosity. Samantha stopped writing and watched the light move in front of the bus. Ellipsis remained in the driver's seat, watching with anticipation. If her heart could beat it would be beating as fast as Nyssia's who was still lying on the ground. It was moments later that a few strings of rope descended from above. And four figures came down. They each formed around one another. Shinning lights off in the distance. Scanning the area. The seemed to be carrying rifles with them and on their rifles were little flashlights that produced the same white hot light as from above. More scattering could be heard as some of the creatures that were caught in the light leaped out of the way to avoid it.
Loud bangs emerged from them as they started firing off in the distance. Sounds of hissing and screeching could be heard off in the distance. One of the men approached the bus and shinned a light inside. His face was covered by a mask and he was clearly heavily suited for combat. Io backed up from the window in bewilderment. Jane finally fumbled with the pistol again only to drop it on the ground. Luckily the gun did not go off. Nyssia finally got up to see outside only to hide away again as soon as the light hit her face. Samantha backed up a bit and looked at the man with curiosity. Ellipsis remained where she was sitting, only to put on her sunglasses when the light hit her face. She seemed a bit annoyed with the light. The man outside shouted something to his other companions and he pointed inside the bus. After a few of them did a quick searched of the area around them they walked towards the bus. All were wearing the same outfit as the first man had. One of the men tried to open the door to the bus but it was stuck. Little did he know that Nyssia had a rope that held the door shut when she went to sleep and, in this particular situation, it prevented the strange man outside from opening the door. He stepped away from the doors and waved his hand in the sky.
"Ya think he's lost?" Io commented as she squint her eyes. No one else made a sound. Suddenly the bus rumbled and rocked. "Busbus!" Nyssia called out. Samantha turned to Nyssia only to try to hush her up. Ellipsis look at the both of them. "I think that's a bit too late for that." Suddenly the bus had begun to lift off the ground. Io caught herself in the nick of time while Jane feel into her seat with only a handful of bullets. Samantha staggered for a bit before finally sitting down in her seat and gripping the edge of the seat in front of her. Nyssia spring to her feet and rushed over to the window to watch in amazement as the bus mysteriously started to fly. Ellipsis just continued to sit there in the driver's seat. She took out a cigarette, lit it up and watched what was going on in front of her through the windshield. "Yup." She said as she puff out smoke. "Here we go again." And with that the bus sailed off into the night. Flying over the darkness.