Chapter 11 Have we turned against the Goddess?
Heya
everybody. Everybody feeling good today? Good. Isn't
it cool that I just got a review from one of my favorite authors on the
website, Hunter Predator? You should check out his stories, they
are really awesome. And welcome to the other new reviewers as
well. Thank you so much for reviewing, and please continue
reviewing this chapter and the next ones.
"Zach?" Ann said as she knocked on the door to my house. "Are you in there? Zach?"
I sat on my bed with my staff held tightly in my hands. It was the morning after the day I had fought with Won. Due to the two last attempts to kill me, I did not want to leave my house today.
"I'm in here Ann," I said.
"Open up the door."
"Are you alone?" I said.
"No, Cliff is with me," came the reply.
"What are you doing here?" I asked Ann.
"We wanted to know if you wanted to do something today?"
I sighed. "No."
"No?" Cliff spoke this time. "Man. We haven't done anything in a while. This is the first time you've ever turned down a chance to hang out with friends."
"Maybe certain friends."
"Zach?" I could tell that Ann was distressed by this. "What is wrong? Is it something I did?"
"No Ann," I replied. "It was nothing you did."
I did not want to tell her of the dark aurora I felt around Cliff. Due to the recent attempts to kill me, I wasn't all that keen on spending time with a guy whose presence was the way it was. Cliff was my friend. But did this dark aurora mean that he was deeply steeped in the darkness which was taking the town? If so, was he really my friend? Or was he just pretending to be my friend? No. Not Cliff.
"Why don't you come with us then?" Ann asked.
"I don't want to leave my house."
I heard them walking away from my front door. Maybe they were trying to look in through the windows and see if I was alright. Then I heard them both walk back to my front door.
"Zach," Cliff said.
"What?" I replied.
"You boarded up your windows. Why?"
"Because I am afraid."
"Afraid of what?" Cliff responded.
"Afraid of you," I replied.
"Why would you be afraid of me?"
"Why wouldn't you stand up for me yesterday when Won tried to murder me?"
"Zach, I-"
"You what Cliff? I thought we were good friends."
"We are. Its just..."
"Just what?"
"I don't know how to tell you this."
"Tell me what Cliff? I almost got killed yesterday, and you sat around and just watched."
"Zach, it all happened so fast. I didn't even know what was going on. Really Zach. I have never seen anyone battle to the death. I didn't know how to react. This is the same reason why all the town's people didn't get involved either. Plus, Won is a dangerous man. He had a Katana. And since he was going to kill Ann for interfering, there was no reason why he wouldn't kill the other town's people if they tried to stop him. Harris got involved, but he had a gun. No one else did. So you see why I didn't get involved?"
"Alright. Alright. You are right. I'm sorry Cliff."
"Its okay. But man, why did you board up your windows?"
"Someone attempted to murder me last night. I don't know who it was, but someone threw an axe at my head. Luckily God told me to look down, and I did, so the axe missed me."
"God told you?" said Ann.
"Yes," I replied. "God did. God saved my life back then. Glory to God."
I knew that this would sound inspiring to Ann, for she was beginning to lose faith in the Harvest Goddess, but rather upsetting to Cliff. For he knew what I thought of his choice to become a part of the town's religion.
"Zach," Ann said. "Don't worry. No one is going to kill you now. C'mon please?"
"Alright fine," I said as I got up off of my bed.
I exited my house, and walked off with my two friends. Little did I know, but I was being watched.
'Your prey is doing pretty well so far.'
'Yes. I will watch the actions of the threat, and try and find a weakness.'
'Very good. Do not get too close to him. You know what dwells inside of him.'
'I know, I fear it too.'
'Who said I feared it?'
'Well it is obvious that you do. We all do.'
'Be quiet Spirit!'
'Do not tell me what to do! You are not above me!'
'Cursed being! I rule over this island. All the spirits of this island are mine!'
'I am not! I was given my position by my master. My master is your master as well. That is what makes us on the same side. Otherwise, you are not my boss.'
'Fine! But we must work together. This island may be small, but when we succeed, our success will be great.'
'Yes it will. Yes it will.'
"Hello guys," Doug said as Cliff, Ann, and I entered the Inn.
"Hello Doug," I said.
We sat down at a table, and ordered drinks.
"So now what do we want to do?" Cliff asked Ann and I.
I looked at him. Suddenly he wasn't being shy around Ann. That was good. Maybe he had gotten over his shyness.
"After we finish our drinks," I said, "why don't we head over to my house and play some video games or something?"
"Sounds good," Cliff said.
"Sure," Ann said.
We finished our drinks, and headed over to my house, where we played a couple of games on my X Box. We ended the day by swimming at the beach. After that, we went our separate ways. I went back to the farm, and Ann and Cliff went back to the Inn. But as I walked back, I had this strange feeling as if someone was watching me. And it was daytime too. None of the spirits should be stalking me during the day. The Night Spirits hunted me, but only at night. But what if there were Day Spirits?
But my Grandfather had left warnings about the night, but not about daytime, so I wasn't worried. On the positive side, I had thought of a name for my farm. Happy Farm. Don't laugh. It sounded like an interesting name to me, and I was out of other ideas.
Ann rushed into the Inn as if the very spawn of Hell was behind her. Doug looked up at her as she ran breathlessly to him.
"Ann," Doug said. "What's wrong honey?"
"Zach..." Ann said as she struggled to breath. "He is afraid..."
"What?" Doug said.
"Do you remember how Zach's Grandfather used to refuse to leave his home some days?"
"Of course I remember that," Doug said to his daughter. "We were so worried about him on those days."
"Today Zach refused to leave his house."
Doug's eyes widened, and all color left his face.
"W-won tried to kill him yesterday. Don't you think that he would be on his guard?"
"He wasn't very afraid after Won had fought him, was he? The point is not what made him afraid. The point is that he was afraid. He is traveling down the same path as his Grandfather. The same things are happening to him that happened to his Grandfather. And you know how his Grandfather ended up."
Doug's face became even more pale than before.
"He is in trouble," Doug said. "I don't know how we can help him with this. We can't battle the Spirits of the Island. They are supernatural beings, they cannot be killed. They are immortal. What's worse, they are not bound by the rules of this world. They are stronger than all of us. You saw Won? You saw how skilled he was with the Katana? He could never face the Spirits with those skills of his. And the Harvest Goddess is involved. And if either of us turn against the Goddess and her children, they will target us as well."
"But have we already turned against the Goddess?" Ann asked in a frightened tone of voice.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't you remember the day those dirt men attacked Zach? We tried to help him, but those dirt figures were surely conjured up by the Spirits. And don't you remember what Won said about the Harvest Goddess destroying all who interfere?"
"No," Doug said with fear in his eye. "What is happening to this town? Darkness. Darkness is descending upon Mineral Town!"
