Ch5: Power
The walk back was excruciatingly silent. Sarah shifted awkwardly with the weight of her bag up each dune. Finally they reached an indoor area and level ground. Walking to their next class in pressing silence, Sarah looked up at – What should I call him? He said that everyone called him a different name. I can't call him Edward. That also rules out Ed – him. The first thing she noticed was his eyes. For some reason they looked fake, like images burned on glass. Something about them was plastic and filmy. She added that to the list of things unexplained that included his scar under his right ear, which she couldn't see right now, and his lack of a name.
Looking around her, she noticed something different about the school. The walls were not the same shade. The grass was thicker. The floor polished. She suddenly said, "Hey, I forgot something in my room; I'll be right back." And she sprinted off. "Don't wait up." She called back.
Squinting after her, he said partly to her partly to himself, "Ya, I'll just find the place on my own."
Running down the hall, Sarah thought about her exit. Oh, shit. Did he buy that crap? Whatever, no time to reminisce. I know something is off. The walls, the grass, the floor. It's like someone came in and redecorated. Wait a second, what happened to the sky? Looking outside Sarah noticed that the sky was no longer blue, but a dull grey, just like the walls. There was no sharp light in the sky, no sun. Sarah doesn't normally curse strongly, but she couldn't help but think, What the fuck is going on?, "Sonuvabitch!" The ringing was back with such intensity that she couldn't keep it out of her mind. Struggling to get back on her feet, Sarah clenched her eyes shut to put out the noise. Falling back down on her knees, she opened her eyes to see a cloaked figure standing in front of her.
Without thinking, she ran in the opposite direction and turned a corner only to see the figure again at the end of the corridor. Heart racing, eyes expanding, adrenaline pulsing through her veins, she faced him. Moving back a step or two she so as to be at the intersection of the hallway she came from and the one she was in, she stared at the figure. It – I can't call it he or she, so ill leave it at it. – had no face it seemed. Looking at it closely, she noticed a small claw-like appendage protruding from a sleeve where the hand should be. It lifted the claw and pointed it at Sarah, who was now just feet from what was hopefully escape. She was about to make a run for it when she noticed a small glow from the figure. Pulling out its other hand, which was a hand, the figure removed a small orb from the glow. But, it was the orb itself that was glowing. Holding the small orb in front of itself, it looked around and looked back. Facing his palm up, the figure stared hard at the orb. Entranced with this act, Sarah stayed put.
The orb floated into the air, shining gold all around the hall. Clenching its fist, the figure somehow intensified the glow, and as fast as it had appeared, the glowing ball seamlessly dissolved. Snapping out of trance, Sarah, suddenly sore, pulled herself straight. The figure had begun to move forward as Sarah moved back. Finally, after an excruciating six inches, Sarah was finally at the intersection. Ready to sprint away, Sarah began to sway. Exhaustion suddenly took over her body. She couldn't stand it anymore; toppling against the wall, she slid down into a small crumpled body. The figure began to move forward, and soon its shadow was cast over her small body. Everything turned dull and grey until the only distinct colors were grey from the walls and black from 'it'. Sarah! Moving its hook forward, he placed the tip on her neck. Sarah, what the fuck! Get the fuck out of there! Pulling back its hook and moving it to the other side, it left a small dot of blood. She could hear footsteps running. As 'it' reached down, the footsteps
were getting closer. Finally she could hear a voice "Sarah!" she heard, over and over. She started to crawl away from the figure with all her strength but she reached nowhere. She made it around the corner, looking to the footsteps.
Another shadowed figure has running towards was, calling her name. Casting his – How do I know it's a he? Something intrinsic in his manner. Am I hallucinating? – hand, the figure shot a golden ball at Sarah's attacker, dumbfounding it. He put out his hand. As he moved closer everything seemed to become clearer. The colors started to return to the walls and floor, the light started to filter in through the windows, and the figure started to become clearer. With all the strength she had left, Sarah lifted her hand to meet the hand of the figure and as they touched, everything came back. All the sights, all the sounds, all the feeling, and all her energy returned. Looking up at her rescuer, she started, stumbling over her own sneakers. She looked up again, and still couldn't believe it.
Finally, they made it outside. She collapsed on a nearby dune, gasping for breath. Pulling herself up to look at her savior, Sarah said, "Won't it come after us?"
"I doubt it."
"Why's that?
"It looked tired, as if it had used a great load of energy. There was something weird about it though. When I passed by him, my limbs started to weaken, but as I moved away, they regained strength."
"That must have affected him too. Like a black hole scenario, where all the energy is lost in a singularity, but as you move away, the source of energy becomes lost. The fuel for the black hole no longer exists causing the black hole to vacuum empty space, imploding and releasing the energy."
"Not to be a skeptic, but how would an implosion occur when the energy is already a singularity? Plus, wouldn't the discharge of energy also affect him?"
"Don't be an ass, it's just a theory. Anyways, the moral of the story is: don't get near that thing."
They sat there for a while, resting. Sarah looked over at – what the hell am I supposed to call him – him. His eyes were still glossed over and his brow furrowed. "What's up? You seem worried."
His eyes flashed gold, but only for a millisecond. Snapping out of his trance, he looked around then at Sarah. His eyes were still the glossy brown that they were before. Shifting his gaze to the grass, he laid down face first and said, "I don't know, it just seems that something is wrong. The thing that attacked you, what was it?"
"I'm not sure, but it had a hook for a hand and in the hand it did have, there was a golden orb. It seemed to come out of his hand itself. After the orb disappeared, the same thing happened to me as what happened to you. I could barely move and I was out of strength." She shivered at the thought of that experience and pulled her knees up to her chest.
He started, "Well, I'm sure that what-" but never finished. As he said it he rolled over and sat up, looking at the exit they came from, he stopped. Sarah looked over at him and to where he was looking, taking no notice in his eyes. Eventually her eyes made it to the opening and she sat petrified.
Getting up slowly, he reached down to pick up Sarah and move slowly away. Shuffling backwards, he and Sarah stared dumbly at the hole in the wall. There stood another figure, with two hands, whose shoulders were raising and falling as if in anger. The figure was smaller than
the first but this one also wore a midnight robe, nearly concealing its form in the shadow of the doorway. The figure put out its hand, palm facing upwards, chest now heaving. Slowly its demonic breaths subsided and the hood faced the floor. Its hand began to glow, and gradually the intensity grew to a bright light that consumed the darkness that had enveloped the doorway. Breaking off into smaller beams, the split and encircle the figure. Finally, there was nothing but a golden figure standing in the doorway, covering one of the few escape routes that had already formulated in Sarah's mind. Suddenly, solid figure of golden yellow became real and the gold strips shot into the skin of the original figure. Lighting the hood were two, sharp rays of light where eyes should have been.
That was the last Sarah had seen before she started to sprint away, pulling along her companion. He had been asphyxiated in the awesome sight of the golden figure. Realizing he was moving, he started to focus, survival instincts jerking him awake. He felt the pull on his hand and looked at Sarah, She really trusts me! Or was it just an impulse pulling me along. Let's find out. "Sarah, go towards the woods. I'll see if I can hold of the thing."
"No! What the hell are you thinking? You'll be killed."
"Don't worry. I'll be fine." She let go, staring at him as she walked away. She ran looking over her shoulder. Hopefully she wouldn't have anything to worry about. He turned to face the attacker, but there was no attack. The hooded figure stood at the top of a dune, piercing eye-beams directly in his but the light was not burning. It was quite warm and made him a little sleepy. Blinking a few times, the sensation left his eyes. Looking up to the figure, he saw what had stopped him. The orb that had had seemed to give him the piercing eyes had returned to his hand and was sinking into his skin. The figure squared his shoulders and lifted its hands to its hood pushing it back. As the hood fell, short, spiked hair protruded up, the same brown hair as he. Eyebrows furrowed in fury, jaw clenched in animosity, and eyes red with rage.
Eyes wide, he looked up at the figure drawing a contorted conclusion. The figure was a spitting image of him, or was it the other way around; all of him was the same except for the eyes. The eyes were a strange color. They seemed to match the acrimony emanating from the figure. He finally rallied the courage to ask, "Who are you?"
Eyes subtly changing colors to match his sarcasm, he replied sardonically, "Don't you remember? What has it been 6, 7 years? I lost count a few years ago."
"What the fuck are you talking about?
"Think. And where did you pick up such fucking profanity?"