Chapter 6
An ominous, black shape rose seemingly from nowhere. It looked to be made of storm clouds, with two arm and leg like protrusions. The one thing that stood out about it was its pair of large, red eyes.
The three friends were all scared, though Crystal showed it most. She was shivering with fright, and whimpering. "It's a m-m-monster!" she said quietly.
Neither sibling replied. Their eyes were fixed onto the dark cloud.
"Who are you?" Thorne asked loudly.
A smile seemed to form just below the cloud's eyes. The cloud cackled evilly, before replying. "Thorne, you should know that by now, surely?" Its voice was slick, and had an element of playfulness to it.
He gave his sister an uneasy glance. "How does he...?"
"Don't worry." replied Shaiden calmly. "I'll deal with this."
She walked forward. "Who are you, and why are you here? We need answers!"
The cloud said nothing, a smile still on its face. Shaiden didn't quite know what happened after that- one minute she was staring it down, the next it had blasted her with some sort of yellow energy ray.
She groaned, and tried to get up. "What… what do you have against me?" she murmured.
The cloud didn't answer, but glided over to Crystal.
"Ah, Crystal Sophia Lauritsen." The cloud said, its voice now quieter than before.
Crystal glanced around nervously. Thorne and Shaiden weren't really paying attention to her- for the last 10 minutes they'd continuously been staring at that cloud. Crystal knew that it was scary, the way it had eyes, and a voice, and the power of movement, but she'd always been taught that the best way to face fear was, well, not to face it. Look away, and everything will be fine, that was what her mother had told her from a very young age.
She turned her head away from it, but, on this one occasion, looking the other way was of no help whatsoever. The cloud just seemed to quickly move round to the area Crystal was looking at- either that or it was duplicating.
It cackled for what must have been the third time, and a yellow ball of light formed in its centre. It drew it back, and prepared to throw it at the now paralyzed Crystal. Her lips were moving, albeit only a little, but no sounds were coming out. The biggest horror movie cliché in history, she thought to herself.
Suddenly, Thorne felt a burst of compassion, which was unusual for him. "NO!" he called, as he leaped.
"Thorne, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Shaiden shouted.
He managed to knock himself and Crystal out of the way seconds before the ball of light flew past them and hit a nearby tree, making it catch fire for a brief moment, before falling to the ground.
The cloud let out an angry shout, before slithering away almost as fast as it had came.