A\N: And I´m back! ^^ WARNING! This chapter contains a bit of gore and ritual actions. If you don´t like these types then skip over the paragraph with the old English letters. (^/^)
"!" Private screamed as he watched Skipper tumble underneath a car. Tears flowed down his feathered cheek. The last thing he saw was red before being flung back.
Rico didn´t even have the time to analyze anything. He was moving too fast to actually see what was in front of him. In super speed he rushed forward, grabbed Skipper´s limp body and raced back to safety. Finally the humans had calmed down. All they knew was that some kind of birds and cats were running around on the street. Rico panted heavily as he made his way over to the fallen leader. Skipper was bleeding out of a small wound in his chest.
Max stared wide-eyed at him before fainting at the sight of blood. The remaining penguin waddled over to a bag of old clothes. After searching a while he found an old shirt. Using it to stop the bleeding, the weapon expert sat down, looking at the unconscious cat.
Private would´ve been flung from the car if Blue hadn´t grabbed him. "Oh no you don´t! Stay here!" The boy said, pulling him back. Blue then turned to his uncle and aunt. "That was close. We almost lost the-hey, what´s wrong?" The other two lemurs were staring at him, eyes full of shock. Martha swallowed hard before looking at Ted, then recovering. "I believe that there´s a much safer way to get to the airport, r-right Ted?" "Huh? Oh, yeah." With that they hopped off at the next stop and made their way to the edge of the city.
Kowalski lay in a fevered dream, brows furrowed and sweat running down his face. Something bad was happening and it wasn´t just his nightmare. Even the nurse Susan noticed the spooky atmosphere. "Is it Halloween already?" But not just them. "Maurice, something is not right." "You mean besides the fact that Mort isn´t curled around your feet?" The aye-aye said, giving his king the smoothie. "Yes. The air is indicating some…supernetreal, nutrii, notu-" "Supernatural." "That. Something very evil is in the air. I will not be shaking it today." Maurice frowned. If Julian was so spooked that he wouldn´t even dance, then something was really wrong. He looked up at the clear, dark sky.
The small gang sat in the woods, right by a lake. Martha had managed to build some shelter, surprisingly letting Private help. But the tension was so thick, Private could smell it as it burned in the fire. "Blue, it´s time for the prisoner to go in." Blue nodded, not caring. Private stood up, Ted following. After locking the penguin in, he joined Martha by the fire. He looked at his wife who held up a sharp knife. The two adults turned to Blue, who was drawing in the sand.
Private lay curled up in the pile of leaves. His face was wet from the tears he had tried to keep in during the day. Now he let it all out. Skipper is dead! Dead! His strong, fearless, loving leader was gone! Forever! Private rolled to his side, remembering the last words he had said to him. It hurt him now. So much. The young rookie cursed himself for being to foolish and gullible! If only he had listened to his leader! Skipper would still be alive. And now, memories and images were haunting him. "Is it safe?" "Not one bit. And that´s why I like it." "You don´t know everything Skipper!" "Private." "My accent isn´t phony! This is how I talk." "Sure, Guv´nor!" "You did good today Private." "Private!" "Hey! Wh-what are you doing with the-no don´t!" Private´s thoughts were interrupted by Blue´s cries.
The small penguin rolled over, seeing Martha riase the knife over her head, chanting something. "Ouvri barrier pou´moi, au nom des Saints d la lune. Au nom des Saints des Etoiles. Au nom de Saints de Tempete. Ce protection pou´mal, pou´ nuit, pou´mal lune!" While talking, Martha cut Blue´s chest open. Blue wasn´t moving. Private broke through the wooden wall. He saw Blue´s eyes white as they stared into nothing. Ted let the blood spill into a bowl. With a final chant, Martha and Ted cut their wrists, letting their blood flow into the bowl. "Ouvri barrier pou´ mal moi!" Martha suddenly raised her head. "Protect our little one!" She shouted into the night. Nothing. Then there was an eerie wind, blowing into everybody´s faces. Wolfs howled in discomfort and the moon and stars also seemed to get brighter and dimmer. Private began to shake at this horrific scene. All of the sudden, there was a scream. Martha poured the blood into the fire. Blue fell over. He then sat up, his eyes back to normal. But they were filled with fear. Ted put a hand on his shoulder. "Born Living Under Evil."
Max had woken up by now, he kept looking at Skipper. Rico held watch. The stray cat didn´t know why, but he felt strangely comfortable with Rico. Maybe it was because he was one of the few who didn´t look at him with disgust or took time to get to know him. Also, Rico was pretty intimidating and in New York, that came in handy.
Especially when you´re not so strong your self. All of the sudden, there was a movement to Max´s left. He jumped, trying to scream, but a quiet wheeze came out instead. Skipper was dragging himself to the small fire, shivering violently. Max screamed, this time loud and clear. Rico shot out of the darkness. "Skippa?" He said confused. The leader looked up. "B-b-b-bu-bbb-bu-but aren´t you….y´know…..dead?" Skipper held his flipper in front of his face, bending it and straightening again. "I don´t think so."
The next morning, Private awoke, smelling the scent of wood, forest and earth. The sun shone warmly on his feathers, tickling his beak. He rose, flippers stretching out and a bright, happy smile on his face, until he remembered last night. Blue lay next to Martha, the wound on his chest gone. Just then, a voice rang out. "Rise, rise, rise and shine, happy everyday! Merrily, merrily, merrily, isn´t life just great!" Ted had rhymed together his own version of "Row, row, row your boat". The other two woke up, groaning. "I had better days where I woke up." Blue mumbled. Ted grinned at the rest. "Bird eggs anyone?" Private fainted.
Skipper winced slightly at the pain in his chest. He just kept worrying about Private. "I heard a scream." He told the others as they walked through the alleys. "What happen back there anyway?" Max asked, his curiosity taking over. "I was getting to close to a bike and I guess I cut myself there." "Oh. So, what´s next, sir?" Skipper looked up and straight at Rico and Max. "We are going to find my soldier."
Ted frowned as the penguin fell over. "What´s up with him?" Blue shrugged. "Maybe a heart-attack. Or he has the penguin sickness." Martha looked up from her egg. "Penguin sickness?" "Yeah, that tall guy had it to. They´ll fall over by the slightest touch or word." Private sat up. He took one look at the lemurs eating the eggs and threw up. "Eewwwww!" Blue gasped. "Sorry." The other mumbled. Private kept quiet for the most of breakfast. Finally he had the courage to speak up.
"What happened last night?" Ted stopped singing and Martha choke don her food. Blue frowned. "What do you mean?" Blue turned toward the older lemurs. Ted looked at Blue firmly. "You´ve been called yesterday. You now know your power." Blue shook his confused head. Martha stood up. "See that?" She pointed to a butterfly. "What do you want it to be?" Blue frowned then said, "A killer bird." Ted rolled his eyes.
Martha raised his arms and showed him how to move his paws. Then-*flash* the butterfly was a killer bird growling. "It´s still a butterfly." She said. That got Blue excited. He looked at Ted, who was peeling an egg. He moved his arms then instead of the white flesh underneath, there were sickly green bubbles. Ted´s face fell. "Haha, very funny." He hissed at his cackling nephew. Private smiled lightly.
Kowalski groaned, tossing around in bed, the machine hooked up to him bleeping dangerously. From his medical knowledge, that was the worst sign.
A\N: I wanted to add another cliffhanger but had no idea left. X) R&R! Also, the ritual chant was taken from a "X-files" book: "Fresh bones" I just mixed up the words to form a sentence. XD