CH.12 Team Newbee
As his anger cooled down, it struck down on Dexter what just had happened. Troy had left them. The one and only that could truly fight well was gone. Dexter felt vulnerable, as unsafe like never had felt before. No beefy boy to protect him and Terrwyn, it was only them from now on. If any other monster appeared, Dexter feared they wouldn't make it out.
Dexter took a shaky breath and tried not to start hyperventilate. He couldn't help but doubting. What if Troy was right? What if this quest really was doomed to fail, the prophecy itself had predicted it. The others didn't expect them to succeed either, so why would they risk their lives for something that they already knew would fail.
"Please, don't stop" a weak voice almost whispered. Terrwyn looked up at Dexter, gently pulling in his arm. He had stopped in his tracks without noticing. "We should keep on walking"
"Ah, alright" Dexter mumbled and started walking again. A short moment passed before any of them spoke, and thus both of them opened their mouths to start speaking at the same time, but quickly closed them again. "You go first" Dexter cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head.
"Um, okay" Terrwyn said weakly "We… We should keep on walking"
"We are" Dexter scowled down at his feet to make sure they hadn't stopped again.
"I mean, we shouldn't go back home" Terrwyn clarified. "I- I don't want to return as a failure…"
"Oh…" Dexter looked down at her, trying to read her expression, but it was just as impossible as always with her bang combed neatly over her eyes. How does she see anything? "They'd go harsh on you, I guess" Dexter finally said.
Terrwyn nodded. Another moment of silence followed. Dexter bit his lips, trying to restrain himself for asking, but he couldn't hold it. "What…" He started, wandered with his gaze while searching for the right words "What happened. Back at the restaurant, you seemed paralyzes and…" His sentence died off in an awkward mumble, but he glanced down at her and hoped she would get what he was asking about.
"I was scared!" Terrwyn said with a surprisingly sharp voice, had Dexter made her mad? She pouted her lips and pulled her hand out of Dexter's.
"I- I'm sorry…" Dexter gulped and stared down at the ground "Forget it… it was stupid of me to ask…"
They finally reached the rail field where they had stopped with the train. The gates were closed and locked, and Dexter couldn't see any worker left inside, they all must have gone home for the day. Or at least Dexter assumed so; it was hard to tell without the sun being available. We don't even have a watch anymore, Dexter thought bitterly. It left along with Troy.
"Let's find a way in!" He thought out loud and started following the barbed fence in search for anywhere to get past. After running back and forth without finding any way to get under the fence, Dexter kicked it in frustration. "Stupid thing!" he cried "Can't even get past a simple fence!"
"We could climb it" Terrwyn mumbled, but she had to repeat herself several times before she finally got Dexter's attention.
"What? Climb it?" Dexter looked up at the three lines of barbed wire that ran paralleled with the fence "But we'll cut us on the wire"
"Use your jacket to cover it" Terrwyn sighed "and then climb over"
"Ooh, that's smart!" Dexter said and gave Terrwyn a grateful pat on her shoulder before approaching the fence. Being so tall, Dexter could easily throw his jacket over the wire, but from earlier experience he knew it was another thing to actually climb over it. "I could lift you up so you easily can get over" he said and looked down at Terrwyn and opened his arms, ready for scooping her up.
"I'm fine" she muttered and walked past Dexter's inviting arms. She climbed with ease and before Dexter knew it, she had dropped down on the other side in a smooth landing.
"That was… great!" Dexter burst out and beamed at her.
"Just get over here…" Terrwyn mumbled.
"Alright!" Dexter said, pushed his crooked sunglasses up his nose and made a gesture as if he was rolling up his non-existing sleeves. Walking up to the fence and testing out different grips while he tried to think out a way of start his climbing. After trying and failing a couple of times, Dexter coughed embarrassedly and made his final attempt. Jumping up as high as he could and leaning over the fence, Dexter somehow managed to slither over his jacket and tumble down on the other side. Dexter groaned out of pain and remained lying on the asphalt. He curled up on the side, hugging his legs while falling deeper into his misery. How come he can't do anything like he imagine it, he just has to mess everything up!
Dexter sighed deeply and let out a weak sob. It burned under his eyelids of exhaustion and his body felt too heavy, he couldn't manage to move a finger. Terrwyn knelt down beside him and poked him carefully and Dexter's whole body jerked. "That tickled…" he mumbled and tried to suppress a smile
"We should find someplace better to rest" Terrwyn mumbled back and poked Dexter again, making him jerk again and let out a snort that could've been a laugh.
"You're right" he sighed and attempted to sit up with a loud groan "We can't… give up yet!"
Terrwyn nodded in agreement and pulled in his arm to help him up to his feet. Spots danced before Dexter's icy eyes and he had to grab the fence to prevent him for losing his balance. When he felt ready to start walking, he nodded at Terrwyn and gestured towards the dark yard. Terrwyn didn't move from where she was standing and after Dexter had given her a questioning look, she pointed up at the fence. "Oh, right!" Dexter let out as he noticed what she pointed out "My jacket! How could I ever forget you, baby?"
With quite difficulty, he unhinged his precious from the barbed wire and pulled it on. "Now!" he gave Terrwyn a weak smile and she nodded back at him.
As they went on, Dexter realized that he could barely see anything in darkness. Terrwyn pointed out it wasn't that dark, since there actually were several lamps lighting the yard up. But for Dexter, anything outside the spotlight seemed pitch black. Before, he had thought it was because of his shades, but he couldn't tell any difference when he had them on or not. However, he tried to look around for that inviting look he had seen before the other day. Like the train that had brought them to this very place. It would probably lead him further to his final destination. But… Dexter froze in place and stared out in the empty air. I put us in a trap, is it really something to trust? Dexter bit his lip and scowled. What if he guided Terrwyn into something even more dangerous? Would they manage to survive another monster-attack? Truthfully, it was all because of Troy they were still alive.
It was then he saw it. Barely, only outlines in the black mass in front of him. Another goods van. It had the same, familiar shimmer around it, waving at him to come aboard. Dexter felt convinced, how could this not be the right way?
"You found it?" Terrwyn asked, breaking the silence and looked the way Dexter was staring at.
"Yeah" Dexter replied "Could we trust it?"
"It lead us to monsters" Terrwyn mumbled and paused a short moment before continuing; "The more danger, the closer we are, I bet"
Dexter's heart sank, he felt worried. Could they handle something worse without Troy? But at the same time, he knew that what Terrwyn just said made sense "I guess you're right" he sighed "But I don't like it"
"Me neither" Terrwyn agreed. They looked at each other and nodded before boarding the van.
This one was packed with pallets of paving stones, cable reels and other stuff that could be found on a building site. There wasn't much room for him and Terrwyn, but they managed to squeeze themselves in between the goods and the van's door. Without saying much more to each other, they quickly entered the land of nightmares.
Dexter found himself standing on the roof of a sky scraper. The sky above was just as dark and lifeless as the usual one in the real world, but down below him an enormous city reached out to the horizon. Its pretty light reflected in the wide river and Dexter would find it beautiful if he hadn't gotten those creepy chills running down his spine. The wind was chilly and the thick darkness made him feel claustrophobic.
He heard someone talking and saw a dark figure stand by the fence a stone's throw away, gazing out over the city. They hadn't noticed him yet and Dexter thought of sneaking away, but what they muttered made him curious enough to stay.
"Oh, she really thinks she chose the right one!" the figure spat out to themselves "Gullible, cowardly and oh so weak he is! But what a golden heart he has" The figure snorted, uttering the last line with obvious sarcasm.
They gritted their teeth in rage, but before they said anything more they suddenly froze. So did Dexter, because he had a horrible feeling of the other just became aware of his presence. The figure turned their head and glared directly at Dexter. "Speaking of the devil!" their voice was dangerously smooth. They wore a red leather jacket and black jeans to which a whip was attached to on the right side. Black curly hair framed a pointy and tight face with a crooked nose and low cheekbones. The worst was the eyes. Dark and evil, pinning him to the floor as they slowly walked up to him. Somehow, that face looked familiar to Dexter even thought he was sure that he had never met the person before, who at that moment grinned up at him. Dexter backed up, didn't want the stranger to come too close to him, but eventually he reached the edge of the roof and bumped into the fence preventing him from falling down. The stranger gave him an amused smirk. "Look at you!", they said mockingly. "Trembling like a scared rabbit!"
Dexter clenched his fist, trying to keep them from shaking which only seemed to amuse the other even more. "Who-… who are you?", he asked them and gulped. "What do you want from me?"
"From you? No, I don't need anything from you", they snorted and crossed their arms. "I simply just wanted to take a look on you". Their eyes narrowed and they leaned forward; their nose almost touching Dexter's. Their breath smelled of tobacco and alcohol, making Dexter gag and forced him to face away.
The other snickered menacingly and gave Dexter another smirk. "I got nothing to worry about", they said with confidence, attempting to stroke his chin with a pointy finger. But suddenly, they flinched and stumbled backwards with a shocked expression on their smooth face. They both stared at each other in silence and Dexter could see the anger boil up in the stranger's black eyes. "You bloody cheater!" the stranger hissed with words that Dexter recognized from ancient Greek lessons he had had with Vixen at camp.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about…" Dexter stuttered and clung onto the fence behind him. "I haven't done anything! N-not intentionally at least-…"
"Quiet, boy!" They roared at him and slammed their fist against the fence. Dexter gasped and froze in place; not even daring to breathe.
The stranger glared at the city below them and muttered in ancient Greek. They glanced over at Dexter and he would have whimpered if he wasn't scared that they would get angry by it. Suddenly the other snickered, which escalated into evil laughter. "How pathetic" They stated and smirked, turning their black gaze towards Dexter again. "So the only reason you're alive is because of her"
"Who?" Dexter finally croaked, but either the other ignored him or his voice was too weak for them to hear.
They stepped away from Dexter and he watched their back as they continued to mutter to themselves. A black eye glimpsed over their shoulder, gazing at Dexter who felt icy chills running down his spine. "She thinks she can protect you" They said, turning towards him. Surrounded by a black aura that was so dark it contrasted the inked sky above them. Their evil cackle echoed inside Dexter's head. They raised their hand, pointing at him. "You're on your own now, boy!" their voice doomed and with a flash, Dexter felt himself being shot through the fence behind him and he was once again falling into total darkness.