Chapter Twenty-Five
In the Dark of the Night Part 3
"I don't believe this guy!" Jay whines, "All of this and now he's gone to do something stupid!"
The crew runs through the marsh dressed in full gear. Jay, Zane, Rachel, and Cole each with their hoods drawn over their faces whip through the tall grass.
"He's not thinking straight!" Cole calls out. "The guy's so lost in his memories he'll do just about anything to relive that moment in his life!"
"Emotional connection is a powerful thing, Jay," Zane chimes in.
"Where are we even going?" Jay questions.
Rachel slips through a sloshy piece of the earth but quickly regains her balance.
"This is the only area he could have gone through," she calls out. "All of the other areas surrounding the monastery aren't flat enough to walk down".
"But how do we know which direction to head to?" Jay asks.
"Zane, can you still use your falcon vision?" Cole prompts.
"On it!" Zane replies.
Zane's eyes flicker on a blue hue. The falcon flies above their heads and swoops through the air out of sight. Ahead, it scans the ground below finding remains of a cleared muddied path. The falcon takes a dip and investigates the path closer.
"It looks like there are tracks," Zane says, "but there are three sets of footsteps".
"Three?" Jay asks, "Are you sure?"
"One belongs to a human, the others belong to an animal," Zane answers, "or rather, two".
Cole catches his foot against a wet puddle compressed deeply into the soil. He quickly regains his stamina.
"What kind of animal?" Cole asks.
Zane scans the prints seen indented in the mud, "Dogs. Two of them".
"Maybe one of them is Lexis," Jay calls out.
"Then where did the other one come from?" Cole replies.
"Focus," Rachel cuts in, "See if you can get a lock on the location".
"It appears to be thirty degrees North," Zane states.
"In English, Zane!" Jay scoffs.
Zane picks up his speed and moves in front of the group, "This way!".
#
Kai stares into the dim abyss, feeling the chill of the air run his skin cold to the bone. The dogs erupted into an increasing growl, each tone sounding more monstrous by the second. Kai tightened his fists and tensed.
"So this is what you things do," he tested. "Go sneakin' around to scare people like the boogeyman?"
The room remained silent. For a moment, Kai believed he could hear the faint sound of a person's breath and the flap of a bird's wings jumping off from a tree branch. He ignites his flames brighter to light the entire room. Both dogs could be seen with their eyes dilated and their fur prickled. Lexis bore her fangs and even began to froth at the mouth, never breaking her stare.
Kai prodded further, " I've already seen what you things can do, so you don't scare me. I don't think you all need a reason to do these things, so I won't bother asking why, but I will say this–"
"Kai," a voice called out.
The weight of a gentle hand rested on Kai's shoulder. His eyes widened at the warm touch and he felt his fire die down a bit. The dogs ceased their growling as he slowly turned around and fixed his eyes on the person who touched him.
The air around them remained cold but the strength of the heat inside of him warmed his surrounding atmosphere to the core. His mouth parted slightly as he gaped at the glowing figure in front of him. She took his hand and pressed it against her left cheek, giving him a smile. Her cheek felt soft and cool.
Entranced by her eyes, Kai gazed into the brown coffee-toned pits he had once loved staring into. He reached into the dark mass of her hair and ran his fingers through her dark and light blue streaks.
She chuckles, "Hi".
Kai exhaled in awe, "How did you– Last time. You vanished".
She narrows her eyes, "I'm sorry".
"Why are you here now?", Kai demanded. "All of this time–your friends, the guys, the city‐‐you never even–"
Her face remains expressionless.
Kai, confused, gasped out the words he was searching for. "You never even told us you wouldn't come back".
"Well," she started, "I'm here now".
Kai scoffs, "Is this gonna be one of those things where you only show up to give me some premonition message just so you can disappear and never return again?".
"No, Kai," Blaire reached for his hands.
Kai pulled away, "Why play with us? Not just me. Everybody! You put the whole city in danger and then you left your own team behind!"
"It wasn't like that," she pleaded.
Kai gripped her shoulders and threw her to the ground. His fist grasped onto her thick, black hair and pinned her head close to the dirt. Blaire gripped Kai's wrist as he raised his hand to ignite a flame. His veins pumped with adrenaline and his muscles began to shake. He surged with rage as he stared down at her.
"Why. Are. You. Here?" he gritted.
"Your mission–" she spoke.
"What about it?" Kai spat.
"I don't think you understand the extent of what you're getting yourself into," she replied.
"My mission is to protect," Kai answered, "something you should have been doing".
"Kai," she touches his arm.
"I'm not going to ask you again," Kai's flame engulfed his palm.
"This time it's different," she said.
"Get to the point," he growled.
Blaire turned her wrists and wriggled on the ground. Her body contorted as she struggled to break free from Kai's grip. Kai slams his palm onto the dirt, sending dust clouds circling around his fingers. Blaire's eyes flinched as she gazed at Kai.
"Impending doom is already here," Kai growled. "There's nothing you can do for us anymore".
"I believe I can," she breathed. "
"Then can I make a suggestion?", Kai prodded. "Next time you wanna alert us to trouble in the future, get a better disguise".
Her hair caught the flame of Kai's fire and singed as the heat traveled up the strands.
"Please! Don't!", she cried. "I love you!"
Kai grits his teeth and feels a tear escape the corner of his eyes, "You should have done better".
The flame in his hand sparks into a ball of rage and blankets the ground around them. The walls of the abandoned house quickly catch hold of the fire and burst with the burning intensity of its light. Zeus let out a screeching whimper and darted out of the opening in the wall, but Lexis stayed pressed against Kai's side. The clouds of flames encircled the three and swallowed them in its heat.
"Kai!", a voice called out. It was Jay standing in the broken doorframe.
The ball of fire parted, leaving an empty, heated path on the dirt floor. A German shepherd darts through and quickly makes her way toward the blue ninja. Behind her, the path disappears as the flames seam the part shut and soon a man emerges walking through the fire, covered in dirt and ash. His expression is cold.
Jay is shocked, "Kai".
He doesn't reply. Kai brushes past Jay and walks out of the gaping hole left on the side of the structure. Lexis follows at his heels. Jay watches and then turns to the blanket of fire that is now crackling away. He takes one last glance around the inside of the room then in a flash takes off after Kai.
The group has already arrived by the time Jay and Kai make it outside. They surround the two with worried questions and concerned looks. They were happy that their teammate was safe, but more importantly, they wanted to acknowledge the chaos of flames happening feet away from them.
Cole sounded bewildered when he glanced over Kai's shoulder and asked, "Buddy, what did you do?".
Kai locked eyes with Cole and with the darkest, uncanny tone replied, "Burned a demon".