The Evaluation [site event]

A voice sounded over the intercom, the singing of a soft hum started causing Connors eyelids to feel heavy. After seconds of resisting the boy eventually gave up and fell into his dream land.
The smell of salt filled Connors nose, and his fingers pushed against the moist sand. Waves washed up onto the shore inches away from his shoes. Connor missed the beach, with the sun peering down and the fun splashes in the water. He smiled when he remembered the fun times with his family, so long ago. The brown haired boy jumped when he heard faint screams coming from behind him.
The curious winter started to make his way to where the screams were coming from, what was disturbing the peaceful area? He stopped when he noticed four men, dressed in all black, inching towards him. Immediately he searched for the nearest metal source in defense. The sand started to shake as bits of iron shot up into the air, forming a small floating ball. Connor started running away from the men; he needed more time to collect metal. Sweat bedded on his forehead when he heard something whiz past him. Green eyes pierced into the men who pointed guns towards him. He glanced back up at his softball-sized metal ball, ’This shall do’[i] Connor flipped around ready to confront them.
The four men stopped in front of him, ready to kill. Dark soulless eyes peered into him, studying his vulnerability. ”Die.” They didn’t have to speak for Connor to know what they were going to do, but it was quite creepy the way they put it. He slowly moved his metal ball around the men as they glared at him.
Quickly one of the men shot up his arm pointing the pistol at Connor. Before the shot was fired Connor flung the ball into the man’s head, the sound of a crack followed soon after leaving blood on the iron. Two out of three of the men were shocked, while the other acted fast shooting a bullet into Connors side causing him to take a few steps back. The pain didn’t come at first, which he was grateful for he didn’t need any distractions. The metal ball floated back up off of the man’s bloody head, it flattened into a disc and spun and the next man, skinning his arm.
Another bullet flew by making Connor stumble and fall backwards. ”Crap.” The pain from the first bullet blossomed on his side, which caused him to wince. He attempted to stand back up but a pistol was pointed his way, allowing two bullets appear. Connor threw up his hand out of fear, but the winter quickly realized another source of metal. The bullets froze and whipped back; with extreme force they darted back to the shooter. [i]’Two more to go…
The two men in black smirked down at Connor, who lied vulnerable on the floor. Connor gave a wicked smile back at the men, two men, the one on the left was his next target, he was the one with the skinned arm. The iron plate split into two having one piece pierce his stomach. Blood dribbled out of the man’s mouth as he slowly made his way to the floor gasping for air. This gave Connor enough time to stumble his way to a standing position, so he could be face to face with the last man.
His opponent randomly got a long dagger, while Connor only had half of his metal left. He formed it into a ball once again bringing it back to his hand. It flatted against his fist giving the winter a metal glove. The brown haired boy threw a punch at the man, but missed when the dark figure deflected it and sliced at his cheek with the knife. A steam of blood flowed down Connors face making him spit the blood out onto the man’s face. Another punch was thrown at the man but the pain in Connors side made him drop his arm, giving the opponent the advantage.
The knife sunk into Connors chest causing him to choke, ’This is it…’ With a finishing effort Connor grabbed the man’s face, making his metal slowly form around the man’s neck. His body slumped against the man in black’s torso, as Connors world slowly slipped away.
When the winter awoke he was staring outside, the rain pounded against the windows with flash’s of lightning in the distance. A gasp escaped his mouth as he sat up, the pain wasn’t there anymore but sweat was still beaded on his forehead. He silently pushed the pillow off his desk and laid back with a face of relief. It was over.

It hadn’t been very long since Malcolm had arrived at Beata. But there was a school wide evaluation that was starting that day and poor Mal had gotten himself caught up in it just in time. It was kind of scary. A test on the first day of school. Not the first, but it might as well have been. Malcolm was having trouble coping. He was a pretty good test taker if he had time to study, but no one was told what they should study for. And Malcolm wasn’t very good at cramming information on the fly.

So when he entered the room, anyone who looked at Mal would have seen that he was shaky and pale and looked as if he had just had three cups of coffee. Which he hadn’t. In fact, he had had one cup of decaf chamomile tea to calm his nerves. It clearly wasn’t working, because when he sat down, his hand slipped off the side of the desk where he was supporting himself. Groaning as he took his seat he rubbed where his shoulder had hit the desk and sighed. Malcolm was not good at dealing with nerves. He really wanted this to be over with instantly and hopefully there would be no big issues. Only there were no booklets or anything except water and cushions. Why cushions? This was a very odd set up for a test. Malcolm was used to there being water bottles, especially on long state tests. But cushions? That was a little weird.

Turning in his seat, he looked for someone he knew. Maybe talking to a friend would calm his nerves. There were a lot of people in the room, most of whom looked a little tired anyway. The cushions must be for those test takers who would rather sleep. Or for when they got done, perhaps. That was very kind of the school.

Facing back toward the front he tried to see if he recognized the back of anyone’s head. Only the clicking beep sound that often came right before the intercom was turned on sounded and he turned to find the source, something he always did when there were about to be announcements. Only the sound of singing came on and Mal got really confused. Why was there a person singing on the intercom. There was so much else that they could have said or done or announced but there…was…singing…? Slowly Mal began to feel tired and his eyelids drooped. His skitter-y nervouseness from earlier disappeared entirely and his head slowly lowered onto the desk. He crossed his arms and rested his chin on his forearms. Slowly he began to drift off and away from the surroundings that was the classroom where the test was to take place. It wouldn’t hurt to get a good nap in before the test started, yeah?

With a shock Mal’s eyes snapped open again. It was freezing! Malcolm grabbed onto the sleeves of the warm parka he was wearing and suddenly realized he was wearing a parka. Where had that come from. There was so much going on that his mind slowed trying to take it all in. Blinking against the bright, white glare that Mal guessed was snow, he began to stumble to his feet. His goggles protected his eyes from most of the glare but he still had to blink a bit to get his bearings.

After finally reaching his feet and gathering he was in a cave filled with snow (how this was possible Malcolm decided not to ask) and started shuffling toward the entrance, where all the light was coming from. Outside he found he was high above the clouds, the sun shining clearly into the cave entrance. It was very beautiful and Malcolm almost forgot what he had been doing moments earlier.

Why was he on a mountain in a cave? He was supposed to be taking a test. There came a loud rumble and the mountain, or at least the cave, began to shake. Stumbling back and losing his balance he fell onto his butt  and watched as several large rocks tumbled down the mountain outside of the cave and blocked his entrance.

”How am I supposed to get out of here?” He asked himself once the rumbling died down and the cave was once again silent. His voice bounced off the walls dramatically and Mal wondered how bit it was. Now that the sun was cut off, there was almost no light in the cave. The snow still seemed to glow slightly, but Mal’s eyes had to readjust to this new lighting situation. Tiny beams of light shone through cracks in the new stone door and lit snow patches. Getting to his feet Mal dusted the snow off of him and turned around. He had no idea how far back the cave went or if it would lead him out.

This thought process was cut off when there came a loud, intimidating growl from the direction Mal was facing. It bounced noisily off the walls and shot against Mal’s head and eardrums. The cave shook similarly to when the rock slide had occurred but this time Mal knew something was getting up. Something big.

~~~

Lady was furious! He had arrived only the previous day and hadn’t even gone to real classes and now he was taking a stupid test! This was outrageous. Laden had wanted to tell off some teacher about this new development and ask them to just let him get out of it, but he had had no time the previous night and the evaluation was first thing in the morning. But he was still pissed as a bull seeing red. This was not going to end properly. He was bound to do something that would eventually show the teachers he did not appreciate their special test. He would not stand for it!

Entering the room in a huff he ignored anyone who said hi or acknowledged his existence. He was in the angry zone and they didn’t want to talk to him in the angry zone. That was not a pleasant zone. It was almost rare he was in the angry zone, so it was safer for just about everyone to back off. Since he was in the angry zone, all thoughts of what the test would be on or whether he would pass or fail left his mind entirely. All Laden could think about was that the teachers had set up a test and he had to take it. Sure, he didn’t know what it was going to be on or if it would be some easy multiple choice thing, but it still made him beyond mad.

Arms crossed, eyes on his desk, Lady sat hunched over, wallowing in his anger for the majority of the time they sat there waiting. The oddity of the cushions didn’t cross his mind but he did appreciate the water bottles. He was actually quite thirsty. Taking the bottle angrily he took a quick sip and then almost slammed it on the table. But he didn’t want to crush the poor thing. Within minutes of his arrival there came something on the intercom. Lady glared up at the speaker and groaned. ”Why don’t you just start the test already?” He grumbled to himself before starting to hear the song. Groaning again he was about to yell at the speaker once more because singing before they took the test was so stupid! But something came over him and he began to get sleepy.

With a quick thump onto the cushion on his desk, Lady was out. He was not a light sleeper, nor did he appreciate having to go to sleep before the test. What was this all about? It was so dumb! If he woke up and had bed head it would be the schools fault. Not his, theirs.

But this thought didn’t linger long as suddenly Laden was seeing light. Opening his eyes he was instantly hit with an immense feeling of fear. Shutting his eyes quickly he kicked his arms and legs frantically at the water to push himself to the surface. Only he wasn’t going anywhere. What was going on? Strong arms grabbed him around the waist and began to drag him to the surface. He didn’t get sight of who was carrying him, but he did appreciate the feeling of air in his lungs. Within minutes he was being dragged onto hot, soft sand coughing appreciatively. Turning himself over onto his back he caught sight of the hot mess that had saved him.

”You okay?” The knight in shining armor asked, panting heavily. His right arm was on the opposite side of Lady than his left though both his legs were on the side with his left arm. He had dripping coco brown hair and a tan of almost the same shade. His eyes were the same color as the bright blue sky above him and shone with concern and worry.

Lady almost forgot he was supposed to respond to tall, dark, and sexy and suddenly spluttered to life when he realized what was happening. ”Yes! Yes, I’m fine, now I’m fine. Thank you.” He said with a sigh, almost sounding dreamy. Gasping he covered his mouth, realizing he probably sounded too much like he liked this guy. Sitting up Laden almost pushed the guy off of him. Then he realized he was wearing just swim trunks and his skinny torso was exposed to the heat of the sun. Gosh, how embarrassing. Grabbing his legs up to his chest he smiled shyly at the hottie before him.

”Here, take my shirt. If you’re cold.” The guy offered, slipping off the shirt he had been wearing and revealing a solid six pack. Laden grinned and took it, appreciating how he assumed Lady was cold and not insecure.

”Again, thank you.” Lady said, slipping the shirt on over his head. He got to his feet at the same time as attractive boy and brushed the sand off his wet body as best he could. He’d be a little uncomfortable, but this would do.

”My family and I are having a picnic, would you like to join us?” Cutie asked and Lady nodded slowly, hoping it was okay that the almost drowning boy intrude upon their picnic.

Cutie gestured for him to follow and he did so, hugging himself tightly and appreciating that this guy didn’t mind Laden’s huddling for warmth. They found themselves at the table and there were about twelve little boys, each looking about the same age, and a giant feast.

”This is your family?” Laden asked incredulously looking up at tan man.

”You could say that. I just look after them when their parents are away and they want to play around. I’m more of a babysitter, but I call them my brothers.” The boys were running around and eating and laughing and screaming. Lady and Cutie entered the mix and began eating. One boy shouted at Cutie to cut the watermelon and handed him the nastiest knife Lady had ever seen.

”Of course I’ll cut it!” Cutie said, taking the knife and thanking his little brother.

Raindrops swirled around them, drifting down from the dark gray skies and landing on the glass panels as they left a trail of liquid behind before slithering off. Street lights outside were flickering an eerie glow of orange onto the dull streets. The slow cascade of rain made it seem like time was crawling and inching away, and it was strangely quiet, save for the constant pitter-patter above on the roof. Peaceful of course, if Lamia hadn’t already known why they were here, and with that bit of knowledge, it seemed hauntingly silent in a deathly still world. In the distance, a shadowed wall of evergreen trees bent and swayed in the wind, trying to flicker past lightning bolts, silhouetted by black mountains. But why was she here?

What the hell was she doing in a classroom, today of all days? The last time she had volunteered for something like this, she had to deal with her soul being ripped out of her body and split into two, participating in a wild goose chase and everything going numb to the core, but here she was again, seated in the corner closest to the door, reading as she waited for the exam to start. All Lamia knew was that she had wanted to escape her room for a few moments, to get fresh air, or something along those lines, and in a sleep-deprived state, she wound up signing up for this… which she deeply regretted, being snapped awake by her roommates who reminded her to get up and head through the doors before 8:20 AM. From there, it was just one trip from another and at a lagging pace, she barely made it inside the gates to come in.

This was all foolish in the end. She knew that. She couldn’t make any excuse that she was coming to save some poor, unfortunate soul from their demise or that she had volunteered so that someone else wouldn’t have to wind up going. In the end, this was all on her own accord and she had absolutely nothing to counter that. It was the worst feeling. That feeling of dread that drove through her chest like a stake, bubbling up with each passing second. Softly but clearly, the ticking of the clock counted down every single moment in her head, waiting and waiting. A voice kept nagging her, telling her that she would fail, that she was too weak to do anything like this.

And she agreed without a doubt. After all, she looked and sounded the part. She might as well play it.

Everyone was waiting for this “evaluation” to take place, to test their capabilities with their gifts, whether they were new or old. Why did she wind up doing this? Her power was deadly, toxic, and a complete monstrosity. Fingers curling in front of her as her book smacked closed, clanging as dust scattered from the rusted, dog-eared pages. She didn’t want to think about what would happen, she didn’t want to think about what would await her the moment darkness invited her into its home. The idea terrified her, and she had to use every fibre in her body to ease her trembling and force herself to stay calm.

Lamia thought about leaving the room, and there was an urge to push herself up and forget about this. There wasn’t any point in her taking it in the end. She’d wind up making a complete fool out of herself and she’d wonder why she didn’t just leave in the first place. Taking a shaky breath, her eyes drifted towards the back of the room temporarily, only to see a few people she could recognize. Leo, Dylan, Logan, and Magic.

The color seemed to drain out of her skin quickly and she was even more ready to leave now. Why? Immediately, she tore her eyes away as they dropped to her hands, which had begun to dig themselves into one another, trying to gouge each piece apart one by one. Nothing was going to go back to normal at this rate… because she screwed up.

It struck her that she was now thousands of miles away from home, being forced into a realm she knew nothing about. The thunder above boomed in uproar, the skies only seeming to darken as the mist became hazier in a bleak white and a light scar shone in the outside world.

What was her brother doing now? Was he helping in the garden and cooking? Or was he buying groceries for the daily tasks? Perhaps he had found a job? Found his special someone? Her heart sunk down to her stomach a little as she mulled on those thoughts. She wanted to go home. To see her family again. To leave this accursed hell hole where all she did was cause problems for everyone else. To get rid of the burden that she weighed down on her friends’ shoulders. None of them would understand her in the end. She just wanted her family more than ever.

Her mind began to drift towards a different subject - anything to make her forget about the past that she couldn’t escape - but perhaps luck was on her side because the intercom crackled to life like a malfunctioned robot. An angelic, rosy voice filled the air in its symphony, trying to lull her to sleep before she could lurch onto her feet. Everything seemed to get heavier and a darkness opened its mouth up in front of her, swallowing her whole as sleep ambushed in her vulnerable state, dropping her eyelids with a load of bricks, her entire body completely petrified. Lamia shifted in her seat, leaning on the wall for support, her hands grasped tightly together before she drifted into the new world, the soft, rhythmic drum roll of rain being the only thing that lingered in her mind.

Wish me luck, Kearn…

---

The first thing she became aware of was that the train was moving a tad bit too slowly for her liking, but she didn’t mind. It gave her more time to think, amidst the white noise of the other passengers stepping in and out, the swish of the automatic door, and the clear ding! that sounded whenever they reached another station. Her fingers were smoothing out a page of the book on her lap carefully, hoping not to ruin it and destroy the work that was put into this just so they could celebrate. She was grateful that Kearn had come to a point that he had put this together for her, for old times’ sake, and even if there were so many other albums like it in the world, this was the only one that mattered in the end. A small, soft smile tugged at the corners of her lips as an uplifting feeling leapt in her heart, her fingers flipping through the book. It had been too long since they last saw each other. Where was the train going? Why did she start the Evaluation like this?

Her thoughts ran astray as her eyes watched the blurring view of the city. At first, everything was a complete puzzle, the stars shining as they ran through space, passing by meteors and rings as everything seemed to be floating. However, it slowly pieced itself together, and her eyes lit up in recognition. How many times she had passed by this very same view in the past; enduring endless transfers of trains in order to reach her home, just to visit those she cherished most. It was funny, comparing herself to who she used to be back then. She used to believe that everyone was alone and that only those who were strong enough were the ones who would survive and be successful in society, that in the end, everyone was a stranger to each other and that they wouldn’t need friends. And here she was, the weakest of the bunch and envious of the skills of that one person over there and this person over here, who relied on others more than anything. Now… she found it almost difficult to think in that old way of hers, but it was still there.

It had been way too long since she went home; was this something to be celebrating? Even if it wasn’t real? It would be a lie to say that she wasn’t looking forward to it. But it could all be a fabrication of her mind. That’s what this was. To challenge herself. To push herself to her limits. The thought made her turn a shade paler as her face darkened in realization. Oh.

If that was the case… She should avoid everything she could that was familiar.

But that wasn’t enough. It wasn’t nearly enough to convince her to stay away from the home that she cherished to go to after so long. This may have been just some other world that she conjured in her sleep. She wanted to see her brother, to see those blue eyes that would’ve been so identical to her own, to watch him smile and have fun and laugh together. They haven’t grown apart - or had they? - and she had wondered if they could still be like they were before. Before everything that happened. Even after everything, nothing really changed. They promised it, so long ago, that they would keep that unbreakable linkage.

Unbreakable linkages. Something she had always desired for her family. In the end, it never happened. All because of her dumb old mistake. Life had taken them in a completely different direction, playing them like the actors on the stage they call the world, and as time passed on, the script seemed to make her feel all the worst about what she had done. Her mom and brother was always working and it had gotten tougher, and she couldn’t help but endlessly worry about them as each day passed. What if something happened and she never knew until she came home to an empty house one day? What if they were killed? Or--

Stop it.  She shouldn’t be thinking about such depressing things. Lamia took a deep, shaky breath, mentally counting to ten in her head and recomposing herself. You can do this… hopefully. God knows she probably can’t. Would it hurt if she tried to hope for once, though? Most likely.

Her eyes moved up, idly catching sight of the moving clouds up on the deep blue sky as the train began to lessen its pace. She straightened up a bit, her fingers clutching the book tightly, listening to the train’s announcement as it slowly slid to a stop. Something in her chest sank deeper in anxiety - it wouldn’t take long now. Forcing herself to swallow that bubbling feeling, the intercom burst to life as a monotone voice called out the name of the station, ringing throughout the compartment. Amtrak Train Station.

The lone train rumbled to a halt, hissing as the gates creaked open, and Lamia stepped onto the platform hesitantly with a heavy breath. People swarmed all around her - each and everyone’s steps hitting the floor in hurried motions, leaving no place for the slower ones. She couldn’t help but wince; it had been too long since she had to face a crowd like this, and she had grown unaccustomed to it ever since the languid pace of Beata came into play. The school’s atmosphere made her feel closer to content, but now, everything about her seemed to be as fragile as lead, snapping if she took even one step.

Everything had fallen into the usual rhythm of New York or Paris’ rush hour, but nothing seemed to had changed all that much since she had left. Or maybe it was different and she was just deluding herself. What year was it currently? What about the time? Lamia bit back a bitter laugh at the memories that tugged in her mind with every step she took. Golden eyes flickered restlessly from underneath uneven bangs, drifting towards the barely peaked roofs of neighborhoods all around.

There were no billboards; simply three-dimensional holograms blaring out advertisements for countless products, with celebrities whose faces she didn’t bother remembering, winking and smiling down at the people rushing around. Stairs were gone, replaced by a smooth-moving escalator. The real world seemed to have changed a lot. Or was it her lack of memory? Maybe it was Beata’s deprived innovation and modernity, in its Victorian-esque hallways and rooms without a shed of technology to indicate future developments. As though the school was completely frozen in the past where they might as well use oil lamps instead of lightbulbs.

Not that it mattered to her.

Right there, at the exit, awaited a familiar realm that eased her mind. Her eyes blinked a bit, trying to readjust to the sudden bath of light collapsing around, and everything fell into place. The town that she hadn’t seen in so long. Dennis was an old town, but it was a tired old town where the people moved slowly and there was no hurry, for there was nothing to do, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with. Everyone ambled slowly across, dragging themselves away on the stone-paved roads and the houses seemed to be sagging at every possible corner and turn. Quaint, but it was still her other home that she wanted to come back to.

The streets were riddled with obtuse colors and concession stands, people shouting here and there as they tried to sell their items. Children raced down the streets in a game of tag while some approached the local clown for a batch of balloons. Sand sprinkled in large piles, patching the black floor with grains of pastel, and her eyes fluttered softly to a close, breathing in the sharp scent of ocean breeze and salt. Water sprayed at the surfaces, waves flowing in and out on their crystalline surface. Tiny dots of the kites could be located if she squinted hard enough, suspended in the air as their strings snaked down towards their owners below. She thought about heading over there for a few moments, just to feel the sand between her toes, only to be struck with realization that she seemed to still be lacking her sense of touch.

Her heels turned down, facing an ancient forest path into yellow woods where the road diverged halfway through. Anyone was bound to get lost if they messed up at the beginning. Did she still remember the way? Lamia picked her path through, passing the great rock where Kearn would’ve climbed on their first morning to the secret place before turning off to her right among the trees. She walked with an accustomed tread through the acres of fruit trees, flowers and fruit bursting to life and everywhere was the scent of ripeness and the booming of a million bees was caught in the pasture. Among their roar was the gentle humming of birds soaring by, butterflies fluttering about in their unending dance at the delicate petals. She paused for a few moments, satisfied and looked round, realizing she had reached the park as children cried out unintelligibly, shoving each other off swings and slides to get their turn beforehand. One child fell face-first right in front of her, and with a small smile, she offered her hand and helped them up. Everyone had inscrutable expressions etched across their faces. Taking a few moments to relish in her surroundings, Lamia cast a glance over her shoulder, the road trodden black in her steps.

Lamia stumbled away from the park and went where the just perceptible path led her. Soon, the canopies of the forest began to close in, casting shadows and blankets of darkness at every nook and cranny as the towering trunks bore unexpected pale flowers all the way up, life jumbled together messily and all was a series of white noise above. The air felt darker in a haunting silence, vines dropping their ropes like the rigging of foundered ships, her feet leaving prints in the soft soil and everything shivered in their lengths whenever she bumped into them, despite her cautious steps.

She finally came to a place where more sunshine fell, ostentatious yellow caution tape strangling the open road, supposedly preventing anyone from passing through. Lamia stepped over. The whole space was walled with dark aromatic bushes, and was a bowl of heat and light, screens of leaves breaking into nothingness. The candle-buds opened their wide flowers glimmering under the light that pricked down from the honey-colored sunlight, the sounds of bright fantastic birds, the bee-sounds, and crying of the gulls had gone faint. Flowers stirred, green sepals drawing back a little and the colored tips rose delicately to meet the open air, swaying in the whistling, gentle breeze.

A pair of gaudy butterflies fluttered in, dancing and weaving their way through the stems. Her knees buckled as she reached the cliff and her legs dangled dangerously above, overlooking the ocean crashing below against the jagged rocks, gold eyes watching the deadly waters below. The red disc began to fall into the angular peaks of the trees, only half above the mirrored surface as it rippled.

Lamia got onto her feet, her fingers clenching onto the strap of her bag as she wandered to the peculiar jut of land dabbed straight in the center of the clearing, stretching outward to form another bluff. For a few moments, her movements were almost furtive and she wormed her way towards that open zone. A great tree stood there, its branches splayed into the skies and touched the clouds, the deep sea breaking miles away in an undertone. The wind let out a heavier breath and darkness thickened as she neared the roots.Then she bent down, and her palm reached for the smooth bark, sliding across until there was just a nick. She traced a long slender finger across the letters she encountered, the etchings prominent.

It felt like only yesterday that they had crudely carved their names here with a knife they stole from their parents. Two names were arched and stiffened above hers, and Lamia fondly recalled those times when they were just kids. Callum had come to visit them in their new home for a short while on his own before his parents found out he came without their permission. Perhaps it was just a short duration of time, three days, but they were the most fun she had after everything that happened. Their games of hide and seek and their own secret hideout here where no one was allowed to go. It was just the three of them together, and the thought made her smile die a little. Those days were never coming back… because one of them was gone forever.

The sky was splashed with pink and orange with streaks of purple, clouds become a mix of brown and white. The first stars began to twinkle in the sky, the moon only a sliver of light pleading for the sun to leave, to have its turn. With a small sigh, she brought a knee up before straightening herself, her eyes locked onto the cat-scratched names eternalized on the bark. I can’t stay here forever. Closing her eyes, she focused, listening into the roar of the tides as they drew back and flung themselves about. At once, the leaves had a tremor and rippled like a fire of green, whirling as though a wind had rustled the bushes that came.

Faintly, softly, footsteps sounded, marking their tracks before coming to a complete halt. Did someone else find the place already? Her lips thinned, the basking heat pulling the small beads of sweat on her forehead down, and her fingers crumpled together in front of her chest. It’d be alright. Inhale… exhale… inhale… exhale. Forcing herself to turn on her heels, Lamia’s eyes met the intruder, softening into a doe-like aura as soon as she saw who it was.

Disheveled, messy dark hair was long and swung down, almost concealing a low, brooding forehead. Bright blue eyes shone in front delightfully, widened in surprise. If she looked further, the first thing she would notice was the lack of a short-sleeved shirt; instead, he wore a navy blue jacket, rolled up slightly above his wrists and brown gloves wrapped themselves around his hands. Sandy sweatpants covered his legs, the left thigh wrapped with a brown buckle and he had dark boots on. His hands reached up, pulling down his hood and immediately, the corners of his lips curved upward into a warm smile.

There was a prolonged silence that gnawed at her, and hesitantly, she took a step forward as the other person offered their hand out. Was she supposed to take it? Or was this a trap to her demise? The wind roared in defiance to her thoughts, petals scattering up in the breeze around them before she placed her palm on top of his. ”Adeline?” Their gazes locked together, and as though it were difficult to focus, he tightened his grip firmly before sharply pulling her into a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

A small gasp of surprise sunk past before she let herself get clutched in, almost not wanting to leave. She could let this go on forever… she didn’t want to go. It would be a dream, to allow things to keep going like this. She could live in a world where she would still be with her family in the end. Why had she been so nervous about this? Her voice was scarcely louder than a whisper as she buried her face into his chest, a rush of happiness flying in, diving like a bird falling from the sky, destroying that unwanted feeling of longing and misery.

”I-I’m h-h-home…”

(blah blah, still finishing)

The shaking continued to rock the chamber Mal was in, shaking snow and icicles off the ceiling and allowing them to fall near him. Mal had to dodge a various number of icicles and snow piles that came crashing down next to him. He almost got buried by one but just barely managed to jump out of the way, landing face first in the snow. He sat there for a second, wondering if he could just stay there. It was very comfortable. It would be nice to just sleep here and do nothing. But the rumbling that was shaking the room reminded him he would need to get up to investigate in whatever was going on.

As Malcolm pushed himself up the rumbling stopped. So he stopped, looking up from where he was in the snow. The room was still fairly dark, but Mal’s eyes had adjusted to the dim light to be able to pick out the shape of some large creature. It looked like a dragon of some sort, with massive wings and talons to match. How there was a dragon in this cave he had no idea, but he really didn’t want to have to fight that thing. It was far too big for him to make any damage, especially without a weapon.

The thing had stopped moving, but Mal could see the steam rising from its nostrils where the heat met the cool air. Mal didn’t move and just stared at it. The dragon copied him, not moving and just staring. As soon as Malcolm started to push himself up more, the dragon started to step closer. This freaked Malcolm out, so he froze where he was. What was he supposed to do? It was massive! There was no way he could take it! With one deep breath and a rush of nerves, Malcolm pushed himself into a standing position and froze there.

The dragon took a few steps forward and came nose to nose with Malcolm. Whoa. That was a little too close. But it wasn’t moving to kill him. He was trapped in a cave with a friendly dragon. That was very much nicer than being trapped in a cave with a vicious man eating monster. Taking a breath, not having realized he had been holding his breath, Malcolm took a step backward and the dragon a step closer. Hah, this was so not cool.

”Hey, dude, can you give me some space?” He asked, as if the dragon could understand him and would move. Surprisingly, it did. Watching it move its massive body he waited for it to settle down before turning to assess the wall again. There wasn’t much difference since it had first been knocked down. What was he supposed to do? His radiation couldn’t do anything about that, could it?

”Got any ideas?” He asked the dragon, not turning to look at it. It let out a heavy sigh and filled the chamber with steam. Mal grinned and spun around to face it.

”Brilliant! Breath on it! Dragons breath fire, you could take out the wall and get both of us out of here. Unless you want to stay.” He said, walking swiftly toward it, struggling a bit through the snow. It huffed again and turned its head lazily toward the rock slide and blew fiercely, letting out a big, long shot of… ice?

The stones and snow piles were coated in a thick layer of ice after the dragon breathed and Malcolm sighed exasperatedly. ”You could have told me you breath fire!” He said, growling to himself. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t create heat. Between him and the dragon they had some body heat, but it wasn’t enough to melt a frozen ice wall.

Plopping himself onto the ground Malcolm huffed at the wall. His mind drew blank after blank as he stared at it. There was no way out and nothing to do or eat. He was going to die in a freezing cave above the world. Moving his gaze to his hands, which were between his legs in the snow, he realized he wasn’t wearing gloves. Why had he been given a parka but no gloves? Wait a second, his hands weren’t cold!

Gasping he pulled his hands from the snow and looked them over. Upon close examination he realized his hands were giving off steam. Naturally Malcolm gave off small amounts of radiation, especially when stressed. Most articles of clothing were able to block it from getting to anyone else, but he didn’t have gloves one, the radiation coming off his hands was visible. How could radiation be visible?

”Heat is a type of radiation!” He jumped up as he shouted this, sending off a solid wave of radiation throughout the room. It didn’t reach the far wall but it reached the wall behind him and the ceiling. The heat hit the ceiling with a rough force that knocked ice clean off, but not enough to melt it. The solid chunks of ice hit the dragon square on the head.

”Gosh, I’m so sorry!” Malcolm apologized, moving around the now shaken dragon. ”But I have our way out!” He shouted excitedly, running toward the blocked exit.

With one swift swish and a five second delay, Mal was being tossed across the room by the impact of the dragons tail.

~~~

Lady had only seconds to react before he pulled his hand off the table and away from Cutie’s knife. He barely missed having his hand separated from his arm and was cherishing the moment when Cutie swung again, this time narrowly missing his face. Laden fell off the bench and landed hard on his back against the concrete floor of the picnic area.

”Wh-what are you d-doing?” Lady stuttered, watching with horror as Cutie walked around the table to where Laden was laying. Cutie’s brothers all laughed and watched, all of them focused on the events unfolding before them. None of them were playing their games or eating or running around laughing. Well, one of them had a cookie in his mouth and was grinning evilly as he chewed. But he was still watching.

”Cutting the melon.” Cutie said simply, not even blinking at that comment. Melon? What? There was a melon on the picnic table, that was the real melon. Was melon code for Laden? How was he a melon?

Pushing himself backward with his hands, Lady stared at Cutie, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. No, he wasn’t going to cry. The guy was cute and had been nice for a little while. That was not worth crying over. Only Lady felt so stupid that he had trusted such an evil person so easily. But he always trusted people this way. Why would he not trust someone instantly? That was only nice of him. Never before had he been faced with such a shocking betrayal, and of someone he had only known a short while.

”I’m n-not a melon.” He mustered stupidly. Cutie laughed maniacally and shook his head, lunging with the knife again. Again Laden dodged, this time getting to his feet and sprinting across the beach. He heard calls and shouts behind him, but he just kept running. Laden was fast, even on the sand, and soon he couldn’t hear Cutie or his brothers anywhere behind him.

Slowing down and turning back toward where he had come from, Laden shook his head and questioned himself.

”How c-could this h-h-happen?” He asked himself. He had always been good at judging who he could trust. Cutie had been so nice and trustworthy that he had just dumped trust all over him, finding it hard to realize he shouldn’t have trusted him. He was lucky to have gotten away with his life. But he needed to stop thinking about what had just happened and think instead of what he could do to get away.

”Okay, th-there has to be a-a town nearby.” He muttered to himself, walking away from the beach and toward where a town would normally be. He found himself walking along a well paved road within minutes, the heat radiating off the black top and into his feet. But he ignored it. It was very much possible he was still being chased by a very hot, deranged psychopath. He needed to find help. But every store he looked into, every corner he turned, there was no one.

”Gotcha!” Laden screamed and jumped when he felt the shoot of pain go up his leg, inflicted by Cutie who had shown up out of nowhere. What hurt even more was when Cutie took the knife from his leg. Lady turned as quickly as his leg allowed and faced Cutie, backing away to avoid the knife that was coming at him again. The pain was immense but he tried his best to ignore it so he could get away.

Cutie was trailed by his brothers, each one of them grinning wickedly at the sight of Lady in pain. Pain. Gosh, no. That couldn’t be the way out of this.

”Please, stop.” Laden pleaded, backing away again when Cutie throw another cut toward him. It was becoming more and more difficult for Laden to dodge his blows. His leg was bleeding a lot and Lady was trying to avoid looking down at it. He knew he would probably pass out the instant he did.

At first Rhett had been so bored and tired from being up so early, but something came on the intercom; a soothing melody that soon encouraged him to sleep. He struggled to keep his eyes open, he needed to be awake to take the test! Despite his attempts, the boy was out like a light.

He found himself laying in something wet and smelly, and cold breath whispering in his ear. Where was he? How did he get here? And more importantly, who or what was breathing on him? The Spring boy opened his eyes and held back a scream. He dared not move, nor blink. It would hear him.

There, in the disgusting surroundings, this was the most revolting of all. It was mostly human, but had papier-machée skin, shredded leathery wings, and a contorted face. The face of quite possibly the ugliest, sharpest-eared bats in existence. He held in his breath, sure that he would die right there, but noticed its eyes. They were pure white, eerie, sightless. That was the only good thing. He waited for what seemed like hours for it to leave. And it did, growing bored of what it thought was nothing on the floor of the brick-walled tunnel.

Once it had left, Rhett was free to stand. He paid no mind that he hadn’t an injury to speak of. Now not frozen in absolute terror, he could now understand where he was. The floor, completely covered with water, laid hidden with holes and bottomless pits. He was lucky to be on solid ground. Unrecognizable objects floated down on the water from father in the tunnel system. What stood out to him wasn’t the surely full darkness (which wasn’t detectable by him anyway), but the sheer stench; of death and rot and excrement. This was a catacombs at a point, wasn’t it? Great.

The water constantly lapped at his feet as he made his way through. He hadn’t met another of the bat-people so far, but knew they could hear him. They’d find him soon. After hours of mindless wandering, he had to sit down. At some point his power had begun to wane, allowing him to see less and less of what was around him, but a light had appeared. A literal light at the end of the tunnel. He was stupidly optimistic, he was nowhere near the surface. The air was too thick and cold.

As he got closer, the light appeared to be approaching him too. Light didn’t do that. He froze, at first confused, then terrified. It was one of the bat-people.

With an exhausted power, he could detect their glow. They were malevolent ghosts haunting the air directly above the water, on a hunt for meat, living or dead. His eyes flickered from it to the crossbow strapping on his shoulders. Without a second thought he tore it from his back, the beast automatically picking up the noise. A Soundhound, that’s what he should call them. Lights seemed to flicker back on, but it was just his power returning to life. The Soundhound roared, not a battle cry, but an attempt to locate him accurately. It worked well in deafening him too.

Its head twisted to face him, and if that was possible, it was uglier with a smirk. Rhett lined up the shot and fired. It was a bit off-target, but it did the job. The creature paused its pursuit, feeling at the arrow lodged in its ribs. It took longer than needed to die, eyes wide and confused, whimpering escalating into wails of pain. It had just been hungry. So hungry in these sunless tunnels filled with nothing but water and corpses. Only when it had collapsed in the crossroads did he see that there had been a light in its eyes, but now it was gone. Its blood had been red.

He never wanted to do that again.

Exhausted and desperate, Rhett sat defeated on the ground, staring at the ceiling. He never realized that the difference between closing one’s eyes and complete darkness were very much the same.

[TO BE CONTINUED]