Chapter four

Rumble!

The thunder roared after a couple of purple lightning bolts stroke in the sky. James who was strolling around, surely knew it was going to rain so he quickened his pace. The grey clouds covered the sky, gradually making it very dark.

It started raining heavily, prompting James to run so he could find a shelter but to his dismay...no shelter was around.

' How can this be? Right now I was just...' James was still perplexed about the situation when he realized that his surroundings had already changed.

All he saw was an impenetrable forest. James was lost, he had no where to run to and the scary part of it all, was that there was darkness every where.

" This..." James was completely at sea.

Things were getting stranger and stranger nowadays. His life direction was getting blurrier each and every day that passed because of this so called darkness.

Feeling himself at the pinnacle of his frustration, James steamed at the top of his lungs.

" Get away from me!!!"

And the next moment, swirls if blue energy formed out of thin air around James. His eyes shone with a blazing blue light as if a fire had ignited deep within his soul.

...the eyes are the keys to one's soul.

" Why do you keep avoiding me?" The darkness somehow came to life and asked in a whisper. There seemed to be a tiny bit of tension in it.

James had lost control of himself at the moment and so the swirls of blue light grew into waves of energy and more so brighter. It seemed like the darkness was shrinking in size, gathering in a specific area.

" I don't want you in my head anymore." James' voice was like thunder when he shouted out. His white hair was sparkling with light. From afar, one could even mistaken him for an angel.

He levitated slightly above the ground.

James didn't know when but the darkness was gone. All he saw was endless blue light that outshone even the stars... ofcourse, to his approximation.

Gradually, the light dimmed and James slowly fell to the ground. He felt like he had used up all his energy since he was tired enough not to flick even a finger.

A shiver ran down his spine.

' What was that...!? ' He was lost in contemplation for a second there before he regained his senses.

Abruptly, the scenery changed from that of the pack to that of his room, completely startling the young man.

" What the...!?" James was completely dumbfounded upon seeing the state of his room.

Bang!

Jane rushed into his room panting and with an unusually fearful expression on her adorable face.

" James...W-what's going on? There was..." Jane shouted immediately but was soon dumbfounded by the situation of her brother's room.

" What the hell happened here?" Jane asked anxiously. She was still breathing hard.

At that moment, it seemed as if James had come to a realization.

" Hallucinations...!" He exclaimed.

Jane was totally confused.

" Uh... What's that?" She asked, her attention somewhere else with a horrified expression on her face.

" I know what's going on right now-"

" James... I mean that." Jane cut short James' words, clarifying the matter.

Hearing Jane's voice that ended in a whisper, James knew something was totally wrong. He followed her eye direction and was also stunned.

A chill ran down his spine as his eyes widened in bafflement. All the hairs on his body stood straight as if James had been shocked by electricity. Opening his mouth to speak, nothing even could be uttered since the dude was under complete shock

Whatever had happened to James had almost completely ruined his small room. The wall opposite to his door had a wide hole which was a result of the magical energy that had seeped out of him... whatever it was.

That wasn't what brought shivers to both his body and Jane's, though. What had was a creature that lurked beyond the damaged wall.

A creature made of darkness. It was completely amorphous...well, it was like totally black smoke but seemed more alive.

Thud

Jane lost her balance and fell to the floor, her legs so weak to stand.

" J-James...I want mom..." The little girl stuttered.

James tiptoed towards her, held her close and gestured for her to keep silent. He went back to observing the creature... whatever it was.

' Maybe all this time, I wasn't having nightmares...All these were hallucinations. Someone's been playing with my mind... But why!? '

James grimly pondered as he watched the black smoke that looked like it was breathing. Silence was all there was at that moment. Both the siblings could hear each other's hearts pounding so hard with tense expressions on their countenances.

Whooooosh!

A gentle breeze blew through the vegetation in the back yard of their house causing some rustling sound within the vicinity.

And then... All hell broke lose.

The black smoke started vibrating emitting strange sounds which sounded like...

' whispers...!? '

James realized in horror. It seemed as if the space between him and the black smoke was gradually lessening to the point that he could see all the details of it. What he saw made him shiver in fear.

' Are those faces? '

" Watch out, James!!!" Jane reminded him.

" The hell...!?"

James realized that he was hallucinating again. It seemed that this...ah!... thing, had mind attacking power. He had justed seeing black faces which were contorted in pain and anger emerging from within the black smoke. Little had he known that the thing had started moving towards their position.

Luckily, Jane reacted in time bringing him back to his senses.

" Run!!!" James shouted.

Immediately after, he grabbed his sister's small hand and dashed out of the room. The black smoke was also fast, its movements smooth since it was just gliding in air. When it entered the room though, the once small damage enlarged by three times. Wherever it passed, the surrounding would get devastated.

The siblings ran through the house but the creature kept its pace behind them. Jane was already crying.

Reaching the sitting room, James pushed Jane aside and turned around to close the door behind him. No sooner had he just closed it, when the creature collided with the door. The poor door wasn't of great quality so it was dismantled abruptly into debris and smithereens. James was also carried off the floor by the force of the collision.

He seemed to be worried about Jane though because the little girl was just beside the entrance. That wasn't necessary though because she had reacted fast enough to evade the force of collision. James had his own life to worry about since just right in front of him...was the damned creature.

And when he deeply gazed into its face or something, he could see only endless nightmares and horrors deep within it.

' Why do I feel so scared all of a sudden? Maybe I'm going to die? ' James pondered in grief because he could also see the result of the situation... Death!

He was going to die. But again if he died, what about Jane and his mother?

Turning his eyes slightly to the left, he noticed Jane whose cheeks were all wet from all the crying, her hazel eyes were wide in shock. But...

' She still looks adorable. ' James smiled before looking back at the creature.

" James!!!" Jane screamed at the top of her lungs.

In James' view, everything seemed to be in a slow motion. Maybe it was because he was about to die? He also didn't know why but things happen very fast in Jane's point of view.

" Huh?" Jane was surprised to see a woman appear just right behind James.

The woman had sexy red lips and smooth spotless white skin but beyond the small pointy nose, Jane couldn't see. The woman's figure, although obscured by a red cloak was still top-notch.

James didn't know how, but he felt a soft embrace with a slightly small left arm holding his waist and the right one stretched Infront of him towards the creature.

The next moment, he heard a smooth and delicate voice whisper in his ear.

" Sorry young one... I didn't mean this to happen." The voice felt lovely to hear. James couldn't help but turn his head.

All he saw were red eyes and the next moment, his vision went blurry. James fell unconscious but somehow he could still feel that soft embrace.

***

James woke up in his bed with a weak startle. Next to him was Jane who was asleep in his arms.

' This girl... She's scared again. ' The teenager pondered in slight amusement.

He observed his room out of instinct and found it neat.

' Why do I feel strange though? ' Ah...! ' James didn't want to think much about it so he dismissed those strange thoughts before they even made way I to his mind.

Looking at the table beside his bed near the door, James was slightly surprised. There was an appetizing meal on the table, covered with a glass container.

" What a meal!" James exclaimed in amusement. ' She's tired, I guess I overslept again. ' He looked at Jane who was sleeping beside him and smiled.

He got up and stretched a bit and walked towards the table. Today he felt so hungry... It was kind of strange.

In less than a minute, all the food was gobbled up.

"Mmm... This girl is a good cook." Jane's couldn't help but comment before taking a glance at the sleeping small beauty on his bed.