Chapter 16 Signal of Hope

"Dixon…" I heard her whisper, startled by my sudden appearance.

I moved in between her and the guy who had the nerve to even touch a single hair on her head. With all the smoke floating around, I could barely make out his features. I could tell, though, that astonishment wore over his face.

"Who are you?" he spit the words out with disgust.

Part of me just wanted to punch him down till he bled to death, but she tugged on my sleeve. I slowly turned around, not taking my eyes off the guy, until I was tackled into a hug. I stumbled back a step as she squeezed her arms around my back, face buried in my chest, probably moist with tears. I held her, hugging back with slightly less force than she put in.

I let my eyes wander over to the guy as he watched the scene with repulsion. The cold air hit me in the face but I did not waver. An angry force of power surged through me. Multiple shadows extended out from my feet, all rose up to surround the guy. He glanced around and then let out a mocking laugh.

"So you're the new boyfriend she kept crying about," he said in between laughter.

I frowned at him in confusion. Cheryl held onto me tighter.

"You don't know? She thought you were dead."

Cheryl pulled away and looked me over as if not believing I was there. Pearl-like tears glinted in her dark eyes. Then, to my surprise, she stepped away from me as if purposely distancing herself. The guy laughed out even louder while I stared at her, dumbfounded.

"What did ya think would happen?! In the end, she's one of us."

He tormented me with words, words that I ignored as my gaze followed her hands. She stood pretending to look down while her fingers twitched and moved, letting out faint electric sparks into the air. There was a rumble in the skies, not too far from where we stood. I caught a yellow flash far off into the distance.

Suddenly, the laughing ceased as the guy's eyes caught a glimpse of the light.

"You…" his voice filled with malice as he glared at Cheryl, taking a step forward. Within the blink of an eye, my shadows overlapped him, twisting and turning around his body, binding him in one spot.

"Hmp! You think this will hold? I am one with the clouds!"

I watched him struggle to let loose. He wiggled himself, fading into a gray cloud of smoke, only to be brought back with a jerk. His body, unable to disperse, shivered under the tightening ropes of my power. He looked up at me with a bewildered expression.

"Damn it! Who the hell are you?!"

"Hmm," I smirked, not feeling as proud as I was about to sound. "I'm the prince of the shadow realm." It had an addicting feel to it. I could get why the King liked to repeat it so much.

Cheryl looked up at the skies, and then back at me with worried eyes as if trying to say something, but was unable to communicate it. Her eyes gestured towards the flash of light, lips binding into a tight, thin line. Was she being monitored? She raised her brows at me, as if insisting this time. Her eyes were pleading and apologetic.

I looked up at the sky, towards the far end where the light kept flashing yellow, like a warning sign going off. I turned back to her and she nodded very slightly. I sighed, slumping my shoulders back a little, then moved in to land a peck on her forehead.

My shadows released the guy as they shrunk back into me. Black wings sprouted out. With my gaze fixed at Cheryl, I spoke.

"Touch her, and you'll be dead," my voice was low, but threatening as a powerful swipe of dark wind hit him in the face. He stumbled back into a fall. My wings flapped through the clouds, swiping them out of the way as I rose into the sky. Within seconds, I was off.

The roads seemed all too familiar where I was headed. I noticed how most of the dark clouds hovered over one house in particular. I flapped my wings harder, with more pressure underneath. They rose higher into the air, breaking the flow of the clouds as I swam through. There was an ominous cold air surrounding the house. I could detect a hint of shine over the slanted roof. At the very edge, there was what seemed like icicles dangling frozen in place.

I swooped down and my feet began to sprint the minute they touched ground. The main door was unlocked, to my surprise. An uneasy feeling tackled me at the back of my head. I barged into the house unannounced, heading straight for the one room I suspected most. The temperature dropped suddenly as I entered the hallway. My breath fogged up into the air. I noticed I wasn't the only one concerned.

Ricky, Edward, and even his parents stood there in a group, whispering among themselves, wearing worried looks. Ricky's eyes fell on me as I approached. He slightly shoved Edward out of the way as he started towards me.

"Where were you?" he demanded.

"Where's Iris?" I watched as dread filled his eyes. "Where is she?" I repeated with more force this time. He just shook his head.

"She's gone," Edward responded from behind. They were all gathered in front of Iris's room. They gave me room to enter. My eyes scanned the entire room, including the floor that had now begun to melt. There was ice trickling down from the blanket, slanting towards the floor where there were frozen foot prints, the size of a child's feet. The child, however, was nowhere to be found.

"I heard her call out," Ricky was saying from behind me, "By the time I got to her, she was already gone. It was only a matter of seconds!" His voice faltered at the end.

"Cheryl knew this was going to happen…" I trailed off. Suddenly, Ricky's hand was on my shoulder.

"What did you say?" he raised his brows at me.

"I went to see her," I replied, turning to face everyone. His parents eyed me with eagerness and hope. "She's been sending us signals this whole time. Warning us."

"Signals?" Ricky's forehead creased into worry lines. "Wait, where is she? Is she okay?"

I nodded. "Focus. I need you to check something out for me."

Lightning flashed all of a sudden, tampering with the lights once more, right on time. My eyes gestured towards the lights.

"Only you can tell me what this is."

I watched his eyes widen as realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. He didn't waste any time rushing towards his room at the other end of the house, just past the lounge. I followed him. The lights came on inside his room, revealing wires dangling from the ceiling, making their way towards the carpeted floor. They overlapped one another like snakes, slithering about, all connected to a port that had one end sticking into a laptop on his bed.

I could hear Edward whistle from behind as he entered. Ricky opened the laptop and rested his fingers onto the keyboard, closing his eyes. There was silence for a moment. Few seconds later, I heard a buzz near his hands. I watched as tiny strings of electrical current slithered from his fingertips and into the keyboard. The screen flashed white, all of a sudden, and words began to appear.

Edward and I jumped in closer behind Ricky and peered into the screen.

"It's her," he said, not believing his own eyes. He ran a hand through his red curls. "This whole time…" he trailed off.

The words read,

Can't talk. She'll hear me otherwise. Watch out for the clouds. They're scouting for the silver haired girl. If you see her, don't let her out of your site.

"She must be talking about Iris," Ricky said, shaking his head. "This is an old message. She sent it a couple of hours ago. There's more."

I don't know if he's okay… Please tell him I'm sorry. She did this. It wasn't me… She used me. Please let him be okay.

"I'm guessing that's you, Dixon," Edward said, pointing out the obvious.

"Yeah but she keeps mentioning 'she'. Who do you think this person is?"

Find the silver haired girl. If She uses her, there will be no stopping her then.

"This is the last message. After that, there's just a series of numbers, wait, they're coordinates." Ricky moved his face closer to the screen, adjusting his spectacles.

"I think I know where that is. That's probably where they took Iris," I said, straightening my back, "I'm going to raid this place till I've knocked out every single one of these guys."

I noticed Ricky turned to look at me skeptically. He had one eyebrow raised in a manner that demanded answers.

"So… how did you know where to find Cheryl?" He crossed his arms.

Before I could answer, I was saved by the bell. All three of our heads turned towards the door. It wasn't like we were expecting anyone.

"Could it be Cheryl?" was what Ricky murmured as he headed towards the door. I knew it wasn't her because I couldn't feel her anywhere close. I followed close behind. A pair of familiar voices echoed through. I peeked from behind the curtains, almost gasped at the sight.

"It's..."

Ricky opened the door, only to be bombarded with glaring eyes. She marched in uninvited, walking up onto the steps and into the house. Ricky was forced to back away to give her room.

"How dare you," she was saying to him. He blinked at her in confusion.

"Meryl!" I called out, walking over to greet her, until her light brown eyes met mine. I halted. Fear recoiled inside me.

"Dixi!!" She ran up to me before I could even run away. Within seconds, her hand had snatched my ear.

"Ow… ow, Meryl, I can explain," I was saying but my words fell on deaf ears.

"How dare you keep this a secret from me?" she said, "And here I was, always worrying about you when you were actually doing fine on your own… night guard."

I flinched at the word. She released my poor ear that was probably red by now. I noticed how Edward, Ricky and even Jonathan stood several feet away at a safe distance, not daring to interfere. Cowards.

'Wait, Jon?'

I looked towards him with surprise.

"What're you doing here?" I told him, and then mouthed the words, "And why's she here?"

"She had her house raided by these rude night guards who had come in search of you," Meryl answered.

"Wait, you didn't hurt them, did you?" I joked, stepping away from her range.

"Dude! They completely trashed the place," Jonathan spoke anxiously. "Both our apartments. They wouldn't leave us alone, with all these questions about your past and what you were like."

"How did they find out about the bookshop?" I inquired.

"They took my phone, kept me and Meryl under surveillance," Jon answered defensively, holding his hands up in the air. "They said they sent someone on your tail… so I had one of me follow you too."

I let out a laugh, shaking my head, not that I'd expected anything less.

"One of you?" Meryl asked, looking at him, puzzled.

Jon smiled at her, crossing his arms. To her surprise, another one of him appeared beside him, wearing the same pose as him. It was so similar, no one would be able to tell them apart. After a few seconds, it disappeared.

"He can make illusions of himself that turn invisible when he needs them to," I explained. "You'll never know if you're talking to the real him."

"So, wait… can all of you do stuff like that?" She looked around at us.

Before anyone could answer, Ricky interrupted.

"Why don't we talk more over there," he gestured with his hands towards the lounge, "Have a seat. You guys must be exhausted from all the traveling."

"Oh, how thoughtful," Meryl smiled at him pleasantly, and then looked back at the rest of us, "Why can't any of you be more like him."

I rolled my eyes at her. Ricky turned away, adjusting his spectacles as he guided her toward the lounge.