CHAPTER 78 : A step back
*Night of Day 1 * of journey to the Island
TEAM'S DISTANCE TO TEMPLE LEFT ,
' KILLER ACADEMY - 2 DAYS ( the shortcut taken had reduced the number of days from 3 to 2)'
' BLACKWING ACADEMY - 2 DAYS '
' YOSEI ACADEMY - 2 DAYS'
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* BlackWing academy students sitting around a fire.*
Aranea had not come out of Aag's hair , that she was nervously fidgeting , fearing Aranea had fallen out somewhere asleep along the way.
When she finally felt a small bug in her fiery locks she barely held in a screech and relaxed .
" We are going at a good pace...but I am surprised that we haven't come across any of the other academy members..." Somnium spoke in a tone that could barely be heard.
" We might cross paths again with the Killers."
" What make you say that..." Zahhak asked sitting next to him.
" Just a hunch..."
"Huh..."
Stone , hidden in the darkness, viewed the group as they chattered and made plans for the next day.
" They are too many... I need to downsize them...but firstly..." he changed his view towards Aag .
" I have to get to her....but she is far too cautious right now...I will have to wait for the opportunity right opportunity.....now where is Giselle..."
" Right here " Giselle whispered from behind in a way that made Stone jump.
He shivered and looked back at her with disdain.
" Hm? What?" Giselle asked in a serious tone.
"Sigh* ...nothing..." Stone shook his head , " They all might seem like they are relaxing but..." he looked towards the group, " None of them have a single opening....they have stuck up so clo-"
But before Stone could finish, an entity , the figure of which was utterly undefinied appeared out of the shadows and grabbed him.
Giselle tried to make an escape as she dodged its grip but her path was blocked as she bumped into someone and fell to the ground.
" What.. " Giselle looked up to see Zahhak , standing , with green glowing eyes.
"Nice to see you...Giselle." Zahhak said with a smile as the dark entity wrapped itself around Giselle as well.
" But...how..." Stone looked towards the site where he had seen the BlackWings sit quietly around the fire however, no such scene was to be found ,
" An illusion!...it was all an illusio-" the entity wrapped itself over his eyes and the dark curtain fell over his vision followed by a nudge and loss of conciousness.
The Blackwing Academy had captured both Giselle and Stone in one night .
A snake from a distance observed this scenario and Miss Clara , sitting next to Malak and Michelle , smiled.
" Well done." She spoke under her breath.
* One hour earlier*
" NOIR , YOU ARE BEING FOLLOWED." Achilles spoke from inside Noir .
" How do you know?" Noir replied back in thought.
" I CAN SENSE A FAMILIAR PRESENCE INSIDE OUR FOLLOWERS...ONE I AM MUCH TOO AWARE OF.."
" And who would that be..."
"YOU CAN EITHER LISTEN TO A STORY WORTH 20O YEARS LONG OR CATCH YOUR PERPATRATORS"
" Um...Somnium? " Noir leaned in closer to his ear , " We have guests." and whispered.
" Is that so?" He replied , his expressions hardly changing.
" Yes..you didn't notice?"
" Surprisingly no.."
" Can you locate them now?"
" The moment you mentioned them , I found them."
" Huh...then how come you couldn't get them before?"
" Because I have been awake for like 12 hours and walking , even though my name says quite the opposite.."
Noir immediately stepped back as Somnium snapped .
* Fast forward to the present*
" Uh..." Zahhak looked at Somnium and Noir carrying two bodies ...actually.. Noir was carrying ...Somnium was dragging.
" You guy said you had to-"
" We lied." Somnium cut off Zahhak who was still a bit too surprised to speak.
" Right...so what's for dinner..?"
" They aren't for eating unless you are suddenly a cannibal..." The dark entity had wrapped itself around the bodies so well , that they couldnt be made out to be human or not.
As Somnium reduced the darkness ,
" Stone!!!" Aag who was also one of the viewers suddenly rushed to her brother's side,
" Aag , he was waiting to attack us...the malice I felt from them was real..and thet have it for ALL of us." Somnium said , stopping Aag in her tracks.
" Now then..." Noir sat down infront of the unconcious perpatrators , " What the heck do we with them..."
" Lets start with waking them up first shall we." Somnium said as he made a click sound with his fingers and they both immediately regained conciousness.
" What..." Giselle and Stone looked around in confusion as they sat up.
Stone looked and found his sister standing right there.
"Aag!" He tried to get up to meet his sister but was held back by the dark entity.
" Not so fast" Zahhak said as he stepped towards the two of them,
" Zahhak? What is the meaning of this? What is going on?" Giselle asked with a face as innocent as a doe.
" Why were you two following us , who do you work for and who is your master?"
Zahhak said with a serious tone and daring look.
" Zahhak...we were going after a hooded figure...don't you remember? " Giselle said with a pleading look .
" You....are you saying you have no memory of what happened afterwards?" Zahhak said as he looked at Giselle and then towards Noir who was just as surprised and confused.
" My My....what a predicament..." Arean spoke from inside Aag's hair.
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*Killer Academy group*
" Aleena " Josh spoke softly but Aleena , sitting on the edge of a steep cliff , didn't turn back.
He stepped forward.
" Are you okay?" He was about to put his hand over her shoulder.
" GET AWAY FROM ME!" Aleena suddenly screamed and in an attempt to wave him back , cut his arm , his arm bleeding.
Josh stepped back a few steps.
The sight of blood gave Aleena a headache , unquenchable thirst inside her , asking her to devour the blood of her fellow teammate.
But she held back , fell down to her knees , banging her fists on the ground.
" J..Josh ... I can't take it..." she said as she looked up.
Josh gasped at the sight.
The veins around her neck engorged and , her fangs shining in the red moonlight.
She stood up and took a step back.
One more step or even a small tumble l, and she'd fall off the cliff down into the fast flowing river.
She looked at Josh , her eyes with tears rolling down her cheeks , shone pink , one last time ,
And she took the step back.
" ALEENA!!!!!!!!"
Josh screamed.