Tick-Toc Chapter 7

We all miss school don't we?

P.S For a side note, this chapter will be in first person mostly, the next chapter will 100% be in third person, I just wanted to try my hand in some first person, so please enjoy1 >:)

I woke up early, I felt relaxed yet still sore from the other day.

This was the first time I'd slept properly in a while, I'd been jumping from place to place, time to time, and even if the beds weren't top quality, especially compared to home, it felt good.

"Alright let's see what's going on" I said to myself as I pulled out the radar, the radar was the shape of a large walkie talkie, but instead of buttons, it had a screen.

This radar picks up on temporal frequencies that the stones emit, as well as scan the area around myself, and around the stone making it somewhat a g.p.s.

"It's moved since last night, I need to find it, a time crawler would have already absorbed it by now". I hurried out of my room and down the stairs,

"hey thanks for the room", I said as I turned my key in at the front,

"your welcome sweetie" the front desk lady replied.

The radar told me the stone was a mile away,

"yesterday it was 3 miles away?" I was stumped, these crystals usually don't move this much, in fact it barely makes contact with humans, and when it does, those who don't possess what I have don't last long,

"I've got to move quicker!".

I was approaching the location, the radar was beeping, slowly increasing in volume, I checked the location, I checked again, I couldn't believe it.

It was school, "DAMN IT, this just makes this more complicated", I said to myself,

"there's too many people, this beacon isn't specific!"

"Does that mean I'll have to wait for a whole school day to find this crystal?" I couldn't wrap my head around the situation, with the amount of kids running around, and one of them having something so dangerous,

"this could go two ways" I said to myself,

"either nothing happens and wait out the whole day, or a time crawler makes its way to this school, and slaughters its way to the crystal!"

Either of them I'm not too fond of.

I was running out of options, and I had no clue if I was running out of time or not,

"I guess I'll have to wait this out", I went to sit down, and as I went to put my head down to pass time, the streak of hair that appears when I activate "the mark" appeared for a split second.

"Or maybe I don't have to", I got up after smirking,

"instead of waiting, I should act, make sure nothing even enters the school."

The crystal was on the move, but in the meantime, I made my way to the back of the school where the dumpsters are, and also a fenced off ladder to the roof.

"If these guys are as strong as the one in the subway, this is bad news."

I hopped the fence and grabbed a rock, hitting the lock that kept the cover gate on the ladder which caused the mechanisms to unlock.

"Now to just scope out the area", I said to myself climbing up the ladder, but not even 3 seconds after, I peeked my head over the roof and immediately saw it, a time crawler.

"GAHH", I said as I ducked my head, the time crawler turned to my direction, but didn't notice me,

"thank goodness it's the time crawlers I'm used to", I said in relief.

Instead of resembling a child around the age of 8 years old with elongated wingspan, it had a smaller body and arms,

it appeared to be the size of a 3 year old child, with slightly longer arms, prominent bones and muscle due to it appearing extremely anorexic.

It kept the same monster humanoid face, a bald head, with no eyes, just the socket closed shut forever in a squint, with a massive underbite with the teeth similar to a puppy but sharper.

"Ok, this should be simple, slowly make my way up this roof, and pounce on it" I said calmly,

"ok….", I took a deep breath, I squeezed the ladder, and tucked my head to focus.

Just like last time, a glowing green streak of hair grew from the center of my hairline, it went across my face as my arm then gained the glow too, but in the form of marking.

The green glowing marks started off as a band around my forearm at the bottom, then another band 2 inches below the wrist.

it then led a green streak from the band to my palm, and at the palm was a hollow circle, which led 5 more streaks to the middle of each finger which ended with bands around the fingers as well.

"Let's get it over with", with the mark it gave me elevated physical abilities.

I launched quickly up the ledge of the ladder and dashed towards the crawler, it turned around just in time to sense me summon a green glowing sickle.

"TAKE THIS!!!" I yelled as I cut the time crawler in half, unlike the last one, this one upon getting cut in half at its chest died immediately, poofed into dust only leaving its blood and skeleton behind as well as a dried up heart that resembles a dried pear.

"Phew, that was way nicer!", I thought it was over but down the line at the other side of the roof, another time crawler, it then looked at my direction hearing my voice,

"ah" I said as the realization set in, it squealed loudly and crawled its way to me on all fours.

I got set, and prepared myself, it leaped straight towards my face,

it anticipated my sickle slash, and as soon as it got near, I summoned my second weapon out of my second hand.

A glowing green pistol, it had aspects of multiple guns, some aspects of a Beretta, Glock, and the colt, it was bright as can be, I pulled the trigger releasing a neon bullet that created the noise of a crystal snapping.

The monster didn't anticipate my second hand, the bullet hit directly on the forehead ruining its leap, now offset, I slashed it in half killing it immediately.

I noticed another one on the building across, but before I could shoot it, "HEY MISTER" a kid screamed from below,

"EEEK" I said out loud, I went prone to get out of sight,

"shoot, I don't think he saw my weapons because the sun was shining down right on me, but that was close, I forget I can be seen."

I peeked my head to see the kid was gone, and looked at the time crawler across from me,

It was watching, but what was it watching, why was it hesitating to move, now thinking about it, none of them were acting, just watching, I look to see where the time crawler is Looking, then I see it, I see her.

A girl, she was in a group of friends, around her neck, was a necklace, with a shard on it, it all made sense now, they were watching her to wait for an opportunity to attack.

Due to their size, they can't handle huge groups, they were afraid of failure,

"I see, that's your target, which makes it my target, just made the job a lot easier!"

I dashed towards the other side of the building while keeping a low profile, and right when people were distracted,

I aimed my shot, and fired 3 shots straight to the head, the time crawler didn't see it coming, it squealed motionless after going stiff from the shots and then dusted.

"Easy" I said to myself, "I just need to figure out where to find that kid without being seen".

*DING DING DING DING DING* The school bells went off,

I suddenly lost track of the girl, all the kids rushing indoors, I squinted hard and saw a small zap of lightning.

I found her, she was in a group of friends but then split off to go to her class due to the static of the crystal.

"I'll go right in, and right back out", I quickly let myself down from the roof, and slid through a door.

I noticed a staff member come out of a bathroom, as he left, I slid in.

It was a staff bathroom, it was empty, I waited till the noise died down while standing in a stall, it took awhile,

"I mean, I haven't gone for 2 days, might as well". I finished up, and as soon as I exited the stall, I took a peek outside, and straightforward and to the right was clear, but as soon as I peeked out fully.

"Hey, you aren't a staff here" the same man that left this bathroom came back over, it's a small school, and it's meant to hold grade school kids, of course he'd make his way back around.

"CRAP" I said in my head,

"I'm gonna need your name sir!" he said sternly as he approached me from down the hall, then suddenly,

"WHAT THE", the man said as an arm from a nearby locker snatched him in.

"AHHHKkk…" He screamed but got cut off, no one but me noticed.

I sprinted down the hall towards the locker, nothing but a mangled corpse, and a hole through the back of the locker, leading to a large air vent.

"Ohhh no" I said to myself with a chill going down my spine.

The man was dead, clearly, it seems one of the time crawlers made it on the roof after I had left, and chomped its way to this locker.

It was the man's staff locker, which makes sense why he was in this hall.

I ran back towards the bathroom, then straight down the hall, I saw a door open,

"CRAP" I said under my breath, I hid behind the bathroom door.

It was her, the girl I had been looking for, she had a piece of wood with a string attached to it around her neck as well as the necklace, a bathroom pass.

"This could get bad" I ran after her and as I turned the corner, she stopped in her tracks, watching a fellow student unconscious on the floor with 3 cuts on his chest, and a time crawler stood over him.

She was paralyzed,

"crap" I said in my head, the time crawler was about to finish him, but it stopped, looked over its shoulder, and turned to us,

"EEK" she screamed.

I took this opportunity to snatch the necklace, quickly and smoothly, I grabbed the small chain from both sides, snapped it and took it from around her neck.

The girl was about to turn to me but as soon as her head even swayed from the time crawler, it screeched.

"RHEEE", It yelled, the girl didn't even scream, she fainted and fell over, I turned the corner as the time crawler was about to charge.

I was fully ready to run but I stopped myself,

"Am I really about to ditch this kid for a crystal, the sooner I get this, the sooner I get home…."

The time crawler charged at the girl who was dazed on the floor, it would have killed her without her even knowing.

As soon as the time crawler made it right over her, unstable energy and all, I pulled my sickle out, the mark appeared, the green streak of hair formed at the center of my hairline.

I cut its right hand off before it got to her, sickle in the left, and with the right, I grabbed its left wrist, the girl awoke on her back, viewing us fighting right over her, she still didn't scream.

The time crawler then after taking in the pain of its wound, screamed in my face

"REEEEK", then jumped on me piercing me above the hips with its talons,

"RAHG" I grunted.

It hadn't got past the skin, but it slid down to my hip leaving me cut, I slammed it into the wall knocking it off, then I summoned my pistol and it ran at me, but I pulled the trigger fast enough, and repelled it.

"What was that? '' a woman said about to turn the corner,

"CRAP, I can't let anyone see this, it's bad enough it's killed possibly two people and this girl has seen the beast".

I heard the clacking of high heels,

"DAMMIT", the time crawler regained its footing, then charged.

This time I tackled it head on, It charged on all fours, I cut its primary talon foot and tackled it out the window next to us.

"Hello?" the woman said as she came around the corner, she didn't see the fight, but the girl was on the floor,

"What happened to you Stacy?"

"Mrs. Katie!" Stacy said in tears,

"What happened" Mrs. Katie said,

"I- I- I f- fell over" Stacy said in fear,

"oh, it's ok sweetie" principal Katie said.

I took the crawler with me out the window, we went from a grapple to both being on our backs separated on the floor,

"AAAYEEE" the time crawler squealed as the pain from losing and attempting to walk on its severed foot took its toll.

"Damn you" I took aim once more, the crawler scurried towards an air duct,

I shot it twice in the back, leaving it severely injured as it left sight into the vents.

"I lost it, that's not good" I got on my feet properly and leaped on the window frame of the building then to the top of the roof.

I was about to take off to look for the crawler, I checked my pockets, my wrist, and my neck, the necklace was gone.....