Chapter 38 Crashing Down

Iris awoke to the sound of rumbling. Debris fell onto her bed. She quickly jumped out, feeling no energy in her legs, she almost wobbled to the floor. Moments later, lights had begun to flicker as the quake worsened. She could hear panicked screams from outside, people rushing out of the building to get to safety. She placed both hands on the bed and pushed herself back onto her feet, slowly making her way towards the door.

Her heart lurched as a larger piece of rock fell from the ceiling. She flinched, watching it land right next to her feet. It could have easily been her. She swiped it away with the flick of her finger and an invisible force kicked the rock a few feet away from her. The building soon flashed on red, warning lights. A crackling announcement in the speakers followed.

"This is an evacuation. Due to an unknown shockwave of high magnitude, we request all staff members to escort the patients out of the hospital floor. This is-"

Before the person could say any further, there was a short bang before the power went out. Iris breathed out in the dark, feeling the ground tremble below her. Her tiny heart raced all of a sudden as she grabbed open the door to a massive crowd outside. Everyone was rushing for their lives, with no regards to who was getting injured in the stampede. She felt it coming, the dark pulse. Iris's eyes automatically flew towards the ceiling.

"This time it's a bigger one…" she whispered, fear evident in her tone.

A second later, heavy winds rushed into her face, along with bits of the ceiling crashing onto her. She gasped, only able to stop it a second before it would have crushed her. The giant piece of rock hung still in the air a few inches from her face. The people screamed, ducking with their hands over their heads. They realized in a few seconds that not a single debris was able to touch them. Iris's legs gave way and fell to the floor. She could feel bits of tiny rocks scrape her knees till they bled. Her eyes didn't leave the ceiling.

The dark pulse had stopped all of a sudden. She watched it under the emergency light that flickered above her head. It vibrated furiously, as if struggling to get free. The people glanced around, scared to death from the unusual occurrence. Iris breathed out heavily, feeling her ears heat up along with a pounding at the back of her head. Her eyes shifted slightly, phasing in and out of blurriness.

There was a slight movement from inside the sphere. Iris narrowed her eyes at it, in an attempt to focus. The back of her eyes began to ache. The blurriness expanded until everything was out of place. The next second she blinked, she found herself inside a barren land, unfamiliar to her. It was a floating island with green skies that went around in a dome. There was a small, wooden stable nearby, along with a dirt road that extended on into the fog. She stood at the very edge of the land.

As she looked down, all of a sudden, she felt a jerk and her body was at the hospital once more.

"Go, move," the people were saying to each other.

Very soon the whole crowd resumed their movements. Every few intervals more debris tried to crush them, only to end up freezing in the air above. Iris stretched out her senses further than the room, out towards the premises of the entire hospital. In an instant, she could feel every little movement in the walls, binding it to make it stay intact.

The crowd quickly thinned out, leaving only a small number of people behind. The staff carried the patients out in stretchers and wheelchairs. Iris watched each of them leave with fearful eyes. One of them stopped to look at her and quickly held out a hand in front of her face. She looked up at the nurse, the same one she'd been shutting out of her room repeatedly.

"Let's go, there isn't much time before this whole place crumbles," she was saying.

Iris gave her a slow head shake.

"I move… and you all die," she said between her teeth, almost drowning out the last word. There was a cold chill in the air, making her shiver. The nurse stubbornly extended her hand to grab her, only to be thrown back out into the corridor.

"Get out!" Iris yelled at her. In return the nurse almost cursed as her back hit the wall.

"Are you crazy? You-" she was saying when all of a sudden, the door shut in her face. She screamed and banged at it. "I'm only trying to save your life. Why are you being so stubborn," she cried. It took a few minutes of begging before she finally realized that Iris was not going to respond. By that time, she was the last person to walk out of the hospital. There was still one other person, somewhere close, not having moved from their room.

Iris's hand went up to grab her head. The pounding had worsened. She glanced up at the broken ceiling that slightly vibrated under pressure. The heavy winds stopped blowing from above her. She felt movement all of a sudden. The dark pulse began to inch backwards, almost as if it was shrinking. There was a thick, darker layer shrouded over it, pushing it back. As it freed up more space, the walls began to crumble away where it touched.

Already at her limit, Iris's body twitched as a large slab of bricks and cement crashed down beside her. More rocks began to pile up above the floors she'd been struggling to hold up. It got heavier as the pulse left the hospital. She could feel a single vein pop out at her forehead as she struggled to steady her breath. Her skin broke out in a cold sweat, trickling down the back of her neck.

"Is this it…?" she wondered aloud, watching the walls slowly crumble towards her, despite her efforts to stop it.

.

One would think that after two months of constant sleep I would wake up on time the next morning. I overslept. Still feeling drowsy I had to force myself up. It wasn't that I couldn't, it was that I didn't want to. Having spent many days without getting to see her, my motivation seemed to just drown out. The only thought that still kept me going was that I knew she was okay. I had eyes inside the school.

There was no physical way to get inside, yet somehow I was able to temporarily enter while I slept. Now if only I could manage to do that while awake…

I put on a fresh pair of clothes. A light gray shirt with a blue print along with light blue jeans. It was one of those clothes that I usually neglected unless absolutely necessary. And today was one of those important days because I had decided to pay my parents a short visit. Last they saw me, they were frightened of me, even though I was in a hospital gown.

This time, I was hoping to get at least some answers.

I strode along the connecting stairway that led to the building opposite to mine. Meryl's parents, Kathy and Ray lived only a walk away. More like I chose to live close by in case they ever needed me. I was grateful to them for taking me in when I had nowhere else to go.

I made my way down to the second floor of the building. Sunlight filtered in through the partially opened windows. Shadows went up to block the light as I walked past. It was odd being king. The shadows were exceptionally obedient. They were the first to alert me of the disturbance in the realms when I found myself at the school for the first time.

I stopped right outside the door to the apartment, about to ring the bell when I remembered I still had the keys. I took out a set of keys attached to a black chain. One of them I inserted into the lock. The door clicked open. The house was empty. It seemed Kathy and Ray were at work. I let myself in through the kitchen hallway and into the lounge.

My mom walked out of the study with a book in hand which she almost dropped at the sight of me.

"Dear… what… what brings you here?" she asked, sounding flustered all of a sudden.

"I just wanted to talk," I told her in a calming manner and sat myself down on the couch. Sunlight poured in through the drapes next to me. My shadows wiggled away to cover it and I pulled them back with the twitch of my finger. I glanced at my mom, hoping she didn't notice.

"Dave! I need you here. Dixon's come to visit," she called out.

There was a sudden sound of books flopping to the floor from inside the study. A disheveled dad rushed out, adjusting his glasses to fix his gaze at me. He wore an overgrown shirt which he seemed to have borrowed from Ray.

"Ah, Dixon…" he said, walking over to sit opposite to me. My mother adjusted herself on the arm of the couch he sat on.

"Before I say anything I just need you guys to know that there are lives at stake. I can't stress this enough how much your answers will help me out."

"What is it you want to know?" my dad asked, getting straight to the point.

"Everything. From the beginning. Where you went and what brought you back."

"We didn't go anywhere. That's the thing. You put us there and you don't even remember doing it because of those blasted powers of yours."

My dad's outburst of words took me by surprise. My mom placed a hand over his shoulder to calm him. I creased my brows into a thin line.

"I put you there?" It took a few seconds to swallow that stabbing piece of information. "Where exactly would that be?"

"It was somewhere dark. The sun never rose. We had to make do with what little resources we could find in the darkness," my mother responded. The words 'dark' filtered the thoughts in my head till I came to the conclusion.

"Could it have been… the shadow realm?" I asked, not believing it myself as I spoke. I shook my head. "No, that's not possible. How could you have survived in a place like that? That place is crawling with creatures."

"You also protected us…" my dad said, sounding a bit calmer this time. He seemed lost in thought as he stared off at the sunlight falling softly onto the carpet. "You were a twelve year old boy. You would often ward off danger. You never ate and you remained the same twelve year old boy for years."

I had a faint clue which boy he might have been talking about. Images of the little shadow boy flashed in my head.

"How did you live? What did you eat to survive all these years?" I questioned, feeling all the more drawn to the story than before.

"Everyday our little boy would bring us food and water. We never asked him where he got it from. It was different every time. Sometimes it would be cold as if taken out of a refrigerator," my mom replied with a faint smile.

"You really grew to love him, didn't you?" I murmured to myself. "He took care of you while I grew up without you."

There was a pinch of jealousy in my voice, despite my effort to hide it.

"This wasn't the first time…" my mom hesitated, glancing over her shoulder at my dad. He nodded and then leaned forward with a strained face as he spoke to me.

"You've been a… difficult child to handle… ever since you were a baby."

"What, how is that my fault," I said in a raised voice, feeling a sudden urge to defend myself. I didn't like where the conversation was going.

My mom immediately shook her head. "No we don't mean like that. Dixon, we love you and everything we did was for your sake."

"Tell me something, honestly. Do I scare you?"

To which my mother fell silent, looking away at the carpeted floor.

"You have an older sister…" Dad suddenly interrupted. "When you were born, your powers escalated out of control, thus being difficult to handle," he corrected. "We couldn't risk bringing her close to you. We had to make a choice."

I sank back into the couch as things started to click in place.

"Meryl…" I whispered to myself.

My dad nodded, not having to explain much further.

"There was also this shadow that came to visit us soon after," my mom started, "At first it gave me a fright. He was sent by this man called Darke."

My eyes and ears perked up at the name. I was on my feet the next second. My parents looked at me with unsure eyes. Did they still believe that my powers would go wild?

"That man… What did he say to you?"

"He… offered protection. The shadow he sent had a name… Day something…" My mother thought hard.

"Damon," I finished for her, slumping back down on the couch. The pillow heaved under my sudden weight. The picture was painted clearer now. I put my face in my hands, feeling heavy in the chest all of a sudden. "I had no idea Damon… this whole time…"

At that moment, I felt my shadows crawl into the corners of the room, suddenly agitated. I was on my feet again, peering out the window. A dark sphere appeared in the sky right in front of me. I felt the walls tremble as I quickly backed away from it.

"What's happening?" My mom panicked.

"Dixon, get away from there!" my dad yelled, watching the sphere expand towards the window.

I stood my ground, back against my parents. I lifted my hands beside me. The shadows converged into black balls of darkness, vibrating furiously inside my fist. The wind thrashed at me in an attempt to push me back as the sphere approached, blocking the light from the sun. I heard my parents yelling at me from behind.

The sphere started to collide with the glass window that bent under it, changing shape. My hands opened and the shadows spread out, layering over the sphere till it slowed to a stop. My heart rate accelerated as my hands trembled under the pressure. Beads of sweat trickled down the side of my face. I didn't remember it being so difficult to control last time. This one was bigger. I felt my shadows slip out, leaving empty patches onto the sphere.

"Unbelievable…" my dad's words rang in my ears.

I gathered myself, chest heaving for breath. Three separate pairs of black wings sprouted out of my back, lifting me into the air. I held on. My wings slapped against the incoming wind, pushing it back with greater force. More shadows traveled to cover up the empty patches, pushing inwards at the sphere.

At that moment, I felt it shrink. It took me by surprise.

"Whatever you're doing to it, it's working!" my mom yelled from somewhere behind.

More shadows layered over, exerting twice the amount of pressure as before. The sphere immediately diminished, leaving the sky empty once again. Sunlight filtered through the window as the wind depleted.

I gasped out loud, letting my body slump to the carpeted floor as I sat back. The back of my neck was drenched in sweat. I noticed my parents had gone silent.

"I can control it now…" I breathed out. Then turned to look them in the eye. "I'm not a kid anymore. I have full control over my powers."

"But that sphere…" my dad was saying, staring at the window with unbelieving eyes. "I saw it in the pit. Right before a hole opened up and the little one ran inside. We followed him. That's how we got back out of there."

"It made a hole in the shadow realm?" I wondered out loud, getting back up to my feet. I started towards the door.

"Where are you going?" my mom asked out of worry. She quickly got up after me, only to be held back by my dad.

"To get answers from the one person who's lived longer than any of us."

"Let him go. He's an adult. He's not your responsibility anymore." My dad's words were harsh, cutting at the edges of my heart.

"That's right," I responded dryly, "Now you guys are my responsibility. I am going to get to the bottom of everything."

My phone rang. It was at that moment that I got the dreadful call.

"Yeah?"

"Dixon?" It was Ricky's strained voice.

"What's up?" I asked.

"It's the hospital. That last pulse just now may have caused it to collapse."

"What do you mean collapsed?" I blurted in a raised voice. "What about the people inside?"

"They all got out. For some reason the debris held itself in the air till everyone was out."

"And Iris?" Needles were already poking my chest by the time I said that. I already knew.

"Who do you think held the debris up?" Ricky said in a low voice. "First Cherl, now Iris."

"Cheryl's okay…" I told him. There was a pause.

"How do you know? I haven't even been able to contact her." I could feel the desperation in his voice.

"I just know…" I said, staring off into the wall where I could see a foggy image of the shadow boy hiding under the desks. She sat there a few feet away, unaware of the eyes that watched her. "I'm on my way to the hospital."