A Stranger (Nathan)

After I had woken up from my deep, undisturbed slumber, it was really hard for me to make out at which place or at whose place I was. When I woke up I had found myself in big yellow-bricked room which had a huge self containing books and some glass bottles by the left side of the entrance. The last thing I remember was replying to Elliot's call while I was almost drowning in the sea storm. And thinking about Elliot this was surely not Elliot's room. Wait! Where is Elliot?? Was he okay or had he...? My mind went on imagining several unpleasant thoughts but overcoming my sea of thoughts, I tried looking for Elliot through the house.

The house wasn't that big but the rooms were rather gigantic as if the people living here were some sorts of titans. While searching through the house I did find some clothes that felt like they belonged to Elliot. But there was no sign of Elliot himself. 'If someone took off Elliot's clothes then... this could mean he might try to abu...' -A thought strucked my mind which was the most disturbing of all my past thought. Though I know Elliot was a strong person and would not give in that easily, he could still be overpowered by someone big or strong enough. I felt extremely anxious right then.

Elliot was my friend.. to be honest, my best friend ever. Most people that tried to befriend me, back at the high school, simply did so because of my money status and good looks. But Elliot was different...He never even tried to ask me to become his friend. Rather it was time that brought us close. He would quitely listen to my problems and even comfort me when I was down and the most important thing was that, he never asked me for anything in return , if I can ignore the number of pizza treats I had given him. But honestly, I really loved his simple, kind and straight forward personality. He had been such a good friend to me but I couldn't even protect this dear friend of mine, rather he was the one who saved me. I slamed my palm over the wooden table while sitting on a couch of one the rooms of the house.

'Stop frowning and start looking for Elliot. It might turn out that you are just over imagining things' I told myself and got up, dusting of some non-present dirt off my clothes. I looked for the main door of the house but it seemed to be locked. I gritted my teeth in frustration. 'Now, what should I do?' I thought to myself.

Suddenly, an idea entered my mind and I ran off to the room I was sleeping. I checked the two windows and fortunately, they were open. I don't know what kind of smirk would have been present on my face when had made the discovery. Without much thought, I slide through the window to ended up falling in a mud pit below.

"Shit!!" I cried. My whole body was down in the mud pit. I got up. 'Can this day get any worse?' I thought as I cleaned off the mud from my face. And rubbed my clothes which were drenched in the grey, sticky mud. Nevertheless, I needed to look for Elliot so I got out and walked through bushy garden of the house. I often frictioned my body against the tall grasses to clean my clothes but it made little difference.

It was evening time, the sun's bright rays were on the verge of extinction. The cool winds which blew through the tall, gaunt pines, made my body shiver with cold. It felt like I was in a hilly forest, kind of the ones my parents used to take me on the months when the heat got unbearable. "How come I ended up in a hill station from our seaside town??" I whispered to myself, my teeth chattering. With the enveloping darkness of the dusk, the weather was getting more foggy. The thin stretches of mist were conquering the whole forest.

" Elliot! Elliot! Are you there?" I called. The reply was only the chilly breezes of the dusk.

" I guess not..." I muttered.

'I think I should get back to the house. Whatever they would have done to Elliot, they would still have to bring him back to house. My first priority, should be finding Elliot, then we can decide what to do next.' I thought. As I turned back and followed the trail that had brought me here. I walked for about fifteen minutes but still ended up nowhere other than the forests itself.

"Am I lost?" I asked myself. I kept walking for a few more minutes but the result was wasn't any different.

" Is someone here? Can someone hear me?" But there was no reply. I panicked.

'I hereby, declare this day to be the worst day of my life' I thought as I sighed.

I seated beside a pine tree.

" Will I have spend my whole night here under this tree?" I muttered. The evening had turned into a night by now and it getting was really cold. I hugged my folded legs and hitched my muddy clothes to keep all warmth my body could provide from escaping. Even still, I was shivering. I had been a big fan of survival shows like Man vs. Wild or Primal survivor but all my all the knowledge I had for those shows was frozen in these cold winds. At this rate, I would surely die of Hypothermia.

Suddenly, I heard some rustling sound from the bushes. I looked up, "Elliot is this you?" I asked feebly. But there was no reply only a sounds of bushes moving. Soon a three gaunt figures emerged from them. They had blood red eyes and It was dark so I couldn't make out what creature I was witnessing but one thing was sure, they were clearly not humans. As one of the three creatures closed in on me, my eyes widened as I felt my stomach gripped with raw fear.

It was a huge black, wolf! His savage gaze was fixated on my helpless figure, saliva dripping down from his mouth showing his deadly teeths. I wanted to stand up and run, run as fast as I could, as far as I could, but my body didn't had any intention of moving, so I sat there, frozen, watching my own reaper in front of me. The other two wolves closed in. I could feel the sensation of dying right now, when your body just didn't want to fight any longer and your mind humbly accepted the request. Your life flashing dramatically in front of your eyes like a fast forward film. Maybe, this was the end...I closed my eyes as the black wolf leaped on me.

[Soul Manipulation: Blood Style -Blood shot!! ]

I heard a voice say and suddenly as fast "swishh"- sound filled the air. I opened my eyes and was dead-surprised to see that gigantic black lying still on the ground! Dead! Shot to death. The other wolves seemed as startled as I was but left the place, there heels over their heads. I turned to my right and saw a tall man standing there with his one hand raised, forming a gun with his fingers. 'Did he only used his fingers' I thought. He walked towards me. He was wearing half sleeves even in this chilly cold. From his broad shoulders, his biceps curved like low hills over which veins were popped out like bolts of lighting. His hair was coal-black while his eyes were flame-red. But from his short hairs, pointy ears stood like horns. Wait is he an alien?

"Can you stand up? " He asked not in a very rude way but not exactly gentle. I stood up, my legs were still wobbling with cold. He helped me stand. But it was still tough job for me to walk. The man sensed this and pulled me over his rock-hard shoulder. He didn't seem to mind the mud which was sticking on my clothes.

" Hey!! What are you doing? " I cried.

"This way you won't hinder my speed... " He replied shortly in his deep tough voice.

"Can you take me to a house nearby, my friend should be there. I need to find him? " I requested. But he never replied. "Can I know your name? " I asked but the reply was his unchanging footsteps. So I let myself be silenced as well. I was still hanging on his shoulders. Though, being hanged like that felt a bit uncomfortable, I honestly embraced the warmth his body and his thick, bare arms provided me with. The warmth was like a flame of matchstick in the snowfall. We walked like that for about fifteen minutes and just when I was feeling seeing, he pulled me down.

"We are here.. "He declared. I looked around and in front of me stood the same house where probably, I had spent my last night. The house where Elliot should be now. I turned back. I caught the man looking at me but as soon as he saw my face, he turned away.

"I am really thankful for your help sir and also thank you for saving me from those wolves back there. "I said thanking him, subtly bowing my head.

"It's Ryker.... "He muttered almost as an after thought. " Huh?? " I said a bit puzzled.

"Never mind... " He said. Suddenly, I heard a running sound and was surprised to find Elliot hugging me as soon as I turned back.

"You really scared the shit out of me, you know? " He said, his voice a bit rough. I didn't need a second thought to realise that he had been crying. "You think you were any less brutal on me? " I declared. And we both fell into a tearful laugh. It's hard to describe how that simple hug can give me such a homely feeling. After all, Elliot was kind of a brother to me..

"First tell me, how did you get all this mud over yourself..." Elliot asked after pulling away from thr hug. His eyes were still a bit teary.

"You won't believe what happened to me, I fell into a mud pit looking for you and I was even attacked by three wolves in the forest. But this guy behind saved me" I explained. Elliot looked at my finger and then to me. "Who?? "

I turned back but there was no one to be seen.

"First let's get you cleaned."Elliot declared before signalling me follow him.

"Ryker...."I muttered to myself before following Ellio