The New World

The glow in Leo's eyes lasted only for a few seconds, but Leo did not notice what had happened to him, neither did he feel it. Had he been close to a mirror at that time, he would have seen the glow in his eyes, a glow that made Leo look almost Godly.

"I don't think I read it well, this makes no sense at all. Maybe I'm just too tired to understand it."

[sigh]

"I'll take a look at it again in the morning and with any luck, it'll all make sense then."

Leo stood up and moving towards the wall, switched off the room's light. His room now illuminated with moonlight that passed through the window's glass, was enough to allow Leo to see. He pulled back his sheets, laid on the bed, and covered himself with the sheets. As he laid down facing upwards, the moonlight bouncing off his eyes brought back the golden glow, though it was not as bright as before. The glow of Leo's eyes gave him the appearance of a cat in the dark, though without the distinct shape of their pupil.

[Yawn]

Leo stretched out his arms, turned around with his back to the window, and finally fell asleep. As he slept, the words on his arms, specifically the words he could read began glowing, and simultaneously Leo was dreaming about different people that had an impact on his life in the past. He saw his Mom, his Dad, his high school teacher that always encouraged him even when his performance was poor. He dreamt about Mr. Edward, the closest living person he had to a father. Sara, his beautiful coworker. Olivia, the girl who slapped him. The 3 men that nearly killed him. His aunt and then a smiling Jax. Leo smiled in his sleep after he saw Jax. Leo was having a beautiful dream because he felt relaxed and was full of joy.

{COME}

A deep and intimidating voice echoed in Leo's head.

{COME}

The voice grew louder and was more aggressive

{COME}

At this point, Leo's discomfort could clearly be seen as he wiggled on the bed. He looked like a child that was having a nightmare.

Who was speaking to Leo, and where did he want him to go?

Finally, the voice that kept repeating the same word was silenced, allowing Leo to relax and stop wiggling.

But then

{COME FORTH MY FIGHTER}

Leo's eyes opened up and the bright golden color was back.

Leo was still half asleep when he opened up his eyes. He needed to pee.

The glow in his eyes went out again.

He stood and walked to the nearest tree and began to water the grasses around the tree. He did so with his eyes closed and his head raised up facing the sky with a satisfied look on his face showing his relief.

"Ahhhhhhh"

When he was done he returned to the same spot and laid on the ground. The silence of the jungle made the chirping of the crickets very audible. The trees and leaves rustling due to the gentle breeze. The beauty of nature was in abundance.

Leo was just too sleepy to perceive the change in his environment. He tried to go back to sleep but the chirping of the crickets was bothering him.

'Why are there crickets in my room. I'll have to call pest control first thing tomorrow morning.'

He reached for his pillow to try covering his ears, but only grabbed the surrounding grass instead. But to think that he still did not realize it.

'Where did I put that pillow?'

With his eyes still closed, he fumbled around his head for the pillow.

[SCREECH]

The loud screech of a bird in the jungle forced Leo's eyes wide open, his senses now sharp and realizing that there was indeed no pillow.

"What the hell? Where I'm I?"

Leo stood to his feet at once. The change in his breathing pattern and the sweat that raced down his face showed that he was deeply frightened. He remained quiet for a while wondering if he was kidnapped in his sleep and was brought here. He carefully looked around trying to make out the shape of any human being hiding behind the trees or in the bushes.

'I have to stay calm and process the situation. These people might have brought me here to kill me'

He remained silent and listened carefully to the sounds coming from his immediate surrounding. After confirming that he was the only one there, he allowed his nerves to relax. He began trying to figure out why he was in a jungle.

'Just relax, stay calm Leo. What's the last thing I remember'

He clenched his fist as his eyes widened with a look of fear.

In a low voice and shaky voice

"Jax"

He remembered Jax and recalled the time they spent the previous night having fun. He was the last person that Leo saw before going to his room to sleep only to wake up in a jungle. Leo's eyeballs became teary as he began shouting.

"Jax!!!"

He had instantly lost his calm and collected composure.

"Jax!!!, It's me, Leo!!!. Where are you?!!!"

He became more and more flustered, taking long strides in different directions and shouting at the top of his voice without a hint of concern for his own safety.

"If you can hear me, give me a sign!!!"

Leo's hope for finding his brother was slowly lost as the volume of his shouts decreased. He stopped in place and bending his head, began crying because he had no idea what had become of his brother.

"I'm all alone now. How can I survive without my brother?"

He looked up to the sky and as if talking to someone, screamed at the top of his voice.

"Why do you keep taking away the people I love!!!. First my Dad, then my mom, and now Jax!!!. Why? Why do you make me suffer?"

Leo's breathing became heavy as he grew more furious. But just then, he went quiet.

"How?"

He fell to his knees in complete despair with his head still facing upwards.

"How is this even possible"

He hadn't noticed it before now.

"Why are there 2 moons in the sky?"

The sight of 2 moons in the sky with some distance between them left Leo bewildered.

"But there's just meant to be one moon... Earth should have just one moon"

The shock was evident on his face. But he still managed to think up a reason why there would be 2 moons in the sky.

Leo wasn't the smartest kid back when he was in school, but he was able to pick up on a few things. He remembered that some other planets had their own moons and some even had multiple numbers of moons. But the only planet with 2 moons was mars.

"Does this mean that I'm on mars"

Leo immediately shook his head from left to right

"No. That can't be right. Mars has two small moons, but these 2 moons are almost similar to the one I always see. Plus I can breathe well with no issue. I'm definitely not on mars"

Leo's deduction was spot on, but that did not help him understand where he was, or more exactly, which planet he was on.

"But if I'm on another planet, does it mean that Jax could still be on earth. Is he safe? Why was I the only one that was brought here?"

He remembered the past events he had been experiencing and realized that that must have been the reason for his abduction.

After previously shouting Jax's name for Soo long, Leo felt assured that he was the only one there.

Or so he thought.

From the shadows, behind the thick grasses that stood high, a creature carefully stalked the grief-stricken Leo who was still on his knees. The creature's appearance was hidden in the dark with only its glowing cat-like eyes being seen.