Chapter 7: The Chase Begins
“You’re really going to go after him?” Atlas questioned hesitantly.
Desmond nodded. “Yes, I want to know more about how to deal with this curse or whatever it is you called it. If he has the answers, then I have no choice but to find Mykel and ask him about it.”
Atlas opened his mouth to say something and closed it again. There was a clear look of apprehension on his features while Desmond waited for his response. Exactly what it was that was causing him to be so hesitant, Desmond couldn’t be sure. After having to wait as long as he had for answers, he wasn’t in the mood for being put off any longer. While he was sure Atlas didn’t mean much by his hesitation, Desmond wasn’t in the mood for it.
“Nevermind, I’ll just go look for him. You said he protects the city or something like that. So, it shouldn’t be too hard to find him,” Desmond stated.
Without waiting for Atlas to respond to him, Desmond got to his feet and headed for the door to the apartment. The only thing he was concerned with right now was finding a way to get rid of the curse that was spreading down his arm. If he could escape its clutches then he could return to a normal life. As it stood right now, he didn’t have much of an interest in being involved with anything that dealt with The Echo. Truthfully, he hadn’t even been a believer in ghosts or anything of that sort until recently.
After a trip down more staircases than he cared for, Desmond was back on the street again. In his last visit to The Echo, he had encountered the clouds of dark mist and the dark creatures within on the main streets of the city. If he was going to find Mykel anywhere it would be somewhere on those main streets. That was what his train of thought was. Despite his conviction to locate the current keeper though, to say he wasn’t afraid of what he might run into would have been a lie.
Once he had left Atlas’ apartment building, Desmond was in the heart of the city. In his world, this would be the busiest part of town. Seeing it so barren and empty in The Echo was eerie enough and that was without running into one of those creatures. Still, Desmond forced himself forward along the sidewalk. He made sure he kept his guard up as he did and glanced down every alley that he came across.
All around him, he could hear the echoing sounds of something following him. The noise came to his ears as a shuffling sound, even though there were no signs of life in the empty buildings. Without noticing, Desmond’s pace was picking up. The swell of unease rose in his chest the louder the noise became. It was the same as the first time and he was certain that one of those shadow creatures was following after him.
Now almost at a jog, Desmond whipped around another corner to try and get away from the thing following him. No sooner had he done so though, was he forced to come to an abrupt stop. Three more clouds of dark mist danced just ahead of him in the street and blocked his path. At the sight of them, he tried to take a step back but the swishing sound behind him confirmed that the one that followed him had him blocked in. He was completely surrounded.
“This is so not good!” he muttered to himself.
One by one, they formed into those same tall, lanky shadow figures with abnormally long arms and fingers. None of them resembled the one that he had seen back home though. Which led him to believe that that one must have been of a different kind or something. It didn’t make him feel any better in his current situation, regardless. These shadow creatures were still dangerous as far as he knew. He felt completely helpless too, as they closed in around him.
“Get down!” Mykel’s voice came as an echo.
Desmond hardly had time to react to the echoing words that came with the formation of another body just beside him. This one formed of a white mist and just as before, Mykel was the one who stepped out of it. His body towering over Desmond’s by several inches and standing this close, he was able to realize just how muscular Mykel was. A detail that had been missed in their last encounter. Once again, he was stuck staring in awe at Mykel.
A cold silvery gaze met his own and perfectly curved lips fell into a harsh frown. “I said get down!”
“Oh!” Desmond exclaimed in sudden surprise.
He snapped out of his daze and ducked down as Mykel had instructed him to. Desmond crouched low to the ground at Mykel’s feet and pressed his hands over his ears. He could hear the creatures above coming closer and closer to the pair. Dread surged through his chest at the glimpse of a long appendage that reached down towards him, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. Desmond stayed this way until the shuffling sounds had gone silent and he was certain that the creatures had all been dealt with.
Once he was on his feet again, he was able to confirm that the creatures were gone. The only one still standing there was Mykel. The tall, tan, white-haired man stood with a sharp glare cast over his features. His arms had crossed over his chest at some point. Desmond knew why he was glaring. It had been Mykel that saved him the first time and warned him that if he returned, he would have to kill Desmond. Yet, here he was, and had even insisted on hunting for him.
“Didn’t I warn you about coming back to The Echo?” Mykel asked.
Desmond flinched at the harshness of his tone. “Y-yes, but I had to come back. I need to know how to get rid of this!”
At his words, Desmond turned and pulled the sleeve of his shirt up. The dark tattoo that had shown up on his shoulder just a couple days ago was there. By now, it had grown down to touch just passed his elbow and wrapped itself around his entire upper arm like vines.
Desmond had seen with his own eyes as the mark had grown, which was what had prompted his visit to begin with. That and, of course, the brief encounter he had with the screaming shadow.
Mykel shook his head. “I can’t do anything for you, you’ve already been marked. Your best option is to stay far away from this place.”
“I can’t go on ignoring it! This thing keeps getting bigger anytime I see anything!” Desmond protested. “There has to be a way to get rid of the curse!”
“I’m telling you, there’s not. So this is your last warning. Get out of here and don’t come back or else,” Mykel snapped.
“No way, I have to know more about this thing if I’m gonna be stuck with it!” he demanded.
At his demand, Mykel unfolded his arms. The look on his face had become dangerous and those silver eyes pierced through Desmond like daggers. Desmond wasn’t going to back down now though, despite the rush of fear he got from the look on Mykel’s face.
He wasn’t sure what all kinds of powers he had but after seeing what he could do to those shadow creatures, Desmond was certain he could do some damage. Even so, he meant what he said.
Just as Mykel closed in on him, Desmond noticed another cloud of mist forming just over his shoulder. This one was much larger than the others that had them surrounded. In fact, after it grew into its shape, Desmond recognized it as the screaming creature he had seen in his world. Now, here in The Echo, its form was much more menacing than before.
Once fully formed, the large figure seemed to take on the form of a skeleton shrouded in a dark, misty cloth. Its face was gone, but sunken in to give the impression that it once might have had one. The long arms appeared more bony in appearance and its long fingers were clawed at the ends. Desmond had all but forgotten the threat that Mykel was presenting at the sight of it and had begun to back away from Mykel.
“There’s no point in trying to run n–” Mykel started to say.
His sentence was interrupted when a long, clawed hand had been forced through his abdomen. Desmond watched on in horror as his savior went wide-eyed and then collapsed to the ground in front of him. With nothing to stand between Desmond and the misty creature, he had no idea what to do. Mykel was the only one between them with any real power. If that thing got ahold of him, it would surely kill him.
“Mykel, you have to get up!” Desmond called out to him.
The creature was getting closer to where Mykel had collapsed, looming over him like a shadow. Desmond felt that it might attack again, despite the fact that Mykel wasn’t moving. Without a second thought, he did the only thing that his instincts told him to do at that moment. Desmond rushed forward and threw his body over Mykel’s as though to protect him from anything else the monster might do. He had no idea what he was going to do, but somehow he felt that this was the only thing he could do.
“No!” Desmond yelled.
The same screeching sound it had emitted before hit his ears louder than ever. The noise reached him at the same time that the creature extended its clawed hands out towards him. Desmond raised a hand up towards it, his palm open as though he were trying to tell the creature to stop. Then just as it made to grab a hold of him, a bright burst of light erupted from the center of his palm and sent the creature backwards in a blinding light and a terrifying squeal.