Chapter 41 On the Run

Cheryl stared down at the claws coming out through her chest. Her eyes widened with shock as she quickly jumped out of the way, kicking the ground with one foot to turn herself towards the creature. Electricity riled up around her and she blasted off towards it, hitting it once more in the stomach. Its mouth hung open as the sparks paralyzed it in place, sending streams of pain up and down its back. Not long after, its entire body toppled to the ground. Cheryl ricocheted from it, skidding against the ground till she slipped and rolled over to the side.

All of a sudden, the pain returned to her broken ankle. She looked down at her hands that had gone back to normal once more. The electric form had merely lasted a couple of seconds. It wasn't something she could control just yet.

"Tch! What is taking so long?" Sara barked in anger.

There was a sudden banging from inside the wooden stable.

"Hello? Anyone out there?" It was Rosa's voice. Cheryl's head snapped towards it as she pushed herself back up.

"Oh no you don't," Sara commented in anger, holding up the hand mirror in front of her face. More limbs crawled out of it, the same size as the previous one except their faces were glued to their backs. Two of them jumped out, blocking the path to the stable completely.

Rosa banged recklessly over the door. Her voice was desperate as she called out.

"Help! Someone help me!"

Cheryl gritted her teeth out of frustration. Her body no longer listened to her as she took a step forward, stumbling to the ground once more. Her ankle felt like it was twisted beyond repair. Pain streamed up her leg, making her flinch every few seconds.

"Lady, we need to leave. We can't stay here anymore," the little shadow boy said in an urgent tone, pointing towards the open doorway in the middle of the land. It led back towards the school.

"We won't be safe either way," Cheryl breathed out, landing her gaze at Sara, "It's her we need to take out. Otherwise she'll just keep bringing more monsters to fight for her."

"I'll distract her, while you make a run for it," the boy responded.

"No… just distract her," Cheryl said, pushing herself up. She bit her own tongue to keep from screaming out. The little boy obeyed, to her relief, rushing towards Sara with his pickaxe gripped tightly in hand. The tall beasts quickly stepped in front of her, aggressively charging towards the boy. Cheryl looked down at the remaining Catters.

"Dixon, I need your help…" she said, holding out her injured ankle towards them. They stared up at her with innocent blue eyes before grabbing onto it. Within seconds, they had melted to take the form of a shoe, thick and heavy enough to serve as a cast.

"It'll do," she whispered, testing it out in a run. It slowed her down considerably but the pain subsided. The beasts threw their bodies towards the boy who quickly jumped back to dodge. Cheryl snuck past them, rushing towards the shed. All of a sudden, the beasts screamed at her. She tilted her head a little to see angry eyes sticking out of their backs.

"You think you can sneak past me?" Sara growled in anger.

The beasts made a quick lunge for her. Cheryl watched their giant bodies rise into the air, propelled towards her. Color quickly drained from her face as she tried to swallow. Her fearful eyes fixed at them.

"Move!" the little boy yelled out.

At that moment, the Catters pulled forward, tugging at her leg. Her other foot skidded against the ground as she fell backwards, just in time to avoid the impact. The beasts crashed into the shed behind. Cheryl quickly rolled over to the side before standing up again. Splinters flew at her face. Rosa screamed from inside.

"IDIOTS! What do you think you're doing?" Sara yelled from the other end.

The creatures screeched at her, rolling over to their feet again. A scared little Rosa stood behind all the broken splinters. Cheryl quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the rubble. She could hear Sara screaming at her at the top of her lungs. The creatures made a run for it. It was now or never. The Catters gripped her ankle tightly, holding it in place for her to be able to sprint towards the open doorway.

"No! Don't! She can't leave!" Sara yelled, chasing after, almost throwing her body at Rosa's feet. She grabbed her ankle in desperation. The two beasts tumbled after, claws extending towards them. Rosa gasped as she struggled with her feet, kicking away Sara's hands with as much force as she could muster. The little shadow boy jumped over, grabbing her arm and prying the fingers off one by one.

"Go!" he yelled at her.

Cheryl nodded, feeling heat rise up inside her body. The adrenaline kicked in and she jumped out through the door, pulling Rosa along with her.

She felt her hand slip from her grip. Had she done it? Cheryl was outside the classroom inside the school corridor. She turned around hoping to see the relieved smile on Rosa's face. She could already hear Sara sobbing in the distance. As she turned, suddenly she felt very alone. She stared at the empty hallway. There was no Rosa to be found. Heavy winds rushed at her face from inside the open door of the classroom. She looked around, dumbfounded.

Sara was screaming, uttering words of hate from the other side. Some of which made her stomach twist in an uncomfortable manner.

"You killed her!" she was saying.

"Rosa?" Cheryl called, feeling her heart sink.

"She had food from this world!" Sara screamed out.

"Rosa, this isn't a joke. Please, come out!" Cheryl called out desperately.

"She could no longer exist in her world anymore!"

Color was draining from Cheryl's face, although she was trying hard not to believe it. Because if any of what she said was true, Cheryl would have been the reason for the death of her own friend.

Her feet suddenly felt weak as she stumbled to the ground, struggling to breathe. There was a roar of anger as the heavy winds blasted at her face. Sara had stopped crying. Now she screamed out in rage.

There was a series of clicks before creatures began to appear out of the door, one after another. Shadows of every size and shape crawled out, mouths hanging open with a dark liquid drooling out. None of them had eyes. Cheryl gasped, suddenly feeling very aware of the pain in her ankle. She looked down to realize the Catters no longer wrapped her foot. They left to stand in front of her protectively. It wasn't much of a fight. They were wiped out in a single slash, disappearing into the air.

Cheryl crawled backwards, still in shock. The little shadow boy squeezed in from between the creatures, slashing at them with his pickaxe. The smaller ones dispersed.

"What are you still doing here? Go, run!"

"I can't!" Cheryl said, teary eyed. Her lips quivered in an attempt to hold back a river of tears.

The creatures were endless as they appeared out of the tiny doorway, all clawing their way towards her. She stared death in the face, watching the dark shadows close in. The little boy stood in front of her protectively, with disregard to his own life, pickaxe raised in front of him to swipe at anything that got close.

"You should go! Don't throw your life away fighting a lost battle," Cheryl told him.

Suddenly, he dropped the pickaxe. It fell to the floor with a loud clang.

"Are you even listening to me?" she was saying, only to get no response from him.

He raised his bare hands towards the approaching creatures. To her surprise, the creatures slowed to a stop, inches away from his face. Their bodies shivered as tiny squeals escaped them.

.

"Focus," Darke's voice rang in my ears. He was the last person I wanted to hear orders from. Frankly, I didn't take orders from anyone. A single vein at the side of my temple became very prominent. I could feel it pound. With my arms raised and mind alert, I commanded the stray shadows, fighting for control over them. It would be easier if I were there in person. There was only so much the little shadow boy could do.

It was a gray vision. I could see everything going on around the boy. Cheryl was injured somewhere behind and the most I could do was keep the shadows in place. I felt more trying to squeeze their way out through the door. Why the hell was she not running away?

"Found you!" a voice echoed from behind her. Cheryl craned her head to see.

"Eron?" was all she whispered, unable to believe if any of this was real.

"Who the hell…" I muttered. The little shadow boy quickly moved from his place to stand in between them.

"Let's go," he said, grabbing onto her arm before fading away into the wind.

I breathed out, feeling a heavy pressure fall out of my chest. I slumped onto the cold grass below. My hands still trembled from all the force I had to exude from them. It was almost sun down. The skies were a gradient of dark gray clouds, almost as if a storm was about to form.

"What happened?" Darke was hovering over me like a shadow.

"I lost contact," I simply told him, placing my face in my hands and just stayed like that for a few minutes.

I could feel Meryl and Ricky's shadows lean over my shoulders from behind. Their concerned gazes fell on my back. They knew there was nothing they could do to make it better. I hadn't even told them anything yet. All Ricky knew was that I had eyes on Cheryl and that she was okay. He trusted me too much. He shouldn't have. I needed to tell him…

"There's something you should know…" I began.

"Cheryl…" Ricky said, sounding surprised all of a sudden.

I frowned. "How did you-" I was saying as I looked up. I almost froze when I saw her standing there on the dirt plane. Her dark eyes found me. It wasn't until she limped that my body moved on its own. I broke into a run, catching her before as she stumbled. I picked her up into a hug. Ricky and Meryl followed quickly.

"It's really you," I said as I pulled away, setting her back down on the ground. I kept one arm around her back for support. Ricky pinched her cheek.

"Where have you been? We've been worried sick," he pulled her into a light hug then looked her over till his eyes landed at her now swollen ankle. "What happened?"

Cheryl stared at all of us as tears welled up in her eyes. I knew it wasn't the reunion that made her burst out crying. I just held her.

"I'm sorry," I said as a condolence.

Meryl snatched her away, almost as if she understood.

"It's okay, sweetie. It's going to be alright now. Why don't you come inside and I'll fix you some hot chocolate. All of you," she said, looking at each of us. Cheryl paused to look back at something behind her. I followed her gaze to a familiar pair. One of them I didn't like very much. Just looking at him made my blood boil. I noticed the storm clouds were no longer in the sky.

"Gale and Eron. They helped me escape," Cheryl said.

"Aren't they from the organization Scarlet headed?" Ricky was the one to point out.

"They said they wanted to help. There's more of them. They're all suffering because of the dark pulses. They want this madness to end," Cheryl said the last sentence in a hard voice.

"Why don't we all go inside and talk?" Meryl said, noticing my sudden mood shift as she eyed me.

"Fine," I replied dryly.