“Not much we can do, we should probably get going,” said Mark.
“We should pick any fruit we see on the way. You never know when we will run out,” suggested Nicole. As they walked, they picked any fruit they would come across and stuck it in their bags. Alex spaced out as he thought about what Jack said. Heltiana. Alsijn. Creatures of the dark. Barriers. What kind of world was this? Suddenly, Alex lost his footing and tumbled to the ground. He had been so lost in thought he had forgotten he was in a forest and tripped over a tree root.
Brooke watched as Alex walked silently with a blank stare, his eyes barely moving. She looked to her friends for an explanation but they just shrugged in reply. Brooke noticed a bundle of fruit hanging against a tree and she snatched it down. A loud thump from behind her caused her to turn around and drop the bundle of fruit. There Alex lay sprawled on the ground in a heap.
“Are you okay?” Brooke leaned forward with a stretched-out hand toward Alex. He took it and she pulled Alex off the ground.
“I’m fine. Just not paying attention,” Alex replied bluntly as he gathered himself.
“You might want to start before you fall again,” Brooke exchanged confused glances with Mark before moving on.
Alex continued to daydream as he walked, but his daydreaming was put to an end when he heard a branch snap deep into the woods around them. Alex stopped walking and listened for another sound like the one he heard before but heard nothing. Every once in a while he would hear a rustling sound and stop walking but only to find that nothing was there. Alex started to think he was hearing things. None of his friends took any notice of the loud sounds and continued on their way.
The sound of leaves crunching behind him haunted Alex. He got annoyed and stopped walking. Planting his feet down, he listened for the crunching, half expecting it to stop immediately. This time Alex was surprised to find that it didn’t stop. The crunching sound started to grow louder and louder as Alex waited. He spun around to face the source of the sound, but nothing was there besides trees, leaves, vines, and grass.
The crunching was getting closer and closer by the second. Alex pulled his sword out of its sheath on his back. The sound of the sword being pulled out of its sheath rung out through the silent forest. Alex held his sword firmly in front of him.
“Who’s there?” Alex called into the silence.
“What are you doing?” Nicole asked, startled.
“Don’t tell me you don’t hear that!” Alex said. “Don’t talk. Just listen.”
The five of them stood there motionless, staring at each other. Brooke was about to say something when she stopped.
“I’m starting to hear it,” Brooke’s voice cracked as she said it.
“I don’t know what you people are talking about but one thing’s for sure. You people have been on this island for far too long. You are starting to scare me,” David quivered as he scanned the serious and determined faces of his peers. His eyes grew wide and he started backing away from the others slowly.
“David, stop! Think about what you are saying! Nobody is going crazy! Just wait for a min” Mark was cut off when a wolf jumped out from behind David. The wolf ran at David at full speed, ramming him into the ground, knocking the wind out of him.
The wolf pinned David down with its claws, with its mouth open and saliva dripping down onto David’s face. The wolf’s lips were curled back into a snarl, revealing large sharp and jagged teeth. David didn’t bother looking at its eyes, he was too scared to bring up the courage. When he found air rushing into his lungs he didn’t hesitate before screaming as loud as he could, hoping his friends would come to the rescue.
Alex threw his body at the wolf, his shoulder colliding into the wolf’s shoulder blade, throwing it off of David. Alex and the wolf tumbled forward, clutching onto each other, both struggling to break free of each other’s grasp. As they rolled Alex’s sword fell out of his grip. As soon as they stopped moving the wolf jumped off of Alex and he struggled to get to his feet. Alex and the wolf stood motionless, staring at each other and waiting for the other to make their move. Alex’s arms were scratched and his shirt was torn from where the wolf dug his claws into his arms.
That’s when he saw its eyes. The outside was completely yellow except for a thin black diamond in the middle. Suddenly the wolf turned and ran the opposite direction. Alex stood there sweating and breathing hard. He heard leaves crunching behind him and spun around. There his friends stood with worried looks on their faces. Alex sighed and walked over to where he dropped his sword.
“It’s gone. It ran away. I don’t know where. It could come back,” Alex huffed as he slid his sword back into its sheath and turned around to examine his friend’s conditions. Alex’s face contorted into confusion and worry. They all were fine and healthy but what troubled him was their missing companion.
“Where’s David?” Alex asked. Nicole, Brooke, and Mark looked around then back at Alex and shrugged. Alex took off to where David had been pinned down. He found him leaning against a tree clutching his arm tightly in pain. A large gash ran from his shoulder cap to his forearm with blood oozing out of it and dripping slowly down his arm and off his fingertips.
“David! Oh my gosh!” Brooke’s eyes widened in shock.
“I have a first-aid kit!” Mark exclaimed quickly as he rushed to pull out a box from David’s bag.
Nicole helped straighten David against the tree before pouring a bottle of water over his wound to clean it. Once all of the blood had been washed off, Alex wrapped a bandage around the wound before it could bleed any more.
NINETEEN
"That sucked,” David groaned as he clutched his free hand around his bad arm, nursing the wound after it was fully patched.
“No kidding,” Mark scoffed. “Can you stand? That was a lot of blood.”
“No. Not yet. Just give me a few minutes. That actually scared me,” David replied with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“It scared all of us, mind you,” Brooke scolded.
“You weren’t the one who had a wolf pin you down and rip open a gash in your arm,” David pointed out.
“I guess I should have believed you, Alex. I read too many comics where people lose their rockers in situations not far from this. I’m sorry I got myself hurt,” David rested his head on the tree trunk behind him and stared up at the canopy.
“It’s okay. It’s not every day you find yourself alone on an island where everything on it could kill you. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re all missing a few marbles after this,” Alex replied as he sat on a rock nearby and began to wipe off the dirt on his sword with a cloth. “You are human after all,” Alex paused before continuing. “Anyway, I should have been more on guard. It wasn’t your fault.”
“We should probably stay the night so David can get his strength back,” Mark spoke.
Alex sheathed his sword and stood up. “I’ll get wood.”
“Okay see you later then,” Brooke remarked.
“We’ll take care of David and set up camp,” Nicole added.
* * *
After nightfall everyone managed to find sleep—except for Alex. Alex’s sleep seemed to run away too far for him to catch. Alex walked over to a fallen tree a few yards away from the others and sat down. Jack was there almost immediately.
“You’ve been waiting for me,” Jack said.
“I want to know more about these ‘creatures.’ You kinda bailed on me when I still wanted more answers,” Alex replied, ignoring Jack’s comment.
“From what I know, the creatures of Heltiana make up many varieties. There are creatures or what you would call monsters, there are also animals, and even plants that are creatures of Heltiana. But you really need to watch out for the citizens of Heltiana. The ones who most resemble humans. While you would call them human because of how they look and act, they are inhuman. Some can die from on
ly one thing and some can’t even die at all. Heltiana is another world hidden to the human race. Or, a part of another world. A kingdom, you could say. We ‘citizens’ are technically an entire different race.”
“Why are the so-called humans the most dangerous? I’d think the monsters are the most dangerous.”
“They have the most power. They also know every human weakness… along with how to exploit them. They can deceive and they can conquer. Unlike any other species, they can roam freely inside the world of the humans. I am one of these citizens. And just as dangerous.”
Alex jumped up from where he was sitting and backed up into a tree. “You’re one of them?” Alex asked calmly.
“Yes. But I do not wish to bring any harm upon you or your friends. If I did, you never would have awoken on that beach,” Jack reassured him. Alex heard the truth in Jack’s words. He started to inch slowly around the trunk. “You see, I’m a bit different from everyone else,” Jack said calmly. Alex leaned off the trunk and walked back over to the fallen tree and sat down. Jack stopped, confused.
“What are you doing?” Jack asked.
“You said you weren’t going to hurt anyone. So, what do I have to worry about?” Alex replied.
“Would you at least want to know what I am?”
“Sure. But I can always wait if you are not ready.”
Jack opened his mouth as if to say something but stopped abruptly and spun toward the slumbering teenagers. “Your friend is awake. Go. Hurry, before he sees us. Before I go, don’t tell your friends about me. They are not ready. However, they will be soon.” Jack disappeared into the shadows, and Alex walked back over to where his friends lay.
Jack watched Alex walk back to his friends and considered Alex peculiar. Although Jack told Alex he was part of an extremely dangerous inhuman race, Alex continued to trust him. He was very peculiar, or at least, incredibly naive.
Alex walked toward the fire to find David sitting up and staring at the sleeping bag Mark had given Alex that he never used anyway.
“David? Are you all right?” Alex asked. David spun around to the source of who had spoken to discover Alex standing behind him. David lurched in agony as pain shot through his arm and up his shoulder.
“Owww. Yeah.” David clutched his arm. “Where were you?”
“I went for a walk,” Alex replied. “Why are you up? It’s late.”
“I should ask you the same thing.”
Alex walked over and sat against a tree stump near David. “Why are you suspicious? Do you not trust me?”
“What? Why wouldn’t I trust you?” David asked, surprised Alex would make such an accusation, and a little suspicious.
“No reason. Just go back to sleep,” Alex rested against the stump and crossed his arms across his chest, closing his eyes.
“Why don’t you sleep in the sleeping bag Mark gave you?” David moved his sleeping bag closer to Alex, trying to start a conversation.
“Because it’s uncomfortable.”
“Alex?”
“What?” Alex sighed, opening his eyes again to look at David.
“What’s that?” David pointed at a bunch of bushes behind them. His arm trembled as he pointed. Alex turned to follow his gaze. He shuddered as he saw two glowing yellow eyes peering at them through the same bushes Alex had first come out of. Alex pulled out his sword and slowly walked over to the bushes.
“What is it?” asked David.
“I don’t know. Stay there.” He was only a few feet away when whatever it was jumped out from the bushes and right at Alex. He leapt back just in time for the wolf to land on the spot where Alex would have been. He recognized the wolf as the one they met a few days ago.
“I guess it came back to finish the job.” Alex looked out of the corner of his eye at David. David was shaking out of fright. “Don’t worry, I won’t let it near any of you.” Alex lunged at the wolf and slashed the sword toward its skin. The wolf dodged the attack swiftly and charged toward Alex. Alex attempted to move out of the way, but wherever he turned another tree would be waiting to block his path. So Alex went the only way he could go. He jumped up.
Everyone was dumbfounded. Alex, David, the wolf, even Jack, who was watching silently within his shadows. Alex jumped into the air with such force that he went up twenty feet in the air. The force of the jump had brought up clouds of dirt that spread about the forest floor. When Alex finally landed, he was so shocked he stumbled and fell to the ground.
The wolf was the first one to recover from the shock. The wolf immediately launched an attack, stunning everyone even more. The attack sent Alex sprawling backwards. Alex held onto the wolf so it wouldn’t escape. Alex and the wolf went tumbling toward a wall of vines. Little did they know that behind that wall was a steep, rocky hill that led down to a black, murky pond. Sharp rocks jutted out from all sides that could lead to certain death if someone were to come in contact with them. At the bottom of the pond lay a bed of small sharp rocks that were deeply hidden beneath the murky waters.
They burst through the wall of vines and lurched down the jagged cliff uncontrollably. As they tumbled, it took all of Alex’s energy to dodge the deadly rocks. Alex and the wolf slammed into a large rock. The force of the impact shook them out of the other’s grasp and they continued to fall in separate directions, each no longer focusing on the other and only trying to avoid the rocks.
Jack watched in horror from his shadows. He itched to help but he couldn’t interfere. David was awake and it wasn’t time for him to know. He had to stay behind the sidelines and hope for the best. Jack winced as he watched Alex and the wolf collide into a rock that shook one another from the other’s grasp. Now’s my chance if any! Jack thought as he shook his head and sighed. With a flick of his finger, he sent the wolf sprawling into a nearby boulder.
Alex tumbled even farther down the hill. In the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the wolf colliding with another rock, then falling down the terrain. Alex dodged rock after rock, boulder after boulder. He didn’t have a chance to gather himself before falling flat on to his back into the shallow pond. His head smashed against one of the rocks, causing purple sparks to appear across his vision.
Alex slowly sat up in the pool of mud and looked up. David was standing within the wall of vines and staring down with a look of horror plastered on his face. The light of the fire reflected in his eyes. Alex stood up and staggered backwards as the world started to turn. Alex shook off the dizziness and climbed back up the terrain, occasionally slipping on a rock and falling a few feet before climbing up again.
David held his good hand out toward Alex when he finally reached the top. He brushed past David, sitting down and stopping the world from spinning being the only thing on his mind, unaware of the hand outstretched to him. He walked back to where the others still lay sound asleep and staggered over to the stump he had leaned against before he fell to the ground. David stood there with his hand in the air. Still shocked from Alex’s response, David shook his head, rousing himself out of his trance before walking back to the others to find Alex dozing off.
“Thanks, Alex,” David said as he sat down next to Alex against the stump.
“You’re welcome. Are you hurt? The wolf didn’t get to you, did it?” Alex breathed as his eyelids continued to drop.
“I’m fine.”
“Mmm,” Alex mumbled as he began to drift off.
David didn’t respond. Alex opened one eye to look at David. He had already fallen asleep. Alex let out one last sigh before allowing himself to fall into a deep sleep, the dizziness following him into the darkness.
Alex woke up to the others huddled in a circle and talking to one another. “What are... You.. doing?” Alex stuttered, his head still spinning from the night before, although marginally better.
“Morning, Alex! We thought you’d never wake up. You must’ve been really tir
ed after last night,” Nicole observed.
“Hmm? Oh yeah. I was really tired,” Alex replied. Alex turned to David who was still sitting against the tree stump next to him. He clutched his arm as he watched the others run around playfully. “Do the others know what happened?” Alex whispered.
“Nah. I figured you wanted me to wait for you to wake up,” David whispered back.
“Have you not moved all morning?”
“No. My arm was throbbing earlier. But I’m starting to feel a bit better.”
“I think I saw a plant earlier that can help with that.”
“Wait, what do you mean plant?”
Alex didn’t have time to squeeze in the answer before the others plopped down in front of them. “Why were you so tired? You went to bed the same time as the rest of us, didn’t you?” Brooke asked. Alex glanced at David, who nodded briskly in response. Alex sighed before replying.
“The wolf attacked again last night,” Alex confessed. “We think it was the one from before. The one that attacked David.”
They all stopped and stared at him with disbelief.
“What? It came back?” Brooke raged. “And you didn’t think to wake us up?”
“Well, I’m sorry. I was too busy trying to fight it off,” Alex retorted.
“It’s dead now, though,” David spoke up.
Brooke whirled around, “What did you just say?”
“I said, it’s dead. The wolf is dead,” he repeated.
“What do you mean ‘it’s dead’?” Nicole queried.
“The wolf wasn’t killed by Alex, though. Alex and the wolf tumbled through that wall of vines.” David pointed toward the vines with his good hand before continuing. “But behind the wall was a rocky slope that had sharp rocks and gigantic boulders. At the bottom was a muddy pond that was so dark you couldn’t see the bottom.”
“The pond was surprisingly shallow and the bottom was nothing but rocks,” Alex cut in.
The Abnormals: Book One Page 12
