Before he could decide if it would be safe to approach them, the sound of galloping came roaring from down the street. The slowed time enhanced the echo of the horseshoes through the air, making it difficult to determine the exact direction it was coming from.
Without saying anything, Seth Stared directly past Warren.
Warren watched Seth, reluctant to turn around and find what had caught the Goth’s attention. Victor’s jaw dropped when he followed Seth’s eyes.
Against his better judgement, Warren turned around and saw a mounted figure, slowly galloping toward them.
He looked back at the other 2 and beckoned them to step back with a simple head movement, before stepping back into the crowd himself.
Victor and Seth just managed to get into the crowd when the mounted man galloped passed them, stopping in front of the school.
He was no average man. He wore traditional white armour with shoulder plates and a very thick chest plate. He had long shoulder length white hair and his skin was as pale as the moon. His metal boots clanked as he leaped off of his unusually large white horse, again echoing through the air. Now standing on the floor, Warren could see that he was well taller than 6 feet. He immediately recognised that man as the figure that has been haunting his dreams in recent weeks.
The man laid his hand on the horse’s mane, and within a blink of an eye, the horse exploded into a cloud of white dust the seemed to vanish for no reason.
A woman stepped out of the crowd of children. She was fully clad in green studded leather armour with thick shoulder pads. The armour seemed to be custom fitted to her very slender build. With snow white hair and pale skin, she appeared almost sickly. Her lips were almost as green as her eyes, which in turn were almost as green as her armour. the leather bracers that she wore had a pyramid shape, from her mid forearm, down to the back of her hand, leading to the arrow tip that pointed to her middle knuckle.
Faith drew a sword from her waist that Warren did not initially notice, but the green dust particles that seemed to intentionally surround the weapon immediately grasped his attention. She swung the weapon to loosen up, nearly blinding Warren with the greenish glare that reflected off of the weapon.
The mysterious figure, in return, stuck his hand out, seemingly grasping at nothing. Warren tried to figure out what he was doing, until bright white particles towards his hand. The specks took on a more solid form, eventually creating a think hilt, though still no blade. The corners of his mouth rolled up as he stared her down. As if prompted, the dust floating around him sped up. Piece by piece, the particles formed at the end of the hilt to form the large blade.
The two warriors immediately began their duel, their swords sending sparks of green and white flying through the air as it would hit each other. The sounds were tremendous, rocking the ground beneath his feet.
Beads of sweat began rolling down Faith’s cheeks as she put all her effort into keeping up with the mysterious stranger, blocking every swing that came his way.
Whether it be frustration or determination, but the stranger’s moves hastened. Each motion, each swoosh, each strike, got faster and faster… without sacrificing his fluid motion.
Faith was overwhelmed… with each strike and with every block, she was forced to take more and more steps backwards… until she felt the bumper of a family wagon against the back of her legs. The mysterious stranger then took a powerful swing downwards, meeting Faith’s horizontal blade for an impact that sent a ripple wave outward. The force of the impact pushed Faith back onto the bonnet of the car, ready to block a second downward swing, the power of which was evident in the fact that her body was starting to dent the metal of the bonnet underneath her.
Faith then lifted her leg and used her foot to push the man away. Unable to muster enough strength to push him very far, the man simply stumbled about 2 meters away. He swung a second time, but Faith rolled off of the car, allowing the sword to cut through the bonnet and the engine with ease.
Faith then went on the offensive, launching an endless onslaught of strikes that was easily matched by the stranger. The two locked swords, trying to use physical strength to knock the other off balance.
Faith was using all her strength, while the mystery man appeared to be barely straining a muscle. He then elbowed the teen to the jaw. While Faith stumbled back, her opponent flicked his wrist, causing a bright blinding light that forced Warren, Seth and Victor to block their eyes.
The light had dispersed and their eyes had finally readjusted... but when they looked up, they saw the man standing proud and tall mere inches away from Faith.
Warren looked carefully to see Faith’s sword lying on the floor beside her feet. With a second glance, he noticed that the mysterious man’s sword was half way through Faith’s chest and her toes were barely touching the ground. The sword had cut directly through the armour and straight to the other side. He withdrew his sword with lightning quickness, allowing the teenager to fall to the ground lifeless. Without saying anything, he leaped back onto his horse and rode off back down the street, again ignoring the three teenagers watching the scene in horror.
Warren couldn’t move due to the shock, when suddenly a car honked at him, missing him by an inch. He spun around to avoid getting hit, but one of the teenagers pushed him out of the way. The birds singing, the crowds talking, laughter, playing, cars driving – the noises hit him like a brick to the head.
A chilling scream then filled the air. Warren looked around to where Faith had fallen and noticed that a big crowd had now formed around that area. Warren pushed his way through the crowd till he reached the centre. There, in middle of everyone, was Faith, laying on the floor, dead. Warren immediately noticed that she was no longer wearing the armour, and there was no evidence of blood on her clothing.
He looked directly over the body to find Victor and Seth standing across from him, with the station wagon steaming behind them. Victor was staring at him with a million questions written across his face. All hope that they could explain the events left his mind.
Warren couldn’t think further and instead turned around pushed his way back out through the crowd in order to make his way home.
CHAPTER 4 – A THOUSAND WHISPERS
Warren awoke to the sound of singing birds and sun rays peeping through his sheer curtains.
He was still trying to make sense of the events from the previous day. He even began to question whether any of it had really happened. His head felt like a helium balloon, just drifting slowly… detached from reality.
It took him 30 minutes to simply climb out of his bed, as he sat there, staring into nothingness. No real solid thought running through his mind, but still he could not will himself out of bed.
He found himself walking to school much slower than he usually did, watching his feet, one in front of the other. Everything seemed surreal. How do you even make sense of something like this? Watching his feet, one of the other, with no real solid thought crossing his mind, he was suddenly stopped in place. He could not explain it, but somehow he could not will his body to move… the school gates just a block away. He could see it. It was right there. Not very far. But why couldn’t he move. Suddenly the sound of a thousand whispers filled his head, all saying the same thing.
‘Over here’, ‘Over here’, ‘Over here’, ‘Over here’
The voices were louder than his own thoughts.
‘Over here’, ‘Over here’, ‘Over here’
They continued. Not in sync, but one after the other. Sometimes overlapping.
‘Over here’, ‘Over here’
Warren defied his logical thinking and glanced over his shoulder. There, across the street from him was a charred man, as black as the night, lifeless glowing eyes staring blankly at him. His feet did not touch the ground, as he hovered calmly. The eyes did not blink. They just stared blankly at him.
Warren still could not bring himself to move. He just stood there, staring at the blackened figure that was watching him,
when suddenly he got his mobility back. But the man remained across the street.
Warren could not determine the man’s intentions, but wasn’t going to stick around to find out, and willed himself into a sprint. He reached the school and glanced back, but the glowing eyes followed his every movement.
With an oomph, he bumped into someone and fell back. It was Kimberley. The impact had caused her to fall over as well.
“Ouch… hey” she exclaimed
“Aargg… yeah” still on the floor, Warren looked around, but the mysterious figure had disappeared.
“What’s wrong?” She had managed to regain her vertical base, “You look pale…”
“Nothing… Nothing’s wrong…” he looked around once more, but still there was no trace of the floating stranger.
“Are you running from someone?” she looked over his shoulder, but saw nothing out of place.
“No…” Warren lied, “Just trying to get to school on time”
She knew that he wasn’t telling her everything, but figured that if he wanted to tell her, he would have. “Let’s get inside” she added, dusting the back of his shirt.
The day seemed to go quite smoothly… it was already the second last lesson and Warren had already spoken to Kimberley and avoided Seth and Victor the entire day. But rumours about Faith’s death had filled the entire school. Teachers have been quiet about the incident, but every student was talking about it. Some even say that the damages to the SUV is a sign that she was killed by a mythical monster… some were even blaming Seth for killing her.
Suddenly a beep from the intercom speaker chilled the air. “Can Warren Milito please report to the principal’s office… Warren Milito please report to the principal’s office”
Warren felt star struck as every eye in the room turned to him. Even his best friend stared at him in confusion.
Warren reached the secretary to the principal, only to see Victor being escorted out by the principal, who then held the door open for him to enter. He looked back as he squeezed past the principal, only to see Victor staring at him with concern.
The principal closed the door, but Warren froze when he saw a police officer sitting on the large desk that stood to the right of the room. Behind the desk stood a second, larger officer, with his arms folded
“Please take a seat” said the first officer, “I’m officer Carlton and the muscle back there is Officer Harold. We just want to ask you some questions regarding your colleague, Faith”
“Yes…” was all that Warren could muster through his nervousness while he slumped into the seat in front of the officer.
“So, how are you doing today?” Officer Carlton said insincerely.
“Not bad… the usual”
“You seem to struggle in just about every classroom, except biology”
“Yeah” Warren trembled, “It’s the only subject that I feel comfortable in”
“Then you should understand what I have to say” Officer Carlton picked a file and flipped open to the centre, “It says here that Faith had a raptured stomach as if a blade had been driven through it”
He looked up at Warren from behind the file, “But here is the amazing part… not a single exterior wound. Not a puncture, not a scratch… not even a sign of stitching or repair”
“How…?” Warren was starting to feel uneasy.
“That’s what we are uncertain about and would like to know”
“I would have no idea how to even go about doing something like”
“We believe you, but we were told that you were one of the last people to speak to Faith yesterday”
“Yes… he was helping us with a book report” Warren lied, trying his best not to seem too nervous, but his nails were starting to dig into the wood of the armrests. He locked eyes with the officer for a little while, neither one willing to back down.
“Okay Warren…” the officer finally said, “That’s everything that I wanted to ask you”
Warren managed to stand up when the officer suddenly said, causing Warren to turn back to him, “Hey Warren… there are two types of people in this world, those that are innocent and those that are lying. I believe you are innocent… keep your nose clean”
Warren walked out of the office, keeping his head as low as possible… hoping that none of the other students see him.
Though the hallways were empty, and all the kids remained in their classes, he could feel them staring out their windows when he would walk past.
Suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder and swung him around. Before he knew what was happening, he was lifted off of the ground and slammed against the wall.
“Victor…” was all that Warren could muster amongst the groans.
“What did you tell them?” Victor said quickly, “… tell me”
“Nothing…” Warren grunted
The anger in Victor’s that was written on his face subsided as he slowly let Warren’s feet touch the ground again.
“What did you see…?” Victor’s voice was now much calmer.
Warren looked down the hallway to ensure that nobody else was around to hear him “The same thing you did” he didn’t want to reveal too much about what he saw to avoid possibly being labelled as crazy.
“A man… with white hair… on a horse… and… and… Faith”
Warren looked away from Victor. He couldn’t bare the thought of confirming the events of the day before, when suddenly the whispers from before filled his head once more. He quickly looked back at Victor, whose face admitted to hearing the voices without saying a word.
‘Hey… you two… over here… this way…’
The amount of voices that rang made it sound like it had an echo, as the voices overlapped one another.
Warren slowly made his way down the hallway, followed closely by Victor. They remained close to the wall as they approached the corner. Warren glanced around the corner, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“What do you see?” Victor whispered, tapping Warren on the arm.
‘Over here’
They both looked around, realising that they were looking down the wrong way. A blackened figure, standing over 6 feet tall, rushed at them, phasing right through Warren and into the wall.
They immediately turned and ran down the hall, uncertain about whether or not they were being followed. They quickly turned around the corner and startled when they saw someone just standing there.
“Seth…?” Victor added, panting slightly.
“We were being chased by something…” Warren concluded, also trying to breath as he pointed back.
Warren and Victor slowly peeped around the corner to see if anything was following them when suddenly a hand landed on each of their shoulders. When the hand jerked to turn them around, they were no longer in the school hallway. They were standing at the entrance of a cavern, with waves of water reaching the back of their heels, soaking the bottoms of their pants.
CHAPTER 5 - FATED
Before them was Seth with his back to them, simply staring down the dark cavern before him as if he didn’t know they were there. Seth began walking down the hallway that was split by a miniature river that had cut into the stone floor. With the option of retreating out of the question, Victor began following after Seth despite concerned frowns from Warren. Knowing that the other option was waiting here at the mouth of the cave, hoping that the tide doesn’t rise, Warren followed suit, stepping carefully on the very uneven ground. Warren quickly glanced back as the waves crashed into the rocks that surrounded the cave, gently spraying them with mists of water.
With the walls glistening with moisture, the rugged cave floor threatened to trip them with every step supplemented by the thick darkness that stretched out from the depths of the cave, Warren felt anxious about their destination, silently praying that it wouldn’t be a cannibalistic tribe. He looked back once more, watching the light get smaller… the further that they went into the tunnels.
They reached a sma
ll lake that had formed in a large opening, as they seemed to walk around. At the other side of the lake was two large doors that seemed to be in pristine condition, as if it were just built.
Seth placed a palm on the door and it slowly began rumbling open, much to the surprise of the other two.
They followed him through the now open doors and into the large room that was illuminated by bright blue flames that lined the walls. Oddly enough, the flames did not seem to be attached to anything.
The strong salty scent that dominated the air completely vanished. The walls and floor was now a smooth solid marble surface that reflected everything.
Seth stopped in the centre of the room. Victor and Warren stopped behind him, trying to figure out what they were waiting for.
The New Horsemen Page 3
