Chapter 11 The Shock

"Are you sure it's this way?" Edward asked, looking at the map of the town that displayed on his GPS screen.

"Yes." Iris spoke confidently.

They were driving through the streets of the town in the dead of night. The roads were vacant, street lamps illuminated their path. A couple of factories passed by at first, built on deserted land, guarded by barbed wires. After a few minutes, the residential houses appeared, aligned neatly in a straight line along the road.The more they drove through, street by street, the better Iris was able to sense the shard.

"So, why did you run away from home?" Edward asked, eyes on the road, navigating through the streets as per Iris's vague directions.

"That way," she pointed towards a turning to the right.

She watched as the slanted rooftop houses passed by quickly. She remembered living in a house like that.

Memories flashed by just as quickly as the houses. She was small once again. A five year old, to be precise. It was when her parents had refused to take her to the park that she had unleashed her first tantrum. Everything in the room shattered, even the lights.

Shocked and terrified of the power, her parents started calling people. Was it an exorcist? It was a word she heard her mother use on the phone. Some people visited just to see her. There was even a doctor at some point. No one was able to give any explanation as to what was wrong with her. A few months later, She came to visit, having heard about Iris's strange abilities. The tall lady promised to help, telling Iris and her parents that they would be able to meet whenever they wished.

Iris saw her take out a thin, long book and sign it. She knew her numbers by then. She remembered seeing a lot of Zeros with a One in the beginning. She knew now that she had been sold to a tall, wicked stranger who would always force her to use her powers for the lady's own purposes. A lot of times, it was to scare people into signing contracts with her. She would make Iris sit with her, like a weapon pointed at anyone who disobeyed her.

She had this aura, like a hidden power inside her. She could control the light inside people, making it follow her. Sometimes, Iris would fall prey to it and end up doing exactly as the lady would order. Once fallen into that trance, she would struggle to get out. It would take a few minutes but that was all the lady needed.

She kept Iris in a prison cell most of the time as Iris had learned how to resist that manipulative gaze. She began to avoid eye contact. Still, the lady would get inside her head somehow. Throughout the years, she had never been allowed to meet with anyone from the outside world. Even her parents never showed up, for some reason.

Iris had begun to lose hope. She was never told of others like her in that facility but she could feel their strong vibes. Only she had the power to sense. She had always known she wasn't the only one. Soon, as she grew up, began to understand things more, she started detesting the place. She couldn't count the number of times she tried to escape but failed.

Then one day, tired of the constant struggle to get Iris to do what she wanted, they asked a shadow for help. She couldn't remember much after that. By the time she came to her senses, she had already escaped into the woods.

This was the first time she had come so far out of that small room, and she wasn't willing to go back now.

"I said right," she spoke again.

"Yeah, I turned right…" Edward replied.

"No, but now it's to the left."

Edward sighed, turning left into the next street. "You only speak when you want to, huh…"

.

Cheryl stared back at me with unblinking eyes. Her face showed no emotion, nothing I could use to figure out what was wrong. Her body was stiffening under my gaze, hands slowly reaching up without a word. She wrapped her fingers around my wrists.

"Help… me…" I could've sworn that's what I heard her murmur to herself. She was no longer looking at me.

Before I knew it, my entire body was struck with an excruciating pain. Sparks crawled over my skin, burning it. I could feel them scratching all over, peeling away at the outer layer. As I trembled in agony, she held onto my wrists, calmly standing there with that blank expression. My head pounded all over. I gritted my teeth, trying to fight it off. I couldn't speak so I looked her in the eye, trying to communicate some sense into her. Those dark eyes had never been so eerie and void of emotion.

"Ch-e-rl… s-sto-p…"

My legs began to wobble, growing weaker by the second. It felt like the sparks were roasting my skin from inside. Every part of me was shaking badly, but all I could look at were those eyes. No matter how hard I tried to search for Cheryl inside them, I couldn't find her. It was like an invisible barrier. I couldn't feel her connection anymore.

"No…" I whispered in pain. My mind flashed back to the time at the restaurant. Ricky was teasing her about something. Then she looked at me and told me she trusted me. Those eyes had more life in them than anyone. It felt like a distant memory, burning, crumbling away.

'Why…'

I placed my hands on either side of her cold cheeks, moving in closer. I gently pressed my lips against hers. It was like a light peck of sunlight. My body had gone numb. With my eyes closed I could feel white, floating clouds around us. Our feet hovering above ground. It was like the sky bent down to reach us, with frosty winds and raindrops in the air. For that moment only, the memories remained intact.

For a second there, I felt her kiss back. I wasn't entirely sure because my lips, too, had gone numb. Something moist touched my cheek. Was she crying? I didn't know how long we'd been just standing there. An empty feeling took over me, followed by dread. I opened my eyes as I pulled back. Everything was white. Something sank inside me.

'Was this goodbye?'

The sparks seemed to have ceased. I blinked over and over again. I gripped her shoulders, trying to make sure she was still there. I couldn't see her. I couldn't see anything but white. My heartbeat doubled with the stirring panic.

"Don't… don't go," I pleaded in a voice that was on the verge of tears. My lips quivered with every word.

Very soon, the white turned to black. My hands went weak, losing their grip on her. I struggled to stay standing, but my feet weakly gave way. I wanted to see her one last time, her face. My arms flailed around in the emptiness that followed. All sounds drowned out as I struggled in vain. I could hear a single heartbeat echo around me.

Was she gone? Did she leave already? I was alone…

I lay there on the floor, unconscious for who knew how long.