Chapter 24 An Endless Nightmare

"Damn it… Darke, what're you up to…" I whispered through my teeth, then turned to Jonathan who had finally regained consciousness. I noticed Iris had been gaping at him constantly with unblinking eyes.

"How did all this happen in just a few hours?" I asked.

"We don't know…" he was saying, holding his bandaged head in one hand. "All of a sudden the sky just went black. Then shadows attacked, falling from the sky like raindrops."

"Where was I when all this was happening?" I thought out loud, bewildered.

"Exactly," Jonathan looked me in the eye, "Where were you? The shift hadn't ended and you were nowhere to be found. I know because I sent out multiples of me just to look for you."

"Is that how you…" I looked him over, eying his wounds and he nodded.

"We're under strict orders to stay indoors at all times. Many who tried… the miasma was too much…" He trailed off, shaking his head to rid himself of the image.

"The shadow realm," Iris commented, "We're in it."

It was like she took the words right out of my mouth. My wings appeared, folded behind my back as I started towards the door.

"Where are you going? You'll die out there! Did you not hear me?" Jonathan was yelling at me from behind.

"Iris," I said, turning around to see she was already on her feet, ready to help out anyway she could. "I need you to watch over the house. Keep him safe while I'm gone. I'm counting on you."

She quickly nodded like a soldier on duty.

"He's not listening to me… he never listens…" Jonathan was mumbling.

I turned back towards the door, taking long strides to cover the distance. There was no time to think. My mind was already bursting with images of people I knew lying somewhere hurt and alone. I exhaled in anger, at myself mostly for sleeping through the entire thing.

I gripped the doorknob with tight, trembling fingers. Had I been there, perhaps none of this would have happened. The trembling circulated in my entire body, as if something was boiling inside like lava, itching to come out.

As I left, the door closed behind me with a click. I stared ahead at the darkened passageway of the building. Only my eyes could detect them hiding in the corners.

"So this is where you all went… I knew there were fewer shadows in the shadow realm… Never would've thought you'd come here…"

A feeble wind circulated my body as a long, dark scythe appeared in my hand. The blade was angled forward, aimed at the creatures. I noticed how they no longer cowered in my presence. They just stood frozen, watching me intently from the corners of the walls.

"Have you forgotten who I am…? What I can do…"

With a force so powerful that it materialized a black wind around it, I swung my scythe at them. Almost suddenly, they hissed back, lunging in to attack me all at once from all sides. My blade rotated and swiped the air, making contact with each of them. It threw them further back with enough force that they melted into the shadows.

I wasn't sure how, but a single Catter escaped my attack, lunging in from the back, aiming its sharp teeth directly at the nape of my neck. I felt its claws grip my shoulders from behind right before a pair of sharp needles pinched my skin.

A shadowy black layer overlapped my body, sucking the Catter into it like a black hole. It screeched as it fell, face forward into the nape of my neck, my body gulping it down like food till he disappeared entirely. A sudden jerk made me falter as I felt an excess of energy trickle through.

I raised my hand in front of me, feeling a tight pressure under my skin. It was like something traveled underneath. I opened my fist to let it out, almost startled to actually see a lump of shadow escape my hand. It was taller than the regular Catters as it swiftly landed on its two paws. Its arms were skinnier but the claws extended longer than usual. As it looked up at me, I noticed his eyes were a luminous blue.

"Are you… one of mine?" I wondered out loud.

Its cat-like ears perked up at the sound of screeching in the distance. I raced towards the end of the passageway where more awaited me, staring down at me as if undermining my presence. I positioned my scythe, feet planted firmly before kicking off into the air. The creatures screamed in my face before being sliced to bits with my blade.

As I landed in a crouch, I noticed more on the way, sprinting towards me from the other end of the passage. To my surprise, the blue eyed Catter screamed back, dashing off towards them with its claws outstretched. I watched as it sliced through them at a rapid pace, like a cat, ripping them apart. Some got a few hits in before melting into the shadows.

The blue-eyed Catter then limped towards me and stopped at my feet. It looked up with innocent eyes, expecting me to yell out a command for him to follow.

"So that's how it is…" I wondered aloud, waving a hand over its head. Energy trickled out of me, transferring into the shadow, fixing up the limp he had. "I need you to find someone for me… you already know where to go. Protect her."

Without so much as even a whisper of objection, the Catter lunged towards the nearest wall, disappearing as he passed through. I waited till he was gone, then slipped into the shadows myself.

.

"Ricky, hang on. Where are the bandages?!" Cheryl yelled out, head stuck inside one of the kitchen cabinets.

"Not that one," Ricky managed the words while flinching in pain. He looked down the side of his waist where he had one hand cupped tightly to the wound. Blood endlessly escaped from the sides, trickling down his shirt, smearing all over his hands. The pounding wouldn't stop all over his body. His breath came in quick gasps as he looked back up at his sister frantically running about, gathering anything useful she could find.

"It's no use…" he whispered, vision blurring as he looked down once more. "At this rate…" he stopped to breathe, gasping hard all the while holding back the constant nausea. With shaky hands, he uncovered the wound, feeling streams of pain pulling at his nerves. Veins popped out the upper side of his hand under the pressure.

A faint spark trickled down from his fingers. His body shivered as it wrapped its cold touch around the wound like a cobweb. He inhaled heavily, holding his breath as he did to keep himself from screaming.

The web of sparks began to glow as electricity surged through, rising in temperature.

"Found it!" Cheryl said, grabbing the bandages from inside a drawer next to the sink. She turned around, arms loaded with medical supplies as she made her way back into the lounge where Ricky sat, trembling on the couch. A gasp escaped her lips the minute her eyes found him, almost dropping the supplies.

"What are you doing?!" she screamed.

Beads of sweat traced down the side of his forehead while he mustered his courage. His flesh burned up as if on fire. He grinded his teeth, letting out an inside scream, feeling his entire body ablaze.

"Stop it! You'll kill yourself!" Cheryl was saying, but her voice was muffled over the pounding in his ears. The sparks glowed even brighter, evaporating all the blood around the wound. A slight stream of smoke emerged from it, fading into the air.

"It's done…" Ricky breathed out heavily, letting his body sink further into the couch. He let his arm limply fall to the side, gulping down the nausea once more.

"The bleeding stopped," Cheryl commented in amazement, quickly spraying alcohol onto the wound, dabbing it with a clean cloth. She looked up, worried about it hurting but Ricky was already out. She tore off a huge chunk of white bandage and began to neatly wrap it around his waist. "I was wrong about you…" she murmured. "I didn't know you would just throw yourself like that to protect me…"

A tear dripped onto her hand. She quickly wiped her face with her sleeve.

"I'm sorry I called you weak before…" she whispered, knowing he couldn't hear her. She quickly tied a knot at the end of the bandage, breathing out in relief.

Her relief was cut short, however, by the sound of whistling outside. She glanced up at the glass window behind him, ears perked up and alert for any movements. Very carefully, she inched towards it, hands balled to electric fists. Sparks dispersed from her body. Her eyes wandered to the floor where a shadow gradually extended from the foot of the window.

"Not again…" she gasped, watching in horror as the shadows emerged from the ground up, taking the form of unnamed creatures. Claws extended from all around their multiple, disfigured limbs. Lemon yellow eyes glowered at her from a distance.

Cheryl winced as she took a step back.

"There's no end to you guys…" she whispered, feeling a racing heart beat loudly inside her chest. She peered at the utter darkness outside through the window. A storm of electricity kicked up around her, sparks flying everywhere. The creatures screeched loudly before tackling her, wrapping their several limbs around her.

"Ugh!" she groaned as the sparks escaped, traveling up their bodies. She could feel their claws digging into her flesh. More electricity zapped through. Their bodies shook ferociously, followed by cracks as bits and pieces burned off. It was enough for her to shrug them off of her, cringing as she backed away further into the lounge. The disfigured bodies lay on the clean carpet, melting into it, leaving a black stain behind.

Just when she thought it was finally over, another group of creatures slid in from the side windows, shadows extending all the way towards her feet. Riled up with electricity, she stomped on the ground with her feet, in an attempt to subdue them before they took form. She heard tiny squeals from underneath, right before her foot sank into the darkened floor. Color drained from her face. She tumbled, gasping as she quickly grabbed onto the arm of the couch to pull herself up. Darkness began to crawl up her leg, submerging it in shadows. Her heart hammered inside her chest. She sparked the shadow continuously to no avail.

"Get off… get off, get off…" she cried out in a panic.

From the corner of her eye she could see something slither past. She jerked her head sideways just in time to see it slash its way across the shadows. Cheryl blinked, wide eyed and breathless. The thing stared back at her with luminous blue pearls for eyes. Almost immediately, the shadows withered as they retreated, disappearing into the carpet.

She sank to the floor, gasping, one hand still clutching the arm of the couch.

"Cheryl?" her ears picked up Ricky's voice from behind. "Hey, are you okay?" he was saying. He groaned as he pulled himself up, just noticing the single Catter watching them with oddly colored eyes.

"I'll take care of this," he said in a breathy manner, just before his knees gave way and he stumbled to a crouch. Pain shot up his waist and he clutched his knees, digging his nails into them just to bear it.

"Wait, this one's different," Cheryl told him as he sat down on the floor beside her.