The ship shook again. He heard the screeching of the ship breaking in half. He didn't go out there to check. No point. He didn't feel safe in the boat, but it was better than out there. Half of the group got in, including the big guy, but he's too terrified to worry about it. Isla popped in, then the boat hit the water, but they bobbed in the waves. No one was driving the thing. Penny didn't get on, the ship sunk, he felt guilty for thinking bad of her before. It wasn't her fault his guitar got broken. He doesn't want the last memory of her to be poison by his rage. She doesn't deserve that. Then she and Odessa dropped on top of the boat, he was elated she was okay, but didn't know if he deserved to feel that way now. Zoey and Caelea were okay. Everyone but Lilith was there, he noticed, but it was too late to go back for her. No. They had more important things to worry about. Like creature feature coming back with a vengeance.
The thing was just as terrifying as it was the other day. And was it bigger? He hoped not. He couldn't run away on a boat in the middle of the ocean. More opportunity to get him this time. Nope. Not happening.
"Someone get this boat started!" - Hagan
He didn't need to be told twice. Stacey couldn't do anything to fight it, but he could try harder to help this time around. He drove a boat once when he was ten. One of the few times his father made time for the family. He didn't remember everything, but it couldn't be that much different from driving a car. At least he hopes so. It didn't have pedals, the speeds were controlled by the gear shift. The key was already in the ignition, he turned it, the engine kicked up, then pushed the gear shift forward. The boat sped away. He gripped the steering wheel tight and aimed for the shore. The boat worked against the waves, the ride bumpy, but he kept control. He didn't know the first thing about docking a boat and hoped he didn't crash it against shore or get them killed.
Penny held her breath and closed her eyes as Odessa lowered them, only opening them again as her feet touched the top of the lifeboat. Her vision was slowly improving, but she still couldn’t make out the details of Odessa’s face. She plucked the marker from her mouth, brushed a strand of blonde hair from her face, and mouthed an I owe you to Odessa as the girl let her go. She followed after Odessa as Hagan, who was impossible to confuse for anyone else even with her poor eyesight, popped open the door for them. Her heart caught in her chest as he asked them about Caelea and Zoey. Weren’t they supposed to be with him? She was about to holler at him for leaving them behind when she heard a shout that was unmistakably Zoey.
“You two just saved Hagan’s life,” said Penny, lightly hitting the big guy’s arm with the back of her hand as she followed him to the controls. Technically, that would be again for Caelea. Penny looked down at the swirl of instruments, levers, and wheels and then shot Hagan a grimace. Maybe she would’ve been able to figure all that shit out if she could see straight, but in her current condition she’d likely end up leaving them all dead in the water. Penny sighed and fought the urge to ask Zoey for a cigarette, subconsciously chomping on her marker again like it was a tarry cigar. Surely one of the others was smart enough to figure it out.
Thinking of the others, Penny turned and did a quick headcount. Then she did it again. Something was off. Had she really hit her head that badly to forget the number of people that were on the cruise ship? She kept coming up with one extra person. No, two of those blurry outlines were different. Penny felt her stomach drop. Someone was missing. Her heart raced. Obviously, Odessa was there, as were her friends, Stacey and his guitar, and Isla and her yellow beanie, which would mean...
“Where’s Lilith!?”
She was about to run to the door when what sounded like a geyser erupting exploded over top of the groaning of the sinking ship. Water pelted down like heavy rain and pinged sharply on the roof above them as the lifeboat rose and dropped with the roll of a wave. Penny could only make out the haze of dark smoke but Zoey’s curse told her that it was the same Apparition from before. Son of a bitch, didn’t they already take care of that thing? Penny followed after Hagan, readying some coins in her hand. She stomped it before, she’d stomp it again. Penny tossed the handful up as she prepared to let loose a salvo on the Apparition.
Instead, she felt her head nearly split in two as the coins clanged harmlessly against the flooring of the lifeboat. The marker followed after, dropping from her mouth as she let out a yelp. A sharp pain had shot through her eyes. It was as if they had just been driven through by railroad spikes. Penny grabbed her head as her vision swam and went black. She slammed her eyes shut and grimaced. She only kept herself standing by grabbing Hagan’s arm with her other hand and sharply digging in with her fingers. It probably hurt like hell, but she didn’t let go. If she let go she knew she feared that she would faint.
Slowly, Penny drew in a sharp intake of air and steeled herself as the lifeboat’s engine kicked alive and began racing away from the Apparition. At least that was what she was hoping it was doing. That bastard was fast. Penny let go of Hagan’s arm and drew her hand away from her face, trying to wipe the tears from pain away with discretion. She took a step to the side to clear the doorway and steadied herself against some kind of wall harness. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder to make sure that the group was okay. The color drained from Penny’s face as she quickly turned back towards the wall, snapped her eyes closed, and pressed her burning forehead to the cold metal.
“Hagan, that thing’s nothing. It can only move in straight lines. When it charges, yell at them to juke the wheel and we’ll dodge it,” said Penny, lifting her head from the wall. She didn’t want him to worry so she spoke with a measured calmness, forced a smile, and attempted to make eye contact. She hoped she succeeded, but there was no way she could tell. The world around her was a shattered kaleidoscope.
Finn was finally able to get a few, deep, breaths in as the boat hit the water. There was no time for a panic attack, they weren't out of the woods yet.
The stragglers made their way to the lifeboat in a variety of creative ways. A woman in a robe, with vines sprouting from her arms, as well as a tall blonde woman. Riding on a chunk of ice came Caelea, and given process of elimination the girl with the blue in her hair must be Zoey. Finley found themself relaxing slightly, despite all the strangers. Many of them seemed to know each other, and the lack of panic made it seem like everyone was accounted for. All they had to do now was get to shore, but how hard could that be? Finley hadn't spotted this boats oars yet, but was sure that they were just stashed under the seats or something.
“Where’s Lilith!?”
Oh...maybe someone was missing. Finn picked anxiously at their fingernails. For a moment they felt...guilty? That themself and their friend were able to escape the sinking ship with only...minor issues. Well...the minor issues were about to become a bit more major.
But Finley's attention was quickly pulled to the sinking of the ship they had just been on, as well as the horrifying creature that emerged from the wreck. Their eyes widened, unable to look away from the smokey creature. Their jaw clenched, muscles locking up in fear. Finley felt their blood run cold, well...colder than normal.
"... Not this fucking thing again,"
Again? Again? She had seen this monstrosity before?
The boy with the guitar suddenly leapt up, rushing towards the front of the boat. Moments later the boat's engine roared to life, and the boat was gaining speed.
All of this was a little too much for Finn to handle. So, almost instinctually, they flickered and vanished from view. Well...not completely. People within arms reach of Finn could see a slight ripple in the air, but they were pretty hard to spot.
Finley looked in the direction of Trent, or at least his slightly blurry outline, and after a moment, spoke.
Caelea was honestly surprised that they didn’t drown. She was even more surprised when Zoey shouted out - loud enough to cause her to wince (though mostly from her pounding headache). She finally forced herself up from her lying position and saw the lifeboat. Shit. It had actually worked?
Everything fucking hurt as she got onto her feet and onto the boat, head swimming from the sudden standing. She managed to keep her balance… just about. As soon as she was inside she placed a hand on the wall to steady herself. Slowly, but surely, the world stopped spinning around her. She could think with a bit more clarity, or at least fight through the pain now that she was off the floating ice block and on the lifeboat.
"To be fair to Hagan, I'm the one who left him to get Zoey," Caelea admitted with a good natured shrug, even as her mouth was a firm line and her face screwed up with pain. Honestly, Penny looked in a much worse shape than her. At least they were all here. She glanced at Trent and Finley. They looked alive, which was all she'd wanted when she'd asked Hagan to protect them. "And technically he did his job, since all the kids are still alive."
She was gonna go on to slap Hagan on the back and say good job or some shit, but as her hand raised to the air so did something from the sea. But of course, it wasn’t over yet. Because nothing was easy.
Caelea rubbed her head as she just stared at it… partly in shock, but partly not. No matter how many times she saw things like this, which wasn’t often after the Glutton, it didn’t stop being… horrifying. Especially not when it was something that could destroy a boat nevermind them. Caelea gritted her teeth. Most of them were already injured and there was no way to fight a large, shadowy floating monster while on the sea. Isla barely even reacted as she turned to look at it, blinking as her brain didn’t quite register what it saw. It didn’t help that she was still reeling from all the teleportation.
Hagan asked for someone to drive. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he ran to the door, frowning as she tried to figure out something to help. And came up blank. She had no idea what he was planning to do but she just hoped it would help… without losing anyone (him included). Penny pretty quickly followed him, so that was a relief.
Caelea was about to comment on her inability to drive when, to her surprise, Stacey jumped up to the driver’s seat. And he could drive it… Well at least it was moving. Caelea instantly grabbed hold of the nearest chair to stabilise herself as nausea stabbed through her again. Of course she didn’t do well on smaller, fast moving boats because why would anything go right today. Of course she got sea sick. She took deep, gasping breaths and swallowed down the urge to vomit. Not here, not now. She was thankful that she hadn’t eaten anything that day.
“We need to get ready to get off as soon as we get to shore, I have a feeling this thing isn’t going to leave us alone even when we hit land,” Caelea commented, turning to the others even as her voice was strained. One of the kids, Finley she thinks, looked pretty shaken by the creature's appearance. She had to remind herself that this wasn’t normal for people to be used to. “I’m going to help by the door.”
She glanced over to where Penny was… clearly struggling. There was no way she could hold at the door and Cael didn't want to leave Hagan there alone. She didn't even know if she could help. She lowered her voice, speaking specifically to Zoey as she watched Penny out of the corner of her eye. "I don’t think Penny is in a good state… I dunno the first thing about health and shit, but she might need help getting off when we get to shore..."
She shook her head slightly, unsure what more to say than that. Instead she just moved over to the door, glancing over at where Penny was standing right against the wall. Yeah, definitely not in a good condition. Still she didn't comment on it because she knew how she'd react to having a weakness pointed out - even if it was an injury. Especially if it was an injury. Instead, she just said, "I'll try to blast it away or damage it if it gets too close."
She gave Penny a nod, stepping into her previous spot at the door - slightly behind Hagan. She still felt nausea in the pits of her stomach but she could ignore it for now. She concentrated on watching the apparition and being ready to help if necessary.
"...uh, run?" Trent replied. He looked out the back window of the lifeboat at the apparition standing above the water. The spirits Trent had dealt with before, the ones that lurked from the graveyard, had never been this large or menacing, only person-sized at biggest. This thing was massive, and Trent had no idea if he could even harm it. He looked down at his left arm where he'd drawn the blood for his abstraction; several penny-sized welts had formed, but it wasn't anything life-threatening. He could use the power again.
"<Don't get too cocky, kid,>" Saint Jimmy said. "<We have a long way to go.>"
"Fair," Trent whispered, trying not to draw any attention to himself. He looked back towards the interior of the lifeboat. It was crowded now, with a multitude of people, not much older than Finn and he, all spread about the cabin. One of them, a black woman wearing a green robe, gave him definite apparitional vibes.
"<Is there an adult on this goddamn field trip?>" Saint Jimmy grumbled. Trent shared the sentiment. He turned back towards the monster, watching it intently in case it got too close. If it did, well, Trent wasn't sure what he'd do.
Not only was Lilith unable to deal with the apparition, the same one that tried to attack Stacey before, but it was already chasing the others to land. She rushed to catch up to them, trying to think of another plan. Something had to be drawing it to them, but what, she wondered. Could there be other apparitions that can help them? She hoped so. Her notes were probably destroyed once she hit the water, so she'd have to remake them when they were safe.
God, what a shitty day.
Reaching closer to the boat, Lilith transfered the effects of her abstraction off the thing she grabbed; looked like one of those spears fishermen used, and applied it to the lifeboat. Then she attempted to climb on from the side.
“Hagan, that thing’s nothing. It can only move in straight lines. When it charges, yell at them to juke the wheel and we’ll dodge it,”
"... Why does it sound like you're making this sound easier than what it is?" Hagan groaned.
The boat started moving right after Hagan made that call, however, he was still where he was. He grabbed onto the side... the only problem was that they were trying to get away on a lifeboat. "Twenty-five knots my ass..." Hagan hissed to himself as the thing just... stood there, floating. The thing was nothing like anything Hagan has seen - and he's seen some shit. He grits his teeth as they were seemingly getting away but Hagan knew, just knew, that this shit wasn't going to be that easy.
"If this she ain't on the lifeboat then she's probably sinking..." Hagan was about to reply to Penny but he saw the chick grabbing onto the boat. "What the fuck?" How in the fuck did she catch up, then he remembered he was probably surrounded by the freakiest bunch of freaks to ever freak. He bared his teeth yet again as he had to help her. It wasn't an easy decision - a quick one, yes - but he knew he had to use his abstraction.
"... Barrier," Hagan muttered to himself as he stuck his hand out and a thorny tendril came out of his hand. It was transparent, but gleamed an orange color... that would look very familiar to certain members of the group. It stuck itself out in front of Lilith as Hagan shouted, "Grab-"
The Apparition disappeared, Hagan saw it at the corner of his eye... and that was the only indication that it charging them at speeds that were blinding. Then it happened, hit them before they could even notice and the waves were disturbed right after. One second Hagan was using his abstraction to save Lilith and the next he was soaring through the air. Her ears were ringing as the crash was absolutely deafening. The boat was shattered to pieces and he wasn't sure if anyone else survived that... because Hagan was certain he just barely survived it. He hit the water and it felt like he was hitting concrete. He wasn't sure about the others... but he was sinking.
Everything was falling apart.
After everything they did... they died like dogs to this apparition. He tried to activate his abstraction but everything was going dark... it wasn't long before he fell into the watery abyss to meet his end again. The same with everyone else but Hagan accepted his death.
However, as they fell, they heard a voice... it was an ethereal voice of a little girl? Was it the Child?
"... Hello?"
"Hello!"
"Can you hear me?"
"Answer me please."
"I am begging you..."
"I'm..."
"...Sorry."
"So sorry any of this happened."
"I didn't mean for this to happen..."
"I just wanted a place where everyone can be happy."
"I just..."
"... Didn't want to be lonely anymore! Okay!?"
Hagan came to. When he opened his eyes... his eyes were assaulted by the glaring sunlight as his ears were filled with a sound that he could not mistake even if he tried. There was the chatter of dozens upon dozens of children chattering. There was the sound of them running around, basketballs hitting the ground... He was forced to push himself up to his feet as he looked around at what was going on. And it was exactly what he sounded like: children were playing around them. They were playing soccer, baseball, basketball, running around with toys, chasing each other, play fighting... you name it. It was a child's paradise, it looked like.
Well, Hagan wasn't buying it. As he looked around the street that was full of life, he saw stores and other stuff... but what caught his eye was PARADISE BANK. Hagan got up to his feet as he stood in the crowd and the spit. Paradise, someplace this is... still, this place seemed like a paradise for kids than the hellscape it seemed to be. Though, Hagan noticed that a kid ran right through him and he raised an eyebrow. He saw some kids playing with nerf guns as he asked as he stuck his arm out.
"Hey kid-" And his hand went through the kid. Hagan looked at his hand in confusion as he quickly realized the only reason why this was happening was that he was in some kinda fucked up Recollection. He sighed.
"... Hagan!" He heard a voice that was unmistakably Zoey Cassandra Gray... he turned around and saw the tall ass chick with blue streaks in her hair waving him down. She just casually walked through several kids as she made her way over to him. She laughed out of relief with a smile that even Hagan could tell was forced. "... Good thing you stand out in a crowd."
"... What the fuck is going on?" Hagan just had to cut to the chase.
And that was when the smile flipped upside down as Zoey's composure broke. Tears began to run down her face. "... I don't know anymore."
Odessa was somewhere in the children playing as she looked around. A child ran through her so she realized that this wasn't real... but is anything real anymore. Paradise... this place was going to be their grave. What was that message... and who was saying it. However, she sensed some Extra-Normal beings around and looked over her shoulder and saw Hagan's giant self. She just sighed as she casually put her hands together as she waded through the crowds slowly as possible. Keeping her third eye open.
Lilith wore a "don't even ask" expression in response to Hagan noticing her, but thank god someone was there to help. She looked over to the apparition in disgust, then flinched when a thorn-ridden vine(??) dropped in front of her. Disregarding how painful it looked, the delinquent reached out to it.
Only for the vine to slip out of her grasp. Somehow, the apparition had managed to break apart their only means of escape in light speed, even with Lilith's abstraction applied to it. She found herself hitting the water again, with just a quick breath of air in her lungs. Clutching her throat, she could see the others sinking into the depths below her.
She had to help them, they can't die there!
But as Lilith reached out to them, death seemed inevitable. She could reform late on again, but what about the others? There was nothing she could do.
I'm sorry...
She thought, before succumbing to her fate.
...
A voice. There was a voice she heard, a little girl. She seemed to be the creator of, what was the place called, Paradise? Where was she anyways? Lilith felt sad for her, but she couldn't reach out to the kid, could she? How long was she out?
Once Lilith regained consciousness, she looked around to see children playing up and down the street. Weird, was this the same place they were in? The delinquent reached out to one of the kids near her, her hand phasing through the ghostly figure. Okay, they're not real. Now where is everybody? She knew they were still alive somewhere. And where was that kid she heard?
She stood up, shivering when the cold from the water finally hit her, and hurried over to the nearest extra-normals.
Finley listened silently to the others on the boat. One of them, the tall blonde, seemed quite confident in how to defeat this creature. And with the ship moving towards the coast, things seemed to be just fine.
And then things were very not fine.
With their poor eyesight Finley didn't even see the monster move before suddenly the ship was being blown to bits. Finley soared through the air a moment, reeling from the crashing sound, before slamming into the ocean. In a way, this was almost funny. Not ten minutes ago they were clinging to a railing, terrified about drowning. They had even tried to convince themself that drowning wouldn't be that bad.
But they were right about one thing, this body did not know how to swim. Legs kicking furiously through the water, hands desperately chopping through the rough waters. But no amount of flailing helped. They only got a small gasp of air, half of which was salt water, before the waves crashed over their head.
Finn's eyes were burning as they slowly sunk, knowing the vague dark shapes in the water were the others who had tried to escape.
They finally exhaled, their last breath bubbling out of their mouth.
What was left of their consciousness heard the voice of a child. If they had any air left they might have laughed, hearing the voice of a child as they died would be a first.
And then Finley woke up.
They awoke with a groan. Their muscles hurt, and their stomach ached terribly, probably from swallowing sea water. Finn frowned. Their mouth tasted like salt.
Now...where were they? Finley sat up slowly, their head still aching. A city of some sort, not one they recognized. But what was more concerning was the gaggle of children. Finley felt a shiver run up their spine, but it was difficult to tell if this was from their dunk in the ocean or the creepy children.
Time to find their friend.
Finley focused a moment. Yes. They could feel where Trent was. For a moment they were thankful that he was a beacon. They slowly stood up, wobbling slightly as they found their land-legs. After taking a moment to point themself in Trent's direction, as well as take a few shaky breaths, Finley activated their abstraction and vanished from sight.
Feeling more comfortable once they were invisible, Finley began to make their way to Trent, the tall grass they were in parting around them.
Eventually they spotted Trent, laying facedown in the dirt. Finley ceased their abstraction, becoming visible again, as they kneeled next to Trent, jostling him slightly.
Caelea’s eyes widened as some girl she’d never seen before, probably that Lilith person Penny was worried they’d left behind, somehow caught up and grabbed onto the boat. What the hell. She’d seen some crazy shit and really shouldn’t be shocked but… she was. There was nothing she could do to help her, but it seemed that Hagan could.
Then a tendril came out of his hand in an eerie orange colour that had her automatically flinching and stepping back. She tried to force the sudden flood of memories back even as panic jolted through her body. It was far too familiar to… No. This was Hagan, not that. She’d just have to ask him about it-
There was no time to think about it as the apparition moved at a speed she couldn’t even see. One minute she was staring at that orange in shock, the next she was flying through the air and hit the water with a shocked scream. Her vision blacked out momentarily as her head hit the water, harder than she’d hit the ice platform earlier. As it came back she was already sinking even as she struggled against the freezing water. Her arms and legs thrashed as she gasped for air only to find her mouth filled with water.
She knew she should’ve learned to swim.
As her vision began to disappear a voice sounded in her ears… One slightly familiar, yet not.
Caelea woke up with a gasp, sitting bolt upright. Her eyes slammed shut instantly as the sunlight blinded them. Her first thought was that she had to get out of the sun before she turned red. She rubbed her still aching head as her brain began to catch up with what was going on.
All she could hear was the sounds of children. As if she hadn’t already had a bad enough day. She finally opened her eyes and squinted against the bright light, lips curling up in disgust. These were actual children, not slightly younger teenagers that she could just about put up with. She hated children. Especially when there were this many. She really had to get away from this.
Annoyance shot through Caelea as she stood up, temper short from everything that had happened. A kid threw a baseball directly at her and her hands shot up to catch it… only for the ball to go right through her. What? She gritted her teeth as she approached the kid that had thrown it and straight up kicked him. Her foot went right through the smug bastard, which only led her to be more frustrated - if not surprised.
So not only was she surrounded by screaming children but she couldn’t kick them into shutting up? Worst day ever.
Caelea clenched her fists as she tried to breath through the seething anger that she was beginning to feel. All she wanted to do was kick something, anything, but was there anything solid in here? She doubted it. It felt just like the recollections they’d had before… where nothing was quite real. She took another deep breath as she glanced around to make sure there was no one nearby. She could see Hagan a bit off - his height meant he was far too easy to spot. But no one was nearby.
Having determined there was no one to see her nearby and laugh, Caelea bet forward so her hands touched the floor. Then she flipped herself up into a handstand, holding it for a few moments before flipping so her feet were also on the ground. Then she stood up properly, feeling slighter calmer than before. Nothing like some gymnastics to force her out of her anger (though rational for once).
Then she began to make her way towards Hagan through the swarms of children, trying her best to ignore all of them. By the time she reached him, Zoey already had to. "Well it's nice to see you two again, I have to say-" She was about to complain about how shit this place was but her gaze flickered to Zoey, noticing the tears. Fuck, she was crying. Caelea closed her mouth again. She had no idea what to say when someone was crying.
“Well, uh, that this is pretty shit,” the short girl continued “But at least we’re still alive? Probably.”
Really she wanted to ask Hagan about his abstraction but now wasn't the time.
One minute she was drowning, the next she woke up lying on her back in the dirt. Isla jolted up, spluttering up water that was no longer in her lungs. The sounds of children running around her was familiar as if she was experiencing a memory of her own - only there wasn’t sun like this in Scotland. Slowly she sat up, hand reaching to her head to ensure her beanie was still there. She let out a relieved sigh as she felt the soft knit material beneath her fingers.
Thank god for that.
She let out a quiet yelp as one of the children playing ran right through her. What the fuck? This was not normal at all. She stood up with a frown. Her beanie glowed with purple sigils as she tried to stop the movement of one of the kids, only for it to fail. She shook her head. Yeah, this was fucking weird.
She looked around and spotted one of the people who had been on the lifeboat - who literally appeared out of thin air a little bit away from her. Huh, that was pretty cool! Ignoring the children and walking right through them, she approached the two.
“Is he alright?” Isla asked as she squatted down beside the younger boy who was literally facedown. That couldn’t be good for his breathing. She was tempted to poke him to check that he was alive. “Gotta say, breathing in dirt ain’t something I'd recommend.”
She then turned to Finley with a bright, far too cheerful smile for the situation. “I’m Isla, by the way. Pretty fun all this almost dyin' and waking up surrounded by ghost wean- children, aye?”
A crash, then silence. Trent felt himself weighless, his whole body vibrating from the force. It wasn't pain, just...numbness, that overcame him. The screams of the other passengers on the boat become overrun by a high ringing. Trent hit something hard back-first; what was left of his breath erupted out from his mouth with the impact. He thrashed about in the water, body still numb and shaking and uncontrolled. He heaved, and his lungs filled with water. The last thing he heard was
"<Fuck. Better luck next time, I guess.>"
"Hey...Hey Trent? You...okay?"
Trent coughed up seawater mixed with mucus. He felt wet mud beneath his head, and a cold breeze overtop. Grass tickled the back of his neck and forearms. He groaned, and the pain hit him: his head throbbed and his eyes ached like nothing he'd ever felt before. He opened them, partially-blinded by the sun. Strange silhouettes floated past his eyes; he though spirits at first, but they were just artifacts from the impact. Slowly, Trent struggled to his hands and knees, Finn's hand on his back. He coughed a few more times, then clutched his head with his hands: the light hurt so badly it brought tears to his eyes.
"<You survived? Damn, you're tougher than you look.>" Saint Jimmy's voice boomed through Trent's head, and he visibly flinched. Trent rolled over onto his side, still covering his face. He could hear...children? All around them came the noise: balls bouncing, feet crushing grass, jump ropes skipping against concrete. The noise...christ the noise all hurt so bad.
"... Why does it sound like you're making this sound easier than what it is?" said Hagan with a groan.
“Hagan, I make everything sound easy,” said Penny with a smirk. What, would he have rather heard that the thing after them would probably just one shot their lifeboat and if they didn’t die on impact then they would surely die from exposure before making it to shore? That probably the only person who would be quick enough on the draw to react to that thing charging currently only saw the world as an abstract swirl of lights? Sometimes it was better to be dishonest.
Penny closed her eyes as she tried to visualize the world through sound. She never had the chance to even try, because the very next second the Apparition bull rushed the lifeboat and utterly pulverised it. She threw her arms up to shield her head as she was knocked about by the boat being torn apart. The noise was horrendous and her stomach rose up to her throat. She opened her eyes to see swirls of gray and black in front of her. It was then that her stomach dropped and she swallowed her scream. If they were going to all die together, she wanted to at least go out with some bravado.
She heard a girl speak as she braced to hit the water.
The hit never came. Instead, Penny felt herself lying uncomfortably on some asphalt. Her blue eyes fluttered open and were immediately hit by the yellow sun. For a split second she was certain that her eyes were still broken before they adjusted to the glare. She let out a sigh of relief that got cut short as a basketball bounced overhead. Penny let out a startled bark as it phased through her face. She shot up to a sitting position as a kid ran through her body towards the hoop, a small pack of children following through her a moment later. Penny glanced around in wide-eyed confusion and then let out a nervous laugh. Either they weren’t real or she was a ghost, and if she was a ghost then her head wouldn’t still be ringing like it was. Fake kids it was then.
Could be worse.
Could be real kids.
Penny stood up slowly. Her whole body hurt with a kind of dull pain. She put her hands on the small of her back and stretched. Pops rang out from her body like an uzi, but Penny felt like it almost made her feel worse. She huffed and dusted her clothes off as she looked around to see signs for Paradise this and Paradise that. Her face wrinkled in disgust. The city had yet to live up to even a single iota of its name, but at least there was something in it keeping her alive. She played back the girl’s words in her head. Didn’t want to be lonely anymore? Wanted a place where everyone could be happy? Clearly they didn’t know people that well then.
Penny noticed the second yellow sun that dipped up and down on the horizon. It was Isla’s beanie. She locked the girl’s words in her memory, dipping around a group of kids playing soccer despite knowing that her presence wasn’t going to interrupt anything. She was with the two others who had been on the lifeboat. Penny recognized them by their clothes, and she was just within earshot to catch their names. Trent was the small, scrawny one who had been taking a dirt nap and Finn was the even smaller, even scrawnier one who had been poking at him.
“You and I have a different definitions of fun,” said Penny lightly as she neared the group. Although, Penny’s definition certainly wasn’t normal. She would’ve had a blast kicking that thing’s ass again.
Penny stopped a few paces from the strangers and folded her arms. Her eyebrow twitched as the boy, Trent, rolled onto his back and let out a choked cry about wanting to go home to the other boy(?) Finn. Penny pushed back the spontaneous annoyance. She couldn’t blame the kid. She wanted to go home, too. She took a few more steps towards them all and squatted down on her haunches next to Trent. She noted the sigil on his shoulder, but it was rougher than the other ones she had seen. Maybe it was just a shoddily done tattoo.
“Well, you ain’t getting home like that. Can you stand?” said Penny. She thought about giving him a hand. The quicker he was up, the quicker they could join the others. Now that Penny wasn’t around them she felt tense. For all Penny knew, she could be helping up the next Sharon. She hesitated at the thought, and then offered Trent her hand so she could pull him up. “C’mon dude, I gotcha.”
The shore was close, he had hope they were going to make it through, but the creature dashed all his hopes and dreams when it rammed the boat and destroyed it in a single hit. Stacey went head into the side window. The door that separated the controls from the rest of the group slammed closed, locking him inside, water rising. Pretty soon he wouldn't be able to breathe. He had to get out of there. He pushed at the window, but it wouldn't budge so he tried the door. It was locked. No. Not locked. Can't get locked inside a room with the lock on the same side as the door. It was jammed or held closed by the entity that wanted his body. Water rose up to his neck, he kept his head above water, breathing the only oxygen left. The Apparition swam in front of him under the water outside the boat. It swayed back and forth like it was taunting him. Fear gripped his heart, he couldn't breathe. It reached out a hand when water consumed him completely. He took his last breathe and held it, hands slapped over his mouth and nose to stop it from coming out. Its hand punched through the window and pulled out. He was swept away by the current and sunk head first.
Stacey didn't black out. He went from the ocean hunted by a mystical predator to landing on his feet in the middle of a town near an ice cream parlor with families and pets enjoying treats and people having friendly conversations with one another. It was picturesque, like A Sunday Afternoon. Perfect. Too perfect. No one acknowledged his presence, their eyes vapid, empty, hollow, creepy. His unease worsened by the minute, but it wasn't that bad compared to the creature. All he needed to know was if it was far from him and wouldn't show up for at least another day. He needed that much.
He looked around, trying to find someone familiar, but didn't see anyone near him. He's alone? Did everyone else die and he was the only one that made it out? Or did he die and this was hell? If hell looked like this, then why was his life so shitty? Then again anything that reminds him of that town in Edward Scissorhands is inherently evil and can't be trusted. He best not stick around. He chose a direction and walked down the sidewalk. The people went right through him. A cold chill settled in his bones each time they did. He shivered and held himself. Only then did he realize he wasn't wet anymore, but his side hurt like a bitch. He adjusted his case on his back when it slipped off his trembling shoulders.
He doesn't know how long he walked for when he arrives at a park with children laughing and playing games. They were ten times creepier than the people. Just as hollow and vapid, but in kid form. Kids are evil. The horror movies said so. Children of the Corn comes to mind. Nope. He kept going. Walking through the children, until he saw familiar people a ways away. He recognized Penny right away. Thank God. She's alive. Ilsa too and the other teens he knew of, but didn't know. He saw Penny help one up off the floor.
"P-Penny." He shivered, teeth clattering. The cold was getting worse. It didn't feel like air conditioning in the summer anymore. Now he felt like he was in the middle of winter naked.
"I-I don't think I-I c-an feel my fi-fi-fingers." They were locked onto his sleeves as though holding himself for warmth worked when it didn't. He knew he looked pale, maybe a little blue. He was familiar with what his face looked like in the mirror the mornings after he was locked out of the house in the cold.
Someone was approaching. Finn took an anxious glance over their shoulder, but relaxed slightly when they recognized this person. A bright yellow beanie is easy to remember. She had been on the lifeboat, she pulled the release on the ship and took a nap for the rest of the voyage.
Her observations on Trent's condition worried Finn, but before they had time to try and...flip him over or something, the girl in the beanie was speaking again.
“I’m Isla, by the way. Pretty fun all this almost dyin' and waking up surrounded by ghost wean- children, aye?”
Oh shit. Oh shit she was talking to them. And...smiling at them? Isla was...cheery to say the least. Something about her tone of voice and smile reminded Finn of a camp consoler or a train attendant. Extremely happy sounding despite the oddly dark things she was saying. Finley blinked, trying to look less confused. They tried to smile, but it looked completely forced, the corners of their mouth twitching slightly.
"I'm Finley and uh...yeah...today has just been...uh full of surprises..."
Their attention turned back to Trent as he began to awaken, coughing and sputtering. Their relief very quickly turned to anxiety as he began to cry. Finn looked around nervously, they didn't know how to comfort someone who was crying. But they couldn't just...ignore him. Leave him to suffer and feel alone. After a moment of hesitation Finley reached out, brushing the dust off his back as he rolled over. Direct contact with someone was...hard...for Finley, but they couldn't not attempt to comfort their friend.
"Hey...hey now...it's okay...we just...we gotta find a police officer...or a bus station. We can't be far from home..."
Another person was fast approaching, and luckily again it was someone Finn recognized from the lifeboat. The tall blonde, but Finn couldn't remember her name, or even if they were given her name. Regardless they were thankful when she arrived and took the time to help up Trent. Shortly after the young man with the guitar found the small gathering of survivors, and he commented on how cold he felt. Finley frowned slightly, he...really did look cold.
Finley looked around at the small group, picking anxiously at their chewed fingernails.
"If...if anyone else...s-survived the crash...we should find them...and then find somewhere to...warm up."
"Cael..." Zoey muttered as she wiped her tears as she was finally starting to entertain a thought in her head. The kind of thought that was lingering her in her head since she got here but now... after all of this, it was starting to seem more and more lightly. "... This place is hell."
Zoey sobbed as Hagan crossed his arms. "Try to explain any of this; we died and this is purgatory or whatever fucked up version of it."
"Zoey..." Hagan muttered to Zoey as he let out a sigh. He knew that this place couldn't be hell... because he's seen hell with his own two eyes. And it's an orange sun. "... You know the Kid or whatever the fuck his name is would never do that to us." Bringing up his name.
"... Then explain what the fuck is even going on?" Zoey said... her body was freezing and she was shivering. Thanks to her abstraction, she was used to it but it was probably the water. What didn't help was the pain she was feeling and she would put some ice on it but she was too cold. She would kill herself if she kept pushing past her limits.
However, a building exploded and Hagan whipped around towards it. Out of reflex Hagan crossed his arms in front of him and jumped in front of the girls. Son of a bitch, he had to do it. "... Barrier!" Hagan shouted as the full barrier appeared and it was not pretty. It took the appearance of a massive dome that looked vaguely like a sun... an orange sun. It had massive thorny tentacles that outstretched meters and the barrier effortlessly tanked the debris and other pieces of stone.
When the dust settled... it was that thing. That smoky Apparition, floating in the air. Shit. That thing traveled way too fast to dodge. Hagan was hoping his barrier was strong enough to take the damage...
However, it floated into the air above everyone at a slow speed before it let out a screeching sound and quickly descended to the ground. The Apparition hit the ground, fell to its hands and feet as it continued its screeching... Hagan wondered if it was in pain. The Apparition stopped screeching and then began... sobbing as it put its hands where its face should be. Hagan looked over his shoulder at the girls confused.
"... The fuck is going on?"
A hand quickly wrestled Stacey's hand and he felt warmth as Odessa was trying her best to help him out since he seemed to be doing the worse. This wasn't good, though. She was in direct sunlight, which was great but she was running out of energy between all these usages of her abstraction. Odessa was getting sluggish, but she was producing heat. She looked to the rest as her skin began waving with all the heat she was giving off. She fell onto her knees as she said, "... Get close."
However, there was the explosion of dust and debris as Odessa covered herself with her arm. She tried to turn her body into wood but all she accomplished was falling to her hands and knees with only patches of her skin turning into wood. Odessa sighed as she continued generating heat, and the thing flew up into the air before it fell to the ground, screeching and sobbing like... Maybe this was its recollection. Odessa had a lightbulb in her head as she looked at the group.
"Get out of here," Odessa said as she turned off her heat generation and her body slowly returned to its usual body heat. She narrowed her eyes at Penny as she said, "All of you."
Odessa was able to muster what little strength she had left to force herself back to her feet... not for long as she stumbled over. She got herself back onto her feet as she looked back at them, "I have a way to get rid of this thing for good... just get out of here while it's distracted."
Truth be told, Odessa was not worried about dying. Not one bit.
Caelea blinked rapidly, eyes widening as Zoey started sobbing more. She shook her head at that. “There’s no way this is hell, Zoey. We’ll get out of here.”
It couldn’t be, not after they’ve come so far. And hell wasn’t something filled with children… and your friends. From what Caelea knew you were alone in a place like that. So she agreed with Hagan, there was no way it was. He was right, the child would never do anything like that. She shook her head again. She couldn’t believe that… but she could understand why Zoey did.
“We can't explain this,” Caelea murmured, noticing just how much Zoey was shivering in that moment. She grabbed her hoodie, which was sizes too big for her anyway, pulling it off and holding it out to the other girl. “Here take-”
An explosion rang through her ears and she spun around to face the destroyed building, automatically dropping into a defensive pose. Her pale eyes widened as she didn’t have to dodge any of the debris flying towards them… because Hagan had stepped in front of them and formed a full barrier. An orange barrier that made Caelea feel slightly sick to the stomach. She was even more determined to talk to him about it now. Under her breath, she muttered, “was it always that colour?”
Before pulling herself out of the thoughts and back to the present.
That just kept getting weirder. As the Apparition moved towards them she’d fully expected Hagan’s barrier to not be able to take the damage and shatter, and for them to get hit. But instead it came to a stop and started… Crying?
“I don’t know,” Caelea ran a hand through her hair as she peered around Hagan at the Apparition. While she was glad that it wasn’t attacking them she wasn’t sure how much she liked this better. “I don’t think this is real, somehow.” She frowned. “I’m going to try talk to it.”
It was probably one of the stupidest ideas she’d had, but it was that or run away. Somehow she didn’t think running would work for them. So she stepped out around Hagan and walked forward towards the Apparition - stopping just before the edge of the dome of Hagan’s barrier. She kept her hands up and ready to use her abstraction, to hit it or get herself out of the way, if it moved.
“What do you want from us?” And then, more awkwardly, she added, “And why are you crying?”
"Squirt!" Hagan shouted as Caelea escaped the barrier somehow. What in the hell was she doing?! Both Zoey and Hagan were awestruck at their friend's insane actions. Shit. Hagan watched as she asked the thing what it wanted, with no protection. Hagan didn't like this... Nor was he gonna sit idly by. He looked at Zoey and nodded at her as he dropped his barrier and decided to go after her slowly as he could. All he needed to do was get her in range of just one of his tendrils. Just one.
"Cae...Caelea?" Odessa said as she propped herself on one of the cars as she desperately tried to get her energy back. Her voice was probably lost in all of the chatter of children playing but she looked at Caelea as she went up to the thing. Ruining her plan... which was risky for different reasons, this was stupid. Except, Odessa was out of energy and if she pushed herself any further she would pass out. Odessa narrowed her eyes as she moved over to the two as she pulled out a piece of chalk.
The Apparition placed its hands on the ground... it couldn't emote or do anything like that in this current form.
The Apparition raised one hand off the ground and pointed forward. Seemingly at a particular boy who was jumping up and down with caucasian skin, rather rounded features, and a head of curly black hair. He had a girl in his hands as he jumped with the biggest smile on his face.
The Apparition started crying loudly some more as it looked forward and saw more people approaching and the sobbing stopped and Hagan froze in its tracks. And he felt some type of danger.
In the blink of an eye, the unthinkable happened and Hagan let out a yell. The Apparition dug its claws into Caelea's midsection as deep as it can go before using its speed to bifurcate her. Blood sprayed in all directions as she was split down the middle and the Apparition lost form as it forced itself inside of Caelea... and the wounds sealed itself shut, violently shaking before coming to a stop. And "Caelea" grinned widely.
"... Thank you."
"Caelea!" Hagan screamed at the top of his lungs as he fell upon his knees, vomiting what little food that Hagan had left. And tears ran down his eyes as the sight was horrible. The... worst thing he's ever seen. Second to what that bastard did to him, but at least it was him. Caelea was dead. Hold it together, hold it together. Hagan thought to himself as everything felt strange, alien. It felt like there were a million pounds right in his gut and everything felt wrong. Tears ran down his face as he tried to get everything together.
No...
Hagan let out another scream before the barrier manifested in the shape of a glowing orange sun with dozens of tendrils... that went wild as one slammed against the ground so hard that it caused it to shatter. Another tendril flipped over a car and sent it directly into a building.
Zoey screamed at the top of her lungs had to use a car to brace herself as she felt cold... colder than ever before, and it didn't have anything to do with her damn abstraction. This... her heart was racing as her eyes were wide as hell, and she couldn't shut them. Squirt... Holy shit. This isn't happening. She grabbed onto her chest as she fell onto a knee, she was desperately trying to keep it together. Zoey looked up didn't realize it but... Hagan was losing control of his abstraction. The same abstraction that brought up memories of him. She legitimately had no clue what was going on.
Odessa's jaw dropped as the thing brutally killed her, but unlike the other two she couldn't feel a thing. Not the weight in her stomach, nor the tingling in her skin. Nothing. Odessa sighed as she realized that Hagan was going crazy and the apparition abscised Caelea. She wished that she could do something to save her but she rushed in and got herself killed. Odessa didn't have the strength to face the Apparition now, nor stop Hagan's rampage. Odessa got behind a car and figured that it might be time to cut and run. She was too slow to do anything.
The ground shifting from the explosion almost knocked Finley off their feet.
They stabilized themself, struck with horror as they once again saw the shadowy Apparition. But not only that, spotted some of the other survivors from the lifeboat. The bright orange barrier was able to protect the group closest to the blast, and luckily the other group was far enough away to avoid debris.
Finley braced themself, eyes darting around looking for a place to hide, anticipating the beast to charge again but then...it started crying. And Caelea said something to the creature, something Finley couldn't quite make out.
They turned to the small group that had gathered, their attention then turning to Trent, making sure their friend was going to be safe. The woman in the robe offered to distract the Apparition while the others hid. While Finley hadn't been introduced to her, they figured if she was offering to be the bait she must be pretty powerful.
"Let's t-try to get behind a c-car or wall or some-"
Finley didn't finish their sentence, as Caelea getting torn in half and the ensuing screaming cut them off. Finley starred at this gruesome scene with wide eyes, unable to look away. The blood, the screaming, the way the Apparition climbed inside Cealea, the knitting closed of wounds. It was too close to home. It was too recent. It dredged memories from Finley's mind in a way that made their stomach cramp and their legs tremble.
The memories of the car accident, of the crying girl inside. It was a mistake.
The way Caelea...no not Caelea...the Apparition smiled.
Was that...was that what they were? A monster?
Finley began to tremble, still unable to look away from the bloody scene, any thoughts of hiding completely erased from their mind. Completely immobilized as they began to hyperventilate.
With an exaggerated groan Penny helped heft Trent up to his feet. She heard her name and turned, her face doing little to hide her shock at the state Stacey was in. She swore under her breath. When did she start running a daycare? Fortunately, Odessa was there working part-time. Penny was almost used to the woman’s uncanny ability to seemingly appear next to Penny whenever she glanced away. Almost. She still jumped and dropped a hand to her bag, but it relaxed upon recognition.
“Hey, be careful about warming him too quickly,” said Penny. Stacey wouldn’t really be able to play with chilblains. She glanced at Stacey and gave him an affirmative nod with a confident smile, “Don’t worry. You’re going to be okay. We are all going to be o”—a building exploded and wiped the smile right off of her face—”kay.”
Penny turned her head to avoid getting the dust in her eyes and happened to catch sight of her friends just in time for Hagan to activate his barrier. It was wrong. Her stomach sank as the sight of it filled her with a familiar dread that visited her almost every night. A whirlwind of dust swallowed them whole, and when it settled the Apparition was wailing. It was one of the most awful sounds Penny had ever heard. She steeled herself and fished out a handful of change before thinking the better of it. She massaged her temple. The shriek had drummed up her migraine yet again so that it rapidly pulsed with pain as if set to the bassline of a techno beat.
“Get out of here,” said Odessa.
”But—”
“All of you.”
Penny returned Odessa’s stare with an unblinking one of her own, and then winced as the thing cried out again. Damn it. She’d give Odessa this one. Penny felt like even with having one of her arms tied behind her back she could still help take this thing out, but there was more to worry about than a grudge match. Besides, her friends knew what they were doing. They could handle themselves.
“C’mon, let’s go,” she said, turning her back on the standoff and looking for a place they could hole up while Odessa and the others got all of the glory. Penny rolled her eyes as she heard Finley speak up from behind her. That thing had easily sunk a cruise ship. Hiding behind a car wouldn’t stop—another scream kicked her right in the skull. God, why won’t that thing shut up? Penny shot an angry look over her shoulder and then let out a choking noise as if she had just been stabbed in the gut. It sure felt like that way. Her eyes welled up and as they reflected the geyser of Caelea’s blood lacerating the sky.
Her arms dropped to her side dead. She never even had a chance to draw. The knife in her gut twisted and shot a numbness through her body as she watched her friend get split in two, yet somehow her feet shuffled forward on their own. It was like they were drawn to the carnage. A simple protest wouldn’t stop them, and anybody stupid enough to touch her would get a sharp elbow. Smoke threaded between the two halves and made it one, Caelea’s body twisting and jerking unnaturally as it sewed itself back together. A huff escaped Penny’s throat as that thing fucking dared to smile at them. Hagan flipped out. Zoey froze. Odessa hid.
Penny stopped. She had felt something tickle her fingertips. It was the felt tip of a marker. She didn’t know when she had grabbed it, but she had drawn on herself. What was the plan here? Judging by the glyphs, it had been a stupid plan. She was between the two groups now, meaning that Penny was close enough to see from the look on Odessa’s face that she was fucking up and not far enough away from Hagan’s rampage to truly be safe. The thing that was once Caelea continued to grin, only it wasn’t grinning. It was baring its teeth. Penny realized she had been baring her teeth, too.
So that was it. She had planned to kill it. She could, too, although she might not walk out of the fight. It disgusted her. Not the thing that was once Caelea, but the fact that she would kill it with there being a shadow of a doubt on whether Caelea could possibly still be in there somehow. Hagan had come back. Zoey had come back. Maybe Caelea could come back. It was a stupid, childish thought. An impossibility, really. She still had to consider it. Penny took a step back, and then she shouted a singular command. It worked for all of the strangers, really, but she meant it only for that fucking thing that was once her friend. She really hoped it would understand her, and she really hoped Caelea would forgive her for not being able to do what she should do. The second Penny shouted was the second her tears finally burst free.
Odessa grabbed his hand and warmed him up. If his reflexes worked he would have pulled away, but he couldn't nor did he want to. If it's warmth he could deal with being close to her for a few minutes at least. That's all he got, before something exploded and the thing came back. Odessa left them and told them to run. He doesn't have a problem with that, but it didn't come for him like it usually did. No. It dropped to its knees, cried, then spoke, its voice distorted. He couldn't understand it from where he was. Not that it mattered. Whatever its reasons didn't matter to him. Not when its his life that hung in the balance.
Caelea left Hagan's barrier and approached it. What is she doing? You're not supposed to get close to that thing. It tore through a building, destroyed two boats, terrorized him. He's exhausted. He needed to rest. It's been non-stop since the moment that thing came into his life. When was the last time he slept? Three days ago? Maybe four? None of it here. The creature moved so fast he blinked and missed it. It was on its knees last he saw, then Caelea was split in two. Stacey fell to his knees, shaken. That could've been him. That could've been him. That could've been him! A sense of dread hit hard, along with relief. It got what it wanted, right? He should've felt guilty Caelea died, but he didn't. It was him or someone else. He felt bad Zoey, Penny, and Hagan lost a friend though.
“RUN!” - Penny
He staggered to his feet. She said to run. Penny always had the best ideas. Isla was okay, the boy and the other kid, he couldn't tell boy or girl, ambiguous then, weren't doing so hot. Penny had dropped the boy and ambiguous was having a panic attack. Okay, he couldn't deal with it, but Penny wouldn't leave them there so he couldn't either.
"Isla grab him." He pointed at the boy, then went to ambiguous. "You're freaking out. I get it, but now's not the time. You learn you can only have panic attacks in this place when there isn't something that's about to kill you." He threw the kid's arm over his shoulder and moved from the park as fast as he could. He wasn't going fast. Not when the cold still bit his bones, getting colder the more children he walked through, and the extra weight, but it was in the opposite direction. It should be fine. Penny said it'd be okay. That's what she always says right before something bad happens, but he's lived this long. He won't doubt her now, so he kept moving.
