• Chapter III

    “Where now?” I asked anxiously. My boots splashed against the wet floor of a tunnel that leads to the city. “We’ve been walking for an hour now, and I don’t think we are making progress.”
    “Yeah, I think we are lost,” mocked Devon curiously. He looked around the gloomy tunnel. Graffiti and wet stones on the walls stared back. Ugh. What’s so special about an old tunnel? thought I. “It’s a tunnel nobody’s gone through for three years.”
    “What?”
    “Oops, shouldn’t have said that out loud.”
    “Huh…? Wait, you knew what I thought! Then that means…”
    “I can use telepathy.”
    “Yeah right! It was probably coincidence.”
    “No, it isn’t, Xilus.” He looked serious. His mocking eyes turned to a dark seriousness.
    “You’re serious,” I murmured. A dark thought shattered all others in my mind. “You made the warren kill himself!”
    “What? No way! Xilus I never would!” he snapped.
    “Sure,” I replied sarcastically. “You needed a cover to make an easier escape!”
    “What was so ‘easy’ about escaping from the asylum? We had to get through trained soldiers, Xilus! We could’ve been hurt badly!”
    “You had no problem with killing those soldiers.”
    “Of course I didn’t! It was a life or death situation, Xi!”
    “Don’t call me that!”
    “Xiona did since you guys met.”
    “Stay away from my thoughts!” I retorted. I raised my blade. Devon raised his blade towards me. I made a swing, but missed on purpose. “Dammit! Just stay to that side of the tunnel and leave me alone.” My red eyes glared at Devon, who walked solemnly at the other side of the tunnel. His amber eyes stared down to the floor, which was riddled with dead rats and old newspapers. One rat screeched and fell to the floor. It became stone cold. Lifeless.
    “You know, I would walk through these tunnels every weekend. I’d play Hide and Seek with my friends. When I grew up, though, it became Search and Destroy. The play kind, of course,” said Devon. He was quick to forgive. But I wasn’t. Ignoring him, I looked forward. There was endless darkness, except for one speck of light at the end.
    “That must be the end,” I pointed out.
    “Yeah it must be!”
    “Devon,” I mumbled. “I’m sorry for accusing you.”
    “It’s okay. I’m sorry for mentioning Xiona.”
    “It’s okay. What happened exactly?”
    “I don’t really know. I got up to the office and found the warren lying on the ground. The other guards accused me right away and I had to run.”
    “So, you’re a mind reader?”
    “Yeah, it happened after the explosion.”
    “Just like my ghostly sight.”
    “Right, but I got used to it.”
    “I didn’t.”
    “You should, Xilus. Our abilities could be used like a blanket in the cold. But then again, they can end up being matches in a gassy room.” For a fourteen year old, you make sense. thought I. “Just because I’m two years younger than you, doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”
    “I didn’t think that!”
    “I know, but others do.”
    “Yeah, but…”
    “Wait do you here that?” Footsteps sounded from afar, splashing water and carcasses around the sides of the tunnel. The footsteps came from a boy wearing black. He had amber eyes. His blonde hair bounced as he ran. He was smiling. Grinning, as if there’s nothing happening in this world. He grunted a bit, opened his hands, and, in a puff of black smoke, he summoned four knives on each hand.
    “You’re gonna die!” he cried. He was the same boy that I saw at the asylum. He threw the blades at us. Barely blocking with his blade, Devon ran for the opening.
    “Hurry up, Xi!” cried Devon. He never seemed like the cold-blooded type. I ran after him, noticing that the knives did not continue. Did he run out? No. He disappeared. The light from the outside turned into a grim dullness. The sky was blanketed by thick, greenish clouds. A pack of cards lay near a metal fence that used to seal off a skyscraper at the other side. The green sky streaked with purple lightning. Newspapers flew around with the wind as the skyscrapers stood like ruins.
    “This is the city?” I gasped.
    “Yep.”
    “The city didn’t look like this after the explosion.” Although he read my mind, Devon did not comment on that. Before I opened my mouth again, a dark cloud appeared in front of us. One foot came out. Then another. Then a whole body came out.
    “Welcome to the outside, boys,” whispered the man. He had short black hair and black eyes. His entire body was covered in bandages. His hands opened and, just like the boy with the knives, gave birth to puffs of black smoke. These puffs were followed by two black and purple chakrams. “My name is Sablic.”
    “And my name is Xavier,” called a voice from behind. His voice sounded young. Younger than Devon’s. Sablic’s voice was strong and low. The voice was from the boy in the sewer. Xavier summoned the knives again, ignited them, and threw them without warning. Blocking, I stumbled backwards. Devon tried to shoot Xavier, but Sablic blocked his shot with a chakram. He duplicated himself. Both bodies threw chakrams. Dodging and blocking, Devon and I ended up giving ourselves space between the two. Xavier shot towards us like a rocket, and threw more burning knives. Sidestepping, I threw him down. With Xavier in front of us, Devon ran towards Sablic.
    “Keep him busy!” commanded Devon. I nodded, looked down, and gasped a second time.
    “Where…?” I panted. Air seeped out of my lungs. Xavier’s fist rebounded off my chest. I felt another blow to my chin. Then a kick between my legs.
    “Hmph, should’ve seen it coming,” he whispered. He turned around on his booted heel and sprinted at Devon and Sablic.
    Sablic kept copying himself until there were at least fifty of him in the area. The copies tossed spinning chakrams at Devon and me, who was still on the floor after the blows from Xavier. I rolled around, barley dodging the chakrams’ cutting edge. Finally, feeling no more pain, I got up. My back felt hard from the cold cement floor. Without thinking, I aimed the gun part of my blade towards Sablic.
    “Sab, watch out!” cried Xavier. It was too late. Sablic fell to the floor, grunting with pain. “Damn it! You win this time!”
    “Not yet!” cried Sablic. He reached his hand towards the sky, as if there was something to grab on to. Darkness rained from his finger tips and fell around Devon and me. A snicker sounded behind us. Sablic. Another snicker sounded. Sablic again. More and more copies appeared. “Now let’s go,” said Sablic faintly from behind. A thousand copies of Sablic swarmed around, throwing black chakrams at every corner. Devon ran around for cover. I ran towards the copies. Slashing at one, I noticed that they were very weak. I shot at another. Devon followed suit and shot down another. He stabbed another. One by one they fell, making it easier every time because they bunched up like cold campers in a winter night. The darkness fell with the last copy. Sablic and Xavier were no where to be found.
    “Who the hell were they?” I panted.
    “I wish I knew,” replied Devon, out of breath.
    “You couldn’t read their minds?”
    “I only heard static.”
    “Then what are they?” I looked up to the sky. The green turned into black. “We should rest somewhere.”
    “There’s an inn right there.”
    “Great. We’re gonna sleep with dead people.” As we limped to the inn, Hollow men and women in suits and casual clothing walked around, talking into cell phones and lecturing their children. They were completely unaware of the events from three years ago.
    “Here.” Room 254.
    “Good night,” I mumbled as I fell to a sudden tiredness. They’ll be back. And we’ll be ready for them. I know it, thought I as I fell to a nightmarish sleep.