Oracle Wolf

Chapter 27

I was alone in the woods near the Nemeton.  I noticed a single firefly some from the stump before several hundred came out.  Soon, they began to gather together to form several dark shapes...

I jerked awake, nearly waking Issac up.  I looked around and realized I was at home, in my room.  Issac was still curled up next to me, sleeping enough to put the dead to shame.  I thought back to before we fell asleep.  How he laid down on top of me...  How it felt when he entered...  He stirred and started a little.

"Kayla?"  I turned to face him as he opened his eyes.  "Something wrong?"  I shook my head and nuzzled my face to his shoulder as he rolled onto his back.

"No...  Everything is perfectly fine."  He smiled and wrapped his arms around me.

"Good..."  He buried his face in my neck and hummed.  "Is this a dream?"  I shook my head.  "Can we go another round?"  I started to answer, but something caught my attention.  I sat up and looked around.

"What was that?"  He squinted and sat up beside me.

"I don't know."  I got up and, pulling on my pj pants, headed out into the hallway.

"Dad?  Derek?"  No one responded.  I started down the stairs when I heard a door shut behind me.  Turning around, I saw it was my bedroom door that had shut.  I frowned and headed back.  "Issac?"  I tried to open the door, but it was stuck.  "Issac!"  I heard him shout as something crashed.  I slammed into the door.  "Issac!"  Suddenly, everything went still.  I froze as I sensed something behind me.  Turning around, I saw one of the figures I had seen in my dream.  "Issac!"  He must have heard my scream because he banged on the door.

"Kayla!"  I backed off as the figure approached me.

"Issac!"  It caught the back of my head and held it for the briefest moment.  Immediately, everything seemed to slow to a crawl.  I whimpered as it stared right at me, as if searching me for something.  Before I could stop myself, I grasped the Oracle stone and waited a bit.  It looked down and pried it from my hand.  As soon as it saw the Oracle stone, it disappeared.  I collapsed, gasping for air, as Issac finally got the door to open.

"Kayla!"  He raced over and helped me up.  "Are you okay?"  I shuddered and curled into his chest.  Whatever it was, I could tell it was going to go after all of us.

"Yeah, I'm okay..."  I took a deep, shaky breath and stood up.  "What was that thing?"  He frowned.

"You saw it, too?  I thought it was just in the bedroom...  Unless there were more."  I shrugged, too afraid to respond.  He kissed my forehead.  "I'll check the apartment to see if there's anymore.  You stay here."  I nodded as he walked off downstairs.  I waited quietly as he looked around the apartment and came back upstairs.  "There's nothing downstairs."  I nodded and shook my head.

"What were those things?  I have no idea what happened..."  He led me back to the bedroom.

"Everything will be okay.  I promise."  I shook my head.

"I don't know...  Something isn't setting right."  He shrugged his shoulders as we went back to bed.

"What do you mean, some dark figures came and attacked you around midnight last night?"  I shrugged and looked at Aiden.

"It's exactly what I mean, Aiden.  Several dark figures showed up in the middle of the night and attacked us.  And, I mean literally attacked us!"  Scott looked around at Stiles, Aiden, Issac, and Ethan.

"Well, whatever it was...  I have no idea what it wanted."  I shrugged.

"I had a nighmare just before we were attacked."  Scott frowned.

"What happened?"  I looked him in the eye.

"I was standing by the Nemeton...  Out of nowhere, hundreds, if not thousands, of fireflies came out of the tree.  They...  They formed several of the dark figures that looked like what attacked Issac and I."  Suddenly, the new girl, Kira, came over.

"Hey, I've been hearing you guys talk about these nightmares or whatever...  I actually know what they are."  I frowned as she sat down.  "The figures you were describing?  They are Oni.  They're considered demons that can tell good or bad spirits.  And the place you're talking about?  It's considered a land between life and death.  First, you see visions and have nightmares.  Then, you are slowly driven insane.  Finally..."  She froze.  Scott frowned.

"What happens at the end?"  She hung her head.

"You die."  I bit my lower lip as the others exchanged looks.  Kira looked around at each of us.  "Might I have a little explanation in case you need more information?"  I shrugged.

"Oh, it was just a weird mythical video game these guys have been playing for years.  I was just getting some pointers on a level I'm stuck on."  She smiled.

"Oh?  What game?  I tend to be a bit of a gamer myself."  Scott shot me a "Shut up" look as Stiles thought for a second.

"It's some...  I think it's a Japanese animai game."  She smiled.

"Oh, Ōkami ya kyūketsuki... Wolves and Vampires. I love that game. What level are you on?" I blushed a little as I hung my head.

"Level one..." She smirked.

"Oh, I can help you with that. It's easy once you get the subtitles on." I refrained from laughing as she wrote something down on a piece of paper. "Here. Call me after school, and I'll figure out when I can help you set up the subtitles." I nodded.

"Thanks." With that, she was gone. I tried my best not to laugh when Scott looked over at me.

"That was awesome! How'd you do that?" I bit my lower lip.

"Well... Let's just say I think it's in my veins. From what you've told me, my dad's on hell of liar and a schemer..." Stiles shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, you can't agrue with that..." I rolled my eyes at him and got up to dump my tray.