Obsidian's Reign ¹

∷ Chapter 6 ∷

"Come—it's best we take our leave too," James said. "There's much we need to discuss."

"Where are we going?" she asked, swallowing her fears as best she could.

"You ask too many questions," James grunted in return, effectively dodging her query.

He held his hand out towards her and raised his eyebrows when she hesitated in taking hold of it.

"Hurry up and stop wasting time," he said.

"Are we going to disappear like that too?" she asked, pointing at the empty spot where Zeph had been standing moments prior.

James groaned and grabbed hold of her arm, dragging her towards the area in question. He stopped and pulled her towards him.

"I've been meaning to ask—what is this? You weren't wearing this before," James took hold of the old baseball cap and before Clara could stop him, he took it off her head and tossed it aside.

His actions were uncalled for and when she said just as much, he shrugged and claimed it was 'ugly' and he simply didn't like looking at it. Clara exhaled in irritation, making a move in an attempt to retrieve it but was held back by his strong grip on her arm. He ignored her protests and roughly pushed her head against his chest, muffling her cries.

"Stay close or you'll really disappear."

Clara hardly had the chance to comprehend the meaning behind his words when she felt the surge of strong winds whirling around them. It felt as though they were trapped in the centre of a vortex. True to his word, the feeling was gone a moment later and Clara was pushed away from the broad chest she was huddled against seconds before.

Clara had her eyes tightly shut against the wind and it remained that way even as she stumbled back a few paces. She did not immediately notice they were no longer in the parking lot of the medical centre. She did, however, hear the distinct sounds of cicadas and thought they sounded significantly louder than before.

Curiosity got the better of her and she opened her eyes slowly, finally realising that she was standing in the middle of a vast field. The shock was enough for her to momentarily forget her anger towards James for wordlessly throwing the baseball cap away.

"You survived okay, huh? Guess you're not as pathetic as I assumed you were," Zeph said from behind her.

"What do you mean?" Clara asked in return.

"Not many humans can survive being teleported like that, but you did okay."

He proceeded to pat her noncommittally on the shoulder as he walked past her towards James.

"Shall we begin our discussion?"

James nodded. He retrieved an envelope from his inner pocket and handed it to Clara.

"This will clear any doubts and answer any questions you might have."

Clara extracted the enclosed letter with shaking hands and scanned over its written contents.

"Name: Avery, Clara
Age: 22

On the stated date, the above mentioned will be reaped by means necessary. The harnessed soul will be taken to be processed. No evidence should be left behind. Elimination of all possible eyewitnesses is mandatory. Members of the Elite are responsible for carrying out the selected task and a report is due upon completion.

Fin."

Contrary to James' claim, the letter was not doing a good job of clarifying her confusion. If anything, its inclusion in the narrative only seemed to add to her perplexity concerning the matter.