When You Believe

Chapter 2: Whatever Happened

Nico, who was having a flashback, didn't hear the screams of the people as an earthquake struck.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Aria screamed as she made her way to Nico. The boy was unconscious and then he hit the floor. He should have 'woken-up' as soon as his head hit the floor but there was no such luck. "Nico! Nico! Nico! Earthquake!" she screamed. It was pretty much something weird. Before the earthquake started, Nico looked outside the gate and shivered. Aria was pretty much tempted to shout to the heavens " WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!? WHY DID YOU EVEN PUT FAULT LINES ANYWAY? ". If she shouted that, her relatives in Antartica and China would have heard her.
Then Nico woke up. Now, he was the confused one. He stood up with a look of confusion but he didn't look like he was shaking or moving. "Nico!" Aria screamed, that seemed to get his attention. "Aria? What happened? Come here and hold my hand." he said in rush. So, she trusted the guy, she ran to him and held his hand which would have made her heart do loops if it wasn't shaking. First boy to old her hand and yeah!
"You looked outside the gate, shivered and then became unconscious. Then after that, the earthquake started." Aria said as Nico took it in. "Oh. Why is the ground still below us?" she asked as she looked down. "Secret." he spoke as if he would die if she shared it. "Well, you just hit your head that should've been hard enough to -"
"Excuse Me?" said a voice and Nico was sure that Aria was trying very hard to keep her cool.
"Sire, you have frightened us." Nico said. He felt Aria cooling down.
"Umm.." she started and made the mistake of looking up. She saw a face of an old man but somewhat like her father's, so she cried again. "Aria.. we have to get out of here." said Nico. This old guy doesn't seem as kind as Aria sees him. "But, Nico.. he looks like my dad." she said in between tears. "What?" Nico asked. To Nico, he looks like HIS dad, not Aria's. Now he knew that something was definitely wrong.
The guy must've sensed it and lunged after them. It should've been a quick kill if it wasn't for Nico who made a sign of warding off evil. Then, the evil spirit was gone. "How...?" Aria said, probably relieved that she wasn't joining her parents. "Evil Spirit.. better... get out... of... here." Nico said. A single ward was like his whole morning.
"You are not safe here anymore." Nico continued. He's got some strength to speak properly now. "What are they? You said Evil Spirits. From whom? And why?" Aria asked but Nico had his whole strength already so he grabbed Aria's hand and fled the place, dodging arms and blocking out wails.
He reached for his key card and waited. A few minutes later, a car ( maybe a Ferrari ), was speeding down the road. It came to a stop before them and Nico scanned his card and they went in, Nico at the driver's seat and Aria in the backseat.