Blue Fire (Edited)

Chapter 18: An End and a Beginning

The first few entries were the same, but it seemed John was beginning to grow suspicious of his partner. David disappeared for days at a time with no trace, and John was losing his patience. However, he was still faithfully writing in his journal. The entries were beginning to change tone, though. One entry caught her by surprise at how short it was.

Had to go into the doctor's office today due to a lingering cough. It seems all the smoking has finally caught up with me. I was diagnosed with lung cancer. I must ensure that the world knows the truth about the Atlanteans. My name has to live on, even if I can't. David is hiding something big, I can sense it. People have to know that there are non-humans amongst us.

With that, the journal entry ended. Flipping the page, she realized his writing was more frantic and not as neat as usual.

I don't know how long I have to write this. David was captured by someone. He was with the woman I had seen him consorting with for the human trafficking case. She looked pregnant. They were taken last night by men in hazmat suits. I don't know how they got the drop on them. I showed up at David's house to confront him about hiding something from me when I saw them being dragged out. I was made, and now I'm sure I'm being followed. If I'm killed, I urge you, whoever you may be, to continue this investigation. You must find the truth and declare it to the world.

What had just happened? The text left her with a plethora of questions. Were they all killed? What happened next? She flipped through the remaining pages of the journal, but they were all blank. She tossed the book on her bed and started pacing her room. There must be more information somewhere, but where? She headed to the bookcase and looked over all the bindings. The remaining books looked like generic textbooks with weird titles. It would take her months to read through all those books, and she wasn't sure that it was worth it.

She left her room, deciding to wander aimlessly around until she got struck by some genius idea. The hallway and common room were both empty. She stuck her head in the mini-library, and it was empty as well. Where had everyone gone? She entered the gym and realized she could hear murmurs coming from the padded room. She opened the door cautiously, trying not to get hit in the face again with anything. It was packed; it seemed like everyone was smushed in the tiny room like sardines. She got on her tiptoes so she could see over everyone and hopefully find Sandy or Philip. As expected, Philip was in the center, thwarting off attacks, but it was multiple people going at him all at once. Sandy was standing in the forefront with a worried look on her face. Elaine squeezed her way through the throngs of people and made her way to Sandy's side.

"What is going on?" she asked her, yelling over the sounds of sizzling and people yelling.

"Since some people got 'chosen' to leave because of their advancements, everyone wanted to prove themselves so they too can leave on a mission and enjoy the freedom."

Elaine looked at Philip; he looked tired and strained. She noticed he was letting some attacks get through to him. There were burn marks on his arms, and his shirt had a gaping hole in the center. And they weren't showing any signs of stopping or slowing down; it was like they were ambushing him, trying to prove that they were better than the person next to them. The whole room was buzzing with energy, and it was hot and stuffy. Elaine's senses were getting overwhelmed with the intensity of the blue aura concentrated in one small confined space. But she had to get past that and do something, or they were going to eventually kill Philip. As she was thinking this, someone behind Philip created what looked like a sword and was swinging it at him.

"STOP!" she yelled, running to shield Philip's back. She ended up putting a forcefield, to everyone's amazement, which proved impenetrable to all the attacks. But that was not what shocked her. As soon as her back had touched Philip's, she could sense a spark, a mingling of energies. She wasn't sure where she started and he began. It was like their souls were fused. She sensed his fatigue and the sympathy he felt for everyone around them. She also felt how much of a relief her touch came to him. Her mere touch was a soothing ointment to his wounded body. They turned to face each other. He looked as shocked as she was. She also noticed his arms weren't burned anymore. Time seemed to come to a halt; it was frozen, and everyone seemed suspended in it with them.