The Silent Thief

XXX

“Arggg!” I yelled pushing with all my might but to no avail.

From behind the beast’s tail came Captain James running. He came passed yelling, “I have a plan!” A few seconds later, I saw the stampede of nearly two hundred men running after him. They barged by without a single one noticing me; not that I wanted that to happen. Meanwhile, Captain James had run in a large circle and was now coming right back. He avoided me while jumping up and over the monster’s back. Again came the crowd of men; their eyes glued to Captain James. In the same manner, they plowed over the monster, each man shoving the beast a little forward. It was enough for me to be free.

Finally up, I sprinted toward the gem. This time, no one was there to stop me; therefore, I did stop when I heard the captain call for help. Looking back, I saw a man had caught him and was now beating him terribly. The other men joined in and my heart fell.

“No!” I screamed rushing toward him. He was still all the way across the cavern when I saw him fall motionless. Tears streamed down my face when suddenly, the wall to my left exploded. Rushing in were Sir William and all of his men. They looked around for a second then charged the other group. Sir William saw me running and shouted, “Get the gem!” He pointed toward it before drawing his sword.

I came to a stop then made a split decision. To the gem it was!

That glowing, welcoming light awaited in front of me. Nothing, and this time I seriously mean nothing, stopped me. I reached forward and grabbed the gem. It was the size of a cannonball but was weightless. From where my hands touched it, the glow of it brightened. Soon it was too blinding for me to continue looking at. I shut my eyes and held it tightly. I felt a floating sensation. A sharp pain shot through my body from my head. I opened my eyes to see myself lying on the ground. The back of my head felt warm. Reaching my hand and touching the spot, I felt blood. Sure enough, when I drew my hand back, it was covered in it. I stood up and looked around. The gem lay on the ground beside my feet. It was pure black now. No light radiated off of it. I knelt down to lift it but it would not move. Pushing it as hard as I could, it remained in that same spot.

I turned my head around and gasped. All around me were skeletons. Hundreds of them.

“James!” I called. The only answer was my own voice echoing. I walked to the entrance of the cavern and peered down the long hallway. Instead of pitch darkness, there was light; sunlight. It streamed in through the many holes of the hallway.

These holes weren’t here before, I thought.

“Jake! Sir William! Father!” I called multiple times. Still, there was no answer. “What have I done?” I cried falling onto my knees.

I felt something on my shoulder making me turn sharply. Holding Captain James’ knife up in front of me, I saw it was a woman.

“It’s alright,” she said. Her voice was familiar.

“Who are you?”

“Grace, you know who I am.”

She was about my height with dark wavy hair. Her eyes were light brown as well as her skin. She looked about my age, maybe older.

“I know who you look like but, she would be much older than you.”

She chuckled and put her hand on my shoulder again. “How you’ve grown,” she mumbled. “My little girl is so beautiful.”

“No.” I took a step back. “Who are you? You can’t be... How is any of this possible? How are you so young?”

“So many questions, Grace. But they will be answered in time.”

“Are you…her?”

“Yes, I am your mother.” The woman smiled with tears in her eyes. Except for my lighter skin, I looked just like her.

“I…” I tried to get more words out but my mouth wouldn’t work. Instead, I embraced her. My mother, somehow here, in the same age as she was when she left. I lifted my head and looked into her face.

“Our time is running out. Listen carefully, Grace. The gem’s power is to not be underestimated. Until your twenty-first birthday, you cannot use those powers. You must remember your old ones. Use them or else you won’t survive. Be waiting for me. I will see you again.” She placed her hands on my cheeks and kissed my forehead.

“Wait, Mother. What are you saying? I’m so confused. If you are really here, you must stay.”

“I can’t. Be waiting for me.” My mother’s body started to fade.

“But, when will you return?” It was the same questioned I had asked her before.

“Soon. This time, I promise,” she said smiling. A tear ran down her face and fell off her chin just as she completely disappeared.

My head snapped toward the sight of objects suddenly appearing before me. Soon, everyman that had been fighting when I had touched the gem were statues. They literally were in the same position as before except as if time had stopped. Some men had their rams raised ready to hit their opponent in front of them. Others had their swords mid-swing toward men around them. I stepped forward and touched Jake’s face. He had a look of bravery on with one foot stepped forward and the other placed firmly behind him. It looked like he had been running toward something. I looked in that direction and saw a pistol, Captain James’ pistol, aimed at him. It was in the hands of a hazy eyed African man.

The Mist had been in them for over thirty minutes. Why hadn’t it delude yet? I thought, walking through the crowd of frozen men. Sighing, I knew what I had to do.

I reached up and took the pistol out of the African man’s hand. I proceeded to take every weapon away from everyman. Then, one by one, I moved each body and positioned them so that they were all sitting down facing one direction. When I finished, I stood in front and crossed my arms. Whenever the men’s’ time ‘unfroze’, they would all be looking at me.

“Now all I have to figure out is how to unfreeze time,” I said narrowing my eyes.

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Picture of the cavern to the right.