Third Person
20 years earlier
Within the vacant cabin, shadows moved and jerked violently, as if trying to free themselves from the things that had created them. That is, until October 12, 1995, at three o'clock a.m. when everything fell quiet and dark. Even the insects and harsh waters surrounding Gateway Island had settled into a silent calm.
At three-thirty in the morning, only two cries were heard echoing throughout the island's silent forest, coming from opposite ends. One belonged to a child born to inflict chaos upon the human and shadow realms, while the other belonged to a child who was born to stop it. A sacrifice must be made to ensure the safety of the one who would end the shadow's suffering and bring peace to all of the existing realms, and they were prepared to die for her.
***
Five years later in the forests of Wolf Creek, Gateway Island's closest on-shore neighboring town, Jericho and Ember look at each other with tearful eyes. "I'm sorry sweetheart," Jericho choked as he pulled his wife into his arms for one last embrace before their short journey. Ember placed a hand on his cheek and shook her head, "this isn't your fault dear." They spare a second to lightly kiss before lying their sleeping child below a large oak tree.
Ember brushed the stray hairs out of her little girl's face before hovering her hand above it, whispering a small chant. With a weak smile, she stood and turned to her husband, "it's time, she'll be okay for now but, we have to go immediately. They'll be expecting us soon." He nodded and they turned down the mossy trail hand-in-hand, towards the far end of the forest.
They wanted to get as far away from their daughter as they could, as much as it broke their hearts they knew it was necessary. They knew she'd probably resent them in the future but, they had hope that she would also understand one day and hopefully, she'd forgive them.
"I just wish we could be there to explain it to her ourselves," Ember spoke through tears as they arrived at their destination. "She'll still hear it from us, when the time is right," Jericho tried to comfort her, she only nodded in response.
They looked around after a few minutes of nothing happening. Who they were expecting should've been there already, something was off. "Jericho?" Ember questioned hesitantly. "I don't know what's going on Em, there's no way they would throw away this opportunity." He spoke quietly, still checking their surroundings for anything or anyone.
Nothing, but there should definitely be something. Ember jerked around in their daughter's direction, "you don't think-." Before she could finish, he was already running back. She took off after him, easily keeping up. This still didn't seem right to either of them.
"Fuck!" Ember screamed as she fell around fourty feet into a hole that had been hidden with long twigs, brush and leaves. A trap.
Jericho skidded to a stop, nearly tripping over himself as he tried to get turned around and quickly made his way to the holes entrance. "Em? Ember! Are you okay?" He called down, it was too dark to see anything and he couldn't sense her as much as he should. It wasn't supposed to happen like this.
A quiet chuckle was heard behind him but, before he could turn to see who it had come from, a sharp pain shot through his spine. He grunted and fell forward as he lost his balance. Jericho hit the bottom of the hole with a crunch, only it wasn't his bones that had broken.
He froze momentarily after the realization hit him. "No," he whispered, "please be okay," he rolled over and winced at the tingling pain that had spread from his spine to his ribs and limbs, almost as if he were slowly going numb. He took a deep breath and turned to feel for his wife in the dark.
Angry tears filled his eyes as his hands moved over a body that, even without light, had clearly been crushed and broken. A choked, gurgling noise and blood spouted from her broken jaw as she attempted to move her hand to touch him, but only her fingers twitched. He held the back of his wrist to his mouth in an attempt to hold back the scream that clawed at his throat.
Filled with rage and pain, he looked up at his only exit with a stiff neck. "This wasn't the fucking deal, we were supposed to die peacefully together!" He desperately screamed to whoever was sitting up there, if anyone still was.
Ember coughed up more blood and Jericho immediately turned his attention back to her. "I'm so sorry sweetheart, I should've known they'd double cross us," he spoke to her through choked breaths. "Please, finish it," she managed to croak out.
He shook his head, "I don't know if I can." She managed to twitch the corners of her mouth up in a weak smirk, "the man who can do it all, can't do this one thing?" She choked out lightheartedly.
"This isn't a good time for jokes Em." He said with a sigh, "I love you so much." A tear fell down her cheek and she whispered between weak breaths, "I love you too, Jericho. Let's finish this, for our daughter, okay?" He nodded slowly before planting a gentle, yet passionate kiss on her lips as he snapped his fingers and engulfed both of them in flames.
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Asheland
15 years later
My friends pleaded with me once again not to leave our small town for Gateway Island, this argument had been a long one, going all the way back to the day I had met them. My friends didn't want me slipping off to Gateway because of the old myths and horror stories about what resided there but, I didn't really believe any of it. 'Even if they were true, I'm sure I've seen worse, supernaturals are overrated,' I thought to myself.
"I still can't believe that you guys actually believe in those fairytales, nothing is going to happen to me. It's just like any other empty island." I sighed, they rolled their eyes at me. Typical, those two were stubborn, especially when they felt like they had their friend's best interest in mind.
I was thankful considering they were pretty much my only family, but sometimes I wished they'd back off a little. I need my space and although they usually respected that, they could still get under my skin sometimes. More specifically, Savanna. My other best friend, Oakley, was pretty quiet and much more understanding.
"Well, surely you've taken the disappearances into account? I mean even if you don't believe in the fairytales, you have to admit that's weird and creepy. You shouldn't risk being the next missing persons case Ashe," Savanna continued to argue as she tied her long blonde hair back to keep the wind from blowing it in her face as we walked around the towns streets. Her deep sky-blue eyes were full of agitation, also typical, but she was pretty good at staying level headed.
She always tried to bring that point up but, Savanna doesn't know me as well as she thinks. Finally, I sighed in defeat and changed the subject knowing we wouldn't come to an agreement about the topic. I just had to wait and show them how wrong they are.
"So, Oakley, about that boy you mentioned last night," I smirked in the direction of my other best friend, hoping they would take the bait and they did. Oakley's deep gold-speckled, caramel brown eyes brightened as a grin spread across her freckled face, "what do you want to know about him?" She asked while brushing some of her wavy, brown hair behind her ears.
'Thank the gods' I thought to myself as the gossip trap worked and continued for pretty much the rest of the walk. I didn't really care for gossip to begin with and I definitely don't like gossiping about my own life, even with the few people I considered close.
When you tell someone your business, they always seem to feel entitled to give you their opinion, even if it's not been asked for. I've always made decisions for myself and that wasn't going to change, I know what I want and I plan on getting it.
Finally, we arrived at our destination. An old rusted sign that read "Wolf Creek Docks" stood in front of a small, white building with two large windows in the front, one on each side of the big metal door. The rusty tin roofing seemed like it could fall in at any moment, but somehow it held strong.
We came here often just to hang out, it was mostly private except for the receptionist however he never bothered us, even when we smoked weed in the little hideaway spot under the docks where the land met the water.
He was a rough looking old man with thick, salt and peppered hair, tanned skin and a kind heart, but those who didn't know him would feel otherwise. The parts of his body and face that were exposed were severely scarred from a past he refused to speak of to anyone, which left him even more mysterious.
"Hey pops! How's business lately?" I called to him with a wave. He responded with a smile, a nod, and a wave back. Some might say Frank is a man of few words, I personally was thankful for that.
Me and the girls were about to head to our usual spot until suddenly an idea bloomed inside of my mind, "hey guys, who wants to take a boat for a ride?" I eagerly looked at my friends, waiting for their response. Savanna and Oakley shared a glance as if to silently speak to each other, and looked back to me.
"You're not going to take us to that island are you?" Savanna asked as she fiddled her thumbs in front of her waist. I sighed and shook my head, "no technically not, I just wanted to look at it from a distance and see if we could maybe spot anything without actually touching or even getting near the island, I mean you said it yourselves, 'nobody who's stepped foot on the land' so what about if we just don't?"
Thirty minutes later I had finally convinced my friends to go out on the sea with me. It was usually very calm, however today the waves had quite a bit more strength and size to them. It seemed likely a storm would be coming soon so I promised them that we wouldn't stay long.
Gateway Island began to come into view and my blood seemed to spark with excitement. I never understood why I was so drawn to this dark place that everyone else seemed to fear so much, I just knew I was meant to be there. I was so close and the only one there who could drive the boat, it's not like anyone could actually stop me if I-.
"Ashe!" Oakley's frightened call snapped me back to reality, both of my friends were staring and pointing towards the island. I didn't see anything abnormal as I squinted, "I don't see anything." This seemed to make Oakley and Savanna panic even more, but no matter how hard I stared I just didn't see anything.
The waves were getting stronger, as was the wind that lifted our hair above our shoulders in chaotic twists. "We need to leave, now," Savanna demanded and pleaded at the same time.
That's when I caught a glimpse of something just out of the corner of my eye, I held my breath as my blood seemed to become ice cold. Slowly turning my head, a pitch black, smokey figure came into view and I froze again. The figure appeared to have a human form, but lacked any actual features that resembled anything human. It lifted what looked like an arm and pointed in our direction, a shiver of electricity went up my spine as it's silky voice pierced my ears, "Asheland."
***
We got back to the docks and jumped out quickly, soaked with ocean water. "We told you it wasn't a good idea, imagine if we had gone on the island," Savanna yelled as she flailed her hands around angrily, "or if you had gone by yourself? You were out of it back there Ashe, what even happened?"
Oakley kept her head down, but I could tell they were both holding back panicked tears. Guilt ran me over like a train, "I'm sorry guys, I don't know what happened, one minute I was fine and the next it was like I blacked out everything except the-'' I paused for a moment as I realized what I was saying, "-the shadow thing." I dropped my head, "that's never happened to me before, you guys know I've never see anything like that out there or else I would've never risked the two of you like that."
Savanna sighed, her facial expressions changing from panicked anger to that of relief. Oakley's tears had already begun to fall, but they came in for a group hug anyways. "Maybe we should take you to a doctor," Oakley suggested, Savanna nodded in agreement and they both looked to me for confirmation. "Yeah, I think that would probably be a good idea," I quietly responded, just noticing a slightly overwhelming pulsing sensation in my head.
Frank drove us to the local hospital so that I could be checked out, situations like this really brought out his talkative side, as some might say.
"What the fuck were you thinking Asheland? You could have gotten yourself and your friends quite literally killed, do you understand that? Do you realize how lucky you are to be alive right now?" I kept my eyes to the floor as I nodded, he shook his head and sighed, "I'm glad you're okay, but next time make sure you ask before taking a boat, once you're out there, there is no way of contacting those of us on shore, you know this." I silently nodded again and kept my head down throughout the rest of the whole ride.
Being scolded at twenty years old felt embarrassing, on top of the guilt I was already riddled with. I vowed to never seek out the island again.
We never told Frank or anyone else about the shadow figure we witnessed, Oakley and Savanna never mentioned it whispering my name so I never mentioned that to them either. It was probably just a hallucination anyways. The story we chose to go with at the hospital was as simple as the waves knocking me over and out of consciousness, they seemed to believe it. However, nothing came back wrong or abnormal regarding my blackout or how my brain and body were currently working, so they sent me home and told me to rest it off for a day or two.
I wasn't going to argue with that, I needed time to process what had even happened anyways. That thing, as odd as it may be, felt familiar and that scared me almost more than actually seeing it.
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