"You're pretty strong, Silas."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. What's with you covering my eyes back there?" He turned to Edgar just as he stopped walking.
Silas crossed his arms, quirking a brow as Edgar slyly looked away from him and rubbed the tip of his nose with his thumb. "Uh, he was naked and I didn't want you to see."
"Oh," Silas hadn't expected that and he could feel the heat rushing to his face again. Clearing his throat, he looked away from Edgar to stare at the forest in front of him. "So, what did you want to tell me?"
"I wanted to ask you a question, actually." He said, which made Silas relax, resting his back on the tree behind him. Silas looked back at Edgar to see him grimacing and furrowed his eyebrows at how serious the other boy was.
"Shoot."
"Where are you from?"
Silas cocked his head at the question. "West Virginia."
"Then what were you doing in Pennsylvania?"
"Summer camp."
There seemed to be a tic throbbing on Edgar's forehead and he swallowed, his composure slowly breaking. Edgar reached for him before Silas could make a break for it and he squeaked when Edgar pushed his back further against the tree.
"You're not telling me something."
Silas held his breath. Of course he wasn't telling him everything; he barely knew the guy. But it wasn't like there was anything special about him, going to the summer camp was what his parents called a vacation and an excuse to be away from his city.
"I'm from Williamsport and Benji and I have always been going to that camp. You're a new face, so I wanted to know more about you." Edgar said suddenly and moved away from him, putting some space between them.
"Well, attacking me like that was a bit too much, don't you think?" Silas narrowed his eyes at the short haired boy as he pushed off the tree, his back aching slightly.
Edgar sighed. "Yeah, but you're from West Virginia. I heard they've got those cyborg humans and robots. I heard most of the South of the US have got those things."
"So you thought I wasn't human?"
"Pretty much. But then you've got emotions and you're clumsy and make mistakes and k-"
"I get it." He rolled his eyes and sighed. "I understand what you're trying to say. The cyborgs are still humans but the robots pretty good at pretending, almost to the point that you wouldn't know they aren't humans."
"How do you kn-"
"Trust me, I know. My parents work for the producers. But, enough about that gloomy place called West Virginia, let's focus on the here and now." He placed his arms on his hips and said, "Now, why did you cover my eyes? Who said I wouldn't be comfortable with a naked Wyatt?"
Edgar stared at Silas until his usual cocky smirk came back to his face and he approached the him. "Why would you be comfortable with a naked Wyatt? Aren't I good enough for you?"
Silas sputtered when Edgar caught him against the tree again and he bit his lip, remembering the last time Edgar had been this close to him. Life had been pretty much normal then. The world was futuristic, something the people of the past had only started to create. And then that beast came and everything changed. He only wondered how the other people in the camp were doing.
"I guess you aren't that into me: you just zoned out." Edgar pouted, then started to lean back but Silas caught him by the collar of his shirt and pulled the slightly taller boy down to kiss him.
The second their lips touched, he pushed his lips harder against Edgar's, enjoying the soft feel of his wet lips before pushing him away and covering his mouth. His heart raced faster than he had thought it would and he stared at Edgar's feet, not able to look up at him.
What had he done? Was that kiss necessary? He was probably only teasing him. What if he started to bully Silas? What if he got Benji involved?
Silas' breath got caught in his throat when he saw Edgar step closer to him and he pushed his hands out to stop him. "Nope. Not any closer."
Edgar did stop but he gave him a confused look. "Why?"
Silas couldn't believe he had asked that. Why should he come any closer? He had just kissed him. Wasn't he mad?
He gritted his teeth as he pressed himself against the tree, hoping the tree would hear his prayers and swallow him.
They both stayed quiet and Silas knew he was probably beet red now since Edgar wouldn't quit staring at him. His head only tilted slightly as he met his eyes. Edgar wasn't angry and that confused him. Why wasn't he angry?
"You're pretty confused, aren't you?" Edgar asked, as if he understood Silas' dilemma.
"Why aren't you mad?"
"Because we're the same. I don't see why I should be mad when I liked it."
"Oh."
Edgar smiled. "Yeah." He pushed Silas' hands back to his side and closed the space between them. Edgar cupped his face, stroking his cheeks with his thumb. "Next time when we kiss, please don't push me away. I might get the wrong idea."
"I-I won't." Silas breathed against his lips as they loomed over his.
Silas could feel it, the heat emitting from his body, but the lips he had felt before never came. Opening his eyes, he saw Edgar peering off into the evening glow of the forest. He moved swiftly away from Silas and held a finger to his lips when he started to speak. "Shh," Edgar whispered, then looked back in the direction he had been staring at before.
Taking deep breaths, Silas calmed himself down then quietly walked up to Edgar who was crouched low behind a short bush. He gestured to for Silas to join him on the floor and he quickly did.
"What's up? Why are we hiding?"
Edgar ignored him and closed his eyes. Silas watched him bite his bottom lip and he had to hold back the desire he felt rushing through him. Yeah, what he needed was a good release. Maybe if he had that, his sudden urge to have Edgar would calm down for a while.
"Silas, duck!"
Silas hadn't heard his him when he screamed, but before he could ask what had been said, Edgar pushed him down on ground. Silas sucked in a breath when he saw the black shadow fly over their heads. It was big and wide, and a menacing red eye loomed in the cold, dark entity.
It dashed past them and they stayed low until the creature disappeared further into the forest. Edgar jumped to his feet and scowled. "We need to find your sister and Benji. What the hell was that thing?"
"I don't know. We haven't exactly encountered a monster that isn't behind a cage before." Silas answered, getting to his feet and staring in the direction he had seen the monster disappear into. He glanced at Edgar. "What should we do?"
Edgar made a face which seemed annoyed, and then turned to Silas and frowned. "What else are we supposed to do? Let's go find your sister."
Silas quickly nodded then ran after him, moving his legs quickly to catch up to Edgar. If there was something Silas hated more than all the exercise Ava shoved in his face, it was running. He hated the burn he got in his legs and the way his heart raced as if trying to be at the same speed as he was. Even though he hated it, that had never stopped him because there were times in his life when it was all he could do.
They reached the clearing and Ava whipped around to glare at them, her eyes narrowing dangerously as if she hadn't seen them coming. It seemed to register who was approaching her and she relaxed, leaning her weight on one foot and folding her arms.
"Took you long enough! I was starting to worry."
Edgar slowed in front of her and said between pants, "Well, keep worrying because we just saw a monster."
"What kind of beast was it?" Her eyes widened and she dropped her arms to form fists by her side. "Did you get a good look at it?"
Edgar shook his head and Ava frowned deeply, reaching down to pick up her backpack. He glanced around the clearing then quirked a brow at her. "Where's Benji?"
"Took a walk with Wyatt." She shrugged, adjusting the straps on backpack and acting so lax, as if the thought of a monster didn't freak her out.
Silas furrowed his brows at that.
Why wasn't she scared? Why wasn't she bothered?
"He'll probably be fine. Where did you say this monster went?"
Silas pointed in the opposite direction of where they came from. Because the monster hadn't stopped to go after them, and had flown in a straight line, it was safe to say it already had a destination in mind. If the monster didn't take a detour, it had definitely passed the clearing, but that meant Ava must have seen it.
Ava's eyes darkened and her lips fell into a thin line. "Nothing passed through this clearing. Are you sure it went in that direction?"
"As hell." Silas nodded and that got Ava reacting.
She snapped her gaze to Edgar who had been staring between Ava and Silas and his features pinched before settling as if he had just remembered something. As she took a step closer to him, Ava said, "Can you find Benji?"
"I don't know where he-"
"Not like that." Ava said, making him frown. "Reina told me you were kind of psychic; that you could feel people's emotions. How big is your range?"
Edgar looked confused at her question before his face brightened and he answered, "Not very big."
"Other than the two of us, can you feel any other person?"
Silas watched him tilt his head and his eyes closed, but only for a few minutes. When they snapped open, he turned a ways away from the direction they had ran out from. "I feel three. Two are pretty dandy but the other is dark; I can't wrap my mind around it. However, it wasn't good and it was heading straight for the other two, really fast."
"Let's go." Ava took off, not even giving them a chance to choose if they wanted to stay behind or not.
Silas was all for staying back but if he wanted to fight a monster or whatever they threw at him in that arena, he had to have at least some experience.
...
By the time they caught up to Benji and Wyatt, the monster had snatched Benji by its claws and Silas gasped when the monster's figure finally formed. That was one big bat.
It had deadly red eyes and wrapped its large wings around Benji. Black fur seemed to raise slowly before it relaxed and the creature started to take off, holding Benji by its long claws and spreading its wings. No sooner than it had taken off, was it tumbling back down. Something was wrapped around its neck, holding it down and making the monster hiss.
Benji was on the floor beside it and he was gasping out, eyes wide and frantic. He blinked constantly before a scream tore from his throat and he pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes.
"What's going on?" Edgar looked confused and hesitant. He didn't know whether to approach his friend when the monster was still beside him.
The rope, or whatever it was that held the monster down, seemed to be coming from Wyatt and Silas's covered his mouth in shock when he realized where it started from. Protruding out of his lower back were three slim black tails. One had extended to wrap around the monster who stopped thrashing around and was now snarling and hissing, the other two just swirled around him.
Wyatt's eyes had changed to a beautiful shade of green that fitted him so perfectly that the grey eyes almost looked fake when they suddenly flashed back and he growled, very low and deep.
Another cry came and Silas tore his gaze back to the captured boy, watching him writhe to get away from the monster that had its claws wrapping around his body.
"I can't see! What the fuck is going on? I can't see a damn thing. Get off me!" Benji tried to push at the claws that held him tight but they didn't budge, the monster bared its fangs and tightened its grip on Benji, making him choke. He paled.
"Oh my god, Benji!" Silas could see the desperation on Edgar's face as he stared at his friend, unable to do anything. It pulled at Silas' heart to see him so frightened, and glared at Ava who wouldn't let them get closer.
They had stayed a safe distance from the monster, Benji and Wyatt, so that they wouldn't to get involved in the fight, if it broke into one.
"What the hell is that thing? And why haven't we gone to save Benji?"
"It's a Fang." She hissed, glaring at him for a minute before redirecting her expression at the the Fang in front of them. "It steals the sight of anyone close to it."
That had to be why Wyatt wasn't moving from where he stood at a distance, shooting an icy look at the Fang.
"The only solution that is possible now is that Wyatt keeps the Fang down long enough for Benji to kill it," she suggested, placing her arm on the tree they hid behind which wasn't giving them much cover, but was enough to hide them from Fang.
"Are you crazy? Benji can't see, there's no way he can kill it!" Edgar cursed at her and began to leave, but Ava caught his arm, making him frown. "What? You can't really expect me to stand here, waiting for that thing to eat my friend now, can you?"
"Then what are you going to do?"
Edgar gritted his teeth, eyeing her as she let go of him. He rubbed the area of his arm that she had held then fell silent as if to find an answer to her question. His eyes brightened a minute later and he answered, moving closer to stand beside her, "He could take the Fangs' power. I mean, that's why we're here. Someone could weaken the beast and Benji could take it. It would be an instant death for the Fang, right?"
He stared at her hopefully and Ava turned her attention back to Benji. "That... might just work." She dropped her backpack and fetched two daggers from it. Unlike the ones she had thrown at them earlier, the blades of these daggers were thinner and completely silver.
Standing, she handed it to Silas and he gaped at her."What? Why are you giving it to me?"
"Think of it as part of training. Go over there and slit its throat."
"What?" Now Edgar was angry. "Why? Why him? Have you forgotten the Fang can steal sight? Silas will be going in blind."
Ava didn't even look back at Edgar, she simply pushed the dagger against Silas' chest and he was forced to take it. He held the light object in his hands and stared at it. Although it was getting dark very fast, Silas could still see his reflection in it and he frowned at the weird circles under his eyes. He needed at least one good night's sleep or he didn't think his body was going to last another day.
"You can do it, ninja." Ava snapped him out of his thoughts and he cocked his head at the familiar name he had once called himself. He had always found ninjas cool no matter how wrong they were. Thanks to that, he had always wanted to be one, which was why he endured everything Ava threw at him. "Just observe your surroundings and listen."
Ava gave him a small push and Silas swallowed against the increase beating in his heart as he walked towards the Fang.
"Why did you send him? Why not me?"
Ava clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Oh shut up. It's called favoritism. He's my brother."
The last thing Silas heard was Edgar scoffing before their voices drowned out and Silas stared at the scene before him, noticing where the Fang laid, how far its wings were spread out and where Benji laid. He took countermeasures, mapping details of everything before he stepped into the darkness and froze. He hadn't even reached its wings yet and the Fang had already taken his sight.
He cursed as sounds attacked in his ears, making it uncomfortably hard to focus on anything. At that moment, he wanted to drop to his knees and curl into a ball to block out the sounds of absolutely everything, from Benji writhing further north, to the breath leaving Wyatt.
"What is he doing here? Now he can't see either until that thing is dead."
Silas flinched at his loud voice, nearly dropping the dagger to cover his ears.
"Hold it down!" The sudden blind boy shouted at Wyatt, still focusing on the darkness in front of him, where he had already started to draw up what he remembered. "I'm going to try and weaken it while you, Benji, say the spell."
"Why me?" His voice came out quietly, between sobs.
"Just fucking do it!" He hadn't meant to shout, but he was freaking out and losing concentration. He didn't want to do something stupid, his sister was watching and if there was anything he loved doing back in his realm, it was making her proud. Silas loved the look of pride that beamed from her face when he did something she wanted. Helping Benji get the Fang's power was something she wanted and he was going to do just that.
Silas started forward, pushing down the fear that was oozing through him, and approached the Fang's head. He tried to concentrate on the sounds he wanted, like the snarling and the heavy breathing that came from the monster. He drew close but something felt wrong, he could feel the light shadow of the Fang's wings touching his leg which meant he was much closer to its body than its head. Then suddenly, the feeling was gone and a piercing cry escaped Benji.
What? What was happening to him?
He couldn't see it. All he saw was a massive amount of darkness and it was everywhere. Not even a tiny piece of light shone in there. And it was distracting. Was the beast still in front of him? Had the Fang moved by any chance?
"Silas! Hurry!" His sister screamed and that, for some reason, got his legs moving. "His neck's open now. Wyatt!"
The monster screeched and snarled and Silas quickly determined where the sound came from. This time it had moved because it came from a lot further north instead of right in front of him. He ran to it immediately, before it tried to move again and Ava yelled, "The eyes, it's looking at you. Stab it."
"You say it like it's easy-Wyatt!"
The Fang suddenly jerked and grunted. Silas could feel the frustration coming from it and he sighed, stepping on it's wings and throwing his arms out so they came in contact with its hairy torso. He jumped on it, straddling the beast, and waited for it to stop thrashing. However, that didn't happen and Ava shouted at him to stab it already.
"Benji, are you ready?"
The trapped boy only responded with a sob and Silas took that as a yes before moving closer to where the beast's head was supposed to be. He felt around its chest and moved up until he felt something like skin.
"Ear."
Silas nodded then moved down, trying his best not to get thrown off by the monster. There seemed to be some kind of dip and Silas prayed it was the neck because if he moved any lower, he would be able to touch where the wings came from.
The Fang jerked his head and Silas felt something wet on his arm before the beast jerked again while Silas felt around for the tail he had seen around the neck. He moved his hands quickly and released a sigh of relief when he touched it. Wyatt's tail was soft and slightly hairy but didn't budge when Silas pulled on it.
"What are you doing?" Wyatt asked, his voice sounded between curious and annoyed.
"I'm going to stab its neck and since I can't see, I'll need you to let go of it."
"It'll rip your head off the moment I do. Think of something else."
Silas frowned. He could stab it in the chest but he didn't know if that would hurt the monster enough since the dagger wasn't exactly long like a sword. Slitting its throat was the only thing his mind could come up with.
"Just do it, Wyatt!"
He looked back down at the monster, bringing the tip of the dagger to the monster's throat and drawing it back.
"Now, Wyatt!"
Since Silas couldn't see a damn thing, he waited for the Fang to come at him and it did. The Fang rose its head and screeched, probably widening its mouth and Silas jabbed the dagger into the side of its neck, digging it deep. The Fang choked and something flew past its mouth at Silas.
"Benji, now!"
Silas didn't know if that was Edgar or Ava or even Wyatt. Every sound around him had only heightened and Silas held back a scream as he clutched his ears. The trees rustling in the wind, the sound of an owl hooting, Ava screaming, someone shouting, something crawling. There were sounds everywhere and they hurt. They hurt his ears and he screamed, hoping to overpower the noises that wouldn't stop hurting him.
Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop!
Then, all of a sudden, it did. Pained and in deep need of a good sleep, he felt himself slowly drift away, not caring if he was still in the arms of the monster or not.