| Chapter 5 |
“So, uh, you still haven’t told me why I’m here, exactly,” Kammie started, but Scarlet immediately answered, “We have theories, of course, but nothing is set in stone yet,” ‘And… What are those theories?” Kammie pushed, wondering why Scarlet was hesitating.
“Well, I think that the shadows are after you, whether in your world or ours, I don’t know. I think they moved our barrier so that you would walk through it, and I think that you will be in danger until you leave this area. They made themselves angry on purpose, so that you would have to face them. So that people would look at you and glare, because it was all your fault,” Scarlet whispered. “What? So this is all my fault?” Kammie gasped, but Scarlet shook her head. “No, no, no. Quite the opposite. It is their fault you are here, but people will blame you for their misfortune, which is why you need to ignore them, and help us and them just like you have been,” “But… basically, everyone will hate me even if it’s not my fault, and I can’t stop them, and my trip here will be a nightmare, and on top of that, I have to handle this alone, because I can’t tell my mom, and–” “No, no, no, no, that’s exasperating. What really will happen is you will be hated for a bit, and then you will be a hero for saving everyone. You can’t be in control of everything, little one. You can only fix so much. They have to fix the rest.” Scarlet said, as they walked through the dark streets of empty Nonexistent County. Suddenly, Hestia started whimpering. “What happened!” Kammie asked, rushing to her side as Ig gently rocked her in his arms. “What happened?” Kammie asked again, anxiously. “I think she got attacked by a shadow,” was all he could get out. “What? But-but she was with us the whole time, right? I didn’t see a shadow!”
“That’s just it. You can’t always see them. They can shapeshift into anything they want, kind of like Elements, but all of them have the same scary talent. Hestia was running ahead, and it’s so dark here, I’m sure one of them smelled her and attacked.”
“Wait, you said that slug slime heals any major injury, right? Maybe it will help Hestia?” Kammie asked, smearing some on her hand. “Where did it happen?” “On her leg, right her,” Ig showed her. By this time, Scarlet, Cyra, Sunniva, and the rest of the triplets had made it over, along with Fiammetta and Seraphina. “What happened?” Scarlet asked, as Seraphina gasped, and Sunniva’s fiery mouth dropped. “Oh my flame, she got bitten!” Fiammetta cried, dropping to her sister’s side. “We need to get her out of here, and quickly. The shadows around her are going to seep into her wound, and that will make the bite even worse,” Scarlet instructed, “ Ig, take the triplets and get Captain Andrew to sail you back to Element Township,” she said, but Ig shook his head. “It’s been destroyed by Dark Shadow, there will be nothing to come back to,” he explained, and the color drained from Scarlet’s face. “She’s not going to make it much longer,” Cyra said, pointing to Hestia’s leg. Kammie gasped. It was a blue-gray color, and it had stiffened greatly. “We can’t carry her out of here, because there is nowhere else to go. It will take too long if we take her with us, and there would be no point. She’s not going to make it to the end of the trip.” Scarlet suddenly started to cry. Kammie let her lean on her shoulder as Ig bowed his head, tears streaming down his face. Cyra, Sunniva, the twins, Faimmetta, and Seraphina wept, and they stood there for hours, clinging to each other. Kammie helped as best she could. She made dinner, and helped get everyone to an early bedtime. She carried Hestia over to a piece of dry dirt, and buried her with a blanket.
…
Kammie woke up to see Scarlet’s head resting on her lap. She stirred, and soon she woke up. “What-where-who-” “Calm down, calm down, we need to get going. Wake up the others,” Kammie instructed, and soon they were ready to go. “Where, where is Hestia?” Scarlet asked, but reality came too quickly for Kammie to explain. “It’s okay, it’s okay, we’re gonna get through this,” Kammie willed herself to think that too. Scarlet hiccuped, and repeated, “We’re gonna get through this,” and that became their group chant as they walked through the dark streets. “We need to go somewhere safer. We can’t lose anyone else. We need to get through Nonexistent County, because after we cross their border, there is a cave we can rest at, until Dark Shadow passes,” Scarlet whispered, and Kammie nodded that she understood. They walked all day, only resting for a meal before hurrying off. “We’re almost there,” Kammie said, sighting a gray splotch not far ahead. “Good,” Scarlet said, and Kammie could tell that she was tired. She was still recovering from Hestia’s loss, and she couldn’t imagine what Scarlet was feeling. They finally half dove, half collapsed into the cave. The floor was covered in sand, and over all, the cave was about as big as a house. They set their stuff down, and groaned. “I’ve been waiting for hours for this moment,” Kammie said, and then they all rolled onto their backs and fell asleep.
…
They woke up to the sound of, well, nothing. There was absolutely nothing to hear. Or do. They spent the day crying, sleeping, or eating the last few apples that were left. “We’ll need some more food soon. I’m going to go look for some, you keep watch on the kids,” Ig said, standing up on wobbly legs. “Hey, we’re not ‘kids’! We’re mature teenagers!” Sunniva protested, but Ig only waved a hand at them, as if to say, Whatever, so Kammie and the twins played with the sand, while Cyra and Sunniva paced the side of the cave trying to find out what to do with their mother, who lay collapsed and was clearly exhausted. Their words were murmured, but Kammie tried to pay attention to what they were saying.
“Maybe we–mumble mumble –”
“Or that –mumble mumble –”
“But we can’t do that because –mumble mumble –”
And then they suddenly started fighting.
“This is all your fault!”
“No, you –mumble mumble –”
“Hey, I thought we could –mumble mumble – but you told me to –mumble mumble –”
“This isn’t my fault! I thought we could–mumble mumble –”
Kammie rushed over, and separated them. “Hey, calm down. We’re all in this together, and we can’t be if you keep fighting with each other,” She said, but Sunniva glared at her. “You’re just a kid, Kammie, you wouldn’t understand,” she said, and gave Kammie a hard shove. “What’s wrong with you!?” Kammie shouted, backing away. “Nothing, okay? Go away,” Sunniva said, turning away. “Not until you tell me why you’re acting so weird!” Kammie shot back. “I’m not acting weird! Maybe you should go and knock your head against the wall, and then you’ll get the facts straight!” Kammie stumbled back, shaking her head. This wasn’t right. But Kammie didn’t just give up. She ran straight at Sunniva, her hands out. Bam! “Owwwwww…”
The sneer-y tone in Sunniva’s voice was gone. “Are-are you okay?” Kammie asked, slowly approaching her friend. “Yeah… But man, Kammie you can push hard. What was that all about?” a shaky voice gasped, before pulling itself up. “I–you-you were saying mean things, and you pushed me, and so I just–” “Pushed me back?” Sunniva asked, striding forward. “Yeah…” “Sorry. My mind went blank, and my body moved before I knew what was happening…” Cyra gasped. “What?” Kammie and Sunniva asked together. “You-you’re-” Cyra fell to the floor. “You-you’re- when you feel like that, it’s a sure sign you’re being controlled. Mind controlled. By a shadow.”
“What?!” Kammie and Sunniva gasped, this time in horror. “First Hestia. Then you. We’ll be lucky if nothing else bad happens-” Cyra was just about to finish when a yell and a thud came from the door of the cave. It was Ig. “Papa!” Cyra screamed, hurrying to his side. “Dad!” Sunniva cried, rushing to the lump. “Ig!” Kammie yelled, running to where they were. “One thing after another…” Cyra grumbled. “He’s been hit by something…” Sunniva whispered. Scarlet suddenly came up next to them. “You’re awake!” Kammie said, relieved. Maybe she could help them understand what was going on. Scarlet ignored Kammie.
“The shadows must have snuck into the cave at night. There are three types of shadows: normal, common shadows, Dark Shadow, and investing shadows. Investing shadows affect us and others in a different way than Dark Shadow. (1) They are smaller, and sneakier. They can go through anything, and squeeze through any crack. This makes it hard to defeat them. (2) They make us angry, sad, mad, or even hurt us. They are dangerous and should be avoided.”
“So… How do you defeat the shadows?” Kammie asked, because after all, how could you defeat something that could go through anything? “No one knows. All we know is that you can defeat them.” Scarlet whispered. “It’s your job to destroy them. The shadows made one mistake in bringing you here,” “And what is that?” Kammie asked, bewildered. “You are the only one who can fix this.”
Look for Chapter 6 later in the week for more about Kammie!