The wind made my eyes water, howling in my ears. Time seemed to stop, but also seemed to be speeding past a million miles an hour. I steeled my lungs as I plunged into the water. The first thing that hit me was the sensation of sinking deeper into the water. The next was the temperature. It was absolutely frigid. I cried out from the shock, all of the air escaping in tiny bubbles, floating helplessly to the surface. The last thing was the immense pressure weighing down on me. It was suffocating me, pushing me further and further under the water. Oh, well. Now I know that it’s deep enough. A little too deep. I kicked my feet, trying to get to the surface. My lungs were on fire. My shoes were waterlogged, dragging me down. I squeezed my eyes tighter as I pushed off my shoes. At this point, I was grabbing at the water, trying to crawl my way up. I had no idea which way was up. How long had I been underwater? Thirty seconds? A minute? An hour? All measurements of time were lost to me. I felt something wrap around my hand, pulling me forward.
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I broke the surface, my oxygen deprived lungs gasping for air. Someone pulled me to the edge of the pool, letting go of me once I was safely out of the water. I wiped the water from my eyes, blinking and coughing. There was a person kneeling next to me, a baseball bat laying discarded at his side. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Can you hear me?” I nodded, propping myself up on my elbow and looking around. The two other people were holding Logan against the wall. Logan was looking at me, his eyebrows knitted together and a frown on his face. “Are you sure you’re okay? You were under for a good fifteen, twenty seconds.” Only fifteen seconds? It felt like an eternity. “Yeah,” I said, my voice scratchy. “Yeah,” I said again after clearing my throat. “I’m okay. Um. What are you doing to Logan?” The guy looked behind him to his friends, who were still holding Logan back. “You know the killer?” he asked me, gesturing to Logan. “A, he’s not a killer. B, he’s my brother, so watch your mouth,” I said, climbing to my feet. My knees felt like jelly, but I stayed standing. “Okay, man. Chill,” he said, raising his hands in mock surrender. “I literally just saved your life. No need to come at me about some kid.”
“He’s not just some kid,” I spat. “His name is Logan. He’s my brother. So back off.” I pushed past him and walked towards Logan. “Did they hurt you?” I asked, still separated from him by the other two guys. Logan shook his head. “Good,” I replied, adrenaline pumping. “Now can all of you leave us alone? I want to talk to my brother.” Baseball bat guy picked up the bat, walking towards me. “I don’t think we’re going to do that, actually. Let’s see if it runs in the family, shall we, boys?” The two other guys started laughing and hooting, brandishing their weapons. “Elias, don’t do anything. Just leave them alone. I’ll be fine,” Logan said, ducking out of the way as baseball bat guy swung the bat at the top of his head.
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“Hold up,” Baseball bat guy said. “You… you’re Elias?” I nodded slowly. “Oh. Alright guys, let’s go,” he told his friends. They dropped their weapons and released Logan. Then the three of them started walking away, towards a path that led down the mountain. “Wait a second,” I called after them, taking a few steps closer. Baseball bat guy turned around while the other two kept walking. “What’s so special about me?” I asked. He smiled, placing the bat over his shoulders. “Well, you see, Elias, your brother is a demon. He’s a murderer, a killer. But you, you’re Reaper. And personally, I would rather walk out off the mountain alive, rather than beaten to a pulp by a rampaging monster with anger issues.” I clenched my fists, trying to talk myself out of doing something I would regret. “Why were you guys even up here? What were you doing to Logan?” I asked calmly.
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He smiled, pretended to hit a ball with the bat, then said, “We were up here for Logan. We’d been following him for a while, and wanted to catch him. He’s a demon, like I said earlier. The demons are a plague on our society. They should all be killed. Destroyed, whatever. I don’t really care what happens to them, as long as they are gone. My friends and I were just doing our part by helping to get rid of them.” He started slowly walking towards me, but stopped. “I’m going to get going. I don’t want any trouble, Elias. Maybe you guys should be more careful when going outside. Not every group is going to run because Reaper shows up.” I shifted my weight to my other foot. “Well, maybe they should,” I said quietly. “What?” he asked. “I said, maybe they should run.” Like Jade said. Become someone to be feared. Baseball bat guy and I were close to each other now. Only a few feet were between us. No problem. I lunged forward, driving my hand into his stomach. He doubled over, clutching his torso. “Wow,” he said, coughing harshly. “I seriously overestimated you.” I punched him again, this time in the head, and he crumpled to the ground. “Elias!” Logan shouted. “What did you do?” I rubbed my hand. I did not think about how much that would hurt. Logan stepped up beside me. “Did you… did you kill him?” he asked. I shook my head. “No. He’s still breathing. Give him a minute or two and he’ll be on his way. I doubt his friends are going to come looking for him.” Logan looked over to me. “Elias, you can’t just… That’s not… You can’t do that!” My face dropped. “What do you mean? I just saved your life. Those guys were going to kill you.”
“Well, maybe they should have!” he shouted. I coiled back in shock. “You know what I am. I’m a monster. They were doing the right thing. The Elite gave the order earlier today. The fighting is over. The only people who still have to die are the demons.” A thousand questions rushed through my head. I didn’t let my mind come to rest on any of them. Instead, I said, “Well, you can tell the Elite to back off, and leave you alone. Because the fighting isn’t over until we win. And you, my brother, are going to help. Come on.” Logan didn’t move, so I grabbed the fabric of his shirt and dragged him along with me.
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At the side of the cliff, there was a steep path leading up to the place I’d been standing before. I wished I had noticed it earlier. Still dripping, Logan and I trudged up the path. I looked around for the door. It was gone. “What are you doing, Elias?” Logan asked. I ran my hands along the wall. Nothing. “There was a door. In the mountain. It led inside, that’s how I got out here. I promise, there used to be a door, a few minutes ago.” He nodded and sat down against the wall. “Let me know when you find it,” he said sceptically, resting his head in his hands. I stuck my tongue out at him, running my hands along the rock. There had to be something. I started knocking on the rock softly. Everything sounded the same. Except for one small potion. It sounded hollow. I got the best grips on the rock as I could and pulled. A portion of rock flew away from the rest of the mountain, moving smoothly on hinges. “Hey, Logan,” I said. He raised his head slightly. “I found it.” He climbed to his feet, mouth open. “Oh. Wow. There’s a door in the mountain.” I nodded. “Yeah. Are you going to come through?” He walked through the door into the base, and I followed, closing the door tightly.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwNYJzKReM
