ENTER ELIJAH WILSON

  Zion, I promised I'd protect you. I’m sorry…

  “You get your rest. I’ll carry you buddy….” I whispered in his unconscious ears as I picked him up into my arms. Glaring past the destruction around me, I could see an exit, a door, a way out of this wretched room. I began to limp my way across the room as I coddled Zion. I’m so tired… but I have to keep going for his sake.

  The more I walked towards the door, a wet liquidity feeling started to flow into my damaged shoes. Positioning my eyes down, not wasting the energy to move my entire head, I spotted a pool of blood grow more in the size the further I traverse through it.

  I stopped and just stared off into the distance. Not a single shred of a thought behind my eyes. The pond of blood, the mass massacre of bodies scattered around, the mound of fatigue, the mental diminishment, it was all a means to an end. Nothing matters but the path ahead of me, the direction towards the door.

  I continued onward, the pool of blood reached just above my ankles, the feeling was cold and murky, like walking through a muddy puddle. The farther I got the more eyes I could feel gazing upon upon us like prey, it was a dangerous feeling. If there was something there, something watching… could it be the students? Their dangerous vengeful wills maybe? Or… Could it be… Her?

  Before I knew it I'd already been standing in front of the door for the past couple of seconds. I must’ve spaced out halfway through. Regaining my bearings to the world around me, I took a deep breath before clutching the handle of the door, swinging it open. A bright light clouded my vision before adjusting and taking in a sight I've become accustomed to over these past hours. A hallway.

  “....Where to next?” I turned my head behind me to see the now blank canvas of a wall, the door no longer present. I turned to stare at Zion, releasing a faint smile before setting off down the long narrow hallway. Lockers filled the two walls around us. The bright, patterned floor was a much better terrain to walk over then. The ever extravagant white color was still a sore sight for the eyes. It’s like staring at a light you have to constantly adjust your eyes for, it really makes them itch.

  I don’t know how much of this we can take. If we keep moving like we do now, there’s no telling what we might run into next. This place isn’t a school, but I don’t think we can just simply call this a ‘PLACE,’ either.

  The door we used to enter the auditorium vanished without a trace, all the entrances the students entered through disappeared like they were never there. And just now, before, the door we entered the hallway through, gone. It’s moving, this place.

  How long have we been here? Maybe a few hours. In just those measly few hours, I’ve had my body broken in every single scenario we’ve encountered. As far as I'm concerned it could be anything we run into next. We can’t predict, nor avoid what we run into. It’s a frightening process for our escape. Strange architecture, dangerous monsters, and a weird human that radiates the presence of a God. That woman wasn’t human… ‘Judge.’

  That’s what she said right…? Judge can mean a lot of things. For example, the judge of what exactly? If she wanted to kill us, she very much could have at any moment. Why wait? There has to be a reason for the cause in her delay. But with such a display as hers, the show she put on. What could be the deeper meaning then that?

  I’m going in circles, there’s no point in trying to comprehend a dead foe. We defeated her. Gone and dealt with. Right now I should be focusing on trying to learn more of our own strengths.

  “Zion…” his power… what happened?! I didn’t get to see much, it was happening way too fast for me to keep up. Not to mention I had to focus on closing my own wounds. I remember seeing him crushing her on stage. It was a pretty gruesome thing to witness, she splattered into pieces. Some of her blood even covered the students who were sitting in the front row. Then she reappeared… grabbed me and sent another one of those cuts across my chest again. That… surely ended me? I couldn’t have healed that… These powers… I feel like my brain is gonna pop right out of my head! This goes against the laws of nature! It’s just… it’s just not practical!

  I let out a sigh in frustration. I could feel Zion turn his head in his sleep. Hopefully he’s having a good dream.

  When I was healing him for a second time I could see something strange inside of him. Like a shadow illuminating faintly from the inside of his body. It was like I was seeing through another world. That… thing, she said it had something to do with my aura… my body’s energy? That’d be a good guess. It also explains how my body was able to move like it did against that other monster. So far what I’ve been able to do… I can use it to enhance my physical body and to heal wounds, others included. When I heal someone else, it must give me the ability to see other people’s energy, though only faintly. Actually that might’ve only been because of the state that Zion was in prior to me healing him. He was on the verge of death, so his energy must have been fading… So in drawing out my own aura I can also see the auras of others. But her… hers was nothing like mine.

  I couldn’t see them at first, her slashes. But after the one she did on Zion’s hand, I could see a faint glow from her attack. It looked like particles. …Was that her ability? No, that might’ve just been the energy behind the attack that I was seeing. That little energy? If it was so weak, how could it have done all of that? And the way she survived Zion’s attack, it was as if it didn’t even phase her… wait… her blood! Her blood… the splatter, it disappeared once she reappeared! As if she never even died. The large crack in the surface of the stage was repaired as well, and the blood and bits of her that showered the audience was cleaned up. That was not a human… I refuse to believe it was. A demon though? I can hardly believe that fairy shit either. But that siren or whatever… that could be categorized as the same damn thing.

  I feel like she could’ve killed us instantly if she wanted to. The weird game she was playing, that play. Why did those stairs lead us there? Are there more people like her here in places like those?

  I don’t know how we’ll survive another encounter. What else could be lurking in the shadows of this place? We need to get to the others. How many times have I said that now? I’m tired… I'm really tired.

  I’m tired of having to heal injuries with nothing to show for it. That auditorium led us nowhere but to an attempt at an early grave. We’re still as ignorant to this mess as when we first got here!

  If I wanna protect Zion, I'm gonna need to be more ruthless. There’s no humans here besides us. Demons… yeah demons… that’s what they are. Anything without similarities to us, should be… killed without hesitation.

  Killing… Kill…?

  Could I kill someone like her? Could I kill someone at all? I killed that Siren, but that wasn’t a human? …Does that make killing any more justifiable? They're monsters, even that woman.

  Eliza… What should I do…?

  I’m scared… This is different from a date with you… or when we’re studying for an exam. This is an even more difficult matter. One I don’t think I can do.

  I couldn’t do anything but watch. I tried to act like I knew what I was doing with these abilities. I now know that I don’t… that I was naive… that I failed… If I could’ve healed myself faster, if I could’ve just seen how her attack worked then maybe, just maybe… he wouldn’t have had to endure any of that. He’s able to use one now but at what cost?

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  I should’ve planned ahead for a threat like that. I knew this place wasn’t normal yet I took no extra precautions. I’m supposed to protect them. Why was this strength given to me if not for that purpose? How am I gonna do it though? They’re my brothers, I’ve always tried to look out for them and keep them safe… but how am I gonna protect them all if I don’t even know where over half of them are? How am I supposed to grow stronger if all I can do is get my ass handed to me, only to then be stuck healing myself…

  “Eliza, what am I gonna do-”

  Stupid…

  I’m stupid…

  At the very least, maybe I should try to practice using it while I walk, that’ll help my body get a better feel of it. Yeah, that can work, maybe. Keep working Eli. Keep. Working.

  “e-Eli…”

  I turned my head to see a drowsy Zion. His face suggests he got some much needed rest.

  “Good morning- well, whatever time it is.”

  “You can put me down now, please. Thank you for carrying me. I’m sorry you had to.”

  I let go of his legs letting them touch the ground as I helped him stand up straight.

  “Of course man. You sure you wanna walk? We can rest.”

  “No… I'm fine. You healed me after all, so I'm able to keep moving.”

  “Okay…”

  The silence was loud. It felt like I could hear my heartbeat echoing through the hallway. Are we just… gonna pretend like none of that happened?

  “Hey, we can stop and talk about it for a moment. You probably have way more to process then I do. Sh- she did a lot of terrible things.”

  He looked past me, not acknowledging my words of empathy. The air of dread swirling around was like a cloud of darkness.

  “You said we just got to keep moving forward, right?”

  “y-Yeah.”

  “Let’s just keep moving then. It’ll be bad if more guards come.” He started to walk forward while looking back at me to see if I was gonna start walking as well. “The longer we wait around, sooner or later she’s gonna reappear again, and when she does…”

  He didn’t keep speaking, only making the distance between us greater as he walked off ahead. Not wanting to be left behind, I followed him without further questioning.

  “O-okay…”

  I wish I could do more than just walk beside him. I can’t press him to talk to me right now. I can’t do anything right now besides wait. …I’m sorry.

  We’ve been walking for a while. Nothing noteworthy besides a few locked janitor closets. I think that’s what they are anyway. One thing I have noticed though is that all the lockers have numbers on them above the handles. “638,245…” That is not giving me good faith right now. There was also a very out of place mirror, it was about six feet tall, my height. I didn’t really get to study that all, with Zion walking along without a drop in pace. Maybe it was a good thing. We don’t have time to deal with a potential mirror demon.

  But luckily, I think I’m starting to get the hang of my ability. When I close my eyes, I start to focus on my surroundings and then… I start see to strange, glowy figures floating around through my dark field of view. Myself and Zion included except what I see between our auras and the surrounding energy around us are two different things.

  When I look at our energy I can almost see a glowing outline of our bodies. It shows me places where vitals would be, that stuck out to me the most. Each of them are connected like roots stretching off into the next one. When I was healing Zion, I was able to see his heart, but not exactly see it, I saw its energy, its root. My theory isn’t exactly a longshot, it’s a pretty good guess in my opinion. This power is still something I can barely explain, but the feelings it gives me when I use it, I trust it.

  It’s all confusing. Am I gonna have this for the rest of my everyday life? This is really something I can do… I don’t by any means hate it. The more I use it, the more and more comfortable it makes me feel inside this place. I feel strong when I use it. Even when I’m losing, it gives me an extra edge of hope to keep moving. It gives me a sense of security. I won’t be able to be backed into a corner so easily as before now. I have a way that allows me to keep fighting through pain and bloodshed.

  “Do you… have any idea what you’re able to do.” I said to him trying to see if he’s open to converse.

  He was silent at first, but he turned towards me and started to think. “I’m not exactly sure. It all happened in such a short interval of time. I do feel different. My body feels weird, oddly light...” He sounded confused.

  “What do you mean? Try trusting that feeling, maybe you’ll be able to draw more of it out.”

  “Draw it out… hmm…” He stopped walking and stood up firm and straight. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

  A couple seconds passed, nothing about his body stood out apart from constant clenching of his fists.

  “Well?”

  He let out a sigh before opening his eyes. “Nothing…”

  A glimmer of light made its way across Zion’s entire body before vanishing. He tried to take a step forward to walk but suddenly lost his footing. His body lifted up from the ground like a stray balloon. He began floating.

  “Wa-woah! What the-?!”

  “You’re floating!”

  Well he kind of looks like a person who you throw into a pool who doesn’t know how to swim. It looks like he’s drowning in midair as he flung his limbs in panic.

  “Don’t let me fall! What the hell is this?! …Why did my body glow?!?” He started to touch his body, examining himself. He looked at me with disbelief in his eyes but shortly was overcome with joy. “I KNEW I HAD THEM! SAME AS YOU! HAH! YES!”

  Woah. I was not expecting that reaction, but it's a welcome one. A relief actually. “You can float like me? What else can you do?”

  I walked closer to him, examining him while he floated. He didn’t seem to be getting any higher or lower. He was floating just slightly above my neck. Inspecting him even further I started to see him glowing purplish flame around his abdomen. Is that his energy from before?

  “Do you see yourself glowing?”

  “What? No… am I?”

  “Hold on…” I’m able to see his aura way more vividly now. It’s intense… I feel like I could grab onto it.

  I reached out attempting to grab the source of energy emitting from his body. When my hand reached it, it felt hot… unstable… like a pot overflowing with boiling water.

  “Eli, get back… stop… touching… me…!”

  My entire body came crashing down face first into the ground. The force was strong enough to crack the ground. My body felt like a large weight had just been dropped on it. The pressure was immense and continued with the same constant force. I couldn’t move a single muscle in my body.

  “ACK-”

  “Holy- nonono i’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that!” He screamed, trying to stop what he’s doing to me.

  “... gahh… eugh…”

  “Are you okay?!”

  I don’t feel that immense weight on my body anymore. I lifted my head and started to gasp for air.

  “Eugh… I'm… fine…”

  He leaned me against one of the lockers so I could gather my bearings.

  “I’m sorry! I thought I was gonna crush you… Do you need to heal yourself?”

  “Ugh… just a… sec…” I was lucky. Beside slight pains running through my body, the only real thing I sustained was a bloody nose. “I think my body is getting stronger… goddamn…”

  “I’m sorry it’s just when you grabbed me, well you didn’t necessarily touch me, but whatever you did. It made my skin crawl. My body started to scream and it just reacted on its own.”

  I didn’t touch him physically? Was it because I touched his aura? Was that not it…? Was there something else I touched?

  “I don’t know why, but it felt like you were attacking me… I know you wouldn’t but… It just felt that way, and my body reacted on its own. I’m sorry…”

  “No… it’s okay. At least now I have a pretty good idea on what your power might be.” I let out a wide grin across my face.

  “What is it! Tell me!” The anticipation was nearly starting to kill him.

  “All the evidence would suggest gravity. The floating, the crushing, and what happened with the auditorium. That might be it… could be wind actually, no, would’ve felt a breeze.”

  “Woah… that’s… so cool.” Stars filled his eyes. The discovery of his new found power was an amazing revelation to be excited about.

  I don’t blame him for the way he’s acting right now. This is damn near every person’s fantasy. Suddenly awakening and discovering that you have powers.

  “We can’t say for sure though, hell it could be telekinesis- actually that’d probably take a more deep level of concentration, and I doubt you would’ve been able to lift yourself. Nevermind carry on with your amazement. I’ll quiet my head.”

  “You’re smart sometimes Eli.” He started chuckling to himself.

  “Sometimes-?!”

  We’ve been here for far too long. The walls started to glow and open up from all sides. Guards began to pour out like wildfire, surrounding us. The sound of their legs scraping across the floor filled the hall in its entirety.

  I got up from the floor, wiped the blood from my nose, and readied my fists.

  I could tell Zion wasn’t ready for another encounter so soon. He’s shaking and still crouched on the ground where I was laying.

  “It’s okay if you can’t fight right now. Get behind me if you need to. …I swear I'll protect you…” I wish I could have a more confident tone in my voice, but this many in such a cramped space… this is trouble.

  He stared at me before standing up beside me. Shaking his head before turning to face the guards, “I… I’m gonna fight too…!”

  I let out a big grin on my face. He put his fists up like me readying himself to fight. We stood back to back, each staring down at the dozens of guards we were faced with.

  “It’s about time we took the offensive!”