Beneath the whispers

Chapter 26

The dark night is immediately upon us. It might sound stupid but we left the hotel without coal, the grand reason was that we didn’t want the shadows to notice us before we attacked.

The gust can be strong enough to rip us off our balance or slam us somewhere. But the problem was if they traveled in darkness, wouldn’t it be beneficial to them that we are in darkness? The sudden wild breeze answers my question and I panic

“Don’t you think we are playing right into their hands by walking in darkness?” I ask

“Who had the stupid idea and how the hell did we agree to it?” Tony yells out the very words I kept swallowing. Rose clears her throat and I breathe aloud. Why are we letting Rose play us into our own death?

“Let us get fire, that hut is the closest” Thelma suggests, she had already moved towards the hut without waiting for our response

“I only said we shouldn’t move with it because I noticed that the shadows travel with darkness and if we carry light around, they would avoid us” Rose says in a baby tone and I almost use the ‘awn’ sound. Such cuteness

“That is the very point of survival, we need to be with lamps, so we will be protecting ourselves too. Another thing… we need to spread out” Tony says

“Why?” Rose's voice almost break.

She doesn't like that

“we don’t know where they will choose to attack, we need to be ready on all ground” he adds

“ok, in pairs or one on one?” I ask.

Hoping it is the first

“in pairs, but Olivia will be with me…” he says

“I can talk care of myself” she blurts

“you can, but you are hurt” he insist. Not in the slightest amused

“Olivia, listen to him please” I tap her shoulder hoping she doesn't slap my hand away

“I am just saying that I don’t need him protecting my ass” she says facing me - I don't know how to be thrilled because she just talked to me for the first time and for the nature of our conversation, she doesn't sound annoyed at me. That is a good start

“must you be a bitch all the time” Thelma says in her typical shrill voice and I swallow hard

Heavy breeze swoops past us and we become still by the second listening for whispers, I bend my knees slightly for a firmer stance, darting my eyes through the dim night – thanks to the light from the huts but still no sign of anything moving

A loud squeak grow on the other side of the hotel and the sound of a gust reaches our ears with the cracking medium-pitched voice - probably a man. And without thinking, we set off in a sprint

Doubts cloud my mind as I ran in the direction of the sound. But one thing I know for certain was that this weapon will work against them, but we still needed to leave this place before we run out of deodorants

Our feet slammed on the sandy path with quick succession, crushing dry leaves as our weight rests on our foot for each step

Rose for some reason kept up with her pace even with the heel she had on – that is good news though given that she was allowed to hold the rest of the sprays that we found and she is even with the only other lighter in our possession apart from the one I am holding which meant we cannot risk losing her to the damn shadows

When we arrive at the scene, the screams had subsided, and just like that it was like nothing had happened there. I grunt and lean on the hut nearest to me panting

“This is the exact reason we should split up” Tony voice had frustration dripping from it

“he was right, there might not be another attack tonight. If we saved the person maybe we would have him convince the rest of the village” Thelma chips in, surprisingly not panting

“if only they can just listen to us. These attacks will stop being fruitful for the shadows” I say

The leaves of the tall plants rustle around us and we freeze again, the sound of panting and someone running reaches us. I look around trying to find where the person is coming from

“help me! They want to take me!” a middle-aged man hurried towards us

I hurried to him but the gust snatches me off my feet and the next thing I know, I am slamming the floor several feet away and my vision blur from hitting my head on the tree trunk behind me. I shake my head to clear up my vision, clutching my head and grunting in pain

I see my friends running towards me – why are they running towards me instead of protecting the villager? The whispers cloud my hearing and I panic, looking for my lighter and I grab on my deodorant spray, aiming at anywhere I hear a different noise

The whispers grew loud and the gust of wind swayed around me violently and the lighter drops from my hand, panicking I break into a sprint towards the direction I last saw my friends rushing from

I collide with someone and we both go crashing on the floor. Ugh – I rub my head again and open my eyes. It is the middle-aged villager

I held my breath and grab his hand, pulling him after me in a sprint but he struggles to keep up with my pace slowing us both down

I need to find Rose, she is the only one with the other lighter and like the big fool I am, I lost mine before I was even able to use it

For some reason, the old man had initially escaped the gust and they still wanted to take him, I search through the commotion of the wind for Rose but still no site of anyone

Suddenly, the man’s feet leave the floor and he begins to float. I grab him still, now pulling on him instead of running but to no avail. Grunting I put the spray back into the big top pocket and add that hand to the grip, pulling the best I could at him

A cold hand runs through me again and I panicked but I still don’t let go. Next thing I know, my feet are losing their strong frictional hold to the rough ground and my weight shifts from my legs. adrenaline gushes through me and I almost lose my grip on the man

“Please don’t let them take me” the man yelled but I had no strength left in me to reply to him, I feel myself lifting from the ground but before the edge of my shoes completely leaves the floor, a bright flash of fire flares through the gust and in an instance it disappears with a deafening shriek and we both drop clutching onto our ears

“that thing sure felt the sting hard” Tony's voice grows from the silence after the shriek and he is jogging towards me.

My heart fell and I stretch my hand for a hug but instead, he pulled me up and locks his lips into mine. His hands fist on the cloth by my waist tugging me closer to him “and still you scare me again”

“What just happened?” I ask

“We succeeded in intercepting one of the shadow attacks on the villagers?” he declares with a bright grin. Smiling, I peck him on his lips and hug him again

“I was going to fire that filthy gust and you just snatched my lighter from me” Rose complain with the stance of a child, her pleasant her pitched voice soothing the shrill atmosphere left by the gust

“Who made you hold the second one, you were literally fidgeting” Tony’s eyes flared

“at least I didn’t lose my lighter” she cuts her gaze at me but instead of a reply like she would have hoped, I drop my head – where exactly was I when I lost the lighter? we need to find it

“I need to find my lighter”

“we will come for it in the morning” Thelma says

“they might take it, I have seen things disappear a lot of times and I am not willing to lose the lighter too” I insist

“she is right, you guys should lead him home and head back to the hotel. I will stay with Bella” he hands Rose the lighter back but Thelma snatches it away from her and Rose makes frustrated baby grunts at Thelma – that was cute by the way.

We turn away from them and head further away from the hotel searching through the fallen leaves and sand for a sign of the lighter

Tony rips out his tiny torch and I am relieved – I sure as hell did not know what it was I was doing looking for something that tiny in the dark night