Upon reaching home, they went straight to Jaiden's room. Emily talked to his parents, ensuring them that he was fine and was just excited for a sleepover. After explaining what happened, Jaiden and Randy insisted that they should just sleep and talk about it tomorrow. Seeing as they were clearly shaken, Emily and Jean agreed. They had dinner and everything seemed normal. Shortly after, they went to sleep.
In the morning, instead of being greeted by his alarm, Jaiden woke up to Drake's shouting.
"Wake up Jaiden. How long will you sleep?" His voice wavering as if to convey some deeper meaning. It was then that he noticed, the comfort of his bed had been replaced by the cold, hard ground. He quickly got up only to realize that he was in a dark room. It was the same as the basement of the strange hut but something was off. The symbols on the wall seemed old, almost faded, and were now red and purple. In the middle of the room, there was nothing. The book was no longer there. He saw that Randy and Jacob were also awake and were near the ladder leading to the hatch.
"Hey, you're finally awake." Said Jacob clearly getting ready to climb out "Lets get out of here this instant" They climbed up the ladder but instead of the hut's roof, they were greeted by the clear sky. Trees swaying in the wind and the sun shining down upon them. Randy was the first one out and noticed something off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but something was amiss aside from the lack of a hut. The others came out into the sun one by one and started noticing some changes about their appearances, changes not visible in the darkness.
Randy's hair now reached his shoulders with a light shade of brown and his eyes turned blueish. His clothes had changed too. He was now wearing a red shirt with blue skinny jeans, his shoes now black. He felt something amiss about himself but couldn't quite figure it out.
Jacob looked the same with his nerd glasses, black trousers and white shirt. His shoes were now off-white instead of black. His watch was still there but it wasn't functioning anymore.
Drake was very clearly no longer white. His skin had changed to brown and his hair had become shorter, almost looking like a taper fade. His clothes changed to a white tracksuit with black lining. He felt something in his pocket, orange glasses and a working watch.
Jaiden looked the same with his red leather jacket, beige t-shirt, grey pants and black sneakers. However, most of the scars on his face had faded away. He still had them on the rest of his body, his neck scar was still clearly visible. In his pocket, a single blank purple page.
They looked at each other, clearly confused and astonished at the changes, a hint of concern on their faces. No one bothered asking about the changes as they were sure that each of them was just a clueless. After a few quick glances around, they decided to head back towards the town. As they made their way out of the forest, they noticed that the lake was no longer there. Instead, a field of flowers and Poison-Ivy greeted them. It was noon but the trees barely let any light through. Finally, after an hour of walking, they had reached the edge of the forest.
As they had now reached the safety of the town, a single question came to their minds, "Where are Emily and Jean?" Those two were not with them in the room or the forest. Panic and confusion quickly spread between them. Why were those two not here? Where are they? Are they still asleep at Jaiden's house? Questions like these were exchanged but to no answer.
Suddenly Drake spoke up "Guys! Only us four went into the room yesterday. Only we saw what happened there. Emily and Jean never stepped foot in there. Maybe they were unaffected. Maybe they are still at Jaiden's house. It is noon now. We should hurry back. They are probably worried sick about now."
His words were logical. If Emily and Jean weren't with them then they must be back at Jaiden's place. So they decided to go back and possibly explain what happened. As they were going back, they noticed the town was a bit different. It was quiet, too quiet. The shops were closed, roads were empty and the buildings seemed to be in a worse shape. Suddenly a loud sound came from the forest. In they distance, they could see trees falling down like a house of cards.
"Uh guys, you see that? What is going on?" asked Randy, first to notice the trees.
"No idea. That's very strange. I have never heard of any animal capable of doing that. It is most confusing" said Drake, his speech pattern clearly different than before.
"You're talking kinda weird. Anyway, we need to get going. Whatever's in that forest is not our problem" said Jacob. They had just started walking when Randy spoke up again, this time louder with concern in his voice.
"Guys is it just me or is the thing in the forest coming towards us?" They were a good distance away from the forest but they were still struck with fear. The thing was clearly moving towards the town. The ground started to rumble. Panic and adrenaline filled their veins. Suddenly, the trees at the edge of the forest gave way and a huge swarm of something burst through. They were frozen in fear. Their legs had given up and would not move an inch.
"RUN"
A strange voice filled the air. This single word was enough to snap them back to their senses. Suddenly, they could move again. And move they did. They started sprinting towards the nearest building at full speed. They went into a nearby shop and hid behind the counter. The rumbling sound grew louder and the ground began to shake harder. The windows grew dark. Fear filled their soul as the swarm of something ran past them. All of them were praying for it to end, to wake up and realize this was all just a dream but this was reality. After what felt like an eternity, the sound ceased and the rumbling stopped. They looked outside but there was nothing to see. No sign of anything around. The town went silent once again.
"What the fuck was that!?" yelled out Jaiden. But none of them had any answer. They just looked at each other, their faces filled with fear, confusion and worry, a complex mix of emotions. They sat there, just processing what had happened for about 5 minutes.
"Guys, I know we're all frightened and confused. I can tell that you all have many questions in your minds. But we can't dwell here for long." said Randy breaking the deafening silence.
"And what do ya suppose we do? We can't just walk around willy nilly. Not with whatever that was around. Its gone now but we never know when it'll come back" said Jacob almost instantly.
"What do you want us to do? Just sit around here deep in our thoughts? What about Emily and Jean? What about the rest of the townsfolk? What about our families? We haven't another person since we woke up. Don't you think that's strange?"
"That is quite peculiar indeed. But what should we do now? The safety of our friends and family is left unknown. We must do something. Sitting around isn't going to achieve anything" said Drake
"Man you talk weird. You've started talking differently since we got up"
"And so have you. This is concerning to say the least"
This small discussion between Jacob and Drake made one thing obvious. Their speech patterns were different but it seemed natural, as if they had always spoke like that. But they didn't have the time to sit around and think about that. They had to do something. The only question was what.
"Now guys, I know that it may seem like we should split up and look for our families but that always ends up badly in movies. We should stick together and go to one house at a time" said Jaiden.
Normally, it would seem weird for a grown man to use movie logic in real life but considering what had just happened, it didn't seem that foolish. Hence the group steeled themselves for whatever they may find. Thankfully, they were in a store so they picked up some food and started going towards Jacob's house. On the way, they didn't spot a single human or animal. Even birds were nowhere to be seen. It was eerily quiet. Soon they were at his doorstep.
The front door was locked as always. Fortunately, as it was Jacob's place, he had a key. The door frame was rusted and opened with a screeching sound. The rooms had similar furniture and decorations however it seemed as if no one had been there for a long time. Dust covered the whole house, books were falling apart, wood was rotting, clothes were eaten away. Everything other than the building itself seemed to have been greatly depreciated. Jacob looked across his whole house yelling for his family, however it was to no avail. There was no sound except for his yelling.
After 10 minutes of yelling, Jacob finally stopped and broke into tears. The others consoled him to the best of their abilities but suddenly having your whole family disappear was definitely too much for anyone. The others started to lose hope but they still continued on. This repeated at each of their houses. All of the houses seemed fine from the outside but completely wrecked inside, just like the 4 friends walking through this desolate place. Finally, they reached Jaiden's house. It was the last place left they hadn't checked and this was no exception.
It was now dusk. They had spent all day roaming around looking for a single ray of hope but it was all in vain. Now as they sat in an empty room, the whole day raced through their minds. Waking up in a dark room in the middle of a forest, the whole town empty, no sign of humans or wildlife. Despair, anger, confusion, anxiety, fear, their minds were filled with a flurry of emotions. Questions were plenty but answers were no longer extant. "Where is everyone? Why were they in that room? What exactly did they see emerge from the forest? What was happening to them and why?" Among all these questions, a single one arose in their minds simultaneously. When they were staring at that swarm, who exactly yelled 'Run'?
They looked at each other, their eyes expectant of an answer. However, none of them recognized that voice. Their concerns only grew. Who or what was it? And why didn't they reveal themselves later? The tension was growing with the questions. Sitting in that room was suffocating. No longer being able to bear the weight of their own thoughts, all of them decided to distract themselves. Randy went off into the kitchen to make some food. Jaiden went back upstairs to his room to find some stuff. Jacob started cleaning some beds so they could at least asleep. Drake went outside for some fresh air.
Drake noticed that there wasn't much moonlight which was weird. The sky was clear but no stars were in sight. He though it was a bit weird but he paid it no mind and went back inside to help Randy with the food. While preparing the food, Drake mentioned it to Randy. After sometime, the food was ready. They called Jaiden and Jacob and ate dinner. It was a quiet dinner. The quietest they had ever seen.
"I, uh, cleaned a few bads for ya guys. Thought y'all might 'preciate it"
"Ah yes. Very thoughtful of you. You have my thanks"
"Well guys, I think we should just go to sleep. We'll think about all this tomorrow with fresh minds, ok?"
"Ok. Thanks for making the food. It was good"
They all went to sleep but Randy felt a bit off. He was still thinking about what Drake told him. Curiosity took hold of him and he went outside. He saw the same perplexing sight. A clear night sky but no stars in sight. He noticed that the moon also wasn't very bright. Suddenly a chill ran down his spine. He didn't want to believe what he saw. He chalked it up to his eyes playing tricks on him because he was tired but he could've sworn he saw the moon moving, like a big eye.
The night passed quickly. Despite what had happened, they all had a good sleep as if by magic. The morning sun rose above the desolate wasteland of a town. Randy was the first to wake up. He made breakfast and promptly woke up the others. After eating, they all sat down again in the living room to think of what do to next. Suddenly, they heard a voice.
"Hello!!! Anyone awake?!?"
It was a familiar voice, the same voice they had heard yesterday. They instantly ran outside to see a man standing near the gate.
"Ah, so you guys were awake!! Can I come talk for a bit?"
His voice showed no malice. The boys looked at each other, discussing among themselves what they should do now. Drake yelled back "And who might you be, good sir? And why show yourself now?"
"Who me? Well, I would tell you but I'm getting tired of shouting. You guys don't mind if I come in, do you?"
"We don't even know who you are? Or what you are? How can we trust you wont attack us or do something weird?"
"Oh come on. I helped you yesterday, didn't I? I am positive you have many questions in mind. Let's have a nice long talk"
--Chapter 2 end--