Acrilis

Hunted

They stopped close to a bar with a neon sign reading “A Taste of Heaven.” Salvor was breathing heavily while the lady-man seemed unhinged.

“What the f**k was that about?” Salvor almost screamed, staring him down hard while trying to catch his breath.

“What’s f**k?” Acrilis responded innocently.

“That s**t you pulled back there—was that really necessary?” Salvor was trying hard to control his breathing, each drag of air feeling like it might be his last.

“We were being watched… I had to—”

“Watched?” Salvor repeated sharply, his expression screaming really?

Just then, Heliot’s Corolla swung by, and Heliot’s smug face poked through the window.

“Am I missing the party?” Salvor gave him a straight face while Acrilis smiled sweetly and waved.

“Seems your boyfriend isn’t in the mood,” Heliot joked, but the silence that followed was deafening.

“Your girlfriend?” Acrilis inquired with a creased brow.

Heliot brushed it off with a wave of his hand. “Don’t worry, Aera understands. Right now, you guys are the priority. Why don’t you get in? We can resolve this tension with a plate of pancakes and a cold soda. I know just the place.”

Salvor felt he could use a meal. Not long ago, he wouldn’t have imagined being caught in the midst of both euphoria and despair at the same time. He opened the door near the driver’s side, slammed it shut behind him, leaving Acrilis outside, confused.

Seeing the impression that left, Heliot slid out of his seat and did what any gentleman would—he hopped out of his car and opened the door for Acrilis. By now, she had started to read between the lines, entering the car solemnly rather than with her usual buzzing curiosity.

When Heliot re-entered the driver’s seat and cleared his throat gently.

“Salvor, you might need to take a chill pill on this one.”

“Just drive, dammit!” Salvor snapped.

Heliot raised a hand in surrender and started the ignition, pulling the car back into the street.

“I’m sorry… Salvor.” Acrilis’ tender, sonorous voice rang from the back. Apparently, she had shape-shifted back into her angelic figure. Salvor stole a glance at her through the vanity mirror, and his heart melted. She was something beyond beauty. If only she’d…

He hardly completed the thought rummaging in his mind when a Cadillac Escalade-V pulled out from behind them, its engine in full tussle, racing toward them uncontrollably. Heliot’s eyes locked on the rearview mirror, focused on the looming threat closing in.

“What the heck?”

“You think your boy Magnus might be up to something?” Salvor voiced out. The incoming silhouette had caught his attention as he kept his gaze on the mirror.

“That’s not Magnus,” Acrilis called from behind.

Both boys spun their heads toward her, wearing fearful, questioning looks.

“I was right, wasn’t I? You weren’t alone.” Heliot’s voice carried the alarm written all over his face.

“Those are my father’s men.”

“Your father…?” Salvor could barely keep his composure.

“Those?!” Heliot shrieked.

And just like that, seven more exotic cars pulled up behind the Cadillac with screeching tires—all racing toward one objective: them.

“Oh God! We’re so screwed,” Heliot lamented as he snapped his gaze back to the road and stepped hard on the gas, overtaking a bus. The humming roar of the engine drowned through their perturbed minds.

“What does your father want with us?!” Salvor yelled at Acrilis, his voice withering against the noise of the vehicle’s rotors.

“Logic, Salvor! You take an alien’s daughter—this is what happens to you!” Heliot screamed back.

Salvor turned to Acrilis, who remained calm, disturbingly smiling, as though she enjoyed the danger her presence was imposing.

“Hey, lady, you better start talking.”

Just then, the windshield of the leading Cadillac lowered, and a man in a black suit with dark shades peered out.

“Who the f**k is that?!” Heliot howled.

“Auron,” Acrilis responded. Her voice was soothing, yet it transcended over the wind, noise, and turmoil.

“What’s the she-alien saying?” Heliot shouted again. He was beginning to lose focus on the empty road as they neared a stretch of heavy traffic filled with vehicles of all sizes.

The dark-suited Auron suddenly drew a line in the air with his hand. To Salvor’s horrified marvel, a silver bow bearing a translucent, tightly fitted string formed before their eyes—leveled directly at them.

“Oh s**t!”

“What’s oh s**t?” Heliot whipped his neck backward for a moment to catch the unfolding scene. His heart sank. “Oh s**t,” he repeated, almost as a whisper.

“That thing doesn’t have an arrow, right? I mean, we’re safe if—”

Just then, Auron pulled the string back, positioning himself with the precision of a master archer. A golden arrow, sharp and gleaming, emanated at its center.

“Holy mother of—”

“Heliot, watch out!” Salvor cried, gripping Heliot’s hand on the steering wheel and jerking it hard to the left.

The car wheezed past a truck carrying farm products, their rear bumper nearly scraping its taillight. At the same instant, the blurring streak of light slammed into the truck with dazzling speed.

The impact sent the vehicle and its crew spiraling into the air like toys tossed by an unimaginable force. The truck crashed into a row of streetlights, knocking them down like dominoes, tore through a road sign, and scraped against the unforgiving tar before coming to rest against a kiosk.

There was no sign of the passengers—trapped, dead or alive, inside the cabin. The boys could only stare in shock, their bodies too limp for any reaction.

They drove past the wreckage, wide-eyed through the window.

“That could have been us,” Heliot said quietly, fear etched across his face.

Salvor looked back at Acrilis. “Why does your father want us dead?!”

But Acrilis only stared at him with those captivating eyes, leaving his nerves rattled. Salvor snapped.

“Young lady… you better start talking!”

At this point, Heliot was steering through the dense traffic, weaving and swiveling between vehicles with frightening agility. His driving instincts had surfaced under life-threatening pressure.

“My dad doesn’t want to kill you,” Acrilis said gently, still fixing her gaze on Salvor, unsettling him even more.

“I’m sure the nice, cute gentleman with lethal weapons conjured from thin air would strongly disagree,” Heliot barked, skidding left into a new junction. Horns blared behind them as furious drivers halted abruptly.

The assailants followed without hesitation, diving after them like a pack of wolves chasing a lone deer.

“It’s a long story, actually,” Acrilis continued.

“Well, we have nothing but time,” Salvor retorted impatiently.

Just then, a vertical streak of blue light shot past them at dazzling speed. It slammed into a minivan just pulling over by the roadside. The van combusted instantly, bursting into flames.

It coasted to a stop against the pavement, engulfed in fire. Terrified screams echoed, but the boys had no time to witness the c****x of the horror—not when they knew they could be next.

“Forget it… we need to save our heads first.” Salvor peeked out and stared in horror. Just behind them were dozens of black Cadillacs, each with a glowing weapon protruding from its windshield or sunroof. They looked like soldier ants, each one a lantern bearer in the dark. He felt as though he were watching the end of the world unfold before his eyes—an untimed apocalypse wrecking everything in its wake.

Auron, it seemed, had exchanged his bow for a spear. He hurled it through the air, and the weapon seared toward its target.

“Heliot!” Salvor screamed.

The paranoid driver tried to swerve away from the looming doom, but he was too late. The spear soared toward them, dragging all the light of hell with it. Just when they thought their hope was dashed, a police car plunged into the fray and took the hit instead, skyrocketing into the air and bursting into a thousand pieces.

“Sweet Jesus,” Heliot uttered under his breath.

“I’m not sure there’s anything sweet about this, Heliot.” Salvor craned his neck out the window to check the new development, and to his horror—and relief—he saw several police cars joining the chase. “But it seems heaven has joined our cause.”

The street was suddenly filled with wailing sirens. Passersby ran helter-skelter to get out of the road. Within moments, shots ricocheted from the different police cars, the bursts creating a sick metallic rhythm.

“You think the cops can hold them off?” Heliot asked, trying to steal a glance at the chaos unfolding behind them.

Salvor immediately grabbed his shoulder. “Can’t really say right now, but your divided mind won’t save us either. Let me be your eyes.” He turned back to peer out through the window—just as a police car flew right past them, knocking off their side mirror. The impact shook the Corolla violently.

“Jeez! That could’ve been my head!” Salvor screamed.

The catapulted police car crashed onto the road ahead and tumbled before smashing into a van. The collision caused both vehicles to erupt in flames, tumbling down the street and leaving mayhem in their wake.

“This is so bad,” Heliot muttered.

“I’m not sure bad is the word you’re looking for.” Salvor glanced back through the rear windshield, careful not to expose his head too much. To his alarm, the rounds of fired bullets had started again.

“It’s either these officers are utterly dumb, or they’re too loyal and courageous to their line of work—which, I must say, also looks pretty dumb to me.”

He had barely finished when a bullet pierced through their rear windshield, shattering it, followed by a rain of more pellets. The boys immediately ducked down.

“f**k, f**k, f**k! Why are they firing at us? We’re not the villains here!” Heliot ranted.

“At this point, I’m not sure the police recognize the difference between who’s bad or good. To them, whatever isn’t blaring is good enough to be evil.” Salvor raised his head cautiously—and froze.

Heliot’s hands weren’t even on the steering wheel. He was clutching his head in panic.

“Heliot!” Salvor jerked him by the shoulder.

Heliot looked at him, dazed. “What?”

“Who’s driving the car?!” Salvor’s eyes went wide.

“Oh s**t!” Heliot immediately shot up from his crouch and grabbed the wheel, but his dismay grew when he realized they were speeding straight toward a parked car outside a grocery store.

“Oh s**t!” he repeated, his face pale.

“Brace for impact!” Salvor screamed.

The Corolla slammed into the parked car, sending both vehicles crashing into the store. Noise and chaos tore through the street in their wake.

---

It took a minute before the boys regained consciousness. They had miraculously sustained no injuries except for some slight bruises and cuts on Heliot's face, caused by the collision that sent the windshield shattering inward. Acrilis, however, seemed unfazed by the entire episode. She sat calmly at the back, glaring at the boys as if they were broken artifacts. Salvor tried to open the door on his side, but it wouldn’t budge. He heaved his weight against it, only to hear the futility of his own struggle.

"I think we're stuck," Heliot groaned, noting that their car was sandwiched in between the wall of the store they had crashed into. Salvor turned to check on Acrilis and found her smiling.

"What's funny?" he asked, looking sick.

"Everything," she said quietly, staring deep into Salvor's eyes. For once, Salvor felt like springing at her and ramming his head into her beautiful face.

"Salvor!" Heliot snapped, alarm written all over his voice. "Did you hear that?" Salvor froze, listening attentively, but there was no sound. Not even from the patrons of the store who had escaped. It seemed they were completely alone in their plight.

"No, I don’t hear anything."

"Exactly."

Salvor looked past Acrilis and gazed through the broken glass, squinting to get a clear description of what he was seeing.

"Acrilis," he called out, panic edging into his voice. "If there’s anything you can do to help, now would be a good time."

Heliot turned to see what had rattled him, and his heart sank. Standing behind the mall were the black demons, all with their glinting torches aimed at them, preparing to strike. It seemed they had figured out a way to eliminate the scouts in blue and white uniforms.

"We’re so dead," Heliot gulped.

Auron, as usual, stood at the head of his battalion. Perched on the hood of a car, grim behind his dark glasses, this time he held a glowing gun pointed at them—a souvenir, perhaps, from the chaos they had stirred.

"You think that thing fires glowing bullets?" Heliot asked breathlessly.

"I’m not sure I want to stick around to find out." Then he turned to Acrilis, looking desperate. "Please, do something."

She smiled sweetly and raised a finger toward the door. The result was beyond expectation. The door tore free with violent force, crashing straight into the wall. Salvor swallowed hard, trying not to imagine if someone had been standing there instead.

"Thought you’d never ask," she responded, finally stepping out of the car after the brief drama.

What happened next felt like a hyperbolized dream. The soldiers of the black Cadillac unleashed a storm of glowing onslaught, but Acrilis simply raised a hand, and everything froze in mid-air—like a movie paused at its c****x.

"Are you seeing this?" Salvor whispered in awe.

"It’s way better than the movies," Heliot replied, transfixed with excitement.

Then it happened. Acrilis’s eyes shifted, their natural brilliance bleeding into a deep, ancient amethyst-violet—a color that seemed carved from the forgotten dawn of worlds. The glow pulsed, each flicker heavier than thunder, carrying the weight of untold centuries.

Her body began to rise, slowly at first, as if the ground itself were reluctant to let her go. The air tightened around her, humming with an energy that made the boys’ skin prickle. She levitated above the street, her hair whipping around her face though no wind blew.

Then, with a voice unspoken but undeniable, her power answered. A massive surge of light erupted from her chest—white at its core, veined with streaks of violet storm—pouring out like a collapsing star.

The assailants never stood a chance. The glow struck them in a wave, scattering their black-clad bodies as though they were mere shadows dissolving at dawn. The Cadillac buckled inward, windows shattering, metal twisting like foil under the sheer force. The air screamed with the collision of light and matter, and when it was over, silence fell—heavy as ash.

Acrilis hovered for a heartbeat longer, her eyes still glowing, until the storm within her receded. The amethyst dimmed, leaving her gaze dark and unreadable once again. She lowered herself gently, landing with the quiet grace of something more divine than human.

Salvor and Heliot could only stare, the echo of what they had witnessed carved forever into their memory.

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