Summoner: The Book of Dimension

68 The True Look

The pieces of the phone were broken into pieces that Peter wasn’t sure if it would still work for repair. He still placed it inside his bag, though, in case it would still be possible to repair it.

The shadow monsters shouldn’t care for a phone. His guts were telling him that it sure held a piece of possible evidence. Whoever asked the shadow monster to destroy it, whether it was Emma or another person, that crucial evidence will definitely point to that person.

That person didn’t want to get exposed, that was why. Another thing was, maybe that person could be holding the key to a bigger revelation.

Peter turned around to everyone. “You guys probably saw what happened. So I dare you guys if you still wanted to leave this freaking mansion without waiting for the sunrise. If you want to die quickly, go outside. But I doubt you guys want that quick death, do you?”

No one spoke. Two of the attendees walked to a corner and vomited. They couldn’t forget the look of terror on Violet’s face.

Everybody started to think that if Peter didn’t come back, then they would’ve probably died together or luckily, a few of them only managed to survive. Both were not so happy ending.

“So, would you guys listen to me, or you want to do the things you guys wanna do?” he asked them. He didn’t want Violet’s death to be an example, but they probably knew it. If they were desperate enough to live, they’d listen to him.

“Then what do we do now?” Linda asked.

“Stay where near the light, keep your torchlight close to you. Avoid going outside, and stay close together. That’s the best we can do for now until we wait for the day to come. If only there’s light around this town, it wouldn’t be this hard,” Peter said.

They stayed inside the lobby and thanks to the solar panels that were making the electricity running to give them enough light, they were safe. They stayed safe.

The banging on the doors and walls went on without any stop, even if the clock told it was 12:30 am in the morning. Everyone started to get sleepy, but they stayed up for their own sake.

The banging stopped when it was past early 1 am. Everyone didn’t actually think it was special. Remembering Violet’s death, they patiently and silently waited for the sun to come.

Peter had been staring at Violet’s body for some time now, holding the pieces of her phone. Her body was covered with white cloths from the table covers, leaving two of the four tables bare and uncovered.

The more he looked at the pieces and parts of the electronics, his hope would decrease. It looked like it was impossible to be restored. The phone had no external memory, so all he needed to hope for were the phone itself. Regret rushed on him and he could no longer do anything but sigh about it.

“Peter here’s some coffee,” Linda said.

He placed the destroyed phone on his bag and took the coffee. “Thanks,” he said and took the paper cup with brewed coffee that was made before the first attack. It was cold and bland but he still drank it slowly. He needed it. He had been feeling exhausted and sleepy.

“Is something important on that phone?” Linda sat beside him and asked. “I’m just wondering. You’ve been staring at it since earlier and it seemed to be so important to you.”

Peter gulped at the coffee until he consumed half of it. “Yeah. I hope restoration is still possible. There’s an important file here. It’s about Josh.

Linda nodded with a hum. “I think it’s still possible.”

Peter glanced at the window and although he had ignored it every time, his eyes still followed the passing shadow monster, avoiding the touch of light coming from the light of the lobby.

“I also found Emma suspicious,” she said although it wouldn’t do anything to make her belief known to Peter.

He glanced at her. “How come? You didn’t speak anything when I was yelling about her being suspicious last night,” he smiled a little.

She chuckled. “I know. It was just weird. She was so anxious and everything. I know I should have said it earlier, but she said something before she was gone. I thought it wasn’t important but now that something’s happening, I realized it was almost a warning.”

His eyebrows creased. “What did she say?”

“She said that she hoped for the best for all of us because she’ll leave anyway,” she said with a thin smile. “If I told you guys about it, would it change the scenario we are in?”

Peter was dismayed. She should’ve said it earlier, but even if she did, he didn’t think there would be a change to the situation. He chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t think so. People shouldn’t still believe me or us. They looked like they’re lazy to believe anything until it actually happens.”

She nodded.

Peter finished the rest of the coffee and crumpled the paper in his hand. “As long as we’re in the touch of the light, we’re safe.”

Just after he said that all the light inside the lobby suddenly turned off. Everybody started to panic and took all their torchlight and phones. “Everyone stand close to each other!” Peter ran to others and they stayed close to each other. “Watch your backs!” he added.

Everybody stayed close together with their backs facing one another until they involuntarily formed a deformed circle, their torchlight, and phones facing their front. Their torchlight wasn’t as strong as the fluorescent light earlier, but it was enough to at least repel the shadow monsters.

Due to Benedict being old, he wouldn’t be able to do much so he was in the middle of everyone and he made himself in charge of lighting above them. He wasn’t too scared of it, he thought that if he died, it was okay with him because he was too old anyway. It was Josh’s friends that he was particularly protecting.

Through Peter’s special vision, he could see every shadow monsters while others only saw a few. “I don’t know what you guys see, but they were not as little as you think. There are hundreds and even thousands of them here!” he screamed.

“How could you tell?” one asked. Peter was getting annoyed whenever someone would just ask him with doubt.

He scoffed. “I just can tell. Believe me, if you still wanna live. If you wanna die, then don’t believe me,” he said. “Don’t ask too many questions and look for yourselves.”

Shadow monsters started swarming inside the mansion and they would float away when their torchlight would touch them.

No matter how hard they use the torchlight, they wouldn’t go away. They would just move to a different place and would attempt to come to them again when they got the chance.

They stayed like that for a little longer and everyone started noticing the number of the shadow monsters.

“What do we do now?” one asked Peter.

He liked that he was on the lead at the same time, he didn’t. There was so much pressure on him. Everyone expected him to know everything. “Let’s just stay like this. If they start to attack, flash them the torchlight. You probably saw how they avoid the light.”

“What happened to the light, anyway? I thought it should work until the day comes?” Linda asked, remembering what Violet said. “What happened to the solar panel?”

Peter clicked his tongue in annoyance. “The shadow monsters must’ve managed to do something to it. I just hope that it’s not completely destructed,” he said.

Suddenly, the shadow monster disappeared. Not totally disappeared, but they left the mansion that surprised them.

“Are they gone?” Lind asked.

“Let’s not put our guard down. This could be a tactic or something,” Ray said. Peter agreed with a nod.

“Ray’s right,” he said. “We don’t know what they’re up to, but we pretty knew that they come back. Don’t be fooled,” he warned.

To their surprise, someone entered the lobby. A middle-aged lady and her eyes were flaming red. “Who are you?” Zack asked.

“Guys, I don’t think that person is normal,” one said from behind them. “Look at those eyes, my goodness,” the person added.

Peter knew those red eyes. He remembered David who he killed. “They are this town’s people. They are mostly possessed by many shadow monsters. They don’t react much to light because they are inside a person’s body. They could kill you,” he warned.

“What do we do with them?” Zack asked. “Should we fight them?” he added.

“Yeah, that would be better,” Peter said. “Protect yourselves,” he said.

Some people looking with the same red flaring eyes started to enter the lobby. And along them were a shadow that looked like they were people wearing hoodies. He concluded it was their true form.

“What the heck are those now?” Zack asked.

“I’m not sure, but that’s probably the true form of the shadow monsters.”