Soul Crafter

Chapter Five: Can’t You See in the Dark?

The next morning, Michelle woke up extra early so that she could get in a run before she went shopping. She put on her jogging pants, sneakers, and a thick hoodie.  Since there was another small bedroom in her house, Victor slept in his own bed this time, and not on the couch— which meant she could freely roam around. She took her cold water bottle from the fridge, which made her shiver just holding it, and then headed outside.

     It was still dark at 6 AM, but this did not bother Michelle. Although it was freezing, she knew that all she had to do was get started on her run, and then she’d warm up soon enough. The streetlights were enough to illuminate her path. Michelle felt quite secure as she began to jog.

     There was barely anyone outside at this time, and as she ran on the sidewalk, passing by house after house, she noted only some of them had lights on. Many people were either still asleep at this time or had already gone off to work or school.

     She passed by Bianca and Christopher Noble’s house. They lived in the same neighborhood, though several blocks away. She came to a cross-roads and found that she was so out of breath now that she needed to take a break. She leaned against an oak tree by the sidewalk while she rested. She watched as the heat from her breath created vapor all around her.

     She suddenly heard footsteps coming from around the corner and looked to see who it was. She saw both Chris and Bianca. Chris was holding a small grocery bag.

     “Oh, hey Michelle!” Bianca said, moving forward to greet her friend with a kiss on the cheek.

     “Fancy seeing you this early in the morning,” Michelle added.

     “Hey, Michelle,” Chris said, shyly, reaching out to hug her.

     “Um, yeah, you know I just had this craving for potato chips. We didn’t have any, so Chris and I went down to the convenience store to get some.”

     “Potato chips? This early in the morning?” Michelle said.

     “Don’t ask, she’s been weird since yesterday,” Chris added, shaking his head at his sister.

     “Weird? Is something wrong? Are you pregnant?” Michelle teased.

     “What? No, no,” Bianca laughed.

     “Well, I’ll see you guys later. I’m going to head back,” Michelle said, turning on her heel. The duo said goodbye, but before any of them could take one more step, Michelle screamed.

     The ground beneath them opened up. Bianca gasped and Chris didn’t even have time to react as they each fell into a blindingly bright, shimmering vortex which had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the street where they stood.

     As Michelle fell into the vortex, her hand grazed the tree she had leaned on earlier. She called for help, and the next thing that came out of her mouth surprised her.

     “VICTOR!” Michelle cried.

     With that, Bianca, Chris and Michelle were all completely swallowed by the vortex, and disappeared— leaving the road as perfectly intact as if it hadn’t been there at all.

     Then something quite unusual happened. The bark of the tree Michelle had touched rolled and rippled as if it were suddenly made of rubber. The rolling and rippling picked up until the whole tree, including every last twig, was in motion. Then, the bark of every single tree along the sidewalk began to do the same. The trees continued to do this until it reached the trees that were closest to Michelle’s house.

     And then, finally, in the darkness of his bedroom, where Victor laid motionless in his bed— he was stirred awake by the sound of the trees howling outside of his window. Underneath the sound of the trees howling and wailing, he could faintly hear Michelle’s voice. He heard her scream for help, and he heard her scream his name— and then nothing.

     Victor shot up, wide awake now, and opened his window. There, he saw a tree, its bark rolling as it emanated a deep howling sound. Again and again, he heard Michelle’s voice.

     His hand curled along the windowsill, digging into the wood with his now elongated fingernails. He knew something was very wrong, and it had him on edge.

     “I received the message,” Victor said to the tree. Gradually, it stopped howling and went still—as did every other tree.

     Victor quickly manifested clothing on his body— not wanting to waste time. He sped out of the house     faster than humanly possible. He picked up Michelle’s scent, and followed it until it stopped in the middle of the road. There, he picked up two other scents he recognized— Michelle’s two friends. Their scent, too, ended in the same area as Michelle’s. Victor’s irises began to glow red.

     He looked from left to right, and then all around him. He had a pretty good hunch what happened to her. His lips curled downwards into an intensely intimidating frown.

     Then, with an awful growling sound erupting from Victor’s chest, he roared the name of the one he thought responsible.

     “MELEK!” His roar reverberated all around him, echoing in the sky. He yelled his name as if Melek Amos was simply hiding in the bushes somewhere, watching Victor’s frustration with a gleeful smirk on his face. The thought enraged Victor.

     Victor knew what he had to do to find Michelle— he needed to get in touch with an old friend. Someone he thought he’d never speak to again.

****

     When Michelle came to, she was splayed out on the road. It was the middle of the day, and the sun was shining on her face. She was warm, almost sweating. She wiped her forehead and stared at her wet fingers, astonished that she was warm enough to sweat. She sat up and looked around her. She was still in Highcroft village, and both Chris and Bianca were passed out on the road where she’d first bumped into them.

     Panicking, Michelle quickly jostled them to stir them awake. Bianca jerked and grunted and opened her eyes.

     “What happened?” she asked groggily.

     Michelle squinted her eyes as she thought about how to answer her. Suddenly, she recalled that they had all been out early in the morning, and then they had fallen into some type of vortex that appeared below them.

     “I think we fell through something, and then passed out,” Michelle said, shaking Christopher’s shoulders. “Chris, Chris!” she repeated. When Bianca noticed her younger brother was out cold, she quickly rushed to his side and began to attempt to shake him awake as well.

     His eyes finally fluttered open.

     “Aaah!” he exclaimed, putting his hand on his head.

     “What the hell, man? My head—” Chris began. He looked up and saw Michelle hovering over him; his breath caught at the sight of her. “Why am I on the ground?” he asked as they both helped him up.

     “I don’t know, but we should get you home.” Michelle looked around, an uneasy feeling coming over her.

     “That was so trippy— no pun intended,” Bianca exclaimed as they headed for the Nobles’ house, loosely supporting Chris.

     “Why is it so warm?” Michelle remarked, noticing how bright the sun was.

     “I don’t know. But I’m not complaining,” Bianca smiled, enjoying the heat of the sunshine on her skin.

     “I wonder how long we were out for?” Michelle pondered aloud as they walked up the front steps. Bianca opened the front door and they all stepped inside. They went into the quaint, rustic-looking living room, which was decorated with warm colors, and helped Chris onto the burgundy couch.

     “Let me go get Mom; she’ll have something for that bump on your head,” Bianca said to Chris, and walked out to find her mother.

     Michelle sat down on the couch beside him and gently felt the back of his head. Chris winced. “Ow!”

     “Sorry! I didn’t mean to be so rough,” Michelle said, retracting her arm.

     “No, no, it’s okay. I’m just sensitive on that spot.”

     Michelle looked down, not knowing what else to say. She felt a bit awkward sitting beside him.

     After a couple of minutes, Michelle and Chris both heard what sounded like ice being cracked out of an ice tray, and then Bianca reappeared in the living room with a flustered look on her face.

     “Do you know if Mom went anywhere?” Bianca asked.

     Chris looked up at his sister, his own two hands now rubbing his temples. “No, I don’t think so?” he replied uncertainly.

     “I can’t find her anywhere. I wonder if she went shopping,” Bianca mused. She stepped behind Chris and placed an ice pack on the back of his head.

     “Here, hold this until the swelling goes down,” Bianca ordered her brother in a big-sisterly tone.

     Just then, from the other room, they all heard what sounded like someone heavy either running very quickly or falling down the stairs.

     “Mom, is that you?” Bianca called out.

     No one answered.

     Bianca stood up and went to inspect the front hallway. She looked up and down the brown carpeted stairs.

     “Mom!?” Bianca called even louder.

     Michelle approached her and looked up the stairs as well.

     “Maybe she was running upstairs?” Michelle suggested.

     Bianca’s eyebrows furrowed. Concerned, she glanced at Michelle, and quickly went up. She headed straight for her mother’s bedroom but when she went inside, there was no one there.

     “Mom?” she said, just to be certain her mother truly was not in there, perhaps hiding in the closet.

     “Is your mom usually this hard to find?” Michelle teased in an attempt to lighten the mood. She could visibly see that Bianca was extremely worried and disturbed.

     Then, suddenly, they both heard a loud crashing sound come from one of the adjacent bedrooms. They both momentarily glanced at each other, wide-eyed.