"The police are doing everything they can to find the children, so we ask the parents to please take it easy your children will be found and returned to you soon" the principal of Starlight Academy reassured the parents in his report, in the news station.
Anthony held his grieving wife in his arms; she has been crying for 2 days ever since she heard the news that her daughter and her classmates has gone missing. It hasn't been particularly easy for Anthony himself but he has to be strong for his wife.
"Oh Lord please protect my Elle, protect my child please" Anna sobbed out
"She's safe Anna, our daughter is safe and she'll return back to us" Anthony said, not sure if he's reassuring himself or his wife
____
"Now now if it isn't the children of Starlight Academy" A voice in the dark called out to the children, "I happen to hear that you all haven't been doing well" He said as he dragged out a chair and sat down, the children immediately recognized the voice as the one that visited them the other day.
"Well I came to give you guys a chance, so you can either make a choice that will save you or... I'm sure you know what" the man said as he removed from the mask that covered his face and the students gasped out of shock.
"Now now don't be so shocked, I heard one of your classmates ain't here, any idea where she is?" He asked them while looking closely at each of them, when he got no response he smiled.
"Alright then, let's get Straight to business. Well you see I have nothing against you children neither do I want to hurt you all, but I need you for my work you see, I need young and agile youths so why not use you?" He stood and started walking round the children, and they scooted closer to each other, trembling in fear.
"Now don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you all yet. Your choices will determine your fate" he stated and sat back down on the chair "you all are faced with two options now, ork for me or not. But rremember for each choice you make, there's a price for it" he concluded and the children passed a quick glance at each other.
"W.. wha..what type of work do we have to do for you?" one of children voiced out the question, looking at anywhere but him.
"Well.. nice question, you see it's nothing much. Just something that requires a little bit of nature change. I'll give you time to think about it, see you later then" he concluded and strode out of the place, leaving the children to curse their fate.
___
"Elle please.." Ruri begged Elle, they have been on it since yesterday, after explaining everything to Elle, she refused to do it.
"I can't Ruri, half of the creatures here don't even support me. I have no idea how to do any of these things you said I'll have to do, it's too much for me" Elle said tired of talking already, she's not ready for this, she is not sure she can do it and to top it all off she doesn't even believe what they are saying.
"But you have us Elle, we'll put you through you just have to be ready to learn"
"That's the thing! I don't want to learn, I don't want any of this.. I just want to go home to my family, to my school, my life!" Elle shouted
"Well there will be no life to return to if we lose Elle" mamock shouted, fed up with the little girl's attitude.
"There's no guarantee that if I eventually go with what you guys suggest we'll win, so I might as well go spend the last days with my family"
"You can go then, leave! Get out! You are worse than your predecessor" Mamock shouted as anger coursed through her "and to think I thought you were better. What are you still doing here? Leave!" she snarled.
"I told you they are all the same mamock, all the same" they turned to the direction of the voice and it was Rus, standing there looking at Elle with anger evident in his eyes "it's always the innocent looking ones"
"I don't care what you all say, if the battle really means the end I might as well spend it with my family" Elle said and turned to leave, convincing herself that she did the right thing "I didn't do anything wrong, I made my Choice, common Elle don't feel bad, don't let their words get to you" she muttered to herself.
They all stood there watching her walk away, but all of a sudden she stopped and they began to hope she finally came to her senses but "how do I get out of here?" Elle asked them with embarrassment, she looked down and started twisting the ring on her finger.
"The same way you came" Ruri replied curtly
"If I knew the way I came, I wouldn't be asking questions now will I?" Elle said with an eyeroll
Mamock exhaled deeply to calm down, "your first five teardrops will unlock the door"
"I seriously have to cry?" When she got no response she just nodded and walked away, she tried to cry but no tears came out "oh common! The one day I need my tears they aren't coming out".
But then, the same ray that appeared the day she came here appeared and she covered her eyes "I don't remember crying"
"You aren't the one that opened it, I did" Rus said, "and I didn't open it for you,I did it for myself so that I won't see your pathetic self again. You can go" despite the insult, Elle just felt glad she could go back home.
"Thank you" she said as she walked through the door.
"Ow ow ow!" Elle said as she fell on the door, "well you didn't have to hurt me!" She shouted at the door before raising up her head expecting to meet the camp forest but instead she found herself in front of her house.
She immediately rushed to the dood "mum!! Dad!! Open the door!!" Elle yelled as she knocked on the door, she raised her hand to knock again when the door immediately opened.
"Elle??" Her mum said slowly with shock all over her face
"Yes mum it's me!" She called out happily
"But how? You were kidnapped right? How?" She asked looking skeptica
"Mum, aren't you happy to see me" she asked puzzled at her mum's reaction.
"No that's not it! It's just that when we went there you weren't there.. we thought you were actually kidnapped"
"Went where mum? What are you talking about?" She asked and looked at her mum quizzically.
Her mum immediately covered her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes "it's nothing baby, come in I've missed you" she said and dragged Elle in with a hug
"Sit down baby, I'll get you water" she rushed in and got her a glass of water "here drink up, I'll go call your father"
Anna quickly pulled out her phone, "Anthony she's back, my daughter is back" she said, her voice cracking a little from crying
"What? How?"
"I don't know I'm just as confused as you are, come home quickly" and she ended the call.
"Honey, your dad will soon be here go and freshen up" Elle nodded and went to her room to take a proper bath. After taking a bath she headed downstairs but, she heard her parents talking so she stopped and evesdropped.
"Where did she say she was?"
"I didn't ask... She really wasn't there when you went?"
"She wasn't, that's why I thought she was kidnapped but.." Elle stood puzzled at the conversation
"Well, let's wait for her then" Elle took that as her clue to go downstairs, when she got down her father immediately hugged her.
"Where have you been Elle?" He asked while hugging her tightly
"It's a long story dad, can I eat first?"
"Sure, let's go to the dinning table", the three of them went and sat down in the dinning table, Anna served the food and they all ate quietly.
"So tell us Elle, what happened"? her dad asked when they were done eating, Elle cleared her throat and started narrating everything to her dad.
"...after she fell into the ditch, I started crying but then..." She paused, her parents wouldn't believe her, she won't even believe herself.
"And then what?"
"Oh yes, I cried but I realized crying won't solve everything, so I ran away" she lied.
"Why didn't you come home instead?" the father asked not buying the story.
"I wasn't thinking straight dad, I just ran at the moment" she lied again
"I see,thank God you are safe baby"
"Thanks Dad, I'll like to get some rest now" she said and went up to her room,but she paused at the stairs when she heard her parents talking.
"She's lying Anna, I can feel it she's not telling us the whole truth" Anthony said.
"What do you think she's hiding? She knows nothing" Anna defended her daughter.
"Or else." Anthony said and Anna paused when she understood what her husband was hinting at but quickly shook her head
"Don't say such a thing, it can't be." She said quietly
"It better not be" Anthony said and left the house
Elle was confused at her parents' discussion, her mind began to think of numerous things they can be discussing about, but she quickly shook her head I'm with my family now, I should spend time with them and nothing else she thought as she walked up to her room and slept off.
___ The dead bodies laid all over the place, each besides the other or on top of the other. The ground was filled with the stains of blood on it as it trailed down to the river, the earth was too weak to dry up the blood of it's children and the river was now a deep shade of red as a result of the dead bodies laying inside it and the blood that flowed into it continuously. The first sob came, then the second and a girl was seen sitting there; her hair all over the place, shivering in fear as she looked at the dead bodies that surrounded her, she looked up with her blood shot eyes and choked out "help". "Please, help" she repeatedly said to the unknown person as she grabbed her hair and cried uncontrollably. Her body shook violently before she looked up at the person with a crazed look in her eyes "why wouldn't you h
Elle went up to her room after she dropped her phone with her mum, she took her bath and changed into something more comfortable. She jumped into her bed, wrapped herself up with a blanket and quickly brought out the book and started reading. _______ Thousands of years ago, the earth was one. The sky was still radiant and beautiful, the sun didn't hurt the bodies of the creatures rather it caressed them beautifully. Humans and other creatures coexisted beautifully, a human child could easily touch the fangs of a vampire and nothing would happen, there was no blood lust, no thirst for power, everything was peaceful untill the greed of humans set in. "Hey Ruri!! Look here, I can finally fly" A tiny cute fairy boy boasted to his friend while beautifully showcasing his
Elle stared at the book in her hands for a while before she started chuckling "This really is fucked up" she said. When her laughter died down she took the book and went up to her bed, she opened up to the page she stopped at and took a very deep breath before she continued reading the book again. ______ "Common Manda let's go" Alicia, Amanda's younger sister called out to her in an annoyed manner. She wants to get to the training arena early so that she can get to sit at the front and watch the training selection. Amanda sighed and muttered "I'm coming". She isn't as excited as Alicia because she will be training too and she'll be super embarrassed if she doesn't get selected to be trained by the higher ranking. Training has always been a very important thing for
Elle and her parents were currently stting in the dinning room and it was really awkward, no one talked to the other person neither was anyone eating. Elle sighed and rubbed her forehead, she really didn't have the time for all this. She wasn't able to sleep last night cause of the repeating nightmares and right now, she just wants to go back to her room and finish reading the book, she picked up her spoon and started eating. "where are your manners young girl?" Her father asked her the time she was about to put her fifth spoon in her mouth, she angrily slammed the spoon on the dinning table "I guess they went on a vacation" she replied and left the dinning room. Anna looked at her daughter's retreating figure and back at her husband, she doesn't want her family shattering right now "why don't you just talk to her quietly Anthony"
The children looked at the stranger skeptically, he looked their age but they've never seen him around before. "Hello? I said I'm Ansel" The boy said while waving his hands over their faces "Where are you from? We've never seen you around before" Mamock asked the question that is on everyone's mind "And how are you so sure you've never seen me before?" Ansel asked as he stepped closer to them, they all looked at each other and kept quiet "well, you are right. You've never seen me before and before you ask, it's because I'm a rare specie that chooses when he wants to show himself" "Umm.. we would appreciate it if you are a little bit clearer" Amanda said and the boy looked her with a smile on his face before he replied "Well, you can say I'm a God" he said in a cock
"Inhumanity always existed, the greed and envy of humans has kept that beast in them alive" Elle said with tears welling up in her eyes as she closed the book. The first time she opened the book, she didn't except something like that to be the reason the world was separated, she rubbed her hands over her face and sighed frustratedly, history is about to repeat itself and this time it might be her fault. She glanced at the book for a while before she turned to the other side of the room, in as much as it gave her a much needed insight about the other realm, she wasn't able to discover the connection of her classmates' dissappereance to all of that. Elle was still pondering over her classmates dissappereance when she heard the front door open and she heard her dad's voice as he came in, she stood up from
It's been 7 days since Elle found the file and things haven't been the same, she goes to sleep every night with the fear of her now persistent nightmares and wakes up every morning feeling disgusted by what she found in the file. This morning, she woke up with sweat all over her face and her pillow was drenched. She couldn't figure out if it was her tears or her sweat, she ran her hands through her brown curly hair as tears rolled down her face and she curled up in her bed. It keeps getting horrible as the days pass, she had sneaked out and bought her self sleeping pills but that didn't change anything. "Elle I hope you're awake" Anna called out to her daughter as she continued making breakfast, she decided to turn a blind eye to the drastic changes she saw in her daughter's body because she's too busy making sure her project goes as planned Elle sat up when she heard her mum's voice a
"what is it?" Rus asked with a glare as Elle continued looking at him with a mischievous smile on her face. He honestly dislikes the girl and now she's creeping him out. "Well, like I said I have a condition" Elle stated and passed a quick glance around, and everyone was staring at her with undivided attention "my condition is very simple, it doesn't require much and it's basically for Rus here to fulfill" "Get to the point already" Mamock said to the girl in a semipissed off tone and Elle just smiled at her innocently "Alright alright, I see you all are getting impatient and annoyed at me so I'll get to the point but first, Rus do you promise to meet my condition"she said, purposely toying with them as she looked at everyone with a mischievous look in her eyes, before her gaze settled on Rus. She wants a definite answer from him before she conti