Her long black hair had completely turned into silver. Her nails had grown into claws. Her brown eyes had turned into blood red and green smoke was coming out of her body. At that moment, she looked like an ancient demon
Meanwhile…
Zoey covered her mouth with her palm as she saw what her best friend had turned into.
When she saw her leave, she hesitated to follow her but after she saw Miya, Lauren’s girl following Tiffany, she decided to follow also.
Why was Tiffany going deep inside the mountain when she has been warned not to?
She wondered as she followed and removed her phone from her pocket.
She stopped walking as she watched the two of them walking further and browsed through her phone to call Aiden.
What if something were to happen in the mountain?
There was no way she could handle her friend.
“Where are you guys?” Aiden’s voice came up as soon as he picked up the call.
“Aiden, can you come to the wood? I don’t know why Tiffany is heading there alone,” she said instead.
“Tiffany entered the wood?” Aiden asked and Zoey could only imagine the frown on his face.
“Yes. I followed her because Miya was also following. Can you come faster? She’s really going deep inside the mountain,” Zoey said.
“Okay, where is the wood located?” Aiden asked.
“It is not far from the house, just take a left when you get out of the house, you will see it at the dead end of the street,” she answered.
“Shit!” Aiden groaned and ended the call.
Zoey shook in fear as she watched the terrifying creature that her friend had turned to.
“What am I?” Tiffany tilted her hair and walked toward Miya.
“Stay back! Don’t come closer!” Miya screamed and fell to the ground.
What the hell was this new girl in their school?!
Zoey on the other hand also fell to the ground as she saw the green smoke oozing from Tiffany’s body.
Was this what the guardians meant when they said that she was going to turn into something scary?
This wasn’t what she thought her friend was going to turn to.
Tifanny smiled, stretched her right hand towards Miya, and green wood grew from her hand. She controlled it with her eyes and then have it curled around Miya’s body.
“W… what are you doing?!” Miya screamed in horror as the wood rolled around her body.
God! She had never imagined this before!
She had never even watched a movie as horrific as what was happening in front of her at the moment.
Damn, if only she knew that she had signed a deãth wish the moment she followed her.
Tifanny said nothing but simply folded her hand slowly which made the wood around Miya tighten her body and then pulled her up with it.
“Y… you are cho.. king me! M… monster!” Miya groaned in pain, her face getting red.
Tiffany smiled devilishly then folded her fist tightly, inhaling the remaining life in Miya’s body through the wood.
Miya dropped lifelessly on the floor, her glowing white skin had turned into black and the only thing anyone could recognize her with was the cloth she was putting on.
Tiffany withdrew the wood to herself, cracked her neck, and then look around.
“I am thirsty,” she smirked, sniffling into the air.
As soon as she heard the sound of leaves rustling, she turned to look in the direction immediately.
Zoey widened her eyes as soon as her eyes met with Tiffany’s and then took a step back slowly. She turned around swiftly and began to run as fast as her leg could carry her.
This wasn’t Tiffany right now, this wasn’t her beautiful best friend. That was Akilang. That wicked ancient demon.
However, she stopped on her track and screamed in horror as Tiffany stopped in front of her at a speed of lightning.
“Where are you going?” The deep voice that echoed across the mountain which came from Tiffany scared her and she fell to the ground slowly and began to crawl backwardly.
Zoey shook her head as she crawled backwardly, Tiffany looked the scariest at the moment.
Her beautiful red lips had turned into black and black veins had popped on her neck.
“No… No… Don’t come any closer,” she cried, moving backward as fast as she can.
**
“Where do you think they are? We’ve been running for a while now,” Declan said breathlessly as they looked around again.
“I’ll call Zoey again,” he breathed, removed his phone from his pocket, and browsed through it.
After it had rung for a while and he was about to end the call, Zoey picked up the call.
“Where the fûck are you? I am about to dîe right now!” he pulled the phone away from his ear as he heard the almost deafening voice of Zoey.
“Do you hear that? I think I heard Zoey’s voice,” Declan looked around.
“Where?” Aiden asked.
Something was definitely happening.
Zoey’s voice carried fear.
*
“You don’t think someone will come and save you, do you?” Akilang asked.
Zoey ignored it and rushed through her phone again to call for help. She doubt if Aiden was going to come here sooner, and even if he did, there was no way he could talk to his girlfriend that had already been unleashed.
“Save your strength, little girl,” Akilang sneered.
Zoey raised her head and shook her head as she saw Tiffany stretch her right hand toward her, “Don’t hurt me, please,” she cried.
“Please…” she whispered as the green wood spread out of Tiffany’s palm and headed in her direction.
“No…” She stood up hurriedly and turned to run away again, but she hadn’t taken two steps before the woods curled creepily around her.
“Zoey!” Declan shouted as they finally got to where they were.
However, what they were seeing was not what they were expecting.
“W… What…” Declan stuttered and rushed toward Zoey who looked more scared than anyone else.
“S… Save me. Tiffany… S… She’s going to kîll me…” She managed to say.
Declan looked around, grabbed the stone that was lying on the ground, threw it at the wood curled around Zoey, and watched as the wood loosen up around Zoey.
“You…” Akilang growled and let go of Zoey, withdrew the wood, and like a wind, he stopped in front of Declan.
Declan widened his eyes in horror, wasn’t she standing here?
How could she be standing in front of him in a blink of an eye?
Akilang grabbed Declan by his shirt and flung him to the ground. She raised his hands in the air and then prepared to dig her claws inside him before Aiden rushed forward and grabbed Tiffany’s hand.
“Y… You can’t do this… Never…” He stuttered.
This was the moment he had been waiting for. Ten years ago, when he saw something like this, he had fled.
This time, he was going to stay till the end.
The lady was his girlfriend anyway.
“How dare you…?” Tiffany frowned, yanked her hand away from Aiden’s, and then grabbed his neck suddenly.
“Uh!” Aiden groaned as he felt his legs lifting from the ground.
Akilang raised him up, not letting go of his neck, smirking devilishly.
“T… Tiffany…” Aiden coughed.
“Anny… It is me… Aiden,” he groaned in pain and placed his hand on her hand.
“Anny…” He whispered and opened his eyes to look at her.
“It is your boyfriend, Aiden,” he said again and felt the grip around his neck loosening.
“Shut up,” Tiffany growled to his face.
“Don’t surrender to this Demon, Anny… I know you’re inside there… Listening to me…”
“I said you should shut up!” Akilang yelled and then dropped him to the ground.
“Arrrrghhhhh!” Akilang bellowed.
Declan crawled towards Zoey who fell into oblivion the moment Tiffany screamed and then pulled her in her arms.
Aiden stood up slowly, still coughing, and leaned closer to take Tiffany’s hand in his slowly.
As he took her hand in his, Tiffany raised her other hand, ready to attack the guy in front of her with her long, sharp claws.
However, as she prepared to attack him, Aiden pulled her into a hug and gasped as her claws sunk into his back.
“It is not your fault…” He pressed his lips together, not trying to make a sound, and patted her back.
“It is not your fault…” He whispered.
After a while of staying in that position, he disengaged from the hug and then looked at her.
“Aiden…” She whispered, and the white hair returned to black. The red eyes returned to brown, and the veins that popped up had vanished.
“Are… Anny? Tiffany?” He slapped her cheeks gently as the lady blacked out.
“Is she okay?” Declan exhaled.
“Yeah, I think so, she seems to have regained herself,” he answered.
“Is Zoey okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I think she fainted due to the shock.”
“Let’s return to the house,” Aiden said and Declan nodded his head.
Declan carried Zoey in his arms while Aiden did the same to Tiffany and they both walked away.
***
“I guess we arrive too late,” Tiger spirit watched the kids walk away and then glanced at lion spirit.
“Yes…” Chephirah sighed.
Tiger spirit, Medusa moved away from Chephirah and walked towards the space where Tiffany had first changed, where Miya’s body lay.
“She took a life?” Chephirah covered her mouth as she stared at the body on the ground.
“I knew this was going to happen,” Medusa hissed.
“What are we going to do?” Chephirah asked.
Medusa moved closer to the body, knelt beside it, and then placed her hand on her stomach.
“Summon the mountain guardian,” she ordered.
“Why?” Chephirah asked.
“There’s still a movement in her. Call Benroy, he might be able to save her.”
==
By the time Aiden and Declan arrived at the house, they were already tired and could feel their hands getting numb.
“What is going on?” One of the teachers asked as soon as she saw them approaching.
“Nothing,” Declan only said and entered the house.
“Come here and open this door,” he glanced at one of the students that had gathered.
As soon as he opened the door, he entered the room with Zoey in his hand, while Aiden followed swiftly.
The teachers and the students also tried to find their way inside.
“I just asked you guys what is…”
“I said nothing is going on!” Declan interrupted as soon as he had dropped Zoey on the bed and then turned to face the teacher.
“We need some space, you guys should leave,” he said and ushered them out rudely.
“You cannot return looking like this and expect us to say nothing. Where are you guys coming from? What happened?” Mr. Collin moved forward to ask.
“I said nothing is going on, can you all get the fûck out of here?!” He yelled.
“You…”
“Get out!” Aiden and Declan chorused, which startled them.
These kids were hiding something from them.
They all went out reluctantly and then flinched as they shut the door behind them.
“Are you okay?” Declan asked Aiden after he had locked the door from inside.
“Can you check my back? It hurt so much,” Aiden graoned in pain, sweating profusely.
“Sit down, I’ll check,” Declan said and watched Aiden pull his shirt off.
“Fûck…” Declan whispered as he stared at the wound.
“It is quite deep,” he said and took another glance at the back that definitely had the mark of claws imprinted on it.
“I’ll go check if there’s a first aid kit,” Declan stood up and rushed out of the room, ignoring the looks on the faces of the students that are still gathered in front of the door.
Huh, he bets curiosity is eating them deep inside.
**
“How could this happen?” Declan sighed after he finished treating Aiden’s wound.
“I can’t even start to imagine what will happen when those two wake up. Tiffany would probably blame herself, and Zoey… I don’t even know,” Aiden shook his head.
“Don’t worry. Zoey would understand better than anyone. You know that,” he patted his shoulder.
“I don’t think she should stay here any longer. I would appreciate it if Tiffany returns to New York,” Declan added.
“Same here. Let her wake up first, we’ll know the next thing to do,” Aiden said and looked in the direction of his girlfriend who was sleeping peacefully beside Zoey.
==
Two hours later…
Aiden returned to where he was sitting with Declan after he had checked on the girls. He and Declan had slept off a while ago while waiting for the girls to wake up, and he had woken up a few minutes ago.
As he settled on the couch, he saw Tiffany move in her sleep and he stood up again.
“Anny?”
Tiffany opened her eyes slowly, frowned her face, and then placed her hands on her head.
“Are you okay?” Aiden asked and helped her sit up.
“My head hurts…” She exhaled.
No, it wasn’t only her head. All of her body aches.
“Tiffany,” Declan who had woken up stood up and walked towards them.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“W… What happened?” Tiffany frowned her face.
“Huh?” Aiden raised a brow.
“Why am I here?” She asked again.
The last memory she had was entering the woods, nothing more, nothing less.
“You… You do not remember?” Declan creased his brows.
“Did something happen? Why am I here, and what is wrong with Zoey?” She asked as she glanced at Zoey.
“Oh, that… You…” Declan was interrupted as Zoey stirred in her sleep.
“I think she’s waking up,” a smile tugged on his lips and he moved hurriedly to her side.
“What is happening?” Tiffany asked Aiden again.
“Nothing,” he shook his head with a smile.
It was better if she knew nothing about what happened.
“Babe?” Declan called out as he watched Zoey open her eyes.
“Baby,” he smiled and hugged her.
“Are you okay?” He asked as he helped her up gently.
“Yes,” she exhaled, with a furrowed brow.
“What…” She started but stopped talking as the drama that unfolded in the mountain rushed through her head.
“Are you okay?” Declan asked with a concerned look.
“Zoey, are you okay?” Aiden asked.
As she turned to look in the direction she heard Aiden’s voice, her eyes met with Tiffany’s who was sitting beside her on the bed.
“Babe, are you…” Tiffany started and reached out to her but stopped when the lady moved away and then screamed.
“What…” Tiffany frowned her face.
“No… No… Stay away from me… Please!” She screamed as she fell off the bed.
Tiffany frowned her face and shook her head.
Why was Zoey reacting this way?
All of a sudden, a flash where she had wrapped the wood around Zoey’s body crept into her head.
Whose memory was that?
Did Akilang get unleashed?
As she thought about that, a memory where she had flung Declan on the ground brushed past her head and she widened her eyes.
Did she become a demon and hurt everyone?
Hell. No way!
TBC…