Twinkle's Story: Chapter 65

RISAK

The wolf leader glances at me for just a moment. 

I step on the navy blue jacket and grumble, "What is it? Did you just realize how the entire team is a bunch of traitors?" 

He shakes his head. "I think there is someone else here." 

I step off of my jacket and pick it up. 

"There's someone still here? That's great," I say as I start walking deeper inside the building. 

The wolf uses his nose as a guide to lead us to a specific room. Before I can open the door, it's opened from the inside. 

The person steps outside of the room and closes the door.

I'm perplexed on why. Out of all the people Taurel started off with, why is she the one that stayed? 

"Sparkle? Where's Finny?" I ask her.

She looks down and sighs. 

"He left too. I tried to stop him, but he still managed to escape. I am sorry, Risak sir."

The wolf nudges me. Under his breath, he says, "This is the only person who hasn't left you? That's sad."

I grunt. "Okay, there's nothing we can do about that. I guess we will have to manage." 

Before we can walk that far, Sparkle pulls me aside. 

"Why are you with a wolf? That goes against--"

I interrupt her. "It's fine. He's the wolf leader, and Taurel made me in charge of getting him while he does his own part of the mission."

"Where is Taurel? What mission are you talking about? Your car was stolen by Calliah."

Where is he? What are you even doing, Taurel?

"He should come back here soon. There's no need to worry about the tools we had in the car. We have extras here." 

Sparkle looks up and smiles. 

"Alright then. So when Taurel comes back, the fun part of searching for the Duke Fierdan begins?"

After a moment's hesitation, I nod. "Yes."

I'm not sure if she intended on making me able to hear her next words. 

"And once we have him, I'll make sure he won't be able to destroy the world any further. The era of phantoms is coming to an end." 

TAUREL

Sometimes risks have to be made. 

I keep on running. I won't stop until I reach the Tall Tower. 

I look at my broken left paw. 

I think of my brilliant plan that not even Risak knows about. 

It's cruel, sure. So is capturing the living Fierdan. He needs to feel pain. He needs to feel the pain of what he did to all those people.

I'll stop at nothing. There will be nothing in my way. Risks will have to be made. I will get Duke. Even if death is the only way to successfully do so. 

The wolf leader and his son are the perfect distraction. They fit into the plan perfectly. 

Please forgive me. Some things have more priority than others. That includes people's lives. 

I smile and bare my fangs. 

This might make us equally messed up. I don't care at all. I'll bring this madness to an end. Once and for all. 

I reach into my pocket with my right paw. I take out the object. 

It's a pocketknife. I stole it from Mr. Missing Finger. I can only hope he hasn't found out about that yet. 

I decide to take a break from running. 

I hold up the knife. 

Sometimes risks have to be made. 

ARDERE

The screams don't end for a little while. My ears are relieved when they don't hear any more loud noise coming from Duke. I assume that he must have lost his voice. I could have moved away from him, but for some reason that even I am unsure of I didn't. 

I was wrong. He didn't lose his voice. Not exactly. 

I feel embarrassed at the fact that it feels like I lost my breath. It happened so fast and suddenly. 

I can only see the black of his shirt. This has got to be the tightest hug I've ever been given. 

In a raspy voice, he says, "It'll be okay. I p-promise." 

When I feel something wet on the top of my head, I break free of his grip. Slightly tilting my head up, I look at his face. 

"What happened, Duke? What's going on? Should I fetch Dawn?" 

He brings up a finger to his lips and shakes his head. 

When he lowers his paw and opens his mouth, drool falls out of the lower corners of his mouth. It drips down to his chin. 

It looks like he's smiling. Why is he smiling? 

"No, don't go anywhere. Just stay here. Don't leave me."

Dark hair covers his eyes. I can't see his eyes. I don't know how he could have seen me. 

Except if only it has happened. Duke knows we share a bond. Does he see me as a brother? A close friend?

I brace myself for the tight hug. I try to wrap my arms around him but it's hard for me to. I only just realized that he is trembling. It haunts me how much Duke feels like only skin and bones. I decide to just leave my arms down at my sides. 

"I won't let them hurt you. I'll surrender my life before they can do anything to you," I hear him say.

"What are you talking about?" I ask with concern in my voice.

He only replies by saying, "I'll protect you with my life. I'll do my best to make sure you don't die because of me."

"Quit your crazy talk, Duke! You're worrying me even more now."

"Worry? It's okay to feel fear. I'll make sure you will remain safe, my wolf brother. If they want you that badly, then they will have to go through me first."

Now I'm trembling as well. 

"Stop it, please stop it! Who do you mean by 'they', Duke? Can you put a name to it?"

It takes a few seconds for him to say anything.

"Bad people. Want us dead. Names can not be identified."

I don't know what to say next, so an awkward silence follows.

When I see Dawn running towards us, I find the words to say.

"Did the lightning bolt zapping out the fire terrify you that much?"

"No, not exactly. It symbolizes something. Something bad. I don't want to change into something even more bad. I don't want to turn into a phantom demon."

The hair is no longer covering his eyes. Was the amber always that intense? 

"I don't want to die, Ardere." 

TWINKLE

While walking around by myself, I suddenly hear Dawn. Unlike Duke, I understand that she is saying words. 

"Why is she so loud?" I sigh.

Dawn repeats herself. "Everyone meet me inside the cave! It's time we had a meeting. It's urgent, so hurry up!" 

I rub my temples. Dawn's loud voice combined with Duke's never-ending screaming is going to give me a headache. I need some peace and quiet, definitely not more loud noise.

"My life is already a mess as it is. What more can I lose?" I mutter to myself as I start walking towards the cave. 

When I enter the cave, I go into the kitchen. The legs of a chair squeak along the floor as I pull the chair away from the table. I plop myself into the chair. 

A few minutes pass before anyone else comes in. 

When I see little Ardere dragging Duke by the paw behind himself, I blurt out, "What happened to you guys? What the heck were you two doing? You both look like wrecks!" 

Duke doesn't reply; Ardere rolls his eyes. I lean back in the chair again.

Then finally Dawn comes in. Ardere sits at another chair. Dawn assists Duke, who I think is acting stubborn, to the chair next to Ardere's. 

Instead of sitting in a chair, Dawn stands on it. 

"What news does the old wise Dawn have for us?" Duke says in a sarcastic tone. His words sound slurred.

Dawn rolls her eyes but then gives him a sympathetic look. 

"We have certain people coming after us. Taurel has escaped the building where he has been--"

Duke interrupts. "Yeah, yeah. I already know that. That Taurel guy and his team are hunting me down. What we should really discuss here is how to prevent from something happening to any of us."

"Duke strongly believes that they are going to try to kill me," Ardere says. 

Then Dawn says, "Since this place is the only possible safe one left, I've decided to keep us inside. New rules are as followed: No one is to leave the cave without my permission. Now that Taurel has escaped, there are dangerous and uncertain times ahead. Well, at least that's what I'm getting from the guy I spoke to on my walkie-talkie. It's better being safe than sorry."

"What do you mean? Your house doesn't even have a door. This place isn't safe, so we have to move," I say.

Dawn looks down at me and smiles. "Okay, I'll be fair. Where could we possibly move to, Twinkle? This place is isolated from the public and is nearly impossible to find. If you have a better idea, I'm listening."

I swear under my breath. "Fine, you win. Good luck enforcing your new rules with the boys." 

Dawn steps down from the chair. "You are dismissed."

I get up from my chair, and Ardere gets up from his. 

"There's no need for you to help Duke, my Ardere dear. We need to speak about some things in private," she tells Ardere.

I turn around to face her. "What do you mean by that? Are you hiding even more things from me? If you two have to talk, then I'm staying."

Duke gets up from his chair. 

"It'll be okay. Please go, Twinkle."

Something about his eyes makes me listen to him. 

I leave the room after Ardere. 

DUKE

One second I see Dawn at the cupboards, and the next I feel her fingertips brushing the back of my neck. I feel the green substance going inside my body.

I feel the effects immediately. I feel physically and mentally better. 

"Thanks Dawn," I say as I watch her close a cabinet. 

She nods her head slowly as she sits at the chair directly across from me. 

"I have to ask you something," she begins.

"Yeah, what is it?" 

Dawn lets out a long sigh before saying anything. "Did Fierdan tell you anything new? Are you hiding anything from Ardere?"

"What? No, not at all."

"Are you sure that a certain thing Fierdan has learned has not caused you to scream like that?" 

Dawn leans forward. "Think, Duke, think. I need to know if you know."

I get up. "Know what? I have no idea what you're talking about."

She closes her eyes. "I've wiped certain memories from Fierdan's and your brains. I don't know how, but I'm getting the feeling Fierdan has gotten back a huge memory I wiped."

"You did what to us?"

"Wiped your memories. I'm sorry. I thought you were too dangerous to keep all your Fierdan memories."

She opens her eyes. She only whispers one word. 

"Humanity." 

That single word triggers my brain into thinking about Fierdan. 

Flashes. Purple, yellow, repeat. 

He looks so different. He's a cute little kid. Is that his brother? Is that girl Dawn? 

Black. Everything is black. Are those dead bodies? Is that boy standing in the middle of the sea of black him? Is he Fierdan? What's happening to him? Is this what it means to lose your humanity?

Is she Dawn? She lost her humanity as well. This place looks traumatizing. Oh gosh. 

Then, all at once, the flashes stop. I open my eyes, though I didn't even know I closed them.

"We were once humans," I breathe. "Humanity."

My heart is beating so fast. 

Then I can sense Fierdan's screams in sync with mine. 

When my mind clears, I look at Dawn in horror. 

"What does this mean?"

Dawn shrugs.

That's the last thing I see before I black out.