VESSELS UNKNOWN

EIGHTEEN

Showers of rain thumped the roof when I woke up in a dimly lit room. Shadows of different shapes darkened the room leaving me to the terror of my imaginations.

A group of people sat in a circle on the bare floor towards   the bottom of the bed.
  Flashes of lightning crisscrossed the room, illuminating them. A wave of tiny glow of red ran across there wrist. They were rhyming something, their eyes rolled over deep into their sockets.

            "Who are you?" I found my trembling voice ask.

            None of what I said caught their attention. Was I dreaming? I ran my fingers across my eyes. As if that wasn't enough, I pinched myself hard and the pain was evident in the groan that escaped my mouth.
I tried to shovel out of bed, but the storm was getting louder, shattering every peace within me.

Apart from the people doing whatever in front of me,  The storm and I had remained fierce enemies since childhood.
  It terrifies me, I abhor it.

          The half drawn curtains didn't help matters, the window slightly opened. Then a windy whooshing sound whistled loudly in my ears. Their incantations were getting louder. I let out a muffled scream.
Disoriented, I  grabbed the covers tightly, my eyes scanning the storm and the strangers.

            "What do you want?" My voice bellowed across the room.

Then, a man stood from amongst them, few green leaves were stuck in between his thighs. He walked in very slow motion towards me, stretching his hands to touch my head.
           'Where am I? Where is this place?" I asked the approaching being.

He just kept walking, taking his ample time.

As he made it closer, the sky released another deafening thunder roar, Immediately backing it up with a lightning blitz that seemed targeted at me and my moving friend. I shrieked loudly.

    Jacob was first to run into my room, bumping into the human like being.

           "Didn't you see him,?" I pointed to where the man last stood, my fingers shaking
           "See what?" Jacob asked, His tall self loomed over the room creating a taller shadow of himself.   

           "You're sure?" They were just here!"
The guy looked surprised and confused at the same time. He winced as he began to to check out the room, flipping the closets and cupboards.

             "There's nothing here." He finished.
He walked towards me again, looking worried. His nose wore a huge bandage, his face inflamed. "What did you actually see?" He asked.

I whimpered, turning away from him.
               "Why are you looking away? Tell me what you saw?" He pleaded.
I succumbed to his plea. Facing him again, my eyes took stock of the damage I inflicted on his face.

Multiple cuts indented his eye brows and fore head. His right eye red from the punches I inflicted on him, giving his lips a puffy look.

             "Unique, are you okay?" He asked, when I still didn't speak.        
             "No." I whispered. "They we're here."
Looking around him, "Who was here?"
             "The Unknown."

He shuddered at the mention of that word. That word meant something to him. Because there was no way he could have know the group who just terrified the darkness out of me.
I slanted my head and watched him closely. "Do you know what that means?"
He didn't give a yes or no answer. He just stared into space.

             "So you know them?" I tried to get him affirm his involvement.
             "How did you know what and who they were?" He raised his gaze focusing at something across the room.
            "While they chanted, I heard something along those lines."
            "What else did you observe? " He asked.
            "A red glow ran across their left hand."