A Sea In Him

Distant

    The boys stand up and step to the side of the tree. There was a little girl standing in front of the door, most likely in the 3rd or 4th grade.

    Tama asks why she is doing her. She begins to explain that her mother is a teacher and she has to stay behind a little bit after school before she can go home.

"What are your names?" the child ponders.

Kouji bends down on a knee, bringing his face near the same level as the child's. "I am Kouji and this is my friend, Tama."

"Oh so we are friends now?" Tama adds.

    Kouji waves his hand, dismissively. As the boys move closer to the girl, her legs plant into the mulch ground beneath. 

"Well, my name is Nanako. Why are you guys here? You are too old to go here." the little girl says.

"No, it's not. But it used to be! We are actually writing a paper on our elementary school." Kouji says with a friendly smile.

The girl pauses and looks back and forth between the two upperclassmen. "You are lying. What are you actually doing here?" she asks.

Kouji turns to Tama, it's like they were thinking the same thing.

"We are looking for things we call nxyi's. They are monsters." Tama says, in a more serious tone.

    Kouji is surprised he actually told her. The little girl pauses and looks around at the playground. Her eyes lock on the merry-go-round. She raises her hand and points. 

"Like those over there?" she asks.

    The three bodies freeze as the nyxis group together and melt into each other. Within a time span of five seconds or less, the three sketchy figures become a nine foot creature. Out of the three children, panic only arises in two.

    Nanako steps forward, then again, and again. She is going towards the nyxi!

"Nanako! Come back!" Kouji called out.

"It's okay, they can't hurt me. They aren't really here." Nanako replies.

    At this point, she is just meters from the behemoth of a creature.   Such a curious child, yet so naive. She steps forward one last time and reaches out for the slow figure. It turns immediately and swallows  the child in darkness, not even leaving time for the child to cry for help.

    Kouji immediately takes charge towards the beast but is stopped by Tama grabbing his wrist.

"What are you doing?! Did you not just see what it did to that little girl? You'll die!" Tama exclaims.

"You don't know that Tama! She needs help!" Kouji acknowledged. 

    Tama lets go of his wrist and he sprints towards the varmint. Along the way, Kouji picks up a sturdy stick to attack the nyxi. Tama follows suit but does not seek out a weapon, instead, he decides to use his fist. An idiotic move,  but with little available, it was a valid move.

    Kouji lifts the stick over his head, jumps, and swings down at the beast. Tama is taken aback as he watches his new friend get lost in the murk of their foe. 

"Kouji! No!" Tama shouted out, as he continued to charge. 

    Tama's mind is overcome with terror and wrath. There is no other thought on his mind but to defeat and salvage the persons he just watched die. As he runs, he pulls his right arm back and goes for a right hook. His body seems to freeze as his body is engulfed in pitch black.

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    Kouji shoots up to the noise of his alarm clock. He tries to stand but his body shivers and he falls to the ground. He turns to his side and tries to call for help, but his vocal cords are shot. His vision blurs, then becomes black.