Shadows of Another World

Chapter 7

Liam awoke to no sounds. There was almost complete silence in his ears. Something was wrong; he could feel it.

He opened his door to find many people whispering about something. Marisa, then, appeared in the hallway.

"Liam, follow me," Marisa demanded.

Liam wanted clarification or at least something, but it was clear that nobody wanted to hear his remarks. They walked through hordes of people to Mr. Gregory's office where some teachers were blocking the entrance. When the pair walked up, they allowed them in.

"Well Mr. Becket, you got somebody killed," Victor Vanish stood at the door way as he said this.

Liam pushed past him to see that the strange man they had captured was split into two halves. He was all bones; not even skin covered him. The ceramic mask was smashed into many pieces. The entire room seemed burnt, except for the corpse. The corpse even had much of the cloth cloak still intact.

   "How did this happen?" Liam questioned to anyone who was listening.

   "We're not sure. Mr. Gregor is the only one with access to this place, and he was in his room the whole night," Victor answered.

"Yes," Mr. Gregor added, "This is all so strange."

   "Children, you should probably head out and do whatever it is that you do. Also, there are no classes today as we all try to figure out what happened," Dr. Dolly said.

   The pair went out of the room to go find Layla and Jonah. They found them up in the cafeteria, where they had eaten previously. Liam and Marisa walked forward towards Layla and Jonah.

   "Jonah, Layla did you hear what happened?" Marisa inquired. They both nodded to signify that they had indeed heard about what happened.

   "It's just awful. Just terrible. I think it's worse for me because I have started to see him. His strange ramblings just keep putting me on edge," Layla replied.

   "What does he say?" Liam questioned.

   "Awful things. He used to laugh, but now he screams bloody murder. He talks of betrayal. He describes, in vivid detail, murders which he has committed," Layla said.

   "Layla, that really is awful," Jonah reiterated.

   "There are only two questions that I can think of right now. How was he killed, and why did he worship that thing?" Marisa wondered. She only had two questions, but Liam had many.

   What is it that keeps attacking him? Why has he been having these dreams? Do the dreams and this creature have any connections? How he can stop this creature? Why did this creature want to attack him. Why that guy was worshiping the creature that was attacking him? How did that thing get in to the secret room? What powers does it possess? There were too many questions, but there were so little answers.

Marisa and Liam ordered breakfast and ate along their friends. They chatted for a couple of hours. While they were conversing, Liam slipped in a bit of information about the dreams he has been having.

"Liam, why didn't you tell us this before?" Marisa asked.

"It didn't seem relevant," Liam told them, getting straight to the point.

"I think that whatever this thing is it probably wants your gift," Jonah continued, "I mean, we all know that people and creatures can steal someone's gift, and you have the most powerful gift to ever exist."

"Your probably right, Jonah," Layla added, "I mean whatever it is, it probably either wants your gift for itself or your gift for someone else."

"So, what should I do about it?" Liam asked, waiting for answers. They had none.