The Curse of Hidden Hollow

Crossing The Town

The sky was an evil shade of purple, and a giant pillar of light was shining through the atmosphere. There were bits of mountains floating around the sky. Ash turned to Kiera. "What happened?" Kiera sighed, "As I was coming out of the mines, spirits came out, and took over the town. The giant pillar of light is where Thomas is. He found a crystal, and forgot all about the gold." Ash's heart skipped a beat. "Thomas found the crystal..." It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement. "Kiera, we have to stop him!" Ash was panicking. Everything had gone wrong! Kiera looked like she was about to say something, but then stopped, and just nodded. They made their way down to the lobby of the hotel. Suddenly, the thought occurred to Ash. "Mom and Dad! Where are they!" Kiera walked up behind him. "Thomas has them." Ash turned and started for the exit. He stopped when he saw the streets. There were multiple Wendigo ransacking the city. The street was cracked and glowing. Upon closer inspection, it was lava. Ash hated lava. He whispered to Kiera. "We have to be careful, if those things see us, it's game over." Kiera nodded. Ash carefully pushed open the door and stepped out. Kiera followed close behind. They ducked behind the dumpster where they had first met, to plan their next move. Ash started speculating. "Ok, so there's multiple Wendigo, and they are highly dangerous. Our best bet would be stealth, if they don't see us, we're fine. You know the layout of this place better than I do. What's the best approach to make?" Kiera thought for a moment. "Across from the hotel is the history museum. If we can make it over there, there is a ladder up to the roof we can take, and jump across the rooftops. Thomas is holed up at the other side of town, close to the entrance. He's trying to figure out why the crystal did what it did." Ash peered around the dumpster. "Wait for it, wait for it..." He waited until the beast's backs were turned, then he grabbed Kiera's sleeve, and booked it across the street. Ash dove into the door of the history museum, silently knocking it open. Kiera was close in tow. The history museum couldn't really be called much of a museum, it was more of a history room. There were a few posters on the wall and a few tables with some relics of the town's past. It was not like Ash needed any of that, he'd basically been run through the town's history all in one night. He scoffed, if only they knew the truth of what went down, this place would be a lot different. There was an overlook, with a bookcase upstairs. Kiera made her way up the stairs. Ash followed, "What are we doing? There are just bookcases up here." Kiera smiled mischievously. "Is there?" She made her way over to one of the cases and pulled a book on the top shelf. There was a clicking sound, and the bookcase swung open. Ash grinned, "I see how it is." Kiera made her way inside, and Ash followed. "How'd you know about this place?" Ash asked. Kiera was looking around for something, so she took a second to respond. "I sometimes help with cleaning this place. One day when I was taking books off the shelf to dust them, I stumbled into this room." Ash nodded and started to poke around at things. There were some old relics, pickaxes, helmets, and an old stick of dynamite. "Found it!" Kiera exclaimed. Ash turned to look. "What?" Kiera came over to him, holding a stepladder. She walked over to the edge of the room, and set it up. Ash watched curiously as she climbed up it and pushed open a skylight in the ceiling. She pulled herself up and over. "Come on up." Ash heard her whisper. He hurried up the ladder and pulled himself up. They were now on the roof of the museum. Kiera grabbed a long wooden plank and made her way to the edge. She lifted the plank so it was straight up in the air, then she let it fall. It hit the edge of the building next door with a thunking sound. Kiera gestured to the plank, and Ash got the memo. He carefully climbed up onto the board and shimmied his way across till he got to the other side. He hadn't realized he was holding his breath the whole time until he started to get woozy. It was only about a ten-foot walk, but it felt like a mile. Kiera followed him shortly after. "Alright, what now?" He asked. Kiera didn't answer, she just ran to the edge of the other side of the building and dropped over. "What the heck!?" Ash exclaimed, running over. He looked over the edge half expecting to see Kiera dead on the ground, but thankfully, there was a metal fire escape. "Jeez, girl." Ash let out a sigh. Kiera giggled. Ash jumped down, and Kiera went to do the next maneuver. She climbed on the edge of the fire escape and jumped to catch the ledge of the other building. Ash followed, nearly missing, but Kiera caught his arm and helped pull him up. They rested, catching their breath. Ash looked to the sky at the light pillar. They were almost there, they just had to get across two more rooftops. He looked over the edge into the street and shuddered. He'd never be able to look at deer the same way ever again. The next jump was a small one, so they cleared it with no trouble at all. The final jump before they climbed down looked a little more difficult. Kiera set another plank down, and Ash headed across. He turned around to see her standing still in the middle of it, an expression of fear on her face. "What's wrong?" Ash asked her. Kiera looked at him. "I thought I heard a cracking-" She was cut off as the board snapped, sending Kiera falling to the ground. She landed with a loud crash as the board pieces hit some trash cans. The beasts in the street immediately started towards the alleyway to investigate. "Shoot!" Ash exclaimed, frantically trying to decide what to do. There were no weapons, no way down, nothing! The first beast made its way around the corner and locked eyes with Kiera. It let out its all too familiar bloodcurdling roar, summoning all others to its location. Translation: "Time for lunch." Ash waited till the beast was almost near Kiera, and then he took a deep breath. "Here goes nothin'." He jumped over the edge of the building, falling directly onto the beast. It fell to the ground with a shriek. Ash rolled off the beast onto the ground. He had no time to waste, he got up, ran over to Kiera, and helped her up. "You alright?" He asked her. "I-I think so.." She responded weakly. "Alright, we gotta go." Ash said, beginning to panic. The other beasts would be here any second. "I can't- I need a second... " She wasn't looking too great. "We don't have a second!" Ash knew she couldn't run on her own, so he scooped her up in his arms, and began running. He went the opposite way out of the alley. If he was remembering correctly, this way would lead them right to the entrance of the town, right to Thomas. His lungs were on fire, but he knew if he stopped, it was all over, for everyone. He eventually got to the entrance of town. He set Kiera down and looked up at the light pillar. He looked behind him and was surprised. The beasts didn't follow him. They waited behind, almost as if they knew this wasn't their fight. Ash deliberated on how to approach this. He shook his head, this wasn't the time for planning, they were running out of time! He took a deep breath to try to calm his nerves, then let it go. It was time. "Thomas!!!" He shouted. "You have to stop this!" There was no reply, and Ash was beginning to think it wouldn't work when there was a loud booming sound, and the pillar of light began to split in the middle. "Come face me!" Shouted a voice booming from the sky. Ash stepped in, and the pillar began to close around him. "Ash.." Kiera murmured weakly, watching the light close around him.