TH𝜽TA|| Updates!

Enemies in the Shadows

I shifted a large piece of cement off the stairs, clearing a brand new path to be explored. Jannet stood behind me, two arms crossed about her waist, and her eyes steadily gazed as I threw the piece of cement off of the stairwell. I offered her my hand, and we carefully made our way up a marble staircase filled with holed and clumps of cement that were left behind. As we began to approach the top of the stairwell, we began hearing more footsteps, but it was only us two here... or was it?
"Jannet, I hear around five or six people behind us" I murmured to Jannet. Upon hearing that she froze in her tracks, and we both heard around 7 shoes hit the marble staircase. Me and Jannet whipped around, blades drawn, ready for any attacker. The problem was, we couldn't hold both a flashlight, each other's hands, and a knife at the same time. So, the stairwell appeared to be as dark as the empty abyss of a black hole. It was that way until Jannet decided to pull out her flashlight and shine it into the dark abyss of a stairwell that sat behind us.
Why were we holding hands? Well, it all originated from a summer camp, where we were playing tug-of war. I also kind of liked Jannet at the time(we don't talk about that), but it was second grade. I realized that if I was to be the anchor(being the oldest and heaviest child there), but all the teammates were filled up, then I could just hold Jannet's hand, extending the line. It turned out to be an advantageous strategy. So I held her hand because of how easy it was to fall, and I didn't know how deep those holes go.
"Step forth whomever or whatever you may be" I called down the stairs, it was so dark our flashlight could only pierce through the darkness so far. There was silence, and I stood there, Jannet's hand in mine, for about 5 minutes. Suddenly, a horde of people raced up the staircase towards us, obviously not in a friendly manner. Me and Jannet immediately ran off, pulling me with her. I didn't know where we were going, but wherever we were, the mysterious people were definitely in hot pursuit. It's like they've been here before, but that isn't possible unless...
I knew from that second that we had made a dreadful mistake. We needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. Now I started to drag Jannet along, navigating over the thousands of pieces of rock and cement that dared to attempt to hinder us. We flew through a pair of double doors, colliding with a nearby wall. Jannet slammed the door, and I shakily got up. Turns out, I had taken all the pain from that, cushioning Jannet like a champ. The lights dimly turned on, buzzing and flashing as if in agony. The roof was high up and was beginning to crumble. This was the orchestra room, and there, I found a violin. I couldn't locate the precise time I saw this violin, but as my memories began returning, the door was blasted down. We were now under attack.

Dust filled the dimly lit room, me and Jannet attempted to peer through the smog, yet as fast as we could blink, a bullet barely glanced at my shirt, passing us and hastily embedding itself into the wall that towered behind us. Me and Jannet immediately began making a run for it, reaching for any door we could find. No exit, there was no way out, and we were locked in like sheep in a pen.
I noticed we were still holding hands after all that, and I could feel Jannet trembling fearfully. We were both on edge, with no way out other than fighting our way through the wall of people that are slowly closing in on us.
"We gotta find a way through those people. Jannet do you have anything useful on ya?" I glanced over at her. She started eying me back, and rolled her eyes.
"I literally brought the same items that you have on you right now!" She yelled impatiently. She began to remind me of Jaiden, and the reason we're here. I reached into my pocket, hoping that my hand managed to- there it was! My hand had grabbed hold of the call beacon. It can be used in an emergency to call upon yourself a fitting weapon, and no, this wasn't plot armor. I can hear your thoughts from here. Of course the beacon also could deliver armor, but that isn't needed, nor do we have any armor. I pressed the tiny green button that sat on the side of the beacon(keep in mind I never used this before).
Immediately a bright light flashed before our eyes, and lit up the entire room. It focused into a single pillar of light, a shape being formed within the light. I grabbed the weapon from the pillar, and inspected it. To my surprise, it was my trusty sword! For whatever reason, the computer remembered my sword within its database, and sent it here! I stared at the sword in awe, it had been too long since I had an experience with this weapon.
"You know, maybe while you're busy staring at that sword, the approaching men will just, you know, disappear!" Jannet pierced through my conscience. I snapped back into reality(thanks to Jannet), and rushed out towards the men. Shots were fired, but the density of my sword prevented the bullets from tearing through the blade like they did the wall, sending it towards our oppressors. It missed, but served enough of an opportune distraction to take them down(they were also out of ammo which was also nice). Jannet caught up with me, her face was brimming with joy, but we remained silent. We couldn't let ourselves get caught off of a joyful yell. Based on how fast those TAN members got here, this wasn't just a trap, it was their main location, we had to get out of here now.
The TAN members I knocked out were starting to regain their consciousness, and we needed to leave before they called for backup. So, we once again ran through the dark hallways of the school. I realized that the Tan members actually destroyed the stairwell leading to the entrance of the school, leaving a deep pit in its wake. I stopped both of us in our tracks. There was no way that we were going to make such a perilous jump, and live.
My eyes suddenly began scanning the soggy and bumpy roofing that looms above us. I was looking for something to latch my rope on, and there was a promising option available. Extruding from the wall, there was a curved pipe that seemed latchable, but it was clearly attached to a water stained wall. Unstable I thought to myself, as there was a high likelihood for the wall to collapse under our weight. Unfortunately, there was no more time left to consider my options, as lights were rushing up the hallways... the cavalry had arrived.
I tied the rope into a noose, and Jannet threw it across the gap(she had a better throwing arm than me), barely landing the throw. The noose tightened about the pipe and I yanked at it from afar, it didn't budge. So, putting my full trust into the pipe, this rope, and the tightened noose, I swung across the deep abyss that lay open wide to swallow me whole. The wind flew through my hair, and my stomach clenched as I let go of the rope, my feet colliding with a patch of solid concrete below me.
Jannet proceeded to land beside me, and I heard the hordes of footsteps approach the stairway. Theta worked his way to the front of the horde, arms crossed and his silvery eyes seemed to glow in the light. I stepped back, my hand placed in front of Jannet, worried of both the threat Theta poses, and the stupid decisions that Jannet may make. The entire room fell silent, and the only thing separating both groups was a chasm that went too deep to see any bottom in sight. Theta then raised a hand, signaling the men behind him to stand down. He was getting ready to negotiate.
"You know, we kinda need you out of here man." Theta began, "I mean to be completely honest with you, you shouldn't even be here, but your return was of no surprise to us. You see, you can't expect me not to keep pins on the guy that took down the last leader right? I had prepared for this moment for a while, but enough about me. I'll give you a choice: if you leave this area and never return again, then I'll let you and Jannet go; if you stay, well... You already know what fate is to befall you. So take your little toothpick and leave!"
Quickly, I turned to the collapsed wall that blocked our way, ramming the stone as hard as we could. Unfortunately, Theta and his men had smothered the wall with even more stones, making it harder to move the wall. We weren't going to give in to the perpetual gravitational anchoring that the wall had, so we continued to press our weight into the wall. Eventually, my sword fell out of its sheath; it clattered against the tile floor like glass on pavement. Embarrassed, I picked up the blade gently off the ground, staring back at Theta, who's grin was clearly visible.
"Hey you good down there? Do I need to send Bill down there to help you leave the building?" Theta mocked from afar, "Because you don't look like you're having the best time down there!"
I looked around for something we could use to escape. Nothing, there was nothing there, just a gaping wide dark hallway that led to a... open wall. Jannet was already halfway to the exit(the wall) when I sped past her. Over the rubble and through the wall I went, and I was finally free. I relaxed in the tall grass as the wind whipped my hair about my face. I awaited her arrival, but after racing past her, I hadn't seen her. I stood on my feet, and started making my way to the hole in the wall. I was met at the gap by Theta, his grin now filled with pride as he motioned down the hallway. Suddenly, a goon walked around the corner, within his grasp he tightly held Jannet by her throat. A blaster was angled to the silver strip of hair that extends from her head, and fear struck me in my heart. I needed to get to Jannet, and fast, but I couldn't as Theta was in my way. I didn't dare to step forward, for all I knew Theta could signal for his goon to blow Jannet's head open in an instant.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked impatiently, "You said you would let us go". I was infuriated! First, he took Jaiden, and now Jannet, things were going downhill, and fast! Unfortunately I couldn't do anything, anything at all. Theta signaled to the soldier, who struggled to hold Jannet still, waving his hand towards the hallway. The man left, and a sinister smile crept across Theta's face. I clenched my teeth in fury.
What was he going to do? Kill me, let me go? Whatever he does, I need him to try to do it and step out of my way. I need to save Jannet NOW! I thought to myself. After losing Jaiden, I couldn't dare lose anyone else. I looked once more upon the silver-gray hair and the gray eyes of Theta. I couldn't wait to knock his block off from his smirk alone. I ran towards Theta, my fist drawn back as far as it could go. My hand flew outwards... AIR. I had hit nothing at all, with my fist hovering over Theta's shoulder, his neck cocked to the side, his grin filled with more evil than ever before. I fell for it; hook, line, and sinker I reprimanded myself in the second I had before getting sent across the parking lot.
Theta's foot flew outwards, landing me squarely on the chest, sending me stumbling backwards. He decided to follow up with another swift kick to my gut, thankfully I blocked this one, but it hurt A LOT. I backed out of his range for a bit so I could quickly consider my next move, but he was in front of me in a snap. He forced me to block a flurry of punches from Theta. I fled once more to observe my surroundings, and took notice of Theta not being at the opening.
Perfect. An opening! My thoughts yelled at me. I made haste to get to the collapsed wall, and quickly rushed down the dark hallways of the building. I held my flashlight tightly within my palms, my guiding light through the cavernous endless turns of hallways. Eventually my flashlight began to flicker, and my arms and legs were sore from my recent beating at the hands of Theta, so I decided to take a break. A sound echoed through the hallway as I reinserted batteries into my flashlight. It got louder and louder, until it was clearly in my ears.
"Bartholomeu..." The voice called. It was an echo that sounded like a familiar voice. I was immediately on alert, my sword drawn in my right hand, and my flashlight in my left. I couldn't stand though, my legs were still sore from the fight. I realized that the voice belonged to... Theta! My flashlight pierced through the dark shadows that clouded my vision. I couldn't see a thing, but I could use my voice.
"Continue Theta, I know you have more to say..." I called into the darkness of the hallway. I thought that this might draw out Theta, maybe. I didn't know at this point, and I was unaware of what was to happen next.
"You think that you have this all under control don't you?" Theta asked me. I did, but I was nervous now. What is he going to do now? I asked myself, It's likely that I'm just another pawn in his master plan.
"You really are an idiot, trying to defeat me, getting in my way! But now..." I heard Theta land right next to me, "You're all alone without Jaiden, or Jannet to help." My pupils shrunk, Marcus was never a leader of TAN! Theta was just in the background the whole time, watching over everything, ensuring that all his plans would work out the way he wanted them to. I turned around abruptly, and stared Theta in the eyes.
"And you'll soon suffer the same fate as the miserable insects that you call friends! As every single thing in your puny pathetic organization will soon belong to me, and CSC will be burnt to the ground where it belongs, under number one. And when it's all gone, I will make sure to single handedly torment you forever. And when that day comes I will finally be satisfied." Theta took a deep breath, his back towards me, baiting me into doing something, something he knows I'll do, so I decided to reply.
"No, I know you have Jaiden and Jannet in your possession. You wouldn't get rid of them, though you say you did. Your confidence is only to bait me further into your plan, to capture me. You want to capture me, you want to make me struggle. Your only goal is to watch me crumble before your very eyes, and CSC would fall with me. So, no I AM going to take you down and I AM going to save Jaiden and Jannet. And you can't stop me" I stood as I said this, my willpower forcing me to stand upright. I knew that right now, defeating Theta would be an impossible task, but I had to stand and fight. I stared back into Theta's eyes, full of confidence.
Theta closed his eyes,"Alright then Bartholomeu, I'll leave you to your foolish desires." Theta grinned maliciously,"And I'll see you when you're imprisoned, but I'll be watching you... from the shadows." Theta then disappeared into the dark shadows that filled the hallway, and vanished out of sight. I was left in darkness, and I was left to ponder why he left me alone in the dark.
I fell to the ground, my legs were too sore. I had to get to Jannet, but I didn't have the strength to continue. It's so dark here, I just have to hope that Jannet is okay... I thought this to myself as my flashlight batteries fell out of the socket, and it shut down. Please be okay Jannet I prayed as the darkness enclosed around me.

.....

No I'm not killing off bart. He's just in pain... Lots of pain I mean like my man took on Mike Tyson. Just wait for chapter 3 k? Oh yeah thoughts should be imported italicized, but it's not.

Yes new title page, still looks bad, but I'm learning k?