The Black-Hearted Ninja (The Dark Triangle #1)

Jay is Right

  It was  a moonless night. Clouds covered the stars. The only light came from the lamps lining the cobblestoned street, still damp from the light rain that had fallen earlier. The tops of the houses were sparkling with the water droplets, illuminated by the dim flickering of the streetlights.

     This was a nice neighborhood. One of the nicest in Ninjago. A small suburb just outside of the hustle and bustle of New Ninjago City, a good place to call home. Only Ninjago's finest lived here in these large houses, retired politicians, celebrities, well known people in general... yes, you had to be one of the elite to gain a place in Royal Hills.

       One of these elite was in his home, feeling particularily lonely. He lived by himself in his large house, with only his trophies and photographs to keep him company. Normally putting a record in the player and sitting back in his old armchair was enough to comfort the middle aged man, but not tonight. Tonight he could only focus on how particularily alone he was. He missed his son. He wished that once in awhile he might get a visit or at least a call, an email, something. The man laid back, earl grey tea in his hand, and stared at the picture framed on the wall, centered with all his other photos of past victories. His son standing with his friends, an overjoyed expression on his face, holding up his father's most prized posession. The picture symbolized that his son was an adult now, the man reminded himself.

        Outside, a dark figure moved past house after house, retracing the familiar path to the one he knew so well. The thing came closer, seeing a light in a downstairs window. It grinned, sharp teeth glinting in the weak brightness.  Black eyes narrowing at the sight of the man in the armchair. Locking in on its prey.

        Lou Brookstone didn't see the shadow. He didn't even feel the black eyes staring into the back of his head. He didn't realize it, but his son had come home.

Nya's P.O.V.

      It's been days since Cole hurt Lloyd. 5 days of anxious waiting, wondering where he is and when he'll attack. We tried to leave the Bounty but found that all the exits are blocked by unusual outcroppings of rock that were never there before. Wonder where those came from.

   So now we're trapped and running out of food. I wonder where Sensei is. We've tried to call him, but the service isn't working. There's nothing to do but tend injuries, train, and try to find alternative options for food.

"What about gum?" Kai says. He's sitting at the dining room table, kicking one of the legs, with a desperate look on his face. His hair is ungelled and extremely messy and his eyes are surrounded by dark circles that seem more like bruises.

"No Kai. We can't eat gum. It has no nutrients." I tell him reluctantly.

"Yeah, but I'm huuuungry." He says, dropping his forehead to the table with defeat.

"We're all hungry!" Skylor snaps. "All I've eaten today were some stale crackers that expired 4 months ago! I found them in the back of the pantry!"

"Yeah, well, all I've eaten was some hot sauce!" Kai growls back. "And it didn't go down that well!" He slams his palm down on the table. When he lifts it up, his handprint is burnt into the wood. The two glare at each other, Kai's hair smoking, Skylor's eyes burning. Skylor is opening her mouth to say something else, most likely something very insulting, when she's cut off by Lloyd waving his arms in the air.

"Calm down!" Lloyd says. He was laying on the couch but sits up to frown at both of them. I can see the marks of his bandages under his green shirt. "I'm hungry too, but I'm not complaining! We will survive this! And by the way, you both sound like Cole." Both Kai and Skylor look shocked. It's become a deep insult to compare someone to Cole. Lloyd only flops back down onto his back. He still hasn't gotten proper medical attention for his cuts, which were the deepest of any of us. I can only imagine how much they must hurt.

"Fine. I'll stop complaining. According to the attack order, I'll probably die soon anyway. Why kill me by cutting my throat? Cole can just make me starve to death!" Kai says angrily and runs his fingers through his hair.

      I know he's right. In my dream, Kai was the first to die. And although I was the first to be attacked in the real world, I can tell that whatever Cole's planning, he won't kill Jay or I until he's spilled some other blood. Still, I don't want it to be true.

"I wish he would just do something already. He should just kill me and then you can catch him and do something to make him regret he ever turned evil." Kai continues. I'm about to reply when the door opens and Jay comes in.

      Jay's clothes and face are stained with oil. His auburn hair stands straight up, like it gets when he shocks himself. His bright blue eyes are tired and tinged with worry, but he seems to be trying to smile. "I rebuilt Pixal." He announces. That's what Jay has been working on for the past few days, reconstructing our friends. Although I probably could do it faster, Jay needs a distraction. Otherwise he'll kill us all by accidentally shocking us with lightning or at the least tear his own hair out from anxiety.

"That's great!" I say, hugging Jay.  Then an awkward silence comes over the room. Kai still has his head in his hands, Lloyd lays in pain on the couch, and Skylor is slumped in her chair. 

    "I'll go back to working on Zane!" Jay says to the quiet room.  He's about to go when he grabs me and pulls me slightly out the door.
"Cole's planning something. He's going to strike soon! I can feel it!" Jay whispers.  His eyebrows quiver with determination. I'm guessing it is taking all his strength not to be freaking out right now.
"I know." I say back, under my breath.

"I've had a lot of time to think all alone in that workroom, and I finally figured it out.We're the two real targets here, shouldn't we like sacrifice ourselves or something?" He says, closing his eyes at the prospect.
"We should. That is logically the right thing to do." I agree. "But we're not. We're not surrendering to Cole. We're not going to let him win!"

   "Don't you see, Nya? He already has won! He's made everyone scared out of their minds, left us all defenseless and starving! We're like lambs to the slaughter! He'll just pick us off, one by one!And what do you think happens when he gets through Kai, and Skylor, and Zane, and Pixal, and Lloyd and I? He'll kill you. Sure, he says that this is all supposed to be for you, but Cole is a liar. He will murder you like the rest of us and then he'll take over Ninjago with no us to stop him. The only way Ninjago has even a small chance to survive is if we give ourselves up and make sure the others don't die!" Jay whisperyells to me. He looks at me with such blatant truthfullness that I am suddenly hit with a wave of sadness. I've tried to repress it so many times, but I know, deep in my heart, that Jay is right. This is our fault, mainly my fault, and the only way we're going to make it better is by letting Cole have us. Cole knows what he wants. He always gets what he wants.

"What are you two fighting about?" I hear Lloyd's voice say. I turn around to see that everyone has been watching Jay and I. I'm still partly in the room. Jay's hand is clutching my wrist and I realize that we must have looked pretty intense.

"You wouldn't understand." I say with a tinge of guilt in my voice. As much as I hate to hide things from the team, they can't know what we were talking about. It would only make them more anxious.  I give Jay a look that says: "Scram!" and he does. I can talk about my impending death later.

I just want everything to go away.