A Strange Collection

Chapter 5: The Sighting

I was standing beside a tree. I tried to regain my breath. Sweat flowed from my forehead, giving moisture to my feathers. I wiped it with my wing. My body was about to collapse. I ran beyond my strength. I bent on one knee on the ground. The air swooshed; it felt cool. Then I stood on my feet.

I looked behind myself to see how far I've gone. There was nothing on sight, so I pressed my palms on the ground, feeling the brittle textures of the dried leaves and roamed about in this space that seemed like a void with nothing but a cover that was almost a pitch black coat that almost blinded me.

"Wow," I thought to myself. "Yesterday, tonight as well...this must be one of the darkest places on this island. It's no wonder why no one lives here, well, almost no one."

"HEEEEEEEEEEEY!!!!!!!" I heard a loud call, and as expected, it was him.

"He he he, oh-um..." I tried to communicate.

"Hilary! My name is HILARY! AH AHA!"

"Ah, yeah...I see, so um...what are we gonna do now?" I asked him.

"Go back, of course!" He answered, giggling. "I'm serious!" He continued, laughing.

"I know. I know."

There was a silence that came for a few minutes. Something crept on my spine. It was not a bug but a touch of fear. Nothing but the sound of subtle giggles can be heard.

"Seriously man, this isn't helping. You sound creepy!"

"Sorry, I can't help it! I've tried!"

It was quiet again. We didn't know what to say to each other. Not knowing what to do, I just stared blankly into the shadows.  There was no thought that came into my head. There was no image to picture out. The only thing I can describe was an ambience with a feel a like that of a void. The blowing air was moist and felt like it seeped through my feathers. The chuckles I've come to tolerate became faint out of an effort to be ceased. 

I turned around. I found it hard to find our way. I looked at him. He was full of concern, at least that's how I felt. I could barely identify the look on his face. He leaned on me with his face flat on my back. I had the feeling of tears flowing behind. He must have been afraid, and I was rather sorry. He followed me all the way here and we had no idea how to get back. None of us brought a light, so we were pretty much stuck.

I slowly bent my knees. Feeling my weight slightly increasing on them, and it became lighter as I sat on the ground; Hilary did so as well. He was still clinging on me. It was completely quiet this time. Another set of tears flowed out from him.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"My cheeks hurt," he told me.

I didn't know how to continue the conversation, so I remained silent for a while and was facing the ground. I then looked up and saw two tongues of fire that slowly licked the air. I pinned my eyes for a better look and a vague image of a torch lit skull is what I see. I felt unsettled. I immediately stood up, and upon grabbing Hilary's arm, pain had stricken my head; it probably struck him as well. We fell hard on ourselves. We felt too heavy to get up; we were glued to the ground. It was impossible to remove my palms from the dirt. I couldn't adjust my own limbs.

A tall figure then walked our way and stood near us. A small amount of flame gleamed from his eyes, and it was only enough to reveal the shape of his eye sockets. The rest of his body was darkened. A few weak lights appeared. Then more have shown. They were like a cat's eye in the dark. These revealed a silhouette. The bird was slender, and I assumed that he was some kind of peafowl. 

The figure reached out his hand on me and a sudden gush of wind then rushed on us. I blinked, then we were already just a few steps into the camp.