Professor Layton: Love In All Adversities

28. Love In All Adversities

Clive dragged Hershel roughly over in front of Oliver and then held the taser up threateningly to show he meant to use it if any trouble came.

Hershel merely stared back with longing eyes and then sighed as he dropped his head.

The young man untied Oliver, who immediately leapt for joy at being free.

“Well, well, Professor. You really just don’t know who you can trust these days. Oh, look at your pathetic face. ‘Oh, please, Clive. Don’t fall into the dark! Come back!’ Pitiful!” He spat at Hershel’s feet and then turned away gruffly.

“I’m afraid, Professor,” He continued, directing his mad gaze at the others and then back at Hershel. “that I have had quite enough surprises for one day. Don’t you? I just want this long day to be over so I can get back and see my darling daughter.”

Hershel gave the sense that he wasn’t going to speak, but he raised his head then and sighed.

“I’m afraid that your daughter will not be pleased to see you. Not the monster you’ve become.”

A mad light danced across Oliver’s eyes, but then he whistled.

“Hah! Don’t patronise me! Claire will love me! Just as she always has! And now… now I have you. No tricks, no dirty lies. In fact…” He ripped his ring off his finger and threw it into the grass behind the Professor. Hershel watched the elegant piece of jewellery send tumbling light in all directions.

“I don’t need the ring, you see. I’ve done with that. That was only the means to an end. This is the end. And now we are on that line of thought, what’s a good way of bringing about yours…? I know!”

He pointed his grubby finger gleefully in the air and he let out an almost growl-like laugh.

Nothing seemed to happen for a while. The members of Team Layton glanced in all directions, but the scenery was no different, and Oliver still had his finger raised proudly.

The ground shook with terrifying force. It was similar to when the Gatherer marched into the clearing only a few days ago, except this was much louder and send a far deeper chill into everyone’s spines.

The rough vibrations in the ground only intensified and it seemed as if more than one menacing thing was coming. For surely something was coming. These were footsteps.

The thing was, the Gatherer was one.

This appeared to be the footsteps of many. And with such a force like this, did any of them stand a chance.

“What’s going on?!” Hershel exclaimed, now steadying his feet and looking in each direction like the others. Only Oliver remained stationary, the wry smile on his face.

As Oliver left no response, Hershel focused completely at the source of the footsteps.

Katia appeared to be the first to see the danger. Her scream of complete terror alerted them all. All eyes gazed in the direction of the forest that Katia was facing.

“Oh my…” Hershel breathed.

Marching through the trees, towering over them like Herzen castle once did, was the tall figure of whom appeared to be Oliver. The torso was the same, the long hair. Only one key feature separated the two. This Oliver was made up of shadows. Only his eyes provided a stark contrast. White against the black.

As the tall man came closer though, the group could see that its pupils were blood-red.

The marching of the gigantic man alone would have been more than enough to cause the ground to shake, but by the way the group now began to tumble and hold onto each other for dear life, it was apparent that more of these tall shadow people were to come.