The Story of the Wild Ones

Chapter 5

I woke up staring at the ceiling of a car. I panicked for a minute before I remembered I had driven to the empty parking lot after school. "Bad timing," I muttered to myself. I checked the clock and saw that it was already 11 pm. "Dammit," I swore to myself, starting the car and driving home as fast as I could.

I snuck in through the front door as quietly as I could, holding my breath as it clicked shut. As if on cue, my mother appeared almost out of nowhere. "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU WILLOW???" she screeched at me. "I stayed late at school and went out for dinner with some friends. I would have called but my phone died, I'm sorry," I told her, looking her dead in the eye and praying I sounded convincing. She sighed, and I took that as a sign she believed me. "Use a friend's phone next time, please," she said. "I will," I responded, heading up the stairs and into my room.

I entered my room and quickly changed into my pajamas before lying on the bed. I pulled the covers up to my chin and sighed. I wish I could tell my mom about all of this, but there's no way she'd believe me. She'd ship me off to an asylum before I could even convince her. I love her, but I knew she'd do something like that. I closed my eyes and drifted into another unoconcious state, hoping I would be able to stay home sick tomorrow.

I woke up to Andy shaking me awake. "Andy, what the hell?" I muttered, sitting up. He shushed me and quietly dragged me downstairs. We exited my house out the back door, silently shutting it behind us. "Andy, what's CC going to do when he wakes up and wonders where we are?" I hissed. "I'm right here," a voice said beside me, making me jump and knock into Andy. "Dammit, CC," I scolded, gently whacking him on the shoulder. "Stop fighting and follow me," Andy hissed to us.

We wandered down a few houses, being sure to stay in the shadows until we reached the gate marking the edge of Hysteria's territory. Without hesitation, Andy hoisted himself up, swung his legs over the other side and leaped onto the ground. CC and I copied his actions, except I stumbled a little, and Andy reached out a hand to steady me. "Come on," he whispered. "Andy, seriously, where are we going at dark? If the FEAR-demon-shadow-things find us we're dead," I hissed. "But they won't if you stop whispering," he shot back, instantly making me shut up.

We ran quickly and quietly through the desert until we were standing on top of a large hill. Andy gestured to something over it, and I scanned the scene until I saw what it was. A large, rectangular building was standing there, with no one or nothing else around it. A crackle was heard from inside, and all three of us dropped to the ground as a voice boomed over the desert.

"You are in the captivity of FEAR. There is no escape. We have chosen you so that you may become FEAR shadow warriors. If you disobey any instructions, that will be your last action. Do not doubt FEAR. We will protect you, if you obey, and the rewards will be great."

"That's where the missing people are," I whispered. "Yeah," Andy replied. "We have to save them!" I whisper yelled. "I know, Willow. We'll meet with Jake, Jinxx and Ashley tomorrow to tell them," he answered.

"Uh..." CC started from behind us, before making a gargling noise. Andy and I whipped around to see a FEAR shadow had pinned CC to the ground, hovering the end of its staff over him. Immediately I bolted forward and launched myself onto the staff. The shadow shook me around, trying to get me off, but I refused to let go. I saw out of my peripheral vision Andy had moved CC away before he lashed out a punch at the shadow. That disoriented the shadow for a mere second, and I used it to completely yank the staff out if it's hand. It stumbled back, and unsure of what to do I slapped it across the face with the staff. It crumbled to the ground in a pile of ash, ceasing to exist. I just stared at the remains, and the wind picked up, scattering them across the desert. "Come on," Andy said, snapping me back to reality. l turned to look at him and saw CC had an arm draped around him, using Andy for support. I quickly got on CC's other side, helping him limp back to the fence.

We stopped when we got there. "Shit," CC said. "Get on my back," Andy said suddenly. "Dude..." CC said cautiously, but Andy bent down, indicating for CC to get onto his back. With a little help from me he got on, and Andy climbed over the fence. "If I can't breathe, I will fall," Andy choked. "Sorry man," CC apologized. Andy dragged himself over, and climbed gently to the ground. I nimbly climbed over, dropping straight to the ground. "My hero..." CC said in a dreamy voice, causing Andy to slap him over the head. I couldn't help but giggle, making Andy glare at me.

We made our way back to my house the same way we left, sticking to the shadows yet again. I could see the sky begin to lighten as we made our way back, so we hurried into my house, locking the door behind me.