Awakening

Working Together

-Barrel's POV-

Stephano and I raced back to the room. We ran into the room hoping to find the others, but they were all gone. The Creator had already got to them.

"Dang it!" I screamed and punched the wall. I felt the bones in my hand snap due to the blow, but right now I really didn't care.

"Where would they have gone?" Stephano wondered.

"I don't know. He would never let me know what he was up to because he didn't want me to be able to tell anyone about his plans. He's been working on these mind games for years. He knows just what to do to get what he wants." I replied and sighed.

"What about that cave where we found you and Emara? Perhaps they are going back there." Stephano suggested.

"Perhaps... I guess it's a good enough place to start." I answered nodding.

"Alright let's go." Stephano stated before running back out of the room. I led the way, having memorized this castle and it's shortcuts, I knew exactly how to get there in the minimal amount of time. I led us through different halls and passageways until we heard it. The massive amounts of groans and grunts that could only mean one thing. Monsters. And a lot of them.

"What is that?" Stephano asked.

"Monsters. It sounds like a lot. Perhaps we should check it out. Monsters don't usually come together in one area like that unless commanded. That might be where the others are." I answered.

Stephano nodded in response. We changed our course and followed the sound of the monsters. Stephano was about to step out into an intersection when I grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

"What?" He demanded.

"Shhh! The monsters are close. We can't risk being seen. If these monsters are under the control of The Creator, they will most defiantly attack us, and if there are as many as I think there are, then they will rip us to shreds. There is no way we could win against those kind of numbers." I explained to him.

"So what should we do?" Stephano whispered.

I thought about it for a moment. "The only thing we can do is just follow them and see where they are going. Maybe when they reach their destination, they will disperse. Then we will be able to make our move."

"Alright, let's go. It sounds like they are heading in this direction, and if you say is true then we need to get out of here." Stephano answered. There was a door across the hall from us, but there wasn't one anywhere else. The hall behind us was long and straight. The only place to hide was through that door.

I sighed, "Alright, here goes nothing." I took a deep breath and charged across the hall. The monsters were coming but they were pretty far away. Their sight was horrible, so they might not be able to see us.

"Come on, Stephano!" I exclaimed heading into the room. Stephano ran across the hall and closed the door behind us.

"Through here." Stephano suggested pointing at another door. I smirked to myself as we ran through the rooms.

"What's so funny?" Stephano wondered.

"Us. If nothing else, The Creator has done one thing. I mean, look at us. We are here working together again. It's been a long time." I answered.

Stephano chuckles as well, "Yeah. It has been a long time. I realize now that I was wrong. I shouldn't have pounded on you so hard. I should have listened to you, then maybe we could have helped you and all of this would have been avoided."

"No, you were right to hate me. After all, for all you knew, I killed the woman you loved. I don't blame you for anything that has happened. And if The Creator had been dealt with back then, we would have never met the girls. So there are good things to come from this." I replied.

Stephano smiled sadly, "Thank you, friend."

I smiled, "No problem."

"Now, if we don't get a move on, 'you' could very well kill the woman I love again." Stephano pointed out.

I nodded and we continued to move. We listened to the monsters trudge down the halls as we followed through the rooms.

"Loren... Loren!" Someone screamed. It sounded like Emara. I wondered briefly if that was really her.

"Was that...?"

"Yeah, that sound like Emara. At least now we know these monsters do have her and probably everyone else as well. We were right to follow the monsters." I told him.

"What's going on!?" Another female replied. Loren.

“The Creator... I looked into his mind... he... he's going to try and open a portal to our world. He wants to release the monsters from this world into our world. I don't know what he wants to do with the monsters, but these monsters could kill a lot of people! We have to stop it!" Emara returned.

Stephano stopped dead in his tracks, “This is bad. Emara once told me that it was something about her house, the reason the girls somehow managed to wind up here. If The Creator opens the portal again, the monsters will pour into her house, and kill her family. We have to stop him!"

"Yeah, that was the plan! Now let's get going! We can't afford to lose these monsters." I replied grabbing his hand again and pulling him along.