Collided Sky (Auras of Pneuma)

Chapter 1 (Eyes Opened)

It rained heavily and the white lights from the thunderstorm lit the sky that night. The raging thunder crackled; echoing a fierce roar as the lightning tore through the clouds. That night was the night that everything changed; the beginning to an end.

"Alright, bud it's time for bed."
"Can I stay up just a little bit longer, please dad?"
"No you can't, we have an early day tomorrow plus you got a lot of ground to cover and I need you well rested for training, ok"
"yes, sir."
Darius's father was always big on the idea that a man should know how to protect himself and his family mentally and physically. He believed that it was a man's duty above all others which was the reason for all the rigorous training. Darius's father was trained by his father and his father was trained by his father before him. It was considered a sacred tradition.
Darius, disappointingly, began gathering all of his toys that he had scattered across the living room floor. He didn't have the usual toys that most twelve-year-olds had. He was only allowed to have those that were stimulating to the mind. His father would always say that a strong body should always be accompanied by a strong mind. Then he would have Darius repeat "Strong body, Strong mind" on occasion to remind him of this.

As he noticed Darius's disappointment, he decided that he would cheer him up a bit.
He reached into the pocket of his blue denim jeans and pretended to pull something out of it.
"uh oh, it's back!"
"whats back?" Darius asked.
"The Tickler!"
A smile crept onto Darius's face " No, wait dad!" he shouted with excitement.
"Hurry, I can't hold him for long!" his father snares, twists, and turns; clutching one of his wrists as though he is struggling with it.

Darius rushed to put away all of his chinese puzzles and chess pieces and then ran as quickly as he could up the wooden stairs; smiling from ear to ear until he got to his room. He pulled the blankets up from the bottom of his bed, tossed them up over his head and crawled underneath them. His father followed behind him, running up the stairs in the same manner as Darius did. He caught up to Darius just as he had tossed the blankets over his head and began to crawl under them. He grabbed him with the blanket, cradled him in his arms and started tickling him.
Darius let out a burst of laughter that was purely from the soul. He set Darius down on the bed and he wiggled around a bit trying to get himself settled as he popped his head out from under his blankets and smiled widely. His father sat on the edge of the bed next to him and rubbed the top of his head.
"Goodnight bud."
"Goodnight dad..wait. dad?"
"Yea, bud?"
"I've always wondered about something from the book we always read."
"What's that?"
"What's a guiding light ritual?"
"Well, it's a ceremony where someone helps a mother safely bring a new life into the world."
"Like a doctor?"
(He chuckles a bit) " sort of but um.. there's a lot more that's involved."
"oh, ok," Darius said as though satisfied from the answer he was given
So, Can I ask you another question?"
"Yea, sure."
"Why do you only read that book now instead of the other books?"
"Well, son this book is important. It has been in our family since before I could even remember and it has a lot of history to it. My father read this very same book to me when I was your age and plus the time is coming where some of what's in this book will help you understand some of the changes that will come in your everyday life."
"But I'm only twelve," Darius said with slight confusion.
His father chuckled a little. "I know but yet and still you need to understand and know these things."
"Oh ok, this is the last question I promise."
"Ok, the last question; what is it?"
"Can you read me a little more from where we last left off, please?"
"Ok, just a little more and then you get some sleep, deal?"
"Yes deal!" he replied excitedly.
Darius's father reached into his pocket and pulled out an old rustic gold-colored key and went next to Darius's bed where there was an off white colored nightstand. He knelt down, reached into the nightstand and grabbed this hardcover brown leather book. The book was much larger than a normal size book and looked slightly worn. He flipped it over, with the spine facing up towards him, and stuck the key into the spine. As he twisted the key in the book, It made a clicking sound that continued until it was unlocked. He opened the book and inside laid a dark black, soft leather-bound book that had gold writing and symbols all over it with a gold buckle clasp holding the book closed.
He removed the book from the inside of the cut-out pages of the larger book, snapped back the clasp and began to search for the page he had last left off on.
"Ok, where were we...umm." he flips through a few pages in the book until he finds where they last left off and begins reading.
"Alright, here we are ...To the people of Zye, life is sacred. It is a gift that...."
A sudden pause came over him. He slowly closed the book in his hands and leaned forward a little and began looking at the door. He then turned his head slightly back to facing forward with his ear pointed towards the door as if he was concentrating on listening for something.
"Dad."
"Shhh..." he told Darius as he continued to listen closely. A few seconds passed as he sat there completely still. Then suddenly he cautiously went to the room door, slowly and silently closed the room door. The outlying sounds became clear. They both listened as whatever was lurking in the distance wandered around the house aimlessly. Every step it took was deep and was followed by something sharply scraping against the hardwood floor. The unwelcome mysterious creature paced back and forth in the distance. It stopped moving for a moment and suddenly let out a horrifyingly piercing, high pitched screech. Directly after, it went into a full rage and began destroying everything downstairs in the living room.
He grabbed Darius out of bed, stood him next to the window in his bedroom and knelt down in front of him.
"Look at me. I need you to focus on me." He whispered to Darius.
"You need to get out of here; you need to run and not come back here for any reason. you understand me?" He stressed to Darius but Darius's attention kept wavering as his eyes began to wander towards the door concerned with what was on the other side.
"Darius!" he snapped at him in a whisper.
His eyes quickly turned back to his father.
Do you understand?" his father asked again.
"Umm..yes, yeah, I-I do."
"You need to go and do not stop until you've reached your aunts. Look I know you're afraid but I need you to do exactly what I say ok?"
"Yes."
"Remember son, Strong body"
Darius quickly replied "Strong mind"
"Good."
He headed towards the window that was next to Darius's bed and pulled back the two latches that were on top of the window. He slowly began to pull the window up, hoping the sound doesn't grab the attention of the mysterious entity in their living room. As he lifted the window, it squeaked slightly so he immediately stopped and looked back at the door. Pure havoc still filled the background. The sound of fabric tearing and glass breaking engulfed the house like an amplified white noise.
Eager to have his son escape, He pulled his son in front of him and quickly continued to pull the window up. As it slid through the slightly rusted metal window tracks to where he finally got the window completely open, he couldn't help but notice that something had changed. He turned around and looked at the door as what he heard at that moment utterly disturbed him. What he heard was nothing; A barren emptiness.
It was as if silence forcefully entangled the house in tranquility. Wasting as little time as possible, he turned back towards the window and quickly continued to help Darius out of the window because he knew whatever was next to come wouldn't be as subtle and silent. Instantly, a large and powerful bang rattled Darius's bedroom door. Darius flinched and he slowly tried to mask himself behind his father.
The door began cracking and splitting around the hinges as whatever was behind the door started forcefully and aggressively bashing up against it; determined to get in the room. He swiftly turned around, picked Darius up and sat him in the window. The banging at the door became displaced, wild and erratic. Darius looked into his father's eyes and noticed that his father's eyes started igniting into a dark blue color like a lit wick on an explosive.
"I love you son." he intensely stated to Darius just as he pushed him out of the second-story window.
Just before tumbling into what seemed to him like his irrefutable death, Darius caught a glimpse of the razor-sharp claws just as it was piercing through the thick, solid oak door of his room.
Darius's mind was compiled with confusion, anxiety, and concern as the fear of everything that was transpiring engulfed him like a powerful sea crashing into an open flame. In a flash, as he was falling out of the window, he vividly imagined his father shouting at him...
"Darius, Focus!"
Darius quickly snapped to his senses, gained his balance in mid-air, and landed on his feet. At that moment, he did exactly what his father told him to do and he began running as fast as he could into the dark, cold night and didn't look back