Blox Watch

The Blox Watch - 3

After filling up her fresh new locker and locking it, she took her bicycle, opened the main entrance doors, and exited.

But she was stopped in her tracks by the sound of evil-ish laughing coming from the side of the school.

She turned to her right, and tip-toed closer to the scene.

"What's the password? What's that? I can't hear you. Lost your tongue?"

She peered past the wall, and three other boys were seen ganging up on the Bacon boy. She watched as the muscular one, who was supposedly the leader of the group, shoved the boy against the wall, causing him to fall onto his posterior and his hood revealing his face.

"It's simple, kid. Just say 'I'm a Bacon terrorist', and we'll let you pass," said the leader as he pulled out his phone.

Charlie clenched her fists, propped her bike and jumped out from her hiding place. She ran up, and jumped in between the boy and the bullies. "Hey! You leave him alone!"

"Ohoho, I'm scared," said the lead bully, mockingly.

"Bullying him just because he's a Bacon citizen?" she retorted. "Wow, you're just pathetic."

The two boys who served as the leader's accomplice stepped forward, but not too long before the leader raised his hand. "Nobody talks to me that way, you understand that?"

"Don't even try it. You don't scare me," said Charlie, pushing him away.

"You're going to regret that-" the lead bully readied his fist, but was interrupted by another voice.

"What's going on here?"

The lead bully lowered his fist, then turned around, as Charlie's teacher watched from the entrance staircase.

"No trouble, sir," he lied. "We're just...introducing ourselves to the new girl."

"I see," said the teacher. "Introductions are nice and all, but school finished ten minutes ago. Hurry on home."

The teacher headed back inside, and the lead bully turned back to Charlie, with a much colder glare on his visage.

"You better pray we don't cross again...because you will regret it."

"You still don't scare me," said Charlie boldly.

"C'mon boys, let's get outta here," said the bully, before barging past Charlie, then entering the streets.

She turned around, and saw the boy, still sitting on the wet grass, with his face buried in his arms.

"Hey...are you alright?" she knelt down and offered a hand.

He looked up at Charlie's face, with an aqua blue glow in his eyes, similar to that of Charlie's pink glow.

He took her hand, and got back up onto his feet. "Yeah...thanks."

"You're Zack...right?" inquired Charlie.

"Yes," he said. "I appreciate you helping me, but you shouldn't have gotten involved. They're gonna come after you now."

She scoffed. "Sure, but I'm not afraid of bullies."

"That glow..." said Zack. "...You can see into the dark world, can't you?"

"Wait, you can see that too?" she said, surprised by the thought.

He smacked himself lightly, before putting back on his hood. "Damnit...I shouldn't have said anything. It's too dangerous. I have to go."

He picked up his bike, hopped on and was off onto the street.

"What do you mean, 'it's too dangerous—' Hey, Zack wait!" she turned around whilst hopping onto her own bike, before starting to follow him down the street.

Although the heavy rain was bombing Charlie's face, she didn't let it distract her from following the boy. She watched as he turned left at the junction ahead, with a bus about to enter that same junction.

However, instead of slowing down to let the bus through, she just pedalled harder, and narrowly dodging the bus as it screeched into a halt.

"Sorry!" she called to the driver, who was pressing hard on the horn and calling out unintelligible curses.

She veered left, and continued following Zack through the empty streets, via another left, then a sharp right, then around a roundabout, and finally...

To her left, Zack had finished leaving his bicycle in the garage. As he was closing the door, she stopped by the sidewalk nearest to him, and propped up her own bike. He turned in her direction, and lightly jumped back.

"Charlie, what the hell are you doing here?"

She fixed a glare at him. "Look around now. I'm here and I'm not moving a single inch from this spot until you tell me more about this dark place. Why does it exist, and why can only you and I see it?"

"Why you—" he muttered through gritted teeth, and groaned heavily. "Did you not get it when I said 'It's too dangerous'? You can call me a crazy Bacon hair all you want, but I'm telling you, this could put both your life and mine at risk!"

"Just tell me!" she snapped.

He looked around himself, and saw no-one but Charlie nearby. He sighed heavily before turning back to her. Moments later, the world around the two became dark.

"There's so much you've yet to know. That dark world that we can see into? It's called Limbo."

"Limbo...?"

"And trapped inside Limbo are these creatures...wanting to break out."

Once he had finished, the darkness had faded away, giving way to the bright red light of the sunset.

"Being able to seen into Limbo is one of many abilities...of an Astral Human."

"Creatures...? Astral Humans...? What are those things?" she questioned.

"Look, as much as I really want to, I cannot tell you anything else. If 'it' finds out about either one of us, we're both dead," Zack replied, turning away and heading for the front door.

Charlie just watched as he opened the door.

But before he could close it behind him, Zack turned around and gave one last look at Charlie.

"I'm sorry Charlie. But this is for the sake of both of us."

He looked back into the house, and shut the door. Moments later, she hopped back onto her bike, and headed for home, her thoughts filled with today's events. She soon began to realize why the school has such a weird reputation.

Little did both Charlie and Zack know, that a certain figure had been watching them the entire time.