Shadow Bound

The Final Task

Orange eyes pinned on me like a target, burning into my soul. Great. There had to be thirty Troubled in here. I could barely handle ten at the town. Luckily, I was more prepared for this one than I was with the other tasks. I had an abundant supply of copper sulfate hidden in three of my pockets, and a lighter in the last one. Just enough to burn all of these things to the ground.
"Ha," I scoffed. "Hey guys. How's it goin? Nice day we're having, isn't it? A little cold though. Let me fix that," I pulled out my lighter, using the spray that Matt supplied me with it, spreading green fire throughout the tight room. Some screamed in protest, falling to the flame, but many retreated to the corners, smarter and quicker than usual. I had plenty of chemical, this could last all day if I needed it. This was self explanatory, and a bit of a slack for being the last challenge. Aren't those usually the hardest? I heard an echo of a voice, and a Troubled stepped out into view.
"Don't do this," It called out. "Join us,"
It was my brother's voice. Dalton spoke to me.
"No, Dalton. This isn't you. You aren't one of them." I backed away, dropping my hands to my sides. It didn't say anything back, but I could see a smirk developing on it's face. "This can't be you. You aren't a Shadow. You aren't a Troubled," I begged, hitting the door with my back.
"Don't do this," It repeated like a broken record, "Join us."
"Stop!" I grasped my head, feeling it pound. "You can't be one of them! You can't be!" I begged. I felt like I was going insane, detached from my own body.
It let out a disturbing cackle. "No," It's voice distorted into Damien's. "Your brother's in there, but I can be whoever I want." Wait, what? I ignored it's comment, knowing that they were known for lying in order for the person they're tricking to bend to their will. It's face flickered, and I saw Damien's panicked face reflect in the darkness, bloody and swollen from torture. Then that face switched into my parents. They stood together, hand in hand, smiling like nothing could ever ruin their lives.
The creature switched back to it's normal, high pitched voice. "Remember them? After this, you'll be with your precious parents, and the guy in there will join you. You can't get past us. We won't fight you, we'll just persuade you. You see, we aren't doing this for kicks. We aren't killing people for a random reason. We are doing this because we need to survive. The last time an entire species knew about us, we were nearly wiped from the Earth. We just want to thrive as much as your kind does. But the more people know about us, the more they hate us. The more they want us gone. When one person knows about our existence, it spreads. We get rid of that link before it becomes a problem. We aren't as bad as you think, Erin. Join us. Help our kind flourish, you could be high in ranking. Shadows would honor you. You would rule the darkness. Doesn't that sound amazing?" It tried to persuade me. So there were more to these things than what they seem like. They aren't just killing machines. They're just a developing race that didn't want to be destroyed again.
"No," I pushed past it towards the door. I head a couple slight swishing noises, and turned around. One creature posed as Dalton, his shaggy blond hair in a perfect quiff. Two posed as my mother and father, hugging each other's waist. They looked at me with love in their eyes, as if conveying their message just be looking. Come to us. One was Damien, holding his hands to his hip in his sassy pose, pursing his lips a little to mock all of the girls at his school. I smiled, then shook it off. It wasn't them. They all spoke at once, causing my blood to freeze.
"Come to us, Come to us," They repeated. "Come to us," They closed in, an awkward smile, like Rob's, sprawled on their face. "No!" I walked towards the door that hopefully lead to Damien. One pulled on my ripped shirt, one tugged my arm the other way. They were trying to keep me from the door. I got ahold of the copper sulfate again, holding it hard in my hand. I struggled for the lighter, and it dropped to the floor. I tried reaching for it, but they had too strong of a grasp on my arms. I put it under my foot, so at least none of them would find it, taking it from me. It was my only lighter, my only chance of getting Damien. I didn't have any weapon that I could swing at them to slow them down. Just this.
"Okay! Okay, I'll stay. Just let me tie my shoe, I don't want to trip going down," I requested. They glanced at each other questioningly, but allowed it. I bent onto one knee, going to my left shoe, which I had untied with my other foot while they were focusing on my arms, and began to tie it. As I was doing that, I deftly slid the lighter into my right hand, and finishing tying. I stood up calmly, and smirked. One seemed suspicious, and started closer. I shoved the spray up, using the fire and chemical on it, burning it into ash. The others were taken back, and lunged to get the supplies. I continued to spray, just spinning around repeatedly while they singed at the touch. Within five seconds, all were gone, and I had completed the tasks.