Chasing Darkness (Sequel to Remember Me)

Part Seven

"Are we catching up to them??" Bennett questions you, watching the road in front of him, worriedly, "They must be driving way over the speed limit."

Your eyes are glued to your phone screen, waiting for the next update on Jaya's location, but she still hasn't sent anything. "Just keep going straight. Something must have happened."

"What do you mean?"

"Jaya hasn't sent an update on her location in ten minutes. That's not a good sign. The only reason she would stop is if she absolutely had to," You finally look up from your phone screen, observing the road in front of you, and the area surrounding it very closely. "Bennett, pull over up here." You point ahead of you, where a black car is pulled over.

Bennett gulps nervously, but he pulls over behind the black car. He can't even get a word in before you hop out of the car and make your way towards the ditch. "He ran them off the road.. But where did they all go..?"

"What?? Do you think they were injured?" Bennett questions you as he races over to stand beside you. He looks down at Leorio's car for a few moments before pointing out, "It looks like one of the tires was popped.."

You nod in agreement, sliding down into the ditch, and inspecting their car, closely. You look in through the windows, noting Jaya's phone still sitting in the front seat. "They must have went deeper into this wooded area to avoid his nen ability."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Didn't you say that he can't control your shadow if he can't see it?" Bennett wonders, earning a nod from you in response, "We have to go find them and make sure they're all okay!"

"Way ahead of you!"

You've already ran off into the wooded area, Bennett on your heel. You make sure to stay in the shadows as you search the area, making sure to check the tree branches as well. Bennett stays close to you, looking terrified.

"Ah, there you are. I was wondering when you'd show up," A voice calls out from behind you, causing you to swiftly turn around. Shadow jumps down from a tree branch, and lands on his feet with his hands shoved into his front pockets, "Your friends were having some car trouble so I offered my assistance, but they all ran off on me. Rude, right?"

"The bullet hole in their tire tells me that you were the car trouble," You respond, annoyedly, crossing your arms, "Where are they?"

Shadow pretends to be deep in thought, setting his finger on his chin. Finally, he shrugs, "Who knows? They didn't want anything to do with me."

"They aren't the only ones," You remark, coldly, earning a chuckle from Bennett.

"Cold as always, but that's why I love ya," He quips, making the finger gun motion at you.

You only give him a disgusted look, "If you don't know where they are, why are you hanging around here?" You question him, trying to read his motives.

"I knew you would show up. Either that, or your friends would try to run back to their car and I could catch one of them. I was prepared for either outcome," He explains to you, an evil grin forming under his mask, "By the way, the sun is coming up."

"Wha-?" You slowly turn to Bennett, realizing the shadow of the tree has changed slightly with the sun rising higher into the sky, leaving a good portion of Bennett's shadow visible. You instantly pull your daggers out, holding them in front of you defensively, "You were just stalling."

Shadow pulls out his famous knife, wielding it while standing in an offensive stance, "That's right. I'm surprised you never realized. Pretty stupid of you."

He rushes towards you with his large knife, but you block all of his attacks with your daggers. You're easily able to tell that he's just trying to push you out of the tree's shadow and into the sunlight, so you have to keep dancing around him. He's able to knock one of your daggers away from you, and surprises you by pressing the tip of his knife close to your throat, making you step backwards, closer to the edge of the shadow.