Chapitre 11: Night Watchers
Jay woke suddenly out of nowhere, almost as if the sun was rising, but it wasn't. She lied on her back and stared up at the low roof of the tent. It was just as dark now as it was when they had all tucked in for the night. She guessed she must have only been asleep for a couple of hours. Why then was she now wide awake?
Jay looked over at Adea lying next to her, swaddled in her own blanket and out like a light. She sat up when she noticed that Lyda was not in the tent with them. Through the flap of the tent, she could see the faint, shimmering light of the last embers of the campfire. She unraveled the blanket from around herself and crawled outside.
The air was unusually cool tonight, and it made her cross her arms as if to keep warm. The first she saw upon standing up out of the tent was the form of Lyda resting on her knees in front of the fire as though she had never moved.
"Lyda?" Jay called under her breath. Lyda did not move a muscle. Jay laughed to herself, thinking Lyda was just playing with her. She knelt by her side and placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently. "Very funny, Lyda. How long have you been out here?" Her expression changed from playful to serious when she saw that Lyda's eyes were closed and she did not so much as wince as she nudged her.
"Lyda, are you alright?" Again, nothing. She also seemed to be out cold, propped up on her knees. Had she really fallen asleep out here? Jay was getting frustrated as she began shaking her harder. "Hey, wake up!" Eventually, she shook her hard enough to throw her off balance. Lyda's husk fell over and landed haphazardly on the ground. Jay's heart stopped. She had never seen anything like this before. "Eran!" she called out, turning to rush toward the boys' tent. She threw the tent flap away and leaned inside. "Eran! Wake up!" she cried, now shaking him by the shoulder.
Both Eran and Ellis jolted awake by the sudden commotion, much to Jay's relief. "Jay?" Eran said rather groggily. "What are you doing in here?"
"Please help," she stammered, trying to hold back tears. "I think something's wrong with Lyda!"
"What do you mean?" Eran asked with curiosity.
"Come on!" Jay snatched his arm and urged him to follow her outside. Eran ducked out of the tent, followed closely by his brother. Outside, Lyda was right where Jay had left her, not a hair having moved.
"What's the matter then?" Ellis asked as his eyes rested upon Lyda. "Is she asleep?"
"I don't know," Jay breathed, "but that's not how I found her."
"What do you mean?" Eran said, narrowing his eyes in interest.
"She was sitting back on her knees by the fire. I thought she was asleep, so I tried to shake her awake but she didn't react, and eventually, she just fell over."
Jay's voice was beginning to tremble. Eran knelt by Lyda's side, placing his index and middle fingers under her cheekbone. "She's alive," he said in a soft tone.
"How do you know?"
"I can feel her pulse," Eran replied. He began rolling up the sleeves of her garments to feel around her extremities in the dark.
"What are you doing?" Jay asked with curiosity.
"Looking for bites."
"Bites? From what?"
"Snakes. Spiders. Our father taught us that some creatures can have bites so venomous that they can knock you into a deep, sleep-like state."
"What?" Jay was rapidly losing her typical carefree persona. "Is she going to die??"
"Stop saying that!" Eran said, his own stress building. "We don't even know if she's been bitten by anything. I can't find any marks."
"Then what's wrong with her?"
"I don't know!" Eran snapped, standing to his feet.
"Brother," Ellis stepped forward. "I could run back home as fast as I can and bring back the remedies for bites, just in case."
"No," Eran shook his head. "Not in the middle of the night.
"Then what are we going to do?" Jay asked, growing increasingly frantic by the minute.
Eran thought for a moment, his head glancing this way in that before landing on the girls' tent. "Where's Adea?"
"Still asleep," Jay answered. "Should we wake her up?"
"No, don't," Eran said, putting his hand up. "Let's not scare her."
"Someone has to go get help," Ellis persisted.
Eran gritted his teeth as he weighed their options. "Ellis," he began. "Grab the bow and stay here with the girls. Get the fire going again and keep Lyda close to it. Don't wake up Adea. Just let her sleep."
Ellis looked surprised. "What are you gonna do?"
Eran looked over at Jay, whose face was pale with anxiety. "Jay and I will run and get help."
"Wait, I don't want to just leave Lyda!" Jay protested.
"Jay, it's not safe for one person to run out into the woods alone, especially in the dark, and you can't stay here on your own. You and I will have to go together." At the sound of this, Jay looked over at Ellis as if for some sort of second opinion. Eran reached out and grabbed her hand, urging her to follow. "Don't worry, Ellis knows what he's doing. Right Ellis?"
Ellis nodded, a hint of insincerity on his face. "Sure," he said, swallowing anxiously.
"We won't be long." Eran tugged Jay along as the two of them made their way back toward the dark tree lines.
"Wait!" Ellis called after them. "What if Adea wakes up? What do I tell her?"
Eran hesitated for a moment before giving a sigh of concession. "The truth," was all he could think to say before they ran off again.
"That's not helpful," Ellis said to himself as he watched the others vanish from sight. As the atmosphere fell silent again, Ellis rushed to get the fire going again so as to make himself feel as comfortable as possible about being left out here practically alone. He only wished that Eran and Jay would not be long, as he promised.
The two had not been gone for more than a few minutes before Jay was already freaking out again. Eran had to keep a firm hold of her hand just to keep her moving along or getting lost in the darkness of the woods, and all the while she unintentionally dragged her feet, which only annoyed Eran.
"Hey!" Eran said as he whipped around. "Get ahold of yourself!"
"I'm sorry!" Jay cried, her hands shaking uncontrollably. "I'm worried about Lyda!"
"Listen to me," Eran took her by the shoulders, "she's going to be alright. We'll get her help."
"Okay," Jay nodded sheepishly. "Where are we going to go?"
Eran glanced back out into the dark woods as if in thought. "We'll go to her house. It's the closest." That seemed to calm Jay down enough to keep moving, but she was still unnerved about wandering in the middle of the woods in the dead of night, and though he did a good job of hiding it, she could tell that Eran felt the same.
Meanwhile, back at the campsite, Ellis sat by the fire, clutching his brother's bow in hand. The quiver of arrows sat by his left side, and on his right he had moved the comatose Lyda by the fire, hoping the heat might wake her up. He checked her pulse every few minutes and did everything their father had taught him and Eran, but this was a situation neither of them thought they would ever encounter. He continued to check her body after Eran and Jay had gone, but he could find no traces of bites or anything that might cause something like this. It was as if Lyda had simply gone to sleep and refused to wake up.
Ellis looked back toward the girls' tent continuously, wondering if he should just wake Adea and tell her what was going on, even if only for some company. The longer he waited for the others to return, the more the faint sounds of the nighttime woods began to unsettle him.
"Ellis."
Ellis twitched when he thought he heard his name. It was quiet, as if it had come from far off in the distance. He looked around in all directions, trying to discern where it might have come from, but he quickly dismissed it as having been all in his head. He returned his attention to the fire in front of him and let out a quiet groan. This was supposed to be a fun camping trip with his friends, but everything that was happening tonight was making him increasingly anxious.
"Ellis."
That time it was much clearer. Ellis' head shot up, his eyes fixated on the tree line dead ahead of him. He knew he had heard his name being called before. It sounded like his brother's voice, as if he was calling him from the woods. There was just one problem that disturbed him: Eran and Jay had gone off in the opposite direction.
"Ellis."
Ellis jumped to his feet, keeping a firm hold on the bow and quiver of arrows. That was the third time he heard it. There was no doubt it was Eran's voice. It didn't get any closer nor did it change in tone at all. Ellis waited for a moment to see if he heard it again, but nothing happened. "Hello?" he called out hesitantly. "Eran?"
"Ellis."
There it was again, exactly the same as before. Ellis sighed as glanced back at the motionless form of Lyda. He didn't want to leave her or Adea, but much of him wanted to go see what Eran was calling him for. Maybe they had found help for Lyda. He would only be gone for a minute, he convinced himself. With Eran's bow in hand and slinging the quiver around his shoulder, he hurried off toward the black tree line.
His skin began to crawl the second he ran into the trees. He didn't know what truly possessed him to do this, but he felt he could not turn back now. His eyes scanned this way and that, looking for signs of Eran and Jay, but they were nowhere to be found. There was not even the sound of footsteps. Thinking he must have been imagining things the whole time, Ellis was about to turn back when he heard it again.
"Ellis."
Ellis nearly jumped out of his skin. The voice was louder and closer this time, but still not changing in tone. His heart was racing, but at the same time, he was beginning to get annoyed. "Eran!" he said in a loud whisper, afraid to raise his voice any more. "Where are you?"
"Ellis."
This was getting on his nerves as much as it was startling him. Ellis lumbered toward the source of his name, which sounded close by. He waded through the trees for no more than thirty seconds before the sound of something rustling in the leaves made him freeze. Acting on instinct, Ellis reached back and snatched an arrow from his quiver, slipping it into place along the bow. It took his eyes a few seconds to focus as he saw what looked like a young adult buck creep out from behind a large tree. The deer did not seem to take notice to him, despite his heavy breathing, and slowly brought the bow to rest.
Just then, the buck froze and turned its head to look his way. It could not have been more than several yards away from him. As the door stared directly at him, he noticed that its eyes were glowing as if reflecting light. It was at this moment that Ellis began to take notice of the deer's features, and it disturbed him to the core. The more his eyes adjusted to the light, the more he could make out its distorted face that looked crooked and flesh that appeared to be rotting away from its jaws. He could just barely make out the shapes of its teeth, many of which were misshapen and broken. Only one of its ears looked normal while the other was shriveled up as it dangled along its head.
The horrid sight shocked Ellis, leaving him unable to look away. His blood had gone cold, and without thinking, he raised the bow back at the deformed beast in front of him. Suddenly, the buck lowered its head, and as it did so, Ellis watched as it pushed off the ground and rose to stand back on its hind legs...like a Human.
Ellis' jaw dropped and his eyes widened as he stared in shock. In its current stance, the monster before him was more than twice his height, not counting its antlers. It was only now that he could see its formerly front limbs which, to his horror, were not hoofed like a deer, but bore five clawed fingers like some animalistic person. Ellis' eyes were drawn back to the creature's. With each passing second, its eyes glowed brighter a terrifying yellow. It was beyond anything he had ever conjured up in his worst nightmares.
Out of nowhere, the horrific beast began to walk toward him, its arms swaying even like a Human's. All thoughts abandoning him, Ellis dropped the bow, turned tail and bolted as fast as he could back through the trees. Behind him, he could hear the creature's pace quickening. It was after him. Ellis dared not turn around to find out how close it was.
He zigzagged through the trees, hoping to break back into the open any second. As he rounded one of the larger trees, his head smacked against a low branch, causing him to get taken off his feet and falling onto his back. He grunted in pain for a second, until he heard the sound of a familiar voice approaching.
"Ellis."
The same voice of his brother. The same monotonous tone. It was closer than ever now and came from the same direction as the heavy footsteps. By the moon! he exclaimed in his mind. It was coming from that monster!
"NO!" Ellis screamed in pure terror. He rolled over and scrambled back to his feet, half expecting one of those horrible, clawed hands to snatch him up, but nothing happened. He began sprinting away again before he had even caught his balance, stumbling onto all fours half the time. The only thing that mattered was getting away. "HELP!"
Back at the campsite, Adea's eyes flicked open. She rolled over onto her back, groaning softly as she stretched out her arms. As she stared up at the roof of the tent, she noticed it was almost too dark to see anything. It was still the middle of the night. That was when she looked over to see the light of the fire peeking through the tent flap. She looked around the tent and realized that neither Lyda nor Jay was there with her. She was alone.
Maybe they're outside, she thought. She was about to unravel the blanket from around her when a sudden disturbance drew her attention back toward the light of the fire. She had to squint to be sure, but she thought she could see the shadowy shroud of a figure standing up by the fire. It was too hard to tell who it was, but Adea could vaguely make out the outlines of the figure's long hair, which could only belong to one of the others.
"Lyda?" Adea called quietly. "Are you still awake?" She did not respond. Adea watched through the tent as the shrouded figure of her sister turned and began to pace aimlessly back and forth in front of the fire. She tried to get her attention by calling her name again, but she continued to ignore her. Eventually, the shadowy figure began to lumber around the side of the tent as if to circle around it.
"Lyda!" Adea said louder. "What are you doing?"
The figure froze where it now stood. Adea was just barely able to make out its form through the back of the tent, and she watched as it slowly turned as if to face her. Adea was unsettled as she backed up along the ground until she was against the tent fabric, and as she did so, the feminine figure outside took a few steps toward the tent until it was also practically leaning against it.
"Lyda!" Adea cried. She knew that she was awake and that it was not possible that this could be like one of her old nightmares. "Stop it! This isn't funny!"
The figure outside suddenly let out a low, undulating growl that chilled Adea to her core. It sounded like nothing any Human, let alone a 14-year-old girl, could produce. Adea's eyes widened as far as they would go. Her breath stuttered erratically. Just then, the shrouded figure raised its arm against the fabric. To Adea's horror, its hand began to push through the tent, almost as if through water.
The hand that came through was not that of her sister's. It was large, clawed, and black as the night. Adea was left breathless as she backed away, but the monstrous hand continued to stretch toward her. She did not know what to think. Eventually, she found the nerve to let out a scream of horror as she turned over and scrambled out through the tent flap. What she was going to do outside, she had no idea, for she was too gripped by fear.
Adea crawled out of the tent so fast that she almost ran into the campfire, and it was then that her eyes fell upon the still form of Lyda lying next to it. Amidst her fear, Adea was greatly relieved to see her.
"Lyda!" she cried out as she tried to shake her awake. "Wake up, please! There's something after me!" She continued to shake her harder and harder but to no avail. This wasn't natural. Unsure of what to do, she thought to run over to the boys' tent and try to wake them, but the growling rose up again from behind her tent. It was too dark to see the black figure, but the horrible sounds it emitted quickly escalated until Adea could feel it in her body. Feeling that there was nowhere to go, Adea threw her arms around Lyda's motionless husk, burying her face next to hers, and begged for this nightmare to end.
Just then, Adea was startled by the sound of someone else screaming nearby. Her head shot up to see a boy sprinting out of the darkness, tripping over his feet as he neared the fire.
"Ellis!?" she called out to him.
Ellis looked up to see Adea by the fire, clutching the still sleeping Lyda in her arms. "Adea!" he cried, scrambling on all fours the rest of the way. "Run! We have to get out of here!"
"Why?" Adea sobbed. "What's happening??"
"There's a monster right over there that chased me from the woods!" Ellis exclaimed hysterically, pointing into the darkness from where he had come. Adea followed his direction, fully prepared at this moment to meet the gaze of the monster to which he referred, but there was nothing. Even Ellis looked on in confusion when he noticed that all had fallen silent. At this moment, Adea also noticed that the growling had ceased, and all that could be heard was the incessant sound of crickets chirping.
"Hey!"
The two of them let out startled screams, eyes darting around in anticipation. Much to their relief, Eran and Jay quickly emerged from the darkness, both visibly out of breath.
"What happened?" Eran said, looking around at the fear-stricken wretches by the fire. "We heard screaming!"
"Eran! Jay!" Adea cried as she leaped up and into Eran's embrace. "What happened? Where did you guys go??"
"To find help," Jay stuttered, exhausted from running. "Something's wrong with Lyda. She won't wake up!"
Suddenly, as if in response to Jay's exclamations, Lyda let out a bloodcurdling scream as she woke in a fit of violent thrashing. Everyone else jumped at the sudden disturbance. Lyda continued to flail about for a few seconds before she finally composed herself. Her screams turned to frightened hyperventilating as her head darted this way and that as if trying to figure out where she was. It was not until her eyes fell upon the others that she began to calm down.
"Adi?" she squeaked in a hoarse voice, calling her sister by her nickname, which she rarely did. "Eran?"
Jay let out a squeal of relief as she rushed over to grip Lyda in a tight embrace. "You're awake! Thank the Light!"
When she moved away, Lyda's eyes rested on Adea, and for the first time, Adea saw in her older sister an expression of pure fear. Feeling her heart sink at the sight, Adea knelt before Lyda and the two entered an embrace of their own.
"Are you alright?" Adea asked in a voice filled with tears.
"I am now," Lyda murmured. She looked around at the rest of her friends, whose eyes were locked on her in concern. In her heart, she knew that there would be no more putting on this confident facade of hers, for she had seen more than her young mind was able to register. Her eyes burning with exhaustion, Lyda looked up at Eran as if to plead. "I've had enough," she said in little more than a whisper. "I wanna go home."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone