After some time, Percy left Cole in the kiosk and ..... He... He slept off.
"Cole!... Cole!!... Wake up!" A voice rang in his head, as he felt some rough skinny palm, tapping his head. He gaped.
"Come on. Wake up!" Lenora dragged him.
He yawned again and pulled himself up
"You slept off!"
"I dozed off?" Cole asked
"Yeah. Only some kind of sick guys will sleep on this ... This... Icy floor!" She exclaimed
"Is too frigid" She added
Cole looked at her, Miserably.
"So, you just hit my head with your rough hands, dragged me on this icy floor and almost pulled my hands off my body, all in the name of waking me up!??"
"Here I am.... What is it??" Cole asked, as he removed some ice crystals, attached to his sleeve.
"Let's have fun. Dad said I should get you. Come on!" Lenora said, dragging Cole by the arm and they both walked for some minutes until they got to a particular place in the woodland, with family and friends, sitting on mats, Cross-Legged while having fun.
Some were eating, some were dancing, playing, chatting.... Doing any thing that would bring satisfaction to the atmosphere.
"Hey, Dad. Here is Cole" Lenora said
"Okay. Sit down.... Everyone Sit down" Mr. Mason said.
Lenora and Cole bent down and sat, Cross-Legged, on a wide Yellow ma
"So...." Mr. Mason said and cleared his throat
Everybody was there — Sitting on the mat, in a rectangular form.
"Hey, Cole.... I guess you were sleeping?" Percy, who was sitting besides Cole, said
"Yeah. I dozed off"
"You want some?" He asked, showing Cole a plate of tilapia fish and some apples, with sliced Cucumber.
"Thanks" Cole grabbed an Apple and a slice of Cucumber and began to munch it, listening to what Mr. Mason was saying
"Understand?" Mr. Mason asked, after the end of the talk
"Yes!" They all answered
"But Dad, what did you say?" Cole asked, looking confused while gnawing at the apple
"Don't worry. You will understand" he answered
"So, let's begin" He said
All of them, except Cole, grabbed a piece of paper and a fountain pen.
"Katherine, you will take records" Mrs. Robert said
Mr and Mrs Mason, Mr and Mrs Robert, Mr. Skylar and Aunty Sally all sat down together while all the kids stood up.
"Dad, what are we about to do?" Cole was curious
"A game"
"Wow!. Good then. So, are we playing Soccer?"
"No. That will be for another day" Mr. Mason replied
"Then what game?"
"Scavenger Hunt"
"And you play the game by looking carefully around the surroundings for hidden items that are on this list " Mr. Skylar told him
They all examined the piece of paper in their hands. Cole leaned to see Percy's list and he saw a well written list of things..... Numbering from one to twenty. At the end of each word in the paper, was a square box.
"What is the square box for?" Lenora asked
"It's used for the marking of the items. If you find any item first, you will have to tick it in your paper, within the square box. That's also why you have pens " Mrs. Mason answered
"I don't have a list" Cole said, and was given one.
"We are going to start now but before we go, read the rules at the back of the paper" Mr. Skylar said
They all turned their paper and Cole read his, Silently.
Rules:
#1— Do not tick outside the square box on your script
#2 — All the players should not push or pull each other in the game
#3— First person that will successfully get hold of almost all the items will have to beckon at the panel of Judges. He/she will be the winner
"So, are these all the rules?" Kevin asked
"Yes"
"So, you guys are going into the woodland to look for each of the items.... Remember rule Number 3" Mr. Robert said
And the game started. They all ran out, into the woodland in search of the items.
In fifty minutes, all of them were assembled with the panel of Judges.
"So, the winner will be announced from now on" Mrs. Mason started going through the scripts.
Cole was panting. He didn't feel well. After running around the woodland, in search of some items, which Dominic and Emma had found, he was feeling strange — very strange, so strange that he could hardly resist it.
"Hey, bro!. I think there is something bad in here" He whispers to Percy
"Something bad?... Like what?" Percy asked
"I don't know. But something is not right somewhere. Don't you feel anything?" Cole concluded
"I don't"
After going through all the scripts, she smiled and whispered something into Mr. Mason's ear
"So, the winner is...."
"Is there something around this arena?" A voice interrupted
Wiggling their neck, to see the owner of the voice, they all saw a man..... A pale tall and thin man, with silver hair and beard. He wore a white hooded cloak. A brown staff was seen in his left hand. He stood shaky, using the staff for balance.
"I wanna talk, Alec" He said, with his lacerated voice
"Ohh!... Mr. Bruce. You didn't tell me you were coming" Mr. Mason said and walked up to him.
"How are you, Sir?" He asked, as he stretched his hand for a handshake
"You are always jovial, Alec. But now isn't the time for fun talks. Whatever I tell you now, you should know am serious " Mr. Bruce said
"What is it??. You haven't been this serious for a very very long time" Mr. Mason withdrew his hand back to his pocket
"They are here.... They will come..... They are coming!" He said
"Who.... Who is coming?" Mr. Mason asked, with curiosity.
"I have told you. Be careful. This is time wasting, Alec. Me, you and everyone here, is at risk" Mr. Bruce said
"Who is coming??.... Please, just tell me...." But before he could ask further questions, Mr. Bruce was nowhere to be found. He just vanished — it was more than Vanishing. He went off, into thin air.
Mr. Mason headed back to the picnic arena.
"Hey!." Cole beckoned at Percy
"You saw that guy that just came in?" He asked
"Yeah"
"I think I have seen him before. He looks familiar.... The white hair"
"Cole, are you sure?"
"Are those white hairs?" Lenora, out of nowhere, interrupted them.
"Well....."
"No. They are grey, Miss Intelligent!" Kevin didn't let Cole finish his words
"No. They are blond" Emma cut in
"You all are out of point!.... They are ash" Dominic joined the party
"None of you said the correct answer. They are silver!" Lenora insisted
"Percy!" Cole whispered, leaving the teens to keep arguing about the color of the Mr. Bruce beard.
"I think that's the guy. The strange stuff. It's him.... Because he felt strange too"
"And how sure are you about all these strange things you have been talking about?"
"Am not too sure"
"Okay.... That's okay, guys." Mr. Mason stopped the noise
"Let's pack our things and leave!"
"What happened?" Mrs. Mason was trying to ask him
"I think we are done. Let's be fast with it. Hurry up boys" He said
But before any of them started even gathering their stuffs for departure, a sharp crack was heard from afar in the air and...
Boom!...
Lightning flashed across the sky — Violent atmospheric disturbance, low barometric pressure, precipitation, and strong wind. Dark mist covered the blue fluffy sky. Crashing thunder roared furiously. People started running Helter shelter
"Storm!" They all shouted
Some were getting into their car while some was just running away
"Kat, get the kids to the car!" Mr. Mason ordered
Mrs. Mason and the teens found themselves in the car.
"Ouch!.... Oh, gosh.... It's scary" The girls started screaming
"Who's afraid here?. It's just a storm. It's not a big deal!" Kevin said
"Am not sure if that is the case here!" Cole yelled. He had to because of the storm.
Mr and Mrs Robert slowly got into their car.
"Please, Kevin. Just keep quiet!" Oliver shouted, getting sick of Kevin's noise.
Mrs. Mason fixed the car key into the ignition switch and tried to switch the engine on but it didn't work — The car barely moved. she tried it again and again but it yielded same result. The worst part was that it happened to all the cars in the picnic. They all were not able to work — Malfunctioning.
"Something is wrong" Mr. Mason said and came out of the car.
He walked to the bonnet and thrust it open. He scattered through the wires, battery and engine, as Lightning continued roaring.
"There is nothing wrong with this car" He said
"Try switching the engine on!" He added
She tried but it was still malfunctioning.
"Oh. Shit!" Mr. Mason exclaimed, as he whirled his neck backward just to see a group of creatures.... Some dull hairless creatures, with bat wings, talons, brown rough skin, cloudy eyes and fangs. They were much more than a hundred of them. He also saw a group of fresh pure humans — No, they were not humans. They also had claws and held glowing Silver swords, but they all dressed uniformly — Floppy hats, wrinkled stockings and long high waisted jeans, some with sleeves and shoes.
A loud voice was heard.... If not by everyone:
"ATTACK!"
All the creatures, even the side with swords and skinny creatures boosted their speed and accelerated towards the running and screaming people. They began to slay people under the storm.
"Run!... Get out of the car!" Mr. Mason screamed, ran to the doors and opened them
"Keep running!"
They all got out of the car and ran into the woodland. They ran and ran... After running deep into the woodland for some time, Suddenly, they heard a voice from behind.
"Stop!. Help me!... Dad!!!" The voice screamed.
They glanced back and saw a Man with a little boy. He had a dagger in his left hand, and his right palm covered the little boy's neck, as he clenched on the boy's neck tightly. The Man, who was also dressed like those flesh slaying people, took off his hat.
"Adam!" Mr. Mason said, coldly
"Salve, Alec!. Long time no see" His voice echoed around the atmosphere. His accent didn't let him pronounce the 'e' well in 'Alec'. As he spoke, his voice made the teens frightened.
"Yeah. Now, will you leave the boy?" He said.
"Dad, you know him?" The teens were trying to whisper.
"It's okay, guys. Just calm down" Mrs. Mason whispered to them
"I will not, Alec!. What are you gonna do?... Vulnerable bastard!."
"You know... After a long long time, you haven't even changed. You are still the weak and vulnerable Alec we used to know" Adam added
"Just drop the boy!" Cole didn't even know how he said those words
"Keep quiet!" Mr. Mason said
"Do I know you, boy?" Adam asked, trying to see Cole's face
"Oh!.... You must be...."
"Just drop the boy!!" Mr. Mason cut in
Adam smiled mysteriously and swerved the blade through the gut of the kid and plunged the corpse to the ground. The corpse, which lied lifelessly, began to petrify slowly. After being petrified, it disintegrated into thin air.
"Run!!"
Oliver fainted out of fear.
"Take them away!" Mr. Mason yelled
Mrs. Mason clenched the unconscious body of Oliver and ran, with all the teens in her lead, they ran into the woodland, leaving Mr. Mason behind.
"Ohh!.... You are not running, huh?" Adam asked
"Do I look like a coward to you?"
"You should be afraid!"
"Not anymore!!" Mr. Mason said
Immediately, Adam began to walked aggressively toward Mr. Mason. From walking, it became jogging and from jogging, he was already running. He found himself right in front of Mr. Mason. He furiously swung his blade at him, intending to dice for the head but Mr. Mason was fast enough to dodge it.
"So fast, huh?"
"You forgot how frequently I usually attended combat classes"
Adam gave it a second try but Mr. Mason avoided it again. This time, he had curled his fist and rapidly launched the punch at Adam's front, with much pressure.