Chapter 2

Daybreak Nightmare

Hikaru awoke in a sweat that morning. He didn’t know why he perspired so much, but thought it might be a bad sign. The first thing inside his mind formulated; go check on Kamari, so he got out of bed dressed in yesterday’s clothes, then raced through his living room, and placed on both shoes. He grabbed his keys off the rack, then bolted out the door, almost forgetting locking it altogether. He raced through the halls, then out of the main entrance, entering outdoors.

Daylight beamed down brighter than ever, forcing Hikaru to stop on the sidewalk and cover his eyes with one arm. Hikaru gazed up at the sky, and for a moment thought he’d seen a second sun that shined more intensely than the original. He closed his eyes, then opened them once more, attempting a retrace of what nobody else perceptually witnessed; there existed nothing abnormal within the vivid blue skies.

Deciding on ignoring what just happened, Hikaru raced toward his vehicle while his stomach turned with worry. No mistaking it, he thought, something went wrong today, and the bright ball that no one else walking noticed only made his suspicions grow. Hikaru got inside his car, placed the key inside the ignition, and turned. The car started immediately, then he pulled out, quickly pealing off the curb after taking a hard right turn. Finally arriving, he pulled into the apartment complex parking lot. Mrs. Washington just began leaving for work as Hikaru got out of the car and shut the door.

“Have you been doing okay sweetie?” she yelled out of her car window.

“Yes, I’ve been doing fine,” Hikaru responded hesitantly.

“Well it’s good knowing that,” Mrs. Washington said. “Kamari’s inside, just walk in, he’s awake.”

“Alright,” Hikaru said, feeling much relieved that Kamari made it home.

He headed inside and through the hall until getting near the door, which already set open. After walking inside, he frowned up in shock. “Hey, you’re ready, now that’s a surprise.”

“I’m not going.”

“What do you mean you’re not going,” Hikaru said angrily. “Why are you all dressed up if you’re not coming?”

Kamari walked into the hall, ignoring every word his long time friend said. He kept preceding until he reached the main entrance as Hikaru followed behind him, believing that he easily persuaded him into leaving for class. When they stepped outside, Kamari stood there, idly gazing at the sky. It appeared more vivid than ever, and for some reason, he wanted to know why he hadn’t paid its beauty much attention for such a long time.

“Come on man, please,” Hikaru pleaded. “Lets leave now, we’re already late.”

Kamari turned his attention toward what appeared to be more like a brother than a friend. “How about we make a deal.”

“What do you mean deal?”

“I’ll go if you can catch me.”

Kamari raced off, running through walking people, leaving Hikaru one alternative other than running after him... They both passed building after building, weaving through crowds and traffic.

“Kamari, this is stupid,” Hikaru yelled, continuing pursuit after him as they ran in an alley, jumped a fence, and climbed up fire escapes of an apartment building. Finally reaching the top, Hikaru saw Kamari standing while gazing at the sky out of breath. Hikaru stared. “Why did you run up here?” he asked exhaustedly.

“Because… this is how life on land breathes, with a great atmosphere, right.”

“Yeah— that’s right.”

“So tell me then, why do people waste most their lives inside buildings?”

“Dunno.”

Hikaru knew that they needed to get to class, yet he continued standing with Kamari silently, both gazing upward at the sky, and for once, he became enabled, accurately seeing the world through Kamari’s eyes. Hikaru turned his attention back where they stood. “Well, are you ready now,” he asked, snapping them both back to reality.

Suddenly, an expression of horror crossed Kamari’s face. Hikaru looked in the same direction, and that’s when he saw what Kamari fixated his sight upon. It looked like water, only it pictured the deepest black Hikaru had ever seen. Kamari grabbed Hikaru’s arm, attempting to get them both back down the fire escape, but before each could take another step, they were surrounded. Liquid ebony flowed over their ankles and started pulling them under like quicksand. Kamari lost his grip on Hikaru’s arm, then completely sank beneath strange waters.

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Hikaru yelled fearfully, but quickly became submerged into the darkness as well. He felt himself falling quickly inside a deep void, unable to see, nor hear anything but his own voice as he screamed out in horror. After continuously plummeting without breath, Hikaru stopped struggling. He felt himself hit a solid surface, causing great amounts of pain throughout his bones. Surprised that he hadn’t died or gotten wet, Hikaru managed catching his breath back. His body ached all over, and it hurt to move. With every ounce of his strength, he slowly got up on both feet, just realizing complete darkness ruled the area. He yelled out for Kamari, but got no response.

Afraid that Kamari could’ve been critically injured, Hikaru began running forward while yelling out his name. Hikaru couldn’t see anything, but at the moment didn’t care, until he heard a voice echo in the darkness. “You are the one.” On first sound Hikaru felt scared, an eerie feeling creeping down his spine. The voice grew louder and began repetitively repeating itself. Hikaru fell upon his knees, covering both ears because of the pain. He yelled, then the voice ceased without reason. He stood up, breathing heavily while trying to wrap his brain around all the bizarreness. Then, without warning, an intensely light white beam appeared as a circle underneath his feet, and shot forward in front of him as a straight path leading through the distance. Naturally, with it being the only light source, Hikaru followed. This path seemed never ending, but he kept walking, persevering while pain in his body gradually dissipated. He heard a faint voice ahead, and halted in his tracks.

“Who’s there!” He yelled.Hikaru paced forward cautiously, then looked down to see the curly brown hair of a young girl on her knees. She raced toward him without question, embracing Hikaru tightly within her arms. At first thought, he didn’t know whether to be suspicious or calm her down, but in the end, his natural sense to care for someone in need took over his heart, and he embraced her back. “Don’t worry, it’ll all be okay,” he said. “Come on, lets follow this trail of light, perhaps it’ll lead out.”

Hikaru grabbed the girl’s hand, looked down upon her face, and saw teary green eyes. He wiped her cheeks with his forearm, then continued walking, pulling her along by his side. “So— what’s your name?” Hikaru asked, riddled with nothing else to say.

“Amber,” the girl sniffled.

“It’s nice meeting you then, I’m Hikaru… from New York,” he said uncomfortably. “Where are you from?”

“Boston.”

“Well,” Hikaru sighed. “How old are you then?”

“Thirteen.”

“Thirteen, and you were doing all that crying,” Hikaru said, an attempt at making light of their terrible situation.

He continued talking with Amber, successfully keeping her calm as they strolled down the single line of light. He peered forward, and through vague dimness, spotted a human silhouette that lay on the white path.

“Stay behind me,” Hikaru said, placing his arm in front of Amber.

The figure started moving at a much faster pace toward them. Hikaru’s heart pounded, while Amber’s face turned pale with fright.

Hikaru yelled out, “Who are you!”

“It’s me,” the figured bellowed back.

Hikaru immediately recognized Kamari’s voice. He ran forward, tugging Amber along and lightly shoved Kamari’s left shoulder, very relieved seeing him still alive.“Are you alright?” he asked quickly.

“Not until we find a way out.”

“Yeah, you’re right, we should stay focused on our goal,” Hikaru said, snapping back to his senses.

They all faced the ongoing path that seemed endless, then everyone continued walking forward quietly. No one spoke a word, until Kamari finally asked the question that he’d been wondering all along...

“Hikaru, who’s the kid?”

“Oh yeah, that’s Amber, Amber, this is Kamari.” Amber nodded and Hikaru smirked widely. “You should’ve seen her face when you came running toward us,” he said mockingly.

“Why, what did she look like?” Kamari asked, a grin of his own taking an impression on his features.

“Super afraid.”

“Shut up, I wasn’t,” Amber said angrily.

“I don’t know, your face looked pretty shaken from here,” Hikaru scoffed. Amber frowned up, and in the middle of his laughter, Hikaru remembered what he’d heard. “Kamari, did you hear a voice speaking earlier?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Kamari retorted.

Without realizing it, they reached the end of the path where a brightly lit white door stood in front of them. The door slowly opened, gradually revealing a radiantly lit room; a chilling wind whispered, “Through this door is the only way you’ll get back home, but once you have entered, you will no longer be under my protection.”

“Why don’t you show yourself,” Hikaru yelled, his temper starting to arise.

Kamari quickly spoke out. “Hikaru, don’t instigate it.”

“Well what do we do?” Hikaru snapped irritably.

“I guess we risk our lives unless we desire staying here,” Kamari snapped back.

“Well I’m definitely not spending my entire life in this dark place,” Hikaru said heatedly.

The wind continued, “Take heed, once you have left my protection, warriors of the storm will pursue.”

Kamari stepped through the door first as Amber and Hikaru followed, then they all walked hesitantly into the empty bare bright room.

“Where do you think we are?” Hikaru posed while gazing around at open space.

“No clue, but it’s definitely not home,” Kamari said, eyeing every inch of the vicinity as well.

Everyone heard footsteps trotting behind them, and each quickly turned, facing the doorway. A huge man came bursting inside the room, dressed in armor, with a huge sword on his side, and a giant axe strapped against his back. Hikaru felt terrified while gazing up at the massive giant. He stood a little over seven feet tall, and had the muscle mass of a heavyweight boxer. Trembling as they watched this gigantic man unsheathe his sword, silence lingered eerily. He eyed them all like ducks in a shooting gallery as a grin appeared on his chiseled face.

“My name is William Hunter, remember it, because I’m the last person you’ll ever meet.”