“Jason, I’ll go with you,” said Mrs.Park.

“No, it’s fine mom. You should go with dad, Esther will accompany me,” said Jason.

“What?!” said Esther with furrows in her brow.

“Okay, son. Esther, be a good sister and tag along with your brother,” said Mrs.Park.

Esther wanted to refute yet she remained silent knowing the personality of her mother. She stared at the back of her parents going inside their car. She turned around and glared at Jason.

“You’re dead when we get back,” Esther said with her hands on her hips.

“Get in,” said Jason as he ignored whatever feeling his sister had.

Driving on the road following the back of their parent’s car, both siblings were silent. They had no intention of talking with one another not until Jason turned the wheel, swerving the car to the left at a junction.

“What are you doing?” asked Esther as she felt suspicious.

Jason remained quiet but then Esther’s phone rang. He glanced at the phone and saw their mom’s number.

“Tell mom, we’re going for a quick bite at Burger Queen,” said Jason.

“No,” she said.

Jason gave a side glance and saw the glare coming from Esther. He saw her picking up the phone and he decided to do something.

“Mom, Jason-” her words cut off as her mouth was left hanging.

Her eyes were staring at the empty driver’s seat, as her whole mind went blank.

“Esther? Hello?” The caller was left unattended as Esther was too shocked to reply.

Then something snatched her phone off from her grasp. She saw her phone levitating in the air as her breath just stopped.

“Mom, this is Jason. I and Esther are going to buy some supper at Burger Queen, do you want anything?” Esther heard her brother’s voice yet she could not see him.

After a few seconds, the call ended and the invisible Jason put the phone back into her hand.

“Jason?” she called out to him, staring at the empty seat.

Then he appeared from thin air. Esther jumped on her seat in surprise as her heart was beating wildly. Her hand was on her chest trying to calm herself down.

“Who are you?” she said. Esther felt wary about this man as she knew her brother couldn’t be this invisible guy.

“I’m your brother,” he said.

“No, you’re not. My dumb brother can’t turn invisible,” she said.

“Well tough luck, now he can,” said Jason.

“We’re you taking me?” said Esther as she grasped her phone tightly.

“Port Lands,” he said.

“Are you going to kill me?” she said. Her train of thoughts was pretty chaotic. Esther was an avid reader of novels especially the thriller and mystery type and right now what she was experiencing was the likes of those in her novels.

In this modern age, turning invisible might not be that difficult and she herself assumed that those kinds of tech had already existed and was kept from public knowledge. A rather random assumption with no basis but that was how some readers think through things.

In her eyes, this man wasn’t her brother. In her mind, the thought of someone stealing her brother’s face came alive. Stealing someone’s appearance wasn’t that hard considering the silicone mask technology, although in the movies they did kind of exaggerated it.

“Calm down, I’m your brother you dimwit,” said Jason.

“Prove it,” she said as her back was drenched in sweat.

“Hmm, remember that time when you were seventeen I think. Dad took us camping at the reserve park, and hiking involved in our list of activities, you hated it. So, while dad took the lead, he left both of us and for some reason you had to take a dump while hiking. So, me being the good brother I had to wait for you, so you went along going behind a bush but then out of sudden you came running towards half-nake-” as Jason was telling the story for proof she suddenly cut him.

“Stop, I get it. You don’t have to remind me,” she said.

Jason giggled by his own self remembering that embarrassing moment. That sister of his ran half-naked while shouting a bear was chasing after her. Yet the thing she heard was merely just a few tree branches being broken.

“Stop giggling or I’ll punch you,” said Esther.

Jason ignored her and kept on giggling. Esther on the hand was flushed in beet red. The only one who knew about that incident was this damn brother of hers. Thus conclude her wild imagination about him being someone else.

“So, how did you do it?” said Esther.

“What?” he said.

“The invisible thing,” said Esther.

“It’s my superpower,” said Jason as he grinned at her.

“Stop bullshitting Jason, or else I’m going tell mom,” said Esther.

“You better not or else I’m going to kill you,” said Jason with a dead cold expression on his face.

Esther noticed the change in her brother’s face as she couldn’t help but gulped down a mouthful of her saliva.

“Under any circumstances, you can’t tell mom and dad. They are safer without knowing about it,” said Jason.

“Why did you tell me?” she asked.

“Because, I had to, or else Hakeem is going to die,” said Jason.

“Hakeem? But why him? What’s he got to do with this?” she asked while her body was shaking. This was a first for her to see a different side about her brother. He spoke about killing without batting an eyelid as if it was something normal and that made her nervous about this whole situation.

“He’s fighting against the monsters, so unless I get to him then he might not survive,” said Jason.

The word monster made Esther remembered that news she watched in wetube. The death toll from these monster invasions was getting out of hand, she too knew the severity of these things.

“You mean the UC? But why Port Lands? They aren’t there, the news said they were at the Kawartha Park,” said Esther.

“Well, there is now,” said Jason.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“You’re kidding right,” said Esther as she couldn’t grasp the situation that kept on escalating. “Then why the hell are we going there? We should drive back home. No, we should call the police.”

“No need, I can handle it,” said Jason.

“You’re crazy,” said Esther as she swiped her phone preparing to call someone.

“Don’t call anyone Esther,” said Jason as his tone was commanding.

Soon, tears fell down from Esther's cheeks. The pressure was getting into her. She couldn’t handle it any longer as she hadn’t experienced such a situation before and with one that involves life or death, it indeed put a burden on her.

“Stop crying, you’re not going to die,” said Jason.

“But… but… you’re taking me to the monsters. Wuahhh,” she suddenly started crying and wailing in the car. As if she decided to revert into a child and crying like one.

“Relax. You’re just going to drop me there and then you can drive back home,” said Jason.

His words calmed her down yet the sniffling sound came at an interval. As Esther calmed down a bit, her rational mind kicked in.

“What happened to you in New York?” she asked.

Jason gave a glance at her and remained his silence. Esther kept her head down as she never thought about how her brother survived through the chaos in New York City. She thought it was simple as the military saving the day yet it was far more worse.

“How did you-” she wanted to ask more about her brother's current circumstances but Jason cut him off.

“There,” he pointed.

An abandoned warehouse with black smoke coming out through the windows. He even saw flickering flames from the distance.

Esther cast her sight to the place pointed by Jason and saw the state of the abandoned warehouse. The closer they got, the more worried she felt.

“It’s burning,” she said.

“Shit,” Jason said as he got out of the minivan.

“Jason!” she called out her brother.

“Drive back,” he said as he opened the back door of the minivan and took out his bag while filling it up with the three axe he made.

“What are you going to do?” asked Esther.

“Saving a friend,” he said.

“But-”

“Just go back Esther, it’ll be fine. I’ll be back home before sunrise,” he said as he closed the back door.

Esther watched from within the car the sight of her brother taking out a bow and arrow. She saw him ran at incredible speed before she saw him climbing up the wall without a ladder as he smashed through the window. She stared motionless at the incredible feat of her brother. She couldn’t believe it but the truth was in front of her.

--

Jason dropped on the metal railing by the side of the window roof. He kicked and pushed the tree monsters that surrounded him before he saw the sight of Hakeem on the floor with a tree monster right on top of him.

This better work.

He pulled the bowstring without and as he reached full draw, three white glowing arrows emerged from thin air. He aimed and released the bowstring.

Three glowing white arrows struck the tree at a single point delivering a death sentence in an instant.

“Nice,” he said as he was satisfied seeing his new skill, Triple Strafe. A skill he gained from the scroll dropped by the Archer Kobold. He didn’t forget his previous mistake and used it as soon as he obtained it.

Now was the first time he had unleashed the power of this offensive skill.

“Get up! It’s not over yet!” he shouted at Hakeem as the latter got up and continued on surviving.

Jason turned to his side as he shot Triple Strafe at these pesky trees taking them one by one. He scanned through his ability.

Oaken Haunted Tree(Misty Abyss Forest)

One of the terrifying floras in Misty Abyss Forest. A forest known for misleading visitors as well as killing them for nutrition. The Oaken Haunted Tree is a tree possesses by the lingering evil aura that was once owned by one the long-forgotten Djinn Commander. The story told of how the Djinn’s arm was buried within this forest thus the reason for these trees being alive and moving.

Species: Plant

Level : 10

Elemental Weakness : Fire

Jason saw the level of these tree monsters, enough to made him assured about his impending victory. He blasted a hole right through them as he continuously shot Triple Strafe. Having an offensive skill really made a difference as he was killing them without a cinch.

At times, he glanced at Hakeem who was desperate in his attempt to dodged those attacks. Jason didn’t forget about his friend as he kept on shooting from the metal railing to the trees surrounding Hakeem. But more and more of the Oaken Haunted Trees came down from above blocking Jason’s path in attempting to save his friend.

He noticed the cloud of smoke filling up the air inside this cramp warehouse. Only a few windows were broken for ventilation but it wasn’t enough. Jason saw Hakeem coughing as his speed was dwindling.

Shit, he’s suffocating.

Ignoring the trees that were surrounding him, he leaped off the metal railing as he turned invisible as these trees turned confused. He ran and jumped over these trees making his way to Hakeem.

He arrived as he jumped in the air and kicked the tree that was about to strike Hakeem. He put a crack on the bark of the tree as he then pulled the bowstring releasing three white glowing arrows delivering a quick death.

“Jason,” Hakeem said as he was still coughing.

Jason made a sweep as he shot Triple Strafe multiple times as he took down those trees near them. Hakeem again baffled and amazed by the strength of this friend. Jason grabbed on to Hakeem’s waist as he turned invisible. One of the features he learned about Shadow Sneak, he could turn anyone who was touched by him to turned invisible. Carrying Hakeem, he ran towards the open door and within a blink of an eye, both of them were outside the smoke infested warehouse.

Hakeem took a deep breath as his lungs finally had the chance of breathing fresh air and not carbon monoxide. Jason, on the other hand, turned his attention to the trees who were trying to get out of the door. He kicked and punched them barring them from getting out.

“Jason,” a female voice reached Jason.

He turned around and saw Esther.

“What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to go back,” he said as he didn’t expect Esther to still be here.

Esther’s eyes couldn’t glance away from the sight of those trees moving around like they were animals. Her whole body was shivering as she felt the urge to run away. Now, she felt she made a mistake coming here and not driving away. She who felt she was the smartest out of the Park siblings now felt she was the dumbest.

For some reason, she couldn’t go away because of the man who she called brother. She glanced at Jason who closed up the door and blocking with the big slab of concretes that was stacked beside the door. For now, the threat was gone as one of the sources of the exit was blocked. Jason sighed out of relief but the situation hadn’t ended yet.

“You okay?” he asked Hakeem.

Hakeem nodded as his breathing finally calmed down. Hakeem got up on his two feet and hugged Jason.

“Thanks,” Hakeem said.

“Don’t thank me yet, we’ve still got unfinished business,” said Jason.

“Dude, there’s a whole warehouse of them. Both of us can’t take them,” said Hakeem.

BANG!

Both Hakeem and Esther jumped in surprise as they heard the warehouse wall being knocked continuously by the tree monsters inside.

“Jason, let’s just go,” said Esther as she didn’t want to stay here any longer.

Jason glanced at this sister of his. He had an idea in mind and it might be the safest way for the incoming future.

“No, we will stay and fight,” said Jason.

Hakeem didn’t say a thing as he knew that Jason won’t change his mind while Esther stood there not knowing what else to say to convince this brother of hers.

“Do you still got those Molotov?” said Jason.

“There are twenty more left,” said Hakeem.

“Good enough,” said Jason.

The three of them went to Hakeem’s car. Jason slung the bag of Molotov on his shoulder and passed on the flame torch at Esther.

“What’s this for?” said Esther.

“Well, you’re going to be the one who kills them,” said Jason.

“What? No!” she denied it as she passed back the can to Jason. She was about to flee but Jason grabbed on to her waist. She struggled to get out of Jason’s grasp but it was futile.

“Dude, are you sure about this,” Hakeem was worried seeing the sibling's interaction.

“If she gets strong, at least she won’t die in the near future,” said Jason as he stared Hakeem right in the eyes.

“You’ve got any spare gas?” Jason asked.

“I do but why?” tonight was a lucky night. Hakeem had a few spare gas container at the back, enough for Jason’s simple plan.

“You’ll see,” said Jason.

“Esther, don’t make a sound or else you’re going to fuck us up,” to his word, Esther stopped struggling. Jason grabbed on both of Hakeem’s and Esther’s waist.

“What are you-” before Hakeem could say a word, they went indivisible as Jason ran up the wall of the warehouse.

Both Hakeem and Esther were frightened seeing the risky action of Jason. In just mere seconds, they were a few feet away up in the sky. Jason broke a window with his feet and pushed on the ledge of the window frame as he propelled himself up towards the roof.

He made it as he ran at the center of the roof. He let both of them down as both of them flopped on the roof surface. Their knees grew weak as they weren’t prepared for whatever Jason was planning.

“Stay here for a while and don’t move and don’t make any noise,” said Jason.

The unprepared duo nodded to Jason who kept on going at a fast pace. Jason put down the sling bag full of Molotov cocktails and raced back to Hakeem’s car.

“What is he doing?” asked Hakeem as he finally managed to at least calm himself.

“He’s going to set aflame the whole warehouse,” said Esther.

Hakeem glanced at Esther in surprise. Esther had seen through the simple plan. With his brother being invisible he could do almost anything with Hakeem’s extra gas container.

“Your brother is crazy,” said Hakeem.

“I know,” said Esther.

Meanwhile, Jason grabbed on to the gas containers. He ran again up the wall and smashed through the window. He stood on top of the metal railing as he turned invisible. The trees were agitated as they kept on trying to break down the door as well as the walls.

On the other hand, some of them ran out through the open warehouse shutter door the one used previously by Hakeem in his first attempt. But it didn’t matter to Jason as he stuck to the plan. While maintaining invisibility he drenched the floor and the walls with the gas that he had in hand.

Soon, the whole warehouse smelled like oil gas. He could have just lighted up a matchstick and be done with it but that wasn’t his intention. He escaped through the window and went to the only open door. He killed a few of those who ran away through the shutter door before shutting it down. The metal shutter door kept on being banged by the trees from the inside. He ran back to the rooftop as he saw Hakeem and Esther being surrounded by trees.

Sneaky bastards

A few trees who were rooted on the ceiling roof noticed the presence of Hakeem and Esther. They popped out a hole on the roof and came to killed these two humans. Jason arrived by the nick of time and slaughtered them all with two axes in his hands. Jason glanced at the frightened duo.

“Come on, it’s time for some easy leveling,” said Jason with a smile.

He instructed them both to lighted up the cocktails as he went on to make a few holes on the roof. With an anticipating grin, he said to them.

“Drop them.”

Both Hakeem and Esther dropped the lighted up Molotov cocktails through the hole on the rooftop and the moment they fell on the floor, a burst of flames raging in every corner. The sound of trees screeching from the inside of the warehouse echoed through the night sky.

“Keep on dropping,” he said.

Hakeem went on to dropped a few of them through the other holes while Esther hesitated. She heard the screams of these living creature and she couldn’t help but felt mortified over what she did. Although they were monsters, seeing them suffered because of what she did impact her more than she had expected.

“Esther,” Jason called.

“No, I can’t. They’re screaming,” she said as she covered her ears.

“Think about mom and dad. Think about if those monsters are in front of our doorstep. Do you think they will show mercy at our parents?” said Jason, as he tried to push his little sister.

“Stop it!” she shouted.

“They will kill mom and dad and they will eat them until nothing is left,” he edged her on.

“Stop!” she said as she couldn’t stand those screeching noise of being close to death and her brother telling this awful uncertain future.

“Will you look at the empty graves of our parents or will you kill these things before they kill us,” he said.

“Argh!” she shouted to the top of her lungs, tears like raindrops falling over her cheeks.

Esther stood up and went on throwing the Molotov cocktails out of pure contempt. Fueled by the thought of her parents, she couldn’t let it happen to them. Her useless compassion for these creatures can go to hell as in the new world, survival was for the fittest. Jason stood there watching his sister who was consumed by her own pitiful rage. He knew that compassion in this new age was utterly useless.

Soon, the whole warehouse was being burned from the inside. The flammable trees were like snacks for the flame as the fire kept on raging inside. The trio watched from afar the sight of a whole warehouse being burned by them. Just a minute ago, Jason brought these two back on the ground far away from the sight of arson.

These trees stood there in silence while staring at their act of arson. If the authorities were here they would have put them behind bars. But fortunately for them, the blue blood wasn’t here.

Then the reward appeared, Hakeem and Esther stared at the blue windows that kept on popping. Esther once again was shocked. She pulled the sleeve of Jason’s shirt while pointing at the empty air in front of her.

“You’re one of us now,” said Jason.

Esther had a lot of questions in mind but then something exploded. The trio turned their heads back to the warehouse as a big hole emerged from the front side of the warehouse. A loud screech echoed within the night sky as something huge came out from the hole.

A twenty feet tree came out from that huge hole. Some parts of it were burning and yet that wasn’t the reason why it was screeching in sorrow. It glanced at the trio, the cause of all of this mayhem. With huge roots crawling on the ground, it charged towards the trio.

“Jason,” Hakeem said.

“Jason, we need to run,” said Esther.

They were hinting at Jason to run but for him, he was smiling from ear to ear as he said.

“Where the hell have you been hiding?”