Chapter Black Cole

Joshua opened up his eyes. It was silent.

the sun hadn’t risen yet, he could barely see the outlining of the trees above him.

The dinner last night had strengthened him, although, he could feel the lack of sleep he experienced throughout the last couple of day. Last night had been particularly brutal.

He had tossed and turned for half the night, not being able to sleep. Actually, he was fairly sure that his outward appearances displayed the weariness he felt inside with perfection. Rubbing the sleep away from the corners of his eyes, he sat up and looked around.

The hazy sunlight glinted in the morning dew that had spread around him. He knew that the sun would dry the little drops of water soon.

With a sigh, Joshua ran a hand through his hair and looked towards the fireplace. He could see Annabell sleeping; a slight snore revealed that she was indeed safe. He let out a breath at the sound of her annoying nasal whistling.

Cole was nowhere in sight. Standing up to stretch, Joshua noticed that Kato wasn’t around either. He carefully knocked at the door to the hut, before entering, just to find it empty.

Walking over to Annabell who slept beside the burned out fireplace, he looked at her sleeping face. A wave of guilt of not telling her the truth hit him once more. He squatted down and reached out to shake her awake, though, hesitated as she mumbled something that he couldn’t distinguish. She gave a snort and began snoring again.

Shaking her lightly, he tried to be gentle.

“Annabell,” he said in a low voice. She didn’t respond, so he shook a little harder.

“Annabell, wake up!” he said this time louder, and he relaxed a bit as he saw her eyelids flutter.

“What?” she asked in a sleepy voice.

“You need to wake up now!” he said and sat back.

“No, just a few minutes more,” she pleaded and took the blanket over her head. Joshua grabbed the blanket and pulled it down.

“No, now! We need to get going,” he commanded.

“Solem, what’s the rush? It’s barely even morning, Joshua,” she asked annoyed. Opening her eyes slowly she stared at him.

“Cole is gone,” he just said. She rolled her eyes in response.

“He’s probably just out to pee, or something. Relax. Go back to sleep. You look like you could need it!” she said and turned away from him.

Joshua sighed. She could be right. He couldn’t even explain why he didn’t trust the guy, who had helped them. His suspicion was based on a feeling in his gut. He couldn’t justify it.

Yet, that guy just irks me, something is horribly wrong with that dude…

Getting the journal once more, he found the page with his father’s instructions on.

’Joshua, You are still young, and if you are reading this, that means I’m no longer around to teach you this myself.

You have to take the girl to her sister in Yildun. I fear that as soon as she gets older, The Elders will come to look for her, and her life will be in danger. We can’t let this happen. The stars have told me that the Elders have it wrong. The girls are not the Rising Star. She and her sister are the key to unravel the truth and make the second part of the prophecy happen.

I have not been able to find the final part. However, the first part foretold of the coming of a Rising Star. The Elder’s must have been misinterpreted it since they are convinced that it is a warning of what is to come. I have tried several times to explain and plead my case to Errai—but to no avail. He will not listen.

The stars will assist you on your way, and it’s up to us to make this right.

I trust you with this quest. It is of uttermost importance! I will leave my journal, and all I think you would need to know about this journey.

I love you.

Jason Mallock’

Joshua put his head in his hands and massaged his temples. This whole voyage was making his head dizzy. He wasn’t sure what he had yet to reveal to Annabell, and he barely recalled what he already had told her. This was turning out to be quite the headache.

The sun was fully up now, and Joshua vaguely noticed that Cole still hadn’t returned.

He packed the book aside and went over to Annabell once more. This time he didn’t squat down; instead he nudged her in the side with his foot.

“We have to get going soon, and Cole still hasn’t returned. We need him to show us in the right direction,” he said.

With a groan, she finally sat up. “I guess. He hasn’t been back here at all?” she asked while rubbing her eyes. Meeting his eyes, he shook his head.

“Do you think something might have happened to him?” Annabell asked with concern. Joshua didn’t answer.

“Well, I guess we should go look then,” she said and stood up, looking around in thought.

“We should split up. I’ll take this area here, let’s meet back here and don’t go too far away. Okay?” Joshua said, and started to walk in the opposite direction than her. He didn’t want to wait for an answer -

Annabell watched his back as he walked away. With a sigh, she turned around and started to walk.

She tried to comb her hair with her fingers as she walked. Looking for Cole wasn’t what she wanted to do at this time of the day. In fact, she had been right in the middle of a fantastic dream when Joshua had woken her. Groaning, she struggled with a knot that had formed in her hair while sleeping.

I need a shower, clean clothes, and a toothbrush. I’m repulsive…

She stepped into a little circle of sunlight and enjoyed the feeling of the morning sun on her body. Following the direction of the sun with her eyes, she skimmed over her appearance. The top she had underneath Joshua’s t-shirt was gross, and only the fact that they fell in the water had removed some of the smell and dried blood from her.

When they got away from here, the first thing she would do, would be finding a place where she could clean herself. Maybe Cole had some clothes he could spare when they had to leave, but first he had to be found.

The forest had an almost eerie silence that gave her the creeps. Annabell stood still and listened. There were no sounds at all, not even the rustling of leaves in the wind.

A sudden yell pierced the silence, and she started running towards the sound. Angry voices, and what sounded like fighting, reached her ears. Speeding up, she sprinted throughout the forest until she finally broke free from the trees and faced a small clearing.

Coming to a stop, she saw Joshua on the ground with Cole on top of him, raining down punches. Everything in her told her to run away. Her instincts were screaming for her to get back, but she couldn’t move. Annabell watched with horror as Cole repeatedly smashed his fists into Joshua’s face. She winced at the sight, and tears stung at her eyes as she watched Joshua try to fight off Cole.

“Stop it!” she managed to choke out. Amazingly, her voice was not ignored, and they both stopped just long enough to look at her. Thankful for the distraction, Joshua grabbed Cole by the collar of his shirt and jerked, shifting the other boy’s weight just enough to escape from underneath him. Keeping hold of the shirt with one hand, Joshua rose, throwing quick punches as he did.

Cole cried out in pain. He was taking a lot of hits, but they were coming in too fast to have too much power behind them. Launching himself forward, he drove a knee into Joshua’s stomach. Air audibly rushed from his lungs, and he staggered for a moment before falling at Annabell’s feet.

On the ground, Joshua gasped for air. If he hadn’t had the wind knocked out of him before, he would have thought he was dying. Slowly he became aware of Annabell nearby.

“Stay back!” Joshua forced the sound from his body and slowly regained his stance. Bravely, stupidly, he raised his fists and engaged his opponent. The two swung wildly at each other, more hits missing than hitting.

Annabell tried to move towards them, but something prevented her. It felt as if an invisible force didn’t want her to move closer. The more she tried the more it resisted.

One of Joshua’s haymakers found the target, and Cole’s head snapped back. At the same moment, the resistance gave way and Annabell tumbled to the ground.

Cole’s eyes swept over her, turning deadly black as they did so, eventually focusing on her hands. Horrified she looked down to see the surface of her palms scratched. Cole inhaled, and Annabell could see his eyes turn pitch black. Before she could analyze it, Joshua’s fist crashed into his skull.

Slowly, and seemingly unfazed, Cole turned around to face Joshua. Blood trickled down chin as he took a defensive stance.

Cole turned around to face Joshua. Blood was tripling down his chin as he stood in a defensive stance.

He stumbled back as Cole stretched out his arms to each side, the outlines of his body becoming blurred. The young man in front of them disappeared, and in his place, a black, foggy substance formed. Joshua tried to stagger further back, and Annabell watched with horror as the colors around them started to fade. She couldn’t move as everything around her became grey, and a sense of hopelessness came over her.

A scream shook her out of her thoughts, and she saw that the cloud was over Joshua. He was on the ground writhing in pain. She could see the pain and anguish in his features. As he screamed, he became pale, and with his eyes distended, she could see the lines of blood become more visible even from the distance.

“Stop it!” she yelled, surprised by the sudden strength in her own voice. Stumbling to her feet, she staggered slowly towards the black mist. Joshua’s screams pierced through her.

His voice was fading, and she became scared for him. Anger overtook the fear, and she felt her whole body tremble with a newfound strength. Her arms reached out towards the black mist, her wounds facing towards the black mist. Slowly, almost hesitant the mist went towards her instead of Joshua, and she was pleased to hear his ragged breathing.

Looking at him, she saw that he was lying without color in his face.

“Annabell…” Joshua coughed. She ignored him.

“Get … away!” he warned, and tried to roll to the side, but failed from the lack of strength in his body.

Anger seared through Annabell. With a few quick breaths, she felt herself become calmer. An unknown power filled her, and stretching her arms further, she held her breath.

A pained groan from Joshua filled her with unpleasant emotions. She felt like she was about to burst. With a strained scream, she felt herself lean over the edge. Power erupted from her hands in a blinding light. Closing her eyes, she gritted her teeth.

Annabell fell to her knees. Her arms felt heavy, and she couldn’t keep them up any longer. Daring to open up her eyes, she saw that the dark fog had disappeared, and the colors had returned. Falling down on her back, she looked up at the serene blue sky.

The only sound that reached her ears were their heavy breathing.

“What … was that?” she asked, tilting her head to look at Joshua. His eyes were closed.

“I believe we stumbled upon a Black Hole,” he said with a hoarse voice.

“What? What is a black hole?” she questioned. He sighed and slowly turned his head towards her.

“Once there was a war. It was a terrifying, many stars were exterminated. Swallowed by Black holes, Solem fought them. There were rumors that they could take human form. Although, I’ve never believed it—now I do,” he said, his eyes didn’t waver from hers.

“Wait, a war? I’ve never heard about a war before.”

“It was removed from almost every text book. The elders made it like that. To not cause havoc or something,” he explained.

“Ah, I see. So what exactly happened here?”

“I found him, and he came at me.”

“Oh, I meant when that thing came at you,” Annabell explained.

“I felt like I was dying. Every thought I could form hurt. It tore me in different directions. I can’t even begin to explain how horrible it was,” he said, staring at the sky. Swallowing a lump, Annabell could see that it hurt him just to think about it.

Silence fell between them.

“What did you do to get it to disappear?” Joshua asked in a low voice, almost a whisper.

“I honestly don’t know.”

“Well, whatever you did, it really helped,” he said. Annabell looked at him.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like some weird being just tried to suck all life out of me.” He snorted, followed by a dry laugh.

“Very funny, can you stand?”

“ No, not yet, at least. Besides, I quite like it down here.” Joshua met her eyes and gave her a small smile.

“You look like you’re about to faint. Do you want me to get some water?” Annabell eyed him. He was unbelievable pale. Not colorless like when he was attacked by the black hole. He just seemed on the brink between life and death.

“That would be really nice yes,” his voice was weak, and he closed his eyes.

Annabell stood up. Her palms hurt, and the scrapes were deep. She couldn’t recall the pain from them, but as she looked down, she noticed how they were ugly, and looked burned. The skin around the wounds was melted.

She hurried back to Cole’s camp. The fact that everything he had told her might be a lie wasn’t something she could comprehend. A thought occurred to her, and she looked around after the dog.

What the hell happened to Kato?

She grabbed Joshua’s bag and found the bottle with water. There were several bottles around the camp, but she didn’t trust anything of Cole’s now. Looking around she saw that the place suddenly looked a lot older, than what she had thought the previous night. It looked abandoned and torn.

Running back to Joshua, she handed him the water, and saw as he struggled to swallow. He drank everything, and a faint color returned to his face.

“Thanks,” he said and handed the empty bottle back. Trying to stand up, she threw the bottle and helped him.

With an arm over her shoulder, they made their way back to the camp. Joshua didn’t have much strength, and Annabell found herself supporting most of his weight. The trip back was slow and seemed to be extremely tiring for Joshua.

She took him inside the cabin. He gave a moan of pain as he leaned back in the chair that she chose for him.

“What? Where does it hurt?” she asked with concern in her voice.

“It’s just my back; I think I landed on a rock or something.”

“Let me see!” she said, and watched as he leaned forward. He pulled at his shirt, and she could see small scrapes and bruises covering his back. The wounds weren’t as severe as the one on her hands, but she could see some dirt in them.

“Take off your shirt,” she commanded and sighed when he gave her a puzzled look. “I’m going to clean the wounds, and you need a new shirt anyway.”

Doing as he was told, Joshua pulled of the shirt. Revealing a toned back, he leaned forward, and Annabell had to stop herself from staring at his muscles. She was impressed.

She found a water barrel, and some clean towels. In one of the corners she noticed a dresser, looking through it, she found clothes that they could use. At least Cole had a good taste in clothes, she thought to herself with a snort.

Taking everything back to Joshua, she started to clean him up.

“I know this isn’t disinfectant, but it should cleanse the dirt away,” she explained as she carefully patted the wet towel over his skin. Every time she came too close to a bruise, she could feel his muscles tense.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“It’s okay. I got my ass kicked back there,” he said and leaned his head in the palm of his hands.

Annabell didn’t answer—she didn’t want to talk about it. She felt empty and just the thought of what went down hurt her head, turning around she rumbled through the drawers finding an old shirt.

“There. Here’s a shirt,” she said and held out the clothing.

“I still can’t understand what happened out there. How did you do that?” he asked as he dressed. Annabell looked away from him.

“Annabell, please tell me,” he pleaded.

“I got angry, okay? Nothing more, nothing less, it was just my usual temper deciding for me,” she snapped at him, and with that she left the cabin, slamming the door after her.

Why does he have to pester me about it?

She inhaled deeply, trying to remain calm. The familiar feeling of anger was quickly overshadowed by guilt and grief —an unusual combination that left her confused.

As soon as she had calmed down, she returned to the cabin. Joshua hadn’t moved, and she saw him frown at her.

“If you are better, we should probably get going. I don’t feel particular happy about being here,” she said in a harsh voice, not meeting his eyes.

“I need a little time to rest; also we should probably pack some of this. It could become handy on our further way,” he said.

“Fine, lie back in the bed over there. I’m going to pack. We’ll leave in one or two hours,” she said, and walked out as he humped over to the bed.