Zelleager presents:
Inspired by: The hollow
Manhattan: New York
In a business-like conference room, six men sat around a long table Three on one side, three on the other At the far end sat a man Ryan.
Grey tuxedo.
Perfectly tailored
His hands were clasped together, resting on the table.
All men in the room had one thing in common
The masks
White, with only slots for eyes
None of their faces were visible
The men sat quietly in the room, staring blankly at nothing Upright and formal It seemed they were waiting for something.
The opposite of Ryan was a giant screen on a wall The breeze gently blew against the window outside The table had a huge logo Even the ceiling BLACKSPIRE Suddenly, a knock was heard A woman stepped in, wearing a business-like suit Her dark hair, neatly done in a bun A remote rested in her hand She quietly approached Ryan She aimed the remote at the massive screen It powered on with a low electronic hum “Thank you…Eve” Ryan said quietly Eve gave a soft bow before stepping behind Ryan The screen loaded CROSS: BLOOD HORIZON Everyone watched the screen The footage displayed Leo and Damian’s team It showed when the trio entered Turnbuck It skipped ahead to the town’s destruction Debris flew through the air, flames consumed the streets, and Kaito unleashing shockwaves Thomas lay on the ground coughing violently Beside a building, that had just exploded Information appeared above his head PLAYER DETECTED: Thomas.
STATUS: ELEVATED STRESS
The screen shifted to Kaito
It paused, zooming onto his face
Calm yellow eyes, a face covered in faint cracks Suddenly, new information appeared ANOMALY DETECTED STATUS: DEAD One of the men shifted slightly The rest didn’t move Eve looked at Ryan, maybe hoping for a reaction But he didn’t move, he stared blankly at the screen Eyes dark, cold.
Even behind the mask
The screen moved to Autumn above
Aiming a musket like gun at Kaito below
PLAYER DETECTED: Autumn
STATUS: Stable
The screen then shifted over to Leo
(This was supposed to be the scene where he was punching Alwich’s face non stop)
But instead, he appeared to be punching the ground The men watching exchanged confused glances “Huh?” A bald one on his right looked at Ryan Others began murmuring amongst themselves “Eve” Ryan called Eve stepped further and stood beside Ryan “Who was Leon fighting?” He asked “I’m not sure, sir.” Eve replied Ryan looked at the screen It was frozen VISUAL DATA CORRUPTED It glitched a few times before landing In the wasteland To when the trio had their final showdown against the other team It was after Leo got shocked Leo was unconscious Mouth half open Hands twitching Everyone got silent slowly watching Damian and Dezmond were a few feet away from Leo Backs turned They were watching as Scott carried Lydia on his back “Not again…” Dezmond muttered “What happened?” Damian asked “What do you think?” Scott answered resting Lydia to the floor “I left you guys with her..” he added, while roaming his pocket Scott pulled out a green vial “This stuff ain’t good for us” He poured the liquid down Lydia’s throat Scott stood up “Ugh, I hate this part” Dezmond said looking at Lydia Waiting for her to start breaking apart in awkward shapes “Let’s give her some space” Damian said The three walked off further “Anyway, we got the stupid staff” Dezmond said He raised his hand The staff was gone “Yo.
What the hell?” Damian blurted
“Don’t tell me you lost it?!” Damian shouted
The two then started bickering
“Hey look” Scott pointed above them
The staff hovered above them, humming softly
“What the hell is it doing?” Dezmond asked
No one answered
Slowly it started to descend
Damian stretched his hands toward it
The staff lowered itself into his palm
“Hmmmmm”
“I think it likes you” Dezmond said
Both Damian and Scott looked at him
Meanwhile
Leo was on the ground
His eyes snapped open
He sat up, a soft groan
He held his head, groaning
Until he heard talking
Turning around he saw Damian’s team with the staff He looked again and saw Lydia behind them unconscious Leo stood up, ears ringing He stood there looking He looked back at The group then at Lydia He dashed forward He reached Lydia in no time He grabbed her by the back of the neck and lifted her effortlessly His other hand at her waist The three heard a noise and turned Scott’s eyes narrowed Dezmond locked eyes with him His hands sparked with electricity Flaring non stop An earth-made Hammer materialized in Damian’s hand “I’ll break her” Leo growled Dezmond stopped flaring Damian’s hammer crumbled “Give it back”
Damian looked at Dezmond then at Scott
He nodded
“Very well” he gave Dezmond the staff to give Leo “Stop” Leo said Dezmond stopped “You think I’m stupid?” He asked “give it back”
His grip around her neck tightened
She let out a soft groan
Suddenly, Lydia’s body began twisting violently Her body twisted and swelled Warping into something unnatural “Huh what the?” Leo, a look of disgust In that slight confusion Scott moved A blur with a cyan trail Leo didn’t even realize he got hit The instant he realized Lydia was gone A violent impact, slammed into his jaw But he held his ground Growling deeply “Raaagh!” he charged Wild.
Almost like an animal
“Shit!” Damian stepped forward
Rasing his hands
The ground shook violently
Almost like waves
Leo slipped momentarily but still dashed forward on all fours Scott moved In that slight moment He removed all three out of Leo’s path Leo slammed into the ground, shattering it Debris flew Scott exhaled sharply, slightly out of breath “You bitch!” Dezmond rushed forward Ready to shock Leo’s face Leo reacted He shoved his hands through Dezmond’s guts Hands coming out through the back “Gah!” Dezmond’s eyes widened Leo reached to grab Dezmond’s head “Noo!” Damian shouts Just as Leo was about to grip his head Time slowed Well at least for Scott Everything around him felt magnetic Like he had broken past his limits Cyan aura flared violently from his skin like steam He watched as his hand got close, millimeter by millimeter Then he saw it A rock He picked it up Charged, then threw it The rock struck Leo directly in the forehead Instantly he fell to the ground Scott moved and picked Dezmond up bringing him back He dug into Dezmond pockets Popping another vial down his throat Dezmond gulped it down “Yo!
What the fuck!?” he shouted
Before losing consciousness
“Why won’t he stay down?” he mumbled
Damian looked at scott
“Go” Scott said
Damian slammed the staff in the floor
They started to disappear pixel by pixel
Scott looked at his hands
Slowly fading
He looked at the unconscious Dezmond
If he had been a second slower
Leo would have crushed his skull
Scott looked back at the unconscious Leo Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
They fade
….
Soon Autumn was seen standing over Leo
BlackSpire
Back at the meeting room the screen faded to black With only the ending words ‘CROSS’
There was silence
No one uttered a word
Ryan also remained silent
“It’s buggy..”
The bald one said
The few others muttered and nodded with each other “Why weren’t the bugs removed?” Another asked Ryan Ryan stared blankly “I…don’t know”
The men mumbled
“We paid a lot, don’t let us down”
One with a round hat said
“You’re in good hands” Ryan answered
AFTER MEETING
Ryan stood in front of a mirror
Mask off.
Face pale, the mask rested on the sink
Dark circles linger under his eyes
He sighed deeply
He turned the water on
And started washing his face
Anything to feel alive
He stopped and turned the pipe off
A knock was heard
Eve opened the door, a fresh towel in hand
She walked up and began gently drying his face “Eve?” He called “Why weren’t the bugs removed?”
“We did remove them” she replied
“We always remove them” she stopped wiping
“Something inside CROSS learned how to erase itself from observation”
Ryan’s eyes darkened
“What?”
Inside CROSS
In a small room, papers were scattered everywhere The place was ransacked In a corner of the room, pinned against the wall- Was a man with scaly skin, and a fish tail He had been impaled by a trident, that pinned him to the wall Purple blood leaked onto the floor And just below him at desk Papers all everywhere, Alwich frustratedly- Skimmed through them, beneath a dim light Teeth clenching Outside that Apartment Kaito stood on the tip of a tree He stared out into the distance His eyes glowed faintly even in the sunlight The breeze swayed the tree, but he never lost balance Below him, lay bodies everywhere Some lay in the grass, others hung from trees There was a giant wolfman A massive hole in his chest, both arms broken Beside him stood Boris, arms folded, looking bored Soon a cackle was heard, startling both Boris and Kaito Alwich exited the building laughing, several papers in hand The building exploded behind him, yellow gas rising into the air Alwich opened his portal Kaito landed on the floor beside them Soon they all stepped through
…
A few groans could be heard
We see a man crawling
A trail of blood stained the ground as he crawled He crawled to lean himself on the nearest tree He groaned in pain to stay upright He grabbed his bow and an arrow He aimed at the sky Fighting to steady his aim Soon the arrow glowed purple “Fly,” The soldier muttered “Fly and tell the truth”
He fired the arrow
The arrow soared through the sky
Just as it was about to fall
Purple translucent wings sprouted from it
It let out a loud screech before flapping away Slowly darkness consumed everything ANOTHER POV
…
Far away, a figure stood atop a cliff watching them The trio Thomas carried Leo on his back while Autumn floated ahead They were still in the wasteland The figure watched as Autumn pointed to a path ahead The figure sighed in relief Just as Autumn’s group became a blur A black horse appeared It neighed softly behind the figure Its eyes swirled like infinite purple voids It was the same horse that teleported Autumn Suddenly a birdtype screech could be heard They looked up and saw something flapping towards them Their eyes narrowed It was the arrow It landed in the figure’s hand The bloody spots on the arrow had already said enough Urgently they jumped onto the horse Moments later, they vanished into a swirling purple void End