The Phantom's Curse

Chapter Four

Clark woke to the sound of distant humming, and whistling sounds. They were distant, but familiar to him. The last vivid memory he had before passing out, was that creature. The creature who escaped The Phantom Zone. It attacked Pete, it rendered him unconscious from the use of the meteor rocks. But now, Clark was here. Alone. And Pete was no where in sight. His stomach dropped, as he shifted where he sat. His wrists burned as he tried to move. Following the thick pieces of rope tied, tightly, around both his wrists, holding them together, he felt warm blood, then took a breath of what he hoped was fresh oxygen, though he pulled himself back, disgusted with the scent of old, dried blood. How long had he been here? Where ever here was? It was dark around him, the tiny bit of light he had, seemed to be coming from a small lantern. One that appeared perfectly designed to hold as much light, so long as the fire remained inside of it. The surface behind him was hard, reminding him of stone or brick. He had a few guesses but only two of them seemed to make the most sense.

Either he was in a warehouse, or someone's basement. His head throbbed, and his cheeks puffed up with warmth. He was burning, burning inside and out. How long had he been so uncomfortably hot? His eyes drifted, weakly, as sleep called to him again. Though with the pain he felt, all over, he didn't think sleeping was going to be as easy as it sounded in his head. His hands were tied together above him, tied to what he assumed to be a large pipe, something metal that chilled the sides of his fingers, as he brushed past.

With a blast of adrenaline he took his chance, and began to pull. He pulled against the ropes with all his might, all he could muster, but they wouldn't give. He tried again, tugging and pulling with all the strength he had in his body, however, his body was wounded, broken down still. He felt the patches of dried blood along his knee, the smell of metal pushing against his face. ''I wouldn't do that,'' a voice said. Surprised, he looked to the right of him, past the darkness, there she was. A thin girl with light blonde hair, and light green eyes, bound in the same way as him, but seemingly smaller rope use for her wrists. Although it was dark, Clark could see she had bruises around her cheeks, and her wrists were bloody. She must've been knocked out, this would've happened to Pete, had he not sliced his palm open with the piece of meteor rock.

''You'd be wise, to just stay still, the creature doesn't like movement.'' she whispered.

''What're we doing here? What is this place?'' Clark asked. ''How long have I been knocked out?''

''You're asking to many questions,'' she hissed, softly. ''Take it slow. Start with one.'' she eased.

''Okay,'' Clark shut his eyes, then reopened them, allowing fresh air to refill his lungs, as he started with his first question. ''What are we doing here?''

''We've been taken back here, by that creature. What it plans to do with us, that I don't know. But I don't think that creature is the one responsible for the recent deaths...'' she whispered.

''You don't, then who is?''

''There has to someone, or something else involved in this mess. From the way these ropes are tied, I'd assume a human tied them. I think a human has been using the creature, to pull off these murders? Or to place the bodies once they're dead. I think he kills them, then leaves the evidence to the monster.'' she finished. ''I've been here for a couple weeks, though he hasn't shown himself to me, I've only been able to hear him. Sometimes.''

A human alliance themselves with a creature, from the phantom zone? Why does that not surprise him? But how is the person controlling the monster? From what Clark's seen, the creatures were locked up, they wish for freedom.....so why would this creature be following the orders given to it by a human? It didn't make sense. Clark felt his body burning up again, his cheeks smelled of smoke, and he could've sworn he smelled a pile of ash, somewhere close by. Suddenly he felt another wave of adrenaline, a wave that told him he was still alive, and suffering from a burning, lacerating pain in the side of his head. His head was still throbbing, from something he wasn't sure what. The girl's words circled around each other in the back of Clark's mind, as for several moments, a brush of cold air came towards him.