500 - Part I - Distorted Shadows and Monsters

Chapter XVII - Pledge and the Panther - Part 1

Daniel had been awake for about an hour. A few of the boys had placed him carefully (he hoped) in a sleeping bag, whilst he was unconscious or whatever the darkness was in the presence of his mind. Nobody else was awake: he heard the loud, irritating snoring and groaned. The white light shone in his eyes again and blinded him with the same vision as before. Three minutes of anguish. Two blue lines. One same process. The cycle repeated for a quarter of an hour. Daniel found it better to simply close his eyes and fall back asleep.

Bringing him out of his thoughts, there was an almighty thump, like a thunderclap. "Woahhhh!" somebody yelled, arms flailing and flapping like a flightless bird plummeting from the sky. The person landed in a heap, invisible to Daniel. The noise caused both hearts to race, to increase in speed, to run wild and feral. Daniel opened his eyes and the impact caused a headache, with an instant effect. He forgot completely to adjust them slowly. A hammock swung. A little boy laughed. The colours were nothing more than a blotch in a different shade of snow. The banana shape of the hammock was easy to make out, but the boy wasn't clear at all. "Who is it?" Daniel called out, the apprehension building like the columns of waves before came a crashing tsunami.
"Just me," a small boy replied, eyes wide like a stag's. He danced around the room, a small little deer prancing gracefully through the vast labyrinth of enchanted woodlands. The waves travelled back down into Daniel's head, which he preferred more than them to lie frothy and bubbling in the very pit of his stomach. The knot of anxiety in his stomach. Silver's hair was noticeable now. The boy grew closer. Daniel approached him and tapped his shoulder gently.

"Arghhhhhhh!" Silver screamed. Daniel chuckled, but then realised Silver's vision was not his. The feeling of somebody tapping you in the pitch black was pretty unnerving and not amusing. "Sorry," he slipped out, noticing his stupid mistake.
"Daniel? Is that you?" Silver squeaked, breathing rapid.
"Yup." He wasn't even going to bother pretending he was Grayden; it didn't look like Silver could handle that much surprise and worry in just a short space of time. "Phew," Silver sighed, making Daniel laugh.
"Did you think I was him?"
"No, no, no," Silver replied hastily, "I would've been in deep doo-doo." They both sat down, cross-legged. "This is weird," Silver stated. "Also, I forgot to ask, how is your eyesight? We saw these two lines like scratched against your eyes and they went all white."
"I know this sounds strange, but all I can see is white. You're just like a blur or a ripple within the white, so I can't make people out much," Daniel explained, "Then I do see flashes of cyan or something every now and then. Maybe teal."
"That must be awful. I'm happy with my eyes."

"Keep it down, you!" a voice boomed. A bit ironic. There was shifting noises, as almost everybody awoke. "For goodness sake, James," they moaned in unison. Daniel saw them all rise from their bunk beds, sleeping bags and hammocks, as though they were spirits or ghosts after death. They were all half-present in their sleep, like life was just a lucid dream. Some were subconsciously getting up and out of bed, with eyes locked shut. Sleepwalkers. "When will it go away?" Daniel asked, worry spiking in his tone. Silver softly placed a hand on his friend's lap. "Soon, I hope. We'll just have to wait it out. Together."
"Thank you," Daniel chocked out. Despite the new experience, Daniel wanted his old vision back. To see colour, life bursting out free. To see colour, life locked away in a facility. To see red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, violent. Everything. "Shall I turn the light on?" Daniel whispered. Silver nodded. "Everybody's kind of awake, because of that loud idiot." Silver jabbed a thumb at the pig of a boy, snoring as a wild boar.

Flick! Light submerged the room and there were a myriad of groans, all an unpleasant harmony together. Nothing changed to the boy's sight, but he could sense the change in the darkness. The white was stronger. Far stronger. James, the blonde before, was fully awake, rubbing his eyes and stretching. He released an almighty yawn, before clambering out of his hammock, which he was way too big for. I mean, the hammock wasn't small. "Guys," James barked, "There's a gun! I bet you all forgot." Children, who were all grouped around Daniel looked affrighted, their eyes bulging like saucers. One with eyes like two fried eggs was staring at Daniel in awe. She seemed bewildered by Daniel. Daniel closed his eyes, which Silver could only assume as his friend not wanting to be crowded. He shooed them away. They all scattered like a gaggle of geese, arms flapping like wings of a flightless bird. All but one. The audience may have separated, but James watched on eagerly.

"I thought I'd see the symbols for myself. Cool, aren't they. Daniel can't help but always be the centre of attention. Everybody's in love with him." James' arms were wrapped around an AK-47, the gun resting demonically on his shoulder. "This is a beauty, Daniel and mean, short guy."
"Silver," corrected the little lad.
"That's what I said," drawled James, "I have a gun, so you better listen to everything I say. I have all the control, okay?" Silver watched on, sensing tension between James and the gun, rather than James and himself. A group formed again, children knocking knobbly knees and pushing their way to the front. "You're not actually going to use the gun, are you?" Silver asked. James pushed him over. Silver struggled, but James clambered on top of him. "You're not going anywhere. You'll bed dead tonight, with that attitude."
"Knock it off, James," somebody said, warningly. She was a girl with raven hair. "What do you mean 'knock it off'? You guys are probably better supper than what they serve us here."
"You cannibal," Daniel shouted. Silver twitched. It wasn't much of a flinch, more of a trapped nerve. A sort of jerk. "Pass me the gun or you'll be dead." There were 'ooh's from the crowd. Everybody was dancing up and down like animals, hands clapping. There were cheers. "Fight!" a boy began to chant. The more people it involved, the louder it became. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"The pledge," somebody spoke. It was quiet, faint. The human hear would've dismissed it as the buzzing of a fly or a gust of wind. Daniel noticed it, but by relying on another sense. He saw the girl all isolated. He knew by her voice that she was indeed Brielle and someone he was on good terms with, someone he could talk to. Her voice was all distorted by Daniel's effect and sounded awful, but that was the least of his problems. Brielle had excluded herself from the others, hardly able to decided wether she wanted to be a part of it all or not. Yes, she wanted to know what everything was all about, but one thing about Brielle was she didn't nosy into other people's business. Daniel stood up, his balance unstable. He began to crawl, like an animal learning how to operate limbs for the first time. He was moving on all-fours, hardly caring about everybody spectating him.

He collided with Brielle, their heads crashing together. Her breathing hitched. "Daniel," she started, "There's something here."
"Sorry," he answered. He pulled away from her, cheeks flushed vermillion. "Umm, what kind of thing?"
"Errr, some kind of document. All I read was that it was a pledge. Some kind of thing for us to say, I think." Brielle turned the sheet over and noticed two blue lines on the back of the laminated paper. There was also — in permanent marker — the acronym S.C.R.A.T.C.H.. Grayden had most likely typed this up. "Did you read it? What does it say?" Daniel asked, concerned and intrigued. Brielle stared at him in confusion for a moment, before giggling. It was a tranquil sound, despite it being robotic to Daniel. Why on earth was she laughing so much? She had happy tears in her eyes. "I didn't even read it. It looked so boring. Grayden definitely needs to hire an editor or some IT professional. He could've made a dazzling Powerpoint about how he is quote, 'saving our lives'." Daniel joined in on the laughter. As always, it felt good to seem all cheery for a second or two.

The room froze. Silence descended around them. Everybody watched Brielle and Daniel, eyes beady, eyes watching, eyes waiting.