Ivory Chronicles

Act II - Revolutionary Insurgency Part 4

Sunlit Hero

          Once again, I found myself within the dark, oppressive embrace of the Itayó Forest. It seemed that escape from this place was impossible. We had crossed the police line barrier, and the lab was not too distant, but leaving the forest was out of the question. The area outside was swarming with people, and the blinding floodlights of the construction machinery pierced the night sky.

Anticipation hung in the air, amplified by the eerie chorus of machinery and voices. We cautiously navigated the forest, never straying too far from the lab, hoping to find any trace of Arlo. Ivory, Ryan, Lucía, and I maintained a close but silent distance from one another as we ventured deeper into the woods.

"Fuck." Ryan suddenly muttered.

"Ryan, did you find something?" I asked as I was the closest to him, but he didn't respond. His silence was unnerving, and I hastened toward him, paying no mind to the crunches of the leaves. As I approached him, I followed his gaze to the ground where Arlo's lifeless body lay, pale and still. "Arlo?!" I cried out.

I crouched beside him, and it was painfully evident that he was no longer alive. His throat bore gruesome marks, as though someone had strangled him. The memory of the shadowy tendrils from the night at the hospital flashed in my mind. Could it be him?

Ivory and Lucía arrived moments later, with Lucía emitting a choked sob. She knelt beside her brother, hands trembling as she gently touched his cold cheek. Despair settled over me as we mourned yet another loss.

Take me to the hospital, Ivory." Lucía said, clutching Arlo's lifeless body.

"Lucía—"

"Just get me to the damn hospital!" Lucía's outburst was sudden and fierce, coinciding with the distant flashes of light from the construction site where the USC was at work

"Everyone, hold onto me. No one stays behind." Ivory commanded, and we all grasped her tightly as she teleported us to a parking lot next to a hospital.

Lucía silently made her way towards the hospital building. I wanted to say something, and offer comfort, but Ivory placed her hand on my shoulder, and I understood that silence was the best choice for now.

"Those cabrónes! Leaving his body out there like it's nothing! Let's go back, Ivory. We'll show them who's boss!" Ryan was seething, his anger spilling out.

"I don't think it was them, Ryan," Ivory responded calmly. "From the looks of it, he was strangled and left in the forest. That doesn't seem like the USC's style. But it is strange, indeed."

Ivory appeared lost in her thoughts, and it was clear she knew something. As my unease grew, I realized it was time to tell them about my encounter with the hooded man. "There's something I need to tell you all. One night, while I was in the hospital, a hooded man emerged from the shadows on the ceiling. He had whip-like black tentacles that emerged from his body. He warned me not to join the revolution, threatening that I'd die if I did. Before I could react, he covered my head with those black whips, and the next thing I knew, it was morning."

"You too, then," Ivory said, her voice calm and knowing.

Me too? Did she mean the hooded man had threatened the others as well? "Did he visit the rest of you too?" I asked, a sense of dread creeping in.

Ryan appeared baffled, it seemed that the hooded man hadn't approached him. That was a relief. 

"Yeah, everyone in the group has seen someone like that lurking nearby, but he never directly confronted anyone as he did with you," Ivory replied, more lost in her thoughts than before. "This confirms it. We need to regroup and devise a plan to confront this threat. I'm not sure why he killed Arlo, but he must be connected to everything somehow."