Skyline Gang: Trial of Darkness

Chapter 5

All of a sudden, there was this loud bang. Before anyone could process the sound, grey smoke filled the attic. There was a mixture of screams and coughs from everyone. Even Rainbow let out a huge yelp in fright. There was hardly anything to be seen through the smoke. Only the sun burst through, but even that was barely enough to see completely.

"Someone open a window!" Bud took charge, panic laced in his voice. Rainbow gently strode to him. Bud was overstimulated by the loud noise, and Rainbow knew that he had to help calm him down. The best thing to do was try to vent the smoke out. Dude took action just as that was said. Trying to subside his own coughing, he dashed to the two skylights. He opened them just as quick. After about thirty seconds, the smoke started to drift out.

"Is everyone okay?" Dude asked, finally feeling like he can breathe again. He scanned over everyone. Rainbow was tending to Bud, who was carefully calming down. Pip waved her arms a little to waft the last of the smoke away from her. Mimi had curled up a little, slowly coming out from that position. Sprout was crouched behind the magic cart, hands in the air as if he were being searched by police officers. Candi was shaking a little, clutching the still open book to her chest. They all responded slowly to Dude, each answer saying that they were unharmed, just shaken up.

"Well, that was explosive!" Sprout grinned, trying to bring out a laugh or two. All he got were groans and even a couple of hard stares. "I want to state for the record: that wasn't me!"

"Candi, what did you do?" Bud asked. He recalled hearing Candi muttering to herself while holding that book she suddenly had in her hands. She was the only one away from the Gang before that loud bang.

"Nothing! I think..." Candi spoke, still shaking from the chaos. She held up the book, now closed so that everyone could see it. "I just read this page from the book. I thought it was a poem or something..."

Everyone started to gather around Candi. They wanted to see what she meant. Only Dude didn't join in. He remained by the window, making sure that all of the smoke had left the attic. The majority of it was gone. However, there was still a portion of it that lingered. Something was different about it this time. It seemed to be trailing from something. Like Candi was with the book, he was entranced with the smoke. He followed it carefully, his movements gaining everyone's attention. He ignored the inquisitive stares. The smoke started to thin out, prompting him to be quicker in his pace. He looked up, immediately finding the smoke's origin. It was a cupboard that could be a small wardrobe. It was large enough to have two people in it. The doors were open a little, letting the smoke flood through the gap. Throwing away whatever caution he had left, Dude opened the doors, allowing the last of the smoke to drift out. He looked down at the floor and felt like his body turned to ice.

"Dude? What is it? What's in there?" Mimi asked, not liking how still and silent Dude had become. Dude slowly turned his head towards his friends. His eyes were uncertain and he had a concerned look on his face.

"It's a girl." He said, trying to keep his voice from failing. Everyone couldn't comprehend what he had said. For a moment, they thought that he had gone mad. They gathered behind him, with Rainbow pushing his head past Dude's waist. Chills ran throughout the attic. Curled up on her side was indeed a girl. She had short, straight black hair, a couple of inches longer than Candi's. Her pale skin had a greyish to it to it. It was her outfit that stood out the most. She didn't appear in plain clothing like the Gang did when they first arrived. White shirt, grey and white trainers, black and white stripy tights and knee length dungarees that came in two shades of grey. The clothes that she was wearing were almost exactly like everyone else's. If she had her name on her clothing, it was covered due to the position of one of her arms. Her face was made up with grey eyeshadow and grey lipstick.

"Is she dead?" Pip finally asked, taking in the scene before her. The girl was absolutely still, her face blank of any facial expressions. She might as well be sleeping. Unfortunately with how she was lying down, it was hard to tell if she was breathing or not. Dude bent down. He carefully reached out a hand to try to examine the girl. He even considered asking someone to call for an ambulance. He was about an inch from her shoulder, when the girl's green eyes snapped open. Dude leapt back in fright, stumbling to the dusty floor. Rainbow let out a "yikes" as everyone else screamed in surprise.

"Nope! Not dead! Definitely not dead!" Sprout scrambled as he ducked behind Bud desperately. The girl sat up rapidly, looking around just as frantically. She had moved back, almost slamming into the back of the cupboard. She was all tensed up, like a frightened cat. Dude remained eye level with her, holding his hands up carefully.

"Easy. Easy. We're not going to hurt you." He said as level headed as he could. The girl didn't seem to listen to him, still looking around like it was nothing.

"Who are you?" She finally asked.

"That's what we were going to ask you?!" Sprout declared. The girl only curled up, still covering her name as if it were nothing. She continued to look form one person to the next, this time a bit more calm. No one said a word as she took in those around her. Her eyes then focused on one person in particular. Her expression became less frantic and more somewhat curious. Everyone followed her stare, looking directly at Candi, who was still clutching the book tightly. She buckled a little, but suddenly plastered a smile across her face.

"Hi! I'm Candi!" She smiled brightly, taking a step forward. Pip and Rainbow stopped her as the girl flinched a little bit. Dude noticed it as well, and made another calming gesture. She calmed down a little faster than before, her face blank like a fresh clean sheet. After standing up, Dude offered her a hand. She flinched a little again, staring at the appendage like it was a shark. Everyone remained silent. After another tense minute, the girl grabbed hold of Dude's hand. He flinched under her grip. Her skin...it was freezing. It felt like he was gripping an ice sculpture. And it felt scarily familiar to something, but he wasn't sure what. Regardless, he helped pull the girl to her feet. She stumbled a little, almost like she was taking her first steps. And maybe she was? The girl looked around at everyone again, folding her arms over her chest to keep her name hidden.

"Why don't we all go downstairs and have some things explained?" Bud finally suggested. Some answers would be great right about now. Hopefully they won't be as hard to get as some answers that they're still searching for.