Pursuit of the Jewel

The Escape

Ferrier timidly glanced around, a look on the verge of terror on his round face.

          “H-hey, Marlon, don’t you think we should… Uh, get out of here soon?” the uneasy boy stammered.

          Marlon nonchalantly waved their hand back and forth, a gesture showing that they believed the two of them had time to spare. Eyes widened, the curly-haired teen ran their fingers over the jewel over and over again, as if to make sure that it was actually there. Suddenly, a giant grin appeared on the golden-eyed teenager’s face as they looked up at Ferrier like an excited child who had just won a prize and was showing it off to their parent. The smaller, paler teenager uncomfortably smiled back, his eyes darting from side to side nervously.

          With an over exaggerated sigh, Marlon’s arms fell to their sides as they declared, “Fine, fine. I suppose we can leave now.”

          Ferrier’s smile immediately changed from uncomfortable and nervous to a look of joy and happiness. Clapping Marlon on the back with one hand, and taking the jewel from them with the other hand, the scrawny bleached blond haired boy seemed to melt right into the ground, taking the precious stone with him. The shadows that were left in his wake wrapped themselves around the impatient teenager, shrouding them from view.

Grinning wildly, Marlon dashed through various halls and corridors, searching for an exit to the museum. By the time they found it, they had ran across most of the museum already. On the way, Marlon had passed several unsuspecting guards. Thanks to the dimly lit hallways, they had been seen only as a shadow, if anything at all. In an almost carefree way, the almost unnoticeable teen pushed the exit’s door open and strolled right on through. They could almost hear a relieved sigh escape their skinny friend’s mouth, except that it wasn’t possible for Ferrier to do in his shadow form.

“Let’s just get a little farther away from this place then you can change back, alright?” Marlon asked, knowing that there would be no audible reply.

The shadows that covered the relaxed teen shuddered in response to Marlon’s previous words. Trotting along merrily, the dark-skinned teenager began to hum a popular tune that they had recently heard on the radio. As they followed the pristine stone path away from the museum, Marlon began to notice footsteps coming from ahead of them. They stopped in their tracks, straining their ears to try and pinpoint the location of the footsteps. Like an animal locking onto its prey, the golden eyed teen rushed towards the sound, bloodlust in their eyes. As they approached the potential enemy, Marlon skidded to a stop.

“Wha-?”