Lux : The Protector

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Night time and Lenny couldn't will himself to sleep again. Sometimes he thinks maybe it's insomnia but that was ridiculous. He really doesn't know why he couldn't sleep at night. Maybe he was nocturnal. Maybe he wasn't. But he knew one thing.

The fun doesn't start until the sun sets down.

A smile crept on his lips.

Next thing he knew, he was out down the street in the dead of a night. He looked over to his neighbor's house which was dark as usual. Ever since his encounter with that Schlotterstein kid, his mind went spinning.

'Everything around you isn't what you think it is. It's just like your magic tricks, Lenny Clarke - It's mostly illusion.'

He shuddered. What was the guy even talking about? Everything about this town was downright creepy and the biggest mystery so far was his neighbor. First, he was lurking behind windows stalking Lenny the first day he arrived here. Then he'd go out in the middle of the night doing whatever he was doing creeping out Lenny. And now he knows his name? How on earth could he have known that?

It was after all, just a small town. Guess everybody hears about everything and anything after all.

Without his bike, Lenny had to walk down the street into the night. He liked walking around. It was fine with him, though he had to steer clear away from near the Schlottersteins' perimeter.

Though occasionally afraid of the dark, he liked the night. Walking alone in the dark made him a little nervous especially when he hears that occasional rustle from behind the trees every minute as he listens to the sounds of the forest. But he did like a bit of thrilling adventure.

The moon shone brightly above, casting a bluish glow on him. He found himself walking into the woods again, letting the damp ferns brush against his sweatpants. He stopped abruptly then meticulously looked around.

He sighed. What was he even doing in there? Was he expecting for something?

His mind screamed to turn back and go home but the woods seemed to whisper on his mind, telling him to venture forth.

His spine tingled when he heard a rustling sound from behind him. Gregory's warnings about not going into the woods flashed into his mind but it was too late, he was already in the woods. His palms itched. He tried to assure himself that it was just nothing, just a harmless animal or something.

Yeah, or it could be a vicious wild animal, he thought. You'd be the death of yourself.

He caught a glimpse of something from the corner of his eye and his heart started to race. He whipped around quickly and caught a glimpse of a girl in a white shirt disappearing behind a tree. But it wasn't just a girl.

It was the girl.

Without reluctance, he took a step and made a dash through the maze of trees. He would get glimpses of the girl every now and then but the mist and the dark kept on blocking his vision. The only thing that guided him through the twists and turns of the forest was the moonlight that shone through the branches.

Finally, Lenny emerged from the woods and appeared on the clearing where a soft gust of wind blew on his face. He took a deep breath and smelled the breeze. The air was refreshingly cool.

Lenny exhaled and watched the array of tiny dots of lights flickering in the horizon that he didn't noticed from before. The city lights reminded him of home and he let out a sigh. He missed his old bonkers friends badly.