Drumheller

Chapter thirteen - the promises

Steph could barely see two feet in front of her. She couldn't feel Ziz's presence, and she felt short of breath "h-hello?" Steph called out, panting for an unknown reason "Ziz?" "I'm right here, Reegal" a deep, rumbling voice echoed through Steph's mind. In front of her, a familiar pair of white ovals appear, seemingly hovering in the air. They looked like they could put you into some sort of strange trance, which made Steph not look directly into them "...you're not Ziz" Steph said, holding herself "where is Ziz" "you care so much for that creature" Chaos remarked "and you care not for the fact that this 'Ziz' of yours is a part of me?" "What do you want with me...why am I here?"
Chaos didn't answer right away, but moved around Steph. She could see the outline of the creature moving around her. It was massive, four legs and a flaming purple tail. It's back seemed to crackle with a purple and black energy "you've been told this already" Chaos says "you are my anchor. The one human that keeps me living partly in your world. I'd say that's quite the honor"
"I don't want to be your anchor. I'd rather die"
"hmm...then why didn't you let Adrian kill you?"
Stephanie growled. Chaos proceeded to make a noise that sounded something like a laugh "oh Stephanie, the darkness is much more peaceful. You'd think I'd hurt someone like you? At this point in time? No" Chaos stopped moving "...but I do not want you to be playing with Life affiliated humans" "what are you, my dad?"
"I am your master, Stephanie" Chaos grinned that devilish smile he has.
Stephanie froze up "but things like that aren't always so bad, right? Just think about it, Stephanie...I could give you so much more than what Life can give you. What did you do when you used barely any of your potential power? You got excited" Chaos remarked, leaning it's head near to Steph "flying is nothing, Stephanie. Think about hopping between your own universes, manipulating space as we know it, remember back when you were little when you wanted desperately to be a dog? Turning yourself into animals is merely a parlor trick compared to the power you can have"
It wasn't that she was talking to Chaos that frightened her, nor was it that she could be the cause of the end of the world, but the fact that Stephanie was considering it terrified her. Yes, Stephanie had always dreamed of all the things Chaos had just mentioned, she was almost certain she could name more things and Chaos would shrug them off as some low-level trick "a boyfriend, right? You need someone to love. How sweet. What was that boy you know that I recently payed a visit to?" "...Gabe" "yes, Gabe. Everything you could ask for in someone, right? Brave, smart, strong..."
All of a sudden, Gabe materialised out of no where. He was shirtless "hey Steph" Gabe says, eyes seductively half-lidded "I'm glad you invited me over tonight, I've always thought we needed some...you know...private time together~" Gabe then moved his hand over the back of Steph's head. His hand was warm, and Steph found herself grow red hot over her face. His voice sounded so real...but there was a very small echo to it. Gabe leaned close to whisper into her ear "all you have to do, Stephanie, is surrender your body to me, and then you will live a life of endless pleasure" Chaos whispered. Steph shook her head and held it, causing Gabe to vaporize into the air "get out of my head!!" she yells "I won't! I won't surrender to you in my life! Get out of my head!!"
Steph gasped, sitting up in her bed. Ziz squawked with surprise, waking up "Steph! What-" Ziz was interrupted by Steph suddenly pulling him into a tight hug. Ziz struggled a bit, but it proved useless against Steph's surprisingly strong arms "I want...I want to kill him" Steph murmured into Ziz's feathers. Ziz looked up at Steph "kill him? Kill who?" "Chaos!" Steph says, looking up at Ziz with tears staring to well up in the corners of her eyes "i hate him! I hate what he's doing to me! I hate what he's turning me into!" "a-ah...Steph..." Ziz stuttered, not knowing what to say. He patted Steph's head with his wings, as she cried into Ziz "we'll beat Chaos, I know it, and you do too" Steph sniffs, rubbing her eyes of her tears "...right" Steph said through tears
Steph couldn't find herself to go to sleep again. Any time she'd close her eyes, she was afraid of seeing Chaos in her dreams again. She shuffled "...Ziz?" Steph whispered "are you awake...?" "I can't sleep unless you go to sleep...so yes, I'm awake" Ziz whispered back. Steph blinked "ah...sorry" She says, sitting up "I just can't get myself to sleep again..."
The two of them sat in bed in silence, Ziz sitting up against the bed rest beside Steph. The room was quiet and peaceful, with the slow hum of the air conditioning hanging in the air. Steph still had her suitcase out, and hadn't bothered with using the closet given to her. A strange sense of Déjà vu courses through Steph as she remembered just getting into the hotel on the first day, with no idea any of this would happen. It honestly made Steph feel slightly sentimental "hey Steph?" Ziz asked "are you still...scared?" "...yes" Steph answered, shifting her position "don't you think this is the last time I'll get all...breakdown on you. If you really do wanna be a friend of mine...just be there for me, alright?" Ziz nods, before continuing the silence
Ziz looks up at Stephanie again "do you wanna go flying?"
The wind had gotten stronger. Steph had to bring a coat due to how chilly the weather had become. Steph let out a huff, still a bit tense "remember to relax" Ziz reminds Steph, which doesn't do as much as Steph wish it did "keep your eyes on the horizon and don't look down" Steph let out a sigh as she felt the black feathers on her wings. They were surprisingly soft "will you help stabilise me in the air?" "I can do what I can, but I can't carry you, so you got most of the responsibility" Steph ran towards the edge of the small hill again, the wind picking up and catching her wings. Steph breathes in and jumps.
But something at that moment suddenly made Steph relax completely, as if everything that mattered faded. The moonlight looked beautiful, and the stars above glistened with the milky way. Steph let out a long sigh before looking down. Suddenly she realised she was miles above the ground. Steph gasped, but something comforted her "don't worry" she heard Ziz say "I'll keep you flying. Have fun" something was different about his voice, but she didn't care. Steph leaned forwards, diving through the clouds and speeding under the stars. Steph couldn't help but laugh "this is- Ziz can you see this?!" she shouts. Steph fell into a feeling of weightlessness as she dove past the cloud barrier. She could feel her wings being controlled, but it was definitely for Steph's benefit as they were still bending to where she wanted to go. Something about that feeling made Steph feel more confident than ever before "we will defeat Chaos!" she shouts "and there's absolutely nothing that could ever stop me!"
Steph landed on the hill where she started "that was insane!" Ziz says, hopping out of wing-form and into bird-form "how did you do that?!" "how did I do that? Ziz you were the one keeping me up, all I did was fool around" Steph says, a huge smile on her face. Something about the air still felt nice and positive. Ziz tilted his head, confused "I wasn't keeping you up, Steph" he says "I thought you were doing that" "but you said...you'd keep me up, didn't you?" Steph asks, now also confused. Ziz shook his head "I didn't say anything, I just thought you just...knew what you were doing there"
Steph looked behind her up at the sky "then...who said that?"
Steph had the best sleep she's had in a while that following night. She woke up that morning feeling like a million bucks, so much so that she treated herself to breakfast at Kathy's café "y'know, you should be the manager here" Steph said, downing a can of Diet Coke. Kathy chuckles "ah...I'm not one to do that" she says, cleaning some of the dishes behind the counter "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not too good with responsibility. I feel like I'd drown in the potential work I could be given...and besides, this job pays enough to pay the bills, and I tolerate it" Steph nods, following along. She'd be lying if she said she didn't once want to be manager at a store she had worked in when she was in high school, only to realize that the responsibilities were far too intense for a 17-year-old.
Kathy placed a rack of pancakes with blackberries on them "enjoy your food~" she says with a smile "is this energy for whatever is going to go down tonight?" "yeah...probably" Steph says, throwing a blackberry into her mouth "I'm gonna talk him to death" "are you scared?" Steph thought about it for a moment "...I don't know" she answers "ay Ziz, you ever had a blackberry before?" Ziz appears on Stephs shoulder, looking down at the berry "what is it?" he asks, pecking at the small berry. Steph shrugs "a blackberry. It tastes good. It has seeds in it and birds like seeds, so..."
Ziz popped it into his mouth, chewing it a bit. After a moment of silence, Ziz looks at Kathy "please bring me more! I need more blackberries!" he says, his eyes sparkling "they taste like...they taste as if..." Ziz couldn't find the words, but it was obvious he loved them. Kathy looked at Steph as if she wanted confirmation to get her son ice cream "you heard him" Steph said, nodding to Ziz eating another blackberry from her pancakes "get the man some blackberries"
Knowing things could turn out very wrong, Steph wanted to be prepared with everything she could do. Steph set up a row of empty cans on a fence and pointed a finger gun at them, closing her eyes. She focused her power and fired, causing a laser of darkness, albeit small, blasting the can off the fence, sending it spinning into the air and onto the ground. Steph blew on her finger for effect "Steph?" she hears all of a sudden, making her turn around. Behind her was Pam "oh, hey Pam. What's up?" "I just wanted to...say something"
Steph placed her hands in her coat pockets. Ziz tilted his head on Steph's shoulder "I just wanted to tell you I'm...worried. There's a lot going on right now" Pam says, her breath slightly fogging due to the colder nights "tonight's meeting is going to happen at 8, and you...know what happens at 9, right?" Steph nods "I thought it'd be a good idea to tell everyone at once, right? Gabe told me yesterday he was getting suspicious of your change of character, so I won't be surprised if he's already suspecting something going on" she explains "and besides, if Chaos attacks, you'll be in wolf form, so you can either run away really quickly, or fight"
"fight?? I've never fought anyone before...let alone something like Chaos"
"I think it'll come to you. Besides, I think being something like what you are makes you really lucky you're not some...savage"
Steph couldn't see if Pam agreed with Steph fully, but she nodded, agreeing to do whatever comes to mind if things get that bad.
Later that night, Steph had to call Sam to bring her over to the centre being that she didn't feel like walking. Most of the ride was shared with silence, before Sam spoke "...I heard something big is happening tonight" he says, looking over at Steph. Steph tensed up a bit, she didn't want regular people like him to know what was going on "oh...! Ah it's nothing" she says, being as casual as possible "the support group is just having a get together later than usual and we're going to watch some movie. Pam is probably going to put on some...Christian propaganda. Haha" Steph laughed. Sam laughed too, which meant to Steph that he bought it "well, still" he says "keep in mind that things might not always be as they seem. Those answers you're looking for might just be hiding right under your nose" Sam chuckles, glancing at a confused Steph "...but that's just old man ramblings. Have fun with your movie"
Everyone was there. Gabe, Kathy, Eric, Pam, Adrian, he even brought his brother Jacob, who was decked out like an assassin. Eric looked like he wanted to tell him his outfit looked really cool, but was clearly scared to approach him. It didn't help that he was ominously standing by the wall in the darkest corner of the gym, with one leg up against it. Kathy was setting up the TV with Pam, running an extension cord out the door and to an outlet in the hallway leading out from the gym. Gabe was talking with Adrian when Steph entered "ah-hah, the lady of the night" Gabe says, spreading his arms to greet Steph. Steph chuckled "I didn't cower out of it yet, I'm still kicking" Steph responded. Gabe pulled Steph into a surprise hug "yeah, but you're gonna be talking to Chaos himself! That's got to be nerve-wracking, right?"
"don't remind me"
Steph went around to everyone and, after a bit of hesitation, introduced herself to Jacob. Jacob, surprisingly, was very polite, and a lot more cool-headed than his brother "you certainly don't look like any anchor I've met" he says, shaking her hand "don't mind my brother so much, he has good intentions, I'm sure you know" "yeah...he did try to kill me once" Steph said, chuckling and scratching the back of her head. Jacob snorted "of course Adrian would fight you. He's always such a...y'know, angry person, even if he's definitely not a fighter" he explains, looking away at Adrian "he's a good leader, that's for sure. He can certainly talk someone into nearly anything...but he doesn't do the whole physical fitness thing"
"I mean...neither did I, so I guess it was a fair match"
Jacob grinned "you're pretty fortunate Adrian fought you and not me. If I had fought you, you wouldn't have been so lucky. Heh"
8 o'clock rolled around. Everyone lined up in the centre of the gym, and Adrian stood in front of the group "now, everyone" he says, his hands behind his back like a war general "this feat we're about to do is going to be very controlled. Jacob is going to be stationed at the plug of the TV in case Chaos pulls a fast one and we need to unplug the TV. There's going to be no called out questions and no unnecessary questions. We are only wanting to know where Life is, and that's all. Keep calm and stay determined. Chaos feeds on fear. If anything interrupts this, Chaos could possibly use it against us. Do you understand?" Adrian was met with scattered responses. Eric shouts "yes sir!" while Gabe only nods. Adrian nods, letting out a deep sigh "alright...hit the lights"