Umbra and the Shadow Hunter (Umbra Book 2)

Chapter 2: A New Enemy Rises

Chapter Two

A New Enemy Rises

 

            He heaved forward, clenching his chest as he breathed heavily. Drops of sweat were trickling down his cheeks. He wet his lips as he soon realized that it was only a terrible nightmare, a nightmare that seemed too real.

            "Shadow?" Umbra questioned. He looked down to see that now his red necklace was glowing. "Did you see that?"

            "I did," it responded. "Strange dreams you've been having over the last couple of days." Umbra tried to remember the past few dreams he recently had. They all weren't exactly the same, but featured the same strange figure.

            Sunlight had somehow made its way into the room that Umbra was in, blinding him as it struck his face. He scooted to the left, out of the sunshine's way. "What was that thing?" Umbra asked.

            Shadow remained silent for a little bit before finally giving an answer. "I'm not sure." The reply repeated itself inside Umbra's head.

            Umbra still couldn't get over the fact of how real his nightmare seemed to be. As he rolled off of his bed, his wet socks squished as they hit the floor. He made his way over to the window, which was half boarded up. Looking out into his neighborhood, it looked exactly as it did the day everyone left. Homes all around were still badly damaged, and only Umbra had inhabited the town. "When will they return? It has been two months and still, not one single person has made there way here. What is keeping them away?"

            "You may not realize it Umbra, but a lot happened here on that day," his Shadow informed him. "A legendary beast was ruling over the town with his undead army. That day changed the lives of many, mostly you Umbra." There was a quick pause. "Those people are probably still scared of returning."

            He squinted his eyes as he moved his head down, the sunshine now returning on his face. "It's just, I haven't seen my family for a while. I wish they'd return. That's what's really important to me right now. I just hope they're alright." Umbra held back his tears, firmly shutting his eyes. "I wonder if they even miss me." Taking in a deep breath, he opened his eyes back up, rubbing away some tears that had escaped. He stepped away from the window, now facing his messy room.

            Umbra didn't know what to do now. He looked up at the calendar that barley hung on the wall above his bed. Walking over to it, he flipped through a few pages. One of the calendar blocks had writing in the space. The date was June 7th. Underneath read "Graduation Day!" with a runny red marker. It brought a smile to Umbra's face before he realized that he would not be living that day the way he wanted to live it. He dropped the pages that he was holding up, bringing back the current calendar month.

            "So much has been lost," Umbra whispered. "I never asked for any of this to happen." He rubbed his hands on the black shirt he was wearing, trying to dry his hands from touching the wet calendar.

            The growling of his stomach woke Umbra from a deep thought. Placing his hand over his stomach, he could feel it vibrate.