Chapter Three

Nya

I awoke with a start, showering myself with leaves. What was that about? He's coming for me? Who? The girl had looked afraid, was it the black coated man? No, it couldn't have been—that was a dream!

Before I could ponder it any longer, thunder boomed and lightning flashed seconds after. Two thunderstorms right in a row?

I dragged myself from beneath the bush, too restless to sleep again. I wandered the streets for a while, before the rain forced me to find shelter. I huddled under the outdoor stairs to an apartment when a figure appeared at the end of the alley.

I knew instantly it was the black coated man. It was impossible to mistake his enormous form. I stood and ran, my sneakers splashing loudly in the countless puddles. I ran blindly, in pure terror, the words of the girl in my dream echoing in my head. Before I knew it, I was standing, panicked, in front of a solid brick wall, at the end of a dead-end alley. I turned to face him bravely, but it didn't help that I was shaking. I could only see his figure through the pelting rain. Suddenly, the blonde girl with the blue-brown eyes materialized from the flood of water.

"Ahh!" she stopped, surprised and afraid, noticing both me and the wall behind me.

Before I could reply, two black coated men appeared from the gray shower. They advanced slowly, knowing they had trapped us.

"Why are there two?" The girl squeaked.

"M-maybe one for e-each of us," I suggested, trying not to cry.

The two black coated men looked identical, their movements in sync. They stopped a few feet from us, a wicked grin on the only skin I could see on them. In unison, they each drew a short, sinister dagger, aimed, and threw.

The girl and I shrieked, and she thrust out her arms, as if to stop the knives. I closed my eyes, waiting for the sharp pain that would end my life. After several seconds of nothing, I opened my eyes and gasped, jerking my head back and hitting it against the wall, causing black spots to swim before my eyes. The dagger was hovering millimeters from my right eye, little rain droplets bouncing off of it, wobbling slightly in mid-air.

"H-how?" the girl gasped, staring at her hands, "D-did I… I-I just do that?" I just stared at her for several seconds as the knives clattered to the ground.

The black-coated men weren't smiling anymore. In fact, they were scowling as they started towards us again, wielding oddly hooked swords. We turned and began to claw at the wall. I shoved at it, desperately hoping it would do something to save us. Please? Please you stupid wall, just… disappear!

Suddenly, as I leaned forward to shove on it again, I fell forward, falling onto the concrete beyond. The wall was gone! I lay stunned in the asphalt for several seconds before jumping up and sprinting away, not even checking to see if the girl was following me.

After a few steps, I turned to find the wall back in place, the black-coated men trapped on the other side. The girl slowed when she caught up to me, loose strands of her blonde hair plastered to her face. She let out a sigh of relief and amazement. "Wow," was all she said.

"Th-that was close," I replied in awe.

"Let's get out of here," the girl suggested, hearing the angry shouts of the black coated men.

After jogging for several minutes, she turned to me and introduced herself, "My name… is Ria," she panted, breathing between words.

"Nya," I grunted, bent double, clutching my ribs.

"How did… you do that—" she waved her hands in a circular motion, "wall thing."

I shrugged, "I just—it kind of just… disappeared when it wanted it to. And what about the floating daggers?" I demanded defensively.

"I just put my hands out—like I wanted them to stop—and… they stopped," She replied thoughtfully.

"I wonder how…?" I mused.

"Magic?" She giggled.

I let out a laugh too, "Definitely."

"It was magic," a young man's voice spoke behind us. Ria screeched and we jumped, twisting around in the air. Behind me was the man from my dream. The tall, tan one in the black coat. He reminded me too much of the black coated men, I took a step back. What was he doing here?