2 Home Sweet Home (2/2)

Just as the house collapsed due to the relentless blaze, Will saw them. It was the same five black cloaked men he had seen earlier that night. They were walking straight out of the wreckage with their blades drawn, as if they had just used them in battle. 'Did they cause this?' he thought as he clutched the remote as if it were a weapon. He thought if they had nothing to do with the fire, why would they be there?

Before Will was about to turn off the television, he sensed something was off. He watched the black cloak men come out of the fire, though they never stopped walking. Each one of them, in perfect formation, was walking straight towards the camera crew. None of them made any sign or inclination that they could see the cloaks, they just continued reporting as if nothing was out of the ordinary. It was if the five figures didn't even exist. Slowly making their way closer, each footstep pounding on the ground matched the rhythm of Will's heart beat pounding in his chest. With each step, Will felt the same chill he did when he saw them at the stop light.

As they grew closer, the chill increased and the flames seemed darker, as if they were being strangled. Within moments, they looked as if they were about to walk straight through the television. Just as one of them put its hand out as if it was about to reach through the screen, Will slammed the power button and threw the remote to the far corner of the room.

Just like before, the goosebumps went away the moment he couldn't see the cloaks. 'Obviously it's time for bed.' Will thought as he tried to shrug off the experience as just being exhausted from the long car ride. Will sat up and grabbed a drink out of his travel bag. Oddly enough caffeine had always helped him sleep. Once trying to beat into his head that he was hallucinating, Will laid back down in bed.

Will waited for sleep to come, but for some reason it was held off by the thought of the cloaks. If they were just hallucinations he got by his lack of good sleep lately, why would they show up at places further from him? Why was he not seeing them outside his door or at the foot of his bed? It almost felt as though they were searching for him. 'What could they possibly want with me?' He thought to himself, 'I have only just gotten into town, what could they want with me?'

His thoughts running a million miles an hour, the only thing actually occupying them was the black cloaks. Will groaned into his pillow, he needed to relax. They had not shown up anywhere in which they could actually reach him. ”They must not have been real.” He said, resigning himself to the thought so he could finally put himself to sleep.

Finally getting a chance to close his eyes, the last thing he thought was 'welcome home,' With a sigh, he allowed the dark cloud of sleep to envelop him at last.

'Running for what seemed like forever, he stopped to catch his breath. His heart pounding as if to a beat of a drum. His pursuers were just a mile back, the closer they got the faster the drum played. He could still see them in the open, their black cloaks billowing in the desert heat and a glint of steel from the sun hitting their unsheathed swords.'

'He figured he had a few minutes to gather his bearings before they got close, too close for comfort. He could only stay a few paces ahead of them. No matter how hard he pushed himself, he could never be rid of the nightmares at his heels. It seemed as though they were herding him somewhere, seeing as though they never truly caught up, but he knew they could if they truly wanted to. If he chose a different route, they would change their route as well in order to keep him going where they wanted. If he tried to thrown them off, they just split up to box him in. The only landmark he could see were snow capped mountains off in the distance. The more he walked, the closer they got. He didn't know what else was out there, the desert was completely alien to him, besides he didn't really want to find out what else could be in the wasteland. He already had the black cloaks to worry about.'

'Looking back at the cloaks, he jumped out of surprise and fell to his backside. In front of him was a man in a black business suit and over coat, he had a neatly trimmed goatee and fierce green eyes which peered down at him. '

'All Will could do to avoid this man's gaze was look down. He felt a burning sense of guild as though he couldn't measure up to this mans expectations. As the eyes burned a hole in his skull, he wished for nothing more than to die where he sat. ”I'm not strong enough yet.” He said as his eyes stayed permanently glued to his feet. ”How am I supposed to defeat them?”'

'The man just stared at the cowering boy on the ground, his face riddled with disgust. ”First you get off your ass,” He barked as if he were a drill instructor. ”And then you get stronger!” '

'As he tried to get up, to escape this mans gaze, a hand with an abnormally strong grip yanked him on his feet. Staring at this man, he didn't know what to make of him, his appearance was completely off from what he had seen so far. Before he could ask anything, the man roared at him, at first he couldn't hear him which was odd. Then the words came to him in a boom. ”WAKE UP WILLIAM!”'