WAR PLANET: The Phantom

Chapter 2

He stared in cold panic at the cloaked figure perched upon the bus, their menacing shadow blotting out the sunlight as they slowly rose with a creeping smile. He couldn't tell if it was the same person Red had been stalking, nor if they'd been sitting on top of the bus this whole time, and shirked his attention. All he knew was their presence held an inhuman quality, their sharpened pale features stretching into a wretched grin as they stared at Ronan.

Before the figure moved, Ronan did what came naturally to him, lifting up his phone and snapping a picture against the halo of sunlight shadowing the creature's form. As he stared at the blackened shadow living in his camera, his mind raced to wondering what the hell he was doing, the real panic sending a pulse of energy straight through his heart as he jumped to his feet.

In the chaotic jumble of emotions, the only thing the stranger had moved was its mouth, teeming with amusement while its beady black eyes carved through his soul. Ronan was torn between courses of action, would they chase him if he ran? Or was his petrified state going to seal his fate?

His lips quivered in fear as he pushed past the sickening lump in his throat to speak. "H-Hi..." His palms went cold as the stranger twitched its head. "I... I didn't see anythi-"

A blinding blue ball whipped out an inch from the creature's face, its reflexes fast enough to barely dodge the mysterious object and fix its burning scowl just past Ronan.

He shot around to face a sight more ludicrous than the last, his panic nearly washed out by the paralyzing confusion in seeing Red. Goggles down, and his right arm stuck out with the sleeve rolled back to reveal a mechanical looking bracer. It pulsed an unearthly blue, spitting out another strange ball of energy that beelined for the stranger atop the bus, prompting Ronan to pinch his hand extra hard; just in case he was stuck in another vivid nightmare.

He didn't burst awake, despite the half a dozen harsh pinches he gave himself, facing the reality before him as the stranger leapt off the bus and swiftly tackled Red. He fumbled with his phone again, messing up the passcode a couple times, and lifting the camera to the ensuing fight with a spike of shock at the scene.

The cloaked figure had doubled in size, its ragged dress smoothened to a velvety skin of fur with two arching wings as it flailed on Red with ear piercing shrieks. Its violent scratching and kicking continued for a few seconds, until Red gained the high ground, twisting onto its back to pin the monster. He pressed the bracer to its skull, the strange contraption humming with a faint blue that suddenly clicked off. Red stopped, holding the creature down with a faltering grip as he smacked the bracer a couple times, pressing it against the creatures head without so much as a flash to give it life as it sat coldly against his snickering foe.

Red cursed under his breath, shoving the creature's head into the dirt with both his hands and staring over his shoulder at Ronan with panicked urgency. "Run to your house!"

Ronan could almost feel the ice running through his blood as his feet failed to move, which way was his house? His mind frantically retraced his steps to the school, locking his gaze in the opposite direction just past some trashed up trucks and a couple scrapped beams. It was probably that way.

Another shrill screech stabbed at his ears as he watched the creature thrust upwards and slam Red's side with its left wing, easily throwing him off its back as he groaned to lean up. The creature let out a cat-like hiss, jumping on Red with snapping fangs as he fought with its daggered talons that threatened to puncture the soft flesh of his eyes.

Ronan was yet again surprised by his clear lack of survival instincts, grabbing a bent pipe of metal and smacking the creature repeatedly, until it rolled off the Russian exchange student in a complete daze.

Red scrabbled to his feet, shaking the dirt and fur off him as he fixed his tattered uniform and pushed Ronan away. "Get to your house!" He shooed his hands at Ronan as he continued to stand frozen, the disappointment plain as day when Ronan frantically dropped the metal pipe in his hands and booked it, nearly tripping on a small rock as Ragdoll tailed him.

When he'd gained a suitable distance from the scene, he stopped to clear his head, glancing at Red as he continued to jump the massive bat like a gung-ho superhero, then fixing his gaze on the distant chain link fence. Through clouded judgement his gaze was suddenly drawn to the hood of a rust coated Aston, and the two thick books neatly stacked atop it to face the blaring sunlight. Two familiar books, and one of them was his overpriced Science 9 bundle of torture.

It was only a bit out of the way, and he'd be saving himself twice the trouble by snatching it. Ronan gave his loopy train of thought an exhausted nod, beelining for the Aston as the fluffy brown cat chasing him let out an unamused meow. With a skidding stop he reached his checkpoint, snatching his science textbook and searing part of his hand on the red hot hood. He was almost tempted to hug the thing as he quickly grabbed his phone, opening Sonya's contact for an update that hadn't come, and staring at the distant fight scene as he turned on the data and raised his camera. With a quick snap the picture sent, and his fingers brushed against the screen with an irresistible itch to type an SOS. But everything stopped with a crunch.

It was the slow and grinding crunch of rough gravel that stopped his heart, simply from the fact that it was directly behind him, and the strange tabby Ragdoll was seated in front of him, her head snapped back to stare at the origin with a low growl. Ronan went numb with fear, surprised that his racing heart hadn't given out by now as he jumped around to face the empty scene behind him. The relief washed over his body as he glared at the cat with a sigh, obliviously walking off as a towering cloaked figure rose from behind the car, silently closing in on his turned back as Ragdoll yowled.

"What's wrong with yo-" Ronan almost choked on his words as he noticed the eerie guest, quickly backing away and holding his textbook at the ready. Unlike the first one, this one was considerably taller, its complexion less palid, and its billowing hood pulled back to reveal a head full of swept-back greying hairs. It still held an inhuman chill in its movements as it slowly crept in a circle around Ronan, throwing Ragdoll off its leg with a harsh kick when she swiped at it.

"Caspiaraak," it hissed, its lips curving into a warm smile, twisted by its dark and feral gaze that pierced Ronan's soul like daggers of ice. "Trek na?"

Ronan prepared to book it, his eyes widening in terror as a strange force constricted his legs, travelling through his arms and solidifying his movement to that of a statue's while the creature slowly approached.

"Caprenaz silva Caspiaraak," the creature continued, its dry and raspy voice destroying any attempts at sounding welcoming as it scanned Ronan with hungry eyes.

"I don't know what you're saying." Ronan whimpered, his voice cracking from the pressure as he resisted the urge to burst into terrified tears at the horrible situation he'd planted himself in. "I swear I didn't see anything..." He sniffled, looking towards Red at the empty expanse where he'd been tackling the last bat monster. "I didn't see any bat vampires."

The creature reached for his neck as he whimpered, grabbing the rope-like string of his necklace to cradle the glossy tooth with growing intrigue. As it's blackened eyes locked onto Ronan's a hellsent shriek pierced the air, Ragdoll the brown blur climbing the creature and clinging to its face with bristled fur and flesh-rending claws. Ronan immediately felt the strange restrictions melt away, instinctively holding up his textbook with two hands and bashing the creature across the face with it, barely missing the cat in his blind panic.

He gave the creature a hard stare as it cringed on the ground holding its head, catching his breath with a couple heavy sighs before staring at his textbook with a smile. "Finally, a good use for this thing."

He tucked the thick textbook under his arm, shielding the blaring light from touching his phone as he squinted to make out the screen and text Sonya a message. He couldn't see the messages she'd sent, but a few of the keyboard letters were clear enough for him to guess the location of the others and autocorrect his SOS. But he only made it to 'There's bat mo' when Red's booming voice cut the air from behind him, a force grabbing his collar and dragging him into a run.

In a panic, he tried to type out the rest of the sentence while running alongside the Russian Exchange student, sending the incoherent mess to Sora and securing his phone in a pocket as he looked over his shoulder at the small group of cloaked figures pursuing them.

****

Sonya ignored the principal's barking voice as she slipped out the front entrance and across the street. Ronan hadn't the foggiest clue as to what he was getting into, and neither did she, but if anyone could get the useless guy out of a pickle it was her. She approached the walls of chain-link fencing, circling the obstacle until she found a way in, but there wasn't a sign of her friend, nor the shifty blonde.

"Ronan!" she called, scouring the bare and decrepit setting with a sinking gut. "Ronan, are you here?!"

When silence continued to answer her panicked calls she gave up, grabbing her phone and staring at the last message he'd left her.

There's bat moms xbasjbd me please hell.

Her gaze rose to a picture he'd sent. Blurred and shaky as it drew a twisted blur of spiking wings and arms a fair distance away. She turned her growing panic to her surroundings. "Ronan! Can you hear me?! Where are you?!" The silence gripped her heart as she flipped through her contacts, swiftly punching down Ronan's number and listening to the soft and haunting rings with growing impatience. Nothing, not even after the fifth tireless toll, and the automated voicemail came on.

She quickly checked the time as the school bell rang through the hot air, 2:45, she had an hour at most to find him and give the mysterious blonde a thorough interrogation. But where could Ronan have gone? His house?

She narrowed her eyes, taking a step forwards to run, and almost tripping with the booming voice that came from behind her. "You hold it right there Windchuck!"

She gave the principal a bewildered stare as he came towards her, contemplating if she could really outrun the personification of a grizzly bear to find her friend. She was in for a world of trouble if he got hurt or stolen. "Sir I'm—"

"Coming right back to school, I know." the principal boomed, closing into the two meter radius and sealing her chances of escape.

"But Ronan disappeared!"

"And you ain't disappearin' with him." The principal gripped her shoulder. "We'll be callin' both your parents, don't you worry. That kid's not gonna get far, and neither is his friend."