Chapter 21 - Hunters in the Night

The lowbeams turn on obediently, but can hardly illuminate past a yard/meter or so in front of Bev, such is the thickness of this unnatural darkness. Still, it is of great comfort seeing the grass, her own feet and hands, and knowing nothing's wrong with her eyesight.

Ok, Ok, not blind.

"Alice! Over here!" Bev stands up and jumps up and down.

"Logan?! Over here!"

Hesitantly, following the confusing directions of each other's voices and groping in the dark like the blind mice evoked by one of the bullies, the Hunters find each other - not seeing Bev's lights until they are a short distance away.

They huddle together comforted by their small island of reality in an unknown sea of black confusion surrounding them on all sides.

"Is this... forever, then?... Bev's batteries will run out sooner or later. What then?..." she says, voicing doubts and fears they all no doubt feel in their hearts.

"Oh boy... I think our sleepover cover is blown. Don't you?..." he says in a feeble attempt at mirth. He chuckles bitterly, immediately regretting as his ribs make him wince in pain.

"This cannot last forever. And it can't affect the entire world. Solomon is powerful, but... THAT powerful?... I doubt it." Eddard tries to provide some modicum of grown-up reassurance.

"Well, we gave him the fulcrum," Al says, rubbing her eyes and trying to calm down again. No use in losing her cool. She takes in a deep breath. "And we even uncaged it for him. So we don't know how powerful he is now."

She looks around, which is entirely useless in the dark. "But maybe you're right and it isn't the whole world. We should try to walk in one direction and see if we can find the end of the darkness."

Bev agrees with Al. "Good idea!"

"Maybe we should hold hands; form a chain as we go."

Bev crawls a bit away from the others. She yanks her high beam chord, seeing if the additional illumination sheds some..................light........on the situation!

Bev's high beams make a little more light, visibility increasing to a couple of yards.

Alice links hands with Bev, and Logan, limping in pain, gets in place behind her. They begin advancing together.
Eddard calls Johnny and Al and they all form a chain too.

Slowly, the darkness seems to become less dense, until they are greatly relieved to see the regular colours of the night. The sky is once again clear of clouds, and it feels like a regular summer night. A massive weigh is lifted from their hearts, and they seem to breathe more easily.

They find themselves near the wire fence of the overgrown area where the fight took place.
Turning behind them, they can see a large thick semi sphere of an ink-black. smokey substance engulfing the centre of the gazebo surroundings.

As they look, the semi sphere seems to become smaller, and more transparent, until it dissipates completely.
They can see the remains of the gazebo in the tall grass, as well as Bev and Alice's discarded bicycles. Johnny's skateboard must be somewhere in the tall grass too.

"Phew... I'm glad we're out of that..." he says.

"What now?... our parents still believe we're sleeping at Logan's..."

"Yeah... ouch... we have to try sneak back in the HQ. Do I look really beat up?"

"Face is OK. Almost. But your movements will give you away. You sure you don't want to get to the hospital? I'd get those ribs checked if I were you"

"Nah, I'll be fine... let's get the rides and get out of here. Need to get home quickly, before they notice anything."

"Lean on me - I'll help you get to the Madame Blavatsky"

As the Hunters, tired, battered and shocked after this confrontation, recover their rides and converge on Eddard's car, we close this amazing chapter.