Awake (14 page)

“What are you doing?” Tom shrieked, trying
to stay in control. “SIT DOWN!”

“No,” snapped Kevin harshly, fighting for
the wheel, “YOU SIT DOWN!”

“He is sitting down,” said Andrew
matter-of-factly.

“Shut up and help me!” Kevin spat back, his
lip curling. “WE’RE GOING TO CRASH! HIT THE BRAKES!”

- Let the Games Begin -

Kevin had managed to stop the car before
they rammed into anything. But when they left the car, they were
completely surrounded. After surrendering, the group was dragged
off to the stadium. They were thrown before an empty stage near the
center of the field and were kept under close watch by snakes. The
seats of the stadium were packed with wild animals. To Kevin’s
surprise, the animals weren’t rowdy, agitated or angry. If
anything, the wild creatures were acting rather civilized. While
they sat in their seats, they chatted with their neighbors and ate
the snacks prepared for them. It was strange to think that this was
still earth, the same earth he had lived in his entire life.
Everything about this seemed so
alien
.

Kevin glanced at the others beside him.
Katie was calm for the most part, silently glaring at the snakes
nearby. Andrew was frightened and tense, quietly uttering prayers.
No surprise there. Tom was…sleeping. Sleeping? Kevin did a double
take to his right. His eyes closed, Tom slouched over. He couldn’t
have fallen asleep already, could he?

Kevin nudged Tom in the shoulder. “Stop
pretending to sleep. It’s not funny.”

Tom remained motionless.

Kevin knocked Tom to the ground. “I told you
to stop playing around!”

“Kevin,” said Andrew softly, “I know how you
feel, but we’ve all been fighting to stay awake. Can you really
blame him?” Andrew raised his eyes to the sky. “Look. Even the sun
is starting to set. The sky is turning red.”

Kevin slowly lifted his gaze and noticed a
peculiar sight. The sun began turning black. The red sky and
blackening sun complemented each other rather well. The colors of
blood and death. How ominous.

“A solar eclipse? Now?” Kevin grimaced. At
any other time he’d be excited, but right now, he felt as though he
would die. “Is that a sign for the end?”

Kevin fell with his face to the ground,
breathing and sobbing on the dirt. He felt pathetic. They were
bound in a stadium of no escape, where thousands of dangerous
creatures were watching their every move. They were trapped. One of
them was already finished, sleeping deeply with no way of
awakening. Where were the others? Helios couldn’t have possibly
survived alone on that roof. He had learned from Katie that Kain
had easily defeated Genesis and Luna. If Genesis and Luna couldn’t
even do anything, then Terminus couldn’t possibly stand a chance.
All hope was lost.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” His face covered
by a veil, Kain walked up to the group and glanced at the sky. “Not
something you see everyday. It’s something to cherish. The moon
blocks the sun. It’s inspiring, really. It shows that size doesn’t
always matter. The sun may be enormous, but at the right angle, at
the right time and place, even the moon can block it out of
view.”

Kevin sat up, scowling at Kain. “This is
your fault…THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!”

“My fault?” Kain smiled widely, revealing
his sharp, jagged teeth and black gums. “Oh, you couldn’t be more
wrong, boy. You humans brought this on yourselves. Although one man
caused it, it is simple for everyone else to suffer for it.”

Kevin countered, “Even if we brought this on
ourselves, you could just leave us alone!”

“I can’t leave you alone. You’d go ahead and
try to save the human race,” said Kain. “The humans have become a
thorn in my side. How many of our homes have been crushed and
destroyed by the humans? How many of our brethren slaughtered?
Humans claimed our land as their own. They claimed our possessions
as theirs. They even claimed our lives as theirs. Is it that hard
to live with nature? But they’d rather destroy nature and rebuild
it as their own. They infest our waters with chemicals, fill the
land with trash, and pollute the air with that which should not be
breathed in.”

Kevin stared blankly at Kain. “Is that what
this is about?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” said Kain. “To you,
humans, Earth may just be a tool to be used for your own
convenience—but to us, this Earth is our home!”

“This is our home too,” said Kevin.

“Really?” Kain scoffed, “Well, you sure
treat it well enough to call it home. Is your own house a dump? Do
you throw trash all over it? Burn whatever you don’t need? Force
your family members to move to another spot whenever you feel like
it?”

Kevin didn’t reply.

“Don’t worry,” said Kain. “I won’t kill the
humans. I’ll just let them die. And if you guys can live on, I’ll
let you stay alive.” He chuckled. “Think of it as respect. But now
we have a period of waiting. I say the humans will last a week
without water. We must wait for their death. How boring…” Kain
smiled slyly. “But then again, this is a stadium. It’s a place for
humans to have fun, right? Then let’s have some fun! You play by my
rules. If you win, I’ll let you live. I’ll even provide you with
good food. If you lose…” Kain burst out laughing. “You’ll be in for
a surprise.” Kain pointed at Kevin. “Since you’re the most
talkative, you’ll be first. Get up.”

Glaring at Kain, Kevin reluctantly
obeyed.

Placing a finger on his chin, Kain said,
“Let’s see…how about a chase?” Kain jumped up onto the stage,
almost looking like he floated upward. He took a seat on the chair
at the center. Several men, dressed in white robes, suddenly
appeared behind him and knelt down.

Kevin studied the man carefully. Were they
human? He couldn’t understand it. They looked human to a certain
extent. Yet they had strange powers, and even the animals were
under their control. Kain especially had a strange, if not creepy,
appearance. He could just be a mutant then. Maybe these guys were
just super villains. But super villains usually would want to
enslave the world, not kill everyone it in—unless this Kain person
had an extreme grudge that would make him want to kill
everyone.

Kevin discreetly glanced around. There were
other robed men among the crowd. He hadn’t noticed them before.
Things got weirder by the minute.

Kain raised his hand. “Bring in Scrint.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Kevin saw
something coming down from the stands. A small red fox was heading
to the center stage. When the fox arrived, it bowed before
Kain.

Kain said to Kevin, “Catch the fox. That is
your goal.”

Kevin’s eyes narrowed. “That’s it? That’s
the game?”

Kain nodded. “Simple, isn’t it? There is a
time limit though.”

“What’s the time limit?”

“That’s for me to decide.”

Kevin’s jaw slackened in disbelief. “You’re
not going to tell me how much time I have?”

“That’s the fun part.” Kain smiled
viciously. “You’ll know when it’s over by this.” Kain snapped his
fingers. A bolt of lightning flashed right in front of Kevin.

Wide-eyed, Kevin gulped, gaping at the
charred spot just a few feet away from him.

“Don’t worry,” said Kain. “I have amazing
accuracy. Do you understand the rules now?”

Kevin nodded slowly. He understood very
well. This man did not look like he was joking. Kevin now
understood why Tom dozed off as quickly as he did. Being awake was
soon turning into the real nightmare. What did it feel like to be
struck by lightning? His only experience with electricity was a
static shock. Kevin imagined it would be a billion times more
painful.

Kain shouted happily, “Then let the games
begin!”

Kevin fixed his gaze on the red fox. The fox
looked back at Kevin and playfully smiled. The fox didn’t run away.
This was his chance. Kevin pounced at the fox without any
hesitation. His head hit the ground, only catching dirt and grass
in his teeth. He sputtered and searched frantically for any sight
of the fox. The fox was sitting right behind him, taunting him by
wagging its tail at Kevin.

Kevin angrily got back up, but knelt shortly
after, his body exhausted. He had never experienced this before.
The aches and pains were in every muscle. There were days in his
life where he felt completely spent, but he could always just take
a nap during those times. At this moment, he really wanted to
sleep.

Kevin slothfully got to his feet. He could
barely stay standing without tottering. He screamed out all the air
in his lungs. His eyes red and heavy, Kevin frowned. This was not a
good day. Fall asleep and die. Get struck by lightning and die.
Most of his options were pretty bleak. Gritting his teeth, he
dropped to the ground. Sprawled across the field, Kevin began to
close his eyes.
This is the end
, he thought.

BZZZZT!
Kevin immediately opened his
eyes, his nose tingling from the smell of burnt grass.

Kain shouted out, “Boy, did you think it
would be that easy? A world of pain awaits you the moment you fall
asleep! Maybe you misunderstood, but the penalty for sleeping will
be worse than losing…
much
worse.”

“Right,” groaned Kevin. “Thanks for the
incentive. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He looked into the
fox’s eyes. “Forget about walking. Forget about standing. I’ll
catch you even if I have to crawl!”

And crawl he did, wringing out every last
ounce of strength from his body. He crawled on his arms and knees,
desperately struggling to reach his target. Though he had said some
rather cheeky words, the end result was more than embarrassing. It
was like moving in slow motion. The fox didn’t even bother running.
Instead, the furry animal pranced away every so often to widen the
distance between them.

“Are you scared of me?” asked Kevin in mock
laughter. “You’re afraid, aren’t you? That I’d actually catch you
like this.”

Scrint stopped and tilted its head slightly.
“Scared of you? Of course not. You’re about as scary as mud. I’m
not stupid. I know what you’re trying to do…”

While the fox was talking, Kevin kept on
crawling forward. “Oh really? And what am I trying to do?”

Scrint replied proudly, “You’re trying to
make it look like you have a chance. If I run away at this moment,
you would have no chance whatsoever.”

When Kevin was only three feet away from the
fox, he dropped to the ground and began gasping for air.

“And now, you’re trying to trick me into
thinking you’ve given up,” said the fox.

“You’re pretty good,” Kevin commended him.
“I guess simple tricks like this won’t do anything will it?”

A pillar of lightning came crashing down
between them. This surge of electricity was much more immense than
the previous bolts. Kevin ducked, averting his eyes away from the
blinding light.

Kain said, “Strike two. I believe in the
game the humans play there are three strikes. One more strike…and
you’re dead.”

“That’s fine,” said Kevin, moving his hand
back. “I don’t need anymore time.” Kevin whipped out his hand. The
yoyo went around the fox’s head, the string wrapping around the
fox’s neck. Kevin said, “I got him!”

The fox chewed off the string of the yoyo.
“What? You think you caught me because of that? That’s not how you
catch someone!”

Kevin said, “That’s up to the rule maker to
decide.” Breathing heavily, he looked at Kain. “Am I the winner or
not?”

Kain eased into his chair and wordlessly
eyed the situation for a minute. “Good job, boy. There was no rule
against catching him with a toy, or anything else for that
matter.”

Scrint said, “I don’t believe this! If I had
known, I wouldn’t have—”

“THAT’S ENOUGH,” Kain roared and Scrint
shrunk back. “There are few rules and they are clearly stated.
There are no excuses.”

Scrint nodded, his head bowing to the
ground. “Yes, Lord Kain. I’m sorry.” He scampered back to the
stands hastily.

Kain walked over to Kevin. “You’ve done
well. Your life is spared.” He turned to Katie and Andrew. “We will
take a break for thirty minutes before the next event.”

“Another event?” Kevin looked puzzled. “I
thought you said that was it! I thought that was the end of the
game!”

Kain laughed. “That was it for you. Each one
must participate in a separate game.”

“That’s not fair!” said Kevin. “Can’t you
see how tired everyone is? How can you expect them all to chase
down a fox?” Kevin was concerned. There was no way for the others
to replicate his victory.

“Oh,” said Kain, “you thought we’d be
playing the same game? You’re mistaken. The next game will be
something different. Maybe a fight to the death would be more
fun.”

“No!” Kevin fell to his knees and pleaded,
“Don’t do this…please…we’ve had enough…”

Raising his voice, Kain said sternly, “I’m
already giving you a time of rest.”

“But why do they have to—”

“Be quiet, Kevin,” said Katie curtly. “Don’t
bother making the situation worse.”

Kevin sighed. “I’m sorry then. I can’t help
you guys…”

Andrew said, “We’ve already decided to do
this together. Even if I never expected it to come to this…I don’t
want you to feel responsible for dragging us here. We made the
decision to do this. As much as I want your help, if I have to do
this alone…I’ll do this alone.”

Kevin nodded. “You’re right. But I still
feel like it’s my fault.”

Kevin sat down next to the others. He
scratched his head, wondering whether there was any way out of
this. Even though his friends assured him they were okay with what
would happen next, he wanted to avoid any situation where their
lives might be in danger.

Kain returned to his seat. It was the time
for rest. During this time, the crowd began to stir. They were all
talking about the event. From the looks of it, there were mixed
reactions about the game. Kevin could vaguely hear some of the
chatter.