Experiment Zero

38. My Annoying Shadow

Would he crash into me? Or go straight through? Would it feel like a ghost passing through a person? I involuntarily shiver at the thought.

I focus my thoughts on the view.

A beautiful waterfall flows down from a large cliff that's miles above us, the roar of the water hitting the bottom drowning out most of the jungle noise. It sparkles in the sun, and a faint rainbow can be seen if your really pay attention. Jagged rocks line the bottom, and a large lake of water surrounds the waterfall, before flowing into the jungle in the form of a river.

"Beautiful." I murmur.

Peter releases a sound of agreement from beside me, eyes trained on the beautiful sight.

"Meh. There's better views on Dalton." Becky says, ruining the  moment.

Peter and I both glare at her, ad she gives us a flat look back. Finally, I sigh, shouldering my pack and taking a step forward excitedly.

"Let's take a quick stop here for water. My dad should only be less than  a mile away now, so let's hurry."

I unsling my backpack from over my shoulder, digging around in it and pulling out my water canteen, which had slowly emptied itself over the course of our hike when I had drank from it. I unscrew the cap, stepping up to the clear Crystal lake and filling it with water.

"Do you know if this water is safe to drink?" I ask Becky, realising right before  I raised the canteen to my lips that it might be contaminated.

Suddenly Max lets out a small monkey shriek of excitement, climbing down my shoulder and darting off into the jungle. I stare after him in confusion, waiting as  a bright light flashes from somewhere in the trees.

A few seconds later Max strolls out from the trees, wearing his usual outfit of shorts and no shirt. There are a few mud splatters on his chest and in his hair from earlier, but he's mostly clean.

"I can tell whether the water is pure or not." He declares, striding towards us. "Lightling healing magic and all that stuff." He says, wiggling his fingers with a small smile on his face while Becky rolls her eyes.

He grabs my canteen, holding it tightly in both hands and screwing his eyes shut in concentration. There's no glow to signify he's using any power like there is when he's healing, but after  a moment he opens his eyes, smiling widely.

"It's drinkable." He says, proud.

I don't wait any longer a gulp a few sips, surprised at the refreshing coolness of it. Also surprisingly, End gets out his own canteen, filling  it and taking a few small steps.

I shake my head, watching him in perplexion.

There are so many things I don't know about shadows. I mean, I had no idea they need to drink. The more you know, I guess.

A small smile fins my lips, a giddy feeling overtaking me as I survey the group. We are about to find my dad, and then soon my friends, my dad, and I will also be together, protecting each other's backs on this dangerous island.

You're forgetting two very important people, my self conscious whispers. A sudden pang of sadness flies through me at the thought. That's right, I almost forgot in my excitement.

Lager and Zero.

They are the last two people of the group, but one is a busy High Commander who won't leave his people, and the other is also a High Commander, but one who abandoned me to deal with the truth about the reason behind my impending death.

My head throne suddenly, the sign of an up-coming headache.

I just need to stop thinking about Zero, and then it will go away. I distract my focus instead back to Max and Becky who are bickering, End watching me carefully like he's been doing.

But the headache gets worse, and fear creeps up my spine.

The headache is the effect of Zero, but he's not speaking in my head right now, and I don't think thoughts about him trigger the headache since they haven't before, so that only leaves one option.........he's near.

My head snaps up, only to see a lone figure at the other side of the lake, half of their body hidden by the waterfall and in the trees.

End notices something is wrong and looks to where I'm staring, frozen in shock. End immediately tears, stepping in front of me and releasing the first noise I've ever heard him make, an inhuman growl.

The figure steps out from the trees and waterfall, silver eyes connecting with mine over End's shoulder immediately even across all the distance.

Zero is back.

Dear readers, I'm so sorry for the late update. I hope you enjoyed! This chapter is a bit of a useless filler chapter, hut it does include End and Ashley scenes along with Becky and Max.
NOTICE: I need your opinion. I'm thinking about writing a short romantic sorry for Christmas and I wanted to know what you guys think about it. I'm really excited for it! Vote, comment, and come up with ship names for Becky and Max.

Lots of love,

Dangeroustoken