Chapter 51: Chapter 51

COLDER

Colder

Kitee, North Karelia, Finland

Tarja still could not shake the look of the plant on Sebastiaan, no matter how hard she tried. She had never seen anything like that surround a human being before. The thought of something like that climbing on her very skin was enough to send goosebumps down her spine.

Kendra threw another layer of winter clothes onto the bed. Neither one of them really knew what they were heading into and the thought of not having enough layers, suddenly seemed like a horrible idea. The very thought of dying from the cold after coming this far, just did not sit too well.

"Do you think we'll be able to finally end this?" Kendra asked.

Tarja sighed. "I really don't know." She looked down at the stack of clothes. What would be like once this was over? She couldn't remember life without some kind of a fight.

Kendra smiled. "I think I'm going to take a long vacation once this is over with. Maybe I'll go someplace warm."

"That does sound like a good idea." Tarja did actually let her mind wonder on that one. A vacation…Now, there was something that she was pretty sure that she never had. The thought of just having endless days in front of her with nothing to do but relax did seem like a rather nice concept.

Outside, the wind hit against the flat. Tarja found her eyes drifting over the window. Even though she knew it was just the weather, she could never get the feeling out of her that something was always watching her.

Kendra leaned back against the dresser. "Do we have any idea when we are leaving?"

Tarja shook her heaed. "No, but I hope it's soon."

Kendra's eyes shifted to the window. "You and me both. The sooner we have this behind us, the better off we will be."

Tarja really wanted to echo those words as well, but there was something that was just stopping her. She wanted to believe that killing Ajatar would end all of their problems. She wanted to believe with one final push that everything was going to be okay. There was just something holding her back, something telling her that this was not going to be as easy as they thought.

Kendra walked over toward the door. "Maybe if we light a fire under them, they will actually decide to get moving."

Tarja snorted. "Maybe, but I really don't think that's going to happen. They are probably analyze the situation from every angle and think about all the things that could possibly go wrong, instead of trying to find a positive outlook." She smiled. "It's how these things always go and it's probably why so many of us are still alive."

"You're probably right," Kendra answered as she walked out. "It still doesn't stop us from trying to get them moving faster."

Tarja followed her, still unable to shake that feeling of being watched.

The floor seemed to echo as they walked across it. It was a sound that Tarja had not heard before, one that she found kind of haunting for some reason. Her eyes shifted around, but there was nothing that didn't look like it didn't belong. She paused and listened to Kendra's steps. There was for sure a sound there that hadn't been there before.

Maybe it was just Tarja's nerves going crazy. Things like that had been known to happen to people whenever they got into unfamiliar situations.

Then, the strangest thing started to happen. The floor below their very feet seemed to start to shift. Tarja grabbed onto Kendra's arm as they watched wide eyed. The floor boards started to come lose-shaking and pulling apart right at their very core.

Kendra dug her nails into Tarja's arm as the ground started to shake even harder. "What's happening?" She all but had to scream the words as the walls around them started to shift in a whirl of colour and with the roar of a freight train.

Tarja took a step back, but everywhere she moved, the shifting just seemed to follow her. The floor behind her erupted, sending her jumping back to the spot where she was.

"Look!" Kendra screamed, pointing in front of them.

There seemed to be an opening of some kind forming. Frowning, Tarja stared at it as it came closer to them. There was no sense in moving since the floor seemed quiet keen on keeping them grounded in one spot.

"Someone's coming," Kendra whispered as she narrowed her or someone.

Tarja thought that Kendra was at least somewhat close in her thinking. There was indeed something coming closer to them. She couldn't quite make it out, but there was for sure a shape of some sort making its way slowly toward them. As the figure grew bigger, the air around them got a lot colder.

"What is it?" Tarja whispered, feeling stupid as the words left her mouth. If she couldn't make out what the thing was, there was no way that Kendra could. She shifted her weight around. The others must have felt this disturbance by now, but why weren't they coming? Was it actually possible that she and Kendra were the only ones who could see this happening?

Kendra moved even closer to Tarja. "I'm not sure." There was nothing masking the terror in her voice. "I really don't know."

Tarja watched as its features became somewhat even more defined. It did seem to be human or at least, it walked like a human with a bad limp. There was two things on top of its head-she couldn't be sure if it was horns or not. A long cape and hair flew out behind it, making it look like an evil king from a fantasy story. Even though she couldn't see it up close, there was something telling her that this thing was old, far older than anything that she had seen.

The walls around them also began to change, until it looked like something out of either a Gothic novel or horror movie. Tarja felt herself move even closer to Kendra. There was something that just made her feel really exposed without any weapons.

"What's happening?" Kendra whispered, her eyes wide.

"I don't know," Tarja muttered.

"Come on little girls," the clown whispered. "Come on, come on." Its insane laugh filled the air. It sounded like the mixture of the crow and the banshee. "Come on, come on. Come out and play!"

The clown jumped down from the landing it was on. Now, the creature was right in their faces. It reached out and touched Tarja. She tried to pull away, but it kept coming closer, closer, closer. "Now, now, my sweet, you're not playing the game right." It tilted her head upwards. "Who's afraid of the little clown? Who's afraid of a little circus clown?" the clown sang it to the tune of "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"

Tarja pulled away and stroked the clown. "Leave me alone!" I yell.

The clown laughed its crazy, twisted laugh again. "Just remember, my sweet, I'll be watching you, wanting you, seeking you." With one final burst of laughter, the clown disappeared into the fog and mist of the forest.

Above, a wall of crows exploded from the forest. Kendra and Tarja hear their cries of death. The cries sent a shiver from the unknown down their spines. This was just creepy. There was no other way around it. The more Tarja looked, the more that they mixture together into one. Their eyes, oh, their eyes, were the worst thing in the mix. Their eyes were the only thing that did not blend into the mass. She knew, and it felt like, there was thousands, upon thousands, of them watching her. She watched their jet, black bodies disappear into the grey sky. Even after they was gone, their cries still chilled her to the bone.

The crows were not the worse. After they was gone, another mass of black burst from the forest. I could hear it making the noises of rats. Only these animals were not rats. They rhymed with the word, but they were not rats. Their great wings unfolded as they swept down upon me. She screamed, but there was no one to hear my scream. They scratched and screamed.

"GET OFF, GET OFF," Kendra screamed to no one. "PLEASE, GET THEM OFF!"

The bats would not leave nor did anyone come to save them..

"GET OFF!" Tarja was hitting each one with all of her might. She believed she killed a few, but was not sure. "GET THEM OFF!" She was almost in tears. Her voice was breaking. She feared that she may lose it any given moment.

"Please…" Kendra begged.

Then, just as suddenly as they had come, they were gone.

They got to their feet and looked around, checking to make sure that they were truly gone. They would not rest until I knew for sure. They listened. The only thing Tarja heard was whispering of the winds in the proud, willow trees.

She listened again. The only thing she heard was the wind blowing, gently through the woods. It made what was left of the leaves sound like paper being crinkled. The sticks sounded like bones being banged together creating a hollow sound. Creepy, but no sounds of the bats.

She looked. The only thing she could see was the shadows in the paling lightness. The sky was grey, a sign that darkness would soon be upon them.

Tarja stared into the pale light. She had a feeling that the clown was still watching her, still wanting her. How many people would believe her whenever she told them that she was haunted by a clown? Heck, she did not even believe herself!

They looked at each other before turning back.

They passed the dark, forgotten fountain. They looked down at the dark and unforgiving sea. It crashed against the rocks in rolls of thunder. This sea was not the gentle sea that is found in the movies. This sea was a sea of death and whispers. It threatened to kill everyone and everything in its wake. Tarja shivered and pulled her sweater closer around herself.

The fountain itself was enough to send shivers down one's back. It was as black as a raven's eyes. The stone was so old that it was crumbling and much of it laid on the ground that surrounded the fountain. The fountain's head was a gentle angel. However, one of her wings was completely gone and the other was severely chipped. Her face was no longer happy, in fact, it was quite dreadful. She had once smiled so beautifully, but now her mouth was drawn in a permanent frown that would last for all eternity. The water that the fountain somehow still managed to hold was disgusting, brown rainwater. However, the water fit the fountain's personality: dark and gloomily.

They sat down on the edge of the fountain and stared out into the emptiness. A clown was after them. A clown was hunting them.

Tarja breathed the moist air in. She could still smell it. The fresh scent of cheap, circus makeup lingered in the air as the rotten smell of the clown. She gagged. It was just sickening.

To the right of them, a raven croaked, making them jump. "Stupid animal," I muttered. "Stupid animal for frightening me."

They stand up and walked back to the cliff, the wind whispering to them.

"Give up, give up. Do not keep looking," the wind seemed to say.

Kendra and Tarja exchanged looks. Was this all just a big warning?.