Chapter 16 Merna Merna "I don't understand why they took our belongings, yet they left Markous stuff?" Camile whispered to Steve. Steve left all of the air out of his lungs, "I was thinking about that as well! Nothing makes sense to me. It is as if someone is purposely messing with us!" "A false sense of hope! Yet ... from the beginning, we never had a chance!" I had my eyes glued onto the spot where I once had Pierre and my tent propped up. "If we did not set up the tents ..." I tilted my head to the side, "I would have been able to leave as long as I was gone by the time it was dark out!" I glanced at the group. "I need to get to work and see what I can do to turn things around for us!" Camile, Steve and Emma were whispering around Markous’s tent. None of them seemed to be able to stand in one location, constantly pacing about. I can’t blame them; they are scared and out of their comfort zone. We all have landed ourselves in a situation we have little control over. I have to admit my anxiety is a lot higher than usual. Fear! It can either be a motivator or cripple you, enabling you to move. I chose to act, not react! I cleared my mind of all distractions and went to my zone. This would have been easy, but I was picking up everyone’s emotions, which in turn, I made their feelings my own. I could have asked them to tone it down, like turning the volume of the music to a reasonable level. But, instead, something told me the only things that got their blood pumping were deadlines and public speaking. They had never experienced genuine fear in their lives. I did not have the time to soothe their suspicions and tell them everything would work out. So I resorted to my next strategy; I used this anytime I entered a place with a large population of people. Grounding myself, I protected myself from their energy! I could not, would not allow their emotions to dictate my thoughts. I could see where we all were standing when we first arrived at the edge of the woods. I remember the claw mark. What I did not see then, I see now! Masculine energy! Hearing a click, he had blocked my vision, but not this time. I was able to see him. He is a shadow with mist rolling off of the obsidian blackness. His eyes are different from the others that I have peered into in the past. Emotionless abyss with the flex of gold rotating in a circular motion. I would swear his eyes were a doorway if I did not know better. I am hypnotized and not able to pry my eyes away from his. Darkness shrouds me, sucked into nothingness. The sensation of floating, being able to move my limbs and pivot my body, yet I seem to go nowhere. In the far distance, I see microscopic dots of light. Rapidly it grows in intensity. Swirling around in a chaotic manner yet somehow orderly fashion, there is a galaxy. I am ripped from one universe to another. Until I am yanked to the last site and I whisper, "home!" It felt like home, a place that I had never been to. Yet, it felt so familiar! This was when I realized the form I had seen was not his proper form; he was something more I still needed to learn. I had lost focus; I needed to redirect my attention to where it belonged. I forced myself to envision us as a group back in the beginning. I remember the conversation we all were having. What I did not hear then, I can listen to now. The warning that this entity whispered in the air. The uneasy feeling that I was getting was me picking up his sign. I should have listened to my intuition! It was warning me, the master was warning me! This is his domain! “Fuck me!” 'I might take you up on that offer!' I hear a male voice in my mind. 'Though with someone of your intelligence, I would have thought you could find better words than profanity!' “Who are you?” I could not see him, but I knew it could be no other than the black shadow watching us. “You are the master of the land, are you not?” Although I do not know why I asked such a ridiculous question, I knew the answer. My intuition was scolding me for being so stupid. 'I like to watch you, it is entertaining, but all good things must come to an end!' He was chuckling in my mind now. What is this foreign emotion that I am feeling? It is excitement! I can feel what he is feeling, and he is enjoying every second of this. It is the hunt, the thrill of knowing he has already won. I had to open my eyes! I needed to not only use my eyes to search around the location, but I also needed my other senses. 'You are looking, a little pet, yet you still can not see!' He laughed in my mind. 'You are making a mockery of me!' I thought out loud. He hummed, 'You are doing that all on your own!' He hummed again, 'so much potential and yet you only use a fraction of your abilities.' “I am looking yet I can not see!” I spoke out loud. Emma appeared bewildered, “Merna, who are you speaking to?” “He is here!” I said as I spun around trying to locate the entity. It was as if he was all around me. It seemed darker now, yet the moon had only moved a fraction.Emma wrinkled her forehead, “who?” “The master of the land!” I replied. Emma seemed like a nice person, but at this point, I am questioning her intelligence level. I mentally scolded myself again. It wasn’t that long ago that I asked a nonsensical question myself, knowing the answer. He laughed as he spoke in my mind, 'All good things come to an end!' A growl brought all of our attention to one location. "He is messing with us!" I muttered out loud.