The journey back from the cave was anything but peaceful. Despite the daylight pushing through the trees overhead, there was still something unnerving hanging in the air - something that hadn’t quite dissipated since they’d stumbled into the cave. The forest seemed to close in around them with every step, shadows growing longer and stretching between the towering trees like strange, groping fingers. The path beneath their feet was uneven and rugged, crumbling in places as if nature had been determined to claim it back.

  Everett didn’t speak as they walked. The taste of the eerie silence, combined with the unsettling weight that still sat heavy on his shoulders, made it hard to find the right words. The others were quiet too, all of them lost in their own thoughts, still a little shaken by what they'd just experienced.

  It was Liam who finally spoke up, the one who always found some twisted amusement in tension, even when it made everyone uncomfortable.

  “What do you reckon?” Liam said with a small, lopsided grin, tossing a glance around at the trees, “Think the cave was haunted? You know, with ghosts or something?”

  Tristan immediately shot him a look, though the smile on his face betrayed how nervous he actually was. “You’re joking, right? Ghosts? Seriously?”

  “No reason not to, mate,” Liam replied flippantly, shoulders rising in an exaggerated shrug. “Strange vibes, weird cave. Who’s to say we didn’t accidentally stumble on a haunted spot?”

  Grayson smirked, though even he seemed uneasy as he turned to Liam. “If they’re ghosts, Liam, then they definitely didn’t want to be seen by anyone,” he said dryly. “Nothing but a whole lot of strange, static-y energy back there.”

  Still, the air felt different. All around them, the silence seemed to hum with a low, subtle intensity that made Everett’s skin prickle. He didn’t know if it was the memory of what had happened in the cave or just his body, but the vibration in the air, that same unsettling hum, was back. It had been quiet since they left the cave, but now it seemed to be creeping under their skin again.

  “Guys, please, keep an eye out,” Everett muttered, instinctively falling back a few steps, making sure to keep his eyes on the forest around them. He didn’t know what was wrong, but there was something – something watching them again.

  No one responded at first. The others, though they seemed reluctant, all took a bit more care in their steps, glancing over their shoulders every now and then.

  Liam’s grin was gone, replaced with a flicker of something far more wary. “Yeah, sure,” he said, the amusement completely absent now. “Whatever it is, it can’t be worse than that creepy cave.”

  But something stirred at the edge of their vision. A momentary rustle between the trees – a flicker of movement in the shadows. Everyone froze. All eyes scanned the surrounding trees.

  “Did anyone else see that?” Steven asked quietly, his voice far smaller than usual. It was almost like his normal bravado had been replaced with real fear. "We need to get moving," he added, faster this time, his steps quickening.

  Everett stopped, his breath shallow as the chill in the air tightened around him. A twitch at the base of his neck, an instinct he couldn’t ignore. Something was out there, something close.

  “I don’t like this,” Tristan said, his tone tightening as though he could feel the same tension weaving through the air. He took a half step closer to Noah, but his eyes were scanning, too. As if expecting something - or someone - to jump out at them from the trees.

  They pushed forward, the rustling sounds never quite fading, but the closer they got to the narrow trail leading back to civilisation, the more they seemed to hear - those little shuffling noises beneath the stillness, too soft to pinpoint exactly where they came from, too close to be ignored.

  Then, the trees ahead groaned - a low, creaking sound. There were no wind gusts, no signs of a storm coming, yet the sound pressed up behind them in waves.

  It wasn’t the woods. It wasn’t the air. It was... someone or something was moving.

  Suddenly, the brush behind them swayed. Liam, oblivious, turned around to mock the ‘ghosts’ some more, voice cracking into his usual cheeky lilt. “Oh, come on, guys! It's just wind, what – ”

  A dark shape lurched toward them from the underbrush, shifting and catching the sunlight only in glimpses. A grotesque shadow twisted, and more followed, stepping into view like spectres materialising from the forest itself.

  "What the hell?!" Grayson snapped, eyes wide, taking a step back instinctively.

  Before anyone could react, a guttural growl came from the shadowed beasts, more horrifying than anything their young minds had conjured from folklore. Out of the blackness, claws the size of their forearms tore through the air with a hiss, and the beast nearest to them snapped viciously at Grayson.

  This… was their first test of survival.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Move!” Everett yelled. Without thinking, he pulled the group closer, shoving them out of the way, feeling their tension spike as the first beast lunged toward him with terrifying speed. He splayed his hands in front of him, as if trying to push them back, and closed his eyes shut. He could picture his bloodied body as he sacrificed himself for his friends. He just wished he had some sort of weapon to use against the monsters.

  It came at the speed of light.

  It wasn’t until the instant the beasts were almost upon that he noticed – something that felt weird shot out from his hands, as though his fingers themselves pulled something from within. He dared to open an eye to see the sparks of lightning course through his fingers.

  It crackled through his bones, rushing outward, sending out a wave of electric energy unlike anything he could describe. The closest creature screamed - a sharp, primal sound - before a crack of pure energy shot from his palm. Bang!

  The energy, like pure lightning, hurled across the clearing, blasting into the first creature with a sharp, explosive crack that left the thing smoking, writhing in agony. Two of the others, already within striking distance, stopped - frozen by the sudden shock, the force of it making their joints lock up. The beasts lurched back, screeching and scrambling to recover.

  For a split second, Everett stood stunned, watching as they fell to the ground.

  The world felt frozen. Time seemed to suspend for a heartbeat as Everett stood there, staring wide-eyed at the burnt-out creature, a horrific mix of disbelief and confusion washing over him. The air crackled, faint tinges of static still sparking around his fingers, but he couldn't understand what had just happened. One second, he’d been worried about their safety, and the next... that.

  “W-What…?!” Grayson sputtered, looking at Everett as if he’d just sprouted another head. His eyes were wide, scanning the scorched body of the monster that had been struck down. Its blackened hide still smoked, tendrils of smoke curling into the crisp air, while the two remaining monsters seemed to hesitate, shaken by the unexpected onslaught of power.

  Noah took a step back, pulling his arm out of the way when one of the charred creatures twitched. “That... that was - what was that?! Everett, what did you do?”

  Everett’s mind raced, trying to make sense of the sheer force that had just exploded from him. The bolt – was it really lightning? How could that have come from his hands? Was it even possible for him to do something like that?

  “I – I didn’t... I didn’t do it!” Everett stammered, his heart racing. He looked down at his hand, still trembling, fingers crackling faintly with a low hum, as if the storm was lingering just beneath his skin. He knew everybody could see through his lie, but they were too stunned by his performance to show it.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  But the storm inside wasn’t just mental anymore. The buzzing sensation in the pit of his stomach thrummed with adrenaline, and his ears rang with the feeling of that . They had seen lightning before, of course. Seen the kind that could shred trees or split the sky – but this – this was different.

  “You didn’t?” Grayson stared at Everett, still unsure whether he could believe the boy. He was quick to recover, of course, as always. But this time, there was no grin. There were no jokes.

  “No,” Everett replied, his voice still shaking, “I swear! One minute, we’re getting ambushed by them – and then, I felt like something... just surged through me. I – I couldn’t stop it.”

  There was no laughing. No teasing. No one even bothered to make fun of Everett like they might’ve done with any other of their crazy moments. They were all too stunned, processing everything too slowly. Even Noah had frozen, his face still pale from the sudden ambush.

  The second creature, which had been closest to the blast, took a hesitant step forward. Its claws clicked across the rocks and dirt, eyes still focused on the group, but a new sense of wariness clouded its once predatory stance.

  “I... ?” Everett muttered to himself, wide-eyed and frozen as his gaze flitted nervously from his own hands to the burnt remains of the first beast. A gust of wind blew past them, carrying with it the pungent, acrid scent of scorched flesh. The beast’s death wasn’t clean. But there was no time for it.

  The remaining two creatures snarled, aggressive, hungry. But their eyes held something new - fear.

  “Everett...” Liam whispered cautiously, stepping towards him now, looking more intently at the group than he had before. His grin had all but vanished, replaced with wide eyes that only now looked dangerous. Not in a fighting way. He, too, was trembling under the same surge of confusion and disbelieving awe. “That... that was .”

  “No,” Steven said, finally shaking himself from his frozen stance. “No, Everett just stopped them.”

  “And,” Grayson added with a strained smile, “he did it with . Actual lightning!”

  Tristan, who had been standing in shock, then looked cautiously at Everett, his eyes shining with curiosity - and possibly fear as well. “So... um, I guess this means... we’re, uh - "

  “I dunno!” Everett burst out, his voice full of shock and frustration, hands going up in the air as though he could somehow make sense of what had just occurred. "Why did that happen? And how - how was that even possible? How - " His eyes flitted up toward the other creatures, watching them with wary caution. “Maybe it was an accident... or - ”

  It was too much. Too fast.

  He stepped back instinctively, looking up at the others. Their eyes glinted with awe, confusion, fear... but most of all, they looked at him like they were all waiting for an answer.

  But Everett didn’t have the faintest idea.

  The creatures were moving again, slinking forward, still shocked by Everett’s sudden burst of power. The remnants of what had been their aggression hung in the air, tension crackling.

  “What do we do now?” Tristan whispered, his voice betraying an unspoken understanding. He wasn’t asking Everett specifically, but everyone around them - Grayson, Noah, Liam, Steven. All of them.

  But Everett was in no position to answer. His mind was racing, uncertain, scared. They had no idea what had just happened or how to react. But one thing was certain - they didn’t want to stick around much longer to find out.

  “We get out of here!” Grayson said, voice firming with clarity as he pulled his group closer, trying to keep the atmosphere lighter, in contrast to their increasingly dire situation. “Everett, you’re alright. We all just need to stick together, alright?”

  Everett wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or even more terrified at that, but before anyone could speak up, one of the creatures gave a long screeching howl. All of them tensed as they readied themselves. Despite the damage they’d done, these creatures weren’t quite defeated yet. And neither, it seemed, was the chaos unfolding around them.

  As if the storm that lived within Everett’s hands had summoned something even worse.

  ~ ~ ~

  With every hurried step they took, the whispering of the wind in their ears grew softer, and with it, the relentless presence of the monsters that had ambushed them moments ago faded as well. Their footsteps echoed on the gravel path as they neared the outskirts of the Whispering Woods - the wooden fence finally within sight. The creatures, once so insistent in their pursuit, began to slow, as if the boundary had marked something irreversible for them. The moment they passed the wooden slats and entered the relative safety of the neighbourhood, the monsters stopped their chase entirely, retreating into the shadows of the woods without further threat.

  For the first time in what felt like forever, the boys let out collective breaths of relief.

  Steven was the first to speak, though his voice trembled slightly from the intensity of the chase. “They... they’re not following us anymore. They must’ve stopped when we crossed over.”

  “That fence,” Liam nodded. “Guess it’s like some kinda barrier. It didn’t feel like just some normal boundary. That felt like...” He paused, at a loss for words. "I don’t know. Something that kept them out."

  “Well, whatever it was, it worked,” Grayson muttered, looking over his shoulder just in case. “But we need to keep moving. We don’t know if they’ll be back.”

  “Exactly,” Noah added, his voice soft. “And if they do come back... I mean, that lightning thing - - ”

  “I can’t believe it,” Tristan interrupted, shaking his head as he kept walking beside Everett. His eyes kept darting toward the boy who had saved them. “You actually did it. You just... them.”

  Everett’s head was spinning. His steps, at times, were unsteady as they ventured further down the road towards Steven’s house. He looked down at his hands as though they might answer his questions. Did he even do that on purpose? Why had the lightning just... happened? The crackle had felt like something beyond his control, but the surprise in everyone’s eyes was a lot to take in.

  “Maybe that’s my power...” Everett murmured, his voice small. “I mean, it makes sense, right? That... thing.” He gestured vaguely in the direction of where the creatures had stood, now far behind the fence. “I must’ve done something. But what about you guys? How do we even figure this out?”

  They were quiet for a moment, the hum of static from Everett’s fingertips still lingering in the air, but none of them had any answers.

  “Seriously though...” Noah turned to Grayson. “When are we gonna know what abilities are? Like, how do we... this?”

  Grayson shrugged, looking around the quiet streets. “I dunno, but if was Everett’s ability, I don’t wanna go getting too close to any more monsters to figure it out.”

  Everett managed a half-smile at that. “Yeah, maybe testing powers can wait a bit.”

  Liam piped up, glancing at them all, his voice full of amusement even though he was still buzzing with adrenaline. “What I wanna know is... can Everett do that whenever he wants? Or was that a one-off thing? I mean, one second, we’re about to get eaten alive, and then , lightning. Dude, do you even know what you just did? You fried those monsters. For real. It's kinda...”

  “...epic?” Steven finished for him, smirking now as the sheer impossibility of the situation started to sink in.

  “Yeah, epic’s right,” Grayson added. He began to reach into his backpack and chucked a water bottle to all of them. “But there’s a catch, right? Maybe lightning doesn’t exactly help in a lot of situations. Just ask my old laptop.”

  “I’d like to see you try something being struck by lightning, then tell me how helpful it is,” Everett snickered weakly, relieved the tension was beginning to ebb. But like his struggle to open up his water bottle after the tremendous power surge, his words lacked conviction - he was still trying to wrap his mind around it, too.

  “There’s definitely gotta be more than just this,” Noah mused as he finished downing his water. “What about me? I felt like I was... stronger in the fight, I guess? Like, I could’ve tossed one of those guys across the field if I wanted to. But does that mean have some kind of power, too?”

  “Maybe,” Grayson said, his face scrunched as he thought for a moment. “It would make sense, right? I mean, at what Everett did. We don’t know what the limits are, but with what happened just now, I think we’ve got something more to us than, well, just being normal kids.”

  “That makes sense,” Liam agreed, stretching his arms with a wince. He was sore from all the running, but that hadn’t even begun to take precedence in his thoughts. "It can't just be Everett, right? Every one of us had to have felt something during that... chase."

  “I dunno," Tristan said quietly, his eyes still fixed on the fading woods behind them. "It’s freaky... but... think about it. We’re all going to figure this out, together. It just feels... like we’re all meant to do this, somehow. Like... like we’re more than just... kids.”

  “We really need to stop almost dying like this,” Steven added with a half-joke, raising his eyebrows as he gave a cheeky grin. "But seriously... can we focus? I can’t deal with more creepy things for the day, alright? Certainly not at night!”

  "Right,” Grayson affirmed. “Let's get back to Steven’s. After that freak show, a bit of chill might do us good.”

  As they neared the familiar gate that led into Steven’s house, the weight of what had just happened seemed to sink in, leaving them all quietly processing the events. Still, the full significance of what they'd encountered, and what had happened to them, hadn’t quite hit yet. They kept talking, thoughts bouncing between the lightning strike and their unknown powers. And though they were safe for now, the eerie sensation that things were changing still lingered.

  “Hey, maybe the lightning cool, but seriously,” Liam added, sidling up closer to Everett with an amused smirk, “I hope I get to move things with my mind. Like the Force. That’d be pretty epic.”

  “I’ll take anything. As long as it doesn’t involve being chased down by mutant monsters,” Grayson remarked, shivering slightly.

  “What if we all get powers like Everett’s?” Noah interjected. “But then we get to like... do that, uh, with lightning, but with a different for each of us. What’s the possibility, you think?”

  The debate shifted into more idle chatter, each of the boys imagining impossible feats for themselves. At least for now, they were safe - and a lot more intrigued about what was coming next. But that brief sense of calm could only last so long.

  Soon, they'd have to deal with the truth. Everett thought, but without a doubt, they – or at least he – weren’t fully defenceless now.