-CHAPTER ELEVEN-
•Path of the Supernatural•

With the exam underway, and each clan in their random, yet assigned locations, all the participants rushed onward to prove who was the dominant clan.

The Forbidden Forest was bearable for the time being, however, the further you traveled, the more you started to understand why it's labeled forbidden in the first place. It had decaying plants, hidden traps, strange creatures, and fog that stretched across the entire area. The feeling of unexpected danger was overwhelming.

James and William, along with the rest of the Supernatural clan students, cautiously walked along their assigned path.

"Are you feeling a little better, you got hurt pretty bad?" James asked.

"You know me, I bounce back. I'll be fine. Thanks for helping me out back there by the way."

"And what did you learn?"

"Rabbits are more dangerous than they look."

James chuckled and playfully put him in a choke-hold.

"You might be a little tough, but if you don't start using you're brain, you're brawns won't matter."

"Yeah, yeah; everyone knows not to mess with the Supernatural."

"The more you talk like that, the less intimidating you are; you're only showing people how conceited you are."

One of the members of the group rushed ahead.

"Why are we staying on this path; we don't know where it leads. Let's just take a shortcut."

"Shortcuts don't exist in the Forbidden Forest; one minute you're one place, then back where you started."

"Then I'll make my own."

He let his arrogance get the better of him and he ran off the path. He attempted to jump over a bush, but he was just ended up colliding with an unseen object. A light shimmer revealed the presence of a wall.

"A barrier...I don't remember running into any of these in the past," said William. "What are they trying to keep us away from?"

"The real question is who even had time to put these out?" Mcduff replied.

"I don't know...something isn't right about this sudden change."

I know but there's nothing we can do about it," said James. "Let's just stick together and figure out where this path leads, so we can get out of here."

Suddenly, an explosion went off and the blast was soon heard around the entire forest.

"What the hell was that!?" said James.

William replied, with a little excitement in his voice. "The slaughter has begun. Pretty soon we'll be the ones having a little fun."

William surveyed the area and noticed a skeleton with the number: 1 on its forehead; it was hanging from the branch of a tree by a thick rope; fully clothed.

"What do you think that is, James?"

"An unlucky guy...maybe, or a trap. I don't want to stick around to find out."

A boy stepped forward to get a better look.

"Woah, wait. Are those diamonds in the skull?" A boy said, excitedly.

"Don't touch anything. You don't know what they could really be?"

"Money in my pocket once we get out of here," he joked.

"You heard what I said. Keep moving."

The boy grew irritated. Keeping his eyes planted on the jewels, he noticed something on the inside of the jewels; mysteriously moving. He knew what he saw wasn't normal but he said nothing as they continued on their path.

The thick fog covered the ground, blocking everyone's view of what was underneath their feet. The path only went straight ahead; no turns or alternative routes were in sight; and turning back wouldn't make the situation any better. The path seemed to go on forever.

"How long have we been walking," someone complained, "It feels like we haven't made any progress at all."

"We'll get there when we get there," William said.

Mcduff patted James on the back.

"Hey, didn't we just pass through here?"

"What do you mean?"

Mcduff pointed up towards the trees. An identical skeleton with the number: 1 on its forehead hung in front of everyone.

"What...?"

"We went in a complete circle?" the group, complained.

"That's impossible; we never turned off the path."

James approached the lifeless object; he examined every part of it. He spun it around and found a note taped to its backside.

"What's it say?"

James ripped off the note and read:

Your eyes have crushed the lives of people for centuries. Let's see how you like it when you're the one whose mind is played with.

P.s: Stealing is what cursed your clan; the same mistake will be the end of you.

"What's that supposed to mean," said Mcduff.

"It's a test within a test." James replied, "They want to see if we'll doom our clan even more than our ancestors did."

"What happened to the diamonds?" someone yelled.

James quickly turned the skeleton back around and noticed that the diamonds that once sat in the skulls socket, were missing. James instantly lost his cool.

"Who took them...who took the diamonds?"

He searched the group and found a boy fiddling with his fingers, looking away suspiciously.

"Anything you want to tell me?"

He shook his head, avoiding eye contact.

"Did you take them?"

He shook his head in denial. "No, I swear I didn't."

"Listen...I know you're lying. Just give them back so we can go."

"I didn't take them," he said, with a high-pitched voice.

James unsheathed the Golden Basilisk; the boy glanced at it with in his eyes. James focused his eyes on the boy's.

"We will not die for the greed of one person."

"Are you really going to kill him?" Mcduff said, nervously.

"If that's what it takes. If he's not with us, he's against us."

"I agree." William said. "Do what you got to do."

James unsheathed his blade and raised it out in front of him.

"Look at me."

The boy looked straight into his eyes; his hands sweaty and shaky.

"You have three seconds to tell me the truth or you will lose your life. 1..."

"I don't have it, I'm telling you the truth."

"2..."

"Please, you have to believe me."

In a soft tone James' countdown came to an end.

"3..."

James struck quickly. The boy yelled, "Okay", just as the blade passed through his neck. Everyone in the group panicked.

"You killed him!" A girl screamed.

As the boy's head hit the ground, detached from his body; a flash of light passed through his eyes and he regained consciousness. Scared for his life, he quickly reached for his neck, confirming that none of what happened was real; it was only a frightening illusion.

"Next time I won't give you a chance to talk. Put the diamonds back where they belong so we can go."

He shook nervously as he took the diamonds from out of his pocket, and then he placed them back inside the skulls eye sockets. The skeleton suddenly lit up; a dark aura surrounded it and it began to speak in a dark, sinister voice.

"You have stolen once again and have doomed yourselves. You will be punished for this act of greed."

"We returned them," said James, "Let us pass."

The diamonds lit up and a flash of light glittered across everyone's eyes.

"You shall not pass!"

The ground began to rumble aggressively underneath everyone's feet.

"Look what you did," Mcduff said, "Now we're screwed."

"It's a survival test," said William, "Deal with it."

The diamonds suddenly turned to dust and flew away with the wind. The fog rose higher and higher, nearly covering their entire bodies.

A girl got James' attention.

"You were wrong about that boy. He didn't really steal them. He was with me the entire time."

"Then explain how they ended up in his pocket?"

"I can't explain; it's like they were transferred there."

"Transferred? How could that be...was the test rigged?" James thought to himself.

"What's going to happen?" William asked.

"I don't know but I'm starting to think we were doomed the minute we stepped back into this forest."

There was a rustle in the trees and then loud groans echoed throughout the fog.

"Something's coming; what do we do," someone yelled.

James and William readied their weapons.

"We fight."

They saw a black figure sliding down the bark of a nearby tree and an unknown creature with the body form of black slime revealed itself.

"What are those things, James?"

"I've never seen them before; be ready for anything."

The creature split itself apart and multiple slime minions were created; they vanished within the fog.

"Where'd they go?"

A squishing sound caught James' attention and he turned back towards the group. With his enhanced eyes, he could see something covering a member's shoes.

"They're below us," he yelled, "Watch out!"

Without warning, one of the slime creatures popped up onto a boy's face and began to slowly cover his entire body.

"Ah!" Get this thing off of me!"

Two other boys tried pulling it off but their hands stuck like glue. The slime sensed their presence and began to cover them as well.

"Guys...?" James crept closer. "Are you still there?"

The slime-covered member's gave no response, clearly showing that their lives had most likely been taken. The creatures took complete control of their bodies. They reached for the boys' weapons and began to attack every student that was in sight. William was about to attack until James quickly stopped him.

"What's the hold-up?"

James scanned them with his eyes; their heartbeats and other organs were well and still functioning.

"They're still alive."

"How are we supposed to fight these things then?"

"We'll figure something out, until then we need to get out of this fog. We can't fight what we can't see."

"Agreed..."

They gathered up the remaining members who weren't manipulated and made a run for it. The further they traveled, the higher and more intense the fog got.

"This fog never ends."

The slime was on their trail and didn't stop pursuing them; they weren't that fast but they had strength in numbers.

"James, we can't just keep running. Eventually we're going to have to fight."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

A group of trees started falling in their path, nearly crushing everyone in the area. They continued running until they ran into what seemed to be the end of the forests' strange barrier, leaving them cornered with the slime gathering up behind them.

"Now, James?"

James was hesitant, as was everyone else. More members were starting to get taken over; rapidly increasing their chances of being overrun. James used the force of his telekinesis to clear the fog and a army of slime was revealed.

"We are so dead." Mcduff said.

James was left without any other options; he was supposed to lead his team to the end away from danger, but now he had to be the one to take them all out. He gripped his sword tightly and yelled, "Attack!"

The remaining members rushed forward and went all-out. They managed to take out a few of them, but even more of the Supernatural were being taken prisoner during the battle.

"James, we're losing this fight. We won't last much longer?"

James' head was cluttered with thoughts. He was feeling pressured and completely terrified. He stumbled backwards into a tree and cut his hand, sliding it across the bark; he bled but he noticed that his blood wasn't normal. The usual red fluid was replaced with a glittery shimmer.

"What the...?"

He blasted the tree with his telekinesis and the entire tree started to shimmer.

"This isn't real," he said to himself, "None of this is real."

He rushed over to William, who was struggling against a crowd of Slime. James purposely jumped in between them and was covered in the substance.

"James! What are you doing?"

"Use your eyes on me. Hurry...!"

"What? No!"

"Trust me..."

William wanted to refuse but out of peer pressure, he did as he was told. His eyes turned as black as night and he made eye contact with James. James' body started to shimmer like a polished diamond as the slime covered him. James instantly vanished and woke up to reality; he was sweating excessively and the entire group was tossing and turning in their sleep. He tried to wake them up, but they wouldn't. He raised William's eyelid and released him from the illusion. He woke up panting; his heart was beating rapidly.

"James...?" He said, completely frightened. "What happened?"

"We were under an illusion?"

"How...?"

James picked up the note they had found. He read:

~Let's see how you like it when you're the one whose mind is played with.

He suddenly felt the need to look back at the skeleton and saw that the diamonds were back in their original place. He took them and focused his eyes on the jewels; he gagged at the sight of what was sealed inside.

"What's that?" William asked.

"Remember when Primeos said someone kidnapped members of our clan? hearing about the Elites from our clan that went missing?"

"Yeah...?"

"Well...I think I just found them."

"What are you-?"

James turned the diamonds his way and revealed multiple eyes that had been imprisoned. William couldn't bare the brutal sight.

"Well, that just scarred me for life. Who would do something like that?"

"First, assassins, and now this. What is going on in Veritas?"

"Why would someone go through the trouble of doing all this? What could they hope to accomplish from this?"

"I don't know but It had to be someone who had authorized access into the Forbidden Forest; that leaves a handful of people: Principle Ronald, the Elites, the Council, and now Crowley."

"Ronald and Crowley were at the academy so that marks them off the list; that leaves someone in the Council and the missing Elites. Maybe the kidnapping and their disappearances are linked."

"It's possible but who knows; there are a lot of things that go one that even we don't know about." said William, as he began to wake the other students.

There was a sudden rustle in the trees.

"Something's coming; we have to hurry."

James put the diamonds in his pocket, and they quickly released everyone; they all woke confused and frightened. They grouped themselves together, guarding each direction as the noise grew louder. The source was revealed; Rose, Hawk, and the rest of Evolution were passing through; they stumbled into the barrier keeping them separated from James and his group. Hawk beat on the invisible wall, drawing their attention.

"A friend of yours?" William asked.

"Yeah...come on."

William and Mcduff followed behind James while the others stayed on guard.

"What are you guys doing here?" James asked Rose.

"We got off our path and came looking for one of our members that ran off ahead of us." Rose said; her voice was muffled as it passed through the barrier.

"Did you see two boys come through here?"

"No, we've been kind of occupied." What test did you guys get?"

"Test...? What test?"

"Were we the only ones to get that?" William whispered to James.

"Why would we be the only one; this just got even more weird."

Hawk poked at the barrier and made it ripple.

"This forest has been so much fun," he said, sarcastically, "Did you guys hear that explosion earlier?"

"Who couldn't? It shook the entire forest."

"That's our bad; we sort of blew up."

"Yeah, you never know what you're going to find out here."

"Are you two finished?" William interrupted, "We're in a battlefield and any minute someone could sneak up on us and take us out with no hesitation."

Hawk suddenly got an idea.

"Hey, maybe our groups could work together."

William gripped his hammer and quickly stepped forward.

"What?"

Both groups looked at each other with disapproval.

"Before anyone disagrees, just think about it; the greater our numbers, the higher chance we have of getting out of here."

"And we're supposed to just share whatever the prize is in the end? I don't think so."

Rose looked around at the members; they weren't too fond of the idea.

"Hawk, I don't think that's going to work out. We're rivals; always have been and always will be."

"But, Rose, don't you want to get everyone out of here safely?"

"Yes...but we can't take a chance like that."

James put away his sword, respectfully, and commanded the rest of the group to do the same.

"Maybe he's right...what if we could help each other out."

William pulled him to the side.

"James, you can't be serious. Don't you know that they're Evolution. We're not relying on our rivals for backup; no way."

All of Supernatural agreed with William. No one wanted to risk the chance of betrayal; that would only make the rivalry more fierce and overwhelming than it already was; and the two Councils wouldn't hesitate to go to war with each other.

Rose didn't have experience in the forest, only knowledge of which she acquired from past reports and stolen intel. She knew help would be needed, but she too didn't want to put her clan or her future in danger. With a slight moment of regret she said, "Step back."

Rose turned the dial on her wristband that Jack Russell had given her, and stopped in the red zone. A panel opened up and a laser beam shot onto the barrier; the beam burned through with ease and opened up a hole big enough to walk through.

"What are you doing?" William said, readying his hammer.

"You changed your mind?" Hawk said to Rose.

"No...but you can go if you want."

"Wait, you're not coming?"

"Unfortunately, no; the others don't seem to like the idea. I'm sure they feel the same way?"

"James is a good guy; did you see our little allegiance earlier?"

"Yes, I saw it all; I've also met him once before. They all seem like good people..., but you should always watch you're back; not everyone can stay loyal and trustworthy."

"I understand. In the meantime I'll keep searching for David, who knows how he must be feeling right now. We'll meet back up with you guys later."

"See you soon."

Hawk passed through the hole in the barrier and joined James and the others; Rose gathered up her group and took another path through the forest.

"So what do we do now?" Hawk asked.

William gave him a dirty look.

"I'm Hawk, nice to meet you."

He reached out for a handshake and William swatted his hand.

"Just because you're a friend of my brother doesn't mean I have to be nice or show some type of loyalty. In my eyes you're nothing but prey and always will be."

Hawk lowered his hand. "Understood..."

"Nice to see you two are getting along," said, sarcastically. "Let's go before any more surprises pop up."

James passed through the barrier and started on the path adjacent to Evolution's; he quickly realized the rest of the group wasn't following.

"What's the hold-up; we have to go."

"We're not teaming up with his kind," someone said.

"He's here to help us."

"We don't care he's still not one if us."

"What do you suggest I do then; we can't just leave him stranded."

"Sure we can. It's either him or us; you're choice."

James didn't respond and just studied everyone.

"Fine, we'll make the decision for you. Let's go guys."

"Wait, we can't split up the group."

"You should have thought about that before you volunteered to babysit our enemy. Good luck on your own."

The entire group left; William started to leave with them but decided it was best for him to stay; Mcduff as well.

"Did someone have a sudden change of heart," Hawk mocked.

"Don't get smart. I'm only doing this for James. If it was my choice, I'd have fought you and you're entire clan."

"I'm sure you'll like me one day."

"Don't count on it."

Annoyed with the situation, Mcduff passed through the barrier without saying a word.

"Let's go," James said, "We're burning daylight."

William and Hawk took a break from their dispute, and they all got on a new path; hoping that it would lead to salvation, rather than a blood fest.