This Chapter isn't finished, so please, I'm going to update soon, no pressure. Hope you enjoy the start of what's here!

2/9/21

yeah. The last time I updated was pretty much last year. I'm sorry! I had to redo chapter five, there was a double in it. I am doing my best, please don't go hard on me! the chapter's still not done, and I'll try to update as soon as I can, but PLEASE, no mean comments about it.

I gasped, stumbling back, "What?"

My mom kept talking. "They are from a planet called Umbara, and they want to steal your powers for themselves. Umbara is in a different solar system, except it does not have a sun. That went supernova a long time ago, and now there is a black hole in its place. Umbara was created after that star went supernova, so it was spared from the deadly gamma-ray bursts that emitted after it tried to fuse iron. So, in consequence, there is almost no life on Umbara, for there is no light and heat. The main life form on it are called Shades, phantom creatures that can take solid form, but not if they run into something. They also cannot stand light for long. Shades are the things that you and I call Hunters. Because they can not be killed except for light, they are extremely dangerous and must be avoided."

I just gaped at her, not saying anything. Fear was running through my veins. I asked her one more question. "Why do they want our powers?"

She responded saying, "They want those powers to escape the dismal life they have on Umbara. They are not to be pitied, though. They will do anything to help themselves, even if it means betraying a friend. For that, they are selfish and cruel." Her last, chilling sentence before I went downstairs scared me more than the concept of the Shades themselves. "They want to take over earth and accustom it to a place where Shades can live without dying from the sun. That's why they always wear black."

She turned and sighed, and I felt slightly uncomfortable, knowing that those monsters were out there. It's funny how you sleep better at night not knowing the horrors of the world, blissfully unaware of everything around you. I had my fair share of that. I went upstairs and pondered about all the recent events. Then it hit me. Just like that. I grabbed the crystal from its last-place next to the box and ran downstairs, yelling, "I got it, I got it!" Eros and my Mom looked at me like I was crazy, then I slowed down and explained my spontaneous burst of ingenuity. "The crystal, I've figured out how to break it!" I grabbed it, went to the window, and shone the light of the sun onto the dark spot in the middle of the crystal. It shattered, scattering pieces all over the floor. My mom looked at me, with a questioning gaze. I replied, "It makes sense that the crystal would have the same weakness as the shades." Her lips quirked up into a smile.