Page 8 of 3013: Hellion

And yet, no one even blinked her way.

Adding to the strangeness of the situation, it didn’t seem like anyone had felt the energy blast. She figured they were simply more of those holo people until one of them bumped into her.

“Oh, excuse me,” the young woman said before hurrying away with her friends.

Apparently, she was wrong about them being holo images.

Jaya made her way down the street until she came to a park with tall trees that surrounded a small pond. A female in a long white gown was standing near the pond under an arbor of flowers with a male dressed in a white shirt and a black suit and tie. There was a small group of people seated in white chairs watching the happy couple, and more people crowded around the area to watch the ceremony.

Jaya knew from the historical records that she was witnessing a wedding, the human equivalent of a mating ceremony. As she watched them pledge their love to one another, she felt a pang of envy. That didn’t surprise her since she felt it every time she saw blissfully happy couples. She wanted to find that same sort of happiness with her own mate, but she was beginning to doubt she would ever find him.

Pushing that morose thought aside, she continued to watch the ceremony. As it ended, she started to leave when loud screams tore through the air. Spinning around, she saw a massive black insect had dropped out of one of the trees in the park and was attacking people. Not wasting time, she transported directly over to where the attack was happening.

The alien insect had an elongated head, six legs, and a double pair of webbed wings. It looked like a cross between an ant, a bat, a wasp with sharp fangs and lethal claws. When it hissed and spit out a goopy substance, a few people were hit with the spray. They screamed in agony as their flesh began to melt. Then, their bodies burst, transforming into tiny particles of dust that disintegrated as the pieces floated away.

Jaya frowned as she watched all trace of them disappear.

That was strange, even to her.

As more people vanished, she realized she sensed no life in them. It was as if they were empty husks. Shells with no souls. Yet somehow, they were all still moving. They might not be holo people, but they weren’t completely real either.

She hit the alien insect with a fireball that destroyed it instantly. However, it didn’t burn and turn to ash like her targets normally did. Instead, the insect burst into dust just like the people had.

Something was very wrong with this situation.

She wasn’t sure, but she had a sneaking suspicion that the energy burst had altered the island. And if she was right, things just got a whole lot more interesting.

Chapter Four

As Jaya continuedexploring the island, she encountered another alien insect attack a few blocks away from the first.

She used that encounter to test her theory.

After she destroyed the insect, she took some time to question the people who were present. She was able to figure out that the holo people weren’t completely real. Instead, they were practically empty inside, and their memories were limited. After the attack, they seemed to forget all about the incident, and they went about their business like it had never even happened.

Leaving them behind, she continued walking and found herself entering a different sector of the island. Only a few street lights had turned on to brighten the dark, empty street while the rest of the lamps were broken. She tried to use her magic to fix a few, then frowned when it didn’t work. After a closer look, she realized only a few of the street lights were actually hooked up to the system while the rest were merely decorations.

Whoever designed this particular area obviously wanted it dark and creepy. Respecting that decision, she left everything exactly the way it was. Sensing movement a block away, Jaya turned her attention toward the lone figure shuffling down the street. Her enhanced vision allowed her to see that the male was in pretty bad shape. His skin had a grayish tinge to it, and there was a large cut across his forehead. His right arm dangled uselessly at his side, and he seemed to be dragging his left foot a little.

Had the energy blast done that to him?

“You seem injured. Do you require aid?” she called out.

His head snapped up at the sound of her voice, then he let out an animalistic snarl as he surged forward in a galloping run. He bumped into one of the vehicles that had been left on the street,and it took a moment to right himself again. When his dangling arm fell off and hit the ground with an audiblethud, he left it behind without a second thought.

Okay, that was slightly disturbing.

When she scanned him, she found he was also an empty shell. She flung a fireball at him, and he disintegrated into dust particles just like the alien insects and other holo people had.

Well, that took care of that.

Jaya assumed she had stumbled into a game where the objective was to avoid or destroy the gray people. She could play a little while she searched for any injured people who might need her help. Humming to herself, she skipped down the street. As if she’d called them to her, more of those shuffling gray people came at her from every direction. She began flinging magic out at them, popping them like balloons.

It was a little gross, but also kind of fun.

Suddenly, terrified screams and shouts tore through the air a good distance away. Forgetting about the game, she teleported close to where the voices were originating from.

As soon as she reappeared, thunder boomed overhead, and the dark sky lit up with an impressive display of lightning. Glancing around, she saw a large group of those gray people gathering beneath a massive tree. As she moved closer, she noticed there were two young humans trapped inside a net made of thick rope that was hanging from one of the branches.

---