Dark on the Outside - Chapter 14 by Ari WaSPG0LD@aol.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- DARK ON THE OUTSIDE (insert disclaimers here) =====CHAPTER 14: SEVENTEEN SECONDS===== "I don't believe this!" Owen stood there, feeling deeply de- tested after what just transpired. His secret had been discovered...by Reenie, anyway. Almost instantly, she had figured out that Darkheart was the one responsible for her injury. And that Owen was Darkheart. Obviously, this information was too much for the small girl. As they watched her hobble away on her short crutches, Owen looked at the tears that had hit the sidewalk. Each one hurt him more than the next. Serena put a hand on his shoulder. "I..." she said. "I don't know what to say." "That's okay," Owen said, as he walked away, depressed. "You don't have to say anything at all." CROWN ARCADE THE NEXT DAY "Hey man, are you alright?" Andrew was worried at Owen's ap- pearance; he was usually more alive and flamboyant, if you will, but now, his face carried a blank stare - directed at a Street Fighter Vs. Final Fantasy machine - and he was in a melancholy mood. He couldn't tell is he was being ignored or he wasn't heard. "Owen?" he said as he tapped his shoulder. The only thing Owen was concentrating on was his game. His team consisted of Edgar Figaro and Ryu. As Ryu, he just dusted off one of his opponents, Zangief, with a Hadouken that made him dissolve and Relm come out and finish the match. As little Relm bounded onto the screen, Owen executed a team finish move with his characters. Edgar pulled out a crossbow, while Ryu energized a super fireball. When the attack receded, the words 'SHINKUU CROSSBOW' flashed on the screen, signifying his win. "Huh?" he asked, as Andrew tapped him. "What's wrong, man? You look like you're in another world." "Sorry, just a little down, that's all." "I can see that. Normally you'd be in the aisles after pulling off something like that." Andrew looked at the screen. "Man, there's nothing left of that poor girl, is there?" "I guess not," he said, unenthused. "Look, man, I gotta go." At that, he walked out of the arcade. "Andrew watched him leave a little shocked. Owen wasn't acting right. ANDERSON HOUSE LATER "Hello, Owen." Amy walked in the house to see Owen laying on the couch, remote in one hand, head leaning to the right, watching the flat TV hanging on the living room wall. Owen was still deeply depressed, still thinking about what Reenie had said. Amy sat down next to him, and was as wor- ried as Owen was saddened. "Why can't I find anything positive about today?" Owen said. "Still thinking about Reenie?" "Yeah." He could still hear Reenie's voice echoing in his head over and over.... 'I hate you! I don't wanna see you again!' "I wanna help her out, but I don't think she'll accept anything I want to give." "Magic. That's the only way I can see get-" At that, he shot up and snapped his fingers. "That's IT!" "What's it?" "Come with me!" Owen took Amy's hand and raced up to his room with her. He quickly flung open the door and rummaged around his room until he found an old book with a thick cover, a white sun, green tree, blue drop of water, red fireball, and a black skull imbedded in the thick leather cover. "What's that book?" Amy asked, reluctantly. "This," Owen said as he thumbed through the pages, "is a book of magic spells and enchantments. Every spell I know comes from these pages, right here. Everything from summoning creatures to healing to spells of mass destruction." "Did you say healing?" "Yep. I have healing magic so powerful, I can bring people back from the dead! That is, within 24 hours after they die." "What about Reenie's condition?" "No problem. I just gotta coax her into going through with it. Believe me, it's not as easy as it sounds." TSUKINO HOUSE "Reenie," Serena said, holding out the reciever for the phone. "It's for you." No sooner than Serena sat down next to Reenie on the couch than the phone rang. Reenie took the phone from Serena. "Hello?" "Hello, Reenie?" Reenie shot up in shock. "Wh, who is this?" "Hi, it's me, Owen." "What do you want?" Reenie had been speaking in such a loud voice that it got Serena's attention. "Reenie, please calm down." At this point, Serena took the phone from her, and was about to tell the jerk-off off on the other line, when "Reenie, I can help you out of your problem, but you have to trust me." "O, Owen?" "Serena?" "Hi, are you alright?" "Yeah, listen. I found out how I can heal Reenie, but she won't even listen to me. Can you try to talk to her?" "Alright. If you need me after that, I'll be over Darien's." "That's good. Let me know if she's up to it. Then, I'll round up the others and we'll meet at Darien's at, oh say, nineish?" "Alright. See ya." "Hey Serena?" "Yeah?" A moment of silence from Owen. "I'm counting on you." DARIEN'S APARTMENT 9:00 P.M. So there they were in Darien's apartment. Everyone except Owen were sitting in Darien's apartment. He said to meet there at nine, and that he had everything under control. Reenie looked at her injured knee, encased in a black knee brace. She had not made any significant progress in recovering, and it has been several weeks. Unlike the others, she had given up a lot of hope of ever getting better. Just then, someone buzzed the apartment. "Yes?" Darien asked. "It's Owen." "Come on up, Owen." A minute later, Owen walked through the front door, carrying a duffel bag on his right shoulder. He walked in and said hello to everyone. "Before I get started," Owen said, "I need to thank you Reenie, for agreeing to go through with this." "Is this...gonna hurt?" the child asked. "No. It will be all over in about, oh...30 seconds." He took a look around the living room. Even if the coffee table was moved, it wouldn't be enough room. "But is there anywhere that has more room?" "Would the bedroom work?" It took some time, but Owen finally set up the room to his par- ticular requirements. Five candle stands were arranged in a circle in the center of Darien's room. The lights were dimmed, and had to be so for Owen to light the candles. "Well," Owen said. "I got everything said up properly. Now, here's where you come in, Reenie." "What do you need me to do?" Reenie asked, as Owen went into his duffel bag and searched through it some more. "Well, for the incantation to work, you need to lay in the mid- dle of that circle of candles. But don't go there yet. You must also be in a dream state." His back was still to the little girl when he pulled out a black mesh fingerless glove, and slid it on his hand. "There are two ways it can be done: the slow way, and the fast way." "Sorry if I sound impatient, but I don't think I can wait for the slow way!" Owen smirked to himself. "Somehow...I knew you'd say that." Not knowing what he meant, she hobbled closer on her crutches... ...which is when Owen turned around, wrapped her hand on the top of her head, with his palm on her forehead. Instantly, black elec- tricity - just a little bit - could be seen flowing through his hand. Reenie's face appeared shocked at first, but seconds later, her eyes closed and she collapsed to the floor. When Serena dashed over to her in shock, she discovered that Reenie was snoring quietly. "Sweet dreams, young lady," Owen said. A minute later, Reenie was laid in the middle of the circle of candles, her head facing the white candle, her left and right arms at the blue and green ones respectively, and her left and right legs near the black and red candles as well. Owen discarded the glove, and held his book of magic in his left hand. He flipped through until where he found his place from earlier. "You may wanna cover your eyes," Owen started. "It could be a bother to your eyes." "How long is this gonna take?" Serena asked. Owen pulled a stopwatch out of his pocket and tossed it to Se- rena. "Time me." He took his position standing in front of Reenie, and singled for Serena to start the watch. Then, it happened. Owen started speaking in an intelligible language. When he stopped, the candlestands turned into brilliant pillars of light. Soon after, the lights emerged into one light that brightened the entire room and could've been seen from four city blocks away. "Stop," he said to Serena. "So how long?" Serena stopped the watch, and looked at it. It read 17'26". "Seventeen seconds." "Just like the CD," he said, refering to the book for the ADORE CD. "Seventeen seconds is all you really need." Then, Owen left the room and looked out onto the balcony. As he left, Reenie stirred, and sat up slowly. "Are you alright Reenie?" Darien asked. "I, don't know," she said. "I don't feel any different." But when she got up and walked over to her crutches, everyone but her noti- ced she was walking like nothing had ever happened to her. This caused Serena to let out an excited cheer, and rushed over and hugged her. "Do you have any idea what he's done?" she asked, so excited she's starting to tear up. "Yeah," Reenie replied. "Hey, where'd he go?" Serena led her to the balcony where Owen had been looking out. "You don't have to thank me," Owen said, as the two girls stood next to him." "I kinda knew you'd say that, Owen," Reenie started. "But I just wanted to say 'thank you' anyway. I'm serious." "As would I," Serena said. "That had to be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Owen turned toward her slowly. "Thank you. Both of you." But something caught the corner of his eye: a bright light, shaped like a wolf's paw, the color red. "What's that?" Seeing what was going on, the others joined the three. "That doesn't look good," Amy said. "What is it?" "I don't know," Darien said, "but it doesn't look good. I have a bad feeling about that. Let's go check it out." Serena, Darien, Owen, Lita, Amy, Mina and Raye were almost two blocks away when they could hear familiar voices echoing through the streets. But this time, these voices were accomapnied by a few others. They couldn't make out much: 'For Flexy-Lex, and all you other freaks out there, Big Poppa Pump is your hook-up! Holler...if ya hear me!" "It's the nWo!" Owen realized. "They're back. And they're pissed." =====TO BE CONTINUED=====