Rising Storm

Darkness

When Stormi's phone started ringing, she stood up. "It's Skye," She told her grandmother who nodded.

"Stormi? Where the hell are you?" Her brother's frantic voice screeched on the other end of the phone. "You weren't home when I woke up!"

Stormi sighed. "Skye, calm down. I'm fine. I'm talking to Grandma Ellie."

There was a long sign on the other end of the phone. "So I need to come and get you," Skye growled. "Be outside when I get there," He said before he hung up.

Stormi gave her grandmother an innocent smile. "Well... It looks like I need to go..." She said before hugging her grandmother. "I love you."

Ellie smiled. "I love you too!" She cooed, hugging her granddaughter back. "Please... Please come back and see me again!"

Stomi's heart broke at the desperation in the old woman's voice. "Don't worry, I will," She promised before she left.

When Stormi got outside, the frigid air slapped her. She instantly began to shiver and rub her arms. It was a ten minute drive for Skye to get there, so she decided to walk until she met up with him. The wind was ripping through the landscape, forcing the air a thousand times colder. She shivered like she was having a seizure.

"What are you doing out here in the cold?" A voice asked her from behind.

She spun around to see a man standing behind her. He was so familiar, yet not at the same time. He was tall and skinny, deep bags under his bloodshot eyes. His skin was pale, almost grey, and his clothes looked huge on him. "Um... Walking home," Stormi grumbled, staring at him as she back peddled away.

"It's far too cold for someone to be out here like that without a coat," He said, catching up to her.

"You don't have one either," She muttered, refusing to look at him. Nervousness pricked in her stomach and she pressed forward, speeding up more and more in attempt to put some distance between her and the familiar man.

Bad... Stormi... Get away... Arrow's voice shouted in her head.

"Sure, You got me there," He chuckled. "But I'm special. I don't need a coat."

"Cool. Now leave me alone," Stormi snarled lowly.

"But, I wanna help you get out of the cold!" He said.

"LEAVE!"

"Okay. You've chosen the hard way, then." Stormi turned just in time for him to grab her.

She screamed, kicking and hitting as she tall boy threw her over his shoulder. He was surprisingly strong as he carried her away. 

"STORMI!" She heard a car door and her brother's shrill cry. She looked up to see him giving chase after the man, though, within moments, Skye was out of sight.

"SKYE!" She screamed desperately.

The stranger snickered, carrying her deep into the woods. It seemed that the harder she struggled, the more restrained she became. Eventually, he threw her to the ground. She hit with a hard thud, snow shooting up around her. She jumped to her feet, braced to run.

"Don't move," He snarled, creeping towards her. "I can cut you down in seconds. I can drag it out over hours. If you know what's good for you, don't move."

Despite her instincts, she didn't move, staring at the freak in front of her. "Who are you?" She asked quietly, her eyes locking with his. That color... It was so familiar, but so distant too...

He chuckled. "Oh, pardon me, little miss! How rude was I? My name is Mark. Well, it was Mark. It's not Mark anymore. Since I took over this body, it's been William. That was my name while I was alive. William," He started laughing as if it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard, hearing his name like that.

Stormi stared at him, her upper lip twitching. "You..." She snarled lowly, pointing at him. "What did you do to him?" She screamed, clenching her fists.

His laughter instantly stopped. He began pacing around, lifting his arms towards the sky. "I am the ruler of these woods! The ruler of Kings City! I have lived forever, and I can continue that train with a sacrifice!" He shouted, scaring the crows out of the trees above.

Rage pulsed through Stormi's veins as she looked at what remained of her father's body. How he got the body away from the morgue was beyond her. And how nobody know it was gone was another mystery. She took a furious step towards him.

"I said DON'T move!" He snapped, his eyes flicking to stare at her. She instantly froze. "They call me the zombie. I was slaughtered, sent to hell. But I came back without a body! I took this kind man's form, and now, he belongs to me! I will continue to come back until the Source is collapsed!"

Stormi watched his every movement like a hawk. "That man is MY FATHER!" She screamed with venomous fury.

He began to laugh. "Now isn't that so sweet?" He snickered. "So this is a family reunion! How cute!"

Stormi screeched out as she picked up a rock, launching it at the monster. It his his shoulder, causing him to growl. "Why don't you crawl back into the pit you came from?" She spat.

A sick smile spread across his face, his mouth rotting into an undead, disgusting smile. As quickly as it appeared, the rot vanished back to her poor father's face.

"That was what my father's face should look like isn't it?" She asked, her voice growing weak. The only response that she got was another twisted smirk.

"I need a new slave. And since the former one was family, lets keep the tradition going. Since I'm Daddy Mark, you shall be my tiny little slave daughter," He snickered.

Unable to stand still for any longer, Stormi burst into a dead sprint away from the monster who took her. It was the fastest her legs had ever carried her, and she ran without slowing. Her life depended on it. She heard his footsteps behind her, slowly gaining on her, but she didn't stop. Without paying attention, her feet began to slide out from under her and she toppled forward. Ice. The ground was solid ice. She closed her eyes as her body slammed into the hard surface of the flooded meadow. She slid a few more feet before her body halted, pain shooting through her face and arms.

This was it. This was how she was going to die. Just as her father had...