A Tale of Stars and Shadows

Chapter One

The moon watches from afar. Always watching over her, always protecting her; even in her darkest times, the moon was always there.

Not a single sound emanated from the girl as she stalked down the grand staircase leading outside the castle. Silent as a wraith, she walked towards the massive oak doors, sliding the mask up her face, and a hood over her hair. The large brass doorknob squeaked beneath her fingers as she twisted it, pushing the door as far as it would allow without causing too much noise. The girl breathed in the fresh night air and looked towards the waxing moon. She had always found comfort within the moon, as if it were watching over her, guiding her in the right direction. It was nights like these however when she wished the moon could not see her.

Astrea walked the grounds of the castle, slowly making her way towards the sea, where she knew he would be. This was the part she dreaded the most. The build-up. The waiting. The walking. The task itself would be smooth, as it always was. Done within minutes, wasting not a second of her valuable time. But the walking, and the waiting, she despised. She quickly approached the park, a blanket, and spread of food already laid out. Her eyes scanned the space before her, carefully planning. At last, she spotted a conveniently placed tree, tall enough for cover, small enough to climb.

The bark was wet in her hands, sap covering her leather gloves. She cursed under her breath and reached a branch sturdy enough to sit on, to wait. Soon enough she heard the nearing sound of laughter. She reached up to ensure that her face was covered, her hair tightly pulled back, and drew the dagger from its sheath at her thigh.

The young lovers sat down on the blanket, the girl giggling, the boy watching her intently. Astrea rolled her eyes at the two. Love, she knew only to be a waste. A waste of time. A waste of energy. And a waste of life.

The two began to talk in hushed voices, and Astrea knew her time to intervene was fast approaching as the boy began to kiss the girl, holding her in his arms. The girl drew back, clearly not ready for the step the boy wanted to take next. Astrea could hear the girl's breath shift from giggly laughter, to a nervous gasp as she tried to push the boy back. But the young boy did not halt his advances, he instead climbed on top of her, eager for more, whether she wanted it or not.

Astrea shifted in the tree, readying herself to leap. When she did finally jump, the boy didn't know what was happening as he was suddenly yards away from the girl and was being held back, a knife at his throat. "Shh, the more you struggle, the more this will hurt," Astrea whispered sweetly in his ear as if she were a gentle lover, not the last person he would ever see. The boy did not still, his breaths grew quicker, gasping for air, his heart rate rapidly increasing. "Do you know who I am?" she asked.

"N-no," he stuttered in between labored breaths.

"Funny... I thought everyone at this school knew of my reputation, I'm quite feared," the boy could practically hear her sick smile even with his back to her, the dagger still firmly held to his windpipe. As she talked, the boy realized just who exactly held his fate in her hands. How could he not?

"You're the," his throat bobbed in between breaths, "the Midnight Raven... but... but you're a woman." At this her grip on her blade tightened, threatening to cut off the boy's air. She could hear the young girl breathing heavily behind her, but she knew the girl wouldn't move, she couldn't, not with her hands bound to the very tree from which she had jumped.

"Listen closely you sexist pig, I know of every single girl you have assaulted, I know how you silence them. It would do you best, to remember this lesson in the afterworld. If you ever hurt another woman ever again, I will hunt you down, even in the afterworld and I will make you pay. Do you understand?" Her words were still that of a sweet girl, not a dangerous assassin with a pension for pain.