Hidden In The Dark (IN EDITING)

Until I Die

My hands wouldn't stop shaking, the bright lights above feeling brighter than before. They made me squint as my eyes burned, the sound of my mother talking as we stand above the rest. Like a piece of art on display, only ours being a knockoff, irreplaceable from the original artwork. Vali stared hard, scanning the faces of people who stood around watching us. At any moment I waited for the lights to flicker, and the nightmare to spring into action.

Damen wouldn't step away from me, I felt suffocated, like I couldn't catch my breath, and I wondered if he could tell something was wrong. He just held me tighter, clinging onto me more, and right then and there I wanted nothing more than to fast forward time. To take me to a time where I had nothing to hide, nothing to worry about. But even if I dreamed that was what the future held, that did not mean it was the truth.

The lights started to flicker, I jerked my glance to Vali who gave a simple nod and pushed off of the wall he was leant against. I readied myself, stepping backwards from the edge and slipping into the stance. It didn't feel as uncomfortable as it did the first time he showed me it, now it felt like a natural born ability. Tonight I have to be ready, the time everything will happen, and that time is now.

Instead of a continuous flicker the lights go out, for a moment my heart races, but I relax in order to hear what's around me. When one sense is removed the other becomes more stronger, because you are forced to rely on it. At the body's natural instinct, I hear the creak of the stage. A sign of movement coming from the right direction, I slip the dagger from its hilt and twist the handle so the flat side of the blade presses against my wrist.

I hear rumbling laughter, but it's not from my surroundings, it quietly echos deep in my mind like a taunt. I wonder where Vali may have gone, if he hears the annoying sound vibrating the walls of his skull. A delicate finger drags across my collarbone, my hand slicing through the air in front of me, but I feel no resistance of the blade meeting flesh. Sharp metal nicks the side of my neck, blood immediately dripping from the minor wound.

"Playing in the dark, a coward at best." My fingers swipe the blood then drag it down my blade. It lights so brightly a 3 foot radius around me lights up, that's when I catch a glimpse of the figure standing behind me to the left, it's shadow on the floor of the stage. A knife is pressed to the bottom of my chin, almost breaking through my skin with the pressure. I move to the balls of my feet, standing taller in my heels to relieve the pressure for a few seconds. The relief grants me a moment to wrap my right leg behind me and across the back of the figure, putting my weight into the limb I send them stumbling forward when I spin.

I switch stance, into one with my right foot dominant and the dagger in my opposite hand. My blade goes dark once again, throwing me into the pitch darkness. A set of eyes glow from the dark, burning bright white among the dark abyss. There is familiarity in them, the way they burn my skin and don't move. Just blank like a fresh piece of paper. In the distraction I feel a knife enter my thigh, a scream of pain leaving my mouth as it drops open. My hand flies to the handle, feeling it flush against my skin. Gritting my teeth I look back up through the blackness, white lines pulsing through a body that houses the glowing eyes.

A snarl forms on their face as they lunge, but they don't lunge for me, they lunge in the direction beside me. Glowing hands wrap around a throat, the light revealing the identity of my attacker. The lights flip back on and I see who they really are, Vali strangling The man in the hoodie. Everyone that was once in the room now gone leaving the three of us. I take a step toward them, biting back a wail of pain when the knifes blade cuts deeper through my tissue. They go flying backwards off stage, both separating and landing on their feet. His crown goes completely black and his sword appears at the flick of a wrist.

At a command his whole persona goes dark, eyes and veins glowing black like a monster. The Hoodie Man shifts, pulling his gloves off and swiping his hood off. I feel my stomach plummet to the floor as I stare at his face, the grip on my weapon tightening. Damen glances at me with a sinister glint in his eyes, lips pulling into a sharp grin. A sword appears in his hand, slightly smaller than Vali's but just as deadly.