DARK SHADOW
1.
Seth sat by and drifted off in the shade of an old oak tree on the school grounds. Just sitting there was dangerous enough but having drifted off too, well that really was pure carelessness. For day walkers may be capable of being outside during the day but they are not completely immune to the effects of the sun, and the shade of an old oak tree is no protection at all.
His sleeping mind's eye could sense an approaching darkness as if a shadow had just swooped in to cover the daytime land like a blanket. His dream took him back six years in time to the morning with which Seth wishes he could go back to and alter for the better. A day which prior to this sleep could only be remembered in fragments, fragments to which Seth so wanted to be able to piece together.
It comes to him as if he is watching a movie. In this moment it is clear and straight forward. Nothing is fragmented.
A ten-year-old Seth twisted and turned in bed and appeared to be in pain as his foster mother entered his bedroom to wake him to get ready for school and what happened next no one could have seen coming. Seth did awake soon after his mother entered the bedroom. He quickly moved to be on his knees on the bed and began hissing uncontrollably. His eyes were dark red in colour. Seth's skin around his eyes and nose darkened, a cold sweat dripped from his brow, his mouth opened as he hissed revealing fang like teeth not dissimilar to that of a wolf.
Seth's mother screamed dropping the clothing she had carried into the room. The screaming alerted her husband who was downstairs in the kitchen. He quickly made his way upstairs to the bedroom only to find his wife lying lifeless on the floor with Seth kneeling over her and covered in blood.
Upon seeing his foster father enter the room Seth quickly turned, got up and attacked him and the same fate took him just as quickly as it took his wife. A little under an hour would pass before Seth would calm down and gain some sort of semblance. He did not understand what had just happened or why it happened.
The people he knew as his parents were lifeless and covered in blood and it was, he who had taken their lives. At only ten years old how could any child comprehend what had just happened? He couldn't and this is why the memory became locked away with only and odd second or so escaping every once in a while, and now the whole thing had escaped.
It was quite some time before Seth even talked again after that day. He loved his foster parents. They had loved him. Having been unable to have kids of their own, they felt blessed that Seth had come into their lives. Seth had known nothing about his background other than the fact that he had been adopted.
His foster parents felt strongly about being honest with him. They had strong morals and values, and these were instilled in Seth but on that morning, Seth had been overcome. He had these sudden desires; desires he could not understand or control. He acted upon these desires and would go on to live with the consequences these acts had brought.
Taken into care, the truth to what actually happened that day had never truly been known for Seth had almost but not quite completely blocked out the memory of that day and it was moments such as Seth falling asleep in the shade of that oak tree that brought images back to him with the exception that this time the whole memory came back. Luckily enough for Seth, a Professor Edwards would soon arrive on the college grounds.
This professor had been more than just a course instructor to Seth. The Professor had also been a mentor and a good friend too. Of course, being in the shade does not provide any protection from the daylight. Seth was over heating and becoming dehydrated.
Professor Edwards attempted to keep calm as he quickly made his way to Seth's side after noticing that Seth was unconscious by that oak tree. He would try to wake Seth without having any success. Seth needed help and so did the professor. The professor has long surpassed his youth. With great difficulty he attempted to pick up Seth.
