Eve & the Whispered World

Chapter 1: The Shadow

London, 1914

Endless specks of white filled the midnight sky, as had been the way for many nights now. Winter's deep freeze had brought with it, boundless blizzards unlike any the old city had ever seen.

Ice-cold swarms of snowfall fluttered madly about the deserted streets in a determined attempt to mound every withered old street corner, window ledge and cobble-stone-crack with crisp coats of freshly fallen flakes.

Despite the bustling downfall, the night seemed contrarily calm for the time being. The only signs of life throughout London's wide main roads and winding, narrow alleyways were the few, faint flickers of oil-lamps found lighting up a rare window.

Residents of the creaky, cramped homes in Whitechapel to the warm and cosy apartments of Mayfair alike, would soon find themselves drifting off into a silent slumber. Drifting off into dreams, they would lye, completely unaware of the horrors their city would bare witness to on this bitter, winter night.

The Great Bell of Westminster Palace struck Twelve. A horse and cart heavily plodded through the mounting snow. A lone rider cracked his horse-whip in a frantic attempt to hurry his struggling steed, tiredly lumbering through the lonely London avenues

He could feel his heart quickly pulsing through his cold, stinging palms whilst struggling to yank the horse's reigns. Something was following him, hunting him. Though he couldn't see it, he could sense whatever it was, all around him. Prowling in the shadows, his pursuer almost seemed to be taunting him like a predator might it's prey.

''Almost there, girl...'' he nervously whispered to his companion.

Feeling the rickety wheels of the cart slide across an icy path upon skidding round a sharp corner off Hyde Park. The cart slogged under a weathered archway. The wild wind rattled a nearby signpost pointing in the direction of 'The Wooldridge Inn'. He'd almost made it.

The winds, much to his irritation, sent wet specks of snow sprinkling across his mouth and eyes every split second. But he wouldn't allow it to slow him down. The entire world depended on him, even though they didn't know it.

He released a shaky sigh of relief once catching site of his destination, a tall corner building. Upon reaching the Wooldridge Inn, he swiftly pulled up to the building's cramped side-stable and slipped down from the cart. 

Clumsily, the old man tripped over the straggling reigns and tumbled face-first into the freezing snow. Dripping wet and cursing his luck, he struggled to wipe his face of slush as he attempted to tie his uneasy stead with his unsteady hands. He patted the frightened animal on the nose, in hopes that she would calm. 

''There, there, now Daisy...'' he whispered to her in a gentle voice she knew well.

But Daisy continued to back up uneasily. He watched her as her ears twitched nervously, as her eyes grew wide. It was almost as though the animal sensed their eminent doom. When all of sudden, she sputtered, and with a swift bolt, jolted from his slippery grip. Daisy darted out into the mist.

''Da-Daisy!'' he called, his voice cracking.

Shielding his eyes from the snowfall, only to watch helplessly as she vanished into the distance, he knew he may never see his old companion again. But he couldn't linger, not for a second, not even for her.

It was in that moment when an eerie whisper echoed through the winds from all around him. The shrill sound made the hairs on the back of his neck rise. In all his long life, he had never heard anything so haunting. His eye caught a sudden movement from beyond the park's railings. He could have sworn he saw an unearthly shape dash through the flurrying snow. He gulped his dry throat, gyrated and darted toward the Inn's door.

Fumbling clumsily through the building's entrance, he decided immediately make haste towards his office on the top floor, where he would await his faith.