Dark Sunlight - The Shadow Series (Book 1) ONGOING

Chapter Three

A thin streak of pale greyish light filtered in through the window as I layed, my back on the hard ground, gazing at the ceiling. I sat up, rubbed my eyes and slid my hand through my thick, dirty hair. I searched the room, suddenly remembering last night. I heard Mia shifting in her sleep.

I stood up and started quietly packing our things back in my bag. The candle had finished burning and the sweet smell of beeswax waded around the room. Mia woke up as I removed the thin linen blanket from the window frame. It was still night outside but the sun was rising on the horizon.

She groaned as we slowly made our way down the concrete stairs, me helping her balance as best as I could. The cool morning air woke us up for good. I bit my lip. Thad is going to kill me...

As we painfully walked along, I couldn't help but ask,

"Hey... Mia?" I hesitated. "We were worried sick last night. If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing, what happened?" I paused. She was looking straight ahead so I continued. "I mean... I haven't seen your bag anywhere, did you find something important? Thad told me you went looking for some firewood."

She didn't reply. We walked in silence for a moment until we came in sight of the bridge that cut the city in two. We stopped and hid in a nearby building as the guards walked by. I handed her the bottle of water, and she spoke.

"I... I don't know, Rae." She looked at me. "I had stupidly left my bag at the base. I had this sudden urge to go to the City Center, I guess I figured I could go look there for a few things we desperately need...

- Like what?" I interrupted.

"I...I don't know... like blankets, warm clothes, lamps and batteries...and meat. We really should be better fed, you know..." She shot a meaningful glance at me.

I shrugged. She was right though. I always gave my food to the girls...

"Anyway," She continued, "I knew I would have time to come back before you did and I wouldn't be looking for long. I was arriving at the big shopping Center, but at the end of the street I felt like I was watched..."

I shivered. I hated that feeling, the spine-tingling sense and the heat behind my head...

"...so I stopped and I hid in that big building. I was preparing to find another exit when the Sound started, and...well... you know the rest of the story."

- Do you think it was a Scraper?" I worriedly asked.

She shrugged.

We crossed the long bridge, discreetly hiding behind the broken-down cars once in a while, just for safety measures. The wind had picked up and the bridge's tall metal chains rattled and creaked. The morning slowly went by as Mia and I were struggling to go on. Her injury made it hard for her to stand and we had to take regular breaks.

I joked, "Wow, it's actually faster travelling on rooftops than on foot." Mia was silent, I glanced down at her face, worried, she was pale, her eyes closed. I panicked, called her name, a little too loudly to my liking. It wasn't safe were we were.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps inches away from us. A hand reached for Mia and I swung around, ready to strike, my knuckles in fists, barely holding Mia straight.

A man was standing, a smug look on his face. I didn't think twice and punched his nose hard. I sat Mia down in a swift but sure movement, and grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm in a second. He turned and caught me in a tight movement, locking his biceps around my neck, I turned my head to the left and ducked, freeing myself from his titan strength. I slammed him against the wall.

He smirked. "Not bad." He said with a slight Scandinavian accent. I spat. "Who are you, and what the hell do you want with us?!"

"She's injured." He nodded towards my friend and pointed to his torso. "I carry her".

No one ever helped anyone for nothing in this place. I glared at him suspiciously.

"What do you want?"

His eyes trailed from Mia to my face, a discreet frown on his forehead.

"I'm here to meet Raminskof."

I looked at him, surprised. What did this man want with Thad?

Thad had chosen a made-up name for his missions, as an old agent in the police, so that people could contact him through his legal identity as Mr Raminskof. I was pretty sure it wasn't his real name thought.

"What tells me I can trust you?", I asked, not letting my guard down for an instant.

But before he could answer, Mia grunted, coming back to her senses. I backed away, planting my dagger in the man's shirt collar. I kept an eye on the intruder as I helped Mia up. I whispered to her, "Hey, are you okay? What happened? This man wants to meet Thad. He's coming with us. just hang on in there, okay?!"

I told the man I would take him to see Raminskof. He just shrugged, eyed Mia and insisted. "I'll carry the girl. She is exhausted." I refused and made him walk in front of us as we approached the old shack. I suspiciously eyed the man and told him to wait there.

I walked as fast as I could to the door, trying not to hurt Mia. The door burst open and Thad stepped out, wearing his coat and a big backpack. He saw me carrying Mia, wounded.

I saw relief run through his face, but a second later anger burned in his eyes. He calmly looked at Mia's wound, gesticulated me to take her inside, and turned to the waiting man.

I rushed inside, layed Mia down on the bed and ordered Lily and Hazel to fetch the bandages and a bucket of clean water. I ripped off her makeshift bandage and started cleaning the wound with a clean cloth. I breathed in deeply, avoiding looking at the red stains and the deep cut, concentrating on the slow movements of my hand.

When the little girls arrived with the water, I started a fire and made it boil. I quickly kissed the girls hello and told them to leave the room. They didn't have to see Mia in this state.

Or me either...

Mia fell into a troubled sleep as I pulled a warm rug on her body. Thad and the mysterious man walked in at that moment. I looked up, and Thad screamed at me.

"Rae, how dare you go against my orders and sneak behind my back, I told you not to go it was far too dangerous! What the hell happened?! You could have been killed a thousand times that night, and I didn't even know where the hell you were!" He bellowed. "I so so worried, I was about to go looking for you two!"

I stood up and said, my voice ice-cold. "Thad, Mia was missing. You knew it was the right thing to do, I had to go, I wasn't just going to leave her there, alone all night. You know I was careful, I always am. And don't you dare scream at me like that!"

He was about to say something but I continued, my voice even cooler than before. "Now, if you haven't realised, she is badly injured. So please let me look after her and we'll talk about this later."

He stormed off, and the Scandinavian man calmly followed.

I spent the next hours tending to Mia and by two in the morning, the room was cleaned, her leg was properly bandaged and I had given her medicine and a painkiller.

I lied down next to her and sipped at a warm cup of tea, washing way the salty taste of blood from my mouth and fell asleep.