Unhallowed

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Trevor! Come inside now! It's getting dark!" I could hear the voice yelling from the house and I immediately knew to go inside. The sun was setting and it was never safe out after dark. Even though I am fifteen, I am not allowed outside once the sun sets. There are too many dangers in the outside woods.

I have lived in the Village of the Dark Ones for my whole life. As far as I know no one has left on their own. The only ones that have to leave are the ones that the Dark Ones choose to be riders in the Games.

It was late October as it always was. The Month of the Hallows. The Dark Month. The "Save Yourself and Let Your Horse Go Month". Everyone has different names for it.

I ran into the small house and scrambled up the three small stairs into my room where I crawled into my small bed and tried to fall asleep. I layed there. Staring at my ceiling, willing myself to go to sleep. I finally was lost in a deep sleep but I could faintly hear the terrified, high pitched whinny that came from the barn outside our house. I thought it was just part of my dream and that, as always, the fear of this month was just making me all messed up.

I get a little more screwed up this time of the year then most people because I am a horse trainer. Thats what my dad said to me the year before he, along with fourteen of the other best horse trainers in the village, was chosen to train the Unhallowed.

He died by the sharp teeth of a Unhallowed they called Nightmare. She was one of the toughest Unhallowed and because she couldn't be trained they had to burn her with the rest of them.

That's where the Unhallowed go. To the Inferno. The place were each of there torn bodies is burned and melted until they are nothing but a pile of ash and bits of bone.

Thats one of the main reasons I was very anxious and nervous during the Month of the Hallows. I don't want Nightlock, my black gelding, to be taken and even more, I don't want him to go to the Inferno.

The next morning I woke up and ran out to the barn to check if Nightlock was still there. I went to his stall and peered in over the wooden door. The stall was empty and there was blood on the walls. My heart started to pump in my chest so hard that I could barely breathe. I couldn't stop my head from spinning long enough to think properly. My vision was starting to blur and I could feel the hot tears streaming down my face.

I knew that he was Taken but even though that thought kept running circles in my head, I still ran as fast as I could to the pastures. I tripped a couple times and scuffed up my hands, my right knee and my right cheek. The whole right side of my body ached and I could tell my eye was starting to swell. I felt the warm blood on my legs as I ran, I could smell the metallic, sour blood and it started to make me feel nauseous. But I didn't care. I kept running.

When I got to the pastures I called his name over and over again. "Nightlock?" "Nightlock?! "NIGHTLOCK!" When he didnt come running, I fell against the fence and cried until my eyes felt like they couldn't even manage one more tear. I sat there, hugging my knees and rocking back and forth to try to calm myself down. I'm not sure when I fell asleep but I woke up to my mGodmothers soft voice fussing over all my scrapes and bumps. I was lying on the couch, my head resting on a pillow and bandages on pretty much everywhere possible.

When my Godmother saw that my eyes were open she immediately started to shove some strange, but good tasting liquid down my throat. "Oh Trevor, Trevor, Trevor. Look at you. You are a mess I tell you! A complete mess! Now you get some sleep and everything will be fine. You hear me?" she said so quickly I barely had time to fit in any words of my own. I just nodded and started to lay back down when it all flashed into my mind. Nightlock's empty stall. The blood on the walls. The tears. The empty pastures. I sat up so fast my head felt like it was going to blow up. It was throbbing so badly and my vision went black. When it started to clear up again I could saw my Godmother staring at me like I actually was going to blow up if I moved that fast again. "You lay back down right now mister!" she yelled. Even the yelling made my head throb. "Mimi! Listen!" I yelled back "Nightlock is gone!" She came over to the coach and kneeled down next to me. I felt like a little kid again when she had told me my dad had been eaten by an Unhallowed. "Oh baby! I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" she whispered. I could see the tears collecting in the corners of her piercing blue eyes.

I felt bad that I had yelled at her but I knew that she wouldn't have listened otherwise. I leaned my head forward and laid my forehead on her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around me and we sat like that until we heard the door open and my Godfather's raspy voice call "Trevor? Miriam?" "In here!" Mimi called back. My Godfather walked through the door into our small living room and immediately I could smell the wood smoke and peppermint.

My Godfather always smells like that. I remember when I was little and he would tell me stories. I would sit and listen to his raspy voice while I took in the strong and wonderful smell around him.

My Godfather came in and sat down in the chair that was facing the couch. I could tell by the way that his eyebrows were scrunched together that something was wrong. He looked up at Mimi and I and said in his deep raspy voice "The horses have been Taken and this year something has happened that has never happened before." Ya, Nightlock was taken, duh! But I had a feeling that wasn't what he was about to say. " This year thirty horses were Taken." My Godfather said. I saw Mimi's back slump and I could feel the tears collecting in the corners of my eyes.

In past years, only fifteen horses have been Taken, never had there been thirty Taken. When all of this had processed through my aching brain, I looked over at my Godfather and I saw the fear and worry written across his wrinkled face.

I hated seeing him like this because it reminded me of when my dad had been killed. He tried to force a smile on to his face but I could see it wasn't working. I knew that I had to do something about this.