What Lingers In The Dark

Prologue. Lily.

I always knew they were there. Ever since I was a little girl I guess I could just feel them watching me. It doesn't bother me anymore, they never affect me they are just... there.

Growing up I knew I wasn't the average girl; I never dressed up in pink, sparkly dresses and tiaras, I preferred baggy trousers to tight skirts and I never even attempted to place the tiniest bit of makeup on my face, it doesn't appeal to me at all. And then there are the people, the shapes and the whispering, all of which no one can hear nor see apart from me. I like to think of it as a gift but it's hard to think that way when the people around you think of it as hallucinations. I know better than that. I know they are there.

Chapter 1. Alaric.

I was watching her again today and I couldn't help but notice how this particular sunlight gives her hair a golden glow which makes her look so rare and beautiful. She is that little ray of sunshine that tries to break through the gloom; she doesn't see herself like that though, she thinks of herself as an outsider, someone who will never fit in, if only she could see the world through my eyes and realise how precious she actually is.

"Alaric! Get away from that mirror. Their world is nothing to us, nothing of importance, I don't see why you spend your time watching that girl, you know it is forbidden for any of us whisperers to be with an olive, and you know what happens when one sets foot in the shadow world my child," one of my ancestors hooks his fingers round my arm and drags me away "and you know what happens when you set foot in their world don't you." I looked deep into his eye sockets, where those bloodshot eyes once sat, and then at the rest of his rotting, deformed face, he didn't have a nose either, just two empty holes where it used to sit. One of my ancestors doesn't even own a mouth anymore; he can't speak, just long drawn out groans, sometimes I swear the sounds he makes are pleas for help, he would rather die than live like this, I can tell, but we live forever, and he'll have to live through that pain without anyone knowing what he actually feels. Thats what happens to us as we grow old, when we get to the age that humans pass away we don't die, our appearances show what lies on the inside, we become monsters.

"Yes, I do, I do know what happens, sir,"

"Good child, now go fetch me an olive, I'm starving."

"Yes, ok,"

An olive. Thats what we call the humans that set foot in our world; the law says that once they set foot in The Shadow World, their soul is rightfully ours to do with what we wish. In the old times we used to use them as slaves but now they are killed for our food and the emotions are drained out of them and put into green bottles so us whisperers know what it's like to feel human emotion once in a while. So we know what it's like to live.

I continued down the dark corridor until I reached our olive room, I hate this place, a room of dead bodies being drained of everything that makes them who they are, it makes me sick. Sometimes I sit and wonder what it would be like to be one of them, live on earth and not down here in what seemed to be Hells twin but we can never set foot in earth, we can only use our power to make it look like we are there; I dislike this world with a passion, I feel like a human trapped inside a whisperers body like a wrongly accused person dressed in orange overalls, stuck behind bars.

"Alaric, where's my olive, you worthless swine!"

I grabbed the one closest to me, holding my breath and fighting the urge to look down and see what I was holding I started back to the damp, gloomy room. I couldn't fight the urge much longer I reluctantly looked down and at that moment a mix of horror and disgust swept through me. A child. An innocent little girl was lying dead and limp in my arms. I was about to hand her over to become someone's meal. We really are monsters, and I'm one of them; no matter how much I deny it, I am a monster, I am a whisperer.

"Ah there you are," he turned his head to look at me with a crack and I wondered to myself how old he actually was "Oh, a good choice my child," he grabbed the body from my hand and and lay it on the table, "the younger they are, the sweeter the taste," he said with a grin. It wasn't the type of grin a child would wear when opening a present but it was a hungry grin, a grin that sent chills down my spine. I left before I could see what became of the poor girl and sat back down in front of the mirror.

Chapter 2. Lily.

Pulling away from my book I looked to the window, the full moon beamed at me through the blinds. I must have been reading for hours, I turned to check the clock that read 11:38pm, a pain shot up my neck, I guess thats what I get for having my head bent over a book hours on end. Wow, I should really be off to bed. As I stood up, I felt a presence in my room, they were watching me again, I couldn't bring myself to look in the mirror. It was one of my only fears, looking into a mirror you never know what you might see lingering in the dark behind you, especially when I can feel the eyes; I never really knew what to call them as a child, I always thought they should have a name, but nothing seemed to fit so I just refer to them as 'the eyes'. Until recently I managed to look into the only mirror I owned, but then I saw something or someone one day, I can't really remember what or who it was, it seemed to disappear as soon as it realised I had noticed him. Him, it was definitely a boy. He was standing in the shadow of my wardrobe that lies directly opposite to my mirror; all I can remember is his beauty. It made him seem alien, I don't think it's possible for humans to be so perfect, it was one thing I'd never seen before. However, it was a strange experience; most people would surely be afraid, maybe even petrified! But me? It gave me a safe, secure feeling, the safest I've felt in a very long time. Now, I'm too scared to look in the mirror but a part of me is dying to see him again, stood in the shadows, watching over me like my very own guardian angel... yes I like the sound of that, someone to watch over me and keep me safe under all circumstances.

I slipped into the comfiest pair of pyjama bottoms I owned and pulled a black vest top over my head of matted hair; I made myself turn to the mirror, I like to think that the girl that is always standing there, staring back at me, isn't me. That's when reality makes a comeback and I realise that the pale face, the uncontrollable dirt-blonde hair and the sad brown eyes all belong to me and that can't change. I quickly turned away and crawled into the warm comfort of my bed like a baby seeking its mother for comfort after a nightmare.

Just as my eyes began to feel heavy and I was drifting to sleep I heard the door slam. Mum. I'm surprised she came home tonight, she spends most nights at the pub and doesn't return till 10 the next morning, wearing the same clothes as the night before plus a huge pot of Ben & Jerry's 'Cookie Dough Ice-cream'. The weight slowly returned to my eyes, God, I'm dreading school tomorrow.

I woke up to the blinding sunlight streaming through the window, directly onto my pillow. Turning to check the clock my stomach flipped; I have exactly 10 minutes until the school bell rings, I swear I set my alarm last night, this is just my luck. Hauling myself up from my enlightened pillow