The Dark Order

Chapter 1

Wooden planks of the platform were beneath my boots, clicking with each step and an icy cold breeze from the ocean blew my long, dark hair back. I pulled my soft, white blanket closer around my body and followed the young man ahead of me. He stopped near the edge of the platform, hands in the deep pockets of his black cloak and was staring down at the ragged waves far below. I couldn't see his expression as his large hood hung over his face.

He wasn't saying anything so I decided I would: "Are you going to tell me who you are now?" I spoke attempting to hide the fear in my voice.

"You don't need to know who I am, let alone have time" he replied.

For a second I wondered why I had followed this strange man out here, after all I wasn't sure if he was good or bad. But then again where would I have gone if he hadn't led me away from the danger zone that was my apartment building?

"What do you mean I don't have time?" I questioned him, suspicious.

"I don't have time" he answered.

He told me they were after him. I tried to figure out what he meant by "they". The people who invaded my apartment building? The police?

He threw back his hood and pushed longish, black hair out of his face to reveal beautiful green eyes and a smooth, jagged scar running down one side of his pale face.

I guessed that he was around his early twenties. Apart from the scar, his face was almost perfect .

He looked a little surprised regarding the fact that I hadn't reacted to his flaw or even asked about it.

"What is your name?" he whispered. The air was so cold I could see his breath.

As I opened my mouth to respond, both our heads whipped around to the sound of distant screaming and shouting.

His green eyes were suddenly on me like a spotlight, wide and bright.

Grabbing my hand, he pulled and jumped and there under the moonlight, together we fell to the water.

A chill spread all through my body as I broke through the surface of the water. We had both fallen a long way in a short amount of time so we were a metre or two below the waves before we rose back up. With our heads just out of the salty water, we began coughing and spluttering.

I looked around at what I could see of the wharf and the rocky shores. It looked so much creepier and lonley at night. The old lighthouse with the silhouette of a giant guard and an intimidating bright light that burned my eyes every time it flashed our way. The violent rocks that made up the Northern shores then led out to the ocean beyond. And of course the old, tall wooden piers that reached out along the water, with the planks that those crazy people will soon be running along soon if we didn't get to someplace safe and hidden.

"I know where an abandoned shack is" the man said as if reading my mind. "All we have to do is swim across to the Northern shore without getting spotted."

Or drowning I thought to myself. I wasn't ever very good when it came to swimming.

I tried to follow his lead but he was a lot quicker at cutting through the waves than I was. With every wave it seemed to push me back slightly adding to my inability of floating and swimming technique.

After what seemed like hours we eventually touched land and clambered onto the sandy, sharp edged rocks.

I tried to catch my breath while asking "Can you at least tell me your name?"

Steadily he answered, "My name is Axel, yours?"

"Amy" I said a little more easily with more air in my lungs.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Amy."

"As for me" I replied in an unusually formal manner. Somehow formal seemed like the way to go with him.

"Follow me, I remember the shack being somewhere over this way. We may need to hurry" he said already beginning to make his way over the rocks with ease. He moved so quickly and flawlessly I had to do a slow jog to keep up with him. As we made our way down, the ground began to get sandier instead of rocky which made it less likely to stumble.

"Just behind these rock formations" he said after a few minutes of walking. Sure enough, when we made our way round the side of the rock, there was a small wooden shack probably just a few inches taller than Axel and it looked like no eyes had been laid on it in years. But no wonder it was still here; it's standing on the oldest part of the shore. Hardly anyone had been here since The Great Burning. The Great Burning happened around about 150 years ago on these shores. A strange group of people had came and set fire to every building that had stood around these parts. Many people lost theirs lives and although some had escaped before they were consumed in the blaze, no one had apparently seen the people who had done it. So nobody knows why or even how they had burned down every building. All except this little shack. I watched as Axel reached for a handhold in the door and pulled it open with a loud creak.

"After you" he said gesturing with his hand for me to go inside. I looked at him and hesitantly stepped under the roof of the shack. I looked to see a rusty bucket lying on its side against the sandy floor, a wooden bench which was likely to inhabit spiders and in the center a black circle of ash from an old campfire. I guessed Axel had seen me looking at it because he said "I would start a fire but I thinks it's best to stay covert."

The water had left us soaked and freezing. I wasn't sure how we would make it through the night without freezing to death or huddling together to keep warm which I was definately not going to be doing.

"While we're hiding from who ever the hell those people are can you tell me more about yourself other than just your name? Or who exactly we're hiding from and why they're after you?" And also why my apartment building just got attacked?" I questioned. I still wasn't entirely sure I could trust him and of course I had many more questions to ask.

"Yes, I'm sure you must be very confused right now" he began.

You got that right I thought to myself.

"But for you to fully understand what is happening I think it's best that I explain things slowly and carefully, as there is much to take in" he continued.

"Slowly and carefully? I want to know exactly what's going on now!"

"Look Amy, there are some things that have been kept secret within this world for thousands of years and they are not easy to believe but you just have to trust me."

What on earth is he talking about? I thought that he was strange before but this is just getting ridiculous. And he expects me to trust him?