Stained Glass.

Chapter one: The Parcel.

In the year 1508, two girls walked down a blood stained street. Mist blurred their visions and only silence filled their ears. The ticking of the church clock echoed through the empty roads followed by the loud bangs of the bells that hid away within the church walls. The two girls quickened their pace, the continuous sounds of the bells vibrating through their tattered, warn out boots.

As the bells filled the gloomy alley ways, a quiet whisper started to hover around the girls ears, however only one could hear. Hidie.

"Keep quiet, keep still, and stay quiet... Stay Still."

The voice was filled with unknown determination as it weaved in and out of the young girl's red, cold ears. As the voice grew within her head, Hidie's hand begun to tighten around her friend's.

Noel looked around to see her friend stop sharply within her tracks. The voice begun to sing within Hidie's head. As it continued to grow, her eyes shifted towards her friend, Noel, with a questioning look on her face, wanting to see if she could hear it also.

Slowly, the majestic voice begun to weave through each and every fiber of Hidie's body, taking control each time it past her heart. Unable to move, Hidie's friend begun to worry, and her heart beat quickening with fear along with the slow change of her skin, from peach to pale white.

"H... Hidie... What's wrong? We need to get home... Why aren't you moving?" Deaf to the hypnotic tone, Noel begun to viciously tug at the velvet sleeve of Hidie's moonlight cloak. Panicking, Noel's eyes begun to shift from side to side, not knowing on what to do.

"I can't move." Hidie's voice shook with growing fear as she tried to move her glued foot off the ground.

Knowing Hidie's trickery, Noel shook her small head fiercely as her eyes begun to tear up.

"What?!? You're not serious!?!" Noel screamed into Hidie's ear, her voice raising even higher as she walked away from Hidie's frozen body. Quickly, Noel spun 'round, her face blotched from falling tears that ran down her neck and slithered into her dress.

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Noel stayed silent for a few seconds before flickering her lids back open. "You're lying, you always lie. Well, guess what? It's not going to work, not tonight. It's late and I'm tired, I just want to go home!" Twirling around, with her back towards Hidie, Noel began to run away from her friend, into the deep darkness of the streets ahead.

"N-Noel! Don't leave me... I'm not lying... I ... I swear..." Hidie struggled against the force of the unknown voice that kept her from running for her friend. However, as she moved, the hypnotic voice begun to sing once more, as if she was breaking through the bond that it kept upon her manic body.

"At this time, it's time to play. Play time is here, for you... And me"

Hidie listened to the voice with great care, trying to figure out who it was... Or what it was. However, she slowly realized its tone had changed from the high pitch it was to a low growl. Hidie's heart thumped heavy against her chest, a small bird trying to break free from the cage that held it.

Looking left to right in a timid fashion, she didn't see any creature that could not have made the mysterious noise. The streets were still dead as ever, darkness lingering within the alleyways of the road she stood upon.

Suddenly, the beating of cold breath hit her neck, causing shivers to run down her stiff back. Unwillingly, Hidie was forced to move around, only to be greeted with razor sharp teeth and drool dripping onto the hard, cobbled street. Screaming, Hidie begun to struggle violently against the spell that held her where she stood, pushing her muscles past their natural limits in a futile attempt to escape. Not before long, Hidie was silenced by the foul beast that stood before her, its ungodly eyes glaring down upon her small, timid body.

The creature growled at her, presenting its gory gums, glistening with seemingly fresh blood. As the beast took a step toward her, Hidie whimpered under its black, overpowering shadow, her body trembling from pure terror as she closed her eyes, anticipating her own death.

Flinching at the swing of the beasts arm, a glinting object appeared as if from the air that encompassed the two beings.

Hidie's eyes reopened to find the object inches from her face, the wrapping shone bright in the moonless night, radiating its own source of heat as well as light.

Suddenly, Hidie's body jolted forwards as the spell released her from her position. However, before Hidie could turn and run, the beast took hold of her slim, child-like wrists, its claws slightly digging through her cotton cloak and into her soft, pale flesh. Slowly, blood slithered down her wrists, dripping off the tips of her fingers.

As Hidie winced in pain, the beast released her from its grip and took a hold of the mysterious package that floated within the air before forcing it into her hands in which it made her hold tightly. Leaning down, the creatures snout rubbed against the girl's ear as it spoke, its voice, in concordance with its appearance, was gruff and stern.

"Only open when the red eye is awake and the earth shall quake"

Suddenly, the beast shrieked in intense pain as its body begun to disintegrate before Hidie's eyes. Painfully, its arms slowly vanished into thin air, followed by its torso and eventually, its head. Soon, the shrieks had stopped and the beast was gone, leaving behind only a swiftly stagnating pool of blood at Hidie's feet and the package, still hovering in place.

The blood swirled into odd shapes, some strands of blood were lighter than others as they entwined with each other. As Hidie stood back, she saw the shape it was making – It was a leaf of red. The different shades of blood forcing an autumn look onto the horrific sight.

As Hidie's eyes widened, she turned and ran as fast as her little legs could take her, the parcel now tucked into her cloak. It swung with great power, hitting into her sides, causing bruises to form under her skin, upon her ribs.

Tears of pain ran down her cheeks as she ran, protected by the darkness that surrounded her, her body vanishing within the mist.