Souldier

Chapter 1

Ralph Cordeneau wasn't what you'd call exciting. He was a 43 year old man with a bald patch, sweaty armpits, a thimble collection and two cats. He was a wristwatch salesman and always carried a briefcase full of shiny watches. He wore a shabby suit with the buttons undone, a beer gut hanging over his belt and two watches on each wrist in case someone was interested in purchasing some of his goods. If you asked anyone who knew him well, they would say that the last thrilling thing that had happened to Ralph had happened twenty years earlier, when the greasy bartender at the local pub had offered to give him a private tour of her cactus collection. Those who knew Ralph even better would tell you that Ralph had been so surprised at the offer that he had sprayed his mouthful of beer right back in her face, despite his claims of 'playing it cool' and 'gently letting the woman down'. With that being his only experience with women, Ralph had avoided the creatures like the plague for the rest of his life.

Which justified his confusion when he found himself stepping into a dark room behind a young, pretty woman in a tight red dress.

He had taken his usual rout home, which had involved several shortcuts through narrow deserted lanes, allowing him to whistle the Star Wars theme song without collecting judgemental stares from other people. The sun had been setting and warmed his back as he whistled and eagerly thought about the long anticipated Christmas episode of 'Cool and Collectable' which was rumoured to be running a segment on the sixth largest thimble collection in the world.

His thoughts had been interrupted by a cool touch on the back of his neck and he turned in surprise to see the young woman glance at him seductively through her long black eyelashes. She was short and slim, almost pixie-like, and had straight black hair that finished abruptly in line with her chin. Her face was lightly dusted with makeup, which made her pale skin appear golden in the sunlight and her green eyes look large and breathtaking.

She tugged her rosy lips into a secretive smile and something inside Ralph stirred. A strange sort of hunger ignited in the depths of his stomach and, to his immense surprise, a small growl escaped his lips. For a moment, he wondered why on Earth he had growled. It was not in his nature at all, in fact, he'd never made a sound like that in his life. He sounded like an animal.

He felt like an animal.

And in that moment, Ralph Cordeneau was gone. Consumed by something that had been buried inside of him for a long time, lurking and waiting for a reason to emerge. It took control of his limbs and he moved forward, eyes fixated on the girl who walked ahead and was beckoning to him with a slender painted finger.

Together they passed through a battered steel door and entered a small dark room that was lit by a single red bulb. The girl softly closed the door and locked it before walking over to a corner and fiddling with her dress. Ralph's fingers fumbled with his belt he cursed as his sweaty fingers failed to get a grip.

A soft chuckle stopped him in his efforts and he looked up towards the girl. She hadn't changed, her tight dress was still hugging her curves and Ralph's hands itched to tear away the material. Her tall black heels were off and without them she barely reached his shoulder. In the dim light her features looked softer and almost childish and the thing inside Ralph reeled in excitement. Unable to stop himself, Ralph took a few steps forward then stopped.

Upon moving slightly to the left he had positioned himself right in front of the girl, simultaneously revealing something long and pointed in her right hand. It seemed to be made out of black mist but it must have been heavy, because it tugged her shoulder towards the floor.

Ralph's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, then shot up in alarm and panic as he realised what she held.

A sword.

The thing inside Ralph was thrown into a blind state of panic that threw his body towards the locked door. Whilst his fists battered away at the thin but sturdy steel, the part of Ralph's mind that still belonged to him, ached at the absurdity of the situation.

For some unknown reason he had followed a woman into a dark room as though he were and animal. She had then produced a sword out of nowhere with a look that suggested she wanted to kill him.

Panic rose to meet the uncontrollable fear of the thing inside him and he found himself beating on the door with doubled strength. She was going to murder him! But that was illegal! With a sword! But they were so medieval! She couldn't-

And that was when the sword entered his back and slid smoothly out the front of his stomach. He froze and gaped at the dark metal that gleamed in the red light. Strangely enough, he hadn't felt a thing. The thing inside him had though, and it bounced frightfully around the inside of his body making him feel deeply nauseous and quite terrified. Ralph swayed on the spot, feeling the blood rush to his head as the sword slipped from his body leaving no wound behind.

He crumpled to the floor, and as the world faded around him all his mind could think of was whether or not he had taped the upcoming episode of 'Cool and Collectable'.