Half Complete

Black Hoods

             I scrambled back till I hit the wall. The man stood up and moved closer. His mask glinted in the dim light of the room. The robes hung loosely about his body and he looked like a ghost. An arm stretched out from his robes and clutched my shoulder. He was wearing leather gauntlets.  Not a bit of his skin was shown. I squirmed and kicked but his grip was like iron. Ciel had collapsed on the floor , breathing deeply.

             I looked into his eyes through the slits. They were a deep plum. I took all my strength and spat in his eyes. He started and his grip loosened. I kicked his stomach and stumbled away. But I tripped over something and fell harshly to the ground.

             My ankle hurt and my head was spinning.  But I forced myself to get up. I swayed backwards and hit someone. Oh Lord!Heart pounding,  I turned. And came face to face with the snake woman. I let out an ear piercing shriek.

     " Scream all you want, kid.  No one's going to hear you. But you're feisty,  I will give you that. Now face Ciaran and answer his questions.  You two were the ones who wanted to join thw Black hoods, right?  Well you thought that we'll just let you because of the King's words?" She smirked.

     " Alice  stop!" The masked man said. The lady immediately bowed her head though there was a mischievous glint in her eyes.She acted docile, though.  "As your wish, Ciaran" she said in a meek voice.

     The man, Ciaran beckoned me forward.  I was hesitant. " Don't be a coward,  child! If you want to join, you'll have to learn to face your fears".

       I was weary. Was this a trap? But then they hadn't killed us yet so I don't know. I bent down and picked up my sword lying on the ground.  Alice tensed  but one look from Ciaran and she stepped back. I glared at him and moved forward wearily.

                    " We may work for your king but he has no control over us.  It is because of the darkness of our shadows that he is able to shine so bright. We are his unseen hands and without us he would have been assassinated countless times,  not to mention dethroned. "

        " Couldn't help Dorian though" I grumbled.  He stiffened.It seems I had hit a nerve." That was a miscalculation. But them don't think that if you are in trouble the king will help you. We live in shades of grey and listen to no one. " He pulled the hood down to show a head of black, unruly curls. Then put his hands behind his head to unwind his mask and slowly peeled it off his face.

                            My eyes widened and my body froze. His skin was completely burnt. He didn't even look human. Angry red lines dotted the brown, mottled skin. His eyes stood out and his mouth was a jagged line, lips beyond comprehension. I stifled a scream.  He proceeded to  take off his gloves showing patches of burnt skin in his arms. He gazed at me.

      " What are you? " I stuttered out. He gave a hollow , listless laugh." That is the secret of the infamous Black  Hoods. Every one of us is cursed. I am human, do not worry. My entire family died in a fire. My father was a smilthy. One day he forgot to close the furnace. Everything burnt down to the ground.  I was caught in the fire but somehow managed to fall into the river near our house.  For good luck or bad I lived." He put his gloves back on and his mask, covering the horrible face. "And do you know whose fault it was?  The king's father, drunk out of his mind. He was clay in the hands of his ruthless ministers.  They kept him delirious,  and increased the taxes so hight, we suffered. My father worked himself to the bone and kept the flame on day and night ."

            "That's why we support the present King.He is an idealist, though a bit too heroistic. He won't let the public starve and so he shall have the thrown. The minute he changes, well we aren't labelled killers for nothing"Alice spoke up behind me.
    
         The king was really taking a gamble. But these people,  should we really join them? They seemed ruthless, but were helping the people.  But wasn't killing wrong?  You couldn't torture people,  right? And they seemed to have seen humanity at it's worst. I felt someone clutch my shoulder. "Take a short nap, kid", Alice whispered and pinched under my skull. What? I felt darkness around the edges of my vision and finally succumbed to it......

   
                  My head buzzed as though a thousand bees were nesting inside it.I became aware of a dull pain in my anke.My eyelids felt heavy.  I groaned and pried them open. My vision blurred then came into focus. Suddenly I was pulled into a bone crushing embrace.

      " Clarie,  Clarie , thank God you are okay. What happened to you? Don't worry me like this again, young lady" My sister said, clinging to me. "Don't suffocate her, my lady.She needs to breathe" Lydia was standing beside me.
 
   I was lying on a cot in the infirmary. How did I get here?Lydia felt my forehead then put her hand on the side of my throat ."What hurts?"

     "My head feels  heavy and my ankle is throbbing" I said.  She poked around my leg and looked up."It's dislocated, brace yourself" she said and twisted it. I yelped.
"Sorry" she said "I'll get you some bandages" and walked away.

         I looked at my sister. She was about to open her mouth when there was a groan beside me.Ciel! He was in the cot next to me,  sitting up and rubbing his head. He was shirtless and hia torso was bandaged. He had a bandage round his head too." Clarie" he  mumbled,  "Are.... are you okay?  What happened?  Where are we?".

     Just then the door opened and Steffan entered. He seemed really guilty. And behind him was another set of footsteps as Will shuffled in. "You!" Ciel spat, tone murderous, "You traitor , I will kill you!" He screamed and somehow tumbled out of the bed and grabbed Will by his neck. He then slammed Will onto the wall. "Ciel, stop" I screamed,  pulling out of my shock.

" He deserves it for harming you" , Ciel then clutched his chest. " Oh" he said, face contorting painfully and fainted on the ground.......

      Hi! How was the chapter. Special thanks to RaniManohar for her wonderful comments.  Please vote and comment.  It's  the best gift you could give an author ......