Etched In Stone

Chapter One

The rain was relentless.

It pounded down with no sign of stopping, slapping the stone pavement and soaking everything in an icy torrent of water.

Jake sighed, shifting his position so that he was no longer leaning against the shop's front door. It was a supermarket, long since closed for the day, but he'd run for shelter at the first few drops of water and had been waiting here ever since. Standing up straight, he surveyed the area in front of him, his eyes darting back and forth in the dark. Jake didn't like not being able to see things that were there - he didn't like being under any threat, and if he had to scrutinise every street in front of him then that is what he would do.

He figured that the rain wasn't stopping anytime soon - a good thirty minutes later and it was still going strong. His aunt and uncle would probably be wondering where he was this late at night. He'd best get back soon, rain or no rain.

Tugging his hood up over his head, he braced himself, and then surged forward. The rain hit him all at once, an icy sheet of water chilling him to the bone. He shuddered and clenched his fists, falling into an awkward, lopsided run, his feet slipping on the wet pavement every few moments. The street lights didn't really help illuminate the darkness much. He squinted as he ran, peering through the dark for any sign of a car or another person he may have to avoid. Out of the corner of his eye, a shadowy figure suddenly flashes in and out of view, a pale face illuminated eerily by the dim street lights. Jake skidded to a halt, sending an arc of water spraying up into his face and almost losing his footing. Looking around himself wildly for any sign of the person he could've sworn he'd just seen, he felt his stomach jolt in an involuntary surge of fear.

"Hello?" He calls out, his voice unmercifully thin and wavering.

After a few more moments of peering through the darkness and no answers to his calls, he turned on his heel, deciding that fear was making him imagine people that weren't there. Jake surged on once again in the dark and the rain, his sprint slowing gradually to a brisk walk after time. The only sound he could hear were his own footsteps sloshing through puddles and the torrent of the rain until he saw it again - that same eerie flicker of light illuminating someone's face. This time, he heard another set of footsteps, too, and they were close.

"Stop trying to freak me out," he calls out, angrily this time. "Who are you?"

"Go."

A clear, cold voice cuts through the darkness suddenly, making Jake's stomach churn in fear. He wasn't alone. It stayed quiet for what felt like much longer. As soon as he thought it might be safe for him to run, several sets of hands suddenly latched onto him, holding his arms and legs tightly with an iron grip. It was if his movement had triggered the attack.

The people that had hold of him pushed him back, slamming him into the hard ground and knocking the wind out of him. He tried to yell but before he could even muster the breath to a hand slammed over his mouth.

"Come on, get him over here." The same cool voice cut through his senses like a knife, sending panic rushing through him like poison. Jake struggled for all he was worth but the men who were holding him down were inhumanly strong.

He felt himself be pulled up off the ground and dragged a short distance until they pulled open two doors and he was thrown roughly into the back of a dark van. He was too disoriented to take in the interior but it had the familiar, metallic smell of blood that only made him panic further.

"Let me go!" He yelled, fear giving him new found energy. They were quick to hold him down again and he felt his wrists being bound tightly by a length of rope, biting into his skin. They did the same to his ankles and he felt himself be pulled upwards by the collar of his t-shirt. He could barely register the man's face in his memory before he slammed him back down against the floor of the van, his head hitting violently off the ground.

All he could take in as he lost consciousnesses was the van starting up and driving away.