Dust and Shadows

Chapter eleven: Julia

Creek… creek…

In the silent night, the only sounds you could hear were the creaking of a swing. The night was deep and the moon was high up in the sky, brightening the playground that was dimly lit by one streetlight. My feet were dragging in the ground; the swing being just a tiny bit too small for me, and my hair was loose, flowing gently with the wind.

The pale night could’ve colored the dark streets with silver and a tad bit of white, maybe some golden here and there… however, the streetlights never really allowed the moon’s shine to reach the rooftops, always staying hidden form the uselessly bright streets. It was a nuisance, the brightness… Though nowadays, people changed the beauty of darkness into a substance that could be well overpowered with colorful lights. Many were afraid of the darkness just because of what could lie inside it and in fear that whatever was hiding inside the dark could hurt them.

“Foolish.” I thought.

The darkness was beautiful, inside it laid thousands of mysteries and answers. In the darkness there are answers that couldn’t be answered and questions that could’ve been questioned, memories that were buried and secrets that were meant to be kept, hatred that was hidden deep down and lies that were said and unsaid… The darkness held power and it seemed that humans were always afraid of it… for the darkness knows everything and unlike the brightness, darkness hides everything.

“What’s a little, frail girl doing so late in the night?” then said a voice. Finally… another noise that broke the deafening silences.

My eyes were adverted from the ground to where my ears said the sound came from and there, standing in the shadows, was the silhouette of a man. I didn’t speak a word, not that I was surprised, I didn’t find the need to… So I just stared at the silhouette, waiting for him to come out of the shadows. Or was it better if he stayed inside the darkness? Hidden from the truth and the world…?

“How rude of you! A human ignoring my words, it has been a while since I met such a lovely girl.” The male cooed as he took a step forward into the dimly lit playground.

In front of me was now standing a handsome young man. Light brown hair with a pale and pore-less skin, high cheekbones and a blood-red lips, his eyes were green and his height was surely above average. Something about him didn’t seem natural as if he were not human but that made him look even more beautiful and outstanding. He had a well build-up body, which could be seen somewhat through his thin white shirt and when you focused well you could see faintly that he was actually holding his hair back in a pony tail, though how long the hair was couldn’t be seen in detail.

"Who are you?" I asked as I kept my gaze on him. I had to admit the fact that he was very attractive, hot indeed.

"Call me Cole." The male said as a small part of his lips curled upward.

"Cole..." I repeated. The name suited him. It sounded cold and somewhat gentle, like the breeze that blew in the early times of winter.

"What about you, young mortal?" Cole asked as he stepped closer to me.

That was when suddenly my senses kicked in. I felt something dangerous about this male… as if he were to harm me. My muscles tensed and my eyesight and hearing, though I don’t know why or how, sharpened. Every single part of my body was in alert, ready to fight against this male. I felt hatred, anger, and uncontrollable thirst for his death.

“You don’t have to know, do you?” I snapped as I gripped the chains harder.

“You know mine; it’s obvious I should know yours.” The male said as he cocked his head, confusion showing in his face as my attitude towards him changed.

However, suddenly my tension disappeared, my senses came back to normal and my heart slowly started relaxing. I frowned, feeling confused.

“I… I’m Julia.” I muttered, though my frown remained still in my face.

Cole was now sitting down in the swing besides me, his legs outstretched.

“Too small…” The male muttered under his breath and I giggled in agreement. “You should go home though, nobody know what could be hiding in the shadows… don’t you think?”

“Nothing more than a human could harm me.” my head turned to Cole. I had never believed in monsters or such… they were all myths made by humans for their hunger of perfection.

“Ah… so you are a very realistic person. Well, then go home, because sometimes humans are actually even more dangerous than those who live in the shadows.” The boy stood up, patting his back to take the dust off his pants.

“Well then, good night, Julia.” He said and left the playground, disappearing once again in the shadows… leaving me there sitting in the dark nights.