Reign Of Darkness

  I skilfully swung my sword, aiming for the back of his knee to unsteady him. The sword is blunt so it won’t cause to much damage. Angelus avoided my blow by purposely through the air of the institution training grounds, doing this angered me. I was about to pose another attack, when our names were called out by a trainee.

     He had brown muppy hair, long gangly legs and looked about 12 years old. “Bellona, Angelus, Professor Alvaro wants to see you in his study immediately” the young boy said in a puff. Panting, we dropped our training kit back to the storage and made our way to the study.

     “ Do you think he has another mission for us” A asked coolly, locks of black hair getting in the way of his beautiful Crystal blue eyes. “He probably does” I tried to sound casual, keeping my face emotionless.

     “ There has been a lot of demonic activity going on lately, more than usual, I won’t be surprised if a group of weirdos tried to befriend a bunch of demons, literally”. He nodded in agreement. “ It would make more sense, wouldn’t it”. We are just outside professor Alvaros study, I lifted my fist to knock. After a second we heard the words 'come in '. I twisted the handle of the guys golden wooden door.

     Both A and I stepped into the large old fashioned study filled with yellowed books and scrolls. It was more like a personal library than a study. A bible lays opened on the corner of the large desk. The room feels warm, designed to make you feel comfortable.

     We stood before the professor and tilted our heads slightly in respect. Professor Alvaro is a respectable man in the institute. He is in his late fifties, white peppered his once black hair. He smiled up at us “please sit, we have much to discuss” he announced.

     We do as told. The Professor looked at us. For the first time, the professor looked worried. That didn’t sit well with me. A and l sit on brown leather chairs worn with age, waiting silently for the professor too speak.

     He sighs tiredly, rubbing the bridge of his nose, taking of his old fashioned glasses. “As you may have noticed there has been a rapid increase of D activity in the past three months”. We nodded solemnly. “Hunters that went on a mission, scouting yesterday and we’re greeted by a group of Ds, none of them made it, it appears that Ds around the world are working together”.

     My face floods with horror, looking at A, he has a similar expression. Professor Alvaro looks into the distance and continues “We suspect that they are planning on opening the seven gates of the world, we can’t let that happen”. I shift uncomfortably at his words, looking at A sharply, catching the anger that flashes through his eyes.

     I clear my throat to speak “Professor what would you like us to do”. He glances at me. “We need to stop them, Bellona, both of you are two of the best hunters this institution has ever seen l, so you will be going on this next mission. “ Ok professor” we say.

     A and I are in the armoury, we help each other strap on protection. I pull my sword out of it’s silt, it shines for the light in the room. I strap my sword on to my waist and place my bow and arrows around my  body. We finished setting up and began to head for the main exit.

     The words 'Neque Sanctiores Malum, Bonorum Praesidio' was written proudly across the doors of the institution.  It means 'destroyer if evil, protector of good'. On the outside the institution looks like an ancient gothic cathedral, point pillars reaching for the heavens. While inside it is filled with men and women who deduct their lives to destroy the evil in the world.  The institution has been here for as long as man could remember, changing over the course of time.

     Stepping out the door, I look up at the moon shining up above giving everything mysterious shadows. “Are you ready? ” A asked. “Lets get this over with” I sigh heavily. We walk up to the truck, dumping our supplies and weapons into the boot.

     We get into the truck. A takes the drivers side. I watch him as he starts the engine. I rest my head on the window, listening to the traffic of cars ahead of us. Memories if the past invades my thoughts.

     “Hey, are you ok” the soft voice of a little boy is heard I look up from where I sat in the corner with my head on my kneel, tears staining my eyes. The boy looked about my age, he had long black hair and the most prettiest eyes l ever seen. I look at our surroundings. We are in an old building, dust caked ever surface, making the boy look out of place in his clean clothes.

     Something crossed my mind. I began to shake. “I don’t remember anything”, I whispered, feeling cold. The boy takes of his jacket and drapes it around my shoulders. Then he leans in and wraps his arms around me. Warmth returns back to my body. I look up through the shattered window to see that it is dark outside. My eyelids begin to grow heavy. “Sleep” the boy says, and I do.

     I suddenly jerk upright, fully awake now. I look over at A to see his blue eyes already on me, his eyebrows raised in questioning, but I shoot my head. It is then that I realize that the car has stopped at our destination. The first thing I noticed is the fog laying low around the old house. Everything is as silent as a grave yard at night. A and I get out of the truck, taking our weapons.

     Before we take a step towards the old run down house, a shadowy figure blocks in out way. It has no face, it’s skin looks leathery and pale. It stands there watching. A and I have our weapons ready to strike. It has a black hole where the mouth should have been. I get a cold tingling feeling on my spine. The fog grows ticket until the creature is engulfed and can no longer be seen. The fog dies down again till it disappears completely. The creature is gone like it was never there.

     I shiver, the hairs on my skin standing. “Lets search the grounds before we leave” A said, warily. I nod in agreement
     We make our way to the front of the house silently, taking the wooden steps leading to the porch. Glass from a shattered window covers the ground. I was about to reach for the rusty old door handle, when I noticed something. Everything is silent. There is no sound of the crickets singing or owls hooting, or even the sound of the wind rustling the leaves on the trees that surround the house.

     “Do you feel that?” I asked A, feeling uncomfortable. “Yeah, it’s quiet, to quiet” A said noticing to. We take a step closer to the door. It is big and covered in old red chipped paint. A jingles the stiff handle, it comes of and the door swings open noisily. A Chuck’s the handle away. The door is barely staying on it’s hinges.

      All of a suddenly, we hear the sound of a child screaming. It was a scream of fear. I get my bow ready and A grips his knifes. I kick the door down to he rest of the way. We make our way into the house. A pulls out the flashlight he kept in his black pants and shined it around the room.

     The room is covered in cobwebs and dust at least 50 years old. All the furniture is still in the room , draped in white sheets. Every step makes a creak that spreads around the house. Sections of the floorboard are gone. Paintings barely hanging on the wall.

     “Lets go to the next room” A says, leading the way. This room is plain and empty with nothing but dust. I see a movement at the corner of the room. “ Hey what’s that”.

     The next thing I know, I am knocked off my feet and on the ground, I feel a pressure on my chest. I hear more screaming in the background. I look up and see a D. This one has dark cloudy eyes, several sharp teeth, it’s skin is a pale grey and it is hairless, but shaped like a man. It was on top of me.

     Before the D could do anything, A stand it on the back of the head with one of his knifes. The pressure was relieved from my chest. I push the body of me and A helps me to my feet. The D’s body begins to incinerate.

     “Are you ok” A asked worriedly. “Yes” I nodded. I look back to the corner of the room to see a little boy crying and shivering with his arms wrapped around his body.

     I step closer to him slowly, he watches me with big scared brown eyes. He looked about 4 or 5. I crouch down close to him.

     “Hello, what is your name?” I asked. The boy wipes away his tears. “Max” the boy replied. “Hi Max, my name is Bellona, do you know where your parents are?” I asked the boy. He shock his head “ The monsters took them away” Max said.

     I look behind me at A, who has a sad expression on his face. I turned back to Max and picked him up, he raps his little arms around my neck. “Hi Max, my name is Angelus , but you can call me A, we are going to take care of you”, A said.

     I’m about to step into to the main room when I was stopped by 6 D’s. “Hand over the child”, one of it said. A steps forward “when chickens poop rainbows” he pushes Max and I back into the room. “Stay here” he said to me and shuts the door. I held Mad in my arms tighter. He pressed his face to my neck

     I hear commotion coming from behind the door. There is the noise of glass breaking and wood snapping.
     I placed Max on his feet “stay close to me”, I said. He nods. I take of my bow and get an arrow ready, pulling slightly on the wire. I step forward making sure the boy is close to me and opened the door.

     The first thing I see is A being held by a D, a sharp claw close to his neck. I looked around the room, the rest of the D have incinerated. I looked back at A, ready to shoot the arrow. I can’t take a shot because A is blocking the way.

     “Hand over the boy and maybe I would give your friend a quick death” it said with a hideous smile. I see the movement of A’s hand in his pocket. My laugh was humourless “ All D’s are the same, all you want is to destroy families, you kill parents and take innocent children”, I said with anger, trying to buy A more time while still pointing my bow at them. I made sure Max was still standing close to me.

     All of a suddenly, A pulls his hand out of his pocket and stabs the D in the guts with a tiny pocket knife. The D gives a sickening squeal and let’s go of A. I pull the string of my bow and the next thing I know an arrow is in bedded in the head of the D. It drops to the ground and incinerated quickly.

     I place my bow back around my body and turned around to pick up Max who was still behind me. “Lets get out of here”, A said, I nodded. We make our way back to the truck. A takes our equipment to the boot of the truck. I opened the door to the backseat and sat, placing Max beside me. He looked calmer than before, not as scared. A takes the drivers side again.

     30 minutes later we are at the institution. Mac had fallen asleep on the ride back. I pick him up softly and make my way to my dorm with him in my arms. A goes to explain everything to professor Alvaro.

     I make it to my dorm. I open the door and head to the bed in the centre of my room. I place Max on the bed, taking of his shoes and covered his small body with my sheets. I sit on the corner of the bed and stroked his soft brown hair. “Don’t worry Max, we will take care of you”. I sat quietly not wanting to wake him.
                                         To be continued…