Lucent Shadows

Chapter 5: The Creature of Darkness

****Devlin's POV****

I smiled at Zandra's cockiness and thought back to when she clung to me in the forest and my face began to burn and hands got clammy. She has an odd effect on me. I don't even know the girl, I have no idea what this feeling is but I know she's someone I want to keep seeing.

She slowed her walking so that I was beside her. "Hey Dev, when we were in the forest.. Did you see something? When I heard that twig snap.." She asked quietly and looked over at me.

I thought for a second and shook my head, "Nope!"

She let out a deep breath and laughed, "Oh, good! I thought you did! That scared me." She threw a nervous laugh before slowing down near a two story white house. "Well, this is my stop! Thanks for hanging out and showing me around, let's do it again soon." She winked before heading inside.

I shivered and began to walk to my apartments, letting my mind wonder to what Zandra brought up. She couldn't have been able to see it. No one else has been able to besides me. I stuffed my hands deep in my pockets. Those glowing eyes in the woods.. I fidgeted with my keys before finding the one to my door as I approached my apartment. It squeaked open and I pushed it closed before kicking my shoes off and leaving them in the narrow hallway. I walked and pulled my T-shirt over my head and threw it on the already litter strewn floor of my room and crashed onto my bed with a yawn. Whatever he is, I couldn't avoid him anymore. I'm too exhausted to fight.

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I woke up to a bright light only to find myself shrouded in darkness. I looked around as I sat up but only saw black.

What is this?

Where the hell am I?

I lifted my hand to feel out in front of me and watched as the darkness parted and drifted around in bubble-like form before finally settling back with the shadows.

It's as if I'm in a pool of darkness.

I let out a huff and stood up. I began walking, unsure of what to do, and observed the dark bubbles that lingered in my trail before fading away. It felt like forever before I came to a halt.

"Why the hell am I here?!" I yelled in frustration.

The silence was too much to handle. I raked my fingers through my hair.

There has to be a way out.

A deep laugh filled the air, causing me to tense. "Pathetic." It boomed.

I winced and balled my fists, "Who the hell are you?! And why the hell am I here?!"

"How many times must you ask before you realize you've been here before?" The voice came from all directions, making him impossible to find.

"I've been here before?" I turned in circles, trying to think of an experience I've had like this.

"Perhaps.." The voice quieted.

I stopped dead in my tracks as chilled air began to surround me. I watched in awe and horror as the air itself began to freeze and white crystals filled the darkness. I slowly turned to face the icy source, then I remembered.

The figure standing before me was of darkness and as I held my ground, it felt as if my breath and all body functions stopped working. I began choking, struggling to suck in air as my throat and lungs painfully burned. My legs buckled and my body gave out but before I could crash to the ground, I was caught in the air and lifted to the cloaked figure. My eyes burned in the cold air as I fought to open them and to see the cloaked man in front of me.

He raised his arm and out of his sleeve came his hand. A hand stripped of all its skin, muscle, tissues and blood. It was a skeleton with long fingers and sharp fingertips that were stained black. I tried to wriggle and pull out of the grip the air had on me. As soon as he saw this, his hand lashed out, seizing my neck, nails digging into the back of my skull. I immediately froze and a deep, mocking laugh coming from the creature filled the room. I stared with wide, frightened eyes.

"Perhaps this rings a bell?" He squeezed my neck harder. Any tighter and I was sure it would snap. I relaxed my body and stared blankly at him. Will he finally end this all tonight?

My eyes rolled back as my lungs collapsed and all body functions were finally at the brink of giving out.

"Useless. Why did she ever think you were worth-" He released his grip quickly, as if burned. "What? What is this?"

I fell to the ground with a deep gasp, finally able to breath. I sucked down the oxygen and glared at him.

"Don't ever call me useless."

He held his hand, bone that was now steaming and slowly melting away. He snickered and put the liquefied bone to his side, ignoring the pain it caused him. He cocked his head to the side in a mocking manner and stared at me. His face was revealed to be a long white skull with a strong jaw and deep black eye sockets. His face was as meatless as his hands and wore a disgusted expression.

"You certainly have some fight in you. The wench just might be right after all." The creature began walking away, leaving a trail of liquefied bone behind.

"You will be given one more chance. If you do not remember, I will enjoy ripping your weak soul to shreds and I'll see to it that you are never brought back to life again."

What do you think about this chapter? I'm starting to pick up the actual story line after this chapter, this is the beginning. Let me know what you think! I'd love to hear some feed back! :)